The hero of the story "Garnet Bracelet" is one of the most touching images in literature. The author himself wept over the manuscript of this work. Kuprin claimed that it is the most chaste of all that he created. Characteristics of the heroes ("Garnet Bracelet") is the topic of this article.
Faith
The main characters are the wife of Sheina. It is noteworthy that the characterization of the heroes ("Garnet Bracelet") is given by the author very unevenly. Kuprin did not consider it necessary to describe the disposition of Princess Vera, her habits. He described the appearance of the heroine, comparing her with her sister Anna.
Has a flexible figure, gentle, cold and proud face. That's almost all that is said about the main character. Her sister is depicted in more detail, although her presence in the story does not affect the plot in any way.
Each of the images is a kind of means for revealing the main theme of the work, namely, the theme of love. And therefore, the writer characterizes the characters quite selectively. "Garnet Bracelet" is a story in which the fate and inner world of the characters can be understood from the short phrases spoken by them and various small details.
Princess Vera is a kind, sensitive and honest woman. The ending of the story speaks of her ability to sympathize, when she comes to the house of the deceased Zheltkov to say goodbye to him. Honesty is indicated by the pangs of conscience that she experiences in one of the scenes. When a dispute flares up between Vasily and Vera's brother Nikolai about correspondence, which allegedly compromises all family members, Shein coldly remarks that this epistolary phenomenon is exclusively one-sided. At the words of her husband, the princess blushes deeply. After all, only one single message was received by the person who presented this ill-fated garnet bracelet.
The main characters, whose characteristics are finally revealed in the denouement, are secondary characters throughout the main part.
Vasily Shein
Even less is said about this hero than about Vera Nikolaevna. As already noted, in the work "Garnet Bracelet" the main characters, whose characteristics are given by the author at the beginning of the story succinctly and restrained, show their best qualities at the end. Vasily Shein goes to Zheltkov and, unlike Vera's brother, who accompanies him, behaves tactfully, politely and somewhat bewildered. The prince is able to see a huge tragedy in a man who has been in love with his wife for eight years. He knows how to feel someone else's pain even when the other would have shown only hostility and acute irritation.
Later, after Zheltkov commits suicide, Vasily conveys to Vera his impressions of what he saw: “This man loved you, and he was not insane,” he says, and at the same time treats with understanding the desire of the princess to say goodbye to the deceased.
But at the same time, both Vera and Vasily are arrogant people. Which, however, is not surprising, given their position in society. This quality is not negative. This is not arrogance, and not a kind of condescension, which is manifested in their attitude towards people who are not part of their circle. Faith is characterized by coldness and an authoritative tone. Vasily treats his wife's secret admirer with excessive irony. And, perhaps, all this led to the tragedy.
After reading the summary of the work, one gets the impression that Kuprin dedicated the "Garnet Bracelet" to love, which is so little in real life. The characterization of the characters, which is revealed in the story, gives, however, credibility and truthfulness to this plot. To understand this, you need to read carefully and thoughtfully.
Anosov
The author devoted most of the fourth chapter to the image of this hero. The image of Anosov plays an important role in revealing the main idea of the story. In one of the fragments, he talks with the heroine about true love, which he never experienced in his entire long life, because such a feeling is born once in a hundred years. And to Vera's story about Zheltkov, he suggested that this was that rare case.
Zheltkov
This man is pale, has a tender girlish face. There is no need to talk about the qualities of his character, since Vera Nikolaevna is the meaning of his life. In the last letter, he confesses to her that after he saw her for the first time, he ceased to be interested in anything. The image of Zheltkov is central in the plot, but little is said about him. Much more important is the strength of the feeling that he experienced the last eight years of his life than his personality.
With the help of a small diagram, you can summarize the analysis of images in the story "Garnet Bracelet"
Characteristics of heroes (table)
This is the nature of heroes. "Garnet Bracelet" - despite its small volume, is a deep work. The article provides a brief description of the images, and lacks important details and citations.
A significant place in Russian literature is occupied by the writer Alexander Ivanovich Kuprin, who created many wonderful works. But it was the "Garnet Bracelet" that attracted and attracts the reader with its understandable, but such a deep meaning and content. Until now, the controversy surrounding this story has not ceased, and its popularity has not waned. Kuprin decided to endow his heroes with the rarest, but most real gift - love, and he succeeded.A sad love story is the basis of the story "Garnet Bracelet". Real, selfless, true love is a deep and sincere feeling, the main theme of the story of the great writer.
The history of the creation of the story "Garnet Bracelet"
His new story, which the famous writer Kuprin conceived as a story, Alexander Ivanovich began writing in the fall of 1910 in the Ukrainian city of Odessa. He thought that he could write it in a few days, and even reports this in one of his letters to a friend, literary critic Klestov. He wrote to him that he would soon send his new manuscript to a publisher he knew. But the writer was wrong.
