A. I. Kuprin’s story “Shulamith” is interesting simply because its plot is based on one of the biblical legends, surprisingly humane in character, poignant and eternal. This legend has its roots in the “Book of Songs of Solomon,” the creation of which is attributed to a real historical figure - the Hebrew king Solomon.

“Song of Songs” is the most poetic and inspired, the most “earthly” and “pagan” of the biblical books, created on the basis of folk love lyrics. The plot of the story “Shulamith” is also notable for the fact that it is simple only in appearance. But after reading, the question arises: what is this story about? One can without tension assume the following answer: “King Solomon fell in love with the poor peasant girl Shulamith, but because of the jealousy of the abandoned wife of Queen Astis, the poor girl dies with a sword in her chest.” But let’s not rush: after all, this is a parable, a legend with a certain amount of romantic plot, and, therefore, what lies on the surface cannot exhaust the full depth of the generalization contained in the work. Therefore, the next question can be formulated as follows: “What else is this story about, is it just about tragic love because of someone’s jealousy?” This book, first of all, is about a wise, handsome, courageous man named Solomon and about a gentle, affectionate, beautiful girl named Shulamith; this book is a hymn to uniqueness, uniqueness, the greatness of the beauty of the female body and the theme of love. Shulamith's love is "strong as death." But... Why are these two concepts constantly paired with each other? Maybe for the sake of saying something nice? But no, death really does not keep itself waiting long - only seven days were allotted to Shulamith and Solomon to enjoy the greatest and strongest feeling in the world - Love.

So is jealousy - albeit “cruel as hell,” but still a low feeling - the reason for the death of Shulamith? Somehow these things don't fit together. And I don’t want to think that this is exactly the case. Then what? Why did Shulamith die? But how could it be otherwise? The girl was doomed to death from the very moment when she met the king, from the very moment when they fell in love with each other - well, what else could wait for Shulamith in Solomon’s palace?! This is only the external side of the problem: royal power, palaces, the social status of people - this is just the background, the decoration of the great drama called Life. Nothing, absolutely nothing would have changed if we were talking about a peasant woman and a peasant, about a princess and a pauper, in a word, about people who are loved and loving. Love, having been born, is doomed to death, just as a person, once born, must sooner or later die: the world has not heard (and will never hear) of someone dying without being born!

So in the case of Kuprin’s heroes, the situation was “programmed” from the very beginning. But in order not to fall into one-sided judgments, it is necessary to keep in mind the following: it is necessary to interpret the concept of “death” more broadly; death means not only the cessation of physical existence, but a transition, or rather the moment of transition from one state to another. Shulamith, her love is like that fragrant flower that after fertilization “dies”, turning into a fruit. And like that flower, Shulamith and her love “die”, turning into the “Song of Songs” - this ever-living monument to Femininity, Beauty and Love.

But even if Shulamith had not perished, then Love would have “died.” As, indeed, Solomon’s beloved herself. Moreover, we would never have known about her, because Shulamith would soon have become different, and the love between her and Solomon would have acquired a new quality, the quality of a banal family idyll. This does not mean that the love of a wife and husband is bad or worse, but it does mean that the Song of Songs simply would never have appeared. What does the story “Shulamith” give us? Comprehension of the truth - difficult, perhaps bitter, but this does not cease to be true. In addition, having realized such things, a person gets rid of illusions, learns to realistically evaluate life, prepares himself for the future, so as not to be disappointed, not to become despondent from the inevitable metamorphoses that existence has prepared for him.

A. I. Kuprin’s story “Shulamith” is interesting simply because its plot is based on one of the biblical legends, surprisingly humane in character, poignant and eternal. This legend has its roots in the “Book of Songs of Solomon,” the creation of which is attributed to a real historical figure - the Hebrew king Solomon.

