A and Kuprin Olesya analysis of the work. A

Alexander Kuprin wrote the story "Olesya" under the impression of a trip to Polesye, stories, legends and traditions heard there. The story uses the features of an ethnographic essay: a description of local customs, folklore elements, dialect vocabulary. Let's conduct a brief analysis of the story "Olesya", and look at some of the features of the work. On our website you can also read a summary of "Olesya" Kuprin.

The plot of the story "Olesya"

The story "Olesya", which we are analyzing, is dedicated to the love story of Ivan Timofeevich and the Polissya "sorceress". The relationship of the characters reveal the characters of each of them. The narration is conducted in the past tense, the narrator Ivan Timofeevich recalls the events that happened to him during a trip to one of the Polissya villages. There he hunted, treated the peasants, studied manners. He was interested in the story of the witch Manuilikha, who lived in these places.

Once, while hunting, Ivan Timofeevich wandered into her hut. There the narrator met Olesya, Manuilikha's granddaughter. The girl was so unusual that Ivan Timofeevich fell in love with her, "a beautiful fairy tale of love" is depicted surrounded by a mysterious forest. They thought about getting married. For the sake of love, Olesya decided to go to church on Trinity, but the village women kicked her out and beat her, as they considered her a witch. Olesya shouted in her hearts that they would regret it. The next day there was a thunderstorm with hail. Olesya and her grandmother had to flee, otherwise they would face reprisals from local residents. As a memory of herself, she left a string of coral beads for Ivan Timofeevich. Although this description cannot be called a summary, without it, nevertheless, it is difficult to imagine an analysis of the story "Olesya".

Features of romanticism in the story "Olesya" by Kuprin

The work has a number of features that make it possible to call it romantic. First of all, this is the opposition of the ordinary world and the ideal world. The dull reality appears in the depiction of the life of the protagonist in a distant village, the customs of the peasants. Kuprin shows their ignorance, rudeness and cruelty of actions. Ivan Timofeevich himself is an indecisive and weak-willed person. The ideal and poetic dream is embodied in the image of Olesya and her peaceful life in the bosom of nature.

The romantic ideal is the fleeting happiness of lovers surrounded by “blazing evening dawns”, the smells of lily of the valley and honey, “the sonorous bird noise”. Nature reflects the sublime and beautiful feelings of the characters.

At the heart of romanticism is an exceptional personality. Such is the main character of the story - Olesya. Continuing the analysis of the story "Olesya", we turn directly to the image of the main character.

The image of the main character

The first appearance of Olesya in the story is unusual. At first, Ivan Timofeevich, sitting in Manuilikha's hut, hears a song that Olesya sings, only then a girl appears. "Fresh, strong and sonorous voice" shows the youth and beauty of Olesya, who grew up in the forest. Kuprin draws the image of Olesya with the help of a psychological portrait: original beauty, “an elusive shade of slyness, dominance and naivety”, shiny, dark eyes, a masterful curve of the lips. All this shows the decisive, strong character of Olesya, at the same time her childishness and kindness. It is no coincidence that Olesya appears for the first time, carrying in her hands the chicks that "tagged" behind her. This idea is very important when we analyze the story "Olesya".

The girl considers herself a real witch. She knows how to tell fortunes on cards, understands the language of birds, speaks and stops the blood, shows many more "tricks" (as Ivan Timofeevich calls them).

Olesya's love is as beautiful as evening and morning dawns, it is no coincidence that many years later, for the narrator, the image of her beloved remains inextricably linked with the June freshness of nature. He notes the subtle delicacy and sensitivity of the girl. She is ready to do anything for love.

One of the tests was for the "witch" going to church. She knew how this could turn out for her, because the locals hated witches. But even after Olesya paid for this act, she never reproached Ivan Timofeevich. An analysis of the story "Olesya" by Kuprin shows that the girl turns out to be bolder and taller than a man who cannot decide what to do. He loves Olesya, but cannot imagine that she will turn out to be his wife, the hostess of secular evenings. The hero's hesitation leads to the fact that Olesya and her grandmother leave, and he remembers his beloved and lost happiness all his life.

We hope that this article, which presented a brief analysis of the story "Olesya", will help you better understand the meaning of the work and Kuprin's intention. Visit our literary blog - there are hundreds of articles on similar topics. You may also be interested

During the years of the growth of revolutionary sentiments, when society was in constant search for insight and the truth of life, the work of A.I. Kuprin was formed. At the heart of his numerous works lay the complex psychological theme of knowledge. He attracted readers with the capacious, accessible and dynamic content of his works. The most famous of them is the story "Olesya". The analysis of this book offers you the Wise Litrecon.

It is interesting that in the very work of A.I. Kuprin can be divided into two periods, the line between which can be clearly seen in the subject and style of writing works.

1. At the beginning of his career, the writer paid much attention to purely everyday topics. Most likely, this was due to the rich life experience of A.I. Kuprin, who tried himself in many fields of activity. Feeling all the hardships of life and knowing the features of the life of the poor, the writer created life texts based on what he saw, heard and felt.
2. The second period of his work begins with the February Revolution. It was then that his works were permeated with the desire for democratic change. In addition, the subject matter of the texts also changed: A.I. Kuprin mainly described the beggarly and devastated life of a Russian emigrant.

