Analysis of the story “Clean Monday” (I. A. Bunin). Plot analysis: “Clean Monday”, Bunin I. A Philosophical issues of the story Clean Monday

The story of the great Russian writer Ivan Alekseevich Bunin “Clean Monday” is included in his outstanding book of love stories “Dark Alleys”. Like all the works in this collection, this is a story about love, unhappy and tragic. We offer a literary analysis of Bunin's work. The material can be used to prepare for the Unified State Exam in literature in 11th grade.

Brief Analysis

Year of writing– 1944

History of creation– Researchers of Bunin’s work believe that the reason for writing “Clean Monday” for the author was his first love.

Topic – In “Clean Monday” the main idea of ​​the story is clearly visible– this is the theme of the lack of meaning in life, loneliness in society.

Composition– The composition is divided into three parts, in the first of which the characters are introduced, the second part is dedicated to the events of Orthodox holidays, and the shortest third is the denouement of the plot.

Genre– “Clean Monday” belongs to the short story genre.

Direction– Neorealism.

History of creation

The writer emigrated to France, this distracted him from the unpleasant moments in life, and he is working fruitfully on his collection “Dark Alleys.” According to researchers, in the story Bunin describes his first love, where the prototype of the main character is the author himself, and the prototype of the heroine is V. Pashchenko.

Ivan Alekseevich himself considered the story “Clean Monday” one of his best creations, and in his diary he praised God for helping him create this magnificent work.

This is a brief history of the creation of the story, the year of writing is 1944, the first publication of the short story was in the New Journal in New York City.

Subject

In the story “Clean Monday”, analysis of the work reveals a large love theme problems and ideas for the novella. The work is dedicated to the theme of true love, real and all-consuming, but in which there is a problem of misunderstanding by the heroes of each other.

Two young people fell in love with each other: this is wonderful, since love pushes a person to noble deeds, thanks to this feeling, a person finds the meaning of life. In Bunin's novella, love is tragic, the main characters do not understand each other, and this is their drama. The heroine found a divine revelation for herself, she purified herself spiritually, finding her calling in serving God, and went to a monastery. In her understanding, love for the divine turned out to be stronger than physiological love for her chosen one. She realized in time that by joining her life in marriage with the hero, she would not receive complete happiness. Her spiritual development is much higher than her physiological needs; the heroine has higher moral goals. Having made her choice, she left the bustle of the world, surrendering to the service of God.

The hero loves his chosen one, loves sincerely, but he is unable to understand the tossing of her soul. He cannot find an explanation for her reckless and eccentric actions. In Bunin’s story, the heroine looks like a more alive person; at least somehow, through trial and error, she is looking for her meaning in life. She rushes about, rushes from one extreme to another, but in the end she finds her way.

The main character, throughout all these relationships, simply remains an outside observer. He, in fact, has no aspirations; everything is convenient and comfortable for him when the heroine is nearby. He cannot understand her thoughts; most likely, he does not even try to understand. He simply accepts everything that his chosen one does, and that’s enough for him. From this it follows that every person has the right to choose, whatever it may be. The main thing for a person is to decide what you are, who you are, and where you are going, and you shouldn’t look around, fearing that someone will judge your decision. Self-confidence and self-confidence will help you find the right decision and make the right choice.

Composition

The work of Ivan Alekseevich Bunin includes not only prose, but also poetry. Bunin himself considered himself a poet, which is especially felt in his prose story “Clean Monday.” His expressive artistic means, unusual epithets and comparisons, various metaphors, his special poetic style of narration give this work lightness and sensuality.

The title of the story itself gives great meaning to the work. The concept of “pure” speaks of the purification of the soul, and Monday is a new beginning. It is symbolic that the culmination of events occurs on this day.

Compositional structure The story consists of three parts. The first part introduces the characters and their relationships. The masterful use of expressive means gives a deep emotional coloring to the image of the characters and their pastime.

The second part of the composition is more dialogue-based. In this part of the story, the author leads the reader to the very idea of ​​the story. The writer speaks here about the choice of the heroine, about her dreams of the divine. The heroine expresses her secret desire to leave the luxurious social life and retire to the shadow of the monastery walls.

The climax appears the night after Clean Monday, when the heroine is determined to become a novice, and the inevitable separation of the heroes occurs.

The third part comes to the denouement of the plot. The heroine has found her purpose in life; she serves in a monastery. The hero, after separation from his beloved, led a dissolute life for two years, mired in drunkenness and debauchery. Over time, he comes to his senses and leads a quiet, calm life, in complete indifference and indifference to everything. One day fate gives him a chance; he sees his beloved among the novices of God's temple. Having met her gaze, he turns around and leaves. Who knows, maybe he realized the meaninglessness of his existence and set off for a new life.

Main characters

Genre

Bunin's work was written in short story genre, which is characterized by a sharp turn of events. This is what happens in this story: the main character changes her worldview and abruptly breaks with her past life, changing it in the most radical way.

The novella was written in the direction of realism, but only the great Russian poet and prose writer Ivan Alekseevich Bunin could write about love in such words.

Work test

Rating analysis

Average rating: 4.3. Total ratings received: 484.

