In the life of every person, love always occupies a special place. Poets and writers glorify this feeling. After all, it is precisely this that makes one feel the joy of being, and elevates a person above circumstances and obstacles, even if love is unrequited. A.I. Kuprin is no exception. His story “The Garnet Bracelet” is a masterpiece of world literary heritage.
An unusual story on an ordinary topic
The theme of love in the work “Garnet Bracelet” occupies the main place. The story reveals the most secret corners of the human soul, which is why it is loved by readers of various age groups. In the work, the author shows what a person is really capable of for the sake of true love. Every reader hopes that he will be able to feel exactly the same as the main character of this story. The theme of love in the work “The Garnet Bracelet” is, first of all, the theme of relationships between the sexes, dangerous and ambiguous for any writer. After all, it is very difficult to avoid banality when describing something that has already been said a thousand times. However, the writer manages to touch even the most experienced reader with his story.
Criticism of the story “The Garnet Bracelet”
Writers highly appreciated Kuprin's skill.
The first review of the work was given by Maxim Gorky in one of his letters in 1911. He was delighted with this story and constantly repeated that it was wonderfully written and that good literature was finally beginning. Reading “The Garnet Bracelet” for the famous revolutionary writer Maxim Gorky became a real holiday. He wrote:
“And what an excellent thing “Garnet Bracelet” by Kuprin... Wonderful!”
Impossibility of happiness
Kuprin in his story talks about beautiful and unrequited love - this must be mentioned when analyzing the work “Garnet Bracelet”. The theme of love in the story occupies a central place, because its main character, Zheltkov, experiences unrequited feelings. He loves Vera, but cannot be with her because she is completely indifferent to him. Besides this, all circumstances are against them being together. Firstly, they occupy different positions on the social ladder. Zheltkov is poor, he is a representative of a completely different class. Secondly, Vera is bound by marriage. She would never agree to cheat on her husband, because she is attached to him with all her soul. And these are just two reasons why Zheltkov cannot be with Vera.
Analysis of Zheltkov’s love for Vera
Much has been written about the continuation of the theme of the little man by the writer through the fate of this character. And yet, this is only the social level of the problem - not the most important here for Kuprin. The hero is outside of social problems and contradictions - he lives only with the woman he loves.
In George's love there is a lot of the ancient cult of worship of the Beautiful Lady. It is no coincidence that the rejected precious gift was bequeathed to the icon of the Mother of God. And for the first time he meets the Lady of his heart not just anywhere - but in the circus: as if called to higher service from the arena of a vain earthly life.
Submission is completely disinterested - and yet it rewards him endlessly: he is happy with the very existence of Faith. The name of the beloved and the period of hopeless polite love are very symbolic (seven years are consonant with the seven days of Holy Week). The hero idolizes his beloved from afar, although they have never even met their gaze.
And yet George suffers. Service made him alien to the whirlwind of everyday life. He lives for the opportunity to see Vera at least from afar and write adoring anonymous letters. Secondly, the young man is fully aware of the hopelessness of his feelings, their defenselessness and vulnerability in front of cynical, suspicious human views. It's painful to be funny: people want to laugh at the circus, but no one wants to be in the arena for the entertainment of the audience. And only a lover steps over this circle.
Paradoxically, this suffering makes a person stronger and more worthy. Zheltkov speaks as equals with Vera’s husband and chooses not to speak to the angry Nikolai. He calmly talks about his doom if he is deprived of the very opportunity to meet his beloved: “There is only one thing left - death... You want me to accept it in any form.”
Christian feelings
With such hopelessness it is hardly possible to believe in anything. However, the main character does not lose hope. His love was absolutely phenomenal, he could only give without demanding anything in return. The theme of love in the work “Garnet Bracelet” is at the center of the storyline. And the feelings that Zheltkov experiences for Vera are tinged with the sacrifice inherent in Christianity. After all, the main character did not rebel, he came to terms with his situation. Nor did he expect any reward for his patience in the form of a response. His love had no selfish motives. Zheltkov managed to renounce himself, putting his feelings for his beloved first.