“Song of Songs” is the most poetic and inspired, the most “earthly” and “pagan” of the biblical books, created on the basis of folk love lyrics. The plot of the story “Shulamith” is also notable for the fact that it is simple only in appearance. But after reading, the question arises: what is this story about? One can without tension assume the following answer: “King Solomon fell in love with the poor peasant girl Shulamith, but because of the jealousy of the abandoned wife of Queen Astis, the poor girl dies with a sword in her chest.” But let’s not rush: after all, this is a parable, a legend with a certain amount of romantic plot, and, therefore, what lies on the surface cannot exhaust the full depth of the generalization contained in the work. Therefore, the next question can be formulated as follows: “What else is this story about, is it just about tragic love because of someone’s jealousy?” This book, first of all, is about a wise, handsome, courageous man named Solomon and about a gentle, affectionate, beautiful girl named Shulamith; this book is a hymn to uniqueness, uniqueness, the greatness of the beauty of the female body and the theme of love. Shulamith's love is "strong as death." But... Why are these two concepts constantly paired with each other? Maybe for the sake of saying something nice? But no, death really does not keep itself waiting long - only seven days were allotted to Shulamith and Solomon to enjoy the greatest and strongest feeling in the world - Love.

So is jealousy - albeit “cruel as hell,” but still a low feeling - the reason for the death of Shulamith? Somehow these things don't fit together. And I don’t want to think that this is exactly the case. Then what? Why did Shulamith die? But how could it be otherwise? The girl was doomed to death from the very moment when she met the king, from the very moment when they fell in love with each other - well, what else could wait for Shulamith in Solomon’s palace?! This is only the external side of the problem: royal power, palaces, the social status of people - this is just the background, the decoration of the great drama called Life. Nothing, absolutely nothing would have changed if we were talking about a peasant woman and a peasant, about a princess and a pauper, in a word, about people who are loved and loving. Love, having been born, is doomed to death, just as a person, once born, must sooner or later die: the world has not heard (and will never hear) of someone dying without being born!

So in the case of Kuprin’s heroes, the situation was “programmed” from the very beginning. But in order not to fall into one-sided judgments, it is necessary to keep in mind the following: it is necessary to interpret the concept of “death” more broadly; death means not only the cessation of physical existence, but a transition, or rather the moment of transition from one state to another. Shulamith, her love is like that fragrant flower that after fertilization “dies”, turning into a fruit. And like that flower, Shulamith and her love “die”, turning into the “Song of Songs” - this ever-living monument to Femininity, Beauty and Love.

But even if Shulamith had not perished, then Love would have “died.” As, indeed, Solomon’s beloved herself. Moreover, we would never have known about her, because Shulamith would soon have become different, and the love between her and Solomon would have acquired a new quality, the quality of a banal family idyll. This does not mean that the love of a wife and husband is bad or worse, but it does mean that the Song of Songs simply would never have appeared. What does the story “Shulamith” give us? Comprehension of the truth - difficult, perhaps bitter, but this does not cease to be true. In addition, having realized such things, a person gets rid of illusions, learns to realistically evaluate life, prepares himself for the future, so as not to be disappointed, not to become despondent from the inevitable metamorphoses that existence has prepared for him.

Russian Lit

The theme of love has worried people at all times. At the beginning of the twentieth century, in an era of global historical changes, attention in literature to the personality of an individual person with his difficult fate and insoluble spiritual problems increased. One of the writers who embodied the theme of love, omnipotent and all-consuming passion on the pages of their works was A.I. Kuprin.

In the stories “The Pomegranate Bracelet”, “Olesya”, “Shulamith” the writer explores in detail the history of the origin, development and tragic outcome of love relationships, for love, according to the writer’s concept, is not only the greatest miracle in the world, but also invariably painful suffering.

D.S. Merezhkovsky wrote that love is stronger than death. This idea is embodied in the plot of the story “The Garnet Bracelet”: a poor young official Zheltkov falls in love with a girl, Vera, who soon marries Prince Shein. The unfortunate young man is unable to hide his feelings. Zheltkov sends Vera an expensive gift (a family heirloom) - a beautiful garnet bracelet, the red stones in which resemble droplets of blood. Already in this episode of the story, next to the theme of love, a tragic note sounds, foreshadowing a bloody denouement. As an honest, decent woman, Vera informs her husband about the gift. And he goes with her brother to Zheltkov to ask him to leave Vera alone. The telegraph operator explains that he is unable to live without his beloved. And the next day Vera finds a note in the newspaper about the death of her devoted admirer. The princess feels some kind of guilt for what happened: after all, Zheltkov committed suicide because of her. Vera goes to say goodbye to the apartment where the official lived, and only then does she finally understand how much this man loved her. He was able to sacrifice his life to preserve her peace and good name. Vera understands that a whole, deep feeling has passed by her, which, perhaps, is encountered only once in a lifetime. Her husband also loves her, but this is a calm, settled feeling that has nothing in common with the ardent passion of a romantic admirer. For her birthday, Prince Shein gives his wife pear-shaped pearl earrings that look like tears.

