The duel is the theme of becoming a young man. Debunking the Romance of Military Service (Based on A.

The writer Alexander Kuprin became known to everyone after the story “Duel” was published in one of the collections in the spring of 1905. The book quickly sold out, and after about a month it had to be printed again. The author shows in the story the royal army, those inhuman conditions that ordinary soldiers exist in it. Everything he writes about, Alexander Kuprin saw when he served in the army. In the image of Lieutenant Kuprin, life in the army has long been vulgarized, and has a stupefying effect on a person.

But then the author says that it is difficult to escape from such a life. And the officer must either further think about his studies at the military academy, or pull this strap further, hoping for a resignation with the assigned pension salary. The life of the officer corps is scheduled: drill exercises and classes for studying the charters of the army, drinking, relations with women, balls, necessarily card games and trips to a brothel. But sometimes parades and maneuvers were held for a change.

The story shows many officers: Vetkin is a kind fellow and not striving for anything, Plum is a company commander, a stupid captain, Osadchy is an officer who believes that war can change everything, Zegrzhet is a widowed lieutenant who barely has enough money to support small children, and he has four of them, Rafalsky is a lieutenant colonel, whose name is Bram, she came from a passion for the menagerie, Bobetinsky is trying to show himself a secular person, but he is really a dummy, Archakovsky is cheating at cards, and others. All the officers shown by Alexander Kuprin do not cause any sympathy. So, officer Rafalsky beats up a soldier-bugler only because he is tired and performs another signal on his instrument.

The action of the Kuprin story takes place at the end of the 19th century. At that time, duels were very popular, especially between officers. But in more detail the author dwelled on the scenes of beating and humiliation of soldiers. A vivid image of a soldier from the people is the soldier Khlebnikov, over whom the soldiers constantly mock. A. Kuprin not only denounces the order that prevails in the army, but the main point is the devastation and inhumanity of people who find themselves in army conditions. The author contrasts two heroes: Romashov and Nazansky.

Romashov is a second lieutenant, many critics in his features found similarities with the author. He was born and raised in the small town of Narovchata, Penza province. Little is known about his family: his mother lives in Moscow, the hero does not remember his father. The second lieutenant studied in the cadet corps, where he began to get involved in writing. A charming young man attracts the attention of the reader with the purity of his soul. He sympathizes with the soldier, he is naive, but such a person will not be able to live long in an army environment. It is a burden to him to serve, because around him there are moral monsters. He dreams of escaping from this inhumanity.

In humanistic dreams, Romashov is supported by his friend officer Nazansky. And the humanism of the second lieutenant is manifested in every scene of Kuprin's story: Romashov condemns the cruel punishment of the soldiers, his acquaintance with Khlebnikov, who is already desperate, by the way he defends a woman and at the same time is burdened by his vulgar connections with Raisa Peterson, and in his pure love for Alexandra Petrovna. The hero of Kuprin is dreamy, but he is only twenty years old. He dreams of changing the world, but preserving the honor and faith of his fatherland.

The same dreams, but already more mature, also arise in the officer Nazansky. A cheerful officer tries to enjoy all the joys of life, but he does not like the army. He idolizes women, and he considers love for them sacred. Enthusiastically, he speaks of unrequited love for a woman. Romashov considers him his teacher, he sees him as a wise man. Nazansky accuses the officers of not striving for a new life, that they remain blind and deaf to it. The officer does not believe in the biblical commandments, and does not want to accept thoughts about service or about the fulfillment of duty. According to the hero, you need to love only yourself and serve yourself. He believes that the time will come when people themselves will become gods. But after all, these thoughts can be regarded as simple egoism.

Nazansky and Romashov are united by disgust for those traditions and orders that exist in the tsarist army, where officers forget about honor, and the common man is humiliated and suppressed. But there is also a difference in their views. Nazansky despises weak people, and Romashov treats him carefully. Romashov believes that every person has three main confessions that he must realize. It is art, science and physical labor, but optional. But in Russia, where autocratic and feudal orders reigned, no free labor is possible.

