The theme of love in the story of Kuprin's garnet bracelet is an essay. Composition on the topic “Love in the work of Kuprin What is true love in the understanding of Kuprin

The theme of love in art. You open the collected works of A. I. Kuprin and plunge into wonderful world his heroes. All of them are very different, but there is something in them that makes you empathize with them, rejoice and grieve with them.

Despite many dramatic situations, in the works of Kuprin, life is in full swing. His heroes are people with an open soul and a pure heart, rebelling against the humiliation of a person, trying to defend human dignity and restore justice.

One of the highest values in the life of A. I. Kuprin was love, therefore, in his stories "Olesya", "Garnet Bracelet",

"Duel", "Shulamith" he raises this burning topic for all time. These works have common features, the most important of which is the tragic fate of the main characters. It seems to me that none of the books I have read literary works the theme of love does not sound like Kuprin's. In his stories, love is disinterested, selfless, not thirsty for reward, love for which to accomplish any feat, to go to torment is not labor at all, but joy.

Love in the works of Kuprin is always tragic, it is obviously doomed to suffering. It was such an all-consuming love that touched the Polissya "witch" Olesya, who fell in love with the "kind, but only weak" Ivan Timofeevich. The heroes of the story "Olesya" were destined to meet, spend wonderful minutes together, know a deep feeling of love, but they were not destined to be together. Such a denouement is due to many reasons, depending both on the heroes themselves and on the circumstances.

The story "Olesya" is built on a comparison of two heroes, two natures, two worldviews. On the one hand, there is an educated intellectual, a representative of urban culture, a rather humane Ivan Timofeevich, and on the other, Olesya is a “child of nature”, a person who has not been influenced by urban civilization. Kuprin paints the image of the Polissya beauty, forcing us to follow the richness of her shades. spiritual world, always sincere and kind nature. Kuprin opens to us true beauty innocent, almost childish soul of a girl who grew up far from the noisy world of people, among animals, birds and plants. Along with this, Kuprin shows human malice, senseless superstition, fear of the unknown, the unknown. But everything wins true love. A string of red beads is the last gift from Olesya's heart, the memory of "her tender, generous love."

Protesting against corrupt feelings, vulgarity, A. I. Kuprin created the story "Shulamith". She was based on the biblical "Song of Songs" by King Solomon. The king fell in love with a poor peasant girl, but because of the jealousy of the queen abandoned by him, the beloved dies. Before dying, Shulamith says to her lover: “I thank you, my king, for everything: for your wisdom, to which you allowed me to cling to my lips, like to a sweet source ... There has never been and never will be a woman happier than me.” The writer showed a pure and tender feeling: the love of a poor girl from a vineyard and a great king will never pass and will not be forgotten, because it is strong as death.

And how the plot of the story "Garnet Bracelet" captured me, where a knight's romantic love Zheltkov to Princess Vera Nikolaevna! Love is pure, unrequited, disinterested. No life's conveniences, calculations, compromises should concern her. Through the lips of General Amosov, the author says that this feeling should not be either frivolous or primitive, not have benefits and self-interest: “Love should be a tragedy. The greatest secret in the world!" But! A gross interference with holy feelings, with a beautiful soul, killed Zheltkov. He leaves life without complaints, without reproaches, saying, like a prayer: “Let your name". Zheltkov dies, blessing the woman he loves.

Many events take place before us on the pages of the story "Duel". The emotional climax is not the tragic fate of Romashov, but the night of love he spent with the captivating Shurochka. And the happiness experienced by Romashov on this night before the duel is so great and impressive that it is precisely this that is conveyed to the reader.

This is how Kuprin describes love. You read and think: perhaps this does not happen in life. But, in spite of everything, I want it to be so.

Now, having read Kuprin, I am sure that these books do not leave anyone indifferent, on the contrary, they always beckon. Young people can learn a lot from this writer: humanism, kindness, spiritual wisdom, the ability to love, and most importantly, to appreciate love.

Works on literature: The theme of love in the works of A. I Kuprin.

