Bunin Clean Monday problematic. The problem of tragic love in the story of I.A.
« Clean Monday" - this small work by I. A. Bunin was written in 1944 and included in the collection " Dark alleys" The theme in the story, as in all short stories, is dedicated to love. Love and tragedy go hand in hand, from the beginning to the end of this work. The idea of “Clean Monday” is for the reader to think not only about the problem of love between a man and a woman, about their false relationships that do not bring happiness and moral satisfaction, but also about true values, and also think about the questions: “What is the meaning of life?”, “Where to find peace?”
The main characters are a man and a woman.
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They are in love with each other, and at the beginning of the story we understand that their relationship has been going on for quite some time. Bunin describes the main character as “unlike” all the other girls. She is taking various courses, but does not know why she needs it. To this the heroine herself answers: “Why is everything done in the world? Do we understand anything in our actions? Main character loves her, but is faced with the understanding that their love is very strange. Both characters are on a spiritual quest, although at first glance they have everything: wealth, youth. They live like many of those around them. However, gradually the main character understands that all this depresses her. She finds the strength to come to the conclusion that love for God can be her salvation and peace of mind.
It is also interesting that the events of the story take the reader either to ancient Russian - Orthodox Moscow, or to twentieth-century Moscow - secular. Bunin draws out every detail of one Moscow, then another, using contrast: “Every evening my coachman rushed me at this hour on a stretched trotter - from the Red Gate to the Cathedral of Christ the Savior: she lived opposite him, every evening I took her to “Prague” , to the Hermitage, to the Metropol, in the afternoon to the theaters, to concerts, and then to the Yar, to Strelna. In the house opposite the Church of the Savior, she rented a corner apartment on the fifth floor for the sake of the view of Moscow...” Thus, the plot takes the reader further and further into the world of symbolism.
The story is called “Clean Monday” because it was on the eve of this day that a conversation about religion took place between the lovers. Before this, the main character did not think that his beloved was a believer. It seemed to him that she was happy with her social life. However, the heroine decides to become a nun, which indicates her deep mental torment. The girl seems aloof, unlike everyone else socialites, which makes it unique.
Bunin himself was not a deeply religious person; most likely, he considered religion to be one of the forms of culture. If we interpret it this way, then the author with this work wanted to show the appearance of a dying culture by introducing characters who are far from spiritual. The author describes: sitting on the second floor of the tavern, the heroine of the story exclaims: “Good! There are wild men below, and here are pancakes with champagne and the Mother of God of Three Hands. Three hands! After all, this is India! Everything in her words is mixed and intertwined, even the room itself is not intended for such conversations. It is worth noting that the word “pure” has the meaning not only of “holy”, but also of “empty”. Perhaps the heroine, having obeyed, filled her spiritual emptiness and finally found happiness.
Updated: 2017-07-08
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The story "Clean Monday" is included in the collection "Dark Alleys", written in France in 1937 - 1944. Ivan Bunin emphasized that the content of the works is tragic, dedicated to the gloomy, painful and sad “alleys of love.”
Bunin considered “Clean Monday” to be his best story and once wrote: “I thank God that he gave me the opportunity to write “Clean Monday.” To get to know the work better, let's do brief analysis story "Clean Monday". We also recommend that you familiarize yourself with the biography of Ivan Bunin and read the summary of “Clean Monday”.
The essence of the story “Clean Monday” in brief
Clean Monday is the name of the first day of Lent, which follows immediately after Shrovetide and Forgiveness Sunday. This day is the beginning of spiritual and physical cleansing, preparation for the sacraments of the coming Easter days.
The main event that changed the lives of both heroes takes place on Clean Monday. The girl makes a decision that she has been coming to for a long time: she goes to the Martha and Mary Convent and chooses the path of a novice. Clean Monday for her is the border between metropolitan life, going to luxurious restaurants, entertainment, love for a man and a new destiny associated with spiritual service.
According to many researchers, and analysis of the story “Clean Monday” confirms this, the heroine of the story personifies Russia, its complex combination of Orthodox traditions, ancient rituals, and modern culture. Then Clean Monday is also a symbol of the cleansing border between the festive, riotous pre-war capital life and deep, ancient, Orthodox Russia, a symbol of choosing a path on the eve of future events.
Images of the hero and heroine in the analysis of the story “Clean Monday”
Ivan Bunin's story is a poignant and sad love story between two people whose names are not even mentioned. He and she seem to be the perfect couple. Both are young, beautiful, in love, but for some reason happiness did not materialize. From the very beginning, Bunin makes us understand that, despite all the external similarities, the heroes are very different, their inner world filled with different interests and dreams.
A young man originally from the Penza province, “indecently handsome,” rich, with a light and lively character, constantly ready “for a happy smile, for good joke" The girl is beautiful with some kind of Indian, Persian beauty, silent, thoughtful. The beloved more than once uses the words “mystery” and “mystery” in relation to her. Let us continue the analysis of the story “Clean Monday”.
When analyzing the images of heroes, it is important to take into account what books and writers they like. The narrator remembers that he brought his beloved fashion books modern writers decadent orientation: Huysmans, Hofmannsthal, Schnitzler, Andrei Bely. The girl looked through them, and about “The Fiery Angel” Bryusova said that such a pompous book was “ashamed to read.” She herself loved ancient Russian chronicles and remembered many by heart, admired the story of Peter and Fevronia of Murom, and above her sofa hung a portrait of a barefoot Tolstoy. After reading the summary of “Clean Monday”, you can pay attention to some more important details.
What else does Bunin reveal to us in the image of the heroes of the story?
The heroes attended Andrei Bely’s lectures together, listened to Chaliapin’s speeches in fashionable restaurants, traveled to taverns and watched the rollicking singing of the gypsies. But the girl attracted her lover to other places: to look for Griboyedov’s house on Ordynka, to stop by the cemetery at the grave of Chekhov and Ertel. The hero is surprised to learn that she visits the schismatic cemetery, in the mornings she goes to the Kremlin cathedrals, where she listens to how “they sing, calling to each other, first one choir, then another, and all in unison, and not according to notes, but according to “ hooks." But while telling the story, the heroine feels how far her lover is from this: “No, you don’t understand this!”
An analysis of the story “Clean Monday” shows how complex the girl’s nature is: she combines unusual beauty, an outwardly simple life full of entertainment, and a deep intelligence, interest in the spiritual foundations of real, ancient, pre-Petrine Rus'. For Bunin, who lived in exile, this heroine personified Russia itself; the spiritual traditions of Orthodoxy were perceived as the basis of national identity.
Having momentarily illuminated the hero’s life, giving him love, the girl leaves forever for the Marfo-Mariinsky Convent. At the end of the story, a young man, two years after separation, enters the Martha and Mary Convent and in the semi-darkness one of the nuns, as if sensing his presence, turns her dark eyes into the darkness, as if seeing her lover.