The famous story "Olesya" belongs to the early period of the writer's work, which was first published in 1898 in the newspaper "Kyivlyanin" with the subtitle "From the memories of Volyn". Later, in 1905, Kuprin completed the introduction to the story, in which he described the history of the creation of the work itself. Here are interesting facts about the spelling of "Olesya":

1. The story "Olesya" is based on a real story from the life of the landowner Ivan Timofeevich Poroshin, who once visited the writer. He told his own love story with the Polissya witch.
2. The work also contains autobiographical details: the main character is a writer, like the writer himself, he spent 6 months in Polesie, which also coincides with real facts.
3. Initially A.I. Kuprin wanted to publish the story in the Russian Wealth magazine as a continuation of the 'Polesye cycle'. But the editors of the magazine refused the writer, so the fate of the work has changed slightly. They were confused by the anti-religious background of the work: believers were negative characters, in contrast to the "servants of the devil."

Genre, direction

At the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, disputes flared up in the literary environment between representatives of the two leading trends in literary thought: realism and modernism. Alexander Ivanovich adhered to the realistic tradition, and therefore his story "Olesya" gathered the features of this trend. So, for example, the love of the main characters Olesya and Ivan Timofeevich was doomed to death in reality, so the author could not exchange the truth of life for beautiful and unrealizable dreams. And yet there is a place for romanticism in Kuprin's work: civilization is presented in gloomy colors, nature plays an independent role in the work, and the main character has everything.

The genre of the work is a story. Main features: chronicle plot, a small number of characters and the author's assessment of events experienced in real life. In addition, we see other features characteristic of the story: the whole plot revolves around one hero - Ivan Timofeevich, whose character manifests itself against the background of what is happening.

Composition and conflict

The composition of the work is a retrospective, as the author delves into memories from the past, when fate brought him to Polesie. There he got acquainted with the amazing story of the intellectual Ivan Timofeevich.

In addition to the retrospective, numerous oppositions form the basis of the composition. We can say that the whole story is a collection of various conflicts. Even at the very beginning, we see a struggle between technological progress and a quiet, peaceful life in the pagan Polesie. The reader sees a vivid confrontation between civilization and wildlife, which live according to different laws. Nature and civilization are the main conflict in the story "Olesya". The author sees depravity, vulgarity and stupidity in the city and people, but in nature - nobility, beauty and genuine generosity.

In addition, the plot is based on one of the main conflicts: Olesya and people (village residents). It becomes clear that this opposition is so strong that it is impossible to eliminate it. Olesya's efforts (going to church) only led to tragic consequences both for herself and for the village, which suffered from witches' spells.

Essence: what is the story about?

The essence of the work "Olesya" is very simple. In the small village of Perebrod on the outskirts of Polissya, the young writer Ivan Timofeevich, by the will of fate, wanders during the next forest trip to the house of the local witch Manuilikha. At that time, the hero could not even imagine what this chance meeting would lead to.

There he meets the beautiful Olesya, who charms him. From that moment begins their fantastic love story. The young sorceress is trying in every possible way to avoid meeting Ivan, because the cards predicted her death from an unexpected guest. Olesya's fate was sealed.

Main characters and their characteristics

The main characters of the story are the young sorceress Olesya and the writer-nobleman Ivan Timofeevich. The main character is a young village girl, 25 years old, who lives in the forest with her grandmother Manuilikha. Olesya is illiterate, but very smart. She loves nature and a quiet life away from people. Ivan Timofeevich, the central character of the story, on the contrary, is a very literate and well-read person by the nature of his occupation. He came to Polissya on official business, but by the will of fate fell in love with a young sorceress.

The reader sees that for the peasants the witch's lair is a forbidden place where a person's foot should not enter, but Kuprin's attitude towards Olesya and her grandmother is completely different. We do not see negative ratings in the description. He, on the contrary, exposes the main character in a more favorable light, because even her illiteracy does not look bad against the background of kindness and modesty.

Themes

The theme of the book "Olesya" is romantic and realistic at the same time:

1. The main theme of the story "Olesya"- the love line of Olesya and Ivan Timofeevich. In the center is a pure and real feeling, for which the main character is ready for any sacrifice. For the sake of the chosen one, she goes to shame, knowing in advance about the pain that she will have to endure.
2. Despite the fact that the theme of love occupies a central place, the work is clearly visible and the theme of the relationship between nature and man, which begins to unfold from the very beginning of the work. The author shows us the confrontation between civilization and wildlife.
3. Against the backdrop of nature reveals and natural man theme brought up by the cradle of nature. Such were Olesya and Manuilikha - open and free from prejudices and clichés. We can say that the main character embodies the same moral ideal, because she is distinguished by kindness, responsiveness and fortitude. She does not seek to take possession of the chosen one, but gives him freedom.
4. Dream Theme also appears in the text. Unlike the villagers, whose thinking is mired in prejudices, Olesya lives by a dream, not by standards.