The atmosphere of human decay and stupefaction embraces not only officers. Officers' wives live boring lives, they are ignorant and narrow-minded. Raisa Peterson becomes a bright representative of such an officer's wife with Kuprin. The author begins the reader's acquaintance with this woman from the letters that she writes and sends to Romashov. The content in them is stupid and vulgar, they are both sentimental and malicious at the same time. But on the other hand, one can easily imagine the heroine herself from them. When Romashov informs her that he is breaking this vulgar connection, she begins to take revenge on him, vilely and vilely. Raisa writes anonymous letters, which are responsible for the death of Romashova in a duel.

The image of Nikolaeva is drawn differently. In the image of Shurochka, Alexander Kuprin put all his talent and sensitivity. Alexandra Petrovna is charming and beautiful in appearance, she is smart, a woman has both a sense of tact and sensitivity. That is why Romashov falls in love with her. In love with not and Nazansky. But a beautiful woman is frightened by what awaits her ahead: children, a small salary and the title of an officer's wife, and poverty. But she always dreams of dressing well, looking beautiful and elegant, so that they bow before her. In the meantime, she lives with her husband, whom she does not love at all, he is disgusting to her, but she demands that he enter the academy so that in the future he will make a career.

To achieve this, she is ready to sacrifice the love of Nazansky, and even betray the love of the second lieutenant, and Romashov himself. For the sake of her goals, she gives herself to Romashov in order to deprive him of his will. Therefore, the image of Shurochka is shown by the author as distorted, devoid of humanity. Her main life goal is to go to high society, where she would be successful, and break out of this province. Alexandra Petrovna is depicted by the author as an egoist.

The story of Alexander Kuprin is a strong and vivid work. In it, a person who is cheerful and philanthropic is opposed to a society where the individual is humiliated and suppressed. And this was the real, real way of Russia of that time. Therefore, "Duel" also contains a humanistic meaning. And the writer's criticism of the army turns to criticism of the way of life, which gives rise to such anti-human relations. Kuprin ends his story with a report on the duel of Romashov, in which he was killed. The author ends his story with a fatal shot for the protagonist.

A.I. Kuprin entered Russian literature as a singer of bright and healthy human feelings, as a successor to the democratic and humanistic ideas of the great Russian literature of the 19th century. Critical realism, whose glorious traditions were adopted by Kuprin, was a progressive phenomenon at the beginning of the 20th century. A bright natural talent, a huge supply of life observations and a sharply critical depiction of reality - this is what determined the great public resonance of his works during the preparation and conduct of the first Russian revolution. At this time, Kuprin is working on the story "Duel", which he began to write in 1902. Published in the sixth collection of the magazine "Knowledge" in 1905, the story "Duel" caused a wide response. The pathos of exposing bourgeois society, high artistic merit put "Duel" on a par with the largest works of Russian literature at the turn of the two centuries.

The story takes place in the 90s of the XIX century. In "Duel" the author explains the reasons for the defeat of the tsarist army in the inglorious war with Japan. This "agony of old Russia" is the main theme of the story. However, in this work, several thematic lines should be distinguished, which, intertwined, give a complete picture of the officer environment, the barracks life of soldiers, personal relations between Romashov and Kazansky, Romashov and Shurochka Nikolaeva, and finally, the relationship of the hero with the soldiers.

The main character of the story is Lieutenant Romashov. In this image, the features of the Kuprin hero - a truth-seeker, a humanist, a lonely dreamer - were embodied with the greatest completeness. Among the officers, Romashov feels lonely, because he does not share the views of the officers around him. Romashov wholeheartedly protests against the nightmare called "military service", as he comes to the conclusion that "all military service, with its illusory valor, was created by a cruel, shameful, all-human misunderstanding." “How can there be an estate,” Romashov asked himself, “which in peacetime, without bringing a single crumb of benefit, eats someone else’s bread and someone else’s meat, dresses in other people’s clothes, lives in other people’s houses, and in wartime goes senselessly to kill and maim people like themselves?”