After reading the analysis of the story “Clean Monday”, you better understand what Ivan Bunin’s plan is - what exactly the author wanted to tell the readers. Go to the Blog section of our website, there you will find many articles on similar topics. Take the time to also read the summary of the story “Clean Monday”. Read
Class- 11
Lesson objectives:
- introduce students to the life and work of I.A. Bunin, the book “Dark Alleys”;
- analyze the story “Clean Monday”: reveal the problem of love, find out the reasons tragic fate heroes;
- introduce the spiritual heritage of Russia;
- develop analytical reading skills epic work, the ability to make micro-conclusions and, with their help, a general conclusion; develop critical thinking, stage skills;
- cultivate spiritual culture, responsibility for one’s actions and the fate of the country;
- make interdisciplinary connections - draw parallels: literature, painting, music, religion.
Equipment: exhibition “Who wants to know Russia, visit Moscow”, portrait of I.A. Bunin, music by L.-V. Beethoven’s “Moonlight Sonata”, D. Verdi’s opera “Aida”, “Red Ringing” of bells, candles, texts of the work and prayers of E. Sirin, Kustodiev’s painting “Maslenitsa”, magazine “LSh” - No. 2, 3, 1996, No. 3 , 1997, projector.
During the classes
I. Org. moment.
II. Preparation for the main stage.
Teacher's word.
Today we will get acquainted with the work of I.A. Bunin; Let's find out what problems the author touches on in the story “Clean Monday” and how the characters solve them.
III. Assimilation of new knowledge and methods of action.
1. Presentation about I.A. Bunin. Student’s speech.
2. Reading the epigraph.
Is there such a thing as unhappy love?
Doesn't the world's sad music give happiness?
All love is great happiness,
even if it is not divided.
I. Bunin
3. Analysis of the epigraph. Teacher's word.
These words are the meaning of the entire book “Dark Alleys”. Encyclopedia love dramas you can call it a book of 38 love stories, created during World War II (1937-1944). I. Bunin in 1947 This is how he assessed his work: “She talks about the tragic and about many tender and beautiful things - I think that this is the best and most original thing that I have written in my life...”
Bunin's love amazes not only with the power of artistic depiction, but also with its subordination to some internal, unknown laws. It's a secret. And not everyone, in his opinion, is given the opportunity to touch her. The state of love is not fruitless for the writer’s heroes; it elevates their souls. However, love is not only happiness, but also tragedy. It cannot end in marriage. Bunin's heroes part forever.
4. The history of writing the story “Clean Monday”.
The story “Clean Monday” was written on May 12, 1944.
Why is the date of writing specific, and the events described in the work refer to 1914? 1944 During the years of difficult trials for the country, I. Bunin reminded people of love as the most wonderful feeling in life. Thus, Bunin rejected fascism and exalted Russia.
5. The meaning of the story's title.
1) Historical background holiday. Reading a textbook article.
Maslenitsa – Forgiveness Sunday – Lent – Clean Monday – Easter
2) Description of Clean Monday by I. Shmelev in the novel “The Summer of the Lord.”
(Against the background of Beethoven's music)
“Today is Clean Monday, and everything in our house is being cleaned... It’s dripping outside the window - when it starts crying. So she began to cry - drip... drip... drip... And something joyful is stirring in her heart: everything is new now, different. Now the soul will begin...”, “the soul must be prepared.” To fast, to fast, to prepare for the Bright Day... Today is a special day, a strict one... Yesterday was a forgiven day... Read - “Lord is the Lord of my life...”. The rooms are quiet and deserted, smelling of a sacred smell. In the hallway, in front of the reddish icon of the Crucifixion... they lit a Lenten... lamp, and now it will burn unquenchably until Easter. When my father lights the lamps - on Saturdays he lights the lamps himself - he always hums pleasantly and sadly: “Let us bow to Your Cross, Master,” and I sing after him, wonderful:
And holy... Your Resurrection
Sla-a-vim!..
Joyful prayer! She shines with a gentle light in these sad days of Lent!”
6. Introduction to the Lenten prayer of Ephraim the Syrian.
Ephraim the Syrian is an outstanding figure of the Christian Church of the 4th century, the famous author of many theological works.
“Lord and Master of my life, do not give me the spirit of idleness, covetousness and idle talk. Grant me the spirit of chastity, humility, patience and love to your servant! To her, Lord the King, grant me to see my sins and not condemn my brother, for blessed are you forever and ever. Amen".
7. Story composition.
The composition is consistent.
Winter at the beginning and end of the story is syntactic parallelism.
8. Conversation based on content.
Why is the plot interesting?
What emotions did the story evoke in you?
What kind of ending were you expecting?
Why didn't your hopes come true?
How would you end the story of this undying love?
Where does the action take place?
Name the holy places of Moscow mentioned in the story. (Cathedral of Christ the Savior, Novodevichy Convent, Conception Monastery, Archangel Cathedral, Marfo-Mariinsky Convent) (Excerpts from a poem about Moscow are heard while the bells are ringing)
Here, as it was, so now -
The heart of all Rus' is holy.
Here are her shrines
Behind the Kremlin wall!
(V.Bryusov)
Wonderful city, ancient city,
You fit into your ends
And towns and villages,
And chambers and palaces!
Belted with a ribbon of arable land,
You are all colorful in the gardens:
How many temples, how many towers
On your seven hills!
May you flourish with eternal glory,
City of temples and chambers!
Middle city, heartfelt city,
The city of indigenous Russia!
(F. Glinka)
“This is the Russia we lost,” I. Shmelev laments. And I. Bunin echoes him.
The story is built on contrasts.
Artistic detail plays a huge role. This is the color.
black | yellow | red |
Black hair | Shoes with gold buckles | Garnet shoes |
Eyes as black as coal | Golden Dome | Garnet velvet dress |
Tar bangs | Gold brocade | Brick and bloody walls of the monastery |
Dark eyes | Sunset Gold Enamel | Red Gate |
Charcoal velvet eye | Amber of bare hands | |
Black board icons | Golden cross on the forehead | |
Black kid glove | Amber face | |
Black felt boots | Book “Fire Angel” | |
Black velvet dress | Yellow-haired Rus' | |
Black shiny braids | Amber cheeks | |
Smolny hair | Fire pancakes | |
Indian Persian beauty | Gold iconostasis | |
Eyebrows like black sable fur | ||
Black leather sofa |
What is their function?
Yellow and red are traditional icon painting colors.
Yellow symbolizes the Kingdom of Heaven.
Red – fire, i.e. life.
Black – humility, submission.
What does SHE do?
(Listening to Beethoven’s music “ Moonlight Sonata”)
The theme of “Moonlight Sonata” is IT.
He is the theme of the march from Aida. Prove it.
(Listen to Verdi's music)
“... human life is entirely under the power of a woman,” noted Maupassant.
Let's listen to their dialogue.
(There are two chairs nearby. She reads silently.)
She: - You are terribly talkative and restless, let me finish reading the chapter.
He: - If I hadn't been talkative and restless, I might never have recognized you
She: - That's all true, but still be silent for a while, read something, smoke...
He: - I can’t remain silent! You can't imagine the power of my love for you! You don't love me!