Caring for your loved one
At the same time, the main character turns out to be honest towards Vera and her husband. He admits the sinfulness of his passion. Not once in all the years that he loved Vera did Zheltkov cross the threshold of her house with a proposal or compromise the woman in any way. That is, he cared about her personal happiness and well-being more than about himself, and this is true self-denial.
The greatness of the feelings that Zheltkov experienced lies in the fact that he was able to let Vera go for the sake of her happiness. And he did this at the cost of his own life. He knew what he would do to himself after he squandered government money, but he took this step deliberately. And at the same time, the main character did not give Vera a single reason to believe that she could be guilty of anything. An official commits suicide because of a crime he committed.
In those days, desperate people took their own lives so that their obligations would not be transferred to loved ones. And therefore, Zheltkov’s action seemed logical and had nothing to do with Vera. This fact testifies to the unusual tenderness of the feeling that Zheltkov had for her. This is the rarest treasure of the human soul. The official proved that love can be stronger than death itself.
Genre and composition
Kuprin is characterized by a love of plots within plots. “The Garnet Bracelet” is further proof: Zheltkov’s note about the qualities of the jewelry is the plot within the plot.
The author shows love from different points of view - love in general terms and Zheltkov’s unrequited feelings. These feelings have no future: Vera Nikolaevna’s marital status, differences in social status, circumstances - everything is against them. This doom reveals the subtle romanticism invested by the writer in the text of the story.
The entire work is ringed by references to the same piece of music – a Beethoven sonata. Thus, the music that “sounds” throughout the story shows the power of love and is the key to understanding the text, heard in the final lines. Music communicates the unsaid. Moreover, it is Beethoven’s sonata at the climax that symbolizes the awakening of Vera Nikolaevna’s soul and the awareness that comes to her. Such attention to melody is also a manifestation of romanticism.
The composition of the story implies the presence of symbols and hidden meanings. So the fading garden implies the fading passion of Vera Nikolaevna. General Anosov tells short stories about love - these are also small plots within the main narrative.
It is difficult to determine the genre of “Garnet Bracelet”. In fact, the work is called a story largely due to its composition: it consists of thirteen short chapters. However, the writer himself called “The Garnet Bracelet” a story.
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A.I. Kuprin has one cherished theme. He touches her chastely, reverently and nervously. Otherwise, you can’t touch her. This is the theme of love.
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 the tragedy of love can be continued. But love has thousands of shades, and each of its manifestations has its own luminosity, its own sadness, its own fracture and its own fragrance.
One of the most fragrant and yearning stories about love and, perhaps, the saddest is Kuprin’s “Garnet Bracelet”. In this story, the true romantic Kuprin deifies love. Every word here glows, shimmers, sparkling with a precious cut, but the story describes a tragic love. As General Anosov, Anya and Vera’s beloved grandfather, says in the story: “Love must be a tragedy. The greatest secret in the world!
This great love strikes the most ordinary person, bending his back at his office desk, the official Zheltkov. He was ready to adore Vera Nikolaevna from afar, he simply idolized her: “I mentally bow to the ground of the furniture on which you sit, to the trees that you touch in passing, to the servants with whom you speak. Beautiful, praise to you, passionate praise and quiet love. Hallowed be Thy name."
Zheltkov could not give his love to Vera Nikolaevna every day, every hour, every minute. This is probably why he gave her his great-grandmother’s garnet bracelet - the most expensive thing he had, in order to somehow connect himself with Vera. Zheltkov was incredibly happy just because the hands of his goddess touched his gift.
What is most striking is the inner energy with which Kuprin sings of love. Truly it is a miracle, divine providence, to encounter just such a feeling in life, and here Vera Nikolaevna was lucky. In her destiny, eternal, selfless, sincere love shone, which every woman dreams of and which most men are not capable of.
