Literary heroes by. Literary character, hero. Images and characters. What and how did the heroes of Russian classics read? Review of works and their heroes

Russian literature has given us a cavalcade of both positive and negative characters. We decided to remember the second group. Beware, spoilers.

20. Alexey Molchalin (Alexander Griboedov, “Woe from Wit”)

Molchalin is the hero “about nothing”, Famusov’s secretary. He is faithful to his father’s behest: “to please all people without exception - the owner, the boss, his servant, the janitor’s dog.”

In a conversation with Chatsky, he sets out his life principles, consisting in the fact that “at my age I should not dare to have my own judgment.”

Molchalin is sure that you need to think and act as is customary in “Famus” society, otherwise they will gossip about you, and, as you know, “ evil tongues worse than pistols."

He despises Sophia, but in order to please Famusov, he is ready to sit with her all night long, playing the role of a lover.

19. Grushnitsky (Mikhail Lermontov, “Hero of Our Time”)

Grushnitsky has no name in Lermontov's story. He is the “double” of the main character - Pechorin. According to Lermontov’s description, Grushnitsky is “... one of those people who have ready-made pompous phrases for all occasions, who are not touched by simply beautiful things and who are importantly draped in extraordinary feelings, sublime passions and exceptional suffering. Producing an effect is their pleasure...”

Grushnitsky loves pathos very much. There is not an ounce of sincerity in him. Grushnitsky is in love with Princess Mary, and she initially answers him special attention, but then falls in love with Pechorin.

The matter ends in a duel. Grushnitsky is so low that he conspires with his friends and they do not load Pechorin’s pistol. The hero cannot forgive such outright meanness. He reloads the pistol and kills Grushnitsky.

18. Afanasy Totsky (Fyodor Dostoevsky, “The Idiot”)

Afanasy Totsky, having taken Nastya Barashkova, the daughter of a deceased neighbor, as his upbringing and dependent, eventually “became close to her,” developing a suicidal complex in the girl and indirectly becoming one of the culprits of her death.

Extremely averse to the female sex, at the age of 55 Totsky decided to connect his life with the daughter of General Epanchin Alexandra, deciding to marry Nastasya to Ganya Ivolgin. However, neither one nor the other case burned out. As a result, Totsky “was captivated by a visiting Frenchwoman, a marquise and a legitimist.”

17. Alena Ivanovna (Fyodor Dostoevsky, “Crime and Punishment”)

The old pawnbroker is a character who has become a household name. Even those who have not read Dostoevsky’s novel have heard about it. Alena Ivanovna, by today’s standards, is not that old, she is “about 60 years old,” but the author describes her like this: “... a dry old woman with sharp and angry eyes with a small pointed nose... Her blond, slightly gray hair was greasy with oil. Some kind of flannel rag was wrapped around her thin and long neck, similar to a chicken leg...”

The old woman pawnbroker is engaged in usury and makes money from people's grief. She takes valuable things at huge interest rates, bullies her younger sister Lizaveta, and beats her.

16. Arkady Svidrigailov (Fyodor Dostoevsky, “Crime and Punishment”)

Svidrigailov is one of Raskolnikov’s doubles in Dostoevsky’s novel, a widower, at one time he was ransomed by his wife from prison, he lived in the village for 7 years. A cynical and depraved person. On his conscience is the suicide of a servant, a 14-year-old girl, and possibly the poisoning of his wife.

Due to Svidrigailov's harassment, Raskolnikov's sister lost her job. Having learned that Raskolnikov is a murderer, Luzhin blackmails Dunya. The girl shoots at Svidrigailov and misses.

Svidrigailov is an ideological scoundrel, he does not experience moral torment and experiences “world boredom,” eternity seems to him like a “bathhouse with spiders.” As a result, he commits suicide with a revolver shot.

15. Kabanikha (Alexander Ostrovsky, “The Thunderstorm”)

In the image of Kabanikha, one of central characters Ostrovsky's play "The Thunderstorm" reflected the outgoing patriarchal, strict archaism. Kabanova Marfa Ignatievna, “a rich merchant’s wife, widow,” mother-in-law of Katerina, mother of Tikhon and Varvara.

Kabanikha is very domineering and strong, she is religious, but more outwardly, since she does not believe in forgiveness or mercy. She is as practical as possible and lives by earthly interests.

Kabanikha is sure that family life can survive only on fear and orders: “After all, out of love your parents are strict with you, out of love they scold you, everyone thinks to teach you good.” She perceives the departure of the old order as a personal tragedy: “This is how the old times come to be... What will happen, how the elders will die... I don’t know.”

14. Lady (Ivan Turgenev, “Mumu”)

We all know sad story about the fact that Gerasim drowned Mumu, but not everyone remembers why he did it, but he did it because the despotic lady ordered him to do so.

The same landowner had previously given the washerwoman Tatyana, with whom Gerasim was in love, to the drunken shoemaker Capiton, which ruined both of them.
The lady, at her own discretion, decides the fate of her serfs, without regard at all to their wishes, and sometimes even to common sense.

13. Footman Yasha (Anton Chekhov, “The Cherry Orchard”)

Footman Yasha in Anton Chekhov's play " Cherry Orchard" - an unpleasant character. He openly worships everything foreign, while he is extremely ignorant, rude and even boorish. When his mother comes to him from the village and waits for him in the people’s room all day, Yasha dismissively declares: “It’s really necessary, she could come tomorrow.”

