Love and loyalty in the work of Olesya. A

The main theme in the work of A. I. Kuprin. It is love that makes it possible to realize the most intimate principles of the human personality. Especially dear to the writer are strong natures who know how to sacrifice themselves for the sake of feeling. But A. Kuprin sees that man in his contemporary world has become shallow, vulgar, and entangled in everyday problems. The writer dreams of a personality who is not subject to the corrupting influence of the environment, and realizes his dream in the image of the Polesie witch Olesya, the heroine of the story of the same name.

Olesya does not know what civilization is; time seems to have stopped in the thickets of Polesie. The girl sincerely believes in legends and conspiracies and believes that her family is connected with the devil. The norms of behavior accepted in society are completely alien to her; she is natural and romantic. But it is not only the exotic image of the heroine and the situation described in the story that attract the writer’s attention.

The work becomes an attempt to analyze that eternal thing that should underlie any high feeling. A.

I. Kuprin pays especially close attention to how feelings develop in the characters of the story. The moment of their meeting is wonderful, the growth of sincere affection in their hearts is amazing. A.I. Kuprin admires the purity of their intimacy, but does not make this romantic love serene, leading the heroes to difficult trials.

To Olesya becomes a turning point in the life of Ivan Timofeevich, a city resident. His initial focus exclusively on his own world is gradually overcome, and the need becomes the fulfillment of the desire to be with another person. His feeling is probably based on vague desires, but very soon it is reinforced by spiritual intimacy. Kuprin accurately conveys the internal transformation of the hero’s personality, the source of which is nature itself. One of the most important phenomena of love for Kuprin is that even a premonition of happiness is always overshadowed by the fear of losing it. On the way to the happiness of the heroes, there are differences in their social status and upbringing, the weakness of the hero and the tragic prediction of Olesya.

The thirst for a harmonious union is generated by deep emotions. At the beginning of the story, Ivan Timofeevich seems soft, sympathetic and sincere. But Olesya immediately detects weakness in him, saying: Your kindness is not good, not heartfelt. And the hero of the story really causes a lot of harm to his beloved. His whim is the reason why Olesya goes to church, although she understands the destructiveness of this act. The lethargy of the hero’s feelings brings trouble to the sincere girl. But Ivan Timofeevich himself quickly calms down.

At the moment when he talks about the most seemingly exciting episode of his life, he does not experience guilt or remorse, which speaks of the relative poverty of his inner world. Olesya is the complete opposite of Ivan Timofeevich. In her image, Kuprin embodies his ideas about the ideal woman. She has absorbed the laws by which nature lives, her soul is not spoiled by civilization. The writer creates an exclusively romantic image of the daughter of the forests. Olesya’s life passes in isolation from people, and therefore she does not care about what many modern people devote their lives to: fame, wealth, power, rumor. Emotions become the main motives for her actions.

Moreover, Olesya is a witch, she knows the secrets of the human subconscious. Her sincerity and lack of falsehood are emphasized both in her appearance and in her gestures, movements, and smile. Olesya's love becomes the greatest gift that can give life to the hero of the story. In this love there is dedication and courage, on the one hand, and contradiction, on the other. Olesya initially understands the tragic outcome of their relationship, but is ready to give herself to her lover.

Even leaving her native place, beaten and dishonored, Olesya does not curse the one who destroyed her, but blesses those brief moments of happiness that she experienced. The writer sees the true meaning of love in the desire to selflessly give to his chosen one all the fullness of feelings that a loving person is capable of. Man is imperfect, but the power of love can, at least for a short time, return to him the sharpness of sensations and naturalness that only people like Olesya have retained.

The strength of the soul of the heroine of the story is capable of bringing harmony even to such contradictory relationships as those described in the story. Love is contempt for suffering and even death. It’s a pity, but only a select few are capable of such a feeling.

As an epigraph to my essay, I took a quote from the Russian writer Konstantin Semyonovich Melikhan. The man makes us think. The first part of the quote is obvious and understandable, I think, to everyone, but the second says that to love you need to change yourself from the inside. People often strive to “reform” anyone, but not themselves. Especially in marriage. Trying to change a person can take away the personality you fell in love with.

Many people say that marriage is primarily about working on yourself. I agree with this phrase. You have to fight for love.

