The main character of the story, Vasily Shein's wife and Zheltkov's love. She was a little young, cold and beautiful woman. She looked like her mother, a beautiful Englishwoman. Vera Nikolaevna had a flexible figure and beautiful shoulders, and her face was proud and beautiful, everyone always admired her beauty and refinement. She was married to Prince Shein, Vasily Lvovich. He was her childhood friend, and then they got married. Vera Nikolaevna was not only beautiful, but also kind and smart.
One of the main characters of the story, a young man who has long fallen in love with Vera Nikolaevna. At first he dared to write letters to her. But when she asked him not to do it again, he immediately stopped, since his love was beyond his own desires. At first he dreamed of a meeting and wanted an answer, but, realizing that he would not succeed, he still continued to love the princess. For him, her happiness and peace came first. He was a sensitive young man, capable of deep feeling.
One of the main characters of the story, husband of Vera Nikolaevna and brother of Lyudmila Lvovna Durasova; prince and marshal of the nobility. Vasily Lvovich is highly revered in society. He has a well-established life and outwardly prosperous family in all respects. In fact, his wife has nothing but friendly feelings and respect for him.
The secondary hero of the story; brother of Vera and Anna; a bachelor with a successful career. The hero's surname is Mirza-Bulat-Tuganovsky. Nikolai Nikolaevich was among the invited guests on the occasion of the name day of Vera Nikolaevna. He witnessed a gift from a mysterious "telegraph operator" addressed to his married sister, which he did not particularly like.
One of the heroes of the story, the sister of Vera Nikolaevna, but she was completely different from her, starting with her appearance and ending with her character and behavior. Despite this, the sisters cared for each other and loved each other. Anna inherited the blood of her father, who was a descendant of a Tatar prince. Her face was of the Mongolian type, with small narrow eyes and wide cheekbones. She was short, broad-shouldered, very funny, frivolous and agile.
One of the heroes of the story, a military general who became a friend of the Tuganovsky family for a very long time. He was appointed commandant of the fortress, and since then he became friends with the father of Anna and Vera, and became attached to the girls, like a father. He was a real Russian man, a soldier to the marrow of his bones, honest, noble and courageous. Despite the fact that he rose to the rank of general, he always behaved with everyone on an equal footing, respected the soldiers as well as the officers.
Ludmila Lvovna Durasova
Minor character, widowed sister of Vasily Shein.
Gustav Ivanovich Friesse
A minor character, the husband of Anna Nikolaevna.
Dasha
Secondary character, Vera Nikolaevna's maid. It was she who was given the messenger bracelet for Vera Nikolaevna.
Jenny Reiter
A minor character, the famous pianist and friend of Vera Nikolaevna at the Smolny Institute.
Vasyuchok
A secondary character, a secular young man who sang at Vera Nikolaevna's birthday party.
Garnet bracelet- The story of Alexander Ivanovich Kuprin, written in 1911. The plot was based on a real story, which Kuprin filled with sad poetry. In 1915 and 1964, a film of the same name was made based on this work.
Heroes
- Vasily Lvovich Shein - prince, provincial marshal of the nobility
- Vera Nikolaevna Sheina - his wife, beloved Zheltkov
- Georgy Zheltkov - official of the control chamber
- Anna Nikolaevna Friesse - Vera's sister
- Nikolai Nikolaevich Mirza-Bulat-Tuganovsky - Vera's brother, assistant prosecutor
- General Yakov Mikhailovich Anosov - grandfather of Vera and Anna
- Lyudmila Lvovna Durasova - sister of Vasily Shein
- Gustav Ivanovich Friesse - husband of Anna Nikolaevna
- Jenny Reiter - pianist
- Vasyuchok - a young varmint and a reveler
Plot
On her name day, Princess Vera Nikolaevna Sheina received a bracelet adorned with a rare green garnet as a gift from her longtime, anonymous admirer. Being a married woman, she considered herself not entitled to receive any gifts from strangers.
Her brother, Nikolai Nikolaevich, assistant prosecutor, together with Prince Vasily Lvovich, found the sender. It turned out to be a modest official Georgy Zheltkov. Many years ago, at a circus performance, he accidentally saw Princess Vera in a box and fell in love with her with pure and unrequited love. Several times a year, on major holidays, he allowed himself to write letters to her.
Now, after talking with the prince, he felt ashamed of those actions that could compromise an innocent woman. However, his love for her was so deep and disinterested that he could not imagine the forced separation that the husband and brother of the princess insisted on.
After they left, he wrote a farewell letter to Vera Nikolaevna, in which he apologized to her for everything and asked her to listen to L. van Beethoven. 2 Son. (Op. 2, No 2). Largo Appassionato. Then he took the bracelet returned to him to the landlady with a request to hang the decoration on the icon of the Mother of God (according to the Catholic custom), locked himself in his room and shot himself, not seeing the point in his later life. Zheltkov left a posthumous note in which he explained that he shot himself due to the waste of state money.
