Ancient Greek philosophers divided love into two types. Aphrodite-Pandemos acted as the goddess of earthly sensual love, Aphrodite-Urania proclaimed pure, heavenly love. That is, it is twofold. It gives rise to the desire to contemplate and possess beauty. Love in the works of Bunin and Kuprin fully reflects these qualities of Venus.
Heroes I.A. Bunina
Dreaming of love, but not of high and pure bliss, but of something truly earthly, sensual, the heroes of I.A. Bunin is afraid to give himself in love, and then regret it. As a rule, they themselves do not take the first step. They expect decisive action from a woman.
Do his heroes have serious feelings? To some extent, yes. A man is electrified by him in such a way that he either commits suicide or lives only memories. And in general, the heroes of Bunin make a rather miserable impression. They lack courage, they have no true masculinity. It started a long time ago. Even Chernyshevsky, analyzing the behavior of Turgenev’s heroes in the article “Russian Man on a Rendezvous”, comes to the conclusion that they have “miserable character traits”, they prefer retreat to any decisive step, that is, he speaks of their complete failure as individuals. But girls and women, like Turgenev’s, Bunin’s are usually direct, without vulgar rudeness and decisive. However, everything is more complicated with Bunin. Spirit pervades the flesh, making it noble. A sphere of confused and gloomy feeling forms. But if love lasts a little longer, then the prose and vulgarity of life will destroy it. Love in the works of Bunin and Kuprin differ both in the characters of the heroes and in the very “quality” of love, very earthly and carnal, with all the enormity of its rise from the first classic and exalted from the second.
Characters A.I. Kuprina
The tradition of describing true love in Europe has developed so that it must end tragically. The most typical example is Romeo and Juliet. In Russia, starting with Pushkin’s Tatyana, Vera from the “Hero of Our Time” continues this tradition. This could not but leave an imprint on how A.I. Kuprin. Even the hot, fervent and full of spicy aromas and incense love of a simple girl from the garden, twined with vines, and the king of kings ends in death. Was it just such a plot that Kuprin chose? I think not. Everything goes within the framework of generally accepted traditions.
But how lofty are the feelings of his heroes, humble and selfless! Kuprin puts a woman on a pedestal, the hearts of his heroes are open to noble feelings, especially small people with their passive virtues. As can be seen from a brief analysis, love in the works of Bunin and Kuprin differs in that the poor person is often the bearer of feelings, ready to go for any feat for him and not expecting any reward for it. Consider one of the most wonderful works of love in Russian prose.
"Garnet bracelet"
Kuprin's story “Pomegranate Bracelet” begins completely serene. Everything happily and calmly goes in the house of Princess Vera Nikolaevna Sheina. Indirectly, the atmosphere resembles the house of Rostov L.N. Tolstoy, with the same cosiness and warmth of human relationships spilled in the air. At her dacha, her closest friends and relatives celebrate her birthday.
She receives a bracelet with garnets as a gift from a person whom she does not know, but who has loved her for seven years. This gift overshadows her holiday, but, talking with an old wise general, she receives an answer, which, in his opinion, should be love - “disinterested, ready to perform any feat, go to torment. She is all in joy. " “Love,” says the general, “is the greatest secret in the world.” And Vera Nikolaevna manages to touch this secret, one, all-forgiving, ready for death. That mournful day when the little harmless official Zheltkov, having committed suicide, lies in a coffin, and visits him to say goodbye to him, Vera Nikolaevna, only the most callous people will not cause tears. Kuprin turned the traditional story of a small man and a beautiful socialite into a poem about selfless and exalting love. This hymn to pure feeling, expecting nothing in return, is Kuprin’s story “Pomegranate Bracelet”. And now we turn to a completely different, mystical love in the work of another writer.
"Clean Monday"
Painful love in the work of Bunin. “Clean Monday” he considered his best work. The hero is an “ordinary” person with all his physical attractiveness. The heroine is another matter. Her actions are strange and incomprehensible, but they contain the significance of character, the “chosenness” of nature. This short story is practically devoid of events.
She and her companion attend Chaliapin’s concerts, “skits”, where they are entertained by the best actors in Moscow, some courses, lectures, restaurants and taverns. But she feels her estrangement from all this. The heroine is looking intensely for what the satellite does not understand, something heroic, whole. She alone visits monasteries and finds her ideal in religious antiquity. The heroine possesses imperious female charm, will and thirst for life. Heroes and love are so different in the works of Bunin and Kuprin. After the Shrovetide, on a clean Monday, she, having settled with her beloved and abandoning him, leaves for the spirit world, in the monastery. For the last time, the hero sees his beloved by chance, already in the image of a nun, but from her comes the strongest tension. She felt his presence in the monastery. Turning silently, the hero leaves.
Conclusion
The theme of love in the works of Bunin and Kuprin is different, as is its display. But love as a tragedy persists for one and the other author. In Bunin, this is shown through the catastrophic nature of being, in Kuprin, through the scrapping of what would seem to be all unshakable and firmly established. Indeed, undoubtedly, the princess will be changed by the death of a man who has reluctantly loved her. At the end of the story, she already begins to understand that something unknown and enormous passed by her life, slightly touching.