The story came out of the plot, and therefore took the writer not a few days, as he had planned, but several months. It is also known that the work is based on a story that actually happened. This is what Alexander Ivanovich reports in a letter to the philologist and friend Fyodor Batyushkov, when, describing to him how the work on the manuscript is going, they remind him of the very history that formed the basis of the work:
“Do you remember this? - the sad story of the little telegraph official P.P. Zheltikov, who was so hopelessly, touchingly and selflessly in love with Lyubimov's wife (D.N. is now the governor in Vilna).
He admitted in a letter to his friend Batyushkov, dated November 21, 1910, that work on a new work was going hard. He wrote:
“Now I'm writing "Bracelet", but it's bad. The main reason is my ignorance in music... Yes, and secular tone!”.
It is known that in December the manuscript was not yet ready, but work on it was intensively going on, and in one of the letters Kuprin himself evaluates his manuscript, saying that it turns out to be a rather “nice” thing that you don’t even want to crumple .
The manuscript saw the light in 1911, when it was published in the magazine "Earth". At that time, it also contained a dedication to Kuprin's friend, the writer Klestov, who took an active part in its creation. The story "The Garnet Bracelet" also had an epigraph - the first musical line from one of Beethoven's sonnets.
The plot of the story
The composition of the story consists of thirteen chapters. At the beginning of the story, it tells about how difficult it was for Princess Vera Nikolaevna Shein. Indeed, at the beginning of autumn, she still lived in the country, while all the neighbors had long since moved to the city due to bad weather. The young woman could not do this, as repairs were underway in her city house. But soon the weather calmed down, and even the sun came out. With warmth, the mood of the main character also improved.
In the second chapter, the reader learns that the princess's birthday had to be celebrated with splendor, because this was required by the position of her husband. A celebration was scheduled for September 17, which was clearly beyond the means of the family. The thing is that her husband had already gone broke for a long time, but still did not show it to others, although this affected the family: Vera Nikolaevna not only could not afford too much, she even saved on everything. On this day, her sister, with whom the princess was on good terms, came to help the young woman. Anna Nikolaevna Friesse was not at all like her sister, but the relatives were very attached to each other.
In the third chapter, the writer tells about the meeting of the sisters and about a walk by the sea, where Anna gave her sister her valuable gift - a notebook with an old cover. The fourth chapter will take the reader to that evening when guests began to arrive at the celebration. Among the other guests was General Anosov, who was a friend of the girls' father and knew the sisters from childhood. The girls called him grandfather, but they did it nicely and with great respect and love.
The fifth chapter tells about how fun the evening was at the Sheins' house. Prince Vasily Shein, Vera's husband, constantly told stories that happened to his relatives and friends, but he did it so cleverly that the guests no longer even understood where the truth was and where the fiction was. Vera Nikolaevna was about to give the order to serve tea, but, counting the guests, she became very frightened. The princess was a superstitious woman, and there were thirteen guests at the table.
Going out to the maid, she learned that the messenger brought a gift and a note. Vera Nikolaevna began with a note and immediately, from the first lines, realized that it was from her secret admirer. But she became a little uneasy. The woman also looked at the bracelet, it was beautiful! But the princess was faced with the important question of whether to show this gift to her husband.
The sixth chapter is the story of the princess with the telegraph operator. Vera's husband showed his album with funny pictures, and one of them is the story of his wife and a petty official. But it had not yet been completed, so Prince Vasily began to simply tell it, not paying attention to the fact that his wife was against it.
In the seventh chapter, the princess says goodbye to the guests: some of them went home, while the other settled on the summer terrace. Seizing a moment, the young woman shows a letter from her secret admirer to her husband.
General Anosov, leaving in the eighth chapter, listens to the story of Vera Nikolaevna about the letters that the secret sender has been writing for a long time, and then informs the woman that true love is quite rare, but she is lucky. After all, this "madman" loves her with selfless love, which every woman can dream of.
In the ninth chapter, the husband of the princess and her brother discuss the case with the bracelet and come to the conclusion that this story has not only dragged on, but may also adversely affect the family's reputation. Before going to bed, they decide tomorrow to find this secret admirer of Vera Nikolaevna, return the bracelet to him and put an end to this story forever.
In the tenth chapter, Prince Vasily and the girl's brother Nikolai find Zheltkov and ask him to put an end to this story forever. The husband of Vera Nikolaevna felt the tragedy of his soul in this man, so he allows me to write the last letter to his wife. After reading this message, the princess immediately realized that this person would definitely do something with himself, for example, kill himself.
In the eleventh chapter, the princess learns about Zheltkov's death and reads his last letter, where she remembers the following lines: “I tested myself - this is not a disease, not a manic idea - this is love that God was pleased to reward me for something. As I leave, I say in delight: “Hallowed be thy name.” The princess decides to go to his funeral and see this man. The husband doesn't mind.
The twelfth and thirteenth chapters are a visit to the deceased Zheltkov, reading his last message and the woman's disappointment that true love has passed her by.
Characteristics of the actors
There are few characters in the story. But it is worth dwelling in more detail on the main characters:
Vera Nikolaevna Sheina.
Mr Zheltkov.