Love ... Someday this feeling comes to everyone. Probably, there is no such person who would never love. Didn't love mother or

Tsa, woman or man, your child or friend. capable

To resurrect, to make people more kind, sincere and humane. Without love there would be no life, for life itself is love. It was this absorbing feeling that inspired A. S. Pushkin, M. Yu. Lermontov, L. N. Tolstoy, A. A. Blok, and in general, all the great writers and poets.

A light wave of a goose pen and such wonderful poems and works appeared on the sheets, such as "I loved you ...", "Anna Karenina", "They loved each other for so long and tenderly ...".

The 20th century gave us A. I. Kuprin, a writer in whose work the theme of love occupied one of the most important places. I especially admire this man - open, courageous, straightforward, noble. Most of Kuprin's stories are a hymn to pure, ideal, sublime love, about which he wrote throughout his life.

The writer acutely felt the need for "heroic plots", for selfless, self-critical heroes. As a result, under the pen of Alexander Ivanovich, wonderful works were born: "Garnet Bracelet", "Olesya", "Shulamith" and many others.

The story "Olesya" was written in 1898 and entered the cycle of Polissya works. In addition to the theme of love, A. I Kuprin touches on an equally important topic of interaction between the civilized and natural worlds in the story. From the very first pages of the work, we find ourselves in a remote village in the Volyn province, on the outskirts of Polesye. It was here that fate threw Ivan Timofeevich - literate, intelligent person. From his lips we learn about the wild customs of the Perebrod peasants. These people are illiterate, uncouth, uncommunicative. Everything shows that they have not yet completely got rid of the habits of Polish serfdom. Ivan Timofeevich is terribly bored in this place, where there is no one to talk to, where there is absolutely nothing to do. That is why Yarmola's story about the old witch so excited him. The young man longs for adventure, he wants to escape from the daily routine of village life at least for a while.

During the next hunt, Ivan Timofeevich unexpectedly stumbles upon an old hut, where he first meets Olesya, the granddaughter of the local sorceress Manuilikha. Olesya fascinates with her beauty. Not the beauty of a secular lady, but the beauty of a wild fallow deer living in the bosom of nature. But not only the appearance of this girl attracts Ivan Timofeevich. The young man is delighted with the self-confidence, pride, audacity with which Olesya keeps himself. That is why he decides to visit Manuilikha again. Olesya herself is also interested in an unexpected guest. Growing up in the forest, she had little contact with people, used to treat them with great caution. But Ivan Timofeevich bribes the girl with his ease, kindness, intelligence. Olesya is very happy when a young guest comes to visit her again. It is she who, guessing by the hand, characterizes the main character to us as a person “although kind, but only weak”, she admits that his kindness is “not cordial”. His heart is “cold, lazy”, and those who “will love him ", he will bring, albeit involuntarily," a lot of evil ". Thus, according to the young fortuneteller, the young man appears before us as an egoist, incapable of deep emotional experiences. But in spite of everything, Olesya and Ivan Timofeevich fall in love with each other and completely surrender to this feeling.

Olesya's love makes her sensitive delicacy, special innate intelligence, observation and tact, her instinctive knowledge of the secrets of life obvious. In addition, her love opens great power passion and selflessness, reveals in her a great human talent of understanding and generosity. Olesya is ready to give up her feelings, endure suffering and torment for the sake of her beloved and only. Against the backdrop of all the people around main character, her figure looks sublime and makes

Faded surrounding. The images of the Polesye peasants become dull, spiritually enslaved, vicious, recklessly cruel. They have neither breadth of mind nor generosity of heart. And Olesya is ready to do anything for the sake of her love: go to church, endure the mockery of local residents, find the strength to leave, leaving behind only a string of cheap red beads, as a symbol eternal love and devotion. For Kuprin, the image of Olesya is the ideal of a sublime, exceptional personality. This girl is an open, selfless, deep nature, the meaning of her life is love. She raises her above the level of ordinary people, she gives her happiness, but she also makes Olesya defenseless and leads to death.

