Kuprin always loved Russia passionately and tenderly. This feeling was reflected in his work. The main themes of the realist writer’s work are ordinary working people, Balaklava fishermen who are magnificent in work and revelry, philosophizing lieutenants and tortured privates, the magnificent nature of Russia with its inhabitants, the circus and children, as well as a number of works in which there is a place for the mystical and even fantastic .
Kuprin conveys in his works the experiences and accumulated life experience gained in military educational institutions and in the service through the image of a “little” man oppressed by an environment that is offensively alien and hostile to him. Subject oppression and insult of the “little” person transmitted
in the story “The Duel” (1905), the story “Inquiry” (1894), as well as in early work Kuprin - the story “At the Turning Point” (“Cadets”, 1900). In the story “At the Turning Point” “ Kuprin captured in detail the morals that cripple a child’s soul, the inertia of his superiors, the “universal cult of the fist,” which gave the weaker to be torn to pieces by the stronger, and finally, the desperate longing for family
and home". Kuprin’s early stories from army life are imbued with the same deep sympathy for the common man (“Inquiry”
and “Army Warrant Officer”), as well as stories exposing bribe-taking officials and scoundrels (“The Secret Audit” and “The Petitioner”).
Work at the factories of the Donetsk basin in 1896 served as material for a series of essays on the situation of workers, which were later transformed into Kuprin’s first major work - the story “Molochov”. The theme of these stories and stories was ordinary working people.
Kuprin continues to develop the theme of simple, ordinary people, workers of different professions. Another famous group of works dedicated to ordinary people, - essays “Listrigons”. The essays develop the theme of the life of Balaklava fishermen, glorify their hard work,
as well as healthy and courageous people living a harsh, but rich in feelings life. This theme began to develop in the essays “The Lord’s Fish”, “Silence” and “Mackerel” (published under the general title “Balaklava” in 1908), as well as in subsequent essays: “Theft”
and "Beluga", released under the general name "Listrigons". Among the works written far from the homeland, Kuprin’s story “Svetlana” (1934) should be noted.
In his story “The Pit” Kuprin opens a very unusual theme for the literature of that time, the theme women who find themselves at the bottom of their lives. Kuprin describes images of prostitutes, creating lively and beautiful characters. The author treats his characters with deep sympathy, causing regret and deep compassion. Unfortunately, the story “The Pit” did not become an outstanding phenomenon in Russian literature. It's related
with the fact that " the naturalistic descriptiveness that arose in “The Pit” was in conflict with the aesthetic principles that were embodied in a number of his previous works - with faith in man,
with the glorification of beauty, hatred of social forces that destroy beauty". Kuprin’s intentions were not to admire the “bottom,” however, when reading the story, one gets the feeling that the author sometimes admires the paintings he creates. In his story, Kuprin showed a man already mutilated by society, who had sunk to the bottom of bourgeois society, and not the process of mutilation of the human personality. Such a controversial work for the author himself, however, did not deviate from his main theme, the theme of the “little” man, while adding the theme of bourgeois society.
Subject bourgeois society, or rather, Kuprin’s criticism of the bourgeois intelligentsia is presented in the stories “Murderer”, “Resentment”, “Delusion” and the fairy tale “Mechanical Justice”. These works are related general idea protest against violence against people.
Acting Kuprina contributed to the writing of works about the circus, about simple and noble people
– wrestlers, clowns, trainers, acrobats. Several short stories are devoted to this topic.
and Kuprin’s stories: “Olga Sur” (1929), “Bad Pun” (1929), “Blondel” (1933), “White Poodle”.
One of the common themes in the works of A. I. Kuprin is nature theme, love and respect for the world around us. Kuprin, as a realist writer, quite fully and colorfully describes the landscapes of his beloved homeland
and other places. In the descriptions of nature one can feel deep sympathy and love for these places, as well as respect for its inhabitants. Environment theme
in Kuprin’s work is present in many of his works: somewhere it is shown in ordinary descriptions of the area, somewhere it helps to understand the plot of the work and state of mind heroes, and somewhere is the key theme of the work. Among Kuprin's stories there are several about the world around us, where the heroes are the most ordinary animals, which turn into heroes on the pages of the work. In Kuprin’s works, among the stories telling about animals, the stories “White Poodle”, “Barbos and Zhulka”, “Emerald”, “Ralph”, “Yu-Yu”, “Elephant” stood out. These stories were written by the author in different years, but they are united by a common idea - to show readers the capabilities and abilities of animals, their advantages
and quality, as well as to convince future writers to pay attention to the natural world and its representatives.
Speaking about the theme of nature, we should not forget that in his works Kuprin wrote a lot about children and for children. Kuprin loved children very much.
He treated them in a friendly manner and believed that they should not be treated frivolously, in a buffoonish manner. Kuprin wrote many works for children,
These include works of the legend-fairy tale genre (“Blue Star”), as well as several works about animals.
The theme became no less important in Kuprin’s work love
and romantic feelings. This theme is filled with lines such
famous works, like the story “Olesya”, “Garnet Bracelet”
and the story “The Wheel of Time,” written in Marseille, as well as the early story “A Strange Case” and many other works.
The story “Olesya” touches on the topic ordinary working people,
topic aspirations for nature, and also in the plot of the story there is mysticism. The theme of love in the story “Olesya” is conveyed through the romance of love
and dramatic feeling.
« Love to the point of self-denial and even self-destruction, readiness to die in the name of the woman you love..."- exactly like this
understanding reveals the theme of love in Kuprin’s early story
"A Strange Case" (1895), and later in "The Garnet Bracelet". K. Paustovsky wrote about the theme of love in the story “Garnet Bracelet”:
“... love exists as an unexpected gift - poetic,
illuminating life, among everyday life, among sober reality
and established life” .
Subject wars is most fully represented in Kuprin's works
in the story "Cantaloupes". In a story, simple and “plotless”,
The author, through the character of the hero, exposes the hypocrite, “ ... ominously colors the figures of bourgeois money-grubbers, for whom the people's grief is a source of new profits» .
In his works, Kuprin considered theme of war not only
from the side of oppression and profit-making by bourgeois money-grubbers.
In his works about the war, the writer talks about the life of ordinary Russian people, who had the responsibility to fulfill their duty to their homeland. When creating images of heroes, Kuprin endows them with warmth and good-natured humor. A military pilot became such a hero
in the story "Sashka and Yashka".
During the years of exile, Kuprin yearns for his homeland, which he writes about in his essay “Motherland”. The theme of longing for Russia is clearly expressed in Kuprin’s major work - the story “Zhaneta”. In his autobiography “Junker,” Kuprin additionally opens up the theme of Moscow, Moscow “ forty forty» .