The main character of the story is Vera Nikolaevna Sheina. She comes from an old noble family. Vera is liked by everyone around her, as she is very beautiful and sweet: a gentle face, an aristocratic figure. She has been married for six years. The husband occupies an important place in secular society, although he has material problems. Vera Nikolaevna has a good education. She also has a brother, Nikolai, and a sister, Anna. She lives with her husband somewhere on the Black Sea coast. Despite the fact that Vera is a superstitious woman and does not read newspapers at all, she loves gambling.
Another main and important hero of the story is Mr. Zheltkov. A thin and tall man with nervous fingers was a poor man. He looked to be about thirty-five. He is in the service of the control chamber, but the position is low - a petty official. Kuprin characterizes him as a modest, well-mannered and noble person. Kuprin copied this image from a real person. The prototype of the protagonist was a petty telegraph official Zheltikov P.P.
There are other characters in this story:
✔ Anna.
✔ Nicholas
✔ The husband of the main character, Vasily Shein.
✔ General Anosov.
✔ Others.
Each of the characters played a role in the content of the story.
Details in the novel
The story "Garnet Bracelet" has many important details that allow you to more deeply reveal the content of the work. But especially among all these details, the garnet bracelet stands out. According to the plot, the main character Vera receives it as a gift from a secret admirer. But beforehand, Zheltkov, who is the secret admirer, puts it in a bright red case.
Kuprin gives a detailed description of the bracelet, making one admire its beauty and sophistication: “It was gold, low-grade, very thick, but puffy and on the outside it was completely covered with small old, poorly polished garnets.” But special attention is drawn to the further description of the precious bracelet: “In the middle of the bracelet, surrounded by some strange little green stone, five beautiful cabochon garnets, each the size of a pea, rose.”
The writer also tells about the history of this bracelet, thus emphasizing how important it was for the petty official Zheltkov. The writer writes that this expensive jewelry belonged to the great-grandmother of the protagonist, and the last person to wear it was his late mother, whom he loved very much and kept the warmest memories of her. The green garnet in the middle of the bracelet, according to a petty official, had its own old legend, which was passed down in the Zheltkov family from generation to generation. According to this legend, a person is freed from heavy thoughts, a woman is also rewarded with the gift of providence, and a man will be protected from any violent death.
Criticism about the story "Garnet Bracelet"
Writers highly appreciated the skill of Kuprin.
The first review of the work was given by Maxim Gorky in one of his letters in 1911. He was delighted with this story and constantly repeated that it was wonderfully written and that good literature was finally beginning. Reading the "Garnet Bracelet" for the famous revolutionary writer Maxim Gorky was a real holiday. He wrote:
"And what an excellent thing" Garnet Bracelet "Kuprin ... Wonderful!".
Introduction
"Garnet Bracelet" is one of the most famous stories of the Russian prose writer Alexander Ivanovich Kuprin. She was published in 1910, but for the domestic reader she still remains a symbol of selfless sincere love, the kind that girls dream about, and the one that we so often miss. Earlier we published this wonderful work. In the same publication, we will tell you about the main characters, analyze the work and talk about its problems.
The events of the story begin to unfold on the birthday of Princess Vera Nikolaevna Sheina. Celebrate at the dacha in the circle of the closest people. In the midst of fun, the hero of the occasion receives a gift - a garnet bracelet. The sender decided to remain unrecognized and signed a short note with only the initials of the GSG. However, everyone immediately guesses that this is a longtime admirer of Vera, some petty official who has been flooding her with love letters for many years now. The husband and brother of the princess quickly figure out the identity of the annoying boyfriend and the next day they go to his house.
In a miserable apartment they are met by a timid official named Zheltkov, he meekly agrees to take the gift and promises never to appear before the eyes of the respectable family, provided that he makes the last farewell call to Vera and makes sure that she does not want to know him. Vera Nikolaevna, of course, asks Zheltkov to leave her. The next morning, the newspapers will write that a certain official has committed suicide. In a farewell note, he wrote that he had squandered state property.
Main characters: characteristics of key images
Kuprin is a master of the portrait, moreover, through appearance, he draws the character of the characters. The author pays a lot of attention to each hero, devoting a good half of the story to portrait characteristics and memories, which are also revealed by the characters. The main characters of the story are:
- - princess, central female image;
- - her husband, prince, provincial marshal of the nobility;
- - a petty official of the control chamber, passionately in love with Vera Nikolaevna;
- Anna Nikolaevna Friesse- Vera's younger sister;
- Nikolai Nikolaevich Mirza-Bulat-Tuganovskiy- brother of Vera and Anna;
- Yakov Mikhailovich Anosov- General, military comrade of Vera's father, a close friend of the family.
Faith is an ideal representative of the high society both in appearance, and in manners, and in character.
“Vera took after her mother, a beautiful Englishwoman, with her tall, flexible figure, gentle, but cold and proud face, beautiful, albeit rather large hands, and that charming sloping of the shoulders, which can be seen in old miniatures”
Princess Vera was married to Vasily Nikolaevich Shein. Their love has long ceased to be passionate and passed into that calm stage of mutual respect and tender friendship. Their union was happy. The couple did not have children, although Vera Nikolaevna passionately wanted a baby, and therefore she gave all her unspent feeling to the children of her younger sister.
