Garnet bracelet: main characters, issues, analysis. Character history In which chapter does the yolk garnet bracelet appear?

“Garnet bracelet” Kuprin A.I.

Zheltkov G. S.- appears in the story only towards the end: “very pale, with a gentle girlish face, blue eyes and a stubborn childish chin with a dimple in the middle; He must have been about thirty, thirty-five years old.” Along with Princess Vera, he can be called the main character of the story. The beginning of the conflict is when Princess Vera received on September 17, her name day, a letter signed with the initials “G. S. Zh.”, and a garnet bracelet in a red case.

It was a gift from a then stranger to Vera Zh., who fell in love with her seven years ago, wrote letters, then, at her request, stopped bothering her, but now confessed his love again. In the letter, J. explained that the old silver bracelet once belonged to his grandmother, then all the stones were transferred to a new, gold bracelet. J. repents that he previously “dared to write stupid and impudent letters” and adds: “Now only reverence, eternal admiration and slavish devotion remain in me.” One of the guests at the name day, for the sake of entertainment, presents the love story of the telegraph operator, P.P.Zh. (distorted G.S.Zh.), to Vera in a comic form, stylized as a pulp novel. Another guest, a person close to the family, old General Anosov, suggests: “Maybe he’s just an abnormal fellow, a maniac.”<...>Maybe your path in life, Verochka, has been crossed by exactly the kind of love that women dream about and that men are no longer capable of.”

Under the influence of his brother-in-law, Vera’s husband, Prince Vasily Lvovich Shein, decides to return the bracelet and stop the correspondence. J. amazed Shein at the meeting with his sincerity. Zh., having asked Shein for permission, speaks on the phone with Vera, but she also asks to stop “this story.” Shein felt that he was present “at some enormous tragedy of the soul.” When he reports this to Vera, she predicts that J. will kill himself. Later, from a newspaper, she accidentally learned about the suicide of Zh., who referred in his suicide note to the embezzlement of government money. In the evening of the same day, she receives a farewell letter from J. He calls his love for Vera “an enormous happiness” sent to him by God. He admits that he “is not interested in anything in life: neither politics, nor science, nor philosophy, nor concern for the future happiness of people.” All life lies in love for Vera: “Even though I was ridiculous in your eyes and in the eyes of your brother<...>As I leave, I say in delight: Hallowed be Thy name.” Prince Shein admits: J. was not crazy and loved Vera very much and therefore was doomed to death. He allows Vera to say goodbye to J. Looking at the deceased, she “realized that the love that every woman dreams of has passed her by.” In the face of the dead ^K. she noticed the “deep importance”, the “deep and sweet mystery”, the “peaceful expression” that “she saw on the masks of the great sufferers - Pushkin and Napoleon.”

At home, Vera found a familiar pianist, Jenny Reiter, who played her exactly that passage from Beethoven’s second sonata that seemed to J. the most perfect - “Largo Appassionato”. And this music became an afterlife declaration of love addressed to Vera. Vera’s thoughts that “great love passed by” coincided with the music, each “verse” of which ended with the words: “Hallowed be Thy name.” At the very end of the story, Vera utters words that only she understands: “...he has forgiven me now. Everything is fine".

All the characters in the story, not excluding J., had real prototypes. Criticism pointed out, however, the connection between “The Garnet Bracelet” and the prose of the Norwegian writer Knut Hamsun.

Introduction
“The Garnet Bracelet” is one of the most famous stories by Russian prose writer Alexander Ivanovich Kuprin. It was published in 1910, but for the domestic reader it still remains a symbol of unselfish, sincere love, the kind that girls dream about, and the one that we so often miss. We previously published this wonderful work. In this same publication we will tell you about the main characters, analyze the work and talk about its problems.

The events of the story begin to unfold on the birthday of Princess Vera Nikolaevna Sheina. They celebrate at the dacha with their closest people. At the height of the fun, the hero of the occasion receives a gift - a garnet bracelet. The sender decided to remain unrecognized and signed the short note only with the initials of the HSG. However, everyone immediately guesses that this is Vera’s long-time admirer, a certain petty official who has been inundating her with love letters for many years. The princess's husband and brother quickly figure out the identity of the annoying suitor and the next day they go to his home.

