Russian playwright Alexander Nikolayevich Ostrovsky created a whole galaxy of Russian characters. Mostly they were merchants: sedate, with a bushy beard. And if in some plays of the playwright one can meet real "tyrants", then there are works where Ostrovsky continued the traditions of Turgenev in depicting female characters. The "Turgenev" girl is resolute, she can be the first to confess her feelings and will never give up her words.
In Ostrovsky's plays "Hot Heart", "Thunderstorm", "Snow Maiden" images of such heroines are created - resolute and courageous, but with a tragic fate. Even among such bright girls with a “hot heart”, one can be singled out - Larisa Ogudalova, the main character of the play "Dowry". An outstanding personality, she stands out from her surroundings and is strikingly different from her mother, who is trying to find benefits in everything.
She, Kharita Ignatievna Ogudalova, can be understood: she alone raised three daughters. Yes, only the two elders, married, had an unfortunate fate: the first Caucasian husband stabbed to death out of jealousy, the second was at the mercy of a cheater. Larisa is her mother's last hope: she sings beautifully, performs Russian romances, plays music, and dances. And the mother hopes that she will be able to marry such a talented and beautiful daughter well, so that she lives like Christ in her bosom. Therefore, she teaches: "It is better to humiliate yourself from a young age, so that later you can live like a human being."
In the view of a woman with a gypsy name Harita, humanly, this is when there are many men in the house, wine flows like water, compliments sound. It is no coincidence that Larisa's current fiancé, a poor official, Julius Kapitonych Karandyshev, compares life in the Ogudalovs' house with a camp. Only all the tricks of the mother are in vain, because Larisa is a dowry. And in the society that surrounds the girl, there is only money. The new masters of life, unlike the heroes of "Thunderstorm", are no longer petty tyrants: their power is based on money. “I have nothing cherished; I will find a profit, so I will sell everything, ”says another hero of the play, Sergei Sergeyich Paratov,“ a brilliant gentleman, ”in the author’s assessment.
And this is true: Paratov, whom Larisa fell in love with so much that she “almost died of grief”, easily exchanged her for the “millionth” bride - the daughter of the owner of the gold mines. Having left her without explanation a year ago, now, when Larisa decides to marry the “first comer” Karandyshev, Paratov, having appeared again, accuses Larisa of treason. At a meeting, he reproachfully says that he would like to know “whether a passionately loved person is soon forgotten: on the next day after parting with him, in a week or a month ...”
And Larisa, who has already told her fiancé that "Sergei Sergeyich is the ideal of a man," loses her head again. She forgives her beloved, who disappeared unexpectedly a year ago, and "not a single letter." Larisa is a romantic person, so she does not notice obvious things. She proudly tells Karandyshev how a year ago Paratov shot in cold blood at the watch she was holding in her hand. But this fact, rather, suggests that Larisa does not mean anything to him. In addition, Paratov is vindictive: having barely met Karandyshev, he manages to hurt the pride of a poor official, but insists that it is Julius Kapitonich who apologizes to him, the master of life. And then, at a dinner party, he gets drunk on him in order to once again humiliate him in front of people who measure everything with money.
It just so happened in Ostrovsky's plays: against the backdrop of resolute and courageous heroines, men turn out to be lethargic and lifeless. In the play "Thunderstorm", the husband of Katerina Kabanova depends on her mother in everything, which as a result leads to tragedy: his young wife voluntarily passes away.
In "Dowry" the situation is similar: out of desperation, agreeing to marry Karandyshev, she begs him to leave for the village to start a new life, little reminiscent of the old camp. But the petty official, who endured ridicule in the hope of waiting for reciprocity from Larisa, is now "spreading his wings." He wants to wipe out the representatives of the upper class, and he gives a dinner in honor of Larisa Dmitrievna to say: she chose the most worthy person for her suitors - him, Yuli Kapitonych. This is his revenge for the envy that he had to experience every time he saw Larisa's beautiful and successful fans.
