A summary of Alexander Kuprin’s "The Duel" Automatic translate

This book is a realistic account of everyday life in the army, published in 1905. Drawing on the author’s personal army experience, it harshly exposes the futility, spiritual emptiness, and cruelty of provincial military life in Tsarist Russia. Officers suffer from crushing boredom, drink heavily, and treat their soldiers harshly, while bright youthful dreams quickly perish under the weight of merciless, mechanical drill.

The story has been adapted for the screen numerous times. The classic 1957 film version and the 2014 television series are widely known.

Everyday routine and youthful dreams

The action unfolds in early spring in a remote garrison. Second Lieutenant Yuri Romashov is serving in an infantry company under the command of the hardened, perpetually drinking Captain Sliva. On the evening parade ground, the soldiers are bluntly practicing their garrison duties, standing at imaginary posts. Romashov tries to intercede for Sharafutdinov, a Tatar private who doesn’t understand Russian. For this sincere outburst, Regimental Commander Shulgovich publicly reprimands the subaltern, the company’s junior commander, and places him under strict house arrest.

Romashov constantly feels infinitely lonely. Walking the dirty streets of his provincial town, he often dreams of a brilliant officer’s career, successful studies at the military academy, unimaginable heroic deeds in war, and the secret glory of an elusive spy. In reality, his everyday life is filled with dreary monotony. He is engaged in a tiresome affair with the regimental mistress, Raisa Peterson, whom he has long since fallen out of love with. Avoiding another meeting with her, the second lieutenant goes to visit the Nikolayevs.

Other people’s ambitions and other people’s letters

Lieutenant Vladimir Nikolaev has been diligently preparing for the arduous exams to enter the General Staff Academy for three years. His wife, Alexandra Petrovna — affectionately known as Shurochka at home — is passionately eager to escape her bourgeois milieu and enter the capital’s high society. Romashov is secretly, timidly in love with this energetic, energetic woman. While visiting them, he admires her lithe beauty and listens to her discussions of the undeniable benefits of duels in cultivating an officer’s honor.

Leaving the Nikolayevs late one evening, Romashov overhears the loud conversation of his soldiers’ orderlies in the courtyard. The privates laughingly condemn his excessive visits to a married woman. The offended officer decides to visit his comrade, the heavy-drinking Lieutenant Nazansky. He delivers a passionate, philosophical monologue about the boundless freedom of the human spirit, the true beauty of the individual, and the sublime essence of unrequited love. In a burst of sincerity, Nazansky reads an old farewell letter from a woman he once loved. Romashov, by the distinctive, elegant handwriting, immediately recognizes the handwriting of the ambitious Shurochka.

Broken ties and growing conflict

At a noisy officers’ ball, Romashov finally breaks with the annoying Raisa Peterson. The insulted woman, in a blind rage, promises him cruel revenge. Romashov observes with physical disgust the false, sordid life of the entire regiment. The routine of duty mortally oppresses the young officer. During grueling drill, he openly protests the beatings of soldiers by non-commissioned officers, provoking the cold, caustic wrath of Captain Sliva. The constant beatings break the will of the privates. Romashov especially sympathizes with the downtrodden, frail soldier Khlebnikov, who serves as a constant target for the entire platoon’s cruel taunts.

On her name day, Shurochka sends a short note inviting Romashov to a picnic. To urgently buy perfume as a gift for a lady, he borrows money from Lieutenant Colonel Rafalsky. This kindly old eccentric keeps a huge menagerie in his home and meticulously studies the complex habits of wild animals, deliberately avoiding human company.

Picnic in an oak grove

During a celebratory picnic in the forest, the officers drink heavily. The stern Captain Osadchy grimly extols the ruthlessness of past bloody wars. That evening, Romashov and Shurochka retreat to the forest. They share a long kiss in the tall spring grass, sincerely confessing their deep spiritual kinship. However, Shurochka firmly declares that she will never leave her boring husband for a penniless army officer. She sternly asks Romashov to stop visiting forever: someone is sending Vladimir dirty anonymous letters about their supposed affair.

Soon, the large May corps review takes place. Exhausted and intimidated by the drill, the soldiers perform dismally. Romashov, daydreaming about his own beauty before the general, catastrophically loses his formation and breaks the orderly march of his half-company. The enraged general immediately interrupts the parade. In front of the soldiers, regimental adjutant Fyodorovsky loudly reprimands the errant Romashov.

Night revaluation

After the parade, Nikolaev intercepts Romashov on a narrow path. Shurochka’s husband sternly demands that he stop the shameful gossip. Romashov coldly agrees to his request.

That night, wandering dejectedly near a deep railway cutting, the second lieutenant finds the battered Khlebnikov. The soldier is driven to despair and ready to throw himself under a heavy train. The officer embraces him sincerely, warmly comforts him, and tearfully calls him his brother. From that moment on, Romashov matures internally. He stubbornly avoids his fellow soldiers, completely stops drinking, and begins to reflect deeply on the absolute value of every human being. The officer finally decides to retire and begin a new, meaningful life.

The suicide of a hunted private in Captain Osadchy’s company provokes a wild, frenzied officer’s revelry at the regimental assembly. Osadchy sings a requiem over the table, blasphemously interspersing the sacred words with obscene language.

Fatal Clash and Court of Honor

Romashov jumps up and demands an immediate end to this blasphemy. An ugly row erupts. An enraged Nikolaev lunges at the second lieutenant with angry insults. Romashov quickly throws the rest of his beer right in his opponent’s face, and a fistfight ensues on the floor.

The officers’ court of honor sternly decrees: a dispute between two senior officers is resolved exclusively by duel. Romashov feels immensely alone in a hostile world. He visits Nazansky, who, with philosophical conviction, dissuades him from pointless shooting. Nazansky exclaims, "Dive boldly into life; it won’t deceive you."

That night, Shurochka secretly sneaks into Romashov’s dark, squalid room. She selfishly declares that the duel must take place to preserve her husband’s crystal-clear reputation, otherwise Vladimir will never be accepted into the capital’s academy. Shurochka asks Romashov to endure the hurdle, but firmly promises that the duel will be completely bloodless. In a fit of desperate passion, she greedily kisses the young officer, gives herself to him, and silently disappears into the darkness of the night.

The story ends abruptly with a dry, official report from Staff Captain Dietz. During a formal duel in Dubechnaya Grove, Vladimir Nikolaev fired first. Yuri Romashov was seriously wounded in the upper right abdomen. He was unable to fire the expected return shot and died of massive internal hemorrhaging several long minutes later.