The story “The Garnet Bracelet” in critical literature.
/ / / Analysis of Kuprin’s story “Garnet Bracelet”
Kuprin's story "" was published in 1910. It is worth noting that this work was based on real events, because the writer’s mother was in a similar situation as the heroine of the story, Vera Nikolaevna Sheina.
The story consists of thirteen small chapters that organically flow into each other.
Most of the works of A.I. Kuprin dedicated to the theme of love. The “Garnet Bracelet” can be considered the crown of the writer’s love work, because the garnet stone became for the writer a symbol of pure and dangerous love.
At the beginning of the work, Kuprin introduces us to the main character Vera Nikolaevna. She was the wife of Prince Shein, who was on the verge of bankruptcy. The writer endowed the main character with such character traits as kindness, politeness, she was quite smart and thrifty, and loved children very much. Since she did not have her own children, she gave all her unspent maternal love to her nephews - the children of her sister Anna Nikolaevna.
The main actions of the story take place on September 17th. On this day it was Vera Nikolaevna’s birthday. Guests begin to gather in their house. These were only close and dear people. Thus, a special place was occupied by General Anosov, whom Vera Nikolaevna and her sister took for their own grandfather. Later, Anosov will tell Vera Nikolaevna one of his conjectures, the meaning of which she will understand at the end of the work.
Vera Nikolaevna loved her birthday, because she believed that it was a magical day. Kuprin pays special attention to the gifts that guests brought. Among them were earrings from Vasily Lvovich, a prayer book from Anna Nikolaevna, and, of course, a garnet bracelet from the stranger “G.S.Zh.”
Later, Vasily Lvovich and his brother Nikolai decide to find the mysterious stranger and return the gift to him, since they considered his action to be in bad taste. This stranger turned out to be a minor official. It is worth noting that he was a very romantic person. Zheltkov admitted that he had long been in love with Vera Nikolaevna. He constantly watched her and collected her things.
In a conversation with Zheltkov, Vasily Lvovich realized that the young man’s feelings were real and sincere, he could not do anything with them. It was unrequited love. The only way out of this situation was the death of Zheltkov.
A few days later, Vera Nikolaevna learns that Zheltkov took his own life; he shot himself. The official version of the suicide was embezzlement of government money, but this was not the case. Love destroyed him.
In the episode of Vera Nikolaevna and Zheltkov’s farewell, she understood the meaning of General Anosov’s phrase that she had lost the love of her life, because her relationship with her husband had long been a habit.
This was also Zheltkov’s last letter, in which he asks to play Beethoven’s work after his death. Music, like love, captures a person and makes him addicted.
In his work, Kuprin showed us what the most beautiful feeling on earth can be - love. This is why “The Garnet Bracelet” is a great work of love in Russian literature.
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.
Brief Analysis
Year of writing - 1910
History of creation- A. I. Kuprin was inspired to write the work by a story he heard in a family of friends.
Subject- The story reveals traditional themes of unrequited love, a sincere feeling that all women dream of.
Composition- The semantic and formal organization of the story has its own peculiarities. The work begins with an epigraph addressed to Beethoven’s “Sonata No. 2.” This same musical masterpiece acts as a symbol in the final part. The author wove small love stories told by Vasily Lvovich into the outline of the main plot. The story consists of 13 parts.
Genre- A story. The writer himself considered his work a story.
Direction- Realism.
History of creation
The story of the creation of the story is connected with real events. A. Kuprin was a friend of Governor Lyubimov’s family. While viewing the family album, the Lyubimovs told Alexander Ivanovich an interesting love story. A telegraph official was in love with the governor's wife. The woman collected his letters and made sketches for them. Once she received a gift from an admirer: a gold-plated chain and a pendant in the shape of an Easter egg.
Work on the work began in September 1910, as evidenced by the author’s letters addressed to his colleagues. At first, Alexander Ivanovich was going to write a story. But he was so inspired by the artistic transformation of the story he heard that the work turned out to be much more than it was intended. Kuprin created the “Garnet Bracelet” for about 3 months. He wrote to Batyushkov about the progress of the work. In one of the letters, the writer admitted that he had difficulties associated with his “ignorance in music.” However, Alexander Ivanovich valued the “Garnet Bracelet” very much, so he did not want to “crumple” it.