But by this act, he even more causes contempt from those who are used to drinking champagne in the morning and having lunch in a restaurant. After all, he, a poor official, has enough money only for cheap liquor, the bottles from which are carefully sealed with labels from expensive wine. And if Larisa, in response to accusations of treason by Paratov, says that her fiancé has the most important advantage - he loves her, then in the final she is disappointed in him. She disgustedly tells her ex-fiance, who is kneeling before her: “You are too insignificant for me,” and then bitterly admits: “I was looking for love and did not find it.”
It is difficult to find love in a society where everything is just bought and sold. Paratov is selling his favorite ship, the Lastochka, because he found a profit - a bride with a million dollar dowry. But he commits a much more vile act: having humiliated her fiancé in the eyes of Larisa, he gives hope for the future and, taking advantage of the situation, seduces the poor girl, and then confesses that he is engaged - he has “golden chains”. That's when the epiphany comes to the heroine. She understands that everyone around her, even her own mother, looks at her as a thing, for fun.
She does not have the courage to commit suicide, as Katerina did in The Thunderstorm, but she finds the strength to admit that no one has ever tried to look into her soul, she has not seen sympathy from anyone, has not heard a warm word. Larisa passes a terrible sentence to herself: "I did not find love, so I will look for gold." And she is really ready to ride to an exhibition in Paris with the middle-aged merchant Knurov, who won her in the "toss" from a younger rival, she is ready to become his kept woman, that is, to sell herself at a higher price, because for her there is only one consolation: if you are to be a thing, then very expensive.
The finale of this psychological play is a foregone conclusion. Sobered up, but rejected, Karandyshev shoots at Larisa, and for her this becomes a salvation. Now she cannot be bought or sold - she remains free and truly happy. She dies with words of forgiveness on her lips. Thus, the author shows that death is a tragic way out of the insoluble moral contradictions of time, a sentence to a society that is not able to preserve the treasure of a spiritual personality, beauty and talent.
"Dowry" analysis of the work - the theme, idea, genre, plot, composition, heroes, problems and other issues are disclosed in this article.
Russian playwright Alexander Nikolayevich Ostrovsky created a whole galaxy of Russian characters. Mostly they were merchants: sedate, with a bushy beard. And if in some plays of the playwright one can meet real "tyrants", then there are works where Ostrovsky continued the traditions of Turgenev in depicting female characters. The "Turgenev" girl is resolute, she can be the first to confess her feelings and will never give up her words.
In Ostrovsky's plays "Hot Heart", "Thunderstorm", "Snow Maiden" images of such heroines are created - resolute and courageous, but with a tragic fate. Even among such bright girls with a "hot heart", one can be singled out - Larisa Ogudalova, the main character of the play "Dowry". An outstanding personality, she stands out from her surroundings and is strikingly different from her mother, who is trying to find benefits in everything.
She, Kharita Ignatievna Ogudalova, can be understood: she alone raised three daughters. Yes, only the two elders, married, had an unfortunate fate: the first Caucasian husband stabbed to death out of jealousy, the second was at the mercy of a cheater. Larisa is her mother's last hope: she sings beautifully, performs Russian romances, plays music, and dances. And the mother hopes that she will be able to marry such a talented and beautiful daughter well, so that she lives like Christ in her bosom. Therefore, she teaches: "It is better to humiliate yourself from a young age, so that later you can live like a human being."
In the view of a woman with a gypsy name Harita, humanly, this is when there are many men in the house, wine flows like water, compliments sound. It is no coincidence that Larisa's current fiancé, a poor official, Julius Kapitonych Karandyshev, compares life in the Ogudalovs' house with a camp. Only all the tricks of the mother are in vain, because Larisa is a dowry. And in the society that surrounds the girl, there is only money. The new masters of life, unlike the heroes of "Thunderstorm", are no longer petty tyrants: their power is based on money. “I have nothing cherished; I will find a profit, so I will sell everything, ”says another hero of the play, Sergei Sergeyich Paratov,“ a brilliant gentleman, ”in the author’s assessment.