Class- 11

Lesson objectives:

• introduce students to the life and work of I.A. Bunin, the book “Dark Alleys”;
• analyze the story “Clean Monday”: reveal the problem of love, find out the reasons for the tragic fate of the heroes;
• introduce the spiritual heritage of Russia;
• develop the skills of analytical reading of an epic work, the ability to make micro-conclusions and, with their help, a general conclusion;
• develop critical thinking, stage skills;
• to cultivate spiritual culture, responsibility for one’s actions and the fate of the country;

make interdisciplinary connections - draw parallels: literature, painting, music, religion. exhibition “Who wants to know Russia, visit Moscow”, portrait of I.A. Bunin, music by L.-V. Beethoven’s “Moonlight Sonata”, D. Verdi’s opera “Aida”, “Red Ringing” of bells, candles, texts of the work and prayers of E. Sirin, Kustodiev’s painting “Maslenitsa”, magazine “LSh” - No. 2, 3, 1996, No. 3 , 1997, projector.

During the classes

I. Org. moment.

II. Preparation for the main stage.

Teacher's word.

Today we will get acquainted with the work of I.A. Bunin; Let's find out what problems the author touches on in the story “Clean Monday” and how the characters solve them.

III. Assimilation of new knowledge and methods of action.

1. Presentation about I.A. Bunin. Student’s speech.

2. Reading the epigraph.

Is there such a thing as unhappy love?
Doesn't the world's sad music give happiness?
All love is great happiness,
even if it is not divided.
I. Bunin

3. Analysis of the epigraph. Teacher's word.

These words are the meaning of the entire book “Dark Alleys”. You can call it an encyclopedia of love dramas, a book of 38 love stories created during World War II (1937-1944). I. Bunin in 1947 This is how he assessed his work: “She talks about the tragic and about many tender and beautiful things - I think that this is the best and most original thing that I have written in my life...”

Bunin's love amazes not only with the power of artistic representation, but also with its subordination to some internal, unknown laws. It's a secret. And not everyone, in his opinion, is given the opportunity to touch her. The state of love is not fruitless for the writer’s heroes; it elevates their souls. However, love is not only happiness, but also tragedy. It cannot end in marriage. Bunin's heroes part forever.

4. The history of writing the story “Clean Monday”.

The story “Clean Monday” was written on May 12, 1944.

Why is the date of writing specific, and the events described in the work refer to 1914? 1944 During the years of difficult trials for the country, I. Bunin reminded people of love as the most wonderful feeling in life. Thus, Bunin rejected fascism and exalted Russia.

5. The meaning of the story's title.

1) The historical basis of the holiday. Reading a textbook article.

Maslenitsa – Forgiveness Sunday – Lent – ​​Clean Monday – Easter

2) Description of Clean Monday by I. Shmelev in the novel “The Summer of the Lord.”

(Against the background of Beethoven's music)

“Today is Clean Monday, and everything in our house is being cleaned... It’s dripping outside the window - when it starts crying. So she began to cry - drip... drip... drip... And something joyful is stirring in her heart: everything is new now, different. Now the soul will begin...”, “the soul must be prepared.” To fast, to fast, to prepare for the Bright Day... Today is a special day, a strict one... Yesterday was a forgiven day... Read - “Lord is the Lord of my life...”. The rooms are quiet and deserted, smelling of a sacred smell. In the hallway, in front of the reddish icon of the Crucifixion... they lit a Lenten... lamp, and now it will burn unquenchably until Easter. When my father lights the lamps - on Saturdays he lights the lamps himself - he always hums pleasantly and sadly: “Let us bow to Your Cross, Master,” and I sing after him, wonderful:

And holy... Your Resurrection

Sla-a-vim!..

Joyful prayer! She shines with a gentle light in these sad days of Lent!”

6. Introduction to the Lenten prayer of Ephraim the Syrian.

Ephraim the Syrian is an outstanding figure of the Christian Church of the 4th century, the famous author of many theological works.

“Lord and Master of my life, do not give me the spirit of idleness, covetousness and idle talk. Grant me the spirit of chastity, humility, patience and love to your servant! To her, Lord the King, grant me to see my sins and not condemn my brother, for blessed are you forever and ever. Amen".

7. Story composition.

The composition is consistent.

Winter at the beginning and end of the story is syntactic parallelism.

8. Conversation based on content.

Why is the plot interesting?

What emotions did the story evoke in you?

What kind of ending were you expecting?

Why didn't your hopes come true?

How would you end the story of this undying love?

Where does the action take place?

Name the holy places of Moscow mentioned in the story. (Cathedral of Christ the Savior, Novodevichy Convent, Conception Monastery, Archangel Cathedral, Marfo-Mariinsky Convent) (Excerpts from a poem about Moscow are heard while the bells are ringing)

Here, as it was, so now -
The heart of all Rus' is holy.
Here are her shrines
Behind the Kremlin wall!
(V.Bryusov)

Wonderful city, ancient city,
You fit into your ends
And towns and villages,
And chambers and palaces!
Belted with a ribbon of arable land,
You are all colorful in the gardens:
How many temples, how many towers
On your seven hills!
May you flourish with eternal glory,
City of temples and chambers!
Middle city, heartfelt city,
The city of indigenous Russia!
(F. Glinka)

“This is the Russia we lost,” I. Shmelev laments. And I. Bunin echoes him.

The story is built on contrasts.

Artistic detail plays a huge role. This is the color.

What is their function?