Loses from the neighborhood with Olesya and the figure of Ivan Timofeevich. His love is ordinary, sometimes even like a hobby. The young man understands deep down that his beloved will never be able to live outside of nature. He does not imagine Olesya in a secular dress and yet offers her his hand and heart, implying that she will live with him in

City. Ivan Timofeevich does not even allow the thought of giving up his position in society for the sake of his love and remaining to live with Olesya in the forest. He is completely resigned to what happened and is not going to fight for his love, to challenge the current situation. I believe that if Ivan Timofeevich truly loved Olesya, then he would definitely have found her, tried to change his life, but, unfortunately, he did not understand what kind of love passed him by.

The theme of mutual and happy love is also 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.

But the writer kills the girl, leaving Solomon alone, because, according to Kuprin, love is a moment that illuminates the spiritual value of the human personality, awakens all the best in it.

In one of famous works writer "Garnet Bracelet" sounds the theme of unrequited love as a great gift that transforms human soul. Princess Vera Sheina was strict, independent, amiable and "regally

A calm "woman who loved her husband. But the idyll in the house was destroyed after the appearance of a gift with a letter from" G. S.Zh ". Together with the message, selfless, selfless, unrequited love entered the house of the princes Sheins: love is a mystery, love is a tragedy. The whole meaning of Zheltkov's life, the sender of the message, was to love Vera Nikolaevna, without demanding for it’s nothing in return, to praise your beloved from the bottom of your heart, uttering the words: “Hallowed be thy name.” The vague anxiety of Princess Vera after receiving a gift from Zheltkov grew into the bitterness of losing something high and beautiful at the last last meeting with an already dead admirer: "In that second, she realized that the love that every woman dreams of had passed her by." And Vera Nikolaevna wept, listening to Beethoven's Second Sonata, knowing that she loved. Loved for just one moment, but forever.

In his stories, AI Kuprin showed us sincere, devoted, selfless love. The love that everyone dreams of. Love, in the name of which you can sacrifice anything, even life. Love that will survive millennia, overcome evil, make the world beautiful, and people kind and happy.

I option

To live is to live like this, to love is to fall in love like that. Kiss and walk in moonlight gold, If you want to worship the dead, Then don't poison the living with that dream.

S. Yesenin

You open the collected works of A. I. Kuprin and plunge into the wonderful world of his heroes. All of them are very different, but there is something in them that makes you empathize with them, rejoice and grieve with them.

Despite many dramatic situations, life is in full swing in Kuprin's works. His heroes are people with an open soul and a pure heart, rebelling against the humiliation of a person, trying to defend human dignity and restore justice.

One of the highest values in the life of A. I. Kuprin was love, therefore, in his stories “Olesya”, “Garnet Bracelet”, “Duel”, “Shulamith”, he raises this burning topic for all times. These works have common features, the most important of which is the tragic fate of the main characters. It seems to me that in none of the literary works I have read, the theme of love sounds like Kuprin's. In his stories, love is disinterested, selfless, not thirsty for reward, love for which to accomplish any feat, to go to torment is not labor at all, but joy.

The story "Olesya" is built on a comparison of two heroes, two natures, two worldviews. On the one hand, there is an educated intellectual, a representative of urban culture, a rather humane Ivan Timofeevich, and on the other, Olesya is a “child of nature”, a person who has not been influenced by urban civilization. Kuprin draws the image of a Polissya beauty, forcing us to follow the richness of the shades of her spiritual world, always sincere and kind nature. Kuprin reveals to us the true beauty of the innocent, almost childish soul of a girl who grew up far from the noisy world of people, among animals, birds and plants. Along with this, Kuprin shows human malice, senseless superstition, fear of the unknown, the unknown. But true love wins. A string of red beads is the last gift from Olesya's heart, the memory of "her tender, generous love."