In a wretched apartment they are met by a timid official named Zheltkov, he meekly agrees to take the gift and promises never to appear in front of the respectable family again, provided that he makes a final farewell call to Vera and makes sure that she does not want to know him. Vera Nikolaevna, of course, asks Zheltkov to leave her. The next morning the newspapers will write that a certain official took his own life. In his farewell note, he wrote that he had squandered government property.

Main characters: characteristics of key images

Kuprin is a master of portraiture, and through appearance he draws the character of the characters. The author pays a lot of attention to each character, devoting a good half of the story to portrait characteristics and memories, which are also revealed by the characters. The main characters of the story are:

• – princess, central female image;
• - her husband, the prince, the provincial leader of the nobility;
• - a minor official of the control chamber, passionately in love with Vera Nikolaevna;
• Anna Nikolaevna Friesse– Vera’s younger sister;
• Nikolai Nikolaevich Mirza-Bulat-Tuganovsky– brother of Vera and Anna;
• Yakov Mikhailovich Anosov- general, military comrade of Vera’s father, close friend of the family.

Vera is an ideal representative of high society in appearance, manners, and character.

“Vera took after her mother, a beautiful Englishwoman, with her tall, flexible figure, gentle but cold and proud face, beautiful, albeit rather large hands and that charming sloping shoulders that can be seen in ancient miniatures.”

Princess Vera was married to Vasily Nikolaevich Shein. Their love had long ceased to be passionate and moved into that calm stage of mutual respect and tender friendship. Their union was happy. The couple did not have children, although Vera Nikolaevna passionately wanted a baby, and therefore gave all her unspent feelings to the children of her younger sister.

Vera was royally calm, coldly kind to everyone, but at the same time very funny, open and sincere with close people. She was not characterized by such feminine tricks as affectation and coquetry. Despite her high status, Vera was very prudent, and knowing how poorly things were going for her husband, she sometimes tried to deprive herself so as not to put him in an uncomfortable position.

Vera Nikolaevna’s husband is a talented, pleasant, gallant, noble person. He has an amazing sense of humor and is a brilliant storyteller. Shein keeps a home journal, which contains true stories with pictures about the life of the family and those close to them.

Vasily Lvovich loves his wife, perhaps not as passionately as in the first years of marriage, but who knows how long passion actually lasts? The husband deeply respects her opinion, feelings, and personality. He is compassionate and merciful to others, even those who are much lower in status than him (this is evidenced by his meeting with Zheltkov). Shein is noble and endowed with the courage to admit mistakes and his own wrongness.

We first meet Official Zheltkov towards the end of the story. Until this moment, he is present in the work invisibly in the grotesque image of a klutz, an eccentric, a fool in love. When the long-awaited meeting finally takes place, we see before us a meek and shy person, it is customary to not notice such people and call them “little”:

“He was tall, thin, with long, fluffy, soft hair.”

His speeches, however, are devoid of the chaotic whims of a madman. He is fully aware of his words and actions. Despite his apparent cowardice, this man is very courageous; he boldly tells the prince, Vera Nikolaevna’s legal husband, that he is in love with her and cannot do anything about it. Zheltkov does not fawn over the rank and position in society of his guests. He submits, but not to fate, but only to his beloved. And he also knows how to love – selflessly and sincerely.

“It so happened that I am not interested in anything in life: neither politics, nor science, nor philosophy, nor concern for the future happiness of people - for me life lies only in you. I now feel that I have crashed into your life like some kind of uncomfortable wedge. If you can, forgive me for this"

Analysis of the work

Kuprin got the idea for his story from real life. In reality, the story was more of an anecdotal nature. A certain poor telegraph operator named Zheltikov was in love with the wife of one of the Russian generals. One day this eccentric was so brave that he sent his beloved a simple gold chain with a pendant in the shape of an Easter egg. It's hilarious and that's it! Everyone laughed at the stupid telegraph operator, but the inquisitive writer’s mind decided to look beyond the anecdote, because behind the apparent curiosity there can always be a real drama hidden.