The work was first seen by the world on the pages of the magazine “Earth” in 1911. Criticism of the work focused on its ideas and expressive “psychological situations.”
Subject
In order to grasp the ideological sound of the story “Garnet Bracelet,” its analysis should begin with a description of the main problem.
Motif of love has always been common in literature. Masters of the pen have revealed different facets of this feeling, trying to understand how it affects a person. In the work of A. Kuprin, this motif takes pride of place. main topic“Pomegranate Bracelet” - unrequited love. The problematics of the work are dictated by the specified topic.
The events of the story unfold at the Sheins' dacha. The author begins the work with landscape sketches. The end of summer was not encouraging with good weather, but at the beginning of September nature compensated for the gloomy August with sunny days. Reading the work further, it is not difficult to guess that the landscapes not only help to immerse oneself in the countryside atmosphere, but also symbolize changes in the life of the main character, Vera Nikolaevna Sheina: her life with her husband was gray and boring until the woman received an unusual gift.
At the beginning of the work, the reader observes only two characters - the Sheins. The author focuses on the fact that the love between these people faded away, or rather, “turned into a feeling of lasting, faithful, true friendship.” The system of images is complemented in an episode reproducing the celebration of the princess’s name day.
The holiday is remembered by the stories of Prince Vasily Lvovich about the unrequited love of a telegraph operator for his wife. On the same day, Vera Nikolaevna received a garnet bracelet and a letter signed with her initials as a gift. The woman told about the strange gift to her husband, father's friend and brother. They decided to find the author of the letter.
It turned out that the gift was presented by the official Zheltkov, who was madly in love with the princess. Vera Nikolaevna's brother returned the bracelet to the man. After explanations with the Sheins, Zheltkov committed suicide. He left a note to his beloved in which he asked to play a Beethoven sonata if Vera remembered him. In the evening, the woman fulfilled the request of the deceased and finally felt that the man had forgiven her.
“The Pomegranate Bracelet” is filled with reflections on love that come from the lips of the characters. These thoughts are like keys to a door behind which are hidden answers about the essence of a tender, but sometimes ruthless feeling. However, the author does not try to impose his point of view. The reader must draw his own conclusions. To understand what the writer teaches, you need to analyze the actions of the heroes, their characters and destinies.
The work of A. Kuprin is filled with symbols. Main role a garnet bracelet plays, hence the title of the story. The decoration symbolizes true love. The bracelet contains five precious stones. In one of King Solomon's parables, they meant love, passion and anger. An interpretation of the meaning of the title of the story will be incomplete without taking into account the symbolic component. Also, special attention is drawn to Beethoven's sonata, which in this context can be interpreted as a symbol of unhappy but eternal love.
The work develops idea that true love does not disappear from the heart without a trace. Main thought- sincere love exists, you just need to be able to notice and accept it.
Composition
The compositional features of the work are manifested both at the formal and semantic levels. First, A. Kuprin draws the reader to Beethoven’s sonnet through an epigraph. In the finale, it turns out that the musical masterpiece plays the role of a symbol. With the help of this symbolic image, a frame is created that enhances the ideological sound.
The order of the plot elements is not broken. The exhibition includes landscape sketches, an introduction to the Shein family, and a story about the upcoming holiday. The beginning is Vera Nikolaevna receiving a gift. The development of events - a story about the name day, the search for the recipient of the gift, a meeting with Zheltkov. The climax is Zheltkov’s recognition that only death will kill his feelings. The denouement is the death of Zheltkov and the story of how Vera listens to the sonata.
Main characters
Genre
The genre of “The Garnet Bracelet” is a story. The work reveals several storylines, the system of images is quite branched. In terms of volume, it also approaches the story. A. Kuprin was a representative of realism, and the story under analysis was written in this direction. It is based on real events; in addition, the author expressively conveyed the atmosphere of his era.
The novel “The Garnet Bracelet” by A. Kuprin is rightfully considered one of the best, revealing the theme of love. The storyline is based on real events. The situation in which the main character of the novel found herself was actually experienced by the mother of the writer’s friend, Lyubimov. This work is named so for a reason. Indeed, for the author, “pomegranate” is a symbol of passionate, but very dangerous love.