In addition to his usual, already established topics, Kuprin tries himself
in such genres as fantasy novella, legend-fairy tale, religious legend and others. However, creating a certain fiction, changing images
and the surrounding world of the heroes of the works, Kuprin remains true to his principles of realism.
In his works of the fantastic genre, he only reveals his ability to combine the fantastic with the concrete in life. This skill is revealed in the fantastic story “The Star of Solomon.”
Kuprin’s works in the genre of legend-fairy tales are very interesting and entertaining. A little humorous, life-like and instructive, they found their readers among both children and adults. Especially witty and a cautionary tale became “Blue Star”, which in its motif resembles a fairy tale Andersen"Ugly duckling". The works “Four Beggars” and “Hero, Leander and the Shepherd” belong to this genre.
To genre religious legends Kuprin turns to the war years.
The works “Two Saints” and “The Garden of the Blessed Virgin” (1915) express deep respect and sympathy for the oppressed common people
and humiliated.
Kuprin is known in literature not only as writer, but also how journalist, publicist and even editor.
While still a young writer, in 1894 Kuprin submitted a petition
about his resignation and moves to Kyiv. The writer works in newspapers, writes stories, essays, notes. The result of this half-writing, half-reporting work were two collections: essays “Kyiv Types” (1896) and stories “Miniatures” (1897).
After 1902, Kuprin participated in the publication of the magazine “World of God” as an editor, and also published several of his works in it: “In the Circus”, “Swamp” (1902), “Measles” (1904), “From the Street” (1904 ), however, he soon lost interest in the editorial work that interfered with his creativity.
MINISTRY OF EDUCATION OF THE MOSCOW REGION
State educational institution higher vocational education
MOSCOW STATE REGIONAL UNIVERSITY
(MGOU)
Historical and Philological Institute
Faculty of Russian Philology
Department of Russian LiteratureXX century
Coursework
The theme of love in the works of A.I. Kuprina
Completed by the student:
42 groups of 4 courses
facultyRussian philology
"Domestic Philology"
full-time education
Aprilskaya Maria Sergeevna.
Scientific supervisor:
Candidate of Philological Sciences, Associate Professor
Moscow
2015
Content
Introduction…………………………………………………………….……..………3
1. Features of the expression of love feelings in the story by A.I. Kuprin “Olesya”…………………………………………………………………………………...………..5
2. Manifestation of the greatest human feeling in the work of A. I. Kuprin “Shulamith”……………………………………………………………..8
3. The concept of love in the story by A.I. Kuprin “Garnet Bracelet”……….12
Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………….…18
List of references………………………………………………………..….20
Introduction
The theme of love is called eternal theme. Over the centuries, many writers and poets have dedicated their works to this great feeling of love, and each of them found something unique and individual in this topic.
The 20th century gave us A.I. Kuprin, a writer in whose work the theme of love occupied one of the most important places. Most of Kuprin's stories are a hymn to pure, sublime love and its transformative power.
Kuprin is an idealist, a dreamer, a romantic, a singer of sublime feelings. He found special, exceptional conditions that allowed him to create romanticized images of women and their perfect love in his works.
The writer keenly felt the need for “heroic plots”, for selfless, self-critical heroes. About love that illuminates human life, Kuprin writes in the stories “Olesya” (1898), “Shulamith” (1908), “Garnet Bracelet” (1911), etc.
In his surroundings, Kuprin saw a sad waste of beauty and strength, a crushing of feelings, and delusion of thought. The writer's ideal went back to the victory of the strength of the spirit over the strength of the body and "love faithful to death." For A.I. Kuprin, love is the most consistent form of affirmation and identification of the personal principle in a person.
Many works have been devoted to the study of the work of A. I. Kuprin. At one time they wrote about Kuprin: L.V. Krutikova “A.I. Kuprin", V.I. Kuleshova " Creative path A.I. Kuprin", L.A. Smirnova “Kuprin” and others.
Kuprin writes about the love that illuminates human life in the stories “Olesya” (1898), “Shulamith” (1908), “Garnet Bracelet” (1911).
Kuprin's books do not leave anyone indifferent; on the contrary, they always attract. Young people can learn a lot from this writer: humanism, kindness, spiritual wisdom, the ability to love, to appreciate love.
Kuprin's stories were an inspired hymn to the glory of true love, which is stronger than death, which makes people beautiful, no matter who these people are.
Relevance The topic is determined by the desire to study the concept of love in the works of A.I. Kuprina.
Theoretical basis The work presented included works by Nikulin L. “Kuprin (literary portrait)”, Krutikova L.V. “A.I. Kuprin", Kuleshova V.I. “The creative path of A.I. Kuprin."
Object course work: creativity of A. Kuprin
Subject was a study of the concept of love in the works “Garnet Bracelet”, “Olesya”, “Shulamith”.
Target of this work - to study the concept of love in the works of A.I. Kuprina
Tasks of this study:
1. Clarify the concept of love in A. I. Kuprin’s story “The Garnet Bracelet”
2. Explore the manifestation of the greatest human feeling in the work of A. I. Kuprin “Shulamith”
3. Determine the peculiarity of the expression of love feelings in the story by A.I. Kuprin "Olesya"
Practical significance work lies in the possibility of its use in literature lessons, dedicated to creativity Kuprin, in electives, extracurricular activities, in preparing reports and abstracts.
1. Features of the expression of love feelings in the story by A.I. Kuprin "Olesya"
"Olesya" is one of the first major works author and, in his own words, one of his favorites. "Olesya" and more late story“River of Life” (1906) Kuprin considered one of his the best works. “Here is life, freshness,” the writer said, “the struggle with the old, outdated, impulses for the new, the better.”
“Olesya” is one of Kuprin’s most inspired stories about love, man and life. Here the world of intimate feelings and the beauty of nature are combined with everyday pictures of the rural outback, the romance of true love is combined with the cruel morals of the Perebrod peasants.
The writer introduces us to the atmosphere of harsh village life with poverty, ignorance, bribes, savagery, and drunkenness. The artist contrasts this world of evil and ignorance with another world of true harmony and beauty, painted just as realistically and fully. Moreover, it is the bright atmosphere of great true love that inspires the story, infecting with impulses “toward a new, better.” “Love is the brightest and most understandable reproduction of my Self. It is not in strength, not in dexterity, not in intelligence, not in talent... individuality is not expressed in creativity. But in love,” - so, clearly exaggerating, Kuprin wrote to his friend F. Batyushkov.
The writer was right about one thing: in love the whole person, his character, worldview, and structure of feelings are revealed. In the books of great Russian writers, love is inseparable from the rhythm of the era, from the breath of time. Starting with Pushkin, artists tested the character of their contemporary not only through social and political actions, but also through the sphere of his personal feelings. A true hero became not only a person - a fighter, activist, thinker, but also a person of great feelings, capable of deeply experiencing, loving with inspiration. Kuprin in “Oles” continues the humanistic line of Russian literature. He checks modern man- an intellectual of the end of the century - from the inside, to the highest degree.