Protesting against corrupt feelings, vulgarity, A. I. Kuprin created the story "Shulamith". She was based on the biblical "Song of Songs" by King Solomon. The king fell in love with a poor peasant girl, but because of the jealousy of the queen abandoned by him, the beloved dies. Before death, Shulamith says to her beloved. “Thank you, my king, for everything: for your wisdom, to which you allowed me to cling to my lips, as to a sweet source .. There has never been and never will be a woman happier than me.” The writer showed a pure and tender feeling: the love of a poor girl from a vineyard and a great king will never pass and will not be forgotten, because it is strong as death.

And how the plot of the story "Garnet Bracelet" captured me, where Zheltkov's chivalrous romantic love for Princess Vera Nikolaevna is shown! Love is pure, unrequited, unselfish. No living comforts, calculations, compromises should concern her. Through the lips of General Amosov, the author says that this feeling should not be either frivolous or primitive, not have benefits and self-interest: “Love should be a tragedy. The greatest secret in the world!" But! A gross interference with holy feelings, with a beautiful soul, killed Zheltkov. He leaves life without complaints, without reproaches, saying, as a prayer: "Hallowed be thy name." Zheltkov dies, blessing the woman he loves.

This is how Kuprin describes love. You read and think: perhaps this does not happen in life. But, in spite of everything, I want it to be so.

Option 2

And the heart burns again and loves - because It cannot help but love.

A. Pushkin

The work of Alexander Ivanovich Kuprin is closely connected with the traditions of Russian realism. In his work, the writer relied on the achievements of his three idols: Pushkin, Leo Tolstoy, Chekhov. The main direction of Kuprin's creative search is expressed in the following phrase: "We need to write not about how people have become impoverished in spirit and vulgarized, but about the triumph of man, about his strength and power."

The themes of the works of this writer are extremely diverse. But Kuprin has one cherished theme. He touches her chastely and reverently, and otherwise it is impossible to touch her. This is the theme of love.

The true strength of a person, capable of resisting the vulgarizing effect of pseudo-civilization, for Kuprin has always been selfless and pure love. In one of his works, the writer names three manifestations of love: covered with a “gentle chaste fragrance”, “a powerful call of the body” and “luxurious gardens, where every woman who loves is a queen, because love is beautiful!”

A new return to the theme of great, all-consuming love took place in the story "Garnet Bracelet". The hero of this story, 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. Zheltkov kills himself so as not to interfere with the life of the princess, and, dying, thanks her for the fact that she was for him "the only joy in life, the only consolation, one thought." This story is not so much about love as a prayer to it. In his suicide letter, the amorous official blesses his beloved princess: “Leaving, I say in delight: “Hallowed be thy name.” Especially in this story, A. I. Kuprin singled out 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”, which knows no compromises. Princess Vera, a woman, for all her aristocratic restraint, very impressionable, capable of understanding and appreciating the beautiful, felt that her life had come into contact with this great love, sung by the best poets of the world. The love of official Zheltkov is alien to that deep secrecy in which noble modesty is intertwined with noble pride.

"Be silent and perish..." This talent was not given to Zheltkov. But for him, the "magic fetters" turned out to be a mile of life. The “small” person turned out to be taller and nobler than the representatives of the highest rung of the social ladder.

In the story "Olesya" the theme of Kuprin's creativity is developed - love as a saving force that protects " pure gold"of human nature from" debasement ", from the destructive influence of bourgeois civilization. It is no coincidence that Kuprin's favorite hero was a man of a strong-willed, courageous character and a noble, kind heart, capable of rejoicing in all the diversity of the world. The story "Olesya" is built on a comparison of two heroes, two natures, two worldviews. On the one hand, there is an educated intellectual, a representative of urban culture, a rather humane Ivan Timofeevich, on the other, Olesya is a “child of nature”, a person who has not been influenced by urban civilization. Compared to Ivan Timofeevich, a kind, but weak, "lazy" heart, Olesya exalts herself with nobility, integrity, and proud confidence in her strength. Freely, without any special tricks, Kuprin draws the appearance of a Polissya beauty, forcing us to follow the richness of the shades of her spiritual world, always original, sincere and deep.