Vera's circle laughed at Zheltkov's feelings. Prince Vasily Lvovich even keeps a home humorous album, in which there is a story “Princess Vera and the Telegraph Operator in Love,” which satirically ridicules his rival, whom he actually does not consider to be such at all. In Shein's story, a telegraph operator dies, bequeathing to Vera "two telegraph buttons and a perfume bottle filled with his tears." In the main plot of the work, Zheltkov leaves only a farewell letter to his beloved with a beautiful sentimental story about love, where the words from the prayer “Hallowed be Thy name” are heard. The official understands that Vera will survive his death. He tries to anticipate this and ease her suffering by offering to listen to Beethoven's Sonata in D major No. 2, op.2.

At the end of the story, this amazing music, performed by pianist Jenny, calms Vera and helps her to console herself. No less tragic, but at the same time beautiful, is the love story of King Solomon for the simple girl Shulamith, told by Kuprin in the story “Shulamith.” The beloved was treacherously killed by order of a wounded rival, and Solomon’s grief knew no bounds. However, the reader gets the impression that the feeling for Shulamith did not die in his heart precisely because death separated the heroes at the very height of their love experience.

Let us remember that before Shulamith, Solomon had 300 wives and 700 concubines. It is possible that Shulamith, if she remained alive, would soon tire of the sophisticated Solomon, and another girl would take her place. Kuprin wants to believe in the dream of eternal, enduring love, which is stronger than death.

Russian Lit

The theme of love has worried people at all times. At the beginning of the twentieth century, in an era of global historical changes, attention in literature to the personality of an individual person with his difficult fate and insoluble spiritual problems increased. One of the writers who embodied the theme of love, omnipotent and all-consuming passion on the pages of their works was A.I. Kuprin.

In the stories “The Pomegranate Bracelet”, “Olesya”, “Shulamith” the writer explores in detail the history of the origin, development and tragic outcome of love relationships, for love, according to the writer’s concept, is not only the greatest miracle in the world, but also invariably painful suffering.

D.S. Merezhkovsky wrote that love is stronger than death. This idea is embodied in the plot of the story “The Garnet Bracelet”: a poor young official Zheltkov falls in love with a girl, Vera, who soon marries Prince Shein. The unfortunate young man is unable to hide his feelings. Zheltkov sends Vera an expensive gift (a family heirloom) - a beautiful garnet bracelet, the red stones in which resemble droplets of blood. Already in this episode of the story, next to the theme of love, a tragic note sounds, foreshadowing a bloody denouement. As an honest, decent woman, Vera informs her husband about the gift. And he goes with her brother to Zheltkov to ask him to leave Vera alone. The telegraph operator explains that he is unable to live without his beloved. And the next day Vera finds a note in the newspaper about the death of her devoted admirer. The princess feels some kind of guilt for what happened: after all, Zheltkov committed suicide because of her. Vera goes to say goodbye to the apartment where the official lived, and only then does she finally understand how much this man loved her. He was able to sacrifice his life to preserve her peace and good name. Vera understands that a whole, deep feeling has passed by her, which, perhaps, is encountered only once in a lifetime. Her husband also loves her, but this is a calm, settled feeling that has nothing in common with the ardent passion of a romantic admirer. For her birthday, Prince Shein gives his wife pear-shaped pearl earrings that look like tears.

Vera's circle laughed at Zheltkov's feelings. Prince Vasily Lvovich even keeps a home humorous album, in which there is a story “Princess Vera and the Telegraph Operator in Love,” which satirically ridicules his rival, whom he actually does not consider to be such at all. In Shein's story, a telegraph operator dies, bequeathing to Vera "two telegraph buttons and a perfume bottle filled with his tears." In the main plot of the work, Zheltkov leaves only a farewell letter to his beloved with a beautiful sentimental story about love, where the words from the prayer “Hallowed be Thy name” are heard. The official understands that Vera will survive his death. He tries to anticipate this and ease her suffering by offering to listen to Beethoven's Sonata in D major No. 2, op.2.