She: - I can imagine. As for my love, you know well, except for my father and you, I have no one in the world. In any case, you are my first and last. Is this not enough for you? But enough about that.
He (to himself): -Strange love.
She : - I’m not fit to be a wife. I'm not good, I'm not good.
He (to himself): -We’ll see there!
(out loud) No, this is beyond my strength! And why, why do you torture me and yourself so cruelly! “Yes, after all, this is not love, not love...”
She: - May be. Who knows what love is?
He : - I, I know! (exclaimed) And I will wait for you to find out what love and happiness are!
What do his internal remarks say?
Do you think they loved each other? Prove it.
Did he recognize her? Why?
And again the whole evening they talked about strangers.
So January, February passed... Maslenitsa.
On Forgiveness Sunday, she ordered him to come in the evening.
What day is this?
He has arrived. She met him, all in black.
Read their dialogue. (Reading dialogue)
Why does she want to go to a monastery?
Why didn't he know about her religiosity? What were you blinded by?
(Sounds “Moonlight Sonata”)
At 10 o'clock evening the next day (it was Clean Monday) he opened the door with his key. Everything was lit: chandeliers, candelabra, a lamp... and the “Moonlight Sonata” was playing. She stood near the piano in a black velvet dress.
They went to the cabbage party.
What kind of entertainment is this?
How did she behave? Why cheeky? What is strange about her character?
What was the weather like that evening? (Blizzard)
What role does a snowstorm play?
Why did she keep him after the “cabbage party”, which she had not done before?
Why did she take off all her black clothes and wear only swan slippers?
What role does white play?
Why was there no more snowstorm when he left her?
Why is she leaving for Tver?
What letter did she write? Read it.
Why did she go to the monastery?
Why wasn’t he surprised by this ending to their meetings? (Didn't look into the soul)
Re-read the ending of the story.
When it was?
What brought him to the monastery?
What did he understand?
Why did he turn and quietly walk out of the gate?
Why is the story told in 1st person?
IV. Systematization and generalization of knowledge.
Conclusions from the lesson.
All true love is great happiness, even if it ends in separation, death, or tragedy. Bunin’s heroes, who have lost, overlooked, or destroyed their love themselves, come to this conclusion, albeit late. In this late repentance, the late spiritual resurrection of the heroes, we see real people, their imperfection, inability to value what is nearby, and we also see the imperfection of life itself, social conditions, circumstances that often interfere with truly human relationships.
The story, which tells about tragic collisions, does not carry pessimism. It, like music, like any great art, purifies and elevates the soul, affirming the truly lofty and beautiful.
V. Summing up the lesson.
VI. Reflection.
VII. Information about homework.
How would you conclude the story? Complete the love story.
Article menu:
Among all the stories of Ivan Alekseevich Bunin, “Clean Monday” is distinguished by its small volume, which managed to contain a much greater meaning. This story was included in the series “Dark Alleys”, in which, according to the writer himself, he managed to write 37 times about the same thing - about love. Ivan Alekseevich thanked God for giving him the strength and opportunity to write this story, which he considered the best of his works.
As you know, Clean Monday is the first day of Lent, which comes after Maslenitsa and Forgiveness Sunday. This is the day when the soul must repent of its sins and cleanse itself. The title of the story fully justifies its content: the young lover of the protagonist, a girl who is looking for herself in this life, refuses his love and goes to a monastery.
History of the story
I. A. Bunin wrote his story “Clean Monday” while in French immigration. He began working on the story in 1937. “Clean Monday” was published in 1945 in New Journal in New York. In 1944, while working on a story, Bunin made the following entry:
“It’s one o’clock in the morning. I got up from the table - I just had to finish writing a few pages of “Clean Monday”. I turned off the light, opened the window to ventilate the room - not the slightest movement of air; full moon, the whole valley is in the thinnest fog. Far on the horizon is the gentle pink shine of the sea, silence, the soft freshness of young tree greenery, here and there the clicking of the first nightingales... Lord, extend my strength for my lonely, poor life in this beauty and work!
We invite you to familiarize yourself with summary works by Ivan Bunin where the author recalls his past
In a letter to P.L. Vyacheslavov, Bunin’s wife V.N. Muromtseva-Bunina said that Ivan Alekseevich considers “Clean Monday” the best of all that he once wrote. Didn't hide this fact and the writer himself.
Plot
The story is very short, it covers only a small part of the heroes' lives. The main character is courting an unusual girl. Her name is not mentioned, but the author gives an exhaustive description of both her appearance and her mental organization. Image young man conveyed through the prism of their relationship. He wants love, he desires his beloved physically, he is attracted by her beauty. However, he does not at all understand her soul, which rushes between sin and purification.
Their relationship is doomed to collapse: his beloved immediately warns him that she is not fit to be a wife. Despite this, he does not lose hope and continues to look after her.
The story ends with the fact that after the final physical rapprochement between them, the girl renounces the love of the young man in favor of spiritual purification and goes to the monastery.
For main character the path of purification becomes service to God, while the hero also grows spiritually, having experienced all the bitterness of unexpected separation from his beloved.
“Clean Monday” contains a powerful play of contrasts: bright colors - strict colors; restaurants, taverns, theaters - cemetery, monastery, church; physical intimacy - tonsure. Even the girl’s beauty exudes some kind of devilish power: she has black hair, dark skin, dark eyes and a mysterious soul.
Hero prototypes
Researchers are confident that the prototype of the main character was Ivan Alekseevich Bunin himself. As for his beloved, most likely, her image was copied from Varvara Vladimirovna Pashchenko, the woman who became Bunin’s first love.
Varvara Vladimirovna was a very beautiful and educated woman; she completed a full seven-year course at the gymnasium in Yelets with a gold medal. They met Bunin in 1889, when Varvara worked as a proofreader at the Orlovsky Vestnik.
It was Varvara who first confessed her love to Bunin. However, she was unable to fully understand her feelings and constantly reproached Ivan Alekseevich for not loving her fully.
In the end, in November 1894, Varvara Vladimirovna left Bunin, leaving him only a short note goodbye. Soon she married his best friend, actor Arseny Bibikov. Varvara Vladimirovna’s life was short and not very happy: she and her husband lost their 13-year-old daughter, who died of tuberculosis. In 1918, Bunin’s first lover herself died from this dangerous disease. Varvara Vladimirovna became the prototype female images many of Bunin’s works, such as “Mitya’s Love” and “The Life of Arsenyev”.
The main idea of the story
“Clean Monday” by Ivan Alekseevich Bunin is not only a story about tragic love two completely different people, this is a story about the choice that every person has to make.
This is a choice between good and evil, sin and purification, idleness and modesty, earthly love and love of God.
Some researchers are confident that the image of Bunin’s beloved represents not just an earthly girl, but the whole of Russia, whom the writer calls on to take the path of purification, draw closer to God and choose a simple but meaningful life instead of idleness and fun.