The history of the novel
Most of A. Kuprin’s stories are permeated with the eternal theme of love, and the novel “The Garnet Bracelet” most vividly reproduces it. A. Kuprin began work on his masterpiece in the fall of 1910 in Odessa. The idea for this work was the writer’s visit to the Lyubimov family in St. Petersburg.
One day, Lyubimova’s son told an entertaining story about his mother’s secret admirer, who for many years wrote her letters with frank declarations of unrequited love. The mother was not delighted with this manifestation of feelings, because she had been married for a long time. At the same time, she had a higher social status in society than her admirer, a simple official P.P. Zheltikov. The situation was aggravated by a gift in the form of a red bracelet, given for the princess’s name day. At that time, this was a daring act and could cast a bad shadow on the lady’s reputation.
Lyubimova’s husband and brother paid a visit to the fan’s home, he was just writing another letter to his beloved. They returned the gift to the owner, asking not to disturb Lyubimova in the future. None of the family members knew about the further fate of the official.
The story that was told at the tea party hooked the writer. A. Kuprin decided to use it as the basis for his novel, which was somewhat modified and expanded. It should be noted that work on the novel was difficult, about which the author wrote to his friend Batyushkov in a letter on November 21, 1910. The work was published only in 1911, first published in the magazine “Earth”.
Analysis of the work
Description of the work
On her birthday, Princess Vera Nikolaevna Sheina receives an anonymous gift in the form of a bracelet, which is decorated with green stones - “garnets”. The gift was accompanied by a note, from which it became known that the bracelet belonged to the great-grandmother of the princess's secret admirer. The unknown person signed with the initials “G.S.” AND.". The princess is embarrassed by this present and remembers that for many years a stranger has been writing to her about his feelings.
The princess's husband, Vasily Lvovich Shein, and brother, Nikolai Nikolaevich, who worked as an assistant prosecutor, are looking for a secret writer. He turns out to be a simple official under the name Georgy Zheltkov. They return the bracelet to him and ask him to leave the woman alone. Zheltkov feels a sense of shame that Vera Nikolaevna could lose her reputation because of his actions. It turns out that he fell in love with her a long time ago, having accidentally seen her at the circus. Since then, he writes letters to her about unrequited love until his death several times a year.
The next day, the Shein family learns that official Georgy Zheltkov shot himself. He managed to write his last letter to Vera Nikolaevna, in which he asks for her forgiveness. He writes that his life no longer has meaning, but he still loves her. The only thing Zheltkov asks is that the princess not blame herself for his death. If this fact torments her, then let her listen to Beethoven’s Sonata No. 2 in his honor. The bracelet, which was returned to the official the day before, he ordered the maid to hang on the icon of the Mother of God before his death.
Vera Nikolaevna, having read the note, asks her husband for permission to look at the deceased. She arrives at the official's apartment, where she sees him dead. The lady kisses his forehead and places a bouquet of flowers on the deceased. When she returns home, she asks to play a piece by Beethoven, after which Vera Nikolaevna burst into tears. She realizes that “he” has forgiven her. At the end of the novel, Sheina realizes the loss of the great love that a woman can only dream of. Here she recalls the words of General Anosov: “Love should be a tragedy, the greatest secret in the world.”
Main characters
Princess, middle-aged woman. She is married, but her relationship with her husband has long grown into friendly feelings. She has no children, but she is always attentive to her husband and takes care of him. She has a bright appearance, is well educated, and is interested in music. But for more than 8 years she has been receiving strange letters from a fan of “G.S.Z.” This fact confuses her; she told her husband and family about it and does not reciprocate the writer’s feelings. At the end of the work, after the death of the official, she bitterly understands the severity of lost love, which happens only once in a life.
Official Georgy Zheltkov
A young man about 30-35 years old. Modest, poor, well-mannered. He is secretly in love with Vera Nikolaevna and writes about his feelings to her in letters. When the bracelet he had been given was returned to him and asked to stop writing to the princess, he commits an act of suicide, leaving a farewell note to the woman.
Vera Nikolaevna's husband. A good, cheerful man who truly loves his wife. But because of his love for constant social life, he is on the verge of ruin, which drags his family to the bottom.
The main character's younger sister. She is married to an influential young man, with whom she has 2 children. In marriage, she does not lose her feminine nature, loves to flirt, gambles, but is very pious. Anna is very attached to her older sister.