"Olesya" is an artistic discovery of Kuprin. At the beginning, the story takes us through a disturbing period of the birth of love. A naive charming fairy tale continues for almost a whole month. Even after the tragic denouement, the light, fabulous atmosphere of the story does not fade. Kuprin revealed to us the true beauty of the innocent, almost childish soul of a girl who grew up far from the noisy world of people, among animals, birds and forests. But along with this, Kuprin shows human malice, senseless superstition, fear of the unknown, the unknown. An exalted soul that has miraculously arisen is forced to hide from cruel people, to suffer from the indifference of its loved ones. But true love prevailed over all this. A string of red beads is the last tribute to Olesya's generous heart, the memory of "her tender, generous love."

A feature of the artistic talent of A. I. Kuprin is an increased interest in every human personality and skill psychological analysis- allowed him to master the realist heritage in his own way. The value of his work lies in the artistically convincing revelation of the soul of his contemporary. The writer considers love as a deep moral and psychological feeling. The stories of A. Kuprin raise the eternal problems of mankind - the problems of love.

Tried to find answers to questions about love. It cannot be said that they did not solve the problem. Decided! And a vivid example of this is the love I.A. - one of the outstanding Nobel Prize winner, who until the end of his days sought to know the truth of love. No less subtle is the theme of love in Kuprin's work. So what is this "gift of God" (according to these great Russian writers)?

To paraphrase the remark of Paustovsky K.G. about the fact that love has thousands of aspects, you can imagine this great feeling in the form of a precious stone with many facets (or even with an infinite number of them), because the limit here is impossible, and not needed .... After all, the end point means the end of everything! Not only to mankind, but also to the Universe. Love is the main goal, the highest meaning of life. This is life itself. It was about such love that A.I. Kuprin and I.A. Bunin. In their works, the heroes seek and discover new facets of love, get to know themselves and the world through the lens of a new understanding.

In the story of A.I. Kuprin's "Garnet Bracelet", the theme of love is revealed through inner feelings, experiences, actions of the protagonist, a petty official Zheltkov, to a secular lady - Vera Nikolaevna Sheina. His feeling is deep, humble and unconditional. He knows perfectly well that there is an abyss between them - she is a woman from high society, and he is from the middle class, they have different views on life, different inner worldview, and finally, she is married. On the one hand, he does not accept all these conventions, does not refuse her, and from his deep attachment to her, he is ready to carry this “burden” .... On the other hand, Zheltkov does not enter into a struggle with society, does not try to prove anything, to win back. He just loves. And he wants only one thing - happiness for his chosen one. Of course, the hero was not understood by his contemporaries. And, most likely, it would not be accepted in the world today. Why? Most people believe that love is, rather, a partnership, passing passion, respect, friendship, where the most important thing is to observe the principle "you - to me, I - to you." And, if this rule is violated, then, then, the end of the feeling. And you have to leave in search of new passions. How often do we turn away, betray, run away if something doesn’t like us, doesn’t fit, doesn’t bring happiness. Of course, when a person like Zheltkov appears, who does not back down, and his soul only wants to love, despite the fact that he is humiliated, insulted, and frankly ignored - he becomes a real "black sheep". Some laugh at him, like Prince Vasily, for whom the story of turns out to be the main plot for table conversations. Others are frankly afraid, because the unknown, the incomprehensible always frightens, becomes a living threat. Therefore, Vera's brother proposes to introduce a punishment for this kind of "crime" - beating with rods. The hero of Kuprin passes away. All he could say, he said. He fulfilled his mission - he experienced a true feeling, knew the facet of love for which he was born. There is hope that the princess and other heroes will understand and experience this endless impulse. Death made his dream come true - the princess thought about her life, about her soul, about her attitude towards her husband, and about what truth is ...