Analysis of I. Bunin’s work “Clean Monday” in the genre-genre aspect
“Clean Monday” is one of Bunin’s most wonderful and mysterious works. “Clean Monday” was written on May 12, 1944, and was included in the cycle of stories and short stories “Dark Alleys”. At this time, Bunin was in exile in France. It was there, already in old age, in France occupied by Nazi troops, experiencing hunger, suffering, and a break with his beloved, that he created the cycle “Dark Alleys.” This is how he himself talks about it: “I live, of course, very, very badly - loneliness, hunger, cold and terrible poverty. The only thing that saves us is work.”
The collection “Dark Alleys” is a collection of stories and short stories, united by one common theme, the theme of love, the most diverse, quiet, timid or passionate, secret or obvious, but still love. The author himself considered the works in the collection, written in 1937 - 1944, to be his highest achievement. The author wrote about the book “Dark Alleys” in April 1947: “It talks about the tragic and about many tender and beautiful things - I think that this is the best and most beautiful thing that I have written in my life.” The book was published in 1946 in Paris.
The most best work In this collection, the author recognized the story “Clean Monday”.The assessment of the novella made by the author himself is well known: “I thank God that he gave me the opportunity to write “Clean Monday.”
Like the other 37 short stories in this book, the story is dedicated totheme of love. Love is a flash, a brief moment for which you cannot prepare in advance, which cannot be held back; love is beyond any laws, it seems to say:“It can’t be dirty where I’m standing!” - this is Bunin’s concept of love. This is exactly how - suddenly and dazzlingly - love flared up in the heart of the hero of “Clean Monday”.
The genre of this work is a short story. The turning point of the plot, forcing us to rethink the content, is the unexpected departure of the heroine to the monastery.
The narration is told in the first person, so the feelings and experiences of the narrator are deeply revealed. The narrator is a man, recalling what must be the best period of his biography, his young years and the time of passionate love. Memories are stronger than him - otherwise, in fact, this story would not exist.
The image of the heroine is perceived through two different consciousnesses: the hero, a direct participant in the events described, and the distant consciousness of the narrator, who looks at what is happening through the prism of his memory. Above these angles is built author's position, manifested in artistic integrity and selection of material.
The hero's worldview undergoes changes after the love story - depicting himself in 1912, the narrator resorts to irony, revealing his limitations in the perception of his beloved, a lack of understanding of the meaning of the experience, which he can only appreciate in retrospect. The general tone in which the story is written speaks of the inner maturity and depth of the narrator.
The short story “Clean Monday” has a complex spatiotemporal organization: historical time (horizontal chronotope) and universal, cosmic time (vertical chronotope).
The picture of life in Russia in the 1910s in the novel is contrasted with ancient, centuries-old, real Rus', reminiscent of itself in churches, ancient rites, monuments of literature, as if peeking through the alluvial bustle:“And now this Rus' remains only in some northern monasteries.”
“The Moscow gray winter day darkened, the gas in the lanterns was coldly lit, the shop windows were warmly illuminated - and the evening Moscow life, freeing from daytime affairs, flared up: the cabbies' sleighs rushed thicker and more vigorously, the crowded, diving trams rattled more heavily, in the darkness it was visible how green stars hissed from the wires, - dull black passers-by hurried more animatedly along the snowy sidewalks...” - this is how the story begins. Bunin verbally paints a picture of a Moscow evening, and in the description there is not only the author’s vision, but also smell, touch, and hearing. Through this cityscape, the narrator introduces the reader to the atmosphere of an exciting love story. A mood of inexplicable melancholy, mystery and loneliness accompanies us throughout the entire work.
The events of the story “Clean Monday” take place in Moscow in 1913. As already noted, Bunin draws two images of Moscow that determine the toponymic level of the text: “Moscow is the ancient capital of Holy Rus'” (where the theme “Moscow - III Rome” found its embodiment) and Moscow - the beginning of the 20th century, depicted in specific historical and cultural realities: Red Gate, restaurants “Prague”, “Hermitage”, “Metropol”, “Yar”, “Strelna”, Egorova tavern, Okhotny Ryad, Art Theater.
These proper names immerse us in the world of celebration and abundance, unbridled fun and dim light. This is Moscow at night, secular, which is a kind of antithesis to another Moscow, Orthodox Moscow, represented in the story by the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, the Iveron Chapel, St. Basil's Cathedral, Novodevichy, Conception, Chudov monasteries, Rogozhsky cemetery, Marfo-Mariinsky monastery. These two circles of toponyms in the text form the shape of peculiar rings communicating with each other through the image of a gate. The movement of the characters in the space of Moscow is carried out from the Red Gate along the trajectory of “Prague”, “Hermitage”, “Metropol”, “Yar”, “Strelna”, Art Theater.Through the gates of the Rogozhskoe cemetery they find themselves on another toponymic circle: Ordynka, Griboyedovsky Lane, Okhotny Ryad, Marfo-Mariinskaya Convent, Egorova Tavern, Zachatievsky and Chudov Monasteries. These two Moscows are two different worldviews that fit into one given space.
The beginning of the story seems ordinary: before us is the everyday life of evening Moscow, but as soon as significant places appear in the narrativeMoscow, the text takes on a different meaning. The life of the heroes begins to be determined by cultural signs; it fits into the context of the history and culture of Russia. “Every evening at this hour my coachman rushed me on a stretched trotter - from the Red Gate to the Cathedral of Christ the Savior,” the author continues his beginning of the story - and the plot takes on some kind of sacred meaning.
From the Red Gate to the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, Bunin's Moscow stretches; from the Red Gate to the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, every evening the hero makes this path in his desire to see his beloved. The Red Gate and the Cathedral of Christ the Savior are the most important symbols of Moscow, and beyond it, of all of Russia. One marks the triumph of imperial power, the other is a tribute to the feat of the Russian people. The first is a confirmation of the luxury and splendor of secular Moscow, the second is gratitude to God, who stood up for Russia in the war of 1812. It should be noted that the Moscow style in urban planning at the turn of the century is characterized by a strange combination and interweaving of various styles and trends. Therefore, Moscow in Bunin’s text is Moscow of the modern era. Architectural style in the text of the story corresponds to a similar process in literature: modernist sentiments permeate the entire culture.
The heroes of the story visit the Art Theater and Chaliapin's concerts. Bunin, naming in “Clean Monday” the names of the cult symbolist writers: Hoffmannsthal, Schnitzler, Tetmeyer, Przybyshevsky and Bely, does not name Bryusov, he introduces into the text only the title of his novel, thereby turning the reader to this work, and not to everything the writer’s work (“- Have you finished reading “The Fiery Angel”? - I finished it. It’s so pompous that I’m ashamed to read.”)