Nikolai Nikolaevich Mirza-Bulat-Tuganovsky
Brother of Vera and Anna Nikolaevna. He works as an assistant prosecutor, a very serious guy by nature, with strict rules. Nikolai is not wasteful, far from feelings of sincere love. It is he who asks Zheltkov to stop writing to Vera Nikolaevna.
General Anosov
An old military general, a former friend of the late father of Vera, Anna and Nikolai. A participant in the Russian-Turkish war, he was wounded. He has no family or children, but is close to Vera and Anna like his own father. He is even called “grandfather” in the Sheins’ house.
This work is full of different symbols and mysticism. It is based on the story of one man's tragic and unrequited love. At the end of the novel, the tragedy of the story takes on even greater proportions, because the heroine realizes the severity of loss and unconscious love.
Today the novel “The Garnet Bracelet” is very popular. It describes great feelings of love, sometimes even dangerous, lyrical, with a tragic ending. This has always been relevant among the population, because love is immortal. In addition, the main characters of the work are described very realistically. After the publication of the story, A. Kuprin gained high popularity.
"Garnet bracelet"
Story by A.I. Kuprin's "Garnet Bracelet", published in 1910, is one of the most poetic works of art in Russian literature of the 20th century. It opens with an epigraph referring the reader to the famous work of J1. van Beethoven - sonata "Appassionata". The author returns to the same musical theme at the end of the story. The first chapter is a detailed landscape sketch, revealing the contradictory variability of the natural elements. In it A.I. Kuprin introduces us to the image of the main character - Princess Vera Nikolaevna Sheina, the wife of the leader of the nobility. At first glance, a woman’s life seems calm and carefree. Despite the financial difficulties, Vera and her husband have an atmosphere of friendship and mutual understanding in their family. Only one small detail alarms the reader: on her name day, her husband gives Vera earrings made of pear-shaped pearls. Doubt involuntarily creeps in that the heroine’s family happiness is so strong, so indestructible.
On Sheina’s name day, her younger sister comes to visit her, who, like Pushkin’s Olga, who sets off the image of Tatyana in Eugene Onegin, sharply contrasts with Vera both in character and in appearance. Anna is playful and wasteful, and Vera is calm, reasonable and economical. Anna is attractive but ugly, while Vera is endowed with aristocratic beauty. Anna has two children, but Vera has no children, although she passionately desires to have them. An important artistic detail that reveals Anna’s character is the gift she gives to her sister: Anna brings Vera a small notebook made from an old prayer book. She enthusiastically talks about how she carefully selected leaves, clasps and a pencil for the book. To faith, the very fact of converting a prayer book into a notebook seems blasphemous. This shows the integrity of her nature and emphasizes how much more seriously the older sister takes life. We soon learn that Vera graduated from the Smolny Institute, one of the best educational institutions for women in noble Russia, and her friend is the famous pianist Zhenya Reiter.
Among the guests who arrived for the name day, General Anosov is an important figure. It is this man, wise in life, who has seen danger and death in his lifetime, and therefore knows the value of life, who tells in the story several stories about love, which can be designated in the artistic structure of the work as inserted short stories. Unlike the vulgar family stories told by Prince Vasily Lvovich, Vera’s husband and the owner of the house, where everything is twisted and ridiculed and turns into a farce, General Anosov’s stories are filled with real life details. This is how a dispute arises in the story about what true love is. Anosov says that people have forgotten how to love, that marriage does not at all imply spiritual closeness and warmth. Women often get married to get out of care and be the mistress of the house. Men are tired of single life. A significant role in marriages is played by the desire to continue the family line, and selfish motives are often not in last place. “Where is the love?” - asks Anosov. He is interested in the kind of love for which “to accomplish any feat, to give one’s life, to go to torment is not work at all, but one joy.” Here, in the words of General Kuprin, in essence, reveals his concept of love: “Love must be a tragedy. The greatest secret in the world. No life conveniences, calculations or compromises should concern her.” Anosov talks about how people become victims of their love feelings, about love triangles that exist contrary to all meaning.