Yellow and red are traditional icon painting colors.

Yellow symbolizes the Kingdom of Heaven.

Red – fire, i.e. life.

Black – humility, submission.

What does SHE do?

(Listening to Beethoven’s “Moonlight Sonata”)

The theme of “Moonlight Sonata” is IT.

He is the theme of the march from Aida. Prove it.

(Listen to Verdi's music)

“... human life is entirely under the power of a woman,” noted Maupassant.

Let's listen to their dialogue.

(There are two chairs nearby. She reads silently.)

She: - You are terribly talkative and restless, let me finish reading the chapter.

He: - If I hadn't been talkative and restless, I might never have recognized you

She: - That's all true, but still be silent for a while, read something, smoke...

He: - I can’t remain silent! You can't imagine the power of my love for you! You don't love me!

She: - I can imagine. As for my love, you know well, except for my father and you, I have no one in the world. In any case, you are my first and last. Is this not enough for you? But enough about that.

He (to himself): -Strange love.

She : - I’m not fit to be a wife. I'm not good, I'm not good.

He (to himself): -We’ll see there!

(out loud) No, this is beyond my strength! And why, why do you torture me and yourself so cruelly! “Yes, after all, this is not love, not love...”

She: - May be. Who knows what love is?

He : - I, I know! (exclaimed) And I will wait for you to find out what love and happiness are!

What do his internal remarks say?

Do you think they loved each other? Prove it.

Did he recognize her? Why?

And again the whole evening they talked about strangers.

So January, February passed... Maslenitsa.

On Forgiveness Sunday, she ordered him to come in the evening.

What day is this?

He has arrived. She met him, all in black.

Read their dialogue. (Reading dialogue)

Why does she want to go to a monastery?

Why didn't he know about her religiosity? What were you blinded by?

(Sounds “Moonlight Sonata”)

At 10 o'clock evening the next day (it was Clean Monday) he opened the door with his key. Everything was lit: chandeliers, candelabra, a lamp... and the “Moonlight Sonata” was playing. She stood near the piano in a black velvet dress.

They went to the cabbage party.

What kind of entertainment is this?

How did she behave? Why cheeky? What is strange about her character?

What was the weather like that evening? (Blizzard)

What role does a snowstorm play?

Why did she keep him after the “cabbage party”, which she had not done before?

Why did she take off all her black clothes and wear only swan slippers?

What role does white play?

Why was there no more snowstorm when he left her?

Why is she leaving for Tver?

What letter did she write? Read it.

Why did she go to the monastery?

Why wasn’t he surprised by this ending to their meetings? (Didn't look into the soul)

Re-read the ending of the story.

When it was?

What brought him to the monastery?

What did he understand?

Why did he turn and quietly walk out of the gate?

Why is the story told in 1st person?

IV. Systematization and generalization of knowledge.

Conclusions from the lesson.

All true love is great happiness, even if it ends in separation, death, or tragedy. Bunin’s heroes, who have lost, overlooked, or destroyed their love themselves, come to this conclusion, albeit late. In this late repentance, the late spiritual resurrection of the heroes, we see real people, their imperfection, inability to value what is nearby, and we also see the imperfection of life itself, social conditions, circumstances that often interfere with truly human relationships.

The story, which tells about tragic collisions, does not carry pessimism. It, like music, like any great art, purifies and elevates the soul, affirming the truly lofty and beautiful.

V. Summing up the lesson.

VI. Reflection.

VII. Information about homework.

How would you conclude the story? Complete the love story.

I. A. Bunin's story "Clean Monday" was written on May 12, 1944, when it was already clear to the whole world. that the Soviet army is victorious over Nazi Germany. It was then that Bunin reconsidered his attitude towards Soviet Russia, which he did not accept after the October Revolution, as a result of which he went abroad.

The writer had a desire to turn to the origins, the beginning of all the disasters that befell Russia.

The story is included in the collection "Dark Alleys", but is distinguished by its originality. Bunin himself considered this story the best of all that he wrote. The author’s diary contains an entry from 1944 on the night of May 8-9: “It’s one o’clock in the morning. I got up from the table and just had to finish writing a few pages of “Clean Monday.” I turned off the light, opened the window to ventilate the room - not the slightest movement of air... ". He asks the Lord to give him the strength to complete the story. This means that the writer attached great importance to this work. And already on May 12, he makes an entry in his diary, where he thanks God for allowing him to write “Clean Monday.”

Before us is a poetic portrait of the Silver Age with its ideological confusion and spiritual quest. Let's try to follow the author step by step to understand what makes this work unique.

The story opens with a city sketch.

“The Moscow gray winter day was darkening, the gas in the lanterns was coldly lit, the store windows were warmly illuminated - and the evening life of Moscow, freed from daytime affairs, flared up...” Already in one sentence there are epithets: “warm” - “cold”, perhaps indicating on complex and contradictory phenomena and characters. The Moscow evening bustle is emphasized by many details and comparisons: “the cab sleighs rushed thicker and more vigorously, the crowded, diving trams rattled more heavily,” “green stars fell from the wires with a hiss.” ..Before us, life is vanity, life is temptation and seduction, it is not without reason that when describing the sparks falling from the wires of a tram, the author uses not only the metaphor “green stars”, but also the epithet “with hissing”, which associatively evokes the image of the serpent - the tempter in biblical garden. The motives of vanity and temptation are leading in the story.