Yasha tries to behave decently in public, tries to seem educated and well-mannered, but at the same time alone with Firs he says to the old man: “I'm tired of you, grandfather. I wish you would die soon.”

Yasha is very proud that he lived abroad. With his foreign polish, he wins the heart of the maid Dunyasha, but uses her location for his own benefit. After the sale of the estate, the footman persuades Ranevskaya to take him with her to Paris again. It is impossible for him to stay in Russia: “the country is uneducated, the people are immoral, and, moreover, boredom...”.

12. Pavel Smerdyakov (Fyodor Dostoevsky, “The Brothers Karamazov”)

Smerdyakov is a character with a telling surname, according to rumors, the illegitimate son of Fyodor Karrmazov from the city holy fool Lizaveta Stinking. The surname Smerdyakov was given to him by Fyodor Pavlovich in honor of his mother.

Smerdyakov serves as a cook in Karamazov’s house, and he cooks, apparently, quite well. However, this is a “foulbrood man.” This is evidenced at least by Smerdyakov’s reasoning about history: “In the twelfth year there was a great invasion of Russia by Emperor Napoleon of France the First, and it would be good if these same French had conquered us then, a smart nation would have conquered a very stupid one and annexed it to itself. There would even be completely different orders.”

Smerdyakov is the killer of Karamazov's father.

11. Pyotr Luzhin (Fyodor Dostoevsky, “Crime and Punishment”)

Luzhin is another one of Rodion Raskolnikov’s doubles, a business man of 45 years old, “with a cautious and grumpy physiognomy.”

Having made it “from rags to riches,” Luzhin is proud of his pseudo-education and behaves arrogantly and primly. Having proposed to Dunya, he anticipates that she will be grateful to him all her life for “bringing her into the public eye.”

He also wooes Duna out of convenience, believing that she will be useful to him for his career. Luzhin hates Raskolnikov because he opposes his alliance with Dunya. Luzhin puts one hundred rubles in Sonya Marmeladova's pocket at her father's funeral, accusing her of theft.

10. Kirila Troekurov (Alexander Pushkin, “Dubrovsky”)

Troekurov is an example of a Russian master spoiled by his power and environment. He spends his time in idleness, drunkenness, and voluptuousness. Troekurov sincerely believes in his impunity and limitless possibilities(“This is the power to take away property without any right”).

The master loves his daughter Masha, but marries her to an old man she doesn’t love. Troekurov's serfs are similar to their master - Troekurov's hound is insolent to Dubrovsky Sr. - and thereby quarrels old friends.

9. Sergei Talberg (Mikhail Bulgakov, “The White Guard”)

Sergei Talberg is the husband of Elena Turbina, a traitor and an opportunist. He easily changes his principles and beliefs, without much effort or remorse. Talberg is always where it is easier to live, so he runs abroad. He leaves his family and friends. Even Talberg’s eyes (which, as you know, are the “mirror of the soul”) are “two-story”; he is the complete opposite of Turbin.

Thalberg was the first to wear the red bandage at the military school in March 1917 and, as a member of the military committee, arrested the famous General Petrov.

8. Alexey Shvabrin (Alexander Pushkin, “The Captain's Daughter”)

Shvabrin is the antipode of the main character of Pushkin’s story “The Captain’s Daughter” by Pyotr Grinev. He was exiled to the Belogorsk fortress for murder in a duel. Shvabrin is undoubtedly smart, but at the same time he is cunning, impudent, cynical, and mocking. Having received Masha Mironova’s refusal, he spreads dirty rumors about her, wounds him in the back in a duel with Grinev, goes over to Pugachev’s side, and, having been captured by government troops, spreads rumors that Grinev is a traitor. In general, he is a rubbish person.

7. Vasilisa Kostyleva (Maxim Gorky, “At the Depths”)

In Gorky's play "At the Bottom" everything is sad and sad. This atmosphere is diligently maintained by the owners of the shelter where the action takes place - the Kostylevs. The husband is a nasty, cowardly and greedy old man, Vasilisa’s wife is a calculating, resourceful opportunist who forces her lover Vaska Pepel to steal for her sake. When she finds out that he himself is in love with her sister, he promises to give her up in exchange for killing her husband.

6. Mazepa (Alexander Pushkin, “Poltava”)

Mazepa is a historical character, but if in history Mazepa’s role is ambiguous, then in Pushkin’s poem Mazepa is unambiguous negative character. Mazepa appears in the poem as an absolutely immoral, dishonest, vindictive, evil person, as a treacherous hypocrite for whom nothing is sacred (he “does not know the sacred,” “does not remember charity”), a person accustomed to achieving his goal at any cost.

The seducer of his young goddaughter Maria, he puts her father Kochubey to public execution and - already sentenced to death - subjects brutal torture to find out where he hid his treasures. Without equivocation, Pushkin also denounces Mazepa’s political activity, which is determined only by the lust for power and the thirst for revenge on Peter.

5. Foma Opiskin (Fyodor Dostoevsky, “The Village of Stepanchikovo and Its Inhabitants”)

Foma Opiskin is an extremely negative character. A hanger-on, a hypocrite, a liar. He diligently pretends to be pious and educated, tells everyone about his supposedly ascetic experience and sparkles with quotes from books...