Vera was royally calm, coldly kind to everyone, but at the same time very funny, open and sincere with close people. She was not inherent in such feminine tricks as affectation and coquetry. Despite her high status, Vera was very prudent, and knowing how unsuccessfully things were going for her husband, she sometimes tried to deprive herself so as not to put him in an uncomfortable position.
The husband of Vera Nikolaevna is a talented, pleasant, gallant, noble person. He has an amazing sense of humor and is a brilliant storyteller. Shein keeps a home journal, which contains non-fictional stories with pictures about the life of the family and its associates.
Vasily Lvovich loves his wife, perhaps not as passionately as in the first years of marriage, but who knows how long passion really lives? The husband deeply respects her opinion, feelings, personality. He is compassionate and merciful to others, even those who are much lower than him in status (his meeting with Zheltkov testifies to this). Shein is noble and endowed with the courage to admit mistakes and his own wrong.
We first meet Official Zheltkov near the end of the story. Up to this point, he is present in the work invisibly in the grotesque image of a klutz, an eccentric, a fool in love. When the long-awaited meeting finally takes place, we see a meek and shy person in front of us, it is customary to ignore such people and call them “little ones”:
“He was tall, thin, with long, fluffy, soft hair.”
His speeches, however, are devoid of the chaotic whim of a madman. He is fully accountable for his words and deeds. Despite the seeming cowardice, this man is very brave, he boldly tells the prince, the lawful spouse of Vera Nikolaevna, that he is in love with her and cannot do anything about it. Zheltkov does not fawn over the rank and position in society of his guests. He submits, but not to fate, but only to his beloved. And he knows how to love - selflessly and sincerely.
“It so happened that I am not interested in anything in life: neither politics, nor science, nor philosophy, nor concern for the future happiness of people - for me life is only in you. I now feel that some uncomfortable wedge crashed into your life. If you can, forgive me for this.”
Analysis of the work
Kuprin got the idea for his story from real life. In fact, the story was more of an anecdotal character. A certain poor telegraph operator named Zheltikov was in love with the wife of one of the Russian generals. Once this eccentric was so brave that he sent his beloved a simple gold chain with a pendant in the form of an Easter egg. Scream and only! Everyone laughed at the stupid telegraph operator, but the inquisitive writer's mind decided to look beyond the anecdote, because real drama can always lurk behind a visible curiosity.
Also in the “Garnet Bracelet”, the Sheins and the guests first make fun of Zheltkov. Vasily Lvovich even has a funny story about this in his home magazine called “Princess Vera and the Telegraph Operator in Love”. People tend not to think about other people's feelings. Sheins were not bad, callous, soulless (this is proved by a metamorphosis in them after meeting Zheltkov), they simply did not believe that the love that the official confessed could exist ..
There are many symbolic elements in the work. For example, a garnet bracelet. Garnet is a stone of love, anger and blood. If a person in a fever takes it in his hand (a parallel with the expression “love fever”), then the stone will take on a more saturated shade. According to Zheltkov himself, this special type of pomegranate (green pomegranate) endows women with the gift of foresight, and protects men from violent death. Zheltkov, having parted with the charm bracelet, dies, and Vera unexpectedly predicts his death.
Another symbolic stone - pearls - also appears in the work. Vera receives pearl earrings as a gift from her husband on the morning of her name day. Pearls, despite their beauty and nobility, are an omen of bad news.
Something bad also tried to predict the weather. On the eve of the fateful day, a terrible storm broke out, but on the birthday everything calmed down, the sun came out and the weather was calm, like a calm before a deafening peal of thunder and an even stronger storm.
Problems of the story
The key problem of the work is the question “What is true love?” In order for the “experiment” to be pure, the author cites different types of “loves”. This is the tender love-friendship of the Sheins, and the prudent, convenient love of Anna Friesse for her indecently rich old husband, who blindly adores his soul mate, and the long-forgotten ancient love of General Amosov, and the all-consuming love-worship of Zheltkov to Vera.
The main character herself for a long time cannot understand - this is love or madness, but looking into his face, even if hidden by the mask of death, she is convinced that it was love. Vasily Lvovich draws the same conclusions when he meets his wife's admirer. And if at first he was somewhat belligerent, then later he could not be angry with the unfortunate one, because, it seems, a secret was revealed to him, which neither he, nor Vera, nor their friends could comprehend.
People are inherently selfish and even in love, they first of all think about their feelings, masking their own egocentrism from the other half and even themselves. True love, which occurs between a man and a woman once in a hundred years, puts the beloved in the first place. So Zheltkov calmly lets Vera go, because only in this way will she be happy. The only problem is that without it, he does not need life. In his world, suicide is a perfectly natural step.
Princess Sheina understands this. She sincerely mourns Zheltkov, a man whom she practically did not know, but, my God, perhaps true love passed by her, which occurs once in a hundred years.
