What things of faith Nikolaevna kept yolks. The image and characteristics of Zheltkov in the story Kuprin's garnet bracelet composition

IA Kuprin can be called one of the "kings" of prose. Love occupies a special place in his works. The story "Garnet Bracelet" is saturated with unearthly love. The plot of the work unfolds in Odessa, beloved by Kuprin. It compares the great feeling of an official with the hardened soul of people who are higher than Zheltkov.

The hero of the story is Zheltkov. He holds the post of an official of the Control Chamber. G. S has a pleasant appearance. He has blue eyes, long soft hair. The yolks are tall and lean. He has a sublime feeling.

Zheltkov is in love with Vera Shenina, a cold aristocrat. He considers her extraordinary. He himself is also a very extraordinary person. From the letter that Zheltkov wrote for Vera's name days, one can understand his spiritual appearance. He has nothing to hope for, but he is willing to sacrifice everything. There is admiration, respect, courage in his words. As a gift to Vera, he presented a garnet bracelet. It belonged to Zheltkov's mother, who was already deceased at that time, therefore it was very valuable as a hero. In addition, the bracelet has an interesting history. According to legend, he gives the gift of foresight and protects its owner from violent death.

The meaning of the hero's life was in endless love. He didn't need anything else. Yolkov was filled with sweet thoughts about his beloved. The hero believed that the escape from the city would not be able to resist his feelings. He could not let go of dreams of Vera. Unfortunately, his love was not mutual. Unrequited love is destructive. Zheltkov wrote in his letter that he was not interested in science, politics, or the world around him, in a word, absolutely nothing but his beloved Vera. His life was only in her. He wrote this letter before his own suicide. With his address, he raised feelings to the level of tragedy. Now another world opens before Vera, filled with unexplored feelings. It turns out that Zheltkov loved until his last breath, until the last beat of his heart.

It doesn't matter who you are: a turner, a boss, a writer, a deputy, a cashier, a commander - before love, everyone turns out to be on the same level. Yolkov evokes a feeling of compassion, since unrequited love is a heavy burden. But only in her did he see the meaning of life, only she gave him moments saturated with happiness and madness. Probably the worst thing is to be indifferent to everything around and to see in front of you only the object of your sighing.

Composition of Yolkov with a portrait characteristic

Not a single work of Russian literature is devoted to the theme of love. This feeling in any of its manifestations moves people, the world. Relationships between lovers often become a habit. However, A. I. Kuprin endowed one of his heroes of the story "The Pomegranate Bracelet" with an immortal feeling - a love that did not die out until his death.

Despite the fact that the general characteristics of Zheltkov did not differ either in bright appearance, or in special manifestations of male strength, actions and ideas, however, at the end of the work, this hero focuses the attention of everyone around him. He becomes understandable, opens up thanks to his rich inner world, where pure, sincere love takes place.

Occupying the position of a small official "in some state institution," he did not stand out for either merit or appearance. The unsightly appearance of a puny, short young man no more than forty years old looked more like a gentle girl with a dimple on her chin and "soft hair." His pallor of skin, erratic movements, nervousness ("buttoning and unbuttoning buttons") completed the image of a seemingly insecure, secretive person.

Zheltkov's lack of his own home confirmed his unfavorable financial situation. Based on the description of the room he rented, he did not have much money. He lived in an unlit, small room with old furniture. However, despite such characteristics, this man had endless energy, which gave strength and the ability to endure any pressure on the path of life thanks to the minute when he first met Vera Sheina in the circus. From that moment on, love overshadowed everything. He did not see any flaws in her, that was his ideal. At times, life seemed like torture to Zheltkov, since he did not see a grain of reciprocity. The beloved was under his supervision for all the years. But he didn't want to change anything, enjoying the opportunity to love.