When he gets power into his hands, he shows his true essence. “A low soul, having come out from under oppression, oppresses itself. Thomas was oppressed - and he immediately felt the need to oppress himself; They broke down over him - and he himself began to break down over others. He was a jester and immediately felt the need to have his own jesters. He boasted to the point of absurdity, broke down to the point of impossibility, demanded bird's milk, tyrannized beyond measure, and it got to the point where good people, not having yet witnessed all these tricks, but listening only to tales, they considered it all a miracle, an obsession, crossed themselves and spat on it...”

4. Viktor Komarovsky (Boris Pasternak, Doctor Zhivago)

Lawyer Komarovsky is a negative character in Boris Pasternak's novel Doctor Zhivago. In the destinies of the main characters - Zhivago and Lara, Komarovsky is " evil genius" and "gray eminence". He is guilty of the ruin of the Zhivago family and the death of the protagonist's father; he cohabits with Lara's mother and Lara herself. Finally, Komarovsky tricks Zhivago into separating him from his wife. Komarovsky is smart, calculating, greedy, cynical. In general, bad person. He understands this himself, but this suits him quite well.

3. Judushka Golovlev (Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin, “The Golovlev Lords”)

Porfiry Vladimirovich Golovlev, nicknamed Judas and Blood Drinker, is “the last representative of an escapist family.” He is hypocritical, greedy, cowardly, calculating. He spends his life in endless slander and litigation, drives his son to suicide, and at the same time imitates extreme religiosity, reading prayers “without the participation of the heart.”

At the end of my life dark life Golovlev gets drunk and runs wild, goes into the March snowstorm. In the morning, his frozen corpse is found.

2. Andriy (Nikolai Gogol, “Taras Bulba”)

Andriy - youngest son Taras Bulba, the hero of the story of the same name by Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol. Andriy, as Gogol writes, from early youth began to feel the “need for love.” This need fails him. He falls in love with the lady, betrays his homeland, his friends, and his father. Andriy admits: “Who said that my homeland is Ukraine? Who gave it to me in my homeland? The Fatherland is what our soul is looking for, what is dearer to it than anything else. My fatherland is you!... and I will sell, give away, and destroy everything that I have for such a fatherland!”
Andriy is a traitor. He is killed by his own father.

1. Fyodor Karamazov (Fyodor Dostoevsky, “The Brothers Karamazov”)

He is voluptuous, greedy, envious, stupid. By maturity, he became flabby, began to drink a lot, opened several taverns, made many fellow countrymen his debtors... He began to compete with his eldest son Dmitry for the heart of Grushenka Svetlova, which paved the way for the crime - Karamazov was killed by his illegitimate son Pyotr Smerdyakov.

Men are attracted primarily to masculine characters, while women are attracted to both male and female characters.

In the Year of Literature, the Reading Section of the RBA held an Internet campaign “Monument to a Literary Hero,” inviting people to talk about literary traditions and literary preferences of readers of different generations.

From January 15 to March 30, 2015, a questionnaire was published on the RBA website with the possibility of reprinting it. Colleagues from many libraries, regional book and reading centers, educational institutions, The media supported the action by posting a questionnaire on their resources.

More than four and a half thousand people from 63 constituent entities of the Russian Federation aged from 5 to 81 took part in the event. In the overall sample, women made up 65%, men – 35%. Answering the question “Which literary hero would you like to see a monument to in the area where you live?”, respondents named 510 heroes from 368 works created by 226 authors. Adults over 18 years old named 395 heroes. Children and teenagers 17 years old and younger – 254 heroes. Adult women named 344 heroes. Men – 145 heroes.

The top ten heroes to whom the action participants would like to see monuments are as follows:

1st place: Ostap Bender - named 135 times (including the joint monument with Kisa Vorobyaninov), 179 mentions;

2nd place: Sherlock Holmes – 96 times (including the joint monument with Dr. Watson), totaling 108 mentions;

3rd place: Tom Sawyer – 68 times (including the joint monument to Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn), making 108 mentions;

4th place: Margarita – 63 (including the joint monument with the Master) is 104 mentions;

5th place: Evgeny Onegin – 58 (including the joint monument with Tatiana) is 95 mentions;

6th-7th place was shared by Vasily Terkin and Faust - 91 times each;

8th place: Romeo and Juliet – 86;

9th place: Anna Karenina – 77;

10th place: Stirlitz – 71.

Looking at male and female preferences, it can be said that men are attracted predominantly to masculine characters, while women are interested in both male and female characters. The top ten male preferences are as follows (we consider by analogy with the data for the entire array, taking into account joint monuments): 1) Ostap Bender; 2) Stirlitz; 3) Musketeers; 4-5) Sherlock Holmes and Don Quixote; 6) Margarita; 7) Fedor Eichmanis; 8) Sharikov; 9) Artyom Goryainov; 10-11) shepherd Santiago; Robinson Crusoe. So, in the top ten there is only one female image - Margarita. It should be added that very rarely Galina is present with Artyom Goryainov. Women's preferences look different: 1) Ostap Bender; 2) Tatyana Larina; 3) Anna Karenina; 4-5) Romeo and Juliet; Arseny-Lavr; 6) Sherlock Holmes; 7-8) Cat Hippo; Margarita; 9-10) Strange children; Angie Malone; 11) Mary Poppins.