Also in “The Pomegranate Bracelet,” the Sheins and their guests first make fun of Zheltkov. Vasily Lvovich even has a funny story about this in his home magazine called “Princess Vera and the telegraph operator in love.” People tend not to think about other people's feelings. The Sheins were not bad, callous, soulless (this is proven by the metamorphosis in them after meeting Zheltkov), they simply did not believe that the love in which the official admitted could exist..

There are many symbolic elements in the work. For example, a garnet bracelet. Garnet is a stone of love, anger and blood. If a feverish person picks it up (a parallel with the expression “love fever”), the stone will take on a more saturated hue. According to Zheltkov himself, this special type of pomegranate (green pomegranate) gives women the gift of foresight, and protects men from violent death. Zheltkov, having parted with his amulet bracelet, dies, and Vera unexpectedly predicts his death.

Another symbolic stone - pearls - also appears in the work. Vera receives pearl earrings as a gift from her husband on the morning of her name day. Pearls, despite their beauty and nobility, are an omen of bad news.
The weather also tried to predict something bad. On the eve of the fateful day, a terrible storm broke out, but on the birthday everything calmed down, the sun came out and the weather was calm, like a calm before a deafening clap of thunder and an even stronger storm.

Problems of the story

The key problem of the work is the question “What is true love?” In order for the “experiment” to be pure, the author gives different types of “love”. This is the tender love-friendship of the Sheins, and the calculating, convenient love of Anna Friesse for her indecently rich old man-husband, who blindly adores her soul mate, and the long-forgotten ancient love of General Amosov, and the all-consuming love-worship of Zheltkov for Vera.

The main character herself cannot understand for a long time whether it is love or madness, but looking into his face, albeit hidden by the mask of death, she is convinced that it was love. Vasily Lvovich draws the same conclusions after meeting his wife’s admirer. And if at first he was somewhat belligerent, then later he could not be angry with the unfortunate man, because, it seems, a secret was revealed to him, which neither he, nor Vera, nor their friends could comprehend.

People are selfish by nature and even in love, they think first of all about their feelings, masking their own egocentrism from their other half and even themselves. True love, which occurs between a man and a woman once every hundred years, puts the beloved first. So Zheltkov calmly lets Vera go, because that’s the only way she will be happy. The only problem is that he doesn’t need life without her. In his world, suicide is a completely natural step.

Princess Sheina understands this. She sincerely mourns Zheltkov, a man whom she practically did not know, but, oh my God, perhaps true love, which occurs once every hundred years, passed her by.

“I am eternally grateful to you just for the fact that you exist. I tested myself - this is not a disease, not a manic idea - this is love with which God was pleased to reward me for something... Leaving, I say in delight: “Hallowed be Thy name.”

Place in literature: Literature of the 20th century → Russian literature of the 20th century → Works of Alexander Ivanovich Kuprin → The story “Garnet Bracelet” (1910)

Zheltkov was a young man who had long fallen in love with Vera Nikolaevna. At first he dared to write letters to her. But when she asked him not to do this anymore, he immediately stopped, since his love was higher than his own desires. At first he dreamed of a meeting and wanted an answer, but, realizing that he would not succeed, he still continued to love the princess. For him, her happiness and peace came first. He was a sensitive young man, capable of deep feeling. For him, Vera Nikolaevna was the ideal and perfection of beauty. He wasn't crazy because he understood everything that was happening perfectly. He wanted to see Vera, but had no right to do so, so he did it secretly. He understood that he could not give her gifts, but he sent her a bracelet, in the hope that she would at least see it and take it in her hands for a second.