The theme of love in the work of A. Kuprin . continues in the story "Duel". The title of the work is not accidental. The whole world (and each of us) is a unity and struggle of opposites, black and white, physical and spiritual, calculation and sincerity…. Main character, lieutenant Romashov, is ready to confront the meaninglessness of existence in a small military town. He is not ready to put up with the stupid, empty everyday life of officers, whose members do the same assignments in the morning, and spend their evenings in games, drunken fights and vulgar novels. His soul is looking for true feelings, that real and sincere, for which it is worth living and moving on. He falls in love with a married lady - Shurochka Nikolaeva. This is not just a hobby or an attempt to escape from the gray everyday life. No, this is the love that people dream of, but which they do not recognize in reality. She uses the protagonist's cordiality, sending him to certain death for the sake of her husband's career. Who won and who lost in this "duel"? Lieutenant Romashov died, he was destroyed, but his soul rose above that petty, conditional, vain. Shurochka won, she got what she wanted. But she died inside.

The theme of love in the work of Kuprin A.I. suggests thinking. And choose your life path. Yes, love is not heaven on earth, rather, it is hard work, a rejection of one's ego, stereotypes, and the conventions of life. But in return, you get much more - it's heaven in the soul. From now on, life becomes harmonious, conscious, filled. A real gift from heaven! But the choice is up to each of us….

The theme of love in Kuprin's work is not an abstract philosophy, these are living people with their own thoughts, feelings, ideas. The writer does not condemn or exalt them. Everyone has the right to live life with their own truth. However, not all truth is truth....

Love is one of the main themes in Kuprin's work. The heroes of his works, “illuminated” by this bright feeling, are more fully revealed. In the stories of this remarkable author, love, as a rule, is disinterested and selfless. After reading a large number of his works, one can understand that with him she is always tragic, and she is obviously doomed to suffering.

In this vein, the poetic and tragic story of a young girl in the story "Olesya" sounds. Olesya's world is a world of spiritual harmony, a world of nature. He is a stranger to Ivan Timofeevich, a representative of the cruel, big city. Olesya attracts him with her “unusualness”, “there was nothing like local girls in her”, naturalness, simplicity and some kind of elusive inner freedom inherent in her image attracted him like a magnet.

Olesya grew up in the forest. She could not read or write, but she had great spiritual wealth and a strong character. Ivan Timofeevich is educated, but not decisive, and his kindness is more like cowardice. These two completely different people fell in love with each other, but this love does not bring happiness to the heroes, its outcome is tragic.

Ivan Timofeevich feels that he has fallen in love with Olesya, he would even like to marry her, but he is stopped by doubt: “I did not even dare to imagine what Olesya would be like, dressed in a fashionable dress, talking in the living room with the wives of my colleagues, torn out of the charming frame of an old forest, full of legends and mysterious forces. He realizes that Olesya cannot change, become different, and he himself does not want her to change. After all, to become different means to become like everyone else, and this is impossible.

Poeticizing life, not limited by modern social and cultural frameworks, Kuprin sought to show the clear advantages of a “natural” person, in whom he saw spiritual qualities lost in a civilized society. The meaning of the story is to affirm the high standard of man. Kuprin is looking for people in real, everyday life, obsessed with a high feeling of love, able to rise at least in dreams above the prose of life. As always, he turns his gaze to the "little" man. This is how the story "Garnet Bracelet" arises, which tells about refined all-encompassing love. This story is about hopeless and touching love. Kuprin himself understands love as a miracle, as a wonderful gift. The death of an official revived a woman who did not believe in love, which means that love still conquers death.

In general, the story is devoted to the inner awakening of Vera, her gradual realization of the true role of love. To the sound of music, the soul of the heroine is reborn. From cold contemplation to a hot, quivering feeling of oneself, of a person in general, of the world - such is the path of the heroine, who once came into contact with a rare guest of the earth - love.

For Kuprin, love is a hopeless platonic feeling, moreover, a tragic one. Moreover, there is something hysterical in the chastity of Kuprin's heroes, and in relation to a loved one, it is striking that a man and a woman seem to have changed their roles. This is characteristic of the energetic, strong-willed "Polesye sorceress" Olesya in relations with the "kind, but only weak Ivan Timofeevich" and the smart, prudent Shurochka - with the "pure and kind Romashov" ("Duel"). Underestimation of oneself, disbelief in one's right to possess a woman, a convulsive desire to withdraw - these features complete the Kuprin hero with a fragile soul that has fallen into a cruel world.