And this is true: Paratov, whom Larisa fell in love with so much that she “almost died of grief”, easily exchanged her for a “millionth” bride - the daughter of the owner of gold mines. Having left her without explanation a year ago, now, when Larisa decides to marry the “first comer” Karandyshev, Paratov, having appeared again, accuses Larisa of treason. At a meeting, he reproachfully says that he would like to know “whether a passionately loved person is soon forgotten: on the next day after parting with him, in a week or a month ...”
And Larisa, who had already told her fiancé that "Sergei Sergeyich is the ideal of a man," loses her head again. She forgives her beloved, who disappeared unexpectedly a year ago, and "not a single letter." Larisa is a romantic person, therefore she does not notice the obvious things. She proudly tells Karandyshev how a year ago Paratov shot in cold blood at the watch she was holding in her hand. But this fact, rather, suggests that Larisa does not mean anything to him. In addition, Paratov is vindictive: having barely met Karandyshev, he manages to hurt the pride of a poor official, but insists that it is Julius Kapitonich who apologizes to him, the master of life. And then, at a dinner party, he gets drunk on him in order to once again humiliate him in front of people who measure everything with money.
It just so happened in Ostrovsky's plays: against the backdrop of resolute and courageous heroines, men turn out to be lethargic and lifeless. In the play "Thunderstorm", the husband of Katerina Kabanova depends on her mother in everything, which as a result leads to tragedy: his young wife voluntarily passes away.
In "Dowry" the situation is similar: out of desperation, agreeing to marry Karandyshev, she begs him to leave for the village to start a new life, little reminiscent of the former camp. But the petty official, who endured ridicule in the hope of waiting for reciprocity from Larisa, is now "spreading his wings." He wants to rub off the representatives of the upper class, and he gives a dinner in honor of Larisa Dmitrievna to say: she chose the most worthy man for her suitors - him, Yuli Kapitonych. This is his revenge for the envy that he had to experience every time he saw Larisa's beautiful and successful fans.
But by this act, he even more causes contempt from those who are used to drinking champagne in the morning and having lunch in a restaurant. After all, he, a poor official, has enough money only for cheap liquor, the bottles from which are carefully sealed with labels from expensive wine. And if Larisa, in response to reproaches of treason by Paratov, says that her fiancé has the most important advantage - he loves her, then in the final she is disappointed in him. She disgustedly tells her ex-fiance, who is kneeling before her: “You are too insignificant for me,” and then bitterly admits: “I was looking for love and did not find it.”
It is difficult to find love in a society where everything is just bought and sold. Paratov is selling his favorite ship, the Lastochka, because he has found a profit - a bride with a million dollar dowry. But he commits a much more vile act: having humiliated her fiancé in the eyes of Larisa, he gives hope for the future and, taking advantage of the situation, seduces the poor girl, and then confesses that he is engaged - he has “golden chains”. That's when the epiphany comes to the heroine. She understands that everyone around her, even her own mother, looks at her as a thing, for fun.
She does not have the courage to commit suicide, as Katerina did in The Thunderstorm, but she finds the strength to admit that no one has ever tried to look into her soul, she has not seen sympathy from anyone, has not heard a warm word. Larisa passes a terrible sentence to herself: "I did not find love, so I will look for gold." And she is really ready to ride to an exhibition in Paris with the middle-aged merchant Knurov, who won her in the "toss" from a younger rival, she is ready to become his kept woman, that is, to sell herself at a higher price, because for her there is only one consolation: if you are to be a thing, then very expensive.
The finale of this psychological play is a foregone conclusion. Sobered up, but rejected, Karandyshev shoots at Larisa, and for her this becomes a salvation. Now she cannot be bought or sold - she remains free and truly happy. She dies with words of forgiveness on her lips. Thus, the author shows that death is a tragic way out of the insoluble moral contradictions of the time, a sentence to a society that is not able to preserve the treasure of a spiritual personality, beauty and talent.