A person with a fine mental organization, possessing a sense of dignity and justice, he is easily vulnerable, sometimes almost defenseless against the evil of life. Already at the beginning of the story, we notice Romashov's "unsuitability" for army life, his lack of understanding of "military discipline". The painful emptiness of army life pushes him into a casual relationship with the regimental "seductress" Raisa Peterson, which soon becomes unbearable for him. Garrison life with drunkenness, provincial squalor repels Romashov more and more. The dream of a beautiful and fabulous love makes Romashov idealize the image of a young, attractive woman - Shurochka Nikolaeva. For the hero of the story, she is "a ray of light in a dark kingdom." His dreams and hopes are connected with it. Blinded by love, Romashov did not see that Shurochka's beauty, her charm, willpower, talent - all this is intended to fight for her personal, small, selfish happiness: by any means to escape from the petty-bourgeois army environment and find the highest happiness in the "brilliant" life of the capital society.

The love tragedy in "Duel" grows out of a social tragedy. In the relationship between Romashov and Shurochka, two characters collide, two worldviews that have arisen within the framework of bourgeois society and testify to the decay taking place in it. Why is the happiness of Shurochka and Romashov impossible? Yes, only because Shurochka is trying with all his might to strengthen his position, and Romashov is gradually losing ground under his feet, because the spiritual and moral values ​​\u200b\u200bof this society are unbearable to him.

The finale of Romashov's love tragedy is the nighttime arrival of Shurochka to him. She came to deceive - to deceive vilely and shamelessly, to offer the terms of a duel with her husband and at the cost of Romashov's life to buy her future well-being and happiness. Romashov guesses the purpose of her arrival and agrees to all the conditions of the fatal duel with Shurochka's husband. He talks about it calmly and coldly: “Okay, so be it. I agree". These simple words contain a whole story - the story of the tragic love of a restless dreamer for a woman in whose soul the morality of "life for yourself" has corroded human feelings. Romashov understood everything, in his firmly spoken words - the cold consciousness that life had lost its value for him. And here the spiritual superiority of Romashov over Shurochka Nikolaeva, as well as over other inhabitants of the philistine world around him, becomes obvious.

Romashov dies because Shurochka makes the conditions of the fight unequal (she promises Romashov that her husband, knowing the conditions of the duel, will shoot to the side). The inevitability of a tragic denouement follows here from deep social causes. The hero of the story is not able to exist in the whirlpool of a bourgeois society built on hypocrisy and deceit, but he is also unable to find a place for himself among the people, to draw strength for a new life in its midst. This is what makes the image of Romashov tragic. The writer, not understanding the true causes of the evil he portrayed, could not find a way to overcome it. Not recognizing military service, denying the morality of the "aristocratic" stratum of army officers, Romashov felt powerless before life, since he could not leave military service. The honesty and subtlety of the spiritual organization make him especially painfully feel his impotence. .Illusory consolation he finds in the world of unrestrained, naive dreams. In this world, Romashov is no longer a poor lieutenant, but a hero, daring, fearless, beautiful. But the dream is not a source of creative inspiration, but mainly a means of escape, escape from reality.

The fate of Romashov continued to worry Kuprin for a long time. Already after the publication of the story, the author continued to suffer from the fate of the protagonist and could not part with him. Kuprin intended to re-write the duel scene, save Romashov's life and show his hero in the thick of people's life. From the memoirs of Kuprin's wife M.K. Kuprina-Iordanskaya could learn about the further fate of Romashov: “And here he is in Kyiv. The days of unemployment, wanderings, ferocious poverty, changing professions, sometimes downright begging begin ... ”However, the writer’s plan to create a new work“ Beggars ”, which is a continuation of“ Duel ”, with Romashov as the main character - remained unfulfilled. The history of the idea testified that Kuprin was going to show only the gloomy, tragic in contemporary reality. In his search for a hero, the creator of "Duel" came to such a milestone that it was difficult for him to step over. In life, the type of truth-seeker-fighter had already formed, and the writer could not part with the type of truth-seeker-sufferer. This was noted by A.M. Gorky, who once said to Kuprin: “What is it! Why are you all mourning your Romashov! Cleverly he did, that he finally guessed to die and untie your hands. Tell me, what would he do in your novel, why would there be this intellectual, incapable of anything but whining ... ”To which Kuprin answered with his characteristic frankness:“ He hoped to make me a herald of the revolution, which completely owned them. But I was not imbued with a fighting mood, and in which direction my further work would go, I could not foresee in advance.