Vera Nikolaevna, having learned about the death of G.S.Zh., asked her husband’s permission and went to the apartment of the suicide to look at least once at the person who had loved her unrequitedly for so many years. Returning home, she asked Jenny Reiter to play something, no doubt that she would play exactly the part of the sonata that Zheltkov wrote about. Sitting in the flower garden to the sound of beautiful music, Vera Nikolaevna clung to the trunk of an acacia tree and wept. She realized that the love that Anosov spoke about, which every woman dreams of, passed her by. When the pianist finished playing and went in to the princess, she began to kiss her with the words: "No, no - he has forgiven me now. Everything is fine."
"Garnet bracelet" quotation of the heroes - Zheltkov, Vera, Anosov, and a description of the heroes
"Pomegranate Bracelet" quote characterization of heroes
Portrait of Vera Sheina: “... went to her mother, a beautiful Englishwoman, with her tall, flexible figure, gentle, but cold and proud face, beautiful, although rather large hands and that charming sloping of the shoulders, which can be seen in old miniatures”
“And Vera was strictly simple, cold with everyone ... amiable, independent and regal, calm”
"She was superstitious." It turned out that there were 13 guests. "This is not good!" Vera thought to herself.
Portrait of Zheltkov:“... very pale, with a gentle girlish face, with blue eyes and a stubborn childish chin with a dimple in the middle; he must have been about thirty, thirty-five years old.”
"Madman; maybe it's just a crazy guy, a maniac, who knows? - maybe your life path, Verochka, was crossed by just such a love that women dream about and that men are no longer capable of ”about Zheltkov
“I feel that this person is not capable of deceiving and lying knowingly ...” Prince Shein about Zheltkov
Anna's portrait: “She was half a head shorter, somewhat broad in the shoulders, lively and frivolous, a mocker. Her face is of a strongly Mongolian type with rather noticeable cheekbones, with narrow eyes ... however, it captivated with some elusive and incomprehensible charm ... "
Portrait of General Anosov:“A fat, tall, silver old man, he heavily climbed off the footboard ... He had a large, rude, red face with a fleshy nose and with that good-natured, majestic, slightly contemptuous expression in his narrowed eyes ... which is characteristic of courageous and simple people ... "
Anna's husband - Gustav Ivanovich“... he laughed loudly and enthusiastically, and his thin, smoothly covered face with shiny skin, with slick, thin, blond hair, with sunken eye sockets, looked like a skull, exposing bad teeth in laughter”
"Garnet bracelet". The princess, the daughter of an Englishwoman and a Tatar prince, the wife of Prince Shein, loves her husband and helps him avoid ruin.
History of creation
Kuprin began working on the "Garnet Bracelet" in the autumn of 1910 while he was in Odessa. Initially, the writer planned to write a short story, but the text grew, and in the end it took three months to work on it. In October 1910, Kuprin was already engaged in editing and "polishing" the story. In letters, Kuprin reported that work on the story was progressing with difficulty because of the "secular tone" that the author had chosen, and Kuprin's ignorance in matters of music.
The heroes of the story have real prototypes. Vera Sheina was written off by Kuprin from Lyudmila Ivanovna Lyubimova, the wife of a member of the State Council, with whom a certain telegraph official Zheltikov was in love.
The first publication of the "Garnet Bracelet" took place in 1911 in the almanac "Earth".
The full name of the heroine is Vera Nikolaevna Sheina, her maiden name is Mirza-Bulat-Tuganovskaya. The heroine's father was a Tatar prince, and her mother was a British. Vera's mother was a beauty, and her daughter grew up like her. Vera has a flexible figure and tall stature, a gentle, but proud and cold face, sloping shoulders and beautiful hands. Vera wears a costume befitting an aristocrat, a hat and gloves. Before marriage, the heroine studied in St. Petersburg, at the Smolny Institute for Noble Maidens. Since then, the heroine has a friend, the famous pianist Jenny Reiter.
Vera Sheina in the story "Garnet Bracelet" Vera's character is calm and strict, and at the same time simple. The heroine communicates kindly with those around her, but a little condescendingly and coldly, without friendliness. Vera demonstrates an independent disposition and speaks in an authoritative tone. For the past six years, the heroine has been married to Prince Vasily Shein, the leader of the provincial nobility, a man who occupies a prominent position in society. In addition, Vera has a strange admirer who fell in love with the heroine and began to "chase with his love" two years before Vera got married.