In addition, Zheltkov was a very honest and noble young man; he did not pursue Vera Nikolaevna after her marriage and after she wrote him a note asking him never to write to her again. He only occasionally sent her congratulations on major holidays, such as New Year, Christmas, and Birthday. Zheltkov was noble, since he did not try to upset Vera Nikolaevna’s barque, and when he realized that he had already gone far and was interfering with his manifestations, he decided to simply get out of the way. But since he could not live without her, he committed suicide, because for him it was the only way to keep himself from not seeing her, not sending gifts, letters, not making himself known. He was strong enough mentally to come to this conclusion for himself, but he was not strong enough to live without his love.

Composition

And the heart will no longer respond

It's all over... And my song rushes

On an empty night where you are no longer there.

A. Akhmatova

A. I. Kuprin is an original writer of the 20th century, in whose work the precepts of Russian classical literature with its democracy, passionate desire to solve the problems of social existence, humanism, and deep interest in the life of the people were uniquely refracted. Loyalty to traditions, the influence of L.N. Tolstoy and A.P. Chekhov, the influence of the creative ideas of M. Gorky determined the originality of Kuprin’s artistic prose and his place in the literary process of the beginning of the century.

Writers whose work was formed during the years of revolutionary upsurge were especially close to the theme of the “epiphany” of the ordinary Russian person, greedily seeking the truth in social life. Therefore, the center of the works invariably turns out to be a small person, an average truth-seeker intellectual, and the main theme is bourgeois civilization, devouring thousands of human lives and entailing the vulgarization of people's relationships." In such a situation, it is natural to turn to one of the eternal themes - the theme of love. Turns to the theme love, as one of the mysteries of existence, and A. Kuprin.

Following “Olesya” (1898) and “The Duel” (1905), in the 1910s, from his pen came a kind of “trilogy” about love, which is formed by the works “Shulamith”, “Garnet Bracelet” and “The Pit” ( the latter depicts anti-love). Love for Kuprin is a saving force that protects the human soul from the destructive influence of civilization; a phenomenon of life, an unexpected gift that illuminates life in the midst of everyday reality and established life. But love in his works is associated with the idea of ​​death.

Kuprin's heroes most often die when faced with the world of cruelty, lack of spirituality and generally accepted philistine morality of the modern world.

The meaning and content of the life of the protagonist of the story “Garnet Bracelet” became a great, but, unfortunately, unrequited love. G. S. Zheltkov is a young man of pleasant appearance, an employee of the control chamber. He is musical, endowed with a sense of beauty, has a subtle feeling and knows how to understand people. Despite his poverty, Zheltkov has a “pedigree”; his sofa is covered with a “worn, beautiful Tekin carpet.”

But its main value is “seven years of hopeless and polite love.” The object of his admiration is the eldest daughter of the late Prince Mirza-Bulat-Tuganovsky, the wife of the leader of the nobility in the city of K., Vera Nikolaevna Sheina. She married a childhood friend for love, and now feels for her husband “a feeling of lasting, faithful, true friendship.” Both Vera Nikolaevna herself and those around her consider her marriage happy. Vera Nikolaevna is endowed with “aristocratic” beauty. She attracts “with her tall flexible figure, gentle but cold and proud face, beautiful, although rather large hands and that charming sloping shoulders that can be seen in ancient miniatures.”

The heroine is a sensitive, subtle person with many talents. But Vera does not respond to Zheltkov’s feelings. She perceives his attention, his letters and the gift of a garnet bracelet as something unnecessary, which also disrupts the usual measured flow of life. The princess is used to taking life seriously. She soberly assesses the family’s financial situation and tries to “help the prince avoid complete ruin,” denying herself a lot and saving in the household. The Sheins have a wide circle of acquaintances, and Princess Vera’s reputation is very important; she is afraid of looking funny or ridiculous. She considers the very admirer “with the funny surname Zheltkov” to be a “madman” who “pursues her with his love,” and even once asks him in writing “not to bother her anymore with his love outpourings.” Our hero's love is incomprehensible to the princess and seems burdensome.