Against this background, the story examines the love story of telegraph operator Zheltkov for Princess Vera. This feeling flared up when Vera was still free. But she did not reciprocate his feelings. Contrary to all logic, Zheltkov did not stop dreaming about his beloved, wrote tender letters to her, and even sent her a gift for her name day - a gold bracelet with garnets that looked like droplets of blood. An expensive gift forces Vera’s husband to take measures to stop the story. He, together with the princess's brother Nikolai, decides to return the bracelet.
The scene of Prince Shein's visit to Zheltkov's apartment is one of the key scenes of the work. A.I. Kuprin appears here as a true master-artist in creating a psychological portrait. The image of the telegraph operator Zheltkov represents the image of a small man typical of Russian classical literature of the 19th century. A notable detail in the story is the comparison of the hero’s room with the wardroom of a cargo ship. The character of the inhabitant of this humble dwelling is shown primarily through gesture. In the scene of the visit of Vasily Lvovich and Nikolai Nikolaevich, Zheltkov either rubs his hands in confusion, or nervously unbuttons and fastens the buttons of his short jacket (and this detail becomes repetitive in this scene). The hero is excited, he is unable to hide his feelings. However, as the conversation progresses, when Nikolai Nikolaevich voices a threat to turn to the authorities in order to protect Vera from persecution, Zheltkov suddenly transforms and even laughs. Love gives him strength, and he begins to feel that he is right. Kuprin focuses on the difference in mood between Nikolai Nikolaevich and Vasily Lvovich during the visit. Vera's husband, seeing his opponent, suddenly becomes serious and reasonable. He tries to understand Zheltkov and says to his brother-in-law: “Kolya, is he really to blame for love and is it possible to control such a feeling as love - a feeling that has not yet found an interpreter.” Unlike Nikolai Nikolaevich, Shane allows Zheltkov to write a farewell letter to Vera. A huge role in this scene for understanding the depth of Zheltkov’s feelings for Vera is played by a detailed portrait of the hero. His lips become white, like those of a dead man, his eyes fill with tears.
Zheltkov calls Vera and asks her for a small thing - for the opportunity to see her at least occasionally, without appearing in front of her. These meetings could have given his life at least some meaning, but Vera refused him this too. Her reputation and the peace of her family were more valuable to her. She showed cold indifference to Zheltkov’s fate. The telegraph operator found himself defenseless against Vera’s decision. The strength of love and maximum spiritual openness made him vulnerable. Kuprin constantly emphasizes this defenselessness with portrait details: a child’s chin, a gentle girl’s face.
In the eleventh chapter of the story, the author emphasizes the motive of fate. Princess Vera, who never read newspapers for fear of getting her hands dirty, suddenly unfolds the very sheet on which the announcement of Zheltkov’s suicide was printed. This fragment of the work is intertwined with the scene in which General Anosov says to Vera: “...Who knows? “Maybe your path in life, Verochka, has been crossed by exactly the kind of love that women dream about and that men are no longer capable of.” It is no coincidence that the princess recalls these words again. It seems that Zheltkov was really sent to Vera by fate, and she could not discern selfless nobility, subtlety and beauty in the soul of a simple telegraph operator.
A unique plot structure in the works of A.I. Kuprin lies in the fact that the author makes peculiar signs to the reader that help to predict the further development of the story. In “Oles” this is the motive of fortune-telling, in accordance with which all further relationships between the characters develop; in “The Duel” it is the officers’ conversation about a duel. In “The Garnet Bracelet,” the sign foreshadowing the tragic outcome is the bracelet itself, the stones of which look like droplets of blood.
Upon learning of Zheltkov’s death, Vera realizes that she foresaw a tragic outcome. In his farewell message to his beloved, Zheltkov does not hide his all-consuming passion. He literally deifies Faith, turning to her the words from the prayer “Our Father...”: “Hallowed be Thy name.”
The literature of the “Silver Age” had strong anti-God motives. Zheltkov, deciding to commit suicide, commits the greatest Christian sin, because the church prescribes to endure any spiritual and physical torment sent to a person on earth. But with the entire course of development of the plot, A.I. Kuprin justifies Zheltkov’s action. It is no coincidence that the main character of the story is named Vera. For Zheltkov, thus, the concepts of “love” and “faith” merge together. Before his death, the hero asks the landlady to hang a bracelet on the icon.