The heroine loves her husband and believes that her marriage was successful. Sheins live on the northern coast of the Black Sea. The financial affairs of the family are bad due to the fact that Vera's husband, Prince Shein, as a person moving in high society, is forced to constantly confirm his own status by arranging receptions and doing charity work. The appearance and furnishings of the prince must also be at the level, you have to keep horses and spend money on expensive clothes.
With all this, the estate and inheritance passed to Shein from their ancestors in a very shabby form. As a result, the Sheins have to live above their means and barely make ends meet.
Vera is trying with all her might to support her husband in this difficult situation and help him refrain from complete ruin. The heroine tries to save money in the household and in many ways refuses herself, but she does it unnoticed by her husband. Vera once felt passionate love for her husband, but this feeling has long passed and has been replaced by a true and strong friendship.
The heroine has a younger sister, Anna, whom Vera has been attached to since early childhood and still treats with warmth and care. The heroine also has a brother Nikolai - a serious and stiff young man who works as a deputy prosecutor and has good connections. Vera morbidly adores her younger sister's children. The heroine does not have her own offspring, but Vera dreams of having them.
Vera Sheina is superstitious and fearful of the number "13". The heroine loves music, especially sonatas, and often attends concerts. Vera, on the contrary, does not like newspapers, because they get their hands dirty with printing ink. In addition, Vera does not like the language in which newspaper articles are written. Vera has a gambling nature, and after dinner the princess has a habit of playing poker with her younger sister.
For many years, Vera has been pursued by a certain admirer, whose name the heroine does not know. This man writes letters to Vera, but the heroine has never seen his face. Eight years ago, this admirer saw the heroine in the box of the circus and was inflamed with that passionate love. The heroine herself considers this admirer a madman. The heroine does not want to be persecuted and asks the enigmatic admirer to "stop this whole story as soon as possible" and leave her alone.
The surname of Vera's secret admirer is. This is a pale and nervous gentleman of thirty or thirty-five years old, a petty official, not rich, but pleasant, tactful and modest, he rents a room in a poor house. At first, the hero waited for Vera to answer his letters, but over time he stopped counting on reciprocity and began to write less often - on holidays and on Vera's name day.
Close Faiths do not take Zheltkov seriously. The heroine's husband even invents for fun a story about Princess Vera and a telegraph operator in love, with which he entertains guests.
Zheltkov secretly pursues Vera, knows where the heroine is, and is even able to accurately describe the dress that she was wearing. The hero keeps things belonging to the Faith as relics. For example, the handkerchief that Zheltkov stole, or the program of the exhibition that Vera held in her hands and then forgot on the chair. At the same time, Zheltkov considers himself not a maniac, but only unrequitedly in love.
Vera Sheina from the story "Garnet Bracelet" One day, Zheltkov sends Vera a garnet bracelet as a gift, which once belonged to the hero's great-grandmother. This gift infuriates Vera's brother, who finds Zheltkov and demands that the admirer stop chasing his sister. Vera herself does not want to see Zheltkov or talk to him, and asks only to leave her alone.
Vera's attitude kills Zheltkov, and that same evening the hero commits suicide, and Vera realizes that "the love that every woman dreams of has passed her by." The heroine understands that she was afraid to be happy and exchanged the fiery love of poor Zheltkov for a reliable and shockless marriage with the cheerful and handsome Prince Shein.
Vera's further biography is unknown.
Screen adaptations
The first film adaptation of the story "Garnet Bracelet" took place in 1915. This is a silent black-and-white film in the drama genre, where the role of Vera Sheina was played by actress Olga Preobrazhenskaya. The film consisted of four acts and lasted 4 hours. It has not survived to our time.
In 1964, the melodrama "Garnet Bracelet" was released with the role of Vera Sheina. The film was directed by Abram Room. In the film, among other characters, there is the image of Alexander Kuprin himself, played by actor Grigory Gai.
Quotes
"Finally, he dies, but before his death, he bequeaths to give Vera two telegraph buttons and a bottle of perfume - filled with his tears."
“Maybe it's just a crazy guy, a maniac, but who knows? “Maybe your life path, Verochka, was crossed by exactly the kind of love that women dream of and that men are no longer capable of.”
“Love must be a tragedy. The greatest secret in the world! No comforts of life, calculations and compromises should concern her.”
Frame from the film "Garnet Bracelet" (1964)
In August, a vacation at a suburban seaside resort was spoiled by bad weather. The deserted dachas were sadly soaked in the rain. But in September the weather changed again, sunny days came. Princess Vera Nikolaevna Sheina did not leave the dacha - repairs were underway in her house - and now she is enjoying the warm days.
The princess's birthday is coming. She is glad that it fell on the summer season - in the city they would have to give a ceremonial dinner, and the Sheins "barely made ends meet."