The story is built on a comparison of two heroes, two natures, two world relationships. On the one hand, Ivan Timofeevich is an educated intellectual, a representative of urban culture, and quite humane; on the other hand, Olesya is a “child of nature,” a person who has not been influenced by urban civilization. The balance of natures speaks for itself. Compared to Ivan Timofeevich, a man of a kind but weak, “lazy” heart, Olesya rises with nobility, integrity, and proud confidence in her strength.
If in his relationships with Yarmola and the village people Ivan Timofeevich looks brave, humane and noble, then in his interactions with Olesya the negative sides of his personality also appear. His feelings turn out to be timid, the movements of his soul are constrained and inconsistent. “Tearful expectation”, “petty apprehension”, and the hero’s indecision highlight the wealth of soul, courage and freedom of Olesya.
Freely, without any special tricks, Kuprin draws the appearance of the Polesie beauty, forcing us to follow the richness of her shades spiritual world, always original, sincere and deep. There are few books in Russian and world literature where such earthly and poetic image a girl living in harmony with nature and her feelings. Olesya – artistic discovery Kuprina.
A true artistic instinct helped the writer reveal the beauty of the human personality, generously endowed by nature. Naivety and authority, femininity and proud independence, “flexible, agile mind”, “primitive and vivid imagination”, touching courage, delicacy and innate tact, involvement in the innermost secrets of nature and spiritual generosity - these qualities are highlighted by the writer, drawing the charming appearance of Olesya, an integral, original, free nature, which flashed as a rare gem in the surrounding darkness and ignorance.
In the story, for the first time, Kuprin’s cherished thought is so fully expressed: a person can be beautiful if he develops, and not destroys, the physical, spiritual and intellectual abilities given to him by nature.
Subsequently, Kuprin will say that only with the triumph of freedom will a person in love be happy. In “Oles” the writer revealed this possible happiness of free, unfettered and unclouded love. In fact, the flowering of love and human personality constitutes the poetic core of the story.
With an amazing sense of tact, Kuprin makes us relive the anxious period of the birth of love, “full of vague, painfully sad sensations,” and its happiest seconds of “pure, complete, all-consuming delight,” and long joyful meetings of lovers in the dense pine forest. The world of spring, jubilant nature - mysterious and beautiful - merges in the story with an equally beautiful outpouring of human feelings.
The bright, fairy-tale atmosphere of the story does not fade even after the tragic ending. Over everything insignificant, petty and evil, a real, big victory wins earthly love, which is remembered without bitterness - “easily and joyfully.” The final touch of the story is typical: a string of red beads on the corner of the window frame among the dirty disorder of a hastily abandoned “hut on chicken legs.” This detail gives compositional and semantic completeness to the work. A string of red beads is the last tribute to Olesya’s generous heart, the memory of “her tender, generous love.”
The story is told from the perspective of the hero. He did not forget Olesya, love illuminated life, made it rich, bright, sensual. With her loss comes wisdom.
2. Manifestation of the greatest human feeling in the work of A. I. Kuprin “Shulamith”
The theme of mutual and happy love is touched upon by A.I. Kuprin in the story “Shulamith”. The love of King Solomon and the poor girl Shulamith from the vineyard is strong as death, and those who love themselves are higher than kings and queens.
It is impossible to understand the romantic concept of love in the writer’s work without reading the legend “Shulamith”. Appeal to this work makes it possible to show the originality of the historical and literary process at the turn of the century.
In the fall of 1906, Alexander Ivanovich Kuprin wrote one of his most beautiful stories, “Shulamith,” inspired by the immortal biblical “Song of Songs.”
The source of Kuprin's legend was the Bible. The plot of the legend - the love story of Solomon and Shulamith - is based on the Old Testament Song of Solomon.
The biblical “Song of Songs” seems to have no plot. These are exclamations of love, these are enthusiastic descriptions of nature and praise of the groom, the bride, or the choir that echoes them. From these scattered hymns, “Songs,” Kuprin builds a story about the great love of King Solomon and a girl named Shulamith. She burns with love for the young and beautiful King Solomon, but jealousy destroys her, intrigue destroys her, and in the end she dies; It is precisely this death that the lines of the biblical poem “Song of Songs” speak of: “Strong as death is love.” These are powerful, timeless words.
The legend alternates chapters in which the actions of King Solomon, his thoughts and preaching are recreated and described. love relationship Shulamith and Solomon.
The theme of love in this work connects temporal specificity and eternity. On the one hand, these are the seven days and nights of love between Solomon and Shulamith, which included all stages of the development of feelings and tragic ending love. On the other hand, “tender and fiery, devoted and beautiful love, which alone is dearer than wealth, glory and wisdom, which is dearer than life itself, because it does not even value life and is not afraid of death” is what gives life to humanity, then , what is not subject to time, what connects individual with the eternal life of humanity.
The organization of artistic time in Kuprin’s legend helps the reader to perceive the love that once happened between two people as an extraordinary event, imprinted in the memory of generations.
The symbolism and emblem of color (paints) and flowers are consistent with the general content of the legend, its pathos, with the model of the world created in it, with the emotional structure of the images of the heroes, with the author’s orientation towards the Old Testament and ancient Eastern traditions.
Descriptions of the love of Solomon and Shulamith are also accompanied by a certain color scheme. Red is a permanent color - the color of love. The color silver in this context is important because it means purity, innocence, purity, joy. A symbol of warmth, life, light, activity and energy is the image of fire, which appears in portrait sketches of Shulamith with her “fiery curls” and “red hair.” Not by chance, of course green in landscapes and in the statements of heroes: green color symbolizes freedom, joy, jubilation, hope, health. And, of course, white, blue and pink colors evoke very specific associations in the reader and are filled with metaphorical meanings: the love of the heroes is tender and beautiful, pure and sublime.
The flowers mentioned in the legendary narrative also have symbolism that helps the author reveal the meaning of the legend. Lily is a symbol of purity and innocence (note that the metaphor of the lily was cultivated in the art of romanticism). Narcissus is a symbol of youthful death, in addition, Narcissus is an ancient plant deity of dying and resurrecting nature: in the myth of the abduction of Persephone, the narcissus flower is mentioned. Grapes are a symbol of fertility, abundance, vitality and cheerfulness.
Key words, helping to reveal this meaning of the legend, the words gaiety and joy became in it: “cordial joy”, “cheerfulness of the heart”, “light and joyful”, “joy”, “happiness”, “joyful fear”, “moan of happiness”,
“he exclaimed joyfully,” “joy of the heart,” “great joy illuminated his face like a golden sunshine,” “joyful children’s laughter,” “his eyes shine with happiness,” “joy,” “my heart grows with joy,” “ delight”, “There has never been and never will be a woman happier than me.”