This man did not have a special vision of the world. He was an ordinary man, capable of truly loving one woman all his life. Despite her marriage, coldness, hope for reciprocity glowed in her soul. This feeling gave him unearthly strength, a feeling of happiness. The attitude towards the hero changes from the beginning to the end of the story. From a quiet, unknown, he turns into a thinking man with raging passions. However, he remains alone with his feelings, expressing thoughts only in letters. He was faithful to himself and to Vera. And happy only at the thought that he loves her dearly. Zheltkov's gift in the form of a pomegranate bracelet is nothing more than a desire to feel an invisible spiritual connection with a woman after she receives it.

Thus, Kuprin endowed Zheltkov with a feeling that pushes a person to feats. In the soul of such people there is a place for kindness, patience, self-sacrifice and loyalty, the desire to give oneself without a trace.

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Love is a great, sublime feeling, pushing for deeds and self-sacrifice for the good of the chosen one. In books, writers extolled this feeling as the meaning of existence, a great goal in human life. Pushkin, Lermontov, Kuprin, Yesenin, Akhmatova and Tsvetaeva are world famous writers whose works celebrate this wonderful feeling. But is love always like this? Unfortunately no. Behind such a feeling, betrayal, hatred, and anger can also be hidden. The Russian writer Aleksandr Ivanovich Kuprin was against such imaginary love.

Characteristics of Zheltkov in the story "Garnet Bracelet"

From 1900 to 1910, the writer writes a number of novellas and short stories that show true love. Kuprin elevates this overwhelming feeling over people, endowing them with his main characters. The story "Pomegranate Bracelet" has not spared this topic either. The main character in it becomes a simple official - G.S. Zheltkov. Kuprin endows him with a true and pure love, one that is not capable of betrayal and deception, which is like an ideal.

The characterization of Zheltkov in "Pomegranate Bracelet" begins with a description of his unrequited love. The subject of the main character's sighing becomes a young society lady - Vera Nikolaevna. The protagonist of the story writes the first letter to the princess even before her marriage. In it, a young and inexperienced telegraph operator describes all his feelings for Vera Nikolaevna. But he does not receive any answer to it. For many years, the hopelessly in love Zheltkov sent letters to the princess, who did not take all his love revelations seriously. Moreover, the whole family of Vera openly mocked and ridiculed him, considering G. S. Zh. A maniac and an abnormal person.

Garnet bracelet

Zheltkov sends his penultimate letter and gift to the princess on her name day. As the telegraph operator himself wrote: "I would never allow myself to present you with something that I personally chose: for this I have neither the right, nor the fine taste, and - I confess - no money." This fragment, taken from a letter to his beloved, can be introduced as the beginning of the characterization of Zheltkov. A small official's gift is a bracelet decorated with a scattering of red garnets. This is the only thing that the main character of the story could give to his beloved.

Despite the severity of fate, the hero of Kuprin's story is happy with the realization that he loves. The main characteristic of Zheltkov is the purity and recklessness of his feelings for Vera. In his letters, he reflects on the fact that the most correct thing would be to leave and leave his love, but he is not able to do this. With all his thoughts and feelings, he would still be forever connected with her.

External characteristics of the hero

In appearance, Yolkov was endowed with soft features, medium build, blue eyes and tall stature. He looked 35 years old. Despite his delicate appearance, the hero absorbed both sensitivity and soulfulness, and perseverance. The external characteristic of Zheltkov is intertwined with his state of mind.

Vera Nikolaevna's grandfather, General Anosov, becomes a supporter of his feelings. Imbued with the whole story of the poor telegraph operator's unrequited feelings, he tries to convince his granddaughter of that disinterested, selfless love with which Zheltkov burns.

The living conditions of the protagonist

A key characteristic of Zheltkov in Kuprin's "Garnet Bracelet" is the room in which he lived. Because of his low rank, the hero lives in one room, which presents him as a poor man, with a complex life story. The living space itself had low ceilings and small windows, and only the most essential furniture was available.