At the end of the story, this amazing music, performed by pianist Jenny, calms Vera and helps her to console herself. No less tragic, but at the same time beautiful, is the love story of King Solomon for the simple girl Shulamith, told by Kuprin in the story “Shulamith.” The beloved was treacherously killed by order of a wounded rival, and Solomon’s grief knew no bounds. However, the reader gets the impression that the feeling for Shulamith did not die in his heart precisely because death separated the heroes at the very height of their love experience.

Let us remember that before Shulamith, Solomon had 300 wives and 700 concubines. It is possible that Shulamith, if she remained alive, would soon tire of the sophisticated Solomon, and another girl would take her place. Kuprin wants to believe in the dream of eternal, enduring love, which is stronger than death.

“BLESSED BE LOVE THAT IS STRONGER THAN DEATH!”

(D.S. Merezhkovsky)

Love that conquers death can probably be called one of the eternal themes in both Russian and world literature. And it was revealed most advantageously by those prose writers and poets who did not invent some artificial situations in which the great power of love would manifest themselves, but also used real historical events.

The most striking works on this topic appeared in the twentieth century. Why did this happen? Because it was then that our Motherland faced the most difficult trials that had never happened before. This is the collapse of the world for many people during the Civil War, and the monstrous crimes of the Stalinist regime against the people in the 30s, and the tragic years of the Great Patriotic War.

Many writers have revealed a wide variety of relationships between their favorite fictional characters, including, of course, the theme of love, against the backdrop of not just one historical event, but over the course of an entire era, sometimes lasting decades. Over such a long period of time, the heroes, of course, do not “stand still” - they grow up, develop or degrade morally. And of course, the most beautiful of feelings - love - if it is real - helps the heroes endure all the life trials that befall them and achieve mutual happiness.

I want to analyze the meaning of such great love using the example of what I believe is one of the most beautiful and romantic works of Russian literature of the twentieth century - the novel “Two Captains” by Veniamin Aleksandrovich Kaverin.

Of course, as you can guess from the title of the book alone, its plot is dual. The stories of the main characters are shown - Sanya Grigoriev and Katya Tatarinova, and Katya’s mother, the widow of Captain Tatarinov Marya Vasilievna.

This duality of the plot can mislead many. One would like to draw an exact parallel between the events and images of the heroes - Sanya and Captain Tatarinov, Katya and Marya Vasilievna, Romashov and Nikolai Antonovich... But it is wrong to draw such a direct parallel! The “elder” and “younger” heroes of the novel differ from each other in many ways, and Kaverin, I believe, did this on purpose. Perhaps this same novel, without differences between generations, with direct moral continuity, would not have lost anything in its value, but at the same time it would have become much less bright, exciting and interesting.

Of all such “pairs”, the images of Katya and Marya Vasilievna are the most different from each other. But these images are the basis of both love stories!

Why did these two stories turn out so differently: one, despite everything, happily, the other tragically?

I’m not talking here about the fate of the main characters themselves – Sanya and Captain Tatarinov. As Chekhov said, “if a gun hangs on the stage in the first act, then it will definitely fire in the second,” and these words can be applied to prose. Everything in these episodes of the novel does not depend in any way on the heroines - captain Tatarinov died on a polar expedition on the schooner “St. Mary”, and Sanya could have died in the war due to the fault of the negative heroes of the novel - Nikolai Antonovich and Romashov.

But what about love itself? Could Marya Vasilievna, in principle, remain faithful to her
to her deceased husband, and not accept Nikolai Antonovich’s offer? In my opinion, she could very well, since she had already made such a decision - to wait and love only her husband. This means that in the collapse of this love of hers there is a considerable share of the heroine’s own fault.

“Suddenly she stopped talking, didn’t go anywhere: neither to the university, nor to the service (she also served), but sat down with her feet on the couch and started smoking. Then Katya said: “Mom is sad,” and everyone got angry and gloomy at each other.”