The strength of the heroes’ love, the brightness and spontaneity of its manifestations described in the legend, the glorification of feelings and the idealization of heroes determined the writer’s choice of artistically expressive, emotionally charged figurative and stylistic images. At the same time, they are universal, since they are correlated with the eternal theme of love and have mythological origins or are part of the circle of traditional literary images. It should be noted that the Kuprin legend is practically indecomposable into “planes” of the narrative: real and allegorical, for example. Every detail, every word, every image is symbolic, allegorical, conventional. Together they form an image - a symbol of love, indicated by the name of the legend - "Shulamith".
Before her death, Shulamith says to her lover: “I thank you, my king, for everything: for your wisdom, to which you allowed me to cling to with my lips... like a sweet source... There has never been and will never be a woman happier than me.” The main idea of this work: love is as strong as death, and it alone, eternal, protects humanity from the moral degeneration that threatens it modern society. In the story “Shulamith” the writer showed a pure and tender feeling: “The love of a poor girl from a vineyard and a great king will never pass or be forgotten, because love is strong as death, because every woman who loves is a queen, because love is beautiful!"
The artistic world created by the writer in the legend, which seems so ancient and conventional, is in fact very modern and deeply individual.
According to the content of “Shulamith”: high happiness and tragedy true love. By types of heroes: a sage-lover of life and a pure girl. According to the most important source: the most “romantic” part of the Bible is the “Song of Songs”. According to composition and plot: “epic distance” and approaching modernity... According to the author’s pathos: admiration of the world and man, perception of a true miracle - man in his best and sublime feelings.
"Sulamith" by Kuprin continues the literary and aesthetic tradition associated with the names of Turgenev ("Song of Triumphant Love"), Mamin-Sibiryak ("Tears of the Queen", "Maya"), M. Gorky ("The Girl and Death", "Khan and His son", "Wallachian Tale"), that is, the names of writers who, in the genre of literary legend, expressed - within the limits of realism - a romantic worldview.
At the same time, Kuprin’s “Shulamith” is the writer’s aesthetic and emotional response to his era, marked by a feeling of transition, renewal, movement towards something new, a search for positive principles in life, a dream of realizing the ideal in reality. It is no coincidence that D. Merezhkovsky saw a revival of romanticism in the art and literature of this time. "Sulamith" by A.I. Kuprin is a bright romantic legend.
3. The concept of love in the story by A.I. Kuprin “Garnet Bracelet”
The story “The Garnet Bracelet,” written in 1907, tells us about genuine, strong, but unrequited love. It is worth noting that this work is based on real events from the family chronicles of the Tugan-Baranovsky princes. This story became one of the most famous and profound works about love in Russian literature.
According to many researchers, “everything in this story is masterfully written, starting with its title. The title itself is surprisingly poetic and sonorous.
It sounds like a line of a poem written in iambic trimeter."
One of the most painful stories about love, the saddest is “The Garnet Bracelet”. The most surprising thing in this work can be considered the epigraph: “L. von Bethovn. Son (op. 2 no. 2). Largo Appassionato.” Here the sadness and delight of love are combined with the music of Beethoven. And how successfully the refrain was found: “Hallowed be your name!”
Critics have repeatedly pointed out that "the "motives" characteristic of " Garnet bracelet” gradually sprouted in previous creativity.
We find a prototype not so much of Zheltkov’s character as of his fate in the story “The First Person You Come Along” (1897), that love to the point of self-abasement and even self-destruction, the willingness to die in the name of the woman you love - this theme was touched by an uncertain hand in the story “A Strange Case” (1895 ), blossoms into the exciting, masterfully rendered “Garnet Bracelet”.
Kuprin worked on the “Garnet Bracelet” with great passion and genuine creative enthusiasm.
According to Afanasyev V.N., “It was not by chance that Kuprin ended his story with a tragic ending; he needed such an ending in order to further highlight the power of Zheltkov’s love for a woman almost unknown to him - love that happens “once every few hundred years.”
Before us are typical representatives of the aristocracy of the early 20th century, the Shein family. Vera Nikolaevna Sheina - beautiful socialite, moderately happy in marriage, lives calmly, decent life. Her husband, Prince Shein, is a worthy man, Vera respects him.
The first pages of the story are devoted to a description of nature. As Shtilman S. accurately remarked, “Kuprin’s landscape is full of sounds, colors and, especially, smells...Kuprin’s landscape is highly emotional and unlike anyone else’s.”
It’s as if all events take place against their miraculous light background, a wonderful fairy tale of love comes true. The cold autumn landscape of fading nature is similar in essence to the mood of Vera Nikolaevna Sheina. Nothing attracts her in this life, perhaps that is why the brightness of her being is enslaved by everyday life and dullness. Even during a conversation with her sister Anna, in which the latter admires the beauty of the sea, she replies that at first this beauty also excites her, and then “begins to crush her with its flat emptiness...”. Vera could not be imbued with a sense of beauty in the world around her. She was not a natural romantic. And, seeing something out of the ordinary, some peculiarity, I tried (even if involuntarily) to bring it down to earth, to compare it with the world around me. Her life flowed slowly, measuredly, quietly, and, it would seem, satisfied the principles of life without going beyond them. Vera married a prince, yes, but the same exemplary, quiet person as she herself was.
The poor official Zheltkov, having once met Princess Vera Nikolaevna, fell in love with her with all his heart. This love leaves no room for other interests of the lover.
Afanasyev V.N. believes that “it is in the sphere of love that the “little man shows his big feelings” in Kuprin’s work. It is difficult to agree with his opinion, since the heroes of Kuprin’s work can hardly be called “little people”; they are capable of holy, great feelings.
And so Vera Nikolaevna receives from Zheltkov a bracelet, the shine of the garnets plunges her into horror, her brain is immediately pierced by the thought “like blood,” and now a clear feeling about the impending misfortune weighs on her, and this time it is not at all empty. From that moment on, her peace of mind was destroyed. Vera considered Zheltkov “unfortunate”; she could not understand the tragedy of this love. The expression “happy unhappy person” turned out to be somewhat contradictory. After all, in his feeling for Vera, Zheltkov experienced happiness.
Leaving forever, he thought that Vera’s path would become free, her life would improve and go on as before. But there is no turning back. Saying goodbye to Zheltkov’s body was the culminating moment of her life. At this moment, the power of love reached its maximum value and became equal to death.
Eight years of happy, selfless love, demanding nothing in return, eight years of devotion to a sweet ideal, dedication to one’s own principles.
In one short moment of happiness, sacrificing everything accumulated over such a long period of time is not something everyone can do. But Zheltkov’s love for Vera did not obey any models, she was above them. And even if her end turned out to be tragic, Zheltkov’s forgiveness was rewarded.