With all its gut, the room showed the state of mind of its owner. He did not strive for comfort and rich decoration. Vera Nikolaevna was the only joy and outlet in the life of Zheltkova. Feelings for her overwhelmed the main character, and he was not interested in anything else. This moment complements the characterization of Zheltkov in "Pomegranate Bracelet" as a sincere person and capable of sacrifices in the name of pure and great love.

In his story, Alexander Ivanovich Kuprin shows all the power and strength of true love that does not expect a reward. One that is strong as death. And carries such love as a cross, all his life, the main character of the story. According to the characterization of Zheltkov in "Pomegranate Bracelet" it is clear that he is a man of a wide soul, in which there is a place for love and self-sacrifice. And he gives himself to her completely, without a trace, feeling happy only because he has the opportunity to experience this feeling.

Composition

And the heart will no longer respond

It's all over ... and my song rushes

On an empty night where you are no more.

A. Akhmatova

A.I. Kuprin is an original writer of the 20th century, in whose work the precepts of Russian classical literature with its democracy, passionate desire to solve the problems of social life, humanism, and a deep interest in the life of the people were uniquely refracted. Fidelity to traditions, the influence of L.N. Tolstoy and A.P. Chekhov, the influence of M. Gorky's creative ideas determined the originality of Kuprin's fiction, its place in the literary process of the beginning of the century.

The writers, whose work took shape during the years of the revolutionary upsurge, were especially close to the theme of the "enlightenment" of a common Russian person, eagerly seeking the truth in social life. Therefore, the center of the works invariably turns out to be a small person, an average intellectual-truth-seeker, and the main theme is the bourgeois civilization, devouring thousands of human lives and entailing the vulgarization of human relationships. "It is natural in such a situation to address one of the eternal themes - the theme of love. love, as one of the mysteries of life, and A. Kuprin.

Following "Olesya" (1898) and "Duel" (1905) in the 1910s, he wrote a kind of "trilogy" about love, which was formed by the works "Shulamith", "Pomegranate Bracelet" and "Pit" ( the latter depicts anti-love). Love for Kuprin is a saving force that protects the human soul from the destructive influence of civilization; a phenomenon of life, an unexpected gift that illuminates life in the midst of everyday reality and settled life. But love in his works is associated with the idea of ​​death.

Kuprin's heroes most often perish when faced with the world of cruelty, lack of spirituality and the generally accepted philistine morality of the modern world.

Great, but, unfortunately, unrequited love became the meaning and content of the life of the protagonist of the story "Garnet Bracelet". GS Zheltkov is a handsome-looking young man, an employee of the control ward. He is musical, endowed with a sense of beauty, he feels fine and knows how to understand people. Despite his poverty, Zheltkov has a "pedigree", his sofa is covered with a "worn beautiful Tekin carpet."

But his main value is "seven years of hopeless and polite love." The object of his admiration is the eldest daughter of the late prince Mirza-Bulat-Tuganovsky, the wife of the leader of the nobility in the city of K., Vera Nikolaevna Sheina. She married for love to a childhood friend, but now she feels for her husband "a feeling of strong, faithful, true friendship." Both Vera Nikolaevna herself and those around her consider her marriage to be happy. Vera Nikolaevna is endowed with "aristocratic" beauty. She attracts with "her tall, flexible figure, gentle but cold and proud face, beautiful, albeit rather large hands and that charming slope of the shoulders that can be seen on old miniatures."

The heroine is a sensitive, subtle nature with many talents. But Vera does not respond to Zheltkov's feelings. She perceives his attention, his letters and the gift of a garnet bracelet as something unnecessary, moreover, violating the usual measured course of life. The princess was used to taking life seriously. She soberly assesses the financial situation of the family and tries to "help the prince to keep from complete ruin", in many respects denies herself and saves in the household. The Sheins have a wide circle of acquaintances, and reputation is very important for Princess Vera, she is afraid to look funny or ridiculous. The very same admirer "with a funny surname Zheltkov" she considers a "madman" who "pursues her with his love", and even once in writing asks him "not to bother her anymore with his love outpourings." The love of our hero is incomprehensible to the princess and seems burdensome.