This is how Marya Vasilievna appears before us. As you can see, this is far from the classic idealized image of a faithful wife, always waiting for her beloved husband. And judging by everything that reveals the character of this heroine in the novel, this way of life - lying on the couch in painful thoughts and not noticing anyone from the family around - was typical for Marya Vasilievna.

Of course, she loved Captain Tatarinov very much. But did she love anyone else besides him from the people around her?

“Katya finished “The First Meeting of the Spaniards with the Indians” and wanted to show her, but she said from behind the door: “Later, daughter,” and did not open it.”

This small episode demonstrates a lot in the character of the heroine. Did she love anyone else? Yes, I did. And this “someone” is none other than... herself. Even in her love, she loves, in my opinion, not so much her late husband himself, but her love itself, it is this that she cherishes and cherishes!

It is for this reason, in my opinion, that she refuses Korablev, and a few years later she marries Nikolai Antonovich. After all, this strange turn of fate cannot be explained by fidelity to her husband. Why did this happen?

The image of Korablev is the ideal image of a teacher in Kaverin’s mind. If he does not think about his beloved Marya Vasilievna, he thinks about the school, his students, and in general, about the people around him. Could Marya Vasilievna choose a man who would not sit with her and revel in her love for Captain Tatarinov, who would live the entire life that was going on around them in its entirety, and who, what good, would force her to live this life too?

Of course, a much better choice for such a heroine is Nikolai Antonovich, who loves to talk about what a great man his brother was, how great the significance of his brother’s discoveries is, and how he, Nikolai Antonovich, bows to his brother - skillfully hiding his guilt in the death of the expedition .

Naturally, when Marya Vasilievna, thanks to Sanya, learned the terrible truth, she did not start any serious conversation with Nikolai Antonovich, did not leave him. She decided that she had betrayed her love. Moreover, it is precisely this “love” of hers, and not her husband! It is unlikely that she was thinking about him at that moment, because if she had, she would have thought about what he would have advised her to do if he had been alive. But she chose suicide. On the one hand, this decision can really be considered noble, but on the other... The heroine didn’t even think about how Katya, Korablev, and her mother would live without her...

But what about Katya, the main character of the novel? Can you imagine her thinking, reasoning and acting the same way as her mother? No!

Firstly, Katya is a very interesting and self-sufficient person in her own right, and not just as an element of a system of romantic relationships, and this alone makes her more attractive to us than Marya Vasilievna. And one of the proofs of this is that she chose the romantic, but, at first glance, “male” profession of a geologist.

But even in childhood she was not an ordinary girl, a “white and fluffy” quiet person. Although she, according to Sanya, “stood in front of the mirror for a long time” and imitated her older friends from Ensk, her other hobbies were books about geographical discoveries, and she herself, most likely, really “wanted to be a captain.”

What is even more important about Katya is that for her, unlike Marya Vasilievna, other people “existed” around her. She helped build a happy, strong family for Valka and Kira, and voluntarily took care of her sister Sanya in the hospital, and after her death she took care of her little son for some time.

And during the war, Katya does not remain aloof from how the fate of the Fatherland is decided. Finding herself in besieged Leningrad, she worked as a nurse in a hospital, went to dig trenches for defense - in general, she helped her country survive as best she could.

And her mother, Marya Vasilievna, at one time survived the Civil War in Moscow. Did she help anyone then? No, because for her, besides herself and her late husband, no one existed. Apart from her and her late husband, no one existed at that time or after.

But the most important thing is that Katya knows how to stand up for herself, Sanya, and their love for each other. She doesn't wait The hero from the war is passive, does not revel in this love of his, but tries to use it to help Sanya survive. “May my love save you!” - she says. “And if death bends over your head and you no longer have the strength to fight it, and only the smallest, last strength remains in your heart, it will be me, and I will save you.”

Of course, Sanya could not hear these words. But he knew that Katya was waiting for him, because in him was her happiness. And that’s why he survived not just “to spite all the deaths,” but because he loved Katya and knew how much she truly loved him, that she needed him, not a confirmation that she was a loving and faithful wife, namely he, Sanya, is her beloved.