The narration comes from the perspective of the hero, not the heroine, which is very important. It is enigmatic, mysterious and incomprehensible, complex and contradictory, and remains so until the end of the story - not fully explained. He is simple, understandable, easy to communicate, and does not have the heroine’s reflection. There are no names, perhaps because young people personify the pre-revolutionary era and their images carry some kind of symbolic subtext, which we will try to identify.

The text is full of many historical and cultural details that require special comment. A young man lives at the Red Gate. This is a monument to the Elizabethan Baroque. At the beginning of the 18th century - the Triumphal Gate for the ceremonial entry of Peter the Great. Because of their beauty they began to be called Red. In 1927, the gates were dismantled to streamline traffic. The name of the metro station "Red Gate" has been preserved. I think the hero’s place of residence is associated with celebration and celebration. And the heroine lives near the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, which was conceived by Alexander the First as gratitude to God for intercession for Russia and a monument to the glorious deeds of the Russian people in the Patriotic War of 1812. The main altar is dedicated to the Nativity of Christ - December 25 - on this day the enemy was expelled from Russia. The temple was destroyed by the Bolsheviks on December 5, 1931, and has now been restored. For a long time, on the site of the temple there was a swimming pool "Moscow".

Every evening the hero races on a stretching trotter from the Red Gate to the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. He has his own coachman, who alone in the story has a name: his name is Fedor. But the text is filled with the names of writers and cultural figures of the Silver Age, which accurately and in detail recreates the atmosphere of that time. Every evening the hero takes his beloved to dine at fashionable and expensive restaurants: to Prague, to the Hermitage, to Metropol, then the young people visit theaters, concerts, and after events they go to restaurants again: to Yar (the restaurant on the corner Kuznetsky Most and Neglinnaya Street), to "Strelna" - a country restaurant in Moscow with a huge winter garden.

The young man calls his relationship with the heroine strange: the girl avoided all conversations about the future, was mysterious and incomprehensible to him, they were not close to the end, and this kept the hero “in unresolved tension, in painful anticipation,” but the young man was “incredibly happy every hour spent near her."

An important role in the characterization of the heroine is played by the interior, which combines both eastern and western details. For example, a wide Turkish sofa (East) and an expensive piano (West). The girl was learning the “slow, somnambulistically beautiful beginning of the Moonlight Sonata.” The heroine herself is only at the beginning of her path, she is at a crossroads, she can’t decide where to go, what to strive for. But the hero doesn’t ask himself any questions, he just lives and enjoys every moment, rejoices at every moment. It would seem that there is nothing to be sad about? Both are rich, healthy, young and so good-looking that they are followed with envious glances everywhere.

It is no coincidence that a portrait of a barefoot Tolstoy hangs above the heroine’s sofa. At the end of his life, the great old man left home to start a new life, striving for moral self-improvement. Therefore, the heroine’s departure from worldly life to enter a monastery at the end of the story does not seem so unexpected.

Portraits of heroes are of no small importance in the story. He, originally from the Penza province, is handsome for some reason with a southern, hot beauty. "Some kind of Sicilian." And the young man’s character is southern, lively, always ready for a happy smile, for a good joke. In general, he personifies the West with its focus on success and personal happiness. The girl has “some kind of Indian, Persian beauty: a dark-amber face; magnificent and somewhat ominous hair in its thick blackness; eyebrows softly shining like black sable fur; eyes black as velvet coal; captivating mouth with velvety crimson lips it was shaded with dark fluff..." The heroine's obvious weakness was good clothes, velvet, silk, expensive fur. Most often, she wore a garnet velvet dress and matching shoes with gold clasps. But she attended the courses as a modest student and ate breakfast in a vegetarian canteen on Arbat for 30 kopecks. The heroine seems to be choosing between luxury and simplicity, she constantly thinks about something, reads a lot, sometimes does not leave the house for three or four days.

The story of how the young people met is interesting. In December 1912, they attended a lecture by Andrei Bely at the Art Circle. Here Bunin deliberately violates chronological accuracy. The fact is that in 1912-1913 Bely was not in Moscow, but in Germany. But it is more important for the author to recreate the very spirit of the era, its diversity. Other cultural figures of the Silver Age are also mentioned. In particular, the story “Fire Angel” by Valery Bryusov is mentioned, which the heroine did not finish reading due to its stiltedness. She also left Chaliapin’s concert, considering that the famous singer had “been too daring.” She has her own opinion on everything, her likes and dislikes. At the beginning of the story, fashionable writers of the time are mentioned, whom the girl reads: Hofmannsthal, Pshebyshevsky. Schnitzler, Tetmeyer.

It is worth paying attention to the description of Moscow, visible from the heroine’s window. She settled on the fifth floor of a corner room opposite the Cathedral of Christ the Savior solely for the view from the window: “...behind one window lay low in the distance a huge picture of the snow-gray Moscow across the river; in the other, to the left, part of the Kremlin was visible; moderately close, the very new bulk of Christ the Savior was white, in the golden dome of which the jackdaws that were forever hovering around it were reflected with bluish spots.. “A strange city!” - the hero thinks. What strange thing did he see in Moscow? Two origins: eastern and western. “St. Basil and the Savior on Bor, Italian cathedrals - and something Kyrgyz in the tips of the towers on the Kremlin walls...” - this is how the young man reflects.