For Zheltkov, the whole life is in Vera Nikolaevna. He is no longer interested in anything: "neither politics, nor science, nor philosophy, nor concern for the future happiness of people." Zheltkov's heart is always near his beloved, at her feet, "every moment of the day is filled" with Vera Nikolaevna, with thoughts and dreams about her. But Zheltkov's love is "not a disease, not a manic idea." He fell in love with Vera "because there is nothing like her in the world, there is nothing better, there is no beast, no plant, no star, no man more beautiful ... and more tender." This great love is a gift from heaven, "tremendous happiness." This is love, "with which God was pleased to reward me for something," he writes, feeling "reverence, eternal admiration" for his beloved woman and boundless gratitude for the mere fact that she exists. The princess, without knowing it herself, painfully wounds Zheltkov, pushes him to commit suicide with the words: "Oh, if you knew how tired I am of this whole story. Please stop it as soon as possible." But he asked for such a little: "to stay in the city, so that although occasionally to see her, of course, without showing her eyes."

Farewell to Vera Nikolaevna for the hero is tantamount to farewell to life. But, knowing full well about the inseparability of his feelings, Zheltkov hopes and "even is sure" that Vera Nikolaevna will someday remember him. And indeed, after the death of Zheltkov, saying goodbye to him, she realizes that she has lost something important and very valuable, that “a great love that repeats only once in a thousand years,” “that love that every woman dreams of has passed past her. " Shocked by this realization, Vera asks the pianist to play something, not doubting that Jenny will play the very passage from the Second Sonata that Zheltkov asked for. And when she listened to "this exceptional work, the only one in depth," "her soul seemed to split in two." It was filled with music and poetry, which ended with the words from the farewell letter of a loving person: "Hallowed be thy name" ...

The musical theme "Appassionata" affirms the high power of love. Music in the story generally plays a very important role, it is no coincidence that the title of Beethoven's second sonata is included in the epigraph. It serves as the key to understanding the entire work. "Prayer for Love" runs as a leitmotif throughout the work and sounds powerful in its finale. The music of the great composer "told" what the enamored official of the Control Chamber could not express in words. As you can see, mutual, perfect love did not take place, but this lofty and poetic feeling, even if concentrated in one soul, opened the way to a wonderful rebirth of another. After all, every woman in the depths of her heart dreams of such a love - "one, all-forgiving, ready for anything, modest and selfless."

Just a few pages, a few lines from the letter, and a person's life passed before us. Is life real? Is the protagonist's image real?

According to the memoirs of L. Arsenyeva, a younger contemporary of the writer, in the late 1920s in Paris, the aging A. Kuprin challenged his interlocutor to a duel, who allowed himself to doubt the credibility of the plot of the "Garnet Bracelet". Kuprin rarely resorted to pure fiction in his work. All his works are realistic, based on real events, personal impressions from meetings with people, from conversations. The story of love, which formed the basis of the story, the writer heard in the summer of 1906 while visiting a member of the State Council Dmitry Nikolayevich Lyubimov. The Lyubimovs showed Kuprin a family album. There were illustrations to the letters that Lyubimov's wife received from a person signing with the initials P.P.Zh. (it turned out to be a petty postal official Pyotr Petrovich Zheltikov). Kuprin creatively rethought what he heard and, by the power of his talent, turned an ordinary episode into a love story about which "the best minds and souls of mankind - poets, novelists, musicians, artists" have dreamed and yearned for centuries. Unlike the hero of Kuprin's story, Zheltikov did not shoot himself, but was transferred to the province, where he later married. But he served as a real prototype for the creation of a hero who conquered our hearts with the strength and purity of his feelings.