Survey data provides compelling evidence of intergenerational reading preferences. The top ten preferences of girls 17 years old and younger include (in descending order): Assol, Romeo and Juliet, The Little Mermaid, Thumbelina, Snow Maiden, Little Red Riding Hood, Gerda, Mary Poppins, Harry Porter, Alice.

Thus, the majority are female images. At the same time, girls’ orientation toward female images is not as pronounced as their preference male images in boys.

The top ten preferences of boys 17 years old and younger: Tom Sawyer, Vasily Terkin, Robinson Crusoe, D'Artagnan and the Musketeers, Dunno, Sherlock Holmes, Andrei Sokolov, Mowgli, Faust, Hottabych.

Boys, like men, clearly demonstrate a preference for and need for male heroes. Boys in the top twenty have no heroes at all female images. The first of them appear only in the third ten of the ratings, and even then in company with male heroes: The Master and Margarita; Harry, Hermione, Ron; Romeo and Juliet.

According to the survey, the absolute leader in the number of preferred monuments is Ostap Bender.

A comparison of lists of preferences for different parameters shows that the image of Ostap Bender is the undisputed leader, but he is still closer to men.

Why is this image of a hero-adventurer so attractive to our contemporaries? Analyzing the most numerous and famous monuments favorite literary heroes who arose in the post-Soviet era (Ostap Bender, Munchausen, Vasily Terkin, Koroviev and Behemoth), M. Lipovetsky notes the common thing that unites them: “Apparently, the fact that they are all to one degree or another, but always quite clearly represent the cultural archetype of the trickster.

Looking back at Soviet culture in its various manifestations, it is not difficult to see that most of the characters who gained mass popularity in Soviet culture, represent different versions of this ancient archetype."

Moreover, the author proves that the significance of such images remains in post-Soviet culture. Both men and women are also interested in the image of Sherlock Holmes, who, according to M. Lipovetsky, also belongs to the trickster archetype.

Traditionally, in the structure of women’s preferences, the share of domestic and foreign classics, as well as melodrama. Men, especially young men, have a clear interest in the heroes of adventure literature.

The survey clearly showed other preferences related to the age and gender of readers. Each new generation wants to see its heroes, corresponding to their time, acting in books created at the present time. Thus, “The Home for Peculiar Children” by R. Riggs is of interest mainly to 20-year-olds and mostly girls. Also, mostly 20-year-olds are interested in “A Street Cat Named Bob” by J. Bowen.

According to online stores, both books are in great reader demand. Their high rating Among young people, various online reading communities are also noted. And the image of Katerina from the story by V. Chernykh for the film “Moscow Doesn’t Believe in Tears” gathers a female audience aged 40-50 years and is not found among those under 30 and over 60 years old.

The undisputed hero of the older generation is Stirlitz. Among 20-year-olds it is not mentioned once, among 30-year-olds - once, 40-year-olds - 7 times, 50-year-olds - 26 times, among 60-year-olds it is the absolute leader among men, it is also found among women and is the leader overall. V senior group by age. Cultural Foundation Yuliana Semyonova has already conducted an Internet voting “Monument to Stirlitz. What should he be like?

However, a monument to one of the most iconic heroes Soviet literature and the movie never appeared.

The results of a study by the FOM “Idols of Youth”, conducted in 2008, noted: “It is significant that the relative majority of people who had idols in their youth remain faithful to them throughout adult life: two-thirds (68%) of such people (that’s 36% of all respondents) admitted that they can still call their idol the one who was them in their youth.” Probably, this can partly explain the attitude of older people towards Stirlitz.

According to the survey, readers would like to erect monuments to heroes of completely different books: including the heroes of Homer and Sophocles, Aristophanes, G. Boccaccio, as well as L.N. Tolstoy, A.S. Pushkina, I.S. Turgeneva, N.V. Gogol, F.M. Dostoevsky, I.A. Goncharova, M.Yu. Lermontov, A.P. Chekhov. Among foreign literature The heroes of the books of G. Hesse, G. García Márquez, R. Bach were named in the 20th century; among domestic ones are the heroes of books by K. Paustovsky, V. Astafiev, B. Mozhaev, V. Zakrutkin, V. Konetsky, V. Shukshin and many others.

If we talk about works latest literature, then the survey participants showed significant interest in the heroes of D. Rubina’s trilogy “Russian Canary” and the heroes of the novel “The Abode” by Z. Prilepin.

It should be noted one more work of modern fiction, which has earned a fairly high reader rating is E. Vodolazkin’s novel “Laurel,” which received the “ Big book» in 2013. There is one main character– Arseny Laurus, to whom we would like to erect a monument.

Among the works whose heroes would like to have a monument erected, thus, the obvious leaders are noted:

The diversity of the presented literature is noteworthy. The top ten books include Russian and foreign classical literature, a classic of world adventure literature, the best domestic literature, created in Soviet period, modern bestsellers.

To the question about which existing monuments to literary heroes do they like and where they are located, 690 people answered, which is 16.2% of the number of participants. In total, 355 monuments were named, dedicated to 194 heroes. These heroes act in 136 works created by 82 authors.

The rating of heroes whose monuments are well known and liked is headed by: The Little Mermaid; Ostap Bender; Pinocchio; White Bim Black Ear; Chizhik-Pyzhik; Baron Munchausen; Mumu; Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson; Bremen Town Musicians…

The overall ranking of monuments is headed by: The Little Mermaid from Copenhagen; White Bim Black Ear from Voronezh; Samara Buratino; St. Petersburg Chizhik-Pyzhik, Ostap Bender, Mumu; Baron Munchausen from Kaliningrad; Moscow Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson; The Bremen Musicians from Bremen; monument to the Cat Behemoth and Koroviev from Moscow.

