“Natural human” and human nature in the novelette of A.I. Kuprin “Olesya”

This work is devoted to the actual issue of adequate interpretation of a fictional work in the spiritual and moral aspect. We analyze the novelette of A.I. Kuprin’s “Olesya” from the point of Orthodox spiritual thought, focusing on the concepts of “human nature” and “natural human”, we reveal the admitted distortions in the images interpretation of the main characters of the work. Olesya’s personality, despite a number of attractive and original features, is incompatible with the concept of harmony and natural purity. Having inherited from her grandmother and mother a penchant for witchcraft and having learned the techniques of fortunetelling and hypnosis, she stubbornly refuses to perceive Divine grace. However, the situation is aggravated by the fact that she did not have a single positive example of a person living according to the Gospel Commandments. Ivan Timofeevich, who calls himself a believer, knows the Holy Scriptures and the Orthodox doctrine, nevertheless steps on a disastrous path. Loneliness, lack of a clear goal in life and useful activities lead him to a false understanding of freedom, love, beauty, as a result of which he becomes a victim of his own passions. As a result of the analysis, we conclude that the romantic story described in the A.I. Kuprin’s novelette, not only cannot serve as an ideal image of love, but should be considered as an example of mental obscuration and enslavement of a human’s passion, the result of which is always bitter and tragic. True human nature is most adequately described in Orthodox Anthropology, the most important postulate of which is the assertion of human sinful damage and the need to restore theomorphic personality.