The image of Zheltkov is real. It is real because in the world, contrary to the opinion of General Anosov, there is still love, which is not touched by "any life comforts, calculations and compromises," and there are men capable of "strong desires, heroic deeds, tenderness and adoration." I would like to believe that in the modern world a bright, humane feeling, reckless, "hopeless and polite", chivalrous, heroic love is possible; strong and pure love, the love that God sends to the elect, "like tremendous happiness." Such love, "for which to accomplish any feat, to give up one's life, to go to torment is not labor at all, but one joy." But such love cannot, must not end in a fatal outcome. Why die? You need to live knowing that you are just nearby, in the same city, in the same country, on the same planet with the person you love, and from this life is filled with meaning and becomes beautiful.

Despite the tragic ending, "Kuprin's story is optimistic, life-affirming, because in The Pomegranate Bracelet, the author, probably stronger and brighter than in other works, glorifies the eternal values ​​of life, spiritual strength and purity, nobility and the ability to sacrifice in the name of love. And, of course, love itself is the most sublime and beautiful of all human feelings.

Other compositions on this work

Introduction
"Garnet Bracelet" is one of the most famous stories of the Russian prose writer Alexander Ivanovich Kuprin. It was published in 1910, but for the domestic reader it still remains a symbol of disinterested sincere love, the kind that girls dream about, and the one that we so often miss. We have previously 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 with the closest people. In the midst of the fun, the hero of the occasion receives a gift - a pomegranate bracelet. The sender decided to remain unrecognized and signed a short note with only the initials of the WGM. However, everyone immediately guesses that this is a longtime admirer of Vera, a certain minor official who has been filling her with love letters for many years. The princess's husband and brother quickly figure out the identity of the annoying boyfriend and the next day they go to his house.

In a wretched apartment they are met by a timid official by the name of Zheltkov, he resignedly agrees to take the gift and promises never to appear again in the eyes of the venerable 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 portraiture, and through his 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 leader of the nobility;
• - a minor official of the control chamber, passionately in love with Vera Nikolaevna;
• Anna Nikolaevna Friesse- the younger sister of Vera;
• Nikolay Nikolaevich Mirza-Bulat-Tuganovsky- brother of Vera and Anna;
• Yakov Mikhailovich Anosov- a general, a military friend of Vera's father, a close friend of the family.

Vera is the ideal representative of high society in appearance, manners, and character.

"Vera went to her mother, a beautiful Englishwoman, with her tall flexible figure, gentle but cold and proud face, beautiful, albeit rather large hands and that charming slope of the shoulders that can be seen on old miniatures."

Princess Vera was married to Vasily Nikolayevich 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 gave all her unspent feeling to the children of her younger sister.

Vera was regally calm, coldly kind to everyone, but at the same time very funny, open and sincere with loved ones. She was not inherent in such feminine tricks as coquetry and coquetry. Despite her high status, Vera was very prudent, and knowing how badly her husband was doing, she sometimes tried to cheat herself so as not to put him in an uncomfortable position.

Vera Nikolaevna's husband is a talented, pleasant, gallant, noble person. He has an amazing sense of humor and is a brilliant storyteller. Shein maintains a home journal, which records non-fictional stories with pictures about the life of the family and its entourage.

Vasily Lvovich loves his wife, perhaps not as passionately as in the first years of marriage, but who knows how long passion actually lives? The husband deeply respects her opinion, feelings, personality. He is compassionate and merciful to others, even to those who are much lower than him in status (this is evidenced by his meeting with Zheltkov). Shein is noble and endowed with the courage to admit mistakes and his own wrong.