Another “talking” detail in the characterization of the heroine is her silk arkhaluk - the inheritance of her Astrakhan grandmother, again an oriental motif.

Love and happiness... The heroes disagree on these philosophical issues. For him, love is happiness. She claims that she is not suitable for marriage, and in response to his phrase: “Yes, after all, this is not love, not love...” - responds from the darkness: “Maybe. Who knows what happiness is?” She quotes the words of Platon Karataev from L. N. Tolstoy’s novel “War and Peace”: “Our happiness, my friend, is like water in delirium: if you pull it, it’s inflated, but if you pull it out, there’s nothing.” The hero calls these words eastern wisdom.

Two days in the life of the heroes are described in detail. The first is Forgiveness Sunday. On this day, the young man learned a lot about his beloved. She quotes a line from the Lenten prayer of Efim the Syrian: “Lord, master of my life...” - and invites the hero to the Novodevichy Convent, and also reports that she was at the Rogozhskoye cemetery - the famous, schismatic one, and was present at the funeral of the archbishop. knows words such as "ripids", "triciria". The young man is amazed: he did not know that she was so religious. But the girl objects: “This is not religiosity.” She herself doesn’t know what it is. The girl admires the church services in the Kremlin cathedrals, the deacons and singers of the church choir, compares them with the heroes of the Battle of Kulikovo, the monks sent by St. Sergius of Radonezh to help Dmitry Donskoy in the confrontation with the Golden Horde. Think. the names of Peresvet and Oslyabi have symbolic overtones. Former warriors - heroes go to a monastery, and then again perform a military feat. After all, the girl is also preparing for a spiritual feat.

Let's consider the landscape given at the time the heroes visited the Novodevichy Convent. Some details emphasize the beauty of this “peaceful, sunny” evening: frost on the trees, the creaking of steps in silence in the snow, the golden enamel of the sunset, the gray corals of branches in frost. Everything is filled with peace, silence and harmony, some kind of warm sadness. A feeling of anxiety is caused by the “brick and bloody walls of the monastery, chatty jackdaws that look like nuns. For some reason the heroes went to Ordynka, looked for Griboyedov’s house, but never found it. Griboedov’s name is not mentioned by chance. A Westerner in his views, he died in embassy in the East in Persia at the hands of an angry, fanatical crowd.

The next episode of this evening takes place in the famous Yegorov tavern in Okhotny Ryad, where the Old Testament merchants washed down fiery pancakes with grainy caviar with frozen champagne (pancakes are a symbol of Russian Maslenitsa, champagne is a symbol of Western culture). Here the heroine draws attention to the icon of the Mother of God of Three Hands and says with admiration: “Good! There are wild men below, and here are pancakes with champagne and the Mother of God of Three Hands. Three hands! After all, this is India!” The heroine is wrong, of course. The three-handed woman is in no way connected with the Indian god Shiva, but the rapprochement with the East is symbolic. The girl quotes lines from Russian chronicles, remembers how she went to the Chudov Monastery on Strastnaya last year: “Oh, how good it was! There were puddles everywhere, the air was already soft, spring-like, my soul was somehow tender, sad, and all the time there was a feeling of homeland, her antiquities..." With a quiet light in her eyes she says, "I love Russian chronicles, I love Russian legends so much that I keep re-reading what I especially like until I memorize it by heart." The heroine retells "The Tale of Peter and Fevronia." Bunin deliberately combines two episodes of this ancient Russian story. In one, a serpent “in human nature, exceedingly beautiful” began to appear to the wife of the autocratic noble Prince of Murom Pavel. Devilish temptation and seduction - this is exactly how the girl perceives the young man. And the second episode is connected with the images of the holy believers Peter and Fevronia, who went to the monastery and reposed on the same day and hour.

Now let’s analyze the episode “On Clean Monday”. The heroine invites a young man to the “cabbage party” of the Art Theater. The young man perceives this invitation as just another “Moscow quirk.” since before the girl considered these skits vulgar, she nevertheless answered cheerfully and in English: “Ol right!” I think that this is also a characteristic of a hero associated with the West. By the way, Bunin himself also did not like the skits and had never been there, so in a letter to B. Zaitsev he asked whether he accurately recreated the atmosphere of the skits; it was important for him to be accurate in all the details.

The episode opens with a description of the heroine's apartment. The young man opened the door with his key, but did not immediately enter from the dark hallway. He was struck by the bright light, everything was lit: chandeliers, candelabra on the sides of the mirror and a tall lamp under a light lampshade behind the head of the sofa. The beginning of the “Moonlight Sonata” sounded - increasingly rising, sounding the further, the more languid, more inviting, in somnambulistic, blissful sadness.

A parallel can be drawn with Margarita’s preparations for Satan’s Ball at Bulgakov’s. All the lights were on in Margarita’s bedroom. The three-leaf window glowed with furious electric fire. A mirror is also mentioned - a dressing table as a way of passing from one world to another.