“Love is the brightest and most understandable reproduction of my

Yuri Alekseevich Romashov is the main character of the famous story of the Russian writer and translator Alexei Ivanovich Kuprin "Duel".

Romashov officer, wears the rank of second lieutenant. He is very young - he is only twenty-one years old. It is the young age that largely explains the propensity of the hero to dreams, which are often expressed in a judgment about himself in the third person, the idealization of life outside the army.

Yuri Alekseevich is an incredibly kind, sympathetic person. This becomes clear from his negative attitude towards the rudeness and cruelty of army life. He stands up for a Tatar innocent of nothing but his origin, saves the soldier Khlebnikov, who was killed by his superiors, from suicide and takes care of him in every possible way afterwards. One day Romashov will keep his comrade Bek-Agamalov from the rash act dictated by blind fury, for which he will be immensely grateful to him. Officers of equal status trust him, they are bound by comradely relations. However, senior officers do not like Romashov, because of his rejection of outright rudeness and outright rudeness in the daily life of army service.

But all that is positive that is present in the character of Romashov hopelessly drowns in the bottomless abyss of his lack of will, timidity, and inability to translate his ideas into real life. So, dreaming of becoming a learned officer of the General Staff, he promises himself to put an end to his wild life, sit down to read books and enter the Academy of the General Staff. But bright thoughts are not destined to come true every time - Yuri lacks internal strength and will to organize himself. Another striking example of the lack of will of the hero is Romashov's love for a married woman - the wife of his colleague Alexander Nikolaeva or Shurochka.

But there comes a moment of insight, Romashov removes the rose-colored glasses of childhood from his eyes, the features of infantilism disappear in him. He grows up, begins to understand that he is a person, enters the fight for his Self. When Shurochka's husband challenges him to a duel, he will accept the challenge with dignity and die. This will be a conscious act aimed at saving the honor of the spouse Nikolaeva, which means her happy family future with her husband.

The image of Romashov is the image of a young man, kind, sympathetic, pure in soul, but overly dreamy, as well as weak-willed and impractical. But, in the end, the hero manages to find his Self and become a personality. He performs a truly noble and decisive act in the spirit of that time. Yuri Romashov gives the most precious thing he has, his life, for the sake of the happiness of the woman he loves.

Composition on the theme of Romashov in the Duel

Yuri Alekseevich Romashov is a young officer, had the rank of lieutenant, of medium height. Despite some thinness, he was a strong guy. All movements of Gregory were constrained and clumsy. For the period of service he is not more than 21 years old.

Romashov is a romantic, soft and sensitive young man. He is often given to daydreaming, and imagines his ideal life outside of the army. He is too kind and gentle, so the rude attitude in the army jars him, and he does not accept such behavior. His kind and sympathetic heart helps to prevent Khlebnikov's terrible crime - suicide. The soldier was pushed to this by his own boss, subsequently he constantly stays next to Khlebnikov, takes care of and helps him in every possible way. He protected a harmless young Tatar from attacks. At one point, when his friend is attacked by rage, and he wants to commit a rash act, Romashov will stop him, subsequently, having received immeasurable gratitude and devotion.

Officers equal to Romashov in rank establish good, friendly relations with him, they trust him and consider him a reliable friend. But, more senior officers in rank, on the contrary, do not like him, look down on his rejection of the rough life of army service.