Moral problems in the play by A. N. Ostrovsky "Dowry". The essence of the dramatic work of A. N. Ostrovsky "Dowry" is to show the contradictions of the surrounding reality through the fate of the characters. The writer, penetrating into the life of the described estates, depicts his heroes in action, revealing their characteristic features. The main theme of Ostrovsky's work is the drama of the individual in society. All lines of the play are devoted to the disclosure of this theme. Speaking of a woman in bourgeois society, the playwright reveals to the reader the true state of affairs.
In a quiet town on the Volga, there lives a girl of marriageable age, Larisa Ogudalova. There are many enviable suitors around, but Larisa is a dowry. Therefore, despite her spiritual qualities, she is at a disadvantage. These men claim Larisa only as a beautiful thing, talking about her as about another business. The lyrical nature of Larisa at first does not understand this, she is looking for love. If not mutual, then at least self-love. Therefore, in the absence of other candidates, she agrees to become the wife of Karandyshev, who loves her. With this decision, she crosses out a year of empty suffering for > another person - Sergei Paratov, deciding that family responsibilities will help to forget about him. But Paratov reappears in her life. He decided to say goodbye to a free single life, maybe he hardly remembers Ogudalova, but Larisa is sure that Sergey Sergeevich came for her sake.
Larisa's mother, Harita Ignatievna, knows what her daughter expects, and her attitude towards her does not differ from the attitude of merchants - she also wants to profitably sell Larisa off her hands. She speaks with disdain to the poor Karandyshev, behaves a little familiarly with Paratov, she agrees with Knurov in everything, understands that he is ready to take his daughter as a kept woman and is glad of this, having received a wardrobe for her daughter and three hundred rubles.
Larisa has self-esteem, and she believes that the lack of a dowry will not stigmatize her. The conflict of the drama is in the contradiction between the girl's expectations and the harsh reality. When Larisa comes face to face with her, she rushes about, trying to maintain her dignity and pride. “Everyone loves themselves. When will someone love me? You will bring me to death ... ”, she says to her fiancé Karandyshev. Larisa cannot change her fate in any way - everything is decided in advance for her by others.
It is regrettable to realize this, but Karandyshev, even if he is in love with Larisa, also treats her as a beautiful soulless thing. For Larisa, this is terrible. After all, she considers love the main advantage of her fiancé. He rejoices that she will become his wife, perceives this event as a profitable deal for himself. He now has something to boast about in front of these rich people! There is something to hurt them! But he is jealous and also hurt, because Larisa does not even hide that she loves Paratov! Because she believes that she waited for her love, having gone through suffering.
Karandyshev has one difference from other male heroes - he acts at the behest of his heart. He tells Larisa that for her sake he is ready for humiliation. How do others behave? What is experiencing for Larisa Paratov? Does she mean more to him than to others, or does he enjoy his power over a girl in love, as well as dexterity in deceiving the groom? How honest are those around her towards Larisa?
Judging by their actions, the main "moral" quality in the merchant environment is a businesslike attitude.
grip. They talk about everything from the point of view of profitability, and feelings have no place where there should be only calculation. Merchants keep their distance from the rest of the population, and they are quite distrustful even towards each other. We learn their moral character in relations with Larisa. The imperious and prudent Knurov is emphatically friendly with her, says that he is obliged to take part in her fate. In fact, this means that he will take advantage of the hopeless situation of the girl.
Paratov is ready for anything for the sake of money, and his relationship with Larisa is like a game of chance, because he believes that everything should be tried in life. Unfortunately, the girl in love does not see his selfishness. The moral image of Sergei Sergeevich Paratov manifests itself for Larisa only when he, having seduced the girl, tells her about his impossibility to marry her. What did he choose? A more financially advantageous marriage to millions. Everyone learns about this event at the very beginning of the play. But, seeing how Larisa rushes about, no one tells her about it, including her childhood friend Vasya Vozhevatov. Vozhevatov is a soulless egoist who is not touched by Larisa's fate. He cannot even offer her help in a critical situation, because he is bound by an honest merchant's word. He plays Larisa in a toss with Knurov,
Knurov is a cynical businessman, he can only say to Ogudalova for the sake of a red word that “I didn’t think for a single minute to offer my hand,” but he is married, so he is ready to give her such satisfaction that all critics of morality will be forced to shut up. That is, there are no immoral acts - there is little money.