For Zheltkov, his whole life lies in Vera Nikolaevna. He is no longer interested in anything: “neither politics, nor science, nor philosophy, nor concern for the future happiness of people.” Zheltkov’s heart is always near his beloved, at her feet, “every moment of the day is filled” with Vera Nikolaevna, thoughts and dreams about her. But Zheltkov’s love is “not a disease, not a manic idea.” He fell in love with Vera “because there is nothing in the world like her, there is nothing better, there is no beast, no plant, no star, no person more beautiful... and more tender.” This great love is a gift from heaven, “tremendous happiness.” This is love, “with which God was pleased to reward me for something,” he writes, experiencing “reverence, eternal admiration” and boundless gratitude for the woman he loves just for the fact that she exists. The princess, without knowing it, painfully wounds Zheltkov, pushes him to commit suicide with the words: “Oh, if you only knew how tired I am of this whole story. Please stop it as soon as possible.” But he asked for such a small thing: “to stay in the city so that he can see her at least occasionally, of course, without showing his face to her.”

For the hero, saying goodbye to Vera Nikolaevna is tantamount to saying goodbye to life. But, knowing full well about the inseparability of his feelings, Zheltkov hopes and is “even sure” that Vera Nikolaevna will someday remember him. And indeed, after Zheltkov’s death, saying goodbye to him, she understands that she has lost something important and very valuable, that “the great love that is repeated only once in a thousand years,” “the love that every woman dreams of, has passed past her." Shocked by this realization, Vera asks the pianist to play something, without doubting that Jenny will play the very passage from the Second Sonata that Zheltkov asked for. And when she listened to “this exceptional, unique work of depth,” “her soul seemed to split in two.” It was filled with music and poetry, which ended with words from a farewell letter from a loving person: “Hallowed be Thy name”...

The musical theme "Appassionata" affirms the high power of love. Music in the story generally plays a very important role; it is no coincidence that the title of Beethoven’s second sonata is included in the epigraph. It serves as the key to understanding the entire work. “Prayer for Love” runs as a leitmotif throughout the entire work and sounds powerfully in its finale. What the lovelorn official of the control chamber could not express in words was “told” by the music of the great composer. As we see, mutual, perfect love did not take place, but this lofty and poetic feeling, albeit concentrated in one soul, opened the way to the beautiful rebirth of another. After all, every woman in the depths of her heart dreams of such love - “united, all-forgiving, ready for anything, modest and selfless.”

Just a few pages, a few lines from a letter, and a person’s life passed before us. Is life real? Is the image of the main character real?

According to the memoirs of L. Arsenyeva, a younger contemporary of the writer, in the late 1920s in Paris, the aging A. Kuprin challenged his interlocutor to a duel, who allowed himself to doubt the plausibility of the plot of the “Garnet Bracelet”. Kuprin rarely resorted to pure fiction in his work. All his works are realistic, based on real events, personal impressions from meetings with people, from conversations. The writer heard the love story that formed the basis of the story in the summer of 1906 while visiting State Council member Dmitry Nikolaevich Lyubimov. The Lyubimovs showed Kuprin a family album. There were illustrations for letters that Lyubimov’s wife received from a person signing with the initials P.P.Zh. (he turned out to be a petty postal official Pyotr Petrovich Zheltikov). Kuprin creatively rethought what he heard and, with the power of his talent, turned an ordinary episode into a love story, which “the best minds and souls of humanity - poets, novelists, musicians, artists” have been dreaming and yearning for for centuries. Unlike the hero of Kuprin’s story, Zheltikov did not shoot himself, but was transferred to the provinces, where he then got married. But he served as a real prototype for the creation of a hero who won our hearts with the strength and purity of his feelings.

