Love in the work of Kuprin
Love…. Scientists, philosophers, musicians, poets, writers tried to understand this feeling, tried to find answers to questions about love. It can not be said that they did not solve the problem. We decided! And a vivid example of this is the love lyrics of Bunin IA, one of the most outstanding poets of the 20th century, the Nobel Prize winner, who until the end of his days sought to know the truth of love. No less subtle is the theme of love in Kuprin’s work. So what is this “gift of God” (in the opinion of these great Russian writers)?
If we paraphrase Paustovsky’s remark that love has thousands of aspects, one can imagine this great feeling in the form of a precious stone with many facets (or even with an infinite number of faces), because the limit here is impossible, and is not needed. … After all, the end point means the end of everything! Not only to mankind, but to the universe. Love is the main goal, the ultimate meaning of life. This
In the story of AI Kuprin “The Garnet Bracelet” the theme of love is revealed through the inner sensations, experiences, actions of the main character, the petty official Zheltkov, to the secular lady – Vera Nikolayevna Sheina. His feeling is deep, humble and unconditional. He knows very well that there is a gap between them – she is a woman from high society, and he is from the middle class, they have different views on life, different inner attitudes, and finally, she is married. He, on the one hand, does not accept all these conventions, does not renounce it, and from his deep affection for it, he is ready to bear this “load” …. On the other hand, Zheltkov does not enter into a fight with society, does not try to prove anything, to win. He just loves. And he wants only one thing – happiness for his chosen one. Of course, the hero was not
The theme of love in the work of Kuprin AI continues in the story “Duel.” The title of the work is not accidental. The whole world (and each of us) is the unity and struggle of opposites, black and white, physical and spiritual, calculation and sincerity…. The protagonist, lieutenant Romashov, is ready to resist the meaninglessness of existence in a small military town. He is not ready to put up with the stupid, empty routine of the officers, whose members carry out the same tasks in the morning, and spend the evenings in games, drunken fights and vulgar novels. His soul seeks true feelings, that real and sincere, for which it is worth living and moving on. He falls in love with a married lady – Shurochka Nikolaev. It’s not just a hobby or an attempt to escape from gray everyday life. No, this is the love that people dream about, but which they do not recognize in reality. She uses the cordiality of the protagonist, sending him to certain death for the sake of her husband’s career. Who won and who lost in this “Duel”? Lieutenant Romashov died, he was destroyed, but his soul rose above that petty, conventional, vain thing. Shurochka won, she got what she wanted. But she died inside.
The theme of love in the work of Kuprin AI suggests thinking. And choose your own way of life. Yes, love is not a paradise on earth, rather, it is hard work, rejection of one’s ego, from stereotypes, from the conventions of life. But in return, you get a lot more – it’s a paradise in the shower. From now on life becomes harmonious, conscious, full. A real gift of heaven! But the choice is for each of us….
The theme of love in Kuprin’s work is not an abstract philosophy, it’s living people with their thoughts, feelings, ideas. The writer does not condemn or uplift them. Everyone has the right to live life with his own truth. However, not every truth is the truth….