“I am infinitely grateful to you just for the fact that you exist. I checked myself - this is not a disease, not a manic idea - this is love, which God was pleased to reward me for something ... Leaving, I say in delight: “Hallowed be Your name”
Place in literature: Literature of the 20th century → Russian literature of the 20th century → Works of Alexander Ivanovich Kuprin → The story "Garnet Bracelet" (1910)
Princess Vera Nikolaevna Sheina, the wife of the marshal of the nobility, had already lived with her husband in the country for some time, because their city apartment was being renovated. Today was her name day, and therefore guests were supposed to arrive. The first to appear was Vera's sister, Anna Nikolaevna Friesse, who was married to a very rich and very stupid man who did nothing, but was registered with some charitable society and had the title of chamber junker. Grandfather, General Anosov, whom the sisters love very much, should come. Guests began to arrive after five o'clock. Among them is the famous pianist Jenny Reiter, a friend of Princess Vera at the Smolny Institute, Anna's husband brought with him Professor Speshnikov and the local vice-governor von Seck. Prince Vasily Lvovich is accompanied by his widowed sister Lyudmila Lvovna. Lunch is a lot of fun, everyone has known each other for a long time.
Vera Nikolaevna suddenly noticed that there were thirteen guests. This scared her a little. Everyone sat down to play poker. Vera did not want to play, and she was on her way to the terrace, where they were laying tea, when the maid beckoned her from the drawing room with a somewhat mysterious air. She handed her a package that a messenger had brought half an hour earlier.
Vera opened the package - under the paper was a small red plush jewelry case. It contained an oval gold bracelet, and inside it was a carefully folded note. She unfolded it. The handwriting looked familiar to her. She put the note aside and decided to look at the bracelet first. “It was gold, low-grade, very thick, but puffy, and on the outside it was completely covered with small old, poorly polished grenades. But on the other hand, in the middle of the bracelet, surrounded by some ancient small green stone, five beautiful cabochon garnets, each the size of a pea, rose. When Vera, with a random movement, successfully turned the bracelet in front of the fire of an electric light bulb, then in them, deep under their smooth ovoid surface, lovely, densely red living lights suddenly lit up. Then she read the lines written in small, beautiful calligraphy. It was a congratulation on the day of the Angel. The author reported that this bracelet belonged to his great-grandmother, then his late mother wore it. The pebble in the middle is a very rare variety of garnet - green garnet. Then he wrote: “According to an old legend that has been preserved in our family, he has the ability to communicate the gift of foresight to women who wear it and drives away heavy thoughts from them, while protecting men from violent death ... I beg you not to be angry with me. I blush at the memory of my insolence seven years ago, when I dared to write stupid and wild letters to you, young lady, and even expect an answer to them. Now all I have left is reverence, eternal admiration and slavish devotion...” “Show Vasya or not? And if so, when? Now or after the guests? No, it’s better after - now not only this unfortunate person will be funny, but I will be with him, ”Vera thought and could not take her eyes off the five scarlet bloody fires trembling inside the five grenades. Meanwhile, the evening went on as usual. Prince Vasily Lvovich showed his sister, Anosov and brother-in-law a homemade humorous album with handwritten drawings. Their laughter attracted everyone else. There was a story: "Princess Vera and the telegraph operator in love." “Better not,” Vera said, softly touching her husband's shoulder. But he either did not hear, or did not attach importance. He humorously retells the old letters of a man in love with Vera. He wrote them when she was not yet married. Prince Vasily calls the author a telegraph operator. The husband keeps talking and saying... “Gentlemen, who wants tea?” - asked Vera Nikolaevna. General Anosov tells his goddaughters about the love he had in his youth in Bulgaria with a Bulgarian girl. When the time came for the troops to leave, they swore an oath of eternal mutual love to each other and said goodbye forever. "And that's it?" asked Lyudmila Lvovna disappointedly. Later, when the guests had almost all left, Vera, seeing off her grandfather, quietly said to her husband: “Come and see ... there in my desk, in a drawer, is a red case, and in it is a letter. Read it." It was so dark that I had to grope my way with my feet. The general led Vera by the arm. “That Ludmila Lvovna is funny,” he suddenly spoke, as if continuing aloud the course of his thoughts. - And I want to say that people in our time have forgotten how to love. I don't see true love. And in my time I didn’t see it!” Marriage, in his opinion, means nothing. “Take at least Vasya and me. Can we call our marriage unhappy?” Vera asked. Anosov was silent for a long time. Then he drawled reluctantly: "Well, well ... let's say - an exception." Why do people get married? As for women, they are afraid to remain in girls, they want to be a mistress, a lady, independent ... Men have other motives. Tiredness from a single life, from a mess in the house, from tavern dinners ... Again, the thought of children ... There are sometimes thoughts about a dowry. But where is love? Love disinterested, selfless, not waiting for a reward? “Wait, wait, Vera, now you want me again about your Vasya? Really, I love him. He is a good guy. Who knows, maybe the future will show his love in the light of great beauty. But you understand what kind of love I'm talking about. Love must be a tragedy. The greatest secret in the world! No comforts of life, calculations and compromises should concern her.” “Have you ever seen such love, grandfather?” “No,” the