The appearance of the heroine is recreated in detail: a straight and somewhat theatrical pose, a black velvet dress that made her thinner, a festive headdress of jet-black hair, the dark amber color of her bare arms, shoulders, the tender and full beginning of her breasts, the sparkle of diamond earrings along her slightly powdered cheeks, the velvety purple of her lips ; At her temples, black shiny braids curled in half-rings toward her eyes, giving her the look of an oriental beauty from a popular print. The hero is amazed by such a brilliant beauty of his beloved, he has a confused face, and she treats her appearance with slight irony: “Now, if I were a singer and sang on the stage... I would respond to applause with a friendly smile and slight bows to the right and to the left, up and into the stalls, and she herself would imperceptibly but carefully move the train away with her foot so as not to step on it..."

“The Cabbage Man” is Satan’s ball, where the heroine succumbed to all temptations: she smoked a lot and kept sipping champagne, watching intently as the big Stanislavsky with white hair and black eyebrows and the stocky Moskvin in pince-nez on his trough-shaped face performed a desperate cancan to the laughter of the audience.. ." Kachalov called the heroine “the tsar-maiden, the Shamakhan queen,” and this definition emphasizes both the Russian and oriental beauty of the heroine.

All this carnival action takes place on Clean Monday, the beginning of Lent. This means that there was no Clean Monday in the religious sense. It was on this night that the heroine leaves the young man with her for the first time. And at dawn, quietly and evenly, she tells him that she is leaving for Tver for an indefinite time, but promises to write about the future.

The young man walked home through the sticky snow past the Iveron Chapel. "the inside of which was burning hotly and shining with whole bonfires of candles. Here, too, there is a bright light, but this is a different light - the light of fasting and repentance, the light of prayers. He stood in the crowd of old women and the beggar, trampled on his knees, took off his hat. Some unfortunate old woman said to him, wincing from pitiful tears: “Oh, don’t kill yourself like that! Sin! Sin!"

Two weeks later he received a letter with a gentle but firm request not to look for her. she decided to go to obedience and hopes to decide to take monastic vows.

The hero's life turned into absolute hell: he disappeared into the dirtiest taverns, became an alcoholic, and sank lower and lower. Then he gradually began to recover - indifferent, hopeless. Two years have passed since that Clean Monday. In 14, on New Year's Eve, the hero goes to the Kremlin, drives into the empty Archangel Cathedral, stands for a long time, without praying, as if expecting something. Driving along Ordynka, he remembered his past happiness and cried and cried. .. The hero stopped at the gates of the Marfo-Mariinsky monastery, where they did not want to let him in because of the service, where Elizaveta Fedorovna was present. Having given the watchman a ruble, he entered the courtyard and saw how icons and banners were being carried out of the church, and behind them, all in white, long, thin-faced, tall, slowly, earnestly walking with lowered eyes, with a large candle in her hand, the Grand Duchess, and behind her is a white line of nuns. One of those walking in the middle suddenly raised her head, covered with a white shawl, and fixed her dark eyes on the darkness, as if she felt his presence. Thus ends this amazing story.

Ivan Bunin always raised the problem of love in his stories, because he knew that this feeling is fleeting and ultimately leads to tragedy, since it does not last forever.

A work that deserves the attention of readers is “Clean Monday”, which shows a wonderful feeling that ultimately leads to disaster.

Between the main character and his beloved there is a flash, a spark, emotions, a rush of tenderness. The character and heroine are pierced by love, which, as Bunin says, cannot last long, because everything beautiful has the ability to end. The lyrical hero appreciates the girl for what she is, for her magnificent figure and facial features. However, all this is carnal, not sublime. The heroine, on the contrary, has different ideas about relationships; for her, love is not so much affection as it is pleasure and pleasure from every minute spent together.

She is a student. The character sometimes believes that the girl does not understand the meaning of the concept of “love”, for him there is now, here she is in front of him, the whole world is turning upside down, he doesn’t want to think about anything, only about how to get closer to the girl as quickly as possible, but true spiritual values the hero does not. He is too far from those ideas about the great warm feelings that usually arise between lovers. The character, if you read the text, does not understand the girl, who envelops the young man’s consciousness with her own mystery.

Unfortunately, the story has a sad ending, because Bunin does not want to give a continuation where it is impossible, where ultimately everything leads to collapse, to the point of no return. There is a huge gap between the character and the heroine: one shows interest in the girl’s body, while the other brings to the fore spiritual values ​​that the character cannot understand. And when he opens his eyes in the morning and doesn’t find the heroine nearby, he doesn’t realize why she left. Why didn't the girl get along with the hero? What stopped her? And she left him because she saw the light and became convinced of the invalidity of the hero’s feelings for her. Yes, there was love, but not in the direction she dreamed of.

Sometimes it happens that our desires do not coincide with real actions and deeds. It happens that a person finds his beloved, only later opening his eyes to what is really happening. But it’s better to understand everything late than never. And Ivan Bunin makes it clear that love has such tragic ends from which no one is safe. That's life!

Thus, the writer showed his point of view on the consequences of such a pure feeling as love. No one argues that it inspires, makes you live in a new way, but you should be prepared for the difficulties that love brings with it. The main thing is to accept as a fact that in life a person decides for himself how to love and for what: for the beauty of the soul or the body. If the first becomes important for the reader, then most likely he is on the right track. Fate will be kind to him, because people with spiritual dreams are able not to be disappointed when the body they once fell in love with begins to crack. For them, the soul, which is mysterious and original, is of interest. Therefore, it is worth appreciating your beloved not for his appearance, but for the depth of his soul, no matter how long love may last!