The named monuments are located in 155 cities, including 86 domestic cities (55.5%) and 69 foreign ones (44.5%). Among foreign cities the leaders are: Copenhagen, Odessa, London, Kyiv, Bremen, Kharkov, New York, Osh, Nikolaev. Among domestic ones: Moscow, St. Petersburg, Voronezh, Samara, Kaliningrad, Ramenskoye, Tobolsk, Tomsk. It should be said that in fact two cities in the country top the list in terms of the number of mentions of monuments: monuments in Moscow were named 174 times, and monuments in St. Petersburg – 170 times. In third place is Copenhagen with the only monument The Little Mermaid - 138 times, on the fourth Voronezh - 80 times.

During the survey, the participants of the action also named their region of residence. A comparison of the region of residence of the survey participant with the hero to whom they would like to erect a monument (and we were talking specifically about a monument for their place of residence), as well as with those existing monuments that they like, showed that respondents from less than half of the regions named real or desired monuments , where the hero, the author of the work or the location of the action were associated with the place of residence of the participant.

IN modern Russia A tradition has formed of erecting street sculptures of literary heroes, and architecture of small forms is developing. Literary heroes can and do become local cultural symbols.

The social demand for this kind of symbols is quite large. Literary monuments create comfortable conditions for the pastime of citizens, are aimed at a reciprocal emotional response, and form the unity of local self-awareness.

A series of events develops around them, that is, they are included in traditional commemorative or everyday practices, they become accustomed to the urban environment.

The appearance of objects of decorative urban sculpture, monuments to literary heroes, monuments dedicated to books and reading can contribute not only to the aesthetic education of the population, but also to the formation of a personal perception of their small homeland, new traditions.

Sculptures, especially street sculptures that are close to people, play and entertain townspeople, form unofficial practices for handling such an object and a personal attitude towards it.

Filling public spaces with such symbols undoubtedly carries a positive emotional load and contributes to the humanization of the public environment.

Recently the BBC showed a series based on Tolstoy's War and Peace. In the West, everything is the same as here - there, too, the release of film (television) adaptations sharply increases interest in the literary source. And then Lev Nikolayevich’s masterpiece suddenly became one of the bestsellers, and with it, readers became interested in all of Russian literature. On this wave, the popular literary website Literary Hub published an article “The 10 Russian Literary Heroines You Should Know.” It seemed to me that this was an interesting look from the outside at our classics and I translated the article for my blog. I'm posting it here too. Illustrations taken from the original article.

Attention! The text contains spoilers.

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We know that all happy heroines are equally happy, and each unhappy heroine is unhappy in her own way. But the fact is that there are few happy characters in Russian literature. Russian heroines tend to complicate their lives. This is how it should be, because their beauty as literary characters largely comes from their ability to suffer, from their tragic destinies, from their “Russianness.”

The most important thing to understand about Russians female characters: their destinies are not stories of overcoming obstacles to achieve “and they lived happily ever after.” Guardians of primordial Russian values, they know that there is more to life than happiness.

1. Tatyana Larina (A.S. Pushkin “Eugene Onegin”)

In the beginning there was Tatiana. This is a kind of Eve of Russian literature. And not only because it is chronologically the first, but also because Pushkin occupies a special place in Russian hearts. Almost any Russian is able to recite the poems of the father of Russian literature by heart (and after a few shots of vodka, many will do this). Pushkin's masterpiece, the poem "Eugene Onegin", is the story not only of Onegin, but also of Tatyana, a young innocent girl from the provinces who falls in love with the main character. Unlike Onegin, who is shown as a cynical bon vivant corrupted by fashionable European values, Tatyana embodies the essence and purity of the mysterious Russian soul. This includes a penchant for self-sacrifice and a disregard for happiness, as shown by her famous abandonment of the person she loves.

2. Anna Karenina (L.N. Tolstoy “Anna Karenina”)

Unlike Pushkin's Tatyana, who resists the temptation to get along with Onegin, Tolstoy's Anna leaves both her husband and son to run away with Vronsky. Like a true dramatic heroine, Anna voluntarily does not right choice, a choice for which she will have to pay. Anna's sin and its source tragic fate not that she left the child, but that, selfishly indulging her sexual and romantic desires, she forgot Tatyana’s lesson of selflessness. If you see light at the end of the tunnel, don't be fooled, it could be a train.

3. Sonya Marmeladova (F.M. Dostoevsky “Crime and Punishment”)

In Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment, Sonya appears as the antipode of Raskolnikov. A whore and a saint at the same time, Sonya accepts her existence as a path of martyrdom. Having learned about Raskolnikov's crime, she does not push him away, on the contrary, she attracts him to her in order to save his soul. Characteristic here is the famous scene when they read the biblical story of the resurrection of Lazarus. Sonya is able to forgive Raskolnikov, because she believes that everyone is equal before God, and God forgives. For a repentant killer, this is a real find.