Problems

The problems of the story "Olesya" are diverse and interesting even today:

• In the first place, of course, tragic love main characters. The story of their love was originally doomed to a tragic ending, because the cruelty of this world does not allow breaking the standards and rules. Society is not ready to accept those who do not want to live according to patterns, which is why Olesya is forced to leave her native forests.
• The problem of cruelty permeates the entire text: the villagers go to church, but do not learn to forgive and love. They torture and kill their own kind (for example, a horse thief who had nails driven into his heels), but at the same time maintain an appearance of decency and piety.
• The author reveals the world of human feelings against the backdrop of a love line. In his story, not everything is as clear as one would like. Ivan's love is sincere, but at the same time he is not able to stand up for her. Kuprin describes his hesitation, ridiculous for a real feeling: how will Olesya look in a dress among his acquaintances? Should she go to church? But the heroine openly admits that she will not be jealous and captive to the chosen one: he is free, and let him not take her into his world, just give her love here and now.
• The Problem of Destiny also occupies an important place in the story. The writer shows how cruelly fate can play with people's lives. This is not so much a predestination of fortune-telling as a logical balance of forces and circumstances: Olesya is not a couple for the master. After all, even a great and pure feeling cannot overcome what was previously predetermined by fate.

Details

Details in the story "Olesya" play a special role. So, for example, even the embodiment of love has its own innovative facets: at the beginning of the birth of pure and sincere feelings, we see how nature rejoices and pours out sunlight, but at the end of the work, nature also dies with the death of love: an icy hail strikes the seedlings of the villagers.

The language of the story is quite simple. A.I. Kuprin tried to make the work as accessible as possible for a simple layman who seeks to comprehend the truth of life. The author tried not to overload the text with quick-witted expressive means in order to convey his main thoughts to the readers.

Meaning

The main idea of ​​the story "Olesya" is that there is essentially nothing behind a "civilized" society, because people who grew up far from civilization can turn out to be much smarter and more prudent. A natural person outside the crowd does not lose his individuality and does not submit to stereotyped thinking. The crowd is submissive and promiscuous, and often the worst of its members, not the best, take over.

In this regard, we can single out the main idea - the need for people to turn to nature to restore harmony. Olesya has become that very model of a pure and open person, living in relationship with the environment.

Criticism

The story "Olesya" - the famous works of A.I. Kuprin, which was duly appreciated by the writer's contemporaries. K. Barkhin called the work a "forest symphony", noting the literary charm of the work's language.

“I like this thing because it is all imbued with the mood of youth. After all, if you wrote it now, you would write even better, but that immediacy would no longer be in it ... ”(M. Gorky - A. Kuprin based on the memoirs of Kuprina-Iordanskaya,“ Years of Youth ”, 1960)

The story was rated very highly by Soviet critics, who saw in it a protest against bourgeois society:

With the protest against the internal enslavement of man, Kuprin’s motifs are connected with the well-known restlessness, lack of accommodation in the bosom of capitalist society, vagrancy in the spirit of Hamsun ... , "Forest Wilderness", etc.). (article "Russian Literature" in the "Literary Encyclopedia in 11 volumes", Moscow, 1929 -1939, volume 10 (1937))

Thus, the story "Olesya" occupies an important place, both in the work of A.I. Kuprin, and in the history of Russian classical literature.

In Kuprin's early prose, a special place is occupied by the story "Olesya", which the first critics called the "forest symphony". The work was written based on personal impressions of the writer's stay in Polissya. Two years before Olesya, Moloch was created, and although the story and the story were based on completely heterogeneous material, they turned out to be interconnected by a single creative task - the study of the contradictory internal state of a contemporary. Initially, the story was conceived as a "story within a story": the first chapter was a rather detailed introduction, which told how a group of hunters spend time hunting, and in the evening they amuse themselves with all sorts of hunting stories. On one of these evenings, the story about Oles was told, or rather read, by the owner of the house. In the final version, this chapter almost disappeared. The appearance of the narrator himself also changed: instead of the old man, the narration was transferred to the novice writer.

"Polesye ... backwoods ... the bosom of nature ... simple morals ... primitive natures, people completely unfamiliar to me, with strange customs, a peculiar language ... " All this was so attractive to the novice writer, but it turned out that in the village, except for hunting, there is simply nothing to do. The local "intelligentsia" in the person of a priest, a sergeant and a clerk does not attract Ivan Timofeevich in any way, that is the name of the main character of the story. The "city panych" does not find a common language with the peasants either. The boredom of life, unrestrained drunkenness and dense ignorance that reigns around, oppress the young man. It seems that only he compares favorably with those around him: kind, cordial, gentle, sympathetic, sincere. However, all these human qualities have to pass the test of love, love for Olesya.

For the first time this name appears on the pages of the story when, having decided to dispel the boredom that has already become habitual, the hero decides to visit the house of the mysterious Manuilikha, "a real, living, Polissya witch." And on the pages of the story, Baba Yaga seems to come to life, the way she is depicted in folk tales. However, the meeting with evil spirits turned into an acquaintance with a surprisingly beautiful girl. Olesya attracted Ivan Timofeevich not only with her "original beauty", but also with her character, which combined tenderness and authority, childish naivety and age-old wisdom.

The love of two young people began seemingly quite unexpectedly and developed quite happily. Gradually, the character of his chosen one begins to reveal itself to Ivan Timofeevich, he learns about Olesya's extraordinary abilities: the girl could determine the fate of a person, speak a wound, instill fear, treat diseases with ordinary water, even knock a person down just by looking at him. She never used her gift to the detriment of people, just as old Manuilikha, her grandmother, did not use it. Only a tragic combination of circumstances forced these two outstanding women, old and young, to live away from people, to shun them. But even here they have no peace: the greedy police officer cannot be satisfied with their pitiful gifts, and he is ready to evict them.