Zheltkov leaves this life so as not to interfere with the princess’s life, and, dying, thanks her for the fact that she was for him “the only joy in life, the only consolation, the only thought.” This is a story not so much about love as a prayer to it. In his dying letter, the loving official blesses his beloved princess: “As I leave, I say in delight: “Hallowed be Thy name.” The crystal palace in which Vera lived shattered, letting in a lot of light, warmth, and sincerity into life. Merging in the finale with Beethoven’s music, it merges with Zheltkov’s love and with the eternal memory of him.
Paying honor to Zheltkov’s feeling, Afanasyev V.N. however notes, “And if Kuprin himself, conveying his impressions of Bizet’s opera Carmen, wrote that “love is always a tragedy, always struggle and achievement, always joy and fear, resurrection and death “, then Zheltkov’s feeling is a quiet, submissive adoration, without ups and downs, without fighting for a loved one, without hopes for reciprocity. Such adoration dries up the soul, makes it timid and powerless. Is this why Zheltkov, crushed by his love, so willingly agrees to die?”
According to the critic, “The Garnet Bracelet” is one of Kuprin’s most sincere and beloved works by readers, and yet the stamp of some inferiority lies both on the image of its central character, Zheltkov, and on the very feeling for Vera Sheina, who has fenced herself off with her love from life with With all her worries and anxieties, closed in his feelings, as if in a shell, Zheltkov does not know the true joy of love.”
What was Zheltkov’s feeling - was it true love, inspiring, unique, strong, or insanity, madness that makes a person weak and flawed? What was the death of the hero - weakness, cowardice, imbued with fear or strength, the desire not to annoy and leave his beloved? This, in our opinion, is the true conflict of the story.
Analyzing Kuprin’s “Garnet Bracelet”, Yu. V. Babicheva writes:
“This is a kind of akathist of love...” A. Chalova comes to the conclusion that when creating the “Garnet Bracelet,” Kuprin used the akathist model.
“Akathist” is translated from Greek as “a hymn during which one cannot sit.” It consists of 12 pairs of kontakia and ikos and the last kontakion, which has no pair and is repeated three times, after which 1 ikos and 1 kontakion are read. The akathist is usually followed by a prayer. Thus, A. Chalova believes, the akathist can be divided into 13 parts. There are the same number of chapters in “The Garnet Bracelet.” Very often the akathist is built on a consistent description of miracles and deeds in the name of God. In “The Pomegranate Bracelet” this corresponds to love stories, of which there are at least ten.
Undoubtedly, Kontakion 13 is very important. In The Garnet Bracelet, chapter 13 is clearly the climax. The motives for death and forgiveness are clearly outlined in it. And in this same chapter, Kuprin includes prayer.
In this story, A. I. Kuprin especially highlighted the figure of the old general
Anosov, who is sure that high love exists, but it “... must be a tragedy, the greatest secret in the world,” without compromise.
According to S. Volkov, “it is General Anosov who will formulate the main idea of the story: There must be love...”. Volkov deliberately breaks off the phrase, emphasizing that “ true love, existing once upon a time, could not disappear, it will definitely return, it’s just that it might not have been noticed yet, not recognized, and unrecognized, it already lives somewhere nearby. Her return will be a real miracle.” It is difficult to agree with Volkov’s opinion; General Anosov could not formulate the main idea of the story, since he himself had not experienced such love.
“For Princess Vera herself, “the former passionate love for her husband has long since turned into a feeling of lasting, faithful, true friendship; however, this love did not bring her the desired happiness - she is childless and passionately dreams of children.”
According to S. Volkov, “the heroes of the story do not attach real meaning to love, they cannot understand and accept all its seriousness and tragedy.”
Ardent love either quickly burns out and comes to sobering up, as in the unsuccessful marriage of General Anosov, or passes “into a feeling of lasting, faithful, true friendship” for her husband, as with Princess Vera.
And therefore the old general doubted whether this was the kind of love: “selfless, selfless love, not expecting a reward? The one about which it is said is “strong as death.” This is exactly what a small, poor official with a dissonant surname likes. Eight years is a long time to test feelings, and, however, during all these years he did not forget her for a second, “every moment of the day was filled with you, with the thought of you...”. And, nevertheless, Zheltkov always remained on the sidelines, without humiliating or humiliating her.
Princess Vera, a woman, for all her aristocratic restraint, very impressionable, capable of understanding and appreciating beauty, felt that her life had come into contact with this great love sung by the best poets of the world. And being at the tomb of Zheltkov, who was in love with her, “she realized that the love that every woman dreams of had passed her by.”
“During the years of reaction,” writes V. N. Afanasyev, “when decadents and naturalists of all stripes ridiculed and trampled into the dirt human love“Kuprin, in the story “The Garnet Bracelet,” once again showed the beauty and greatness of this feeling, but by making his hero capable only of selfless and all-consuming love and at the same time denying him all other interests, he unwittingly impoverished and limited the image of this hero.”
Selfless love, not expecting a reward - this is exactly the kind of selfless and all-forgiving love that Kuprin writes in his story “The Garnet Bracelet.” Love transforms everyone it touches.
Conclusion
Love in Russian literature is portrayed as one of the main human values. According to Kuprin, “individuality is not expressed in strength, not in dexterity, not in intelligence, not in creativity. But in love!
Extraordinary strength and sincerity of feeling are characteristic of the heroes of Kuprin's stories. Love seems to say: “Where I stand, it cannot be dirty.” The natural fusion of the frankly sensual and the ideal creates an artistic impression: the spirit penetrates the flesh and ennobles it. This, in my opinion, is the philosophy of love in the true sense.
Kuprin's creativity attracts with its love of life, humanism, love and compassion for people. Convexity of the image, simple and clear language, precise and subtle drawing, lack of edification, psychologism of characters - all this brings them closer to the best classical tradition in Russian literature.
Love in Kuprin’s perception is often tragic. But, perhaps, only this feeling can give meaning to human existence. We can say that the writer tests his heroes with love. Strong people (such as Zheltkov, Olesya) thanks to this feeling begin to glow from within, they are able to carry love in their hearts, no matter what.
As V. G. Afanasyev wrote, “Love has always been the main, organizing theme of all Kuprin’s great works. Both in “Shulamith” and in “Pomegranate Bracelet” there is a great passionate feeling that inspires the heroes, determines the movement of the plot, helps to identify best qualities heroes. And although the love of Kuprin’s heroes is rarely happy and even less often finds an equal response in the heart of the one to whom it is addressed (“Shulamith” in this regard is perhaps the only exception), its disclosure in all its breadth and versatility gives romantic excitement and elation to the works , elevating above the gray, joyless life, affirming in the minds of readers the idea of the power and beauty of a genuine and great human feeling.”