4. Natalia Rostova (L.N. Tolstoy “War and Peace”)

Natalya is everyone's dream: smart, funny, sincere. But if Pushkin's Tatiana is too good to be true, Natalya seems alive, real. Partly because Tolstoy complemented her image with other qualities: she is capricious, naive, flirtatious and, for the morals of the early 19th century, a little impudent. In War and Peace, Natalya starts out as a charming teenager, exuding joy and vitality. Over the course of the novel, she grows older, learns life lessons, tames her fickle heart, becomes wiser, and her character gains integrity. And this woman, which is generally uncharacteristic of Russian heroines, is still smiling after more than a thousand pages.

5. Irina Prozorova (A.P. Chekhov “Three Sisters”)

At the beginning of Chekhov's play Three Sisters, Irina is the youngest and full of hope. Her older brother and sisters are whiny and capricious, they are tired of life in the provinces, and Irina’s naive soul is filled with optimism. She dreams of returning to Moscow, where, in her opinion, she will find her true love and she will be happy. But as the chance to move to Moscow evaporates, she becomes increasingly aware that she is stuck in the village and losing her spark. Through Irina and her sisters, Chekhov shows us that life is just a series of sad moments, only occasionally punctuated by short bursts of joy. Like Irina, we waste our time on trifles, dreaming of a better future, but gradually we understand the insignificance of our existence.

6. Lisa Kalitina (I.S. Turgenev “The Noble Nest”)

In the novel “The Noble Nest” Turgenev created a model of a Russian heroine. Lisa is young, naive, pure in heart. She is torn between two suitors: a young, handsome, cheerful officer and an old, sad, married man. Guess who she chose? Lisa's choice says a lot about the mysterious Russian soul. She is clearly heading towards suffering. Lisa's choice shows that the desire for sadness and melancholy is no worse than any other option. At the end of the story, Lisa becomes disillusioned with love and goes to a monastery, choosing the path of sacrifice and deprivation. “Happiness is not for me,” she explains her action. “Even when I hoped for happiness, my heart was always heavy.”

7. Margarita (M. Bulgakov “The Master and Margarita”)

Chronologically last on the list, Bulgakov's Margarita is an extremely strange heroine. At the beginning of the novel, she is an unhappily married woman, then she becomes the Master’s mistress and muse, and then turns into a witch flying on a broomstick. For Master Margarita, this is not only a source of inspiration. She becomes, like Sonya for Raskolnikov, his healer, lover, savior. When the Master finds himself in trouble, Margarita turns to none other than Satan himself for help. Having concluded, like Faust, a contract with the Devil, she is still reunited with her lover, albeit not entirely in this world.

8. Olga Semyonova (A.P. Chekhov “Darling”)

In "Darling" Chekhov tells the story of Olga Semyonova, a loving and gentle soul, common man who is said to live by love. Olga becomes a widow early. Twice. When there is no one nearby to love, she withdraws into the company of a cat. In his review of “Darling,” Tolstoy wrote that, intending to make fun of a narrow-minded woman, Chekhov accidentally created a very likable character. Tolstoy went even further; he condemned Chekhov for his overly harsh attitude towards Olga, calling for her soul to be judged, not her intellect. According to Tolstoy, Olga embodies the ability of Russian women to love unconditionally, a virtue unknown to men.

9. Anna Sergeevna Odintsova (I.S. Turgenev “Fathers and Sons”)

In the novel “Fathers and Sons” (often incorrectly translated “Fathers and Sons”), Mrs. Odintsova is a lonely woman of mature age; the sound of her surname in Russian also hints at loneliness. Odintsova is an atypical heroine who has become a kind of pioneer among female literary characters. Unlike other women in the novel, who follow the obligations imposed on them by society, Mrs. Odintsova is childless, she has no mother and no husband (she is a widow). She stubbornly defends her independence, like Pushkin's Tatiana, refusing the only chance to find true love.

10. Nastasya Filippovna (F.M. Dostoevsky “The Idiot”)

The heroine of “The Idiot” Nastasya Filippovna gives an idea of ​​how complex Dostoevsky is. Beauty makes her a victim. Orphaned as a child, Nastasya becomes a kept woman and the mistress of the elderly man who picked her up. But every time she tries to escape the clutches of her situation and create her own destiny, she continues to feel humiliated. Guilt casts a fatal shadow on all her decisions. According to tradition, like many other Russian heroines, Nastasya has several fate options, associated mainly with men. And in full accordance with tradition, she is not able to make the right choice. By submitting to fate instead of fighting, the heroine drifts towards her tragic end.

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The author of this text is writer and diplomat Guillermo Herades. He worked in Russia for some time, knows Russian literature well, is a fan of Chekhov and the author of the book Back to Moscow. So this look is not entirely outsider. On the other hand, how to write about Russian literary heroines without knowing Russian classics?

Guillermo does not explain his choice of characters in any way. In my opinion, the absence of Princess Mary or “ poor Lisa"(which, by the way, was written earlier than Pushkin's Tatiana) and Katerina Kabanova (from Ostrosky's The Thunderstorm). It seems to me that these Russians literary heroines better known among us than Lisa Kalitina or Olga Semyonova. However, this is my subjective opinion. Who would you add to this list?

Who is a literary character? We devote our article to this issue. In it we will tell you where this name came from, what literary characters and images are, and how to describe them in literature lessons according to your desire or the teacher’s request.

Also from our article you will learn what an “eternal” image is and what images are called eternal.

Literary hero or character. Who is this?

We often hear the concept of “literary character”. But few can explain what we are talking about. And even schoolchildren who have recently returned from a literature lesson often find it difficult to answer the question. What is this mysterious word “character”?