We first meet with Official Zheltkov towards the end of the story. Until this moment, he is present in the work invisibly in the grotesque image of a fool, 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 muddled whims of a madman. He is fully aware of his words and actions. Despite the seeming cowardice, this man is very courageous, he boldly tells the prince, the lawful wife of Vera Nikolaevna, that he is in love with her and cannot do anything about it. Zheltkov does not fawn at the rank and position in the society of his guests. He obeys, but not to fate, but only to his beloved. And he also 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. Now I feel that I have crashed into your life with some uncomfortable wedge. If you can, forgive me for that ”

Analysis of the work

Kuprin got the idea of ​​his story from real life. In reality, the story was rather anecdotal. A certain poor fellow telegraph operator by the name of 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. Hilarity and more! Everyone laughed at the stupid telegraph operator, but the inquisitive writer's mind decided to look beyond the anecdote, because a real drama can always lurk behind a visible curiosity.

Also in the "Pomegranate Bracelet" Sheins and the guests first make fun of Zheltkov. Vasily Lvovich even has a funny story on this score in his home magazine called “Princess Vera and the Telegraph Operator in Love”. People tend not to think about other people's feelings. The Sheins were not bad, callous, soulless (this proves the metamorphosis in them after meeting Zheltkov), they just 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 intense 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 amulet bracelet, dies, and Vera unexpectedly predicts his death for herself.

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 was also trying to predict the weather. On the eve of the fateful day, a terrible storm broke out, but on his birthday everything calmed down, the sun came out and the weather was calm, like a calm before a deafening rumble of thunder and an even stronger storm.

Problems of the story

The key problem of the work in the question "What is true love?" For the "experiment" to be pure, the author cites different types of "love". This is the tender love-friendship of the Sheins, and the calculating, comfortable, love of Anna Friesse for her obscenely 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 cannot understand for a long time whether it 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 makes the same conclusions when he meets his wife's admirer. And if at first he was in a somewhat belligerent mood, then later he could not be angry with the unfortunate man, because, it seems, a secret was revealed to him, which neither he, nor Vera, nor their friends could comprehend.

People are by nature selfish and even in love, they first of all think about their feelings, masking their own egocentrism from their second half and even themselves. True love, which between a man and a woman meets once every hundred years, puts the beloved first. So Zheltkov calmly lets Vera go, because only in this way will she be happy. The only problem is that he doesn't need life without her. In his world, suicide is quite a natural step.

Princess Sheina understands this. She sincerely mourns Zheltkov, a person whom she practically did not know, but, oh my God, perhaps true love passed by her, which meets once in a hundred years.

“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 wanted to reward me for something ... As I leave, I am delighted to say: "Hallowed be Thy name."

Place in literature: Literature of the XX century → Russian literature of the XX century → Creativity of Alexander Ivanovich Kuprin → The story “Garnet Bracelet” (1910)