But, despite the large number of positive traits in the character of a young man, his lack of will and timidity prevent him from fulfilling his dreams and achieving the desired result. For example, the desire to become a scientific officer at the headquarters of the general, and sit down to study scientific books - these are just empty words. In fact, due to weak will and lack of an inner core, he cannot organize himself and his behavior. The most striking example of his lack of will is when he falls in love with the wife of his friend named Shurochka. But in a certain period, something changed in him and his character. He became more mature and strong. Romashov suddenly began to look at the world differently, in an adult way. He accepts a challenge to a duel from the husband of his beloved woman, during the duel he dies. This act on the part of Romashov causes respect, since, having died himself, he defended the honor of his beloved and her husband.

The appearance of Romashov, on the one hand, is kind, sympathetic, dreamy, and on the other, weak-willed and weak-willed. In the fight against their fears and weaknesses, in the end the personality won. Romashov managed to find himself, to understand that he needed to be more serious and strong in spirit, despite the fact that at the end of the story he was overtaken by death.

Feature 3

The main character of the story A.I. Kuprin "Duel" in the work there are several names: Yuri, Georgy, Romochka, Chamomile - each of which reflects the attitude of the hero towards himself or the attitude of other characters towards the hero.

If we talk about the formation of attitudes towards oneself, then the path that the hero goes through is the movement from "Yuri" to "George". Yuri is a home name, that's how he calls himself, speaking in the third person, that's what his colleagues call him, this name has no connotation, additional powerful sound, characteristic, in this name there is only a nomination of ordinaryness, as a starting point. A dirty town, drunken gatherings in the officers' club, a strange and vulgar connection with the regimental lady Raisa Peterson - all these are signs of the simple name Yuri, that is, everything, like all officers in the regiment. But there is another name, George, victorious, delightful, motivating to get rid of infantilism, to get rid of the narrow-minded view of the world. Called so, Romashov dreams of a luminous city, of great love for Shurochka, of the triumph of justice during the impending regimental review. George - the Victorious, this bright Christian image, latently existing in the mind of Romashov, keeps him afloat, allows him to dream and hope for the fulfillment of desires for love and glory.

In one of the memoirs of Yuri-Georgy, it is said that in childhood, with a thin thread, his mother kept him from committing evil deeds, so trying to protect him from the danger of life outside the stretched thread. Childhood is over, but the fear of a new life remains, Romashov still feels the taut thread that holds him, and he will not be able to break it.

Sometimes it seems that quite a bit and the winner, Georgy, will appear before us: a few steps separate Romashov during the show from glory; he saves the soldier Khlebnikov from death, seeing him as his brother, he understands him as himself; even when he goes to a duel, it looks like an act in defense of the good name of a beautiful lady, his beloved Shurochka. But fate-thread does not let him go, and he remains just Yuri: the review will turn into the shame of an inept officer, and the beautiful lady, in fact, will sacrifice Romashov for her own well-being, she is not destined to understand and see in him both the strength of his sacrifice and the strength of his love to her, it is for her that he is Romashka and Romochka, she will not be able to see George in him.

Romashov will not be able to enter the luminous city that he imagined, he is not destined to be George the Victorious, but his bright, albeit somewhat emotionally infantile image gives rise to sympathy and empathy in the mind of the reader, when, following the main character, who saves a soldier from suicide, I want to say: "My brother."

From childhood, I was taught that free time was created in order to spend it with benefit, first of all for myself. My free time on weekdays starts in the afternoon. When I get home from school, I go to basketball practice.

Metaphorical name

story by A. I. Kuprin "Duel"

The purpose of the lesson: analyze the images of the characters expressing the author's position in the story.

Methodological techniques: students' messages, working with text, analytical conversation.

During the classes

I. Checking homework

The author's ideals are expressed by the heroes opposed to the main mass - Romashov and Nazansky. These heroes are represented by several students (in groups): portrait characteristics, relationships with people, views, attitude to service, etc.