True love is great happiness, even if it ends in separation, death, and tragedy. Many of Kuprin’s heroes, who have lost, overlooked, or destroyed their love themselves, come to this conclusion, albeit late. In this late repentance, late spiritual resurrection, enlightenment of the heroes lies that all-purifying melody that speaks of the imperfection of people who have not yet learned to live. Recognize and appreciate real feelings, and the imperfections of life itself, social conditions, environment, circumstances that often interfere with truly human relationships, and most importantly - about those high emotions that leave an unfading trace of spiritual beauty, generosity, devotion and purity. Love is a mysterious element that transforms a person’s life, giving his destiny uniqueness against the background of ordinary everyday stories, filling his earthly existence with special meaning.
In his stories A.I. Kuprin showed us sincere, devoted, selfless love. The love that every person dreams of. Love, for the sake of which you can sacrifice anything, even your life. Love that will survive millennia, overcome evil, make the world beautiful, and people kind and happy.
List of used literature
1. Afanasyev V.N. Kuprin A.I. Critical biographical essay -
M.: Fiction, 1960.
2. Berkov P. N. Alexander Ivanovich Kuprin. Critical and bibliographical essay, ed. USSR Academy of Sciences, M., 1956
3. Berkova P. N. “A. I. Kuprin" M., 1956
4. Volkov A.A. Creativity of A.I. Kuprin. M., 1962. P. 29.
5. Vorovsky V.V. Literary-critical articles. Politizdat, M., 1956, p. 275.
6. Kachaeva L.A. Kuprin's manner of writing // Russian speech. 1980. No. 2. S.
23.
7. Koretskaya I. Notes // Kuprin A.I. Collection Op. In 6 volumes. M., 1958. T.
4. P. 759.
8. Krutikova L.V. A.I. Kuprin. M., 1971
9. Kuleshov V.I. The creative path of A.I. Kuprin, 1883-1907. M., 1983
10. Kuprin A.I. Shulamith: Tales and Stories - Yaroslavl: Verkh.
–Volzh.book publishing house, 1993. – 416 p.
11. Kuprin A.I. Collected works in 9 volumes. Ed. N. N. Akonova and others. An article by F. I. Kuleshova will be introduced. T.1. Works 1889-1896. M.,
"Fiction", 1970
12. Mikhailov O. Kuprin. ZhZL issue. 14 (619). "Young Guard", 1981 -
270s.
13. Pavvovskaya K. Kuprin’s creativity. Abstract. Saratov, 1955, p. 18
14. Plotkin L. Literary essays and articles, “ Soviet writer", L, 1958, p. 427
15. Chuprinin S. Rereading Kuprin. M., 1991
16. Bakhnenko E. N. “...Every person can be kind, compassionate, interesting and beautiful in soul” To the 125th anniversary of the birth of A. I. Kuprin
//Literature at school. – 1995 - No. 1, p.34-40
17. Volkov S. “Love must be a tragedy” From observations of the ideological artistic originality Kuprin's story "Garnet Bracelet" //
Literature. 2002, No. 8, p. 18
18. Nikolaeva E. Man is born for joy: on the 125th anniversary of the birth of A.
Kuprina // Library. – 1999, No. 5 – p. 73-75
19. Khablovsky V. In the image and likeness (Kuprin’s characters) // Literature
2000, No. 36, p. 2-3
20. Chalova S. “Garnet Bracelet” by Kuprin (Some remarks on the problem of form and content) // Literature 2000 - No. 36, p.4
21. Shklovsky E. At the turn of eras. A. Kuprin and L. Andreev // Literature 2001 -
№ 11, p. 1-3
22. Shtilman S. On the skill of a writer. A. Kuprin’s story “Garnet Bracelet” // Literature – 2002 - No. 8, p. 13-17
23. "Sulamith" A.I. Kuprina: a romantic legend of love by N.N. Starygina http://lib.userline.ru/samizdat/10215
The theme of love occupies a special place in the works of Bunin and Kuprin. Of course, writers described this feeling in different ways and discovered new aspects of its manifestation. There are also similar features: they talk about both an all-consuming passion and a tragic feeling that does not stand the test of life situations. The theme of love in the works of Bunin and Kuprin shows it in all its diversity, allowing us to see new facets of this feeling.
A game of contrasts
The theme of love in the works of Bunin and Kuprin is often shown by contrasting the characters of the main characters. If we analyze their works, we can note that in most of them one of the lovers has more strong character and is ready to sacrifice everything for the sake of his feelings. The other side turns out to be weaker in character, for which public opinion or personal ambitions are more important than feelings.
This can be seen in the example of the heroes of Bunin's story "Dark Alleys". Both heroes met by chance and remembered the time when they were in love. The heroine, Nadezhda, carried love throughout her life - she never met someone who could outshine the image of Nikolai Alekseevich. He got married, however, without having strong feelings for his wife, but he didn’t regret it much. To think that the innkeeper could become his wife, the mistress of the house - for him it was unthinkable. And if Nadezhda was ready to do anything to be with her beloved and continued to love him, then Nikolai Alekseevich is shown as a person for whom it is more important social status and public opinion.
The same contrast can be seen in Kuprin’s work “Olesya”. The Polesie witch is shown as a girl with a warm heart, capable of great feeling, ready to sacrifice not only her well-being, but also the peace of her loved ones for the sake of her lover. Ivan Timofeevich is a man of a gentle character, his heart is lazy, incapable of experiencing love of the strength that Olesya had. He did not follow the call of his heart, its movement, so he only had the girl’s beads as a souvenir of this love.
Love in the works of Kuprin
Despite the fact that both writers considered a bright feeling to be a manifestation of goodness, nevertheless, they describe it slightly differently. The theme of love in the works of Bunin and Kuprin has various manifestations; if you read their works, you can understand that most often the relationships they describe have differences.
So, A.I. Kuprin most often talks about tragic love, sacrificial, for the writer true love certainly had to be accompanied by life's trials. Because a strong and all-consuming feeling could not bring happiness to the beloved. Such love could not be simple. This can be seen in his works, such as “Olesya”, “Garnet Bracelet”, “Shulamith”, etc. But for the heroes, even such love is happiness, and they are grateful that they had such strong feeling.
Love in Bunin's stories
For writers, a bright feeling is the most beautiful thing that could happen to a person. Therefore, the theme of love in the works of Bunin and Kuprin occupied a special place, which is why their works worried readers so much. But they each understood it in their own way. In the works of I. A. Bunin, love is a flash of emotions, a happy moment that suddenly appears in life, and then ends just as abruptly. Therefore, in his stories, the characters evoke conflicting feelings among readers.
Thus, the story “Sunstroke” shows a flash of love, a moment of love that illuminated the lives of two people for a brief moment. And after they parted, main character I felt many years older. Because this fleeting love took away all the best that was in him. Or in the story "Dark Alleys" main character continued to love, but was never able to forgive her lover’s weaknesses. And he, although he understood that she had given him her best years, continued to believe that he had done the right thing. And if in Kuprin’s work love was certainly tragic, then in Bunin it is shown as a more complex feeling.