Analysis of the work Clean Monday for grade 11

1944 World War II is having a detrimental effect on families, love, and feelings in general like never before. Bunin, being on the territory of modern Russia, perfectly understands the feelings of all soldiers, mothers and girls waiting for their lovers. At the same time, his work examines the theme of love and the author zealously seeks answers to eternal questions.

The work “Clean Monday” was created precisely at this time. It is noteworthy that the characters are not given names - the author did not consider it necessary to give names, because such a story could happen many times to everyone. Instead, the man acts as a narrator, which gives the reader the opportunity to hear the words first-hand, feel the emotions, and understand what guides the young man in love in his actions.

The heroes are antagonists to each other: he is ardent, energetic and has a character reminiscent of an Italian, while she is more restrained in actions and words. The young lady is at the center of the Universe, and the author is, as it were, assigned to her. He himself writes that neither wealth, nor beautiful places, nor dinners touch her. The girl accepts all the advances, but remains cold.

During Lent, the hero notices that his companion is passionate about monasteries. He could have noticed this earlier, however, it is quite possible that due to his concentration on his feelings he could not think about her happiness. And what could such a nature desire, which is spiritually rich and thinks about the essence of love and happiness? How much she slipped away, when attempts to get closer crossed the line of decency so much that the hero could no longer control himself!

He was not given the opportunity to understand the indirect signs that she did not want to connect her life with such a man. However, on the last night the girl gives herself to him, which gives the illusion that they have finally become close. After this, she leaves for the monastery. In the projection of Bunin's modernity, such famous names as Stanislavsky, Andrei Bely, Moskvin are given. Appearing for a moment, they make tempting offers or help a beautiful couple have fun. However, they are of no value.

After weeks of hard drinking and idleness without his beloved, the author comes to the monastery and meets the same one there, in the guise of a nun. Bunin thereby shows that, despite tempting offers that do not carry spiritual value and temporary adversity (war), Russia will find itself. Just as the heroine suffered while trying to understand her role, so the state was going through bad times. However, there will be that Clean Monday that will cleanse the country of the dirt that is now on it!

Essay on the story Clean Monday by Bunin

Bunin writes the story in 1944, during the Second World War. As you know, during the war, the Soviet government opened many churches and flew around Moscow with icons in order to protect the city. People could turn to faith again.

The story is set in 1912-14, a period also difficult for Russia, the pre-revolutionary years, the proximity of war. The period when turning to faith is relevant and very urgent.

The main character is like a reflection of the era, she has fun, but is not seduced or carried away by these entertainments, she seems to see the ephemerality of all existence and feels the precarious nature of her time. At the same time, Bunin specifically introduces genuine historical figures into the narrative: Stanislavsky, Moskvin, Sulerzhitsky, Bely, Kachalov - to some extent, they are the faces of their time. The main characters also enter into this world; moreover, they attract admiring glances, often find themselves in the center of attention, and attract with their beauty and independence.

So, she is no stranger to entertainment, but when she has a free evening or morning, she visits cathedrals and temples. She studies history and in this Bunin emphasizes the desire for the roots, for the search for the true face and essence of the people. Also, the main character understands the Orthodox tradition, but does not call herself religious. This is an interesting detail, the main character seems to be more of a seeker and analyst than just a believer. She has warm feelings about religious themes, but also has deep feelings.

The same deep, but slightly peculiar feelings for the main character, to whom she allows affection, but does not give herself completely. This shows a certain chastity, which is not something feigned, because for her he is “the first and the last” and she has no one else. Therefore, here we see a greater desire to save our own soul and the soul of our beloved. He often asks if she loves him and demands confirmation, doubts. However, in the final scene of the story we see how she recognizes her lover in complete darkness, already being a nun.

Bunin describes the connection between these people as incredibly strong and rising above the everyday life of the world. The main character is passionate and literally sings of every detail of the heroine, admiring everything down to the footprints in the snow from her shoes. The main character is more silent and thoughtful, she reflects on books and on this world. As a result, the only way out that she chooses is to go to the monastery as a search for something real, something genuine in this world.

Option 4

Bunin writes about feelings between two people. They are characteristic representatives of their time, the author does not even name names and at the same time achieves an amazing effect. Many readers do not notice the absence of names of the main characters at all.

The girl is rich and beautiful, as the narrator describes her, she has some kind of Indian beauty. The young man has beauty and morals, also southern, but more “Persian”. He is also an accomplished person and attracts admiring glances.

The relationship between them remains almost platonic; more precisely, it allows for some physical intimacy, which never reaches its logical conclusion. The heroine always tactfully dismisses him, after which they go for a walk to restaurants and theaters and so on for many days, or rather, nights in a row.

Nevertheless, as the reader later learns, the heroine is not alien to Orthodox culture and even understands the topic of faith, although she never shows excessive religiosity or piety. At the same time, she can make very precise remarks that emphasize her certain detachment from this world: “books, theaters and the rest” seem to be of no use to her at all. This fact is emphasized by the narrator himself when he describes the heroine, but one gets the impression that he is making some mockery of the heroine.

For example, he talks about her phrase “I don’t understand how people don’t always get tired of having lunch and dinner” and after that he describes in some detail the dishes that the heroine herself loved to partake of. She had “Moscow” taste and did not shy away from simple earthly pleasures.