Looking at the late Zheltkov, Vera is finally convinced that there was truth in Anosov’s words. By his action, the poor telegraph operator was able to reach the heart of the cold beauty and touch her. Vera brings Zheltkov a red rose and kisses him on the forehead with a long, friendly kiss. Only after death did the hero receive the right to attention and respect for his feelings. Only with his own death did he prove the true depth of his experiences (before that, Vera considered him crazy).
Anosov's words about eternal, exclusive love become the running theme of the story. The last time they are remembered in the story is when, at Zheltkov’s request, Vera listens to Beethoven’s second sonata (“Appassionata”). At the end of the story by A.I. Kuprin sounds another repetition: “Hallowed be Thy name,” which is no less significant in the artistic structure of the work. He once again emphasizes the purity and sublimity of Zheltkov’s attitude towards his beloved.
Putting love on a par with such concepts as death, faith, A.I. Kuprin emphasizes the importance of this concept for human life as a whole. Not all people know how to love and remain faithful to their feelings. The story “The Garnet Bracelet” can be considered as a kind of testament to A.I. Kuprin, addressed to those who are trying to live not with their hearts, but with their minds. Their life, correct from the point of view of a rational approach, is doomed to a spiritually devastated existence, for only love can give a person true happiness.
Introduction
“The Garnet Bracelet” is one of the most famous stories by Russian prose writer Alexander Ivanovich Kuprin. It was published in 1910, but for the domestic reader it still remains a symbol of unselfish, sincere love, the kind that girls dream about, and the one that we so often miss. We previously published this wonderful work. In this same publication we will tell you about the main characters, analyze the work and talk about its problems.
The events of the story begin to unfold on the birthday of Princess Vera Nikolaevna Sheina. They celebrate at the dacha with their closest people. At the height of the fun, the hero of the occasion receives a gift - a garnet bracelet. The sender decided to remain unrecognized and signed the short note only with the initials of the HSG. However, everyone immediately guesses that this is Vera’s long-time admirer, a certain petty official who has been inundating her with love letters for many years. The princess's husband and brother quickly figure out the identity of the annoying suitor and the next day they go to his home.
In a wretched apartment they are met by a timid official named Zheltkov, he meekly agrees to take the gift and promises never to appear in front of the respectable family again, provided that he makes a final farewell call to Vera and makes sure that she does not want to know him. Vera Nikolaevna, of course, asks Zheltkov to leave her. The next morning the newspapers will write that a certain official took his own life. In his farewell note, he wrote that he had squandered government property.
Main characters: characteristics of key images
Kuprin is a master of portraiture, and through appearance he draws the character of the characters. The author pays a lot of attention to each character, devoting a good half of the story to portrait characteristics and memories, which are also revealed by the characters. The main characters of the story are:
- – princess, central female image;
- - her husband, the prince, the provincial leader of the nobility;
- - a minor official of the control chamber, passionately in love with Vera Nikolaevna;
- Anna Nikolaevna Friesse– Vera’s younger sister;
- Nikolai Nikolaevich Mirza-Bulat-Tuganovsky– brother of Vera and Anna;
- Yakov Mikhailovich Anosov- general, military comrade of Vera’s father, close friend of the family.
Vera is an ideal representative of high society in appearance, manners, and character.
“Vera took after her mother, a beautiful Englishwoman, with her tall, flexible figure, gentle but cold and proud face, beautiful, albeit rather large hands and that charming sloping shoulders that can be seen in ancient miniatures.”
Princess Vera was married to Vasily Nikolaevich Shein. Their love had long ceased to be passionate and moved into that calm stage of mutual respect and tender friendship. Their union was happy. The couple did not have children, although Vera Nikolaevna passionately wanted a baby, and therefore gave all her unspent feelings to the children of her younger sister.
Vera was royally calm, coldly kind to everyone, but at the same time very funny, open and sincere with close people. She was not characterized by such feminine tricks as affectation and coquetry. Despite her high status, Vera was very prudent, and knowing how poorly things were going for her husband, she sometimes tried to deprive herself so as not to put him in an uncomfortable position.
Vera Nikolaevna’s husband is a talented, pleasant, gallant, noble person. He has an amazing sense of humor and is a brilliant storyteller. Shein keeps a home journal, which contains true stories with pictures about the life of the family and those close to them.