It came to us from ancient Latin (persona, personnage). Meaning - “personality”, “person”, “person”.

So, a literary character is a character. We are mainly talking about prose genres, since images in poetry are usually called “lyrical hero”.

Without characters It is impossible to write a story or a poem, a novel or a story. Otherwise, it will be a meaningless collection of, if not words, then perhaps events. The heroes are people and animals, mythological and fantastic creatures, inanimate objects, for example, Andersen's steadfast tin soldier, historical figures and even entire nations.

Classification of literary heroes

They can confuse any literature connoisseur with their quantity. And it’s especially hard for secondary school students. And especially because they prefer to play their favorite game instead of doing homework. How to classify heroes if a teacher or, even worse, an examiner demands it?

The most win-win option: classify the characters according to their importance in the work. According to this criterion, literary heroes are divided into main and secondary. Without the main character, the work and its plot will be a collection of words. But in case of loss minor characters we will lose a certain branch storyline or expressiveness of events. But overall the work will not suffer.

The second classification option is more limited and is suitable not for all works, but for fairy tales and fantasy genres. This is the division of heroes into positive and negative. For example, in the fairy tale about Cinderella, poor Cinderella herself is a positive hero, she evokes pleasant emotions, you sympathize with her. But the sisters and the evil stepmother are clearly heroes of a completely different type.

Characteristics. How to write?

Heroes of literary works sometimes (especially in a literature lesson at school) need a detailed description. But how to write it? The option “once upon a time there was such a hero. He is from a fairy tale about this and that” is clearly not suitable if the assessment is important. We will share with you a win-win option for writing a characterization of a literary (and any other) hero. We offer you a plan with brief explanations of what and how to write.

• Introduction. Name the work and the character you will talk about. Here you can add why you want to describe it.
• The place of the hero in the story (novel, story, etc.). Here you can write whether he is major or minor, positive or negative, a person or a mythical or historical figure.
• Appearance. It would not be amiss to include quotes, which will show you as an attentive reader, and will also add volume to your description.
• Character. Everything is clear here.
• Actions and their characteristics in your opinion.
• Conclusions.

That's it. Keep this plan for yourself, and it will come in handy more than once.

Famous literary characters

At least the concept itself literary hero may seem completely unfamiliar to you, but if you tell you the name of the hero, you will most likely remember a lot. This is especially true famous characters literature, for example, such as Robinson Crusoe, Don Quixote, Sherlock Holmes or Robin Hood, Assol or Cinderella, Alice or Pippi Longstocking.

Such heroes are called famous literary characters. These names are familiar to children and adults from many countries and even continents. Not knowing them is a sign of narrow-mindedness and lack of education. Therefore, if you don’t have time to read the work itself, ask someone to tell you about these characters.

The concept of image in literature

Along with character, you can often hear the concept of “image”. What is this? Same as the hero or not? The answer will be both positive and negative, because a literary character may well be a literary image, but the image itself does not have to be a character.

We often call this or that hero an image, but nature can appear in the same image in a work. And then the topic of the examination paper can be “the image of nature in the story...”. What to do in this case? The answer is in the question itself: if we are talking about nature, you need to characterize its place in the work. Start with a description, add character elements, for example, “the sky was gloomy,” “the sun was mercilessly hot,” “the night was frightening with its darkness,” and the characterization is ready. Well, if you need a description of the hero’s image, then how to write it, see the plan and tips above.

What are the images?

Our next question. Here we will highlight several classifications. Above we looked at one - images of heroes, that is, people/animals/mythical creatures and images of nature, images of peoples and states.

Also, images can be so-called “eternal”. What's happened " eternal image"? This concept names a hero who was once created by an author or folklore. But he was so “characteristic” and special that after years and eras other authors write their characters from him, perhaps giving them other names, but that doesn’t matter the essence changing. Such heroes include the fighter Don Quixote, the hero-lover Don Juan and many others.

Unfortunately, modern fantasy characters they don’t become eternal, despite the love of the fans. Why? What's better than this funny Don Quixote of Spider-Man, for example? It's difficult to explain this in a nutshell. Only reading the book will give you the answer.

The concept of "closeness" of the hero, or My favorite character

Sometimes the hero of a work or movie becomes so close and loved that we try to imitate him, to be like him. This happens for a reason, and it’s not for nothing that the choice falls on this character. Often a favorite hero becomes an image that somehow resembles ourselves. Perhaps the similarity is in character, or in the experiences of both the hero and you. Or this character is in a situation similar to yours, and you understand and sympathize with him. In any case, it's not bad. The main thing is that you imitate only worthy heroes. And there are plenty of them in the literature. We wish you to meet only with good heroes and imitate only the positive traits of their character.

Listened to Uzhankov’s lecture about “ The captain's daughter” and comparing the story with “Eugene Onegin”, and the appearance of a positive hero arose, at first vaguely, as Russian writers deduced him.