It is probably simply impossible to describe in words the feeling of deepest loss that Vera Nikolaevna experienced when she realized that such love had passed her by. What gives the story special power is that in it love exists as an unexpected gift that suddenly illuminates life, dull everyday life, and shakes up the established way of life.
It is impossible to read the end of the story, these amazing words, without emotional excitement: “I remember your every step, smile, look, the sound of your gait. My last memories are covered with sweet sadness, quiet, beautiful sadness. But I won't cause you any grief. I leave alone, silently, as God and fate willed. Hallowed be Thy name." These words are more like a prayer.
“Garnet Bracelet” is a song of love, and at the same time it is an eternal prayer for love...
Kuprin said about “The Garnet Bracelet” that he had never written anything more chaste. And his remark is correct. 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. He sent a great blessing to all things: the earth, waters, trees, flowers, heavens, people, animals, and eternal goodness, and eternal beauty contained in a woman.
K. Paustovsky called this story a “fragrant” work about love, and researchers compared it with a Beethoven sonata. We are talking about “Garnet Bracelet” by A. Kuprin. Schoolchildren get to know him in 11th grade. The story captivates the reader with its exciting plot, deep images and original interpretation of the eternal theme of love. We offer an analysis of the work, which will be a good assistant in preparing for the lesson and the Unified State Exam. For convenience, the article provides a brief and complete analysis of the plan.
A turning point
In an essay on the work “Garnet Bracelet. Theme of Love" you can indicate what the plot of the story was. The main character, Vera, is the wife of the prince. She constantly receives letters from a secret admirer. However, one day, instead of letters, a rather expensive gift arrives - a garnet bracelet. The theme of love in Kuprin’s work originates here. Vera regarded such a gift as compromising and told everything to her husband and brother, who easily found who sent it.
It turned out to be a modest civil servant Georgy Zheltkov. He accidentally saw Vera and fell in love with her with all his being. At the same time, Zheltkov was quite pleased with the fact that love was unrequited. The prince appears to him, after which the official feels that he has let Vera down, because he compromised her with an expensive garnet bracelet. The theme of tragic love in the work sounds like a leitmotif. Zheltkov asked Vera for forgiveness in a letter, asked her to listen to a Beethoven sonata and committed suicide - he shot himself.
Images of heroes
You can briefly describe the images of the heroes in the analysis of the work “Garnet Bracelet”. The theme of love, chosen by Kuprin, helped him create characters that reflect the social realities not only of his era. Their roles apply to all of humanity. The image of the official Zheltkov is proof of this. He is not rich, he has no special merits. Zheltkov is a completely modest person. He does not demand anything in return for his feelings.
Vera is a woman who is accustomed to obeying the rules of society. Of course, she does not give up love, but she does not consider it a vital necessity. After all, she has a husband who can give her everything she needs, so she doesn’t need feelings. But this happens only until she finds out about Zheltkov’s death. Love in Kuprin's work symbolizes the nobility of the human soul. Neither Prince Shein nor Vera herself can boast of this feeling. Love was the highest manifestation of Zheltkov’s soul. Without demanding anything, he knew how to enjoy the splendor of his experiences.
The main idea of Kuprin's story
Old man Anosov, in a conversation with Vera (very wise and prophetic for our times, he can be parsed into quotes) complained that modern men are not capable of great feeling.
However, the behavior of his granddaughter leads the reader to the conclusion that women are not much different from men. For her, the letters and the gift of an adoring stranger are just a “story” in which she does not want to be the active hero, and which she asks to “stop.”
Man is generally not ready to meet Love, just as humanity was not ready for the coming of Christ - although they probably don’t dream, talk or write about anything so much. However, she does not leave anyone indifferent - and this is probably her main strength. And Vera still experiences a spiritual transformation from this meeting.