The unusual side of a bright feeling
Although love in the works of Bunin and Kuprin is a sincere, real relationship between two people, sometimes love can be completely different. This is precisely the side shown in the story “The Mister from San Francisco.” Although this work is not about love, in one episode it is said that one happy couple walked around the ship and everyone, looking at her, saw two lovers. And only the captain knew that they were hired specifically to play a strong feeling.
It would seem, what could this have to do with the theme of love in the works of Bunin and Kuprin? This also happens - this also applies to actors who play lovers on stage, and to such couples who were hired on purpose. But it also happens that a real feeling can arise between such artists. On the other hand, someone, looking at them, gains hope that he too will have love in his life.
The role of details in the description
The description of the feeling of love in both A.I. Kuprin and I.A. Bunin occurs against the background of a detailed description of the everyday life of the heroes. This allows us to show how strong feelings flow in simple life. How can the characters’ attitude towards familiar things and phenomena change? And some details of the characters’ everyday life allow us to better understand the characters’ personalities. The writers managed to organically combine everyday life and bright feeling.
Can everyone feel
In the essay “The Theme of Love in the Works of Bunin and Kuprin” it is also worth noting that only strong people can experience a real feeling, sacrifice everything for their beloved and love him all their lives. After all, why can’t the heroes of their works be together? Because strong personality falls in love with someone who cannot experience feelings of equal strength. But thanks to this contrast, the love of such heroes looks even stronger and sincere. A. I. Kuprin and I. A. Bunin wrote about a bright feeling in its various manifestations, so that readers would understand that whatever love there is, it is happiness that it happened in life, and a person should be grateful for what he has He has the ability to love.
The theme of love in the works of Bunin and Kuprin, two Russian writers dating back to the first half of the 20th century, is common in their works. The heroes of their stories and stories are characterized by extraordinary sincerity and strength of feeling. It subjugates all human thoughts. However, the theme of love in the works of Bunin and Kuprin is almost always revealed tragically. The main characters are invariably doomed to suffer. In order to preserve their feeling, they should part forever. We see such an ending in all the stories of Ivan Alekseevich. The theme of tragic love is explored in great detail.
Love in the works of Bunin
The heroes of his works live in anticipation of love. They strive to find it and often die, burned by it. This feeling in his works is selfless, selfless. It requires no reward. About such love you can say: “Strong as death.” It will be a joy, not a misfortune, for her to go to the torment.
For Bunin, love does not last long - in marriage, in family, in everyday life. This is a dazzling short flash that illuminates to the very depths of the hearts and souls of lovers. A tragic ending, death, oblivion, suicide is inevitable.
Ivan Alekseevich created a whole series of stories dedicated to the description various shades this feeling. You probably won’t find a single work in it with a happy ending. The feeling described by the author, one way or another, is short-lived and ends, if not tragically, then at least dramatically. One of the most famous stories of this cycle - "Sunstroke".
In it, the heroine goes to a monastery, and the hero suffers from longing for her. He loved this girl with all his soul. However, in spite of everything, his feeling for her remains a bright spot in his life, albeit with an admixture of something mysterious, incomprehensible, bitter.
The love of the heroes of the works "Olesya" and "Garnet Bracelet"
The theme of love is the main theme in Kuprin's work. Alexander Ivanovich created many works dedicated to this feeling. In the story “Olesya” by Alexander Ivanovich Kuprin, the heroine fell in love with a “kind, but only weak” person. The theme of tragic love in Kuprin’s work is also revealed in his other work, “The Garnet Bracelet.”
The author tells the story of a certain poor employee Zheltkov, describing his feelings for the wealthy married princess Vera Nikolaevna. For him, the only way out is suicide. Before committing it, he says, like a prayer, the words: “Hallowed be thy name.” In Kuprin's works, the heroes may seem unhappy. However, this is only partly true. They are happy simply because they once had love in their lives, and this is the most great feeling. Thus, the theme of tragic love in Kuprin’s work has a life-affirming connotation. Olesya from the story of the same name regrets only that she does not have a child left from her beloved. Zheltkov dies while pronouncing a blessing on his beloved woman. These are romantic and beautiful stories love that is so rare in real life...
The heroes of Kuprin's works are dreamy individuals endowed with a passionate imagination. However, they are also laconic and impractical. These traits are fully revealed after they pass the test of love.
So, for example, Zheltkov did not talk about love for Vera, thereby dooming himself to torment and suffering. However, he could not hide his feeling, so he wrote letters to her. Zheltkov from the story “The Garnet Bracelet” experienced an unrequited, sacrificial feeling that completely took possession of him. It would seem that this is a minor official, an unremarkable person. However, he had a truly enormous gift - he knew how to love. He subordinated his entire being, his entire soul to this feeling. When her husband asked him not to bother her with his letters anymore, Zheltkov decided to die. He simply could not imagine existing without the princess.
Description of nature, contrast between love and life
For Kuprin, the description of nature plays a very important role. It is the background against which events take place. In particular, the love that broke out between Ivan Timofeevich and Olesya is presented against the backdrop of a spring forest. The theme of love in the works of Bunin and Kuprin is characterized by the fact that in the works of these authors, high feelings are powerless before ambition, calculation and the cruelty of life. After a collision with everyday life, it disappears. Instead, all that remains is a feeling of satiety.
Love passes by
In the works of these authors, everyday life and love, everyday life and this high feeling cannot be combined. However, it also happens that people, without noticing their happiness, pass by it. And from this side the theme is revealed. For example, the heroine of “The Pomegranate Bracelet,” Princess Vera, late notices Zheltkov’s feelings for her, but at the end of the work she learns what all-consuming, selfless love means. For a brief moment it illuminated her life.
Human imperfection and life-affirming moments
There is probably something in man himself that prevents us all from noticing goodness and beauty. This is selfishness, which is often expressed in the desire to be happy at any cost, even if the other person suffers from it. In the works of Kuprin and Bunin we find all these reflections. However, despite the drama present in them, one can also see something life-affirming in the stories and stories. High feeling helps the characters of Kuprin and Bunin go beyond the circle of vulgarity and everyday life that surrounds them. And it doesn’t matter that it’s only for a moment, that the price of this moment is often a whole life.
In conclusion
So, we have answered the question of how the topic is revealed. In conclusion, we note that the stories and stories of these authors teach us the ability to discern a real feeling, to be able not to miss it and not to hide it, because one day it may be too late. Both Bunin and Kuprin believe that love is given to a person in order to illuminate his life, to open his eyes.