It is known that Pushkin Grinev is the only truly positive and morally impeccable hero, and at the same time developed in detail. But who is he? – Average abilities, quite limited person, “simple”, close to the people, although a nobleman. Next to him is his uncle Savelich, just as simple, honest, loving, selfless.
Who else does Pushkin have? In Onegin - first of all... Nature! On it, like on four pillars, the entire cosmism of the novel rests. But Nature is essentially God. Yes, He is flawless (!) Who else? Yes, only Tatiana's nanny. Partly Tatyana herself. Partly! But she is by no means mediocre.
In Belkin's stories, the positive hero is exclusively Belkin himself. Again, insignificant, narrow-minded, quiet, simple and honest man, but it was developed lightly by the author. Stationmaster Samson Vyrin? Yes, a superbly portrayed type of person, simple and moral to the point of stupidity, incapable of assessing the real thoughts and actions of people in real world, and not in the illusory world of morality drilled into him, caretaker Samson Vyrin. By the way, (oh Pushkin’s hidden irony!) when this Samson is deprived of his strength - support in unshakable moral rules, he immediately dies. Because Samson himself is nothing without his moral crutches. Because Samson Vyrin’s support is not in the Living God, but in stupidly accepted rules, albeit with a kind heart.

Lermontov. From real heroes only Maxim Maksimovich, a kind of kind and highly moral mediocrity with an eternal cast-iron teapot.

Gogol. Ostap from Taras Bulba, characterized by his immobile narrow-mindedness and highly moral oakness. Akaki Akakievich from “The Overcoat”? Of course, but only it is completely simple and limited to the point of tragicomicness. Well, also the old-world landowners - Afanasy Ivanovich Tovstogub and his wife Pulcheria Ivanovna, amoebically positive and touching to the point of ridiculousness, which takes them beyond the edge of positivity itself into the realm of Russian denseness. And again - Nature! All-encompassing, all-knowing, all-loving, all-forgiving, that is, God.

Turgenev. Lemme from " Noble nest”, a sentimental German, a mediocre musician, kind, loving and even keen-sighted in love, who took root in Russia like a cat takes root in a house. Arkady from Fathers and Sons,” a completely ordinary person in his natural kindness. Nature comes first for Turgenev. She is God literally and in figuratively. Insarov from “On the Eve”? Noble? - Yes. An extraordinary personality? - Yes. But this revolutionary still has plenty to do. The author kills him so as not to think about his future bloody revolutionary exploits (which are well known to us Russians from our further experience!) Elena, although she is secondary, her personality is induced by her love for Insarov.

Dostoevsky. His stubborn, almost obsessive desire to write a truly positive person gave us Prince Myshkin - an idiot. Here, comments are unnecessary, and Myshkin’s often-pedaled allusion to Christ is only possible with a reference to the Gospel texts, where those around him consider Jesus a madman. In other words: Jesus was known as a madman, and Myshkin was one. The heroes of “Poor People” (Makar Alekseevich Devushkin, Varvara Alekseevna Dobroselova) are loving, but limited, low-flying. Of course, Alyosha from The Brothers Karamazov, designed carefully and again with a reference to Christ. And again Katerina Ivanovna angrily calls him a “little holy fool”! Is he wise? No, not on his own, but through Elder Zosima and, ultimately, through Christ. Razumikhin from Crime and Punishment, desperately limited noble man, the reader cannot even sympathize with him much. Although he may sympathize with the villain (?) Svidrigailov.

Tolstoy. Karl Ivanovich from "Childhood". Captain Tushin and Platon Karataev from War and Peace. Still the same gray, invisible, almost unconscious (“ right hand doesn’t know what the left one is doing!” kindness. Nikolai Rostov from “War and Peace” is a fundamental mediocrity, who even rose to the point of realizing himself as such, but still remained so. Maria Bolkonskaya, wife of Nikolai Rostov, is perhaps the only deep positive heroine! Old Prince Bolkonsky is depicted brightly, but schematically. Levin from Anna Karenina. Ivan Ilyich's servant Gerasim from the story "The Death of Ivan Ilyich." And Nature, Nature, Nature, in which God acts, acts directly, free from the resistance of the evil, sin-corrupted will of people.

Subsequently, our literature did not know truly positive heroes. In Chekhov - is the author himself (not real Anton Pavlovich!) and Nature. Maybe the wife of Misha Platonov? She delivers a brilliant Christian monologue, but alas, her narrow-mindedness and even stupidity are obvious. So, it is not she who pronounces this monologue, but Christ through her lips... Gorky in general and fundamentally has no positive heroes. This is especially clearly manifested in the great books of Klim Samgin.

Let's summarize our research.
Pushkin: Grinev, Savelich, Tatyana’s nanny, Tatiana, Belkin, Samson Vyrin.
Lermontov: Maxim Maksimovich.
Gogol: Ostap, Akaki Akakievich Bashmachkin, Afanasy Ivanovich Tovstogub and his wife Pulcheria Ivanovna.
Turgenev: Lemm, Arkady, Insarov, Elena.
Dostoevsky: Makar Devushkin and Varya Dobroselova, Prince Myshkin, Alyosha Karamazov, Razumikhin.
Tolstoy: Karl Ivanovich, Captain Tushin, Platon Karataev, Nikolai Rostov, Maria Bolkonskaya, Levin, servant of Ivan Ilyich - Gerasim.
For everyone: Nature – Christ – God.

So?
Are highlighted in bold extraordinary personalities. There are only three of them. Of these, Insarov is a potential fighter against God. Everyone else is mediocre, but the Lord speaks through them. This is an unintentional, but natural, sincere, most likely unconscious position of Russian literature: “Where it’s simple, there are a hundred angels!” Is this good or bad? Neither one nor the other. This is us.