Ivan Timofeevich strives in every possible way to protect and warn his beloved and her grandmother from all sorts of troubles. But one day he will hear from Olesya: "... Although you are kind, you are only weak. Your kindness is not good, not cordial." Indeed, in the character of Ivan Timofeevich there is no integrity and depth of feelings, he can hurt others. Olesya, on the other hand, turns out to be incapable of offending anyone ever: neither the finches that have fallen out of the nest, nor her grandmother when she leaves home with her beloved, nor Ivan Timofeevich when he asks her to go to church. And although this request will be accompanied by a “sudden horror of foreboding” and the hero will want to run after Olesya and “beg, beg, even demand ... that she not go to church,” he will restrain his impulse.

This episode will reveal the secret of the “lazy” heart: after all, the hero was not born with this defect? Life taught him to control spiritual impulses, forced him to discard what is inherent in man by nature. In contrast to the hero, Olesya is depicted, only she is the only one who "preserves in its purest form the abilities inherent in man" (L. Smirnova). Thus, on the pages of the story, the image of the positive hero Kuprin is created - a “natural person”, whose soul, lifestyle, character are not spoiled by civilization. Internally harmonious, such a person brings harmony to the world around him. It was under the influence of Olesya's love that the "tired" soul of the hero woke up for a moment, but not for long. “Why didn’t I then obey the vague inclination of my heart…?” The hero and the author answer this question in different ways. The first, defending himself from the voice of conscience with general reasoning that “in every Russian intellectual there is a little bit of a developer”, brushed aside the specter of guilt that arose before Olesya and her grandmother, the second persistently conveyed to the reader his innermost thought that “a person can be beautiful, if he develops, and not destroys the bodily, spiritual and intellectual abilities bestowed on him by nature "(L. Smirnova).

The theme of "Olesya" Kuprin is the immortal theme of cordial relationships and burning passions. She is vividly and sincerely shown for her time in a touching story by Kuprin, written in the very center of nature in Polissya.

The clash of lovers from different social groups exacerbates their relationship with a touch of self-sacrifice, their own life principles and their assessments by other people.

Analysis of "Olesya" Kuprin

The mysterious girl, who was born surrounded by nature, absorbed all the genuine and immaculate features of a meek and simple character, faces a completely different personality - Ivan Timofeevich, who is considered an effective representative of society in the city.

The quivering relationship that began between them suggests a life together, where, as usual, a woman is obliged to adapt to the new surrounding atmosphere of life.

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

Anticipating the fragility of relations with Ivan, in a ruthless city poisoned by heartlessness and misunderstanding, she goes to complete self-sacrifice. However, until then, the relationship of the young 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, encourages him to become extremely carried away by the mystery of a simple girl.

Features of the work

The writer paints the habitat of a magical girl very colorfully and naturally, which cannot be overlooked 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, it will be difficult for most of the younger generation at first to understand the meaning of the story and what the author wants to convey, but later, after reading some 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 in his own work the heaviest, highest and most tender human emotions. Love is a wonderful feeling that a person experiences, like a touchstone. Not many people have the ability to truly and with an open heart to love. This is the fate of a strong-willed individual. Just such people are of interest to 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 analyze.

An ordinary girl lives in the vicinity of nature. She listens to sounds and rustling, makes out the cries of various creatures, is very pleased with her life and independence. Olesya is independent. She has enough of the sphere of communication that she has. She knows and disassembles the forest surrounding from all sides, the girl perfectly feels nature.

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

However, the soulless human world does not know pardon. This is where the key problems of "Olesya" Kuprin lie. She is especially intelligent and smart. The girl is well aware of what her meeting with the city dweller, "panych Ivan" portends to her. It is not suitable for a world of enmity and jealousy, profit and falsehood.

The dissimilarity of the girl, her grace and originality inspire anger, fear, panic in people. The townspeople are ready to blame Olesya and Babkeu for absolutely all the hardships and misfortunes. Their blind horror of the "sorceresses" they call them is kindled by reprisals without any consequences. The analysis of "Olesya" Kuprin makes us understand that the appearance of a girl in the temple is not a challenge to the inhabitants, but a desire to understand the human world in which her beloved lives.

The main characters of "Olesya" Kuprin are Ivan and Olesya. Secondary - Yarmola, Manuilikha and others, to a lesser extent 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 the human essence and curiosity.

Ivan

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

History of creation

A. Kuprin's story "Olesya" was first published in 1898 in the newspaper "Kievlyanin" and was accompanied by a subtitle. "From memories of Volyn". It is curious that the writer first sent the manuscript to the journal "Russian Wealth", since before that the Kuprin story "Forest Wilderness", also dedicated to Polesie, had already been published in this journal. Thus, the author counted on creating the effect of continuation. However, "Russian wealth" for some reason refused to release "Olesya" (perhaps the publishers were not satisfied with the size of the story, because by that time it was the author's largest work), and the cycle planned by the author did not work out. But later, in 1905, "Olesya" came out in an independent edition, accompanied by an introduction from the author, which told the story of the creation of the work. Later, a full-fledged "Polesye cycle" was released, the apex and decoration of which was "Olesya".