II. Characteristics of the image of Nazansky

Feature plan:

1. The first mention of Nazan.

2. Meeting of Romashov and Azansky.

3. Portrait of a hero.

4. The role of the interior.

5. Themes of Nazansky's reflections.

6. The role of the landscape in the characterization of the image of Nazansky.

7. Reasoning Nazansky about love.

We learn about Nazansky from a conversation with Romashov (Chapter IV): he is “an inveterate person”, he “goes on leave for one month due to domestic circumstances ... This means he got drunk”; "Such officers are a disgrace to the regiment, an abomination!" Chapter V contains a description of the meeting between Romashov and Nazansky. First we see Nazansky's “white figure and golden-haired head”, we hear his calm voice, we get acquainted with his dwelling: “Nazansky's room was even poorer than Romashov's. Along the wall near the window stood a narrow, low, arched bed, so thin it was as if only a pink pique blanket lay on its iron pieces; against the other wall is a simple unpainted table and two rough stools...”. All this, and even the direct look of "thoughtful, beautiful blue eyes" contradicts what the Nikolaevs said about him. Nazansky talks "about sublime matters", philosophizes, and this, from the point of view of those around him, is "nonsense, idle and absurd chatter." He thinks about "love, about beauty, about relationships with humanity, about nature, about the equality and happiness of people, about poetry, about God." This is for him "a time ... of freedom of spirit, will, mind." He feels someone else's joy and someone else's sorrow.

Description of the landscape, the mysterious night opening from the window, according to his sublime words: “in this soft air, full of strange spring aromas, in this silence, darkness, in these exaggeratedly bright and exactly warm stars - a secret and passionate fermentation was felt, a thirst for motherhood was guessed and the wasteful voluptuousness of the earth, plants, trees - the whole world. Nazansky's face seems to Romashov "beautiful and interesting": golden hair, a high clean forehead, a neck of a noble pattern, a massive and graceful head, similar to the head of one of the Greek heroes or sages, clear blue eyes that look "lively, intelligently and meekly." True, this description of an almost ideal hero ends with a revelation: "only a very experienced eye would discern in this seeming freshness ... the result of alcoholic inflammation of the blood."

Dreaming of “the coming god-like life”, Nazansky glorifies the power and beauty of the human mind, enthusiastically calls for respect for a person, speaks enthusiastically about love and expresses the author’s own view: “It is the lot of the chosen ones ... love has its peaks, accessible only to a few of million." According to Kuprin, love is a talent akin to a musical one. Kuprin will develop this theme later in the story "Garnet Bracelet", and much of what Nazansky said will go directly into the story.

There is a lot of bile and anger in Nazansky's passionate speeches, thoughts about the need to fight against the "two-headed monster" - the police regime in the country, forebodings of the inevitability of deep social upheavals: "The greater the violence, the bloodier the reprisal will be." He is an opponent of military service and the army in general, condemns the brutal treatment of soldiers (Chapter XXII). Nazansky's accusatory speeches are full of open pathos. This is a kind of hero duel with a senseless and cruel system. Some statements of this hero, as Kuprin himself later said, "sound like a gramophone", but they are dear to the writer, who invested in Nazansky a lot that worried him.

Teacher comment:

In Nazansky's statements, many critics note the features of vulgarized Nietzscheanism: “Love for humanity has burned out of human hearts. It is being replaced by a new, divine faith... This is love for oneself, for one's beautiful body, for one's all-powerful mind, for the infinite wealth of one's feelings... The time will come, and great faith in one's Self will overshadow like the fiery tongues of the holy spirit , the heads of all people, and then there will be no more slaves, no masters, no cripples, no pity, no vices, no malice, no envy. Then people will become gods…” (Chapter XXI).

Issues for discussion:

- What do you think, is there any reason to call Nazansky a "Nietzschean"?

- What do you think, why was such a hero needed in the “Duel” next to Romashov?

III. Characteristics of the image of Romashov

1. Romashov and Nazansky.

2. Portrait of Romashov.

3. Actions of the hero.

4. What attracts in Romashov?

5. Internal contradictions of the hero.

6. Romashov and Khlebnikov.

7. Romashov and Shurochka Nikolaeva.

Lieutenant Romashov, the protagonist of The Duel, becomes infected with the moods and thoughts of Nazansky. This is a typical Kuprin image of a truth seeker and a humanist. Romashov is given in constant motion, in the process of his inner change and spiritual growth. Kuprin does not reproduce the entire biography of the hero, but the most important moment in it, without a beginning, but with a tragic end.