old man answered decisively. - True, I know two similar cases ... In one regiment of our division ... there was the wife of a regimental commander ... Bony, red-haired, thin ... In addition, a morphine drinker. And then one day, in the fall, they send a newly made ensign to their regiment ... just from a military school. A month later, this old horse completely mastered him. He's a page, he's a servant, he's a slave... By Christmas, she was tired of him. She returned to one of her former ... passions. But he couldn't. Follows her like a ghost. He was exhausted all over, emaciated, blackened ... And then one spring they arranged some kind of May Day or a picnic in the regiment ... They returned back at night on foot along the railroad track. Suddenly, a freight train is coming towards them ... she suddenly whispers in the ensign's ear: “You all say that you love me. But if I order you, you probably won’t throw yourself under the train.” And he, without answering a word, ran - and under the train. He, they say, calculated correctly ... so he would have been neatly cut in half and cut. But some idiot decided to hold him back and push him away. Didn't make it. The ensign, as he clung to the rails with his hands, so he chopped off both hands ... And a man disappeared ... in the meanest way ... ”The general tells another case. When the regiment was leaving for the war and the train was already moving, the wife shouted loudly to her husband: “Remember, take care of Volodya<своего любовника> ! If anything happens to him, I will leave home and never come back. And I'll take the kids." At the front, this captain, a brave soldier, looked after this coward and loafer Vishnyakov, like a nanny, like a mother. Everyone was delighted when they learned that Vishnyakov had died of typhus in the hospital... The General asks Vera what the story with the telegraph operator is. Vera told in detail about some madman who began to pursue her with his love two years before her marriage. She has never seen him and does not know his last name. He signed G.S.Zh. Once he mentioned that he was serving in some state institution as a small official - he did not mention a word about the telegraph. He must have kept an eye on her, because in his letters he indicated exactly where she went in the evenings ... and how she was dressed. At first his letters were somewhat vulgar, though quite chaste. But once Vera wrote to him so that he would not bother her anymore. Since then, he began to be limited to congratulations on holidays. Princess Vera spoke about the bracelet and about the strange letter from her mysterious admirer. “Yes, yes,” the general drawled at last. “Maybe it’s just a crazy guy… or… maybe your life path, Verochka, was crossed by just such love…” Vera’s brother Nikolai and Vasily Lvovich are worried that an unknown person will boast Princess Vera Nikolaevna Sheina accepts gifts, then sends something else, then sits down for embezzlement, and the princes of Sheina will be called as witnesses "... We decided that we need to find him, return the bracelet and read the notation. "For some reason, I felt I feel sorry for this unfortunate person, "Vera said hesitantly. Vera's husband and brother find the right apartment on the eighth floor, climbing the dirty, spit-stained stairs. The inhabitant of the Zheltkov room was a man "very pale, with a tender 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." and smoked. “Now is the hardest moment of my life. And I must, prince, speak to you without any conventions... Will you listen to me?” “Listen,” Shein said. Zheltkov says that he loves Shein's wife. It is difficult for him to say this, but seven years of hopeless and polite love give him this right. He knows that he can never stop loving her. They cannot cut off this feeling of his by anything, except perhaps death. Zheltkov asks permission to speak on the phone with Princess Vera Nikolaevna. He will relay the contents of the conversation to them. He returned ten minutes later. His eyes shone and were deep, as if filled with unshed tears. “I'm ready,” he said, “and you won't hear anything from me tomorrow. It's like I'm dead for you. But one condition - I'm telling you, Prince Vasily Lvovich - you see, I spent the government money, and I have to flee this city anyway. Will you allow me to write another last letter to Princess Vera Nikolaevna?” Shane allows. In the evening, at the dacha, Vasily Lvovich told his wife in detail about the meeting with Zheltkov. He seemed to feel compelled to do so. At night, Vera says, "I know this man will kill himself." Vera never read newspapers, but on that day, for some reason, she unfolded just that sheet and came across that column, which reported the suicide of an official of the control chamber, G. S. Zheltkov. All day she walked around the flower garden and the orchard and thought about a man whom she had never seen. Maybe this was that real, selfless, true love that grandfather spoke about? At six o'clock the postman brought Zheltkov's letter. He wrote as follows: “It’s not my fault, Vera Nikolaevna, that God was pleased to send me, as an enormous happiness, love for you ... for me, my whole life lies only in you ... I am infinitely grateful to you only for the fact that you exist. I checked myself - this is not a disease, not a manic idea - this is love, which God was pleased to reward me for something ... Leaving, I say in delight: "Hallowed be thy name." Eight years ago I saw you in a box at the circus, and at that very first second I said to myself: I love her because there is nothing like her in the world, there is nothing better, there is no beast, no plant, no star, not a person is more beautiful and more tender than you. All the beauty of the earth seemed to be embodied in you ... I cut everything off, but still I think and I am even sure that you will remember me. If you remember me, then ... play or order to play the sonata in D-dur No. 2, op. 2... May God grant you happiness, and may nothing temporary and worldly disturb your beautiful soul. I kiss your hands. G. S. J.”