Vera Nikolaevna, "Garnet bracelet": portrait, description, characteristics

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Alexander Kuprin wrote the story "Garnet Bracelet" in 1910. The story of unrequited love set forth in this literary work is based on real events. Kuprin gave it the features of romanticism, filling it with mysticism and mysterious symbols. The image of the princess occupies a central place in this work, therefore, the characterization of Vera Nikolaevna Sheina should be considered in more detail.

Summary

Princess Vera Nikolaevna Sheina, a young married woman, is celebrating her name day. On this day, she receives a garnet bracelet as a gift from a secret admirer. Remaining a stranger to her, he writes letters to her for eight years, telling her about his love for her.

In the evening, Vera Nikolaevna told about the gift to her husband. The next day, her husband and her brother Nikolai found a secret admirer. It turned out to be a young official Zheltkov. He confesses to the prince that he saw Vera in two yearsbefore marriage and since then can not forget her. Nikolai persuades him not to write to his sister, using threats. Zheltkov asks permission to call Vera Nikolaevna. In a conversation with him, she informs him that if he were not there, she would live more calmly. In response, Zheltkov asked her to listen to Beethoven's second sonata.

After talking with his beloved, Zheltkov locked himself in his room and shot himself.

The princess learned about the death of her admirer from the newspapers. With her husband's permission, she went to Zheltkov's apartment. Upon returning home, she listens to a Beethoven sonata and cries, realizing that true love has passed her by.

Portrait of the main character

Princess Vera Nikolaevna is a beautiful young woman. Her father is a Tatar prince, her mother is a British woman of extraordinary beauty. The eldest daughter Vera grew up very similar to her mother. She had pale skin, dark hair, a fine-featured face, a tall, slender, lithe figure. Vera dresses in a manner characteristic of aristocrats. Before marriage, she was educated in St. Petersburg, at the Smolny Institute for Noble Maidens.

She does not have friendly conversations with anyone, she demonstrates her independent disposition. The princess speaks in an authoritative tone. Outwardly, she always looks arrogant and condescending. She is kind to everyone, royally calm and cold. Nothing touches the heroine deeply. All emotions and feelings of Vera Nikolaevna are at rest. It seems that the fire of life has gone out in her. Already at the beginning of the work, when the author describes the fading autumn landscape, the reader subconsciouslydraws a parallel with the fading state of mind of the heroine. Her whole life is measured and predictable. It is based on habitual occupations and responsibilities.

Anna and Nikolay

Vera has a younger sister, Anna. It's the complete opposite of her. Anna is not as beautiful as her older sister. She is married to a man she does not love. But feelings and emotions are alive in her, she is able to perceive life as bright.

Princess Nikolai's brother is a stiff and serious young man. He works as a deputy prosecutor, has good connections. With people, he is courteous, dry and polite.

Hobbies of the princess

Vera Nikolaevna loves music. Beethoven's sonatas are especially close to her. She often goes to concerts.

The princess is quite reckless. Her passion is playing poker with her sister Anna in the afternoon.

Vera doesn't like to read newspapers. She does not like the style of writing newspaper articles, and she also does not like printing ink, which can get her hands dirty.

Vera Nikolaevna's attitude towards children

Despite years of marriage, the heroine has no children of her own. She is very worried about this. However, the unspent maternal feelings the princess transfers to her nephews - the children of her younger sister Anna. She is happy to help her sister raise and educate them.

Princess's Family Difficulties

The Shein family occupies a high position in society. However, their well-being leaves much to be desired: they are on the verge of ruin. After all, both the estate and the inheritance passed to the prince in a state of decline. Nevertheless, the spouses are forced to observe all the external decorum that confirmed the status and corresponded to their position: to hold receptions, do charity work, keep horses, dress expensively, in fashion, while being on the verge of bankruptcy. The princess tries her best to help her husband prevent complete ruin. She, as far as possible, saves on household chores, indulges herself in many ways. However, she does not tell her husband about this, not wanting to upset him. Giving a brief description of Vera Nikolaevna Sheina, we can talk about her as a sensitive person, always striving to help, compassionate to her loved ones.