Princess Vera, whose former passionate love for her husband had long since turned into a feeling of lasting, faithful, true friendship, tried with all her might to help the prince refrain from complete ruin.
Vera's younger sister Anna Nikolaevna Friesse, the wife of a very rich and very stupid man, and her brother Nikolai come to Vera's name day. Toward evening, Prince Vasily Lvovich Shein brings the rest of the guests.
A bundle with a small jewelry case in the name of Princess Vera Nikolaevna is brought in the midst of simple country entertainment. Inside the case is a gold, low-grade puffy bracelet covered with garnets that surround a small green pebble.
When Vera... turned the bracelet in front of the light of the electric bulb, deep under their smooth egg-shaped surface, lovely deep red living lights suddenly lit up in them.
In addition to the garnet bracelet, a letter is found in the case. An unknown donor congratulates Vera on the day of the angel and asks to accept a bracelet that belonged to his great-grandmother. The green pebble is a very rare green garnet that communicates the gift of providence and protects men from violent death. The author of the letter reminds the princess how he wrote her "stupid and wild letters" seven years ago. The letter ends with the words: “Your obedient servant G.S.Zh. before death and after death.”
Prince Vasily Lvovich demonstrates at this moment his humorous home album, opened on the "story" "Princess Vera and the telegraph operator in love." “Better not,” Vera asks. But the husband nevertheless begins a commentary on his own drawings full of brilliant humor. Here the girl Vera receives a letter with kissing doves, signed by the telegraph operator P.P.Zh. Here the young Vasya Shein returns the wedding ring to Vera: “I dare not interfere with your happiness, and yet it is my duty to warn you: telegraphers are seductive, but insidious.” But Vera marries the handsome Vasya Shein, but the telegraph operator continues to persecute. Here he, disguised as a chimney sweep, enters the boudoir of Princess Vera. Here, having changed clothes, he enters their kitchen as a dishwasher. Here, at last, he is in a lunatic asylum.
After tea, the guests leave. Whispering to her husband to look at the case with the bracelet and read the letter, Vera sets off to see off General Yakov Mikhailovich Anosov. The old general, whom Vera and her sister Anna call grandfather, asks the princess to explain what is true in the prince's story.
G. S. J. pursued her with letters two years before her marriage. Obviously, he constantly watched her, knew where she was at the parties, how she was dressed. He served not at the telegraph office, but in "some government institution as a small official." When Vera, also in writing, asked not to disturb her with her persecution, he fell silent about love and limited himself to congratulations on holidays, as well as today, on her name day. Inventing a funny story, the prince replaced the initials of the unknown admirer with his own.
The old man suggests that the unknown may be a maniac.
Or maybe, Verochka, it was precisely the kind of love that women dream of and which more men are incapable of having crossed your life path.
Vera finds her brother Nikolai very annoyed - he also read the letter and believes that his sister will get "in a ridiculous position" if she accepts this ridiculous gift. Together with Vasily Lvovich, he is going to find an admirer and return the bracelet.
The next day they find out the address of G.S.Zh. It turns out to be a blue-eyed man “with a gentle girlish face” about thirty or thirty-five years old named Zheltkov. Nikolai returns the bracelet to him. Zheltkov does not deny anything and recognizes the indecency of his behavior. Finding some understanding and even sympathy in the prince, he explains to him that he loves his wife, and this feeling will only kill death. Nikolai is outraged, but Vasily Lvovich treats him with pity.
Is he to blame for love, and is it possible to control such a feeling as love - a feeling that has not yet found an interpreter for itself.
Zheltkov admits that he squandered government money and is forced to flee the city, so that they will not hear from him again. He asks Vasily Lvovich for permission to write his last letter to his wife. Having heard from her husband a story about Zheltkov, Vera felt "that this man would kill himself."
In the morning, Vera learns from the newspaper about the suicide of G. S. Zheltkov, an official of the control chamber, and in the evening the postman brings his letter.
Zheltkov writes that for him all life consists only in her, in Vera Nikolaevna. It is the love that God rewarded him for something. As he leaves, he repeats in delight: "Hallowed be thy name." If she remembers him, then let her play the D major part of Beethoven's Sonata No. 2, he thanks her from the bottom of his heart for being his only joy in life.
Vera is going to say goodbye to this man. The husband fully understands her impulse and lets his wife go.
The coffin with Zheltkov stands in the middle of his poor room. His lips smile blissfully and serenely, as if he has learned a deep secret. Vera lifts his head, puts a big red rose under his neck and kisses him on the forehead. She understands that the love that every woman dreams of has passed her by. In the evening, Vera asks a familiar pianist to play Beethoven's Appassionata for her, listens to music and cries. When the music ends, Vera feels that Zheltkov has forgiven her.
retold