Let us remember the most famous novel by Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy, “War and Peace.” The author introduces us to many different heroes. Consider characters such as Pierre Bezukhov and Natasha Rostova. These heroes stand out for their difference from the society around them. At the beginning of the work, Pierre appears before us in the image of a “big child.” But as the plot of the work develops, we can observe the moral maturation of the hero. At the beginning of the novel, Natasha appears to us as a thirteen-year-old, sincere, active girl, but life’s difficulties “strengthen” her character.

Great changes in people brought with them great love. Pierre Bezukhov and Natasha Rostova are perhaps the most beautiful couple in Russian literature.

Alexander Ivanovich Kuprin in the story “Olesya” also discusses the topic of fidelity and betrayal. The main character of the work is Ivan Timofeevich. The young master meets Olesya and falls in love with her. The girl turns out to be the granddaughter of a witch, which negatively affects her reputation. After some time, Ivan invites Olesya to move to the city and marry him, but she refuses, since, being a pagan, she cannot get married in a church. Soon Ivan learns that the girl tried to change her faith, but nothing good came of it. I would like to analyze this episode in more detail. Olesya believed Ivan and was ready to change her faith for his sake. The young master is not ready for decisive actions. His behavior can be called selfish. As the proverb says: “Alone in the field is not a warrior.”

Thus, based on the above, I want to draw a conclusion. The Russian writer Konstantin Semyonovich Melikhan is certainly right when he says that for love, both men and women need to change. There are many examples in the literature that confirm his words. You need to try to change yourself rather than someone else.

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Updated: 2017-10-02

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The theme of Kuprin's "Olesya" is the immortal theme of heartfelt relationships and burning passions. It is vividly and sincerely shown for its time in Kuprin’s touching story, written in the very center of nature in Polesie.

The clash of lovers from different social groups aggravates their relationships with a hint of sacrifice of themselves, their own life principles and other people’s assessments of them.

Analysis of "Olesya" by Kuprin

A mysterious girl, born surrounded by nature, who has absorbed all the genuine and immaculate traits of a meek and simple character, encounters a completely different person - Ivan Timofeevich, who is considered a spectacular representative of society in the city.

The beginning of a reverent relationship between them presupposes a life together, where, as usual, a woman is obliged to adapt to the new surrounding atmosphere of everyday life.

Olesya, accustomed to her fabulous life in a calm, beloved forest with Manuilikha, perceives the changes in her life experience very hard and painfully, actually sacrificing her own principles in order to be with her lover.

Anticipating the fragility of her relationship with Ivan, she makes a complete self-sacrifice in a ruthless city poisoned by callousness and misunderstanding. However, until then the relationship between the young people is strong.

Yarmola describes to Ivan the image of Olesya and her aunt, proves to him the uniqueness of the fact that magicians and sorceresses live in the world, and encourages him to become extremely fascinated by the mystery of a simple girl.

Features of the work

The writer depicts the habitat of the magical girl very colorfully and naturally, which cannot be ignored when analyzing Kuprin’s “Olesya,” because the landscape of Polesie emphasizes the exclusivity of the people living in it.

It is often said that life itself wrote the stories of Kuprin’s stories.

Obviously, most of the younger generation will find it difficult at first to understand the meaning of the story and what the author wants to convey, but later, after reading some of the chapters, they will be able to become interested in this work, discovering its depth.

The main problems of "Olesya" Kuprin

This is an excellent writer. He managed to express the most difficult, high and tender human emotions in his own work. Love is a wonderful feeling that is experienced by a person, like a touchstone. Not many people have the ability to truly love with an open heart. This is the fate of a strong-willed person. It is precisely people like these that interest the author. Correct people, existing in harmony with themselves and the world around them, are a model for him; in fact, such a girl is created in the story “Olesya” by Kuprin, the analysis of which we are analyzing.

An ordinary girl lives in the surroundings of nature. She listens to sounds and rustling, understands the cries of various creatures, and is very pleased with her life and independence. Olesya is independent. The sphere of communication that she has is enough for her. She knows and understands the forest surrounding on all sides; the girl has a great sense of nature.

But a meeting with the human world, unfortunately, promises her complete troubles and grief. The townspeople think that Olesya and her grandmother are witches. They are ready to blame all mortal sins on these unfortunate women. One fine day, the anger of people has already driven them away from their warm place, and from now on the heroine has only one desire: to get rid of them.