The author's introduction has been preserved only in the archives. In it, Kuprin said that he was a guest in Polissya with a friend of the landowner Poroshin, he heard from him many legends and tales related to local beliefs. Among other things, Poroshin said that he himself was in love with a local witch. Kuprin will later tell this story in the story, at the same time including in it all the mysticism of local legends, the mysterious mystical atmosphere and the piercing realism of the situation surrounding him, the difficult fate of the Polissya inhabitants.

Analysis of the work

The plot of the story

Compositionally, "Olesya" is a retrospective story, that is, the author-narrator returns in his memories to the events that took place in his life many years ago.

The basis of the plot and the leading theme of the story is the love between the city nobleman (panych) Ivan Timofeevich and a young resident of Polissya, Olesya. Love is bright, but tragic, since its death is inevitable due to a number of circumstances - social inequality, the abyss between the characters.

According to the plot, the hero of the story, Ivan Timofeevich, spends several months in a remote village, on the edge of Volyn Polissya (the territory called Little Russia in tsarist times, today - the west of the Pripyat lowland, in northern Ukraine). A city dweller, he first tries to instill culture in the local peasants, heals them, teaches them to read, but the classes are unsuccessful, as people are overwhelmed by worries and they are not interested in either education or development. Ivan Timofeevich increasingly goes hunting in the forest, admires the local landscapes, sometimes listens to the stories of his servant Yarmola, who talks about witches and sorcerers.

Lost one day while hunting, Ivan finds himself in a forest hut - the same witch from Yarmola's stories - Manuilikha and her granddaughter Olesya - lives here.

The second time the hero comes to the inhabitants of the hut in the spring. Olesya tells fortunes to him, predicting an early unhappy love and adversity, up to a suicide attempt. The girl also shows mystical abilities - she can influence a person, inspiring her will or fear, stop the blood. Panych falls in love with Olesya, but she herself remains emphatically cold with him. He is especially angry that the panych stands up for her with her grandmother before the local police officer, who threatened to disperse the inhabitants of the forest hut for their supposed divination and harm to people.

Ivan falls ill and does not appear in the forest hut for a week, but when he arrives, it is noticeable that Olesya is happy to see him, and the feelings of both flare up. A month of secret dates and quiet, bright happiness passes. Despite the obvious and perceived inequality of lovers, Ivan makes an offer to Olesya. She refuses, arguing that she, a servant of the devil, should not go to church, and therefore, get married, entering into a marriage union. Nevertheless, the girl decides to go to church to make a pleasant panycha. Local residents, however, did not appreciate Olesya's impulse and attacked her, beating her badly.

Ivan hurries to the forest house, where the beaten, defeated and morally crushed Olesya tells him that her fears about the impossibility of their union have been confirmed - they cannot be together, so she and her grandmother will leave her house. Now the village is even more hostile to Olesya and Ivan - any whim of nature will be associated with her sabotage and sooner or later they will be killed.

Before leaving for the city, Ivan again goes to the forest, but in the hut he finds only red beads of woods.

Heroes of the story

The main character of the story is the forest sorceress Olesya (her real name Alena is reported by her grandmother Manuilikha, and Olesya is the local version of the name). A beautiful, tall brunette with intelligent dark eyes immediately attracts Ivan's attention. The natural beauty in the girl is combined with the natural mind - despite the fact that the girl cannot even read, there is perhaps more tact and depth in her than in the city.

(Olesya)

Olesya is sure that she is “not like everyone else” and soberly understands that for this dissimilarity she can suffer from the people. Ivan does not believe too much in Olesya's unusual abilities, believing that there is more centuries-old superstition here. However, he cannot deny the mysticism of the image of Olesya.

Olesya is well aware of the impossibility of her happiness with Ivan, even if he makes a strong-willed decision and marries her, therefore it is she who boldly and simply manages their relationship: firstly, she takes self-control, trying not to be imposed on the panych, and secondly, she decides to part seeing that they are not a couple. Social life would be unacceptable for Olesya, her husband would inevitably become burdened by her after it became clear that there were no common interests. Olesya does not want to be a burden, to tie Ivan hand and foot, and leaves on her own - this is the heroism and strength of the girl.

Ivan is a poor, educated nobleman. City boredom leads him to Polissya, where at first he tries to do some business, but in the end, only hunting remains from his occupation. He treats the legends about witches like fairy tales - a healthy skepticism is justified by his education.

(Ivan and Olesya)

Ivan Timofeevich is a sincere and kind person, he is able to feel the beauty of nature, and therefore Olesya at first interests him not as a beautiful girl, but as. He wonders how it turned out that nature itself brought her up, and she came out so tender and delicate, unlike rude, uncouth peasants. How did it happen that they, religious, although superstitious, are ruder and tougher than Olesya, although it is she who should be the embodiment of evil. For Ivan, a meeting with Olesya is not a lordly fun and a difficult summer love adventure, although he understands that they are not a couple - in any case, society will be stronger than their love, will destroy their happiness. The personification of society in this case is unimportant - be it a blind and stupid peasant force, be it urban residents, Ivan's colleagues. When he thinks of Oles as his future wife, in a city dress, trying to keep up a small talk with his colleagues, he simply comes to a standstill. The loss of Olesya for Ivan is the same tragedy as finding her as a wife. This remains outside the scope of the story, but most likely Olesya's prediction came true in full - after her departure, he felt bad, even thinking about intentionally leaving life.