Vasily Lvovich loves his wife, perhaps not as passionately as in the first years of marriage, but who knows how long passion actually lasts? The husband deeply respects her opinion, feelings, and personality. He is compassionate and merciful to others, even those who are much lower in status than him (this is evidenced by his meeting with Zheltkov). Shein is noble and endowed with the courage to admit mistakes and his own wrongness.
We first meet Official Zheltkov towards the end of the story. Until this moment, he is present in the work invisibly in the grotesque image of a klutz, an eccentric, a fool in love. When the long-awaited meeting finally takes place, we see before us a meek and shy person, such people are usually not noticed and called “little”:
“He was tall, thin, with long, fluffy, soft hair.”
His speeches, however, are devoid of the chaotic whims of a madman. He is fully aware of his words and actions. Despite his apparent cowardice, this man is very courageous; he boldly tells the prince, Vera Nikolaevna’s legal husband, that he is in love with her and cannot do anything about it. Zheltkov does not fawn over the rank and position in society of his guests. He submits, but not to fate, but only to his beloved. And he also knows how to love – selflessly and sincerely.
“It so happened that I am not interested in anything in life: neither politics, nor science, nor philosophy, nor concern for the future happiness of people - for me life lies only in you. I now feel that I have crashed into your life like some kind of uncomfortable wedge. If you can, forgive me for this"
Analysis of the work
Kuprin got the idea for his story from real life. In reality, the story was more of an anecdotal nature. A certain poor telegraph operator named Zheltikov was in love with the wife of one of the Russian generals. One day this eccentric was so brave that he sent his beloved a simple gold chain with a pendant in the shape of an Easter egg. It's hilarious and that's it! Everyone laughed at the stupid telegraph operator, but the inquisitive writer’s mind decided to look beyond the anecdote, because real drama can always be hidden behind the apparent curiosity.
Also in “The Pomegranate Bracelet,” the Sheins and their guests first make fun of Zheltkov. Vasily Lvovich even has a funny story about this in his home magazine called “Princess Vera and the telegraph operator in love.” People tend not to think about other people's feelings. The Sheins were not bad, callous, soulless (this is proven by the metamorphosis in them after meeting Zheltkov), they just did not believe that the love that the official admitted could exist..
There are many symbolic elements in the work. For example, a garnet bracelet. Garnet is a stone of love, anger and blood. If a feverish person picks it up (a parallel with the expression “love fever”), the stone will take on a more saturated hue. According to Zheltkov himself, this special type of pomegranate (green pomegranate) gives women the gift of foresight, and protects men from violent death. Zheltkov, having parted with his amulet bracelet, dies, and Vera unexpectedly predicts his death.
Another symbolic stone - pearls - also appears in the work. Vera receives pearl earrings as a gift from her husband on the morning of her name day. Pearls, despite their beauty and nobility, are an omen of bad news.
The weather also tried to predict something bad. On the eve of the fateful day, a terrible storm broke out, but on the birthday everything calmed down, the sun came out and the weather was calm, like a calm before a deafening clap of thunder and an even stronger storm.
Problems of the story
The key problem of the work is the question “What is true love?” In order for the “experiment” to be pure, the author gives different types of “love”. This is the tender love-friendship of the Sheins, and the calculating, convenient love of Anna Friesse for her indecently rich old man-husband, who blindly adores her soul mate, and the long-forgotten ancient love of General Amosov, and the all-consuming love-worship of Zheltkov for Vera.
The main character herself cannot understand for a long time whether it is love or madness, but looking into his face, albeit hidden by the mask of death, she is convinced that it was love. Vasily Lvovich draws the same conclusions after meeting his wife’s admirer. And if at first he was somewhat belligerent, then later he could not be angry with the unfortunate man, because, it seems, a secret was revealed to him, which neither he, nor Vera, nor their friends could comprehend.
People are selfish by nature and even in love, they think first of all about their feelings, masking their own egocentrism from their other half and even themselves. True love, which occurs between a man and a woman once every hundred years, puts the beloved first. So Zheltkov calmly lets Vera go, because that’s the only way she will be happy. The only problem is that he doesn’t need life without her. In his world, suicide is a completely natural step.
4.1 (82.22%) 9 votes