Zheltkov’s image is real. It is real because in the world, contrary to the opinion of General Anosov, there is still love, which is not touched by “any of life’s conveniences, calculations and compromises,” and there are men capable of “strong desires, heroic deeds, tenderness and adoration.” I would like to believe that in the modern world a bright, humane feeling, reckless, “hopeless and polite,” knightly, heroic love is possible; love is strong and pure, the love that God sends to the chosen ones, “like enormous happiness.” The kind of love “for which to accomplish any feat, to give one’s life, to suffer torment is not work at all, but one joy.” But such love cannot and should not end in a fatal outcome. Why die? You need to live knowing that you are just nearby, in the same city, in the same country, on the same planet with the person you love, and this makes life filled with meaning and becomes beautiful.

Despite the tragic ending, Kuprin’s story is optimistic, life-affirming, because in “The Garnet Bracelet” the author, probably stronger and brighter than in other works, sings of the eternal values ​​of life, spiritual strength and purity, nobility and the ability to sacrifice in the name of love. And, of course, love itself is the most sublime and beautiful of all human feelings.

Other works on this work

Zheltkov G.S. (apparently, Georgy is “Pan Ezhiy”)- appears in the story only towards the end: “very pale, with a gentle girlish face, blue eyes and a stubborn childish chin with a dimple in the middle; He must have been about thirty, thirty-five years old.” Along with Princess Vera, he can be called the main character of the story. The beginning of the conflict is when Princess Vera received on September 17, her name day, a letter signed with the initials “G. S. Zh.”, and a garnet bracelet in a red case.

It was a gift from a then stranger to Vera Zh., who fell in love with her seven years ago, wrote letters, then, at her request, stopped bothering her, but now confessed his love again. In the letter, J. explained that the old silver bracelet once belonged to his grandmother, then all the stones were transferred to a new, gold bracelet. J. repents that he previously “dared to write stupid and impudent letters” and adds: “Now only reverence, eternal admiration and slavish devotion remain in me.” One of the guests at the name day, for the sake of entertainment, presents the love story of the telegraph operator, P.P.Zh. (distorted G.S.Zh.), to Vera in a comic form, stylized as a pulp novel. Another guest, a person close to the family, old General Anosov, suggests: “Maybe he’s just an abnormal fellow, a maniac.”<...>Maybe your path in life, Verochka, has been crossed by exactly the kind of love that women dream about and that men are no longer capable of.”

Under the influence of his brother-in-law, Vera’s husband, Prince Vasily Lvovich Shein, decides to return the bracelet and stop the correspondence. J. amazed Shein at the meeting with his sincerity. Zh., having asked Shein for permission, speaks on the phone with Vera, but she also asks to stop “this story.” Shein felt that he was present “at some enormous tragedy of the soul.” When he reports this to Vera, she predicts that J. will kill himself. Later, from a newspaper, she accidentally learned about the suicide of Zh., who referred in his suicide note to the embezzlement of government money. In the evening of the same day, she receives a farewell letter from J. He calls his love for Vera “an enormous happiness” sent to him by God. He admits that he “is not interested in anything in life: neither politics, nor science, nor philosophy, nor concern for the future happiness of people.” All life lies in love for Vera: “Even though I was ridiculous in your eyes and in the eyes of your brother<...>As I leave, I say in delight: Hallowed be Thy name.” Prince Shein admits: J. was not crazy and loved Vera very much and therefore was doomed to death. He allows Vera to say goodbye to J. Looking at the deceased, she “realized that the love that every woman dreams of has passed her by.” In the face of the dead ^K. she noticed “deep importance”, “deep and sweet mystery”, “peaceful expression”, which “she saw on the masks of the great sufferers - Pushkin and Napoleon.”

At home, Vera found a familiar pianist, Jenny Reiter, who played her exactly that passage from Beethoven’s second sonata that seemed to J. the most perfect - “Largo Appassionato”. And this music became an afterlife declaration of love addressed to Vera. Vera’s thoughts that “great love passed by” coincided with the music, each “verse” of which ended with the words: “Hallowed be Thy name.” At the very end of the story, Vera utters words that only she understands: “...he has forgiven me now. Everything is fine".

All the characters in the story, not excluding J., had real prototypes. Criticism pointed out, however, the connection between “The Garnet Bracelet” and the prose of the Norwegian writer Knut Hamsun.