The culmination of events in the story falls on a big holiday - the Trinity. This is not an accidental coincidence, it emphasizes and enhances the tragedy with which Olesya's bright fairy tale is trampled by people who hate her. There is a sarcastic paradox in this: the servant of the devil, Olesya, the sorceress, turns out to be more open to love than the crowd of people whose religion fits into the thesis "God is Love."

The author's conclusions sound tragic - the joint happiness of two people is impossible, when happiness for each of them individually is different. For Ivan, happiness is impossible apart from civilization. For Olesya - in isolation from nature. But at the same time, the author argues, civilization is cruel, society can poison relations between people, morally and physically destroy them, but nature cannot.

Filled with sin, without reason and will,
A fickle and vain person.
Wherever you look, only loss, pain
His flesh and soul have been tormented for a century...
As soon as they leave alone, they are replaced by others,
Everything in the world is continuous suffering for him:
His friends, enemies, loved ones, relatives. Anna Bradstreet
Russian literature is rich in wonderful images of beautiful women: strong in character, smart, loving, courageous and selfless.
The Russian woman with her amazing inner world has always attracted the attention of writers. Alexander Sergeevich Griboyedov, Mikhail Yuryevich Lermontov, Alexander Nikolayevich Ostrovsky understood the depth of the spiritual impulses of their heroines.
The works of these writers help to get to know life better, to understand the nature of human relationships. And life is full of conflicts, sometimes tragic, and to delve into their essence, to understand their origins - only the great talent of the writer can do it.
The story of A. I. Kuprin “Olesya” is a work that marked the beginning of a new literary era. Its main character - Olesya - evokes conflicting feelings. She awakens pity and understanding in me, I felt her freedom-loving and strong character
We need to go back to Olesya's past in order to better understand this heroine.
She grew up in constant persecution, moving from one place to another, she was always haunted by the glory of a witch. She and her grandmother even had to go to live in a forest thicket, in swamps, away from the villages.
Unlike the peasants, Olesya never attended church, because she believed that the magical power was not given to her from God. This pushed the locals away from her even more. Their hostile attitude brought up in her an amazing spiritual strength.
And then the little girl grew up and became a lovely flower.
Olesya is a tall girl of twenty-five years old, with beautiful long crow-colored hair, which gives a special tenderness to her white face. In big black eyes you can see a spark of wit, ingenuity. The appearance of the girl is very different from how village women look, everything in her speaks of her originality, love of freedom. Faith in magic, otherworldly forces gives her a special charm.
And now a great and strong love appears in Olesya's life. At the first meetings with Ivan Timofeevich, she does not feel anything, but then she realizes that she fell in love with him. Olesya tries to put out the love in her heart. But as soon as she was separated from Ivan Timofeevich for two weeks, she realized that she loved him more than before.
When meeting with her chosen one, Olesya says: “Parting for love is the same as the wind for fire: it extinguishes a small love, and inflates a big one even more.” The heroine gives herself completely to love, she loves sincerely and tenderly. For her sake, the girl was not afraid to go to church, having sacrificed her principles, she was not afraid of the consequences.
She suffered great humiliation when women attacked her and threw stones at her. Olesya gives herself as a sacrifice of love.
Ivan Timofeevich, before his departure, offered Olesya a hand and a heart, but she refused, saying that she did not want to burden him with her presence, so that he would be ashamed of her. In this act, the foresight of the girl is visible, she thinks not only about today, but also about the future of Ivan Timofeevich.
However, despite her strong love, Olesya unexpectedly, without saying goodbye to her beloved, leaves, leaving only beads in the house as a keepsake.
Alexander Ivanovich Kuprin portrayed in his work a sincere, sensitive, beautiful heroine who grew up far from civilization, in harmony with nature, capable of deep feelings.

A special place in the work of A. I. Kuprin is occupied by the theme of love. The writer gave us three stories united by this wonderful theme - "Garnet Bracelet", "Olesya" and "Shulamith".
Kuprin showed different facets of this feeling in each of his works, but one thing is invariable: love illuminates the life of his heroes with an extraordinary light, becomes the brightest, unique event in 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 Polissya. Ivan Timofeevich is a writer. He is an educated, intelligent, inquisitive person. He is interested in people, with their customs and traditions, he is interested in legends and songs of the region. He traveled to Polissya with the intention of supplementing his life experience with new observations useful for the writer: "Polesie ... the wilderness ... the bosom of nature ... simple morals ... primitive natures," he thought, sitting in the car.
Life gave Ivan Timofeevich an unexpected gift: in the wilderness of Polissya 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 Polissya peasants, understands that Olesya and Manuilikha simply "have access to some instinctive knowledge obtained by random experience."
Ivan Timofeevich falls in love with Olesya. But he is a man of his time, his circle. Reproaching Olesya for superstition, Ivan Timofeevich himself is no less dominated by 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 "enchanting frame of the old forest."
Next to Olesya, he looks like a weak, not free person, “a person with a lazy heart”, which will not bring happiness to anyone. “There will be no great joys in your 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 trouble, who, trying to please her beloved, went to church contrary to her convictions, despite the fear of the hatred of the local inhabitants.
In Oles there is 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 will not give my joy to anyone.”
Persecuted and persecuted by superstitious peasants, Olesya leaves, leaving a string of "coral" beads as a memento 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" brings new touches to the endless theme of love. Here, Kuprin's love is not only the greatest gift, from which it is a sin to refuse. Reading the story, we understand that this feeling is unthinkable without naturalness and freedom, without the bold determination to defend one's feelings, without the ability to sacrifice in the name of those one loves. Therefore, Kuprin remains the most interesting, intelligent and delicate interlocutor for readers of all time.