. Vera goes to where Zheltkov lived. The owner of the apartment tells what a wonderful person he was. About the bracelet, she says that before writing a letter, he came to her and asked her to hang the bracelet on the icon. Vera enters the room where Zheltkov lies on the table: “Deep importance was in his closed eyes, and his lips smiled blissfully and serenely, as if before parting with life he had learned some deep and sweet secret that solved his whole human life. .. Vera... put a flower under his neck. At that moment, she realized that the love that every woman dreams of had passed her by ... And, parting the hair on the dead man's forehead in both directions, she tightly squeezed his temples with her hands and kissed him on the cold, wet forehead with a long friendly kiss ". Before Vera leaves, the hostess says that before his death, Zheltkov asked that if some lady came to look at him, then tell her that Beethoven had the best work ... she showed the title written on a piece of paper. Returning home late, Vera Nikolaevna was glad that neither her husband nor her brother was at home. But Jenny Reiter was waiting for her, and she asked her to play something for her. She had almost no doubt for a second that Jenny would play the very passage from the second sonata that this dead man with the ridiculous surname Zheltkov had asked for. So it was. She recognized this piece from the very first chords. And the words formed in her mind. They so coincided in her thoughts with the music that they were, as it were, couplets that ended with the words: “Hallowed be thy name.” “I remember your every step, smile, look, the sound of your gait. Sweet sadness, quiet, beautiful sadness are wrapped around my last memories ... I'm leaving alone, silently, it was so pleasing to God and fate. "Hallowed be thy name." Princess Vera hugged the trunk of an acacia tree, clung to it and wept... And at that moment the amazing music, as if obeying her grief, continued: “Calm down, dear, calm down, calm down. Do you remember me? Do you remember? You are my one and only love. Calm down, I'm with you. Think of me and I will be with you, because you and I have only loved each other for a moment, but forever. Do you remember me? Do you remember? .. Here I feel your tears. Take it easy. It’s so sweet for me to sleep...” Vera, all in tears, said: “No, no, he has forgiven me now. Everything is fine".
Russian writer, translator.
Date and place of birth - September 7, 1870, Narovchatsky district, Penza province, Russian Empire.
Kuprin's first literary experience was poetry, which remained unpublished. The first printed work is the story "The Last Debut" (1889).
In 1910, Kuprin wrote the story "Garnet Bracelet". which was based on real events.
"Garnet bracelet"
Heroes
Prince Vasily Lvovich Shein
Is one of the main characters, the husband of Vera Nikolaevna Sheina, and the 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 financial situation of the prince also leaves much to be desired. Princess Vera tried with all her might to help Vasily Lvovich refrain from complete ruin.
Vera Nikolaevna Sheina
Georgy Stepanovich Zheltkov
Anna Nikolaevna Friesse
Nikolai Nikolaevich Mirza-Bulat-Tuganovskiy
General Yakov Mikhailovich Anosov
Ludmila Lvovna Durasova
Gustav Ivanovich Friesse
Ponamarev
Bakhtinsky
"Garnet Bracelet" summary
Source - I
In September, a small festive dinner was being prepared at the dacha in honor of the name day of the hostess. Vera Nikolaevna Sheina received earrings as a gift from her husband in the morning. She was glad that the holiday was to be arranged at the dacha, since her husband's financial affairs were not in the best way. Sister Anna came to help Vera Nikolaevna prepare dinner. Guests were arriving. The weather turned out to be good, and the evening passed in warm, sincere conversations. The guests sat down to play poker. At this time, the messenger brought a bundle. It contained a gold bracelet with garnets and a small green stone in the middle. The gift was accompanied by a note. It said that the bracelet is a family heirloom of the donor, and the green stone is a rare garnet that has the properties of a talisman.
The holiday was in full swing. The guests played cards, sang, joked, looked at an album with satirical pictures and stories made by the host. Among the stories was a story about a telegraph operator who was in love with Princess Vera, who pursued his beloved, despite the refusal. The unrequited feeling drove him to a madhouse.
Almost all the guests have left. Those who remained had a conversation with General Anosov, whom the sisters called grandfather, about his military life and love affairs. Walking in the garden, the general tells Vera about the story of his unsuccessful marriage. The conversation turns to understanding true love. Anosov tells stories about men who valued love more than their own lives. He is interested in Vera's story about the telegraph operator. It turned out that the princess had never seen him and did not know who he really was.
Returning, Vera found her husband and brother Nikolai having an unpleasant conversation. Together they decided that these letters and gifts defame the name of the princess and her husband, so this story must be put to an end. Knowing nothing about the admirer of the princess, Nikolai and Vasily Lvovich Shein tracked him down. Vera's brother attacked this pathetic man with threats. Vasily Lvovich showed generosity and listened to him. Zheltkov admitted that he loves Vera Nikolaevna hopelessly, but too much to be able to overcome this feeling. In addition, he said that he would no longer disturb the princess, as he had squandered government money and was forced to leave. The next day, from a newspaper article, it became known about the suicide of an official. The postman brought a letter from which Vera learned that love for her was for Zheltkov the greatest joy and grace. Standing at the coffin, Vera Nikolaevna understands that the wonderful deep feeling that Anosov spoke of has passed her by.