When the heroine talks about her intention to eventually go to a monastery, the hero also perceives such an attack as not serious and even wants to say in response that if this happens, then he himself will do so in order to recover from hard labor or something similar.

As a result, it is the heroine’s intentions that turn out to be completely serious. She also takes seriously the stories about the Murom prince Pavel and his wife.

For the heroine, the history of her country is part of her own being; Bunin mentions this “history interests her.” Moreover, in the image of the heroine one can see that holiness, that originality of Rus', which is now hidden under the feigned and worldly. It is not surprising that when the girl eventually goes to the monastery, she sees in these pre-revolutionary years the only way out is to turn to something real, higher than earthly things and idleness.

However, she remembers her “first and last” lover. She is the one who recognizes in pitch darkness, being a nun.

A distinctive feature of the writer’s works is the use of artistic allegorical language in them, called Aesopian by the author himself, after the famous fabulist Aesop

How I envied my friend that she had a sister! We sometimes walked with her and picked her up from kindergarten. I really wanted to have a younger sister too.

Ivan Bunin's creative heritage includes both prose and poems. He himself rightly considered himself first and foremost a poet and was offended when he was called a prose writer. He wrote his best prose works like a true poet.

In the story “Clean Monday” feelings come to the fore, which brings it closer to poetry. If you work a little on the rhymes, then the beginning of the story can be remade into a lyrical poetic work:

The Moscow winter day was getting dark,
The cabs were rushing by...

This “flowing” of prose into poetry makes Bunin’s story unusually musical.

The writer's syntax also has its own characteristics. “Clean Monday” contains large, half-sheet paragraphs that consist of two or three huge sentences. They do not create a feeling of heaviness, because they contain some kind of peculiar rhythm, to which the figurative and expressive means of the artistic style of speech are also subordinated.

It is impossible to retell the plot, because without the magic of Bunin’s words the most ordinary story will turn out. Just Him and She. He tells the story of his love. Just six pages of text, enough to go down in literary history.

The story is called “Clean Monday”, of course, not by chance. There are no accidents for a demanding artist. But the meaning of the name is not immediately revealed. Clean Monday is the first day of Lent after Maslenitsa. Orthodox Christians fast strictly in order to cleanse themselves of filth and prepare for a better, brighter life. The day before, on Forgiveness Sunday, the heroes go not to a restaurant, but to the Novodevichy Convent, visit the graves of Ertel and Chekhov, and try to find Griboyedov’s house.

The next day, Clean Monday, nothing happens. He and She meet only late in the evening. Evgeny Yablokov writes: “... in the work called “Clean Monday”, there is, in essence, no Clean Monday: its place in the plot is occupied by a pause lasting exactly a day... and in the word “Clean”, in addition to the meaning of “holy”, Paradoxically, the meaning “unfilled”, “empty”, “absent” is emphasized.

Why, even after two years of separation, does the hero remember precisely Clean Monday, and the author calls the story that?

On this day, the girl finally makes the most important decision for herself: to move away from the bustle of the world and become a nun. Purity and holiness, fighting the temptations of earthly life, win. She removes everything unnecessary “imperceptibly but carefully” from herself, like the train of an evening dress. The decision was painful, because as a test from above, beautiful love was sent to the heroine.

The composition falls into three parts. The first introduces the characters, talks about their relationships and pastimes. The second part is devoted to the events of Forgiveness Sunday and Clean Monday. The shortest, but most capacious third part completes the composition.

The short story contains comprehensive information about the characters.
This is achieved through careful selection of artistic means to create bright, memorable characters. Epithets, metaphors, and comparisons give the story the necessary figurative expressiveness. Every evening the hero hurries to his beloved on a “stretching trotter”, it becomes clear with what impatience he awaits the meeting.

The tone of the story changes from the second part. Built on dialogue, it is less dynamic, but extremely important, since the ideological content of the story begins to become clearer in it; for the first time we learn about the heroine’s love for antiquity and religious rites. Here she admits her desire to go to a monastery. At the same time, her eyes are “gentle and quiet”, her clothes are designed in dark colors. Eyes - clothes, landscape - everything is in full accordance with the mood of the heroine.

The feeling of tranquility is created by a “peaceful sunny” evening, the silence of the monastery, broken by the ringing of bells, and the “golden enamel” of the sunset. It is not for nothing that after two years the narrator remembers the smallest details that take on the meaning of symbols. One of these details - symbols is the star trail in the snow from the boots of the beloved girl. She walks, as if scattering stars, and this light will be repeated in the glow of candles in the hands of nuns, in one of which the hero recognizes his beloved.

The night after Monday is the climax in the composition of the story. Love reaches its climax, but separation is inevitable: she firmly decided to become a novice in a monastery.

The third part is narrated as if by another person. Not surprising: for two years the hero “... disappeared into the dirtiest taverns, became an alcoholic, sinking in every possible way, more and more.”

Then he gradually recovered and began to live “indifferently, hopelessly.” But the guardian angel did not forget about him. As if anticipating his appearance, the same sunny evening is repeated, and the candles flicker in the same way, and the singing of the church choir is heard. Before us is no longer a frivolous young man, but one who has suffered a lot, capable of crying from memories, striving for the temple. He saw his beloved among the nuns, and, I want to believe, the look of her dark eyes will give him the strength to live on enough...