Materials for familiarization

Kuprin Early period of creativity

"Duel"

Garnet bracelet

"Olesya"

8 Responses to “A. I. Kuprin”

In general, the problem of "assault" appears very clearly in this story. This is the apotheosis of social inequality. Of course, we must not forget that corporal punishment for soldiers was abolished. But in this case, we are no longer talking about punishment, but about mockery: “Non-commissioned officers severely beat their subordinates for an insignificant mistake in literature, for a lost leg while marching - they beat them into blood, knocked out teeth, smashed eardrums with blows to the ear, knocked them to the ground with their fists." Will a person with a normal psyche behave like this? The moral world of everyone who enters the army is changing radically and, as Romashov notes, far from being for the better. So even Captain Stelkovsky, commander of the fifth company, the best company in the regiment, an officer who always “possessed patient, cool-headed and confident perseverance,” as it turned out, also beat soldiers (Romashov cites as an example how Stelkovsky knocks out a soldier’s teeth along with a horn, incorrectly giving a signal to this very horn). That is, it is not worth envying the fate of people like Stelkovsky.

In the story "Duel" Kuprin touches on the problem of inequality of people, the relationship between the individual and society.
The plot of the work is built at the crossroads of the soul of the Russian officer Romashov, whom the conditions of army barracks life make him think about the wrong relationship between people. Romashov is the most ordinary person who instinctively resists the injustice of the world around him, but his protest is weak, and his dreams and plans are easily destroyed, since they are very naive. But after meeting with the soldier Khlebnikov, a turning point occurs in Romashov's mind, he is shocked by the readiness of a person to commit suicide, in which he sees the only way out of a martyr's life, and this strengthens his will to active resistance. Romashov is shocked by the strength of Khlebnikov's suffering, and it is precisely the desire to sympathize that makes the second lieutenant think for the first time about the fate of the common people. But talk about Romashov's humanity and justice remains largely naive. But this is already a big step towards the moral purification of the hero and his struggle with the cruel society around him.

Alexander Ivanovich Kuprin. The story "Duel". The problem of a person's moral choice.
AI Kuprin raised in his story "Duel" the theme of alienation, misunderstanding between officers and soldiers. In connection with the topic, the author raises a number of problematic questions. One of which is the problem of moral choice. Georgy Romashov, the main character of the story, is subjected to the most severe moral quest. Dreaminess and lack of will are the most important features of Romashov's nature, which are immediately evident. Then the author introduces us closer to the hero, and we learn that Romashov is characterized by warmth, gentleness, and compassion.
In the soul of the hero, there is a constant struggle between a man and an officer. One of the values
Names "duel" is a clash
Romashov with the way of officer life and his inner
A duel with yourself. Arriving at the regiment, Romashov dreamed of exploits, of glory. In the evenings, officers gather, play cards, and drink. Romashov is drawn into this atmosphere, begins to lead the same lifestyle as everyone else. However, he feels much more subtle and thinks more confidently. He is more and more horrified by the wild, unfair treatment of the soldiers.
He tries to isolate himself from them: “he began to retire from the society of officers, dined mostly at home, did not go to dance evenings at the meeting at all and stopped drinking.” He "has definitely matured, has become older and more serious in recent days."
Thus, there is a moral purification of the hero. Suffering, his inner insight. He becomes able to sympathize with his neighbor, to feel someone else's grief as his own. His moral feeling comes into conflict with the life around him.

The story "Duel" is one of the links in the chain of works by A. I. Kuprin. The author clearly and accurately showed in the “Duel” the social problems of the Russian army and the problem of not understanding AND alienation between soldiers and officers. Almost hopeless despair reigns on the pages of the story. The heroes are doomed, just as the army itself is doomed. The protagonist of the story, lieutenant Romashov, does not find any sense in the very existence of the army. Teachings, charters, everyday life in the barracks seem to him and his fellow soldiers absolutely meaningless. Lieutenant Romashov, a young officer who dreams of a career and position in society, is capable of love and compassion, but the writer shows us his negative traits: he allows himself to get drunk almost to unconsciousness, he has an affair with someone else's wife, which has been going on for six months. Nazansky is a smart, educated officer, but a deep drunkard. Captain Plum is a degraded officer, slovenly and stern. His company has its own discipline: he is cruel to junior officers and soldiers, although he is attentive to the needs of the latter. Speaking about the fact that the soldiers were beaten “brutally, to the point of blood, to the point that the offender fell off his feet ...”, Kuprin once again emphasizes that, despite the charter of military discipline, assault was widely used in the army. In the story, almost all the officers used this means of calling for discipline, and therefore let the junior officers get away with everything. But not all officers were satisfied with this state of affairs, but many resigned themselves, like Vetkin. The desire of Lieutenant Romashov to prove that "you cannot beat a person who not only cannot answer you, but does not even have the right to raise his hand to his face in order to protect himself from a blow," does not lead to anything and even causes condemnation, because most of officers were satisfied with this state of affairs.