Source - II
en.wikipedia.org
On the day of her name day, Princess Vera Nikolaevna Sheina received a gold bracelet as a gift from her longtime anonymous admirer, with five large cabochon garnets of deep red color, surrounding a green stone - a rare variety of garnet. Being a married woman, she considered herself not entitled to receive any gifts from strangers.
Her brother, Nikolai Nikolaevich, an assistant prosecutor, together with her husband, 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.
When brother Nikolai Nikolaevich, having appeared at Zheltkov’s dwelling with her husband, returned him a garnet bracelet and in a conversation mentioned the possibility of turning to the authorities to stop the persecution, according to him, of Princess Vera Nikolaevna, Zheltkov asked permission from her husband and brother of the princess to call her. She told him that if he were not there, she would be calmer. Zheltkov asked to listen to Beethoven's Sonata No. 2. 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 so that Princess Vera could live in peace. He did it all out of love for Vera and for her good. Zheltkov left a suicide note in which he explained that he had shot himself because of the waste of state money.
Vera Nikolaevna, having learned about Zheltkov's death, asked her husband's permission and went to the suicide's apartment 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 General Anosov spoke about, which every woman dreams of, passed her by. When the pianist finished playing and went out to the princess, she began to kiss her with the words: “No, no, he has forgiven me now. Everything is fine".
Source - III
A bundle with a small jewelry case in the name of Princess Vera Nikolaevna Sheina was handed over by the messenger through the maid. The princess reprimanded her, but Dasha said that the messenger immediately ran away, and she did not dare to tear the birthday girl away from the guests.
Inside the case was a gold, low-grade puffy bracelet covered with garnets, among which was a small green stone. The letter enclosed in the case contained congratulations on the day of the angel and a request to accept the bracelet that belonged to the great-grandmother. A green stone is a very rare green garnet that communicates the gift of providence and protects men from violent death. The letter ended with the words: “Your obedient servant G.S.Zh. before death and after death.”
Vera took the bracelet in her hands - inside the stones, alarming dense red living lights lit up. "Just like blood!" she thought as she returned to the living room.
Prince Vasily Lvovich was demonstrating at that moment his humorous home album, which had just been opened on the “tale” “Princess Vera and the Telegraph Operator in Love”. “Better not,” she pleaded. But the husband has already begun commenting on his own drawings full of brilliant humor. Here a girl named Vera receives a letter with kissing doves, signed by the telegraph operator P.P.Zh. Here young Vasya Shein returns the wedding ring to Vera: “I don’t dare interfere with your happiness, and yet it’s 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, etc.
"Gentlemen, who wants tea?" Vera asked. After tea, the guests began to leave. The old general Anosov, whom Vera and her sister Anna called grandfather, asked the princess to explain what was true in the prince's story.
G.S.Z. (and not P.P.Z.) began harassing her with letters two years before her marriage. Obviously, he constantly watched her, knew where she was at the parties, how she was dressed. When Vera, also in writing, asked not to bother her with his persecution, he fell silent about love and limited himself to congratulations on holidays, as well as today, on her name day.
The old man was silent. "Could it be a maniac? Or maybe, Verochka, it was precisely the kind of love that women dream of and which more men are incapable of that crossed your life path.
After the guests left, Vera's husband and her brother Nikolai decided to find an admirer and return the bracelet. The next day they already knew the address of G.S.Zh. It turned out to be a man of about thirty to thirty-five. He did not deny anything and recognized the indecency of his behavior. Finding some understanding and even sympathy in the prince, he explained to him that, alas, he loves his wife and neither deportation nor prison will kill this feeling. Except death. He must confess that he has squandered government money and will be forced to flee the city, so that they will not hear from him again.
The next day, in the newspaper, Vera read about the suicide of G. S. Zheltkov, an official of the control chamber, and in the evening the postman brought his letter.
Zheltkov wrote that for him all life consisted 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 Appassionata, he thanks her from the bottom of his heart for the fact that she was his only joy in life.
Vera could not help but go to say goodbye to this man. Her husband fully understood her impulse.
The face of the person lying in the coffin was serene, as if he had learned a deep secret. Vera raised his head, placed a large red rose under his neck, and kissed him on the forehead. She understood that the love that every woman dreams of had passed her by.
Returning home, she found only her college friend, the famous pianist Jenny Reiter. "Play something for me," she asked.
And Jenny (wonder!) began to play the part of "Appassionata", which Zheltkov indicated in the letter. She listened, and in her mind words were composed, like couplets, ending with a prayer: “Hallowed be thy name.” "What happened to you?" asked Jenny, seeing her tears. “…He has forgiven me now. Everything is fine,” Vera replied.
Kuprin Alexander Ivanovich - "Garnet Bracelet" summary of the story updated: May 31, 2018 by: website