It can be noted that both authors, in works dedicated to this feeling, most often resort to the technique of contrast. In their stories and stories they contrast two lovers. This different people both morally and spiritually. In addition, they often have a big difference in social status.
INTRODUCTION
For the essay, I chose a topic related to the work of the famous Russian writer Alexander Ivanovich Kuprin. The choice of this name is explained by the fact that it is quite famous and interesting writer, but in school curriculum not much time is devoted to his work, but when working on an essay, you can study the writer’s work in detail. The very life of the writer, his personality makes a strong impression. This is a person of integrity, distinguished by firmness life position, true intelligence and kindness, the ability to understand life.
The purpose of my work:
Reveal the features of the depiction of the theme of love in Kuprin’s works;
Show the significance of this theme in his work.
Show the place of the theme of love in world and Russian literature;
Reveal the peculiarities of understanding this feeling by different authors;
Using the example of a trilogy about love, reveal its different sides and faces;
Show the writer's skill in depicting characters.
Sometimes it seems that everything has been said about love in world literature. What can you tell about love after Shakespeare’s story of Romeo and Juliet, after Pushkin’s “Eugene Onegin”, after Leo Tolstoy’s “Anna Karenina”? This list of creations that glorify love can be continued. But love has thousands of shades, and each of its manifestations has its own light, its own sadness, its own fracture and its own fragrance.
Kuprin has many subtle and excellent stories about love, about the expectation of love, about its tragic outcomes, about longing and eternal youth in the human soul. Kuprin always and everywhere blessed love. You cannot hide anything from love: either it highlights the true nobility of the human soul, or it reveals vices and base desires. Many writers in their books have tested and will test their heroes, sending them this feeling. Each author tries to explain love in his own way, to contribute to its definition. For Kuprin, love is a gift from God, not available to everyone. Love has its peaks, which only a few out of millions can overcome. Unfortunately, now it is increasingly rare to find great fiery love between a man and a woman. People stopped bowing and revering her. Love has become an ordinary, everyday feeling. The relevance of this work is that it is addressed to an eternal feeling, shows an example of extraordinary, bright, selfless love and makes us, living in such an unromantic and sometimes unspiritual time, once again think about the meaning of the most amazing meeting on the roads of life - the meeting of a Man and a Woman.
creativity kuprin love story
LOVE IS ONE OF THE ETERNAL THEMES OF LITERATURE
The theme of love is eternal, as the very feeling that gave birth to it, has inspired the art of all times and peoples. But in each era it expressed some special moral and aesthetic values. After all, love is a feeling that makes you perform feats and commit crimes, a feeling that can move mountains, change the course of history, a feeling that gives happiness and inspiration and makes you suffer, a feeling without which life has no meaning.
Like all other literatures of the world, Russian literature devotes considerable space to the theme of love, its “specific” weight is no less than in French or English literature. Although " love stories"in its pure form are not found very often in Russian literature; more often, a love plot is burdened with side lines and themes. However, the implementation of this topic in various texts belonging to Russian classical literature, is distinguished by its great originality, which sharply distinguishes it from all other literatures of the world.
This originality lies, first of all, in the fact that Russian literature is characterized by a serious and close look at love and, more broadly, at intimate relationships between a man and a woman. The motto of such an attitude can be famous proverb"You don't joke with love." There is only one reason for such seriousness - love in Russian literature almost always belongs to the realm of dramatic and very often tragic pathos, but extremely rarely the history of relations between a man and a woman - whether in prose or poetry - gives reason for fun. Happy ending loved by many foreign writers and sometimes admitted even by Balzac, he is not only absent from Russian literature, he is alien to it. All the famous love stories of Russian classics, from " Poor Lisa" Karamzin to Bunin's "Dark Alleys" proceed very intensely and end very badly.
Tragedy in the development of love themes stems from several sources, the oldest of which is, of course, folk tradition. Only in Russian folklore are love ditties called “suffering,” only in the Russian village a synonym for the word love was the word “to regret.” Thus, the emphasis is placed precisely on the sad, painful side of the relationship between a man and a woman, and the spiritual principle is placed at the head of the relationship. The popular understanding of marriage and love echoes the Christian, Orthodox understanding of marriage as a test of the strength of a person’s spiritual and physical strength, hard work in the name of a common goal.
The understanding of love as a higher power connecting the divine with the human is characteristic of 20th-century literature. It can be argued that writers largely defined the holistic concept of life through comprehension of the essence of love. First of all, this aspiration was expressed in the prose of Alexander Kuprin and Ivan Bunin. Writers were attracted not so much by the history of the relationship of a loving couple or the development of their psychological duel, but by the influence of the experience on the hero’s understanding of himself and the whole world. Therefore, the outline of events in their works is extremely simplified, and attention is focused on moments of insight, turning points in the internal states of the characters:
Love, love - says the legend -
Union of the soul with the dear soul -
Their connection, combination,
And their fatal merger,
And... the fatal duel...
(F. Tyutchev)
Bunin's love stories are a story about the mystery of love. He had his own concept of love: it arises as sunstroke and strikes a person. True love, Bunin believes, has something in common with eternal nature. Only that feeling is beautiful that is natural, not false, not invented. I. Bunin’s book “Dark Alleys” can be considered an encyclopedia of love. The author himself considered her his most perfect creation. The writer poses a difficult artistic task: thirty-eight times (this is the number of stories in the book) write about the same thing - about love. Bunin shows the varied and bizarre faces of love: love is enmity, corrupt love, love is pity, love is compassion, carnal love. The book opens with the story of the same name, “Dark Alleys.” Despite the fact that it is small, the action develops quickly, the author managed to fully reveal the theme of the tragic love of people of different classes. At an inn, an old gray-haired officer Nikolai Alekseevich meets a woman with whom he was in love in his youth, and then abandoned him. She carried her feeling throughout her life. “Everyone’s youth passes, but love is another matter,” says the heroine. This huge passionate feeling passes through her destiny like a bright ray, filling her with happiness, albeit alone. Their love was born in the shadow of the alleys and Nikolai Alekseevich himself will say at the end of the story: “Yes, of course, best moments. And not the best, but truly magical!” Love is like " easy breathing"visits the heroes and disappears. Fragile and fragile, she is doomed to death: Nikolai Alekseevich abandons Nadezhda, and, having met many years later, they are forced to part again. Love turned into tragedy. The hero now understands which moments of his life were the most important. There was no place for happiness in his life: his wife left him, his son “turned out to be a scoundrel, an insolent man, without a heart, without honor, without a conscience.” The story could not have a happy ending, but still does not leave a painful impression, since according to Bunin, “all love is great happiness.” One short moment is enough to illuminate the entire life of the heroes. In love, as in life, light and dark principles always conflict. Along with the feeling that illuminates life, every lover has his own dark alleys. About this and best pages love prose of another representative of Russian literature - A. Kuprin.