Kuprin's story "Garnet Bracelet" was published in 1907. It is based on real events from the family chronicles of the Tugan-Baranovsky princes. This story has become one of the most famous and profound works of love in Russian literature.
In its center is a story about the feelings of a petty official Zheltkov for the cold beauty princess Vera Nikolaevna Sheina. Sheins are typical representatives of the Russian aristocracy of the early 20th century. The author notes that all members of this family bore, to one degree or another, the imprint of degeneration.
So, Vera Nikolaevna's sister, Anna Nikolaevna, was unhappy in her marriage. An elderly and ugly husband did not attract her, and this still young woman sought solace in numerous novels, from which, however, she also did not get what she wanted. From her unloved husband, Anna Nikolaevna gave birth to weak and ugly children, who also had a trace of degeneration.
Vera Nikolaevna's brother, Nikolai, was never married. He mockingly and contemptuously treated marriage and love, considering all this to be fictions and romantic fairy tales. And Vera Nikolaevna herself felt any noble and lofty feelings for her husband, but not love.
Kuprin shows us that people have forgotten how to love. "... love among people took on such vulgar forms and condescended simply to some kind of everyday convenience, to a little entertainment", - with these words of General Anosov Kuprin conveys the state of affairs contemporary to him.
And in this wretched and gray, in fact, reality, a bright ray of light appears - the love of a petty official Zheltkov for Princess Vera. At first, this feeling is perceived by the heroine's family completely negatively - not seriously, contemptuously and derisively. Nikolai Nikolaevich is seething with indignation - how dare this plebeian bother his sister! Vasily Lvovich, the princess's husband, sees in this story just an amusing incident, an incident.
So what is the love story of a petty official Zheltkov? Kuprin expounds it in sufficient detail to us in the story. First, we hear this story in a distorted, mockingly mocking form from Prince Shein, and Vera Nikolaevna's husband prophetically speaks of the death of a little official. Then, gradually, in the course of the action, we learn about the real course of things.
G.S. Zheltkov served as an official of the Control Chamber. Once in his life (on grief or joy?) A fatal meeting took place - Zheltkov saw Vera Nikolaevna Sheina. He did not even speak to this young lady, who was still unmarried at that time. And how dare he - their social position was too unequal. But a person is not subject to feelings of such strength, he is not able to control the life of his heart. Love captured Zheltkov so much that it became the meaning of his entire existence. From this man's farewell letter, we learn that his feeling is "reverence, eternal admiration and slavish devotion."
In addition, we learn that the official followed Vera Nikolaevna, tried to be where she was in order to see the object of his adoration again, breathe the same air with her, touch her things: “I mentally bow to the ground of furniture, on where you sit, the parquet you walk on, the trees that you touch in passing, the servant you talk to. "
Vera Nikolaevna, and we, too, are following her, we begin to wonder - is this Zheltkov crazy? Maybe his passionate and deep infatuation was the result of mental illness: "And what was it: love or madness?" But the hero himself answers this question in the last letter to the princess. He tested himself and concluded that his feeling was a gift from heaven, not a disease. After all, Zheltkov does not claim the attention of his beloved, he felt good only from the realization that Vera Nikolaevna exists.
As a token of his love, the official gives the princess the most valuable thing he has - a family jewel in the form of a garnet bracelet. Perhaps materially this bracelet was not of great value - unsightly, exaggerated, roughly worked. Its main decoration was five blood-red garnets, "diluted" with one green, located in the middle. “According to an old legend preserved in our family, it tends to impart the gift of foresight to women wearing it and drives away heavy thoughts from them, while it protects men from violent death,” Zheltkov wrote in an accompanying letter to this gift.
The official gave Vera Nikolaevna the most precious thing he had. I think that the princess, even forgiving her will, appreciated this gesture.
But the sacrificial and sublime love of Zheltkov ended tragically - he left this life of his own free will so as not to interfere with Princess Sheina. Even his physical existence, this man put on the altar of high feeling. It is important that the hero did not tell anyone about love, did not seek the location or attention of Vera Nikolaevna. He just lived, enjoying what fate gave him. And he passed away with a feeling of great gratitude for what he had experienced.
Kuprin shows that love of such strength and sacrifice could not but leave a mark on the souls of the people involved in this story. In Vera Nikolaevna Zheltkov awakened longing and light sadness for love, helped to reveal her true needs. No wonder at the end of the story, listening to Beethoven's sonata, the heroine cries: "Princess Vera hugged the trunk of the acacia, clung to it and cried." It seems to me that these tears are the heroine's longing for true love, which people so often forget.
Even Vera Nikolaevna's husband, Prince Shein, felt an involuntary respect for Zheltkov's feelings: “I feel sorry for this man. And I not only feel sorry for that, but now I feel that I am present at some tremendous tragedy of my soul, and I cannot clown around here. "
Thus, the love presented to the little official Zheltkov from above filled his life with meaning, became a source of light not only for this person, but also for those around him. The story of Zheltkov's feelings for Princess Vera once again confirmed that love is the main thing in a person's life. Without this feeling, life turns into a meaningless and empty existence, inevitably leading to death. Death of the soul and the divine spirit in us.