Closed in itself, such love has a creative creative power. “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,” Zheltkov writes before his death to the subject of his generation, “... for me, all life consists only in you". Zheltkov passes away without complaints, without reproaches, saying like a prayer: "Hallowed be thy name."

Kuprin's works, despite the complexity of situations and often a dramatic end, are filled with optimism and love of life. You close the book, and for a long time there is a feeling of something bright in your soul.

At the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, Russian literature experienced a period of particular prosperity. In poetry, he was called " silver age". But the prose was enriched by many masterpieces. In my opinion, A. I. Kuprin contributed a lot to this. His work combines in a strange way the most severe life realism and amazing airiness, transparency. Some of the most penetrating works about love in Russian literature belong to his pen.

I would like to focus on two of them: "Duel" and "Garnet Bracelet". They are very different, but upon closer inspection, even in the plot you can find a roll call. In both stories, the story of unhappy love becomes the basis of the plot, and both main characters die tragically, and the reason for this is the attitude of the beloved woman towards them.

Georgy Romashov, "Romochka", from "Duel" - a young officer. His character does not correspond to the chosen field at all. He is shy, blushes like a young lady, in any person he is ready to respect the dignity, but the results are deplorable. His soldiers are the worst marchers. He makes mistakes all the time. His idealistic ideas constantly come into conflict with reality, and his life is painful. His only consolation is his love for Shurochka. She personifies for him beauty, grace, education, culture in general in the atmosphere of a provincial garrison. In her house, he feels like a man. Shurochka also appreciates in Romashov his excellentness, his dissimilarity to others. She is proud and ambitious, her dream is to break out of here. To do this, she forces her husband to prepare for the academy. She herself teaches military disciplines, so as not to wallow in idleness, not to become dumb in the surrounding lack of spirituality. Romashov and Shurochka found each other, opposites met. But if Romashov’s love swallowed up his whole soul, became the meaning and justification of life, then Shurochka is hindered by it. Achieving her intended goal is impossible for her with a weak-willed, gentle "Romochka". Therefore, she allows herself this weakness only for a moment, and then prefers to stay with her unloved, mediocre, but persistent and stubborn husband. Once Shurochka already refused Nazansky's love (and now he is a drunken, desperate man).

In Shurochka's understanding, the lover must make sacrifices. After all, she herself, without thinking twice, sacrifices love both her own and someone else's for the sake of well-being, social status. Nazansky could not adapt to her demands - and he was removed. Shura will demand even more from Romashov - for the sake of her reputation, for the sake of gossip and talkers, he must sacrifice his life. For George himself, this may even be salvation. After all, if he had not died, his, in best case, would have suffered the fate of Nazansky. The environment would swallow him up and destroy him.

In "Garnet Bracelet" the situation is similar, but not quite. The heroine is also married, but she loves her husband, and on the contrary, she does not feel any feelings towards Mr. Zheltkov, except for annoyance. And Zheltkov himself seems to us at first just a vulgar boyfriend. This is how Vera and her family perceive him. But in the story of the calm and happy life disturbing notes flicker: this is the fatal love of brother Vera's husband; the love-adoration that the husband has for Vera's sister; the failed love of grandfather Vera, it is this general who says that true love should be a tragedy, but in life it is trivialized, everyday life and all sorts of conventions interfere. He tells two stories (one of them even somewhat resembles the plot of the “Duel”), where true love turns into a farce. Vera listening to this story has already received Garnet bracelet with a bloody stone, which should save her from misfortune, and could save her former owner from violent death. It is from this gift that the reader's attitude towards Zheltkov changes. He sacrifices everything for his love: career, money, peace of mind. And asks for nothing in return.

But again, empty secular conventions ruin even this illusory happiness. Nikolai, Vera's brother-in-law, who himself once yielded his love to these prejudices, now demands the same from Zheltkov, he threatens with prison, a court of society, with his connections.

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