In all their splendor and characteristic Moscow eclecticism, “Prague”, “Hermitage”, “Metropol” appear - famous restaurants where Bunin’s heroes spend their evenings. With the mention in the text of the story about the Rogozhsky cemetery and the Egorov tavern, where the heroes visited on Forgiveness Sunday, the narrative is filled with ancient Russian motifs. The Rogozhskoe cemetery is the center of the Moscow community of Old Believers, a symbol of the eternal Russian “schism” of the soul. The newly emerging gate symbol accompanies those entering.Bunin was not a deeply religious person. He perceived religion, in particular Orthodoxy, in the context of other world religions, as one of the forms of culture. Perhaps it is from this culturological point of view that the religious motifs in the text should be interpreted as an allusion to the dying spirituality of Russian culture, to the destruction of ties with its history, the loss of which leads to general confusion and chaos. Through the Red Gate, the author introduces the reader to Moscow life, immerses him in the atmosphere of idle Moscow, which has lost its historical vigilance in stormy fun. Through another gate - “the gate of the Marfo-Mariinsky monastery” - the narrator leads us into the space of Moscow of Holy Rus': “On Ordynka I stopped a cab driver at the gate of the Marfo-Mariinsky monastery... For some reason I definitely wanted to enter there.” And here is another important toponym of this Holy Rus' - Bunin’s description of the cemetery of the Novo-Maiden Convent:“Creaking in silence through the snow, we entered the gate, walked along the snowy paths through the cemetery, it was light, the branches in the frost were marvelously drawn on the golden enamel of the sunset like gray coral, and the unquenchable lamps scattered over the graves mysteriously glowed around us with calm, sad lights.” External condition natural world, surrounding the heroes, contributes to the heroine’s concentrated and in-depth perception and awareness of her feelings and actions, and decision-making. It seems that when she left the cemetery, she had already made a choice. The most important toponym in the Moscow text of the story is also Egorov’s tavern, with which the author introduces significant folklore and Christian realities. Here the “Egorov pancakes” appear before the reader, “thick, ruddy, with different fillings.” Pancakes, as you know, are a symbol of the sun - a festive and memorial food. Forgiveness Sunday coincides with the pagan holiday of Maslenitsa, also the day of remembrance of the dead. It is noteworthy that the heroes go to the Egorov tavern for pancakes after visiting the graves of people dearly loved by Bunin - Ertel and Chekhov - at the cemetery of the Novo-Devichy Convent.
Sitting on the second floor of the tavern, Bunin’s heroine exclaims: “Good! There are wild men below, and here are pancakes with champagne and the Mother of God of Three Hands. Three hands! After all, this is India! » Obviously, this is a jumble of symbols and associations with different cultures and different religions in one the Orthodox image of the Mother of God gives us the opportunity for an ambiguous interpretation of this image. On the one hand, this is the deep-rooted, blind worship of the people of their deity - the Mother of God, rooted in the pagan fundamental principle, on the other - worship, ready to turn into a blind, cruel in its naivety, popular revolt, and rebellion in any of its manifestations Bunin the writer condemned.
The plot of the story “Clean Monday” is based on the unhappy love of the main character, which determined his whole life. Distinctive feature many works by I.A. Bunin - absence happy love. Even the most prosperous story often ends tragically for this writer.
Initially, one may get the impression that “Clean Monday” has all the signs of a love story and its culmination is the night the lovers spend together. But the storynot about this or not only about this.... Already at the very beginning of the story it is directly stated that what will unfold before us« odd love» between a dazzling handsome man, in whose appearance there is even something« Sicilian» (however, he only comes from Penza), and« Shamakhan queen» (as those around her call the heroine), whose portrait is given in great detail: there was something in the beauty of the girl« Indian, Persian» (although her origin is very prosaic: her father is a merchant of a noble family from Tver, her grandmother is from Astrakhan). She has« dark-amber face, magnificent and somewhat ominous hair in its thick blackness, softly shining like black sable fur, eyebrows, eyes black as velvet coal» , captivating« velvety crimson» lips shaded with dark fluff. Her favorite evening outfit is also described in detail: a garnet velvet dress and matching shoes with gold buckles. (Somewhat unexpected in the rich palette of Bunin’s epithets is the persistent repetition of the epithet velvet, which, obviously, should highlight the amazing softness of the heroine. But let’s not forget about« coal» , which is undoubtedly associated with firmness.) Thus, Bunin’s heroes are deliberately likened to each other - in the sense of beauty, youth, charm, and obvious originality of appearance
However, further Bunin carefully, but very consistently« prescribes» difference between« Sicilian» And« Shamakhan queen» , which will turn out to be fundamental and ultimately lead to a dramatic outcome - eternal separation. Nothing bothers the heroes of Clean Monday; they live such a prosperous life that the concept of everyday life is not very applicable to their pastime. It is no coincidence that Bunin literally piece by piece recreates a rich picture of the intellectual and cultural life of Russia in 1911-1912. (For this story, the attachment of events to a specific time is generally very important. Bunin usually prefers greater temporal abstraction.) Here, as they say, on one spot, all the events that during the first one and a half decades of the 20th century are concentrated. excited the minds of the Russian intelligentsia. These are new productions and skits of the Art Theater; lectures by Andrei Bely, read by him in such an original manner that everyone talked about it; the most popular stylization of historical events of the 16th century. - witch trials and V. Bryusov’s novel “Fire Angel”; fashionable writers of the Viennese school« modern» A. Schnitzler and G. Hofmannsthal; works of the Polish decadents K. Tetmaier and S. Przybyszewski; the stories of L. Andreev, who attracted everyone's attention, the concerts of F. Chaliapin... Literary scholars even find historical inconsistencies in the picture of life in pre-war Moscow depicted by Bunin, pointing out that many of the events he cited could not have occurred at the same time. However, it seems that Bunin deliberately compresses time, achieving its utmost density, materiality, and tangibility.
So, every day and evening of the heroes is filled with something interesting - visiting theaters, restaurants. They should not burden themselves with work or study (it is true that the heroine is studying at some courses, but she cannot really answer why she attends them), they are free and young. I would really like to add: and happy. But this word can only be applied to the hero, although he is aware that the happiness of being near her is mixed with torment. And yet for him this is undoubted happiness.« Great happiness» , as Bunin says (and his voice in this story largely merges with the voice of the narrator).
What about the heroine? Is she happy? Isn’t it the greatest happiness for a woman to discover that she is loved more than life itself (« It's true how you love me! - she said with quiet bewilderment, shaking her head.» ), that she is desirable, that they want to see her as a wife? But this is clearly not enough for the heroine! It is she who utters a significant phrase about happiness, which contains an entire life philosophy:« Our happiness, my friend, is like water in delirium: if you pull it, it swells, but if you pull it out, there’s nothing.» . At the same time, it turns out that it was not invented by her, but said by Platon Karataev, whose wisdom her interlocutor also immediately declared« eastern» .