The portrait of the hero is outwardly inexpressive: “medium height, thin, and although quite strong for his build, he is awkward because of his great shyness,” sometimes spineless. However, in the actions of Romashov, one can feel an inner strength coming from a sense of rightness and justice. For example, "unexpectedly for himself" defends the Tatar Sharafutdinov, who does not understand Russian, from the colonel insulting him (Chapter I). He stands up for the soldier Khlebnikov when a non-commissioned officer wants to beat him (Chapter X). He even triumphs over the bestial drunken Bek-Agamalov, when he almost hacked to death a woman from a brothel where the officers were drinking with a sword: “with a force that he did not expect from himself, he grabbed Bek-Agamalov by the wrist. For several seconds, both officers, without blinking, stared at each other ... he already felt that the madness was fading in this distorted face with every moment. And it was terrifying and inexpressibly joyful for him to stand like this, between life and death, and already know that he was emerging victorious in this game ”(Chapter XVIII). In all these fights, Romashov is at his best.

Romashov is a dreamy, romantic nature, he is prone to reflection. He had a "slightly funny, naive habit, often characteristic of very young people, of thinking of himself in the third person, in the words of formulaic novels." Attractive in the hero is spiritual gentleness, kindness, an innate sense of justice. All this sharply distinguishes him from the rest of the officers of the regiment. The clash between a man and an officer first takes place in Romashov himself, in his soul and mind. This internal struggle is gradually turning into an open duel with Nikolaev and with all the officers. Romashov is gradually freed from a false understanding of the honor of an officer's uniform. The turning point was the hero's reflections on the position of the human person in society, his internal monologue in defense of human rights, dignity and freedom. Romashov was "stunned and shocked by the unexpectedly bright consciousness of his individuality," and in his own way he rebelled against the depersonalization of a person in military service, in defense of the ordinary soldier. He is indignant at the regimental authorities, who maintain a state of enmity between soldiers and officers. But the impulses to protest are replaced by complete apathy and indifference, the soul is often overwhelmed by depression: “My life is gone!”

The feeling of absurdity, confusion, incomprehensibility of life depresses him. During a conversation with the sick, mutilated Khlebnikov, Romashov feels acute pity and compassion for him (Chapter XVI). Unexpectedly, he rises against God himself, who allows evil and injustice (another duel, perhaps the most important one). “From that night, a deep spiritual breakdown occurred in Romashov”, He closed himself in, focused on his inner world, firmly decided to break with military service in order to start a new life: “the thought became clearer and clearer for him that there are only three proud recognition of man: science, art and free physical labor. Thoughts about the possibility of another life are combined in him with thoughts about love for Shurochka Nikolaeva. Sweet, feminine Shurochka, with whom Nazansky is also in love, is essentially guilty of killing Romashov in a duel. Self-interest, calculation, lust for power, duplicity, "some kind of evil and proud force", Shurochka's resourcefulness are not noticed by the enamored Romashov. She demands: "You must shoot yourself tomorrow" - and Romashov agrees for her sake to a duel that could have been avoided.

IV. On the psychology of the story

Literary critic I. A. Pitlyar argued that the story “Duel” is “a phenomenon of great realistic art, in which the mercilessly truthful depiction of“ the horror and boredom of military life ”was combined with great reliability in revealing the psychology of a person experiencing a serious moral change, in depicting a breakdown in consciousness liberated from the fetters of ugly caste prejudices.

- Do you agree that the story "Duel" is distinguished by "great reliability in revealing human psychology"? If so, what features of the narrative testify to this?

- Which of the characters is going through a "serious moral break"? What is it connected with?

V. Discussing the meaning of the story's title

What is the meaning of the title of the story?