An unexpected gift

The denouement of this dramatic story began with a gift. The birthday girl receives a package from a secret admirer. A garnet bracelet was invested in it for Vera Nikolaevna. She received messages from this admirer for eight years. The gift was received for the first time. The heroine is confused. She is annoyed by these signs of attention and the importunity of a fan. A gift made by a stranger puts the princess in an awkward position in front of her husband. This contradicts her notions of the honor and dignity of a married woman. The princess considers her admirer mad and obsessed. She wants only one thing from him - to stop the persecution and leave her alone. Therefore, Vera Nikolaevna returns the garnet bracelet to her fan through her husband and brother.

The attitude of those close to the admirer of the princess

Relatives of Vera Nikolaevna are not serious about the secret admirer of the princess. Herher husband, Prince Shein, for the sake of entertainment, invents a story for the guests about Princess Vera and the telegraph operator. This amuses them a lot.

When meeting with Zheltkov, Prince Shein and Nikolai return a garnet bracelet, which, as it turned out, was a family heirloom of the Zheltkov family and inherited from his grandmother. When the embarrassed young man talked about his old love for the princess, about his vain hopes and unattainable dream, Vera's husband even feels sorry for him.

Brother Nikolai, having learned about the persecution of his sister, becomes furious and demands that Zheltkov stop this madness.

Secret Admirer

Zheltkov is a pale young man of about thirty to thirty-five. This is a petty official, not rich. He does not have his own housing, so he lives with the mistress in a poor house, renting a room from her. He is pleasant in communication, tactful and unusually modest. At first, Zheltkov hoped that his beloved would answer his letters. However, as time passed, the hero realized that he would never receive an answer, and stopped hoping for reciprocity. He began to write less often, reminding Vera Nikolaevna of himself only on holidays and her birthdays. The princess does not even suspect that he is constantly next to her, chasing her. Things that belonged to his beloved and accidentally ended up with him, he keeps and protects as a relic. However, he does not consider his state of mind to be manic, explaining his actions by a strong feeling for her.

Zheltkov is a person with a fine mental organization. He can't bear the indifferencesweetheart. But the hero is ready for anything for her, he loves her with real, selfless love. That is why he ends his life by suicide: after all, she asked to be left alone, and this was possible for him only in the event of his death. Her answer in their one fateful conversation, which was their last, kills him.

Love in the life of a heroine

In the characterization of Vera Nikolaevna, relations with her husband play a special, decisive role. The princess herself believes that her marriage was quite successful. She has known him since childhood, but she has never truly loved him. She was unfamiliar with love excitement and hot passion. The Sheins married couple have warm friendly relations, mutual respect and habit.

For Vera Nikolaevna, love is an abstract concept. Having no love in her life, the princess does not see it in her environment either. The younger sister Anna does not love her husband at all, she simply tolerates him. Brother Nikolai is not married at all and does not plan to marry in the near future. My husband's sister Lyudmila is a widow. An old friend of the Shein family, General Anosov, in a conversation about love, only confirms the fact of her absence in their environment.

The habitual peace of the heroine is broken only by one Zheltkov. Only after the signs of his attention rendered to him, the soul of Vera seems to open up to something new, unknown. With the development of events, the inner tension of the heroine grows. The scene of the farewell of the princess to the deceased Zheltkov can be considered the culmination of their failed relationship. That's when she realizes how deepthe real feeling was very close. The feeling that every woman dreams of. Vera was afraid to be happy, so love and happiness passed her by.

The music of Beethoven's second sonata, which she listens to at the end of the work, has become another revelation for the heroine. It sounded to her like Zheltkov's declaration of love. And after listening to her, she talks about his forgiveness and calms down.

The main character in the film adaptation

The first film adaptation of this amazing story took place in 1915. This silent black and white film was four hours long. It consisted of four acts. The role of Vera Nikolaevna Sheina was performed by actress Olga Preobrazhenskaya. This film has not survived to our time.

In 1964, the film "Garnet Bracelet" was released.

This melodrama was directed by Abram Room. The role of Vera Sheina was played by Ariadna Shengelaya, and the role of Kuprin himself was played by Grigory Gai.