It’s probably worth immediately paying attention to the fact that Bunin, clearly emphasizing the gesture, emphasized how the young man responded to Karataev’s words quoted by the heroine« waved his hand» . Thus, the discrepancy between the views and perceptions of certain phenomena by the hero and heroine becomes obvious. He exists in the real dimension, in the present time, therefore he calmly perceives everything that happens in him as an integral part of him. Boxes of chocolates are as much a sign of attention for him as a book; in general, he doesn’t care where to go - to« Metropol» whether to have lunch, or wander around Ordynka in search of Griboedov’s house, or sit at dinner in a tavern, or listen to the gypsies. He does not feel the surrounding vulgarity, which is wonderfully captured by Bunin and in the performance« Poles Tranblanc» when your partner shouts out« goat» a meaningless set of phrases, and in the cheeky performance of songs by an old gypsy« with the gray face of a drowned man» and a gypsy« with a low forehead under tar bangs» . He is not very offended by drunk people around, annoyingly helpful sex workers, or the emphasized theatricality in the behavior of people of art. And his agreement to her invitation, spoken in English, sounds like the height of disagreement with the heroine:« Ol right!»
All this does not mean, of course, that high feelings are inaccessible to him, that he is unable to appreciate the unusualness and uniqueness of the girl he meets. On the contrary, his enthusiastic love clearly saves him from the surrounding vulgarity, and the rapture and pleasure with which he listens to her words, how he knows how to highlight a special intonation in them, how attentive he is even to little things (he sees«
quiet light»
in her eyes, it makes her happy«
good talkativeness»
), speaks in his favor. It is not without reason that when he mentioned that his beloved might go to a monastery, he«
lost in excitement»
, lights a cigarette and almost admits out loud that out of despair he is capable of stabbing someone to death or also becoming a monk. And when something really happens that only arose in the heroine’s imagination, and she decides first to obey, and then, apparently, to take monastic vows (in the epilogue the hero meets her in the Marfo-Mariinsky Convent of Mercy), he first sinks and drinks himself to such an extent degree that it seems impossible to be reborn, and then, albeit little by little,«
is recovering»
, comes back to life, but somehow«
indifferent, hopeless»
, although he sobs, walking through those places where they once visited together. He has a sensitive heart: after all, immediately after a night of intimacy, when nothing portends trouble, he feels himself and what happened so strongly and bitterly that the old woman near the Iveron Chapel turns to him with the words:«
Oh, don't kill yourself, don't kill yourself like that!»
Consequently, the height of his feelings and ability to experience are beyond doubt. The heroine herself admits this when, in her farewell letter, she asks God to give him strength.«
do not answer»
to her, realizing that their correspondence will only«
it is useless to prolong and increase our torment»
. And yet his tension mental life cannot be compared with her spiritual experiences and insights. Moreover, Bunin deliberately creates the impression that he, as it were,«
echoes»
the heroine, agreeing to go where she calls, admiring what delights her, entertaining her with what, as it seems to him, can occupy her in the first place. That doesn't mean he doesn't have his own«
I»
, own individuality. He is no stranger to reflections and observations, he is attentive to the changes in the mood of his beloved, he is the first to notice that their relationship is developing in such a way«
strange»
a city like Moscow.
But still it is she who leads« party» , it is her voice that is especially clearly distinguishable. Actually, the heroine’s fortitude and the choice she ultimately makes become the semantic core of Bunin’s work. It is her deep concentration on something that is not immediately definable, for the time being hidden from prying eyes, that constitutes the alarming nerve of the narrative, the ending of which defies any logical or everyday explanation. And if the hero is talkative and restless, if he can put off a painful decision until later, assuming that everything will be resolved somehow by itself or, in extreme cases, not think about the future at all, then the heroine is always thinking about something of her own, which is only indirect breaks through in her remarks and conversations. She loves to quote Russian chronicle legends, and she is especially fascinated by ancient Russian« The story of the faithful spouses Peter and Fevronia of Murom» (Bunin incorrectly indicated the name of the prince - Pavel).
However, it should be noted that the text of the life is used by the author of “Clean Monday” in a significantly revised form. The heroine, who knows this text, in her words, thoroughly (“I re-read what I especially like until I learn it by heart”), mixes two completely different plot lines of “The Tale of Peter and Fevronia”: the episode of the temptation of Prince Paul’s wife, to which the devil-snake appears in the guise of her husband, then killed by Paul’s brother, Peter, and the story of the life and death of Peter himself and his wife Fevronia. As a result, it seems as if the “blessed death” of the characters in the life is in a cause-and-effect relationship with the theme of temptation (cf. the heroine’s explanation: “This is how God tested”). Absolutely not corresponding to the actual state of affairs in life, this idea is quite logical in the context of Bunin’s story: the image “composed” by the heroine herself of a woman who did not succumb to temptation, who, even in marriage, managed to prefer eternal spiritual kinship to “vain” physical intimacy, is psychologically close to her.
Even more interesting is what shades such an interpretation of the ancient Russian story brings to the image of Bunin’s hero. Firstly, he is directly compared to “a serpent in human nature, extremely beautiful.” The comparison of the hero with the devil, who has temporarily taken on human form, is prepared from the beginning of the story: “I<. >was handsome at that time<. >was even “indecently handsome,” as one famous actor once told me<. >“The devil knows who you are, some kind of Sicilian,” he said.” In the same spirit, the association with another work of the hagiographic genre can be interpreted in “Clean Monday” - this time introduced by the hero’s remark, who quotes the words of Yuri Dolgoruky from a letter to Svyatoslav Seversky with an invitation to a “Moscow dinner”. At the same time, the plot of “The Miracle of St. George” and, accordingly, the motif of snake fighting are updated: firstly, the ancient Russian form of the prince’s name - “Gyurgi” is given; secondly, the heroine herself clearly personifies Moscow (the hero defines the inconsistency of her actions as “Moscow quirks” ). It is not surprising, by the way, that the hero in this case turns out to be more erudite than the heroine who loves antiquities: as a sybarite, he knows better everything that concerns “dinners” (including historical ones), and as a “snake” - everything that concerns “snake fighters” .
However, precisely because the heroine of “Clean Monday” treats the Old Russian text quite freely, the hero of the story in the subtext turns out to be not only a “snake”, but also a “snake fighter”: in the work, for the heroine, he is not only “this snake”, but also “this prince” (as she herself is “princess”). It should be taken into account that in the real “Tale of Peter and Fevronia” Peter kills a snake in the guise of his own brother, Paul; The motive of “fratricide” in Bunin’s story takes on meaning, because it emphasizes the idea of “the two-part nature of man, the coexistence and struggle of the “divine” and the “devilish” in him. Of course, the hero-narrator himself “does not see” these extremes in his own being and does not oppose them; Moreover, it is impossible to reproach him for any malicious intent: he plays the role of a tempter only involuntarily. It is interesting, for example, that although the heroine claims that the lifestyle they lead is imposed by the hero (“I, for example, often go in the mornings or evenings, when you don’t drag me to restaurants, to the Kremlin cathedrals”), the impression is that that the initiative belongs to her. As a result, the “serpent” is put to shame, the temptation is overcome - however, the idyll does not come: a joint “blessed dormition” is impossible for the heroes. Within the framework of the scheme " paradise lost“The hero embodies “Adam” and “Snake” in one person.