However, the soulless human world knows no mercy. This is where the key problems of Kuprin's Olesya lie. She is especially intelligent and smart. The girl is well aware of what her meeting with the city dweller, “Panych Ivan” portends. It is not suitable for the world of enmity and jealousy, profit and falsehood.

The girl’s dissimilarity, her grace and originality instill anger, fear, and panic in people. The townspeople are ready to blame Olesya and Babka for absolutely all hardships and misfortunes. Their blind horror of the “witches” they have dubbed them is fueled by reprisals without any consequences. An analysis of Kuprin’s “Olesya” makes us understand that the girl’s appearance in the temple is not a challenge to the residents, but a desire to understand the human world in which her beloved lives.

The main characters of Kuprin's "Olesya" are Ivan and Olesya. Secondary - Yarmola, Manuilikha and others, less important.

Olesya

A young girl, slender, tall and charming. She was raised by her grandmother. However, despite the fact that she is illiterate, she has the natural intelligence of centuries, fundamental knowledge of human nature and curiosity.

Ivan

A young writer, looking for a muse, arrived from the city to the village on official business. He is intelligent and smart. In the village he distracts himself by hunting and getting to know the villagers. Regardless of his own background, he behaves normally and without arrogance. "Panych" is a good-natured and sensitive guy, noble and weak-willed.

The theme of love occupies a special place in the work of A. I. Kuprin. The writer gave us three stories united by this wonderful theme - “The Garnet Bracelet”, “Olesya” and “Shulamith”.
Kuprin showed different facets of this feeling in each of his works, but one thing remains unchanged: love illuminates the lives of his heroes with extraordinary light, becomes the brightest, unique event of life, a gift of fate. It is in love that the best features of his heroes are revealed.
Fate threw the hero of the story “Olesya” into a remote village in the Volyn province, on the outskirts of Polesie. Ivan Timofeevich - writer. He is an educated, intelligent, inquisitive person. He is interested in people, with their customs and traditions, and in the legends and songs of the region. He was traveling to Polesie with the intention of enriching his life experience with new observations useful for the writer: “Polesie... wilderness... bosom of nature... simple morals... primitive natures,” he thought while sitting in the carriage.
Life presented Ivan Timofeevich with an unexpected gift: in the Polesie wilderness he met a wonderful girl and his true love.
Olesya and her grandmother Manuilikha live in the forest, away from the people who once expelled them from the village, suspecting them of witchcraft. Ivan Timofeevich is an enlightened person and, unlike the dark Polesie peasants, he understands that Olesya and Manuilikha simply “have access to some instinctive knowledge obtained by chance experience.”
Ivan Timofeevich falls in love with Olesya. But he is a man of his time, of his circle. Reproaching Olesya for superstition, Ivan Timofeevich himself is no less at the mercy of the prejudices and rules by which the people of his circle lived. He did not even dare to imagine what Olesya would look like, dressed in a fashionable dress, talking in the living room with the wives of his colleagues, Olesya, torn from the “charming frame of the old forest.”
Next to Olesya, he looks like a weak, unfree man, “a man with a lazy heart” who will not bring happiness to anyone. “You will not have great joys in life, but there will be a lot of boredom and hardship,” Olesya predicts to him from the cards. Ivan Timofeevich could not save Olesya from harm, who, trying to please her beloved, went to church contrary to her beliefs, despite the fear of the hatred of local inhabitants.
Oles has courage and determination, which our hero lacks; she has the ability to act. Petty calculations and fears are alien to her when it comes to the feeling: “Let it be what will be, but I won’t give my joy to anyone.”
Pursued and persecuted by superstitious peasants, Olesya leaves, leaving a string of “coral” beads as a souvenir for Ivan Timofeevich. She knows that for him soon “everything will pass, everything will be erased,” and he will remember her love without grief, easily and joyfully.
The story “Olesya” adds new touches to the endless theme of love. Here, Kuprin’s love is not only the greatest gift, which it is a sin to refuse. Reading the story, we understand that this feeling is unthinkable without naturalness and freedom, without bold determination to defend your feeling, without the ability to sacrifice in the name of those you love. Therefore, Kuprin remains the most interesting, intelligent and sensitive interlocutor for readers of all times.

b. Therefore, Kuprin remains the most interesting, intelligent and sensitive interlocutor for readers of all times.