The problem of love in Kuprin's story "Olesya".
Love is revealed by the writer as a strong, passionate, all-consuming feeling that completely took possession of a person. It allows the heroes to reveal the best qualities of the soul, illuminates life with the light of kindness and self-sacrifice. But love in the works of Kuprin often ends in tragedy. Such is the beautiful and poetic story of the pure, direct and wise "daughter of nature" from the story "Olesya". This amazing character combines intelligence, beauty, responsiveness, disinterestedness and willpower. The image of the forest sorceress is shrouded in mystery. Her fate is unusual, life away from people in an abandoned forest hut. The poetic nature of Polissya has a beneficial effect on the girl. Isolation from civilization allows it to preserve the integrity and purity of nature. On the one hand, she is naive, because she does not know elementary things, yielding in this to the intelligent and educated Ivan Timofeevich. But on the other hand, Olesya has some kind of higher knowledge, which is inaccessible to an ordinary smart person.
In the love of the "savage" and the civilized hero, from the very beginning, doom is felt, which permeates the work with sadness and hopelessness. The ideas and views of lovers turn out to be too different, which lead to separation, despite the strength and sincerity of their feelings. When the urban intellectual Ivan Timofeevich, who got lost in the forest while hunting, saw Olesya for the first time, he was struck not only by the bright and original beauty of the girl. He felt her dissimilarity to ordinary village girls. In the appearance of Olesya, her speech, her behavior, there is something witchcraft, not subject to logical explanation. This is probably what captivates Ivan Timofeevich in her, in which admiration imperceptibly develops into love. When Olesya, at the insistent request of the hero, tells fortunes to him, she predicts with amazing insight that his life will be sad, he will not love anyone with his heart, since his heart is cold and lazy, but, on the contrary, will bring a lot of grief and shame to the one who loves his. Olesya's tragic prophecy comes true at the end of the story. No, Ivan Timofeevich does not commit any meanness or betrayal. He sincerely and seriously wants to connect his fate with Olesya. But at the same time, the hero shows insensitivity and tactlessness, which condemn the girl to shame and persecution. Ivan Timofeevich inspires her with the idea that a woman should be pious, although he knows perfectly well that Olesya is considered a sorceress in the village, and therefore attending church can cost her her life. Possessing a rare gift of foresight, the heroine goes to a church service for the sake of a loved one, feeling malicious looks on herself, hearing mocking remarks and abuse. This selfless act of Olesya especially emphasizes her bold, free nature, which contrasts with the darkness and wildness of the villagers. Beaten by local peasant women, Olesya leaves her home not only because she fears their even more cruel revenge, but also because she perfectly understands the unfulfillment of her dream, the impossibility of happiness. When Ivan Timofeevich finds an empty hut, his eyes are drawn to a string of beads that towered over heaps of rubbish and rags, like “a memory of Olesya and her tender, generous love”

In the story "Duel" I.A. Kuprin touches upon the problem of the moral inferiority of a person and shows it on the example of the Russian army. This example is the most striking.
The officers brutally mocked their subordinates, who, once in a new environment, did not understand what was happening: “Non-commissioned officers severely beat their subordinates for an insignificant mistake in literature, for losing a leg while marching, they beat them into blood, knocked out teeth, smashed them with blows eardrums up to the ear, knocked them down with their fists on the ground. The soldiers had no right to either respond to this cruelty, or dodge the blows, they had no choice. Even the most seemingly patient and cold-blooded officer, like Stelkovsky, sank to this level. Such a situation prevailed throughout the army. The main character, Romashov, understood that changes in the army were necessary, but he reproached himself for being close to everyone else.
Bullying in the Russian army was a big problem for society that needed to be addressed, but it was simply impossible to do it alone.

In the Tale "Olesya" Kuprin tells us that a person is losing contact with nature, which is one of the problems of this work.
In his work, the author contrasts society and the world around it with each other. People living in cities, who have lost touch with their native nature, have become gray, faceless, have lost their beauty. And Olesya, who is connected with the nature around her, pure, bright. The writer admires his main character, for him this girl is the embodiment of an ideal person. And only by living in harmony with nature, you can become like that. Kuprin tells us that people should not lose contact with nature, because he loses himself, his soul turns black, and his body fades. But if you return to this naturalness, then the soul will begin to bloom, the body will become better.
Thus, we must strive to maintain contact with the environment around us, because it is it that gives us the strength to live and develop.

How does primitive nature affect a person? Next to her it is impossible to be insincere, she seems to push a person onto the path of a pure, truthful understanding of life. In his story, AI Kuprin confronts the main character Olesya with the problem of confrontation between the natural and the social.
Olesya is a strong, strong-willed character, sensitive, inquisitive mind, and at the same time an incredibly beautiful girl. After reading the story, I drew a picture in my head: a tall, black-haired girl in a red headscarf, and wide-open bright green firs around. Against the backdrop of the forest, all the spiritual qualities of the heroine are manifested especially brightly: the willingness to sacrifice oneself and the wisdom of life. It harmoniously intertwines the beauty of the soul with the beauty of the body.
Society becomes against Olesya's connection with nature. Here it appears from its most unattractive side: dullness, dusty streets and even faces, intimidation and ugliness of women. This dullness is against everything new, bright, honest. Olesya with her red scarf becomes a stumbling block, the culprit of all troubles.
For the narrowness of thinking, the villagers will be punished by the elements. And again they will blame Olesya for this ...