Through these reminiscences, the author to some extent explains the strange behavior of the heroine of “Clean Monday”. She leads, at first glance, a life typical of a representative of the bohemian-aristocratic circle, with quirks and the obligatory “consumption” of various intellectual “food”, in particular the works of the symbolist writers mentioned above. And at the same time, the heroine visits churches and schismatic cemetery, without considering herself too religious. “This is not religiosity. “I don’t know what,” she says. “But I, for example, often go in the mornings or evenings, when you don’t drag me to restaurants, to the Kremlin cathedrals, and you don’t even suspect it...”
She may listen church hymns. The very vowel sounds of the words of the Old Russian language will not leave her indifferent, and she, as if spellbound, will repeat them... And her conversations are no less “strange” than her actions. She either invites her lover to the Novodevichy Convent, then leads him around Ordynka in search of the house where Griboyedov lived (it would be more accurate to say, he visited, because in one of the Horde alleys there was the house of uncle A.S. Griboyedov), then she talks about her visiting an old schismatic cemetery, he confesses his love for Chudov, Zachatievsky and other monasteries, where he constantly goes. And, of course, the most “strange” thing, incomprehensible from the point of view of everyday logic, is her decision to retire to a monastery, to sever all ties with the world.
But Bunin, as a writer, does everything to “explain” this strangeness. The reason for this "strangeness"» - in the contradictions of Russian national character, which themselves are a consequence of Rus'’s location at the crossroads of East and West. This is where the story constantly emphasizes the clash between Eastern and Western principles. The author's eye, the narrator's eye, stops at the cathedrals built in Moscow by Italian architects, ancient Russian architecture that has adopted Eastern traditions (something Kyrgyz in the towers of the Kremlin wall), the Persian beauty of the heroine - the daughter of a Tver merchant, discovers a combination of incongruous things in her favorite clothes (the arhaluk Astrakhan grandmother, then a European fashionable dress), in the setting and affections - “Moonlight Sonata” and the Turkish sofa on which she reclines. When the Moscow Kremlin clock strikes, she hears the sounds of a Florentine clock. The heroine’s gaze also captures the “extravagant” habits of the Moscow merchants - pancakes with caviar, washed down with frozen champagne. But she herself is not alien to the same tastes: she orders foreign sherry with Russian navazhka.
No less important is the internal contradiction of the heroine, who is depicted by the writer at a spiritual crossroads. She often says one thing and does something else: she is surprised by the gourmandness of other people, but she herself has lunch and dinner with an excellent appetite, then she attends all the newfangled meetings, then she does not leave the house at all, she is irritated by the surrounding vulgarity, but goes to dance the Tranblanc polka, causing everyone’s admiration and applause, delays moments of intimacy with her beloved, and then suddenly agrees to it...
But in the end she still makes a decision, the only one the right decision, which, according to Bunin, was predetermined by Russia - by its entire destiny, its entire history. The path of repentance, humility and forgiveness.
Refusal of temptations (it is not for nothing that, agreeing to intimacy with her lover, the heroine says, characterizing his beauty: “A serpent in human nature, extremely beautiful...» , - i.e. refers to him the words from the legend of Peter and Fevronia - about the machinations of the devil, who sent the pious princess “a flying kite for fornication”» ), which appeared at the beginning of the 20th century. before Russia in the form of uprisings and riots and, according to the writer, served as the beginning of its “cursed days» , - this is what was supposed to provide his homeland with a decent future. Forgiveness addressed to all those who are guilty is what, according to Bunin, would help Russia withstand the whirlwind of historical cataclysms of the 20th century. The path of Russia is the path of fasting and renunciation. But that didn't happen. Russia has chosen a different path. And the writer never tired of mourning her fate while in exile.
Probably, strict zealots of Christian piety will not consider the writer’s arguments in favor of the heroine’s decision convincing. In their opinion, she clearly accepted him not under the influence of the grace that descended on her, but for other reasons. They will rightly feel that there is too little revelation and too much poetry in her adherence to church rituals. She herself says that her love for church rituals can hardly be considered real religiosity. Indeed, she perceives the funeral too aesthetically (forged gold brocade, a white bedspread embroidered with black letters (air) on the face of the deceased, snow blinding in the cold and the shine of fir branches inside the grave), she listens too admiringly to the music of the words of Russian legends (“I’m re-reading what what I especially liked, until I memorize it”), becomes too immersed in the atmosphere accompanying the service in the church (“the stichera are wonderfully sung there,” “there are puddles everywhere, the air is already soft, my soul is somehow tender, sad...”, “ all the doors in the cathedral are open, ordinary people come and go all day» ...). And in this, the heroine in her own way turns out to be close to Bunin himself, who also in the Novodevichy Convent will see “jackdaws that look like nuns» , “gray corals of branches in frost”, marvelously emerging “on the golden enamel of the sunset» , blood-red walls and mysteriously glowing lamps.
Thus, in choosing the ending of the story, it is not so much the religious attitude and position of Bunin the Christian that is important, but rather the position of Bunin the writer, for whose worldview a sense of history is extremely important. “The feeling of the homeland, its antiquity,” as the heroine of “Clean Monday” says about it. This is also why she abandoned a future that could have turned out happily, because she decided to leave everything worldly, because the disappearance of beauty, which she feels everywhere, is unbearable for her. “Desperate cancans” and frisky Poles Tranblanc, performed by the most talented people of Russia - Moskvin, Stanislavsky and Sulerzhitsky, replaced singing on “hooks” (what is that!), and in the place of the heroes Peresvet and Oslyabi - “pale from hops, with a large sweat on forehead”, the beauty and pride of the Russian stage almost falling off his feet - Kachalov and the “daring” Chaliapin.
Therefore, the phrase: “It’s only in some northern monasteries that this Rus' now remains” - appears quite naturally in the mouth of the heroine. She means the irrevocably disappearing feelings of dignity, beauty, goodness, for which she yearns immensely and which she hopes to find in monastic life.
The main character experiences the tragic ending of his relationship with the heroine very hard. This is confirmed by the following passage: “I spent a long time drinking myself in the dirtiest taverns, sinking more and more in every possible way... Then I began to recover - indifferently, hopelessly.” Judging by these two quotes, the hero is a very sensitive and emotional person, capable of deep feelings. Bunin avoids direct assessments, but allows one to judge this by the state of the hero’s soul, by skillfully selected external details, and light hints.
We look at the heroine of the story through the eyes of the narrator who is in love with her. Already at the very beginning of the work, her portrait appears before us: “She had some kind of Indian, Persian beauty: a dark-amber face, magnificent and somewhat ominous hair in its thickness, softly shining like black sable fur, black like velvet coal , eyes". Through the mouth of the protagonist, a description of the heroine’s restless soul, her search for the meaning of life, worries and doubts are conveyed. As a result, the image of a “spiritual wanderer” is revealed to us in its entirety.