(The fights that we have already talked about naturally and inevitably lead to a denouement. To the last duel. The duel between Romashov and Nikolaev is not described in the story. The death of Romashov is reported by the dry, official, soulless lines of the report of Captain Dietz (Chapter XXIII). This the duel, the death of the hero are a foregone conclusion: Romashov is too different from everyone else to survive in this society. Several times in the story duels are mentioned, a painful, stifling situation is escalated. In the nineteenth chapter, it is described how drunken officers draw a funeral tune, and the clear sounds of a memorial service are suddenly interrupted " terrible, cynical curse "Osadchy. Offended Romashov tries to reason with people. After that, a scandal is played out, which led to the fact that Romashov challenges Nikolaev to a duel. But the name also has a metaphorical, symbolic meaning.)

VI. Teacher's closing remarks

Kuprin wrote: “With all the strength of my soul, I hate the years of my childhood and youth, the years of the corps, the cadet school and service in the regiment. All that I have experienced and seen, I must write. And with my novel, I will challenge the tsarist army to a duel. The story is Kuprin's duel with the whole army, with the whole system that kills the personality in a person and kills the person himself. In 1905, this story, of course, was taken by the revolutionary forces as a call to fight. But even almost a hundred years after the writing, the story remains a call for respect for the human person, for reconciliation and brotherly love.

Romashov Georgy Alekseevich

DUEL
Tale (1905)

Romashov Georgy Alekseevich (Roma, Yuri Alekseevich) is the main character of the story. Shurochka calls him "clumsy", "nice boy", "kind, cowardly", weak. In a young graduate of a cadet school, now a second lieutenant, serving for the second year in a regiment stationed in a small Jewish town, weakness of will and fortitude are peculiarly combined. Service in the army for R. hard test: he can not come to terms with the rudeness and vulgarity of regimental life.

R. composes stories, although he is ashamed of his literary pursuits. “He was of average height, thin, and although quite strong for his build, he was awkward from great shyness.” However, it is the shy, blushing even in conversation with officers R. who stands up for the Tatar soldier in front of the regimental commander Shulgovich, which causes his anger. R. is aware of his loneliness and being lost among strangers, unfriendly or indifferent people. Out of melancholy, R. often goes to the station, where trains that stop briefly remind him of a different, festive life. R. retained the childhood habit of "thinking about yourself in the third person, in the words of formulaic novels." But one day he saw that a beautiful lady and her companion standing on the platform of a courier train were laughing at him - pale, short-sighted and awkward.

Like Andrei Bolkonsky from L. Tolstoy's "War and Peace", R. dreams of a feat. He is unable to force himself not to go to the Nikolaevs' house anymore, to give up his love for Shurochka, who considers herself an exalted nature and dreams of breaking out of the vulgar regimental life. For this, one thing is needed: for her husband to pass the exams at the military academy on the third attempt. Having broken the painful connection with Raisa Peterson, R. "is not ashamed to mourn for his lost purity, for simple physical purity." Guessing R.'s love for Shurochka, Raisa sends Nikolaev anonymous libelous letters. Finally, Shurochka confesses her love to R., but reproaches him: “Why are you so<...>weak!<...>If you could win yourself a big name, a big position!”

Calling himself “small”, “weak”, “grain of sand”, R. murmurs against God, but then asks for forgiveness: “Do with me whatever You please. I obey everything with gratitude.” R. experiences a deep mental breakdown, feels much older than his twenty-two years.

After a fight with Nikolaev, R. challenges him to a duel and in a day becomes "the fairy tale of the city and the hero of the day." The meeting of the officers' court decides on the inevitability of a duel between R. and Nikolaev. Shurochka asks R. not to kill her husband, but also not to refuse a duel, as this may prevent him from entering the academy. According to Shurochka, Nikolaev knows about everything and will also try not to get caught. Here “something secret, nasty, slimy crawled invisibly between them,” and Shurochka, knowing that she is seeing R. for the last time, gives herself to him.

The next day, Nikolaev kills R. in a duel.

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