The climax of the story is the decision of the hero’s beloved to go to a monastery. This unexpected plot twist allows us to understand the undecided soul of the heroine. Almost all descriptions of the heroine’s appearance and the world around her are given against a background of dim light, in the twilight; and only in the cemetery on Forgiveness Sunday and exactly two years after that Clean Monday does the process of enlightenment take place, the spiritual transformation of the heroes’ lives, a symbolic and artistic modification of the worldview takes place, the images of light and the brilliance of the sun change. IN art world harmony and tranquility dominate: “The evening was peaceful, sunny, with frost on the trees; on the bloody brick walls of the monastery, jackdaws chattered in silence, looking like nuns; the chimes played every now and then subtly and sadly in the bell tower». The artistic development of time in the story is associated with symbolic metamorphoses of the image of light. The whole story takes place as if in twilight, in a dream, illuminated only by the mystery and sparkle of the eyes, silk hair, and gold clasps on the red dress shoes of the main character. Evening, darkness, mystery - these are the first things that catch your eye in the perception of the image of this unusual woman.
It is symbolically inseparable both for us and for the narrator with the most magical and mysterious time of day. However, it should be noted that the contradictory state of the world is most often defined by the epithets calm, peaceful, quiet. The heroine, despite her intuitive sense of space and time of chaos, like Sophia, carries within herself and gives harmony to the world. According to S. Bulgakov, the category of time as the driving image of eternity “seems not applicable to Sophia, since temporality is inextricably linked with being-non-existence» and if in Sophia everything is absent, then temporality is also absent: She conceives everything, has everything within herself in a single act, in the image of eternity, she is timeless, although she carries all eternity within herself;
Contradictions and oppositions begin from the first sentence, from the first paragraph:
the gas was lit coldly - the shop windows were warmly illuminated,
The day grew darker - passers-by hurried more animatedly,
every evening I rushed to her - I didn’t know how it would all end,
I didn’t know - and try not to think,
We met every evening - once and for all we stopped talking about the future...
for some reason I studied in courses - I rarely attended them,
it looked like she didn’t need anything - but she always read books, ate chocolate,
I didn’t understand how people wouldn’t get tired of having lunch every day - I dined myself with a Moscow understanding of the matter,
my weakness was good clothes, velvet, silks - I went to courses as a modest student,
went to restaurants every evening - visited cathedrals and monasteries, when she was not “dragged” to restaurants,
meets, allows himself to be kissed - with quiet bewilderment he is surprised: “How you love me”...
The story is replete with numerous hints and half-hints with which Bunin emphasizes the duality of the contradictory way of Russian life, the combination of the incongruous. In the heroine’s apartment there is a “wide Turkish sofa.”The all too familiar and beloved image of Oblomov’s sofa appears eight times in the text.
Next to the sofa there is an “expensive piano”, and above the sofa, the writer emphasizes, “for some reason there was a portrait of a barefoot Tolstoy”Apparently, the famous work of I.E. Repin’s “Leo Tolstoy is barefoot,” and a few pages later the heroine quotes a remark from Tolstoy’s Platon Karataev about happiness. Researchers reasonably correlate the influence of the ideas of the late Tolstoy with the hero’s mention of the story that the heroine “had breakfast for thirty kopecks in a vegetarian canteen on the Arbat.”
Let us once again remember that verbal portrait of her: “... When leaving, she most often put on a garnet velvet dress and the same shoes with gold buckles (and she went to courses as a modest student, had breakfast for thirty kopecks in a vegetarian canteen on the Arbat).” These daily metamorphoses - from morning asceticism to evening luxury - super-concisely and mirror Tolstoy’s life evolution, as he saw it himself - from luxury at the beginning life path to asceticism in old age. Moreover, the external signs of this evolution, like Tolstoy’s, are the preferences of Bunin’s heroine in clothing and food: in the evening, a modest student student transforms into a lady in a garnet velvet dress and shoes with gold buckles; The heroine has breakfast for thirty kopecks in a vegetarian canteen, but she “had lunch and dinner” “with a Moscow understanding of the matter.” Compare with the peasant dress and vegetarianism of the late Tolstoy, effectively and efficiently contrasted with the refined clothing of the nobility and gastronomy (to which the writer paid generous tribute in his youth).
And the final escape of the heroine looks quite Tolstoyan, except with inevitable gender adjustments. from And from this world full of aesthetically and sensually attractive temptations. She even arranges her departure similarly to Tolstoy, sending the hero a letter - “an affectionate but firm request not to wait for her any longer, not to try to look for her, to see her.” Compare with the telegram sent by Tolstoy to his family on October 31, 1910: “We are leaving. Don't look. Writing".
A Turkish sofa and an expensive piano are East and West, barefoot Tolstoy is Russia, Rus' in its unusual, “clumsy” and eccentric appearance that does not fit into any framework.
The idea that Russia is a strange but clear combination of two layers, two cultural structures - “Western” and “Eastern”, European and Asian, which in its appearance, as well as in its history, is located somewhere at the intersection these two lines of the world historical development, - this thought runs like a red thread through all fourteen pages of Bunin’s story, which, contrary to the initial impression, is based on a complete historical system that touches on the most fundamental aspects of Russian history and the character of the Russian person for Bunin and the people of his era.
So, finding itself between two fires - the West and the East, at the point of intersection of opposing historical trends and cultural ways, Russia has at the same time retained in the depths of its history the specific features of national life, the indescribable charm of which for Bunin is concentrated in the chronicles on the one hand, and in religious ritualism - on the other. Spontaneous passion, chaos (East) and classical clarity, harmony (West) are combined in the patriarchal depth of national Russian self-awareness, according to Bunin, into a complex complex in which the main role is given to restraint, significance - not obvious, but hidden, hidden, although in its own way deeply and thoroughly.One of the most important components of the text is its title “Clean Monday”. On the one hand, it is very specific: Clean Monday is a non-church name for the first day of Great Easter Lent.
At this point, the heroine announces her decision to leave worldly life. On this day, the relationship between the two lovers ended and the hero’s life ended. On the other hand, the title of the story is symbolic. It is believed that on Clean Monday the soul is cleansed from everything vain and sinful. Moreover, not only the heroine, who chose monastic hermitage, changes in the story. Her act prompts the hero to introspection, forces him to change and cleanse himself.
Why did Bunin call his story that, although only a small, albeit important part of it takes place on Clean Monday? Probably because this particular day marked a sharp turning point from Maslenitsa fun to the stern stoicism of Lent. The situation of a sharp turning point is not just repeated many times in “Clean Monday”, but organizes a lot in this story
In addition, in the word “pure”, in addition to the meaning of “holy”, the meaning of “unfilled”, “empty”, “absent” is paradoxically emphasized. And it is quite natural that at the end of the story, in the hero’s memories of the events of almost two years ago, it is not Clean Monday that appears: “unforgettable” is called here previous evening - the evening of Forgiveness Sunday."
thirty eight times "about the same thing" wrote I. Bunin in the cycle of stories “Dark Alleys”. Simple plots, ordinary, at first glance, everyday stories. But for everyone these are unforgettable, unique stories. Stories that are painfully and acutely experienced. Life stories. Stories that pierce and torment the heart. Never forgotten. Endless stories, like life and memory...
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