So human relations, morality, love, friendship are crossed out for the sake of business relations, for the sake of profit. Here is how Larisa herself sums up her life: “I was looking for love and did not find it. They looked at me and look at me as if they were fun. No one ever tried to look into my soul, I did not see sympathy from anyone, I did not hear a warm, heartfelt word. But it's so cold to live. It’s not my fault, I was looking for love and didn’t find it ... it doesn’t exist in the world ... there’s nothing to look for. I did not find love, so I will look for gold. Larisa makes bybor - she is ready to become a beautiful thing for the rich man Knurov.
As usual, the truth comes from the mouth of the one whose words are not taken seriously. Robinson says to Paratov: merchants are ignorant. And this is the softest characterization that can be given. Karandyshev is the first to open the eyes of the bride to her surroundings, he tells her cruel, but truthful words about those whom she considers friends: “They do not look at you as a woman, as a person - a person controls his own destiny; they look at you like a thing." He believes that he is obliged to protect Larisa and punish her offenders. But a transformation also takes place with him - his love is defiled by jealousy and revenge. He envies merchants and also wants to feel like a master.
After everything that happened, Larisa remains to become a toy for Knurov or die. Therefore, she thanks Karandyshev for accidentally fulfilling her desire: “My dear, what a good deed you have done for me!” Perhaps she herself would not have dared to take her own life, and having become the kept woman of Mokiy Parmenych, she would have lost herself. She takes the blame for her death by covering up for Karandyshev, who spared her further disappointment and suffering.
The inevitability of the tragic ending was prepared by the fact that Larisa does not hold anything in life. Nobody needs her love, the girl is alone in this world. She has lost harmony in her soul and does not see compassion from anyone. The drama of Larisa is that she was born in a world in which only money and power matter.
Alexander Nikolayevich Ostrovsky is an excellent Russian playwright, whose work greatly influenced the development of both Russian literature and the Russian theater. Ostrovsky wrote many plays that have not lost their popularity to this day. They are often staged on the stages of Russian and foreign theaters. One of these works is the drama "Dowry".
The title of the play reflects the everyday side of Larisa's misfortune - she is “a dowry. But, as the plot develops, the reader understands that Larisa's problem lies not only with her poverty, but also with her spiritual inconsistency with this world, with people around her, with society.
Initially, Ostrovsky planned to write a drama in three acts, but after that his plans changed a little.
But a partial change in form did not in the least prevent the playwright from conveying his main idea to the reader and revealing all the problems. The play is built very musically, without any intrusive rhythm. It contains both the everyday side of life, and the drama and internal conflict of the heroine.
The play reveals many different themes: everyday (Ogudalova), comic (Robinson), tragicomic (Karandyshev), lyrical (Larisa), until the intensity of passions, along with the main character, reaches the level of modern drama.
Drama is also very broad. The play covers many moral problems, such as the problem of honor and duty, the sale of a person, the choice of purpose and meaning of life, the problem of a broken dream, the conflict of fathers and children. Also in the "Dowry" social problems are conveyed: the difference in the life and morality of the rich and the poor, as well as the position of women in society.
Many of these issues are still relevant today.
The main idea of the work is that in a bourgeois-capitalist society there are orders that allow rich immoral people to buy others. They treat a person as a thing, each of which has a price. In such a society, where everyone is obsessed with power, a thirst for profit, there is simply no place for morality and humanity.
Ostrovsky masterfully portrayed the heroes of the drama. The prudence, heartlessness and rigidity of Paratov, Vozhevatov and Knurov, the cunning and dexterity of Ogudalova, the emotionality and sensitivity of Larisa are depicted very brightly, but not intrusively in the play. The characters seem to step out of the pages of the play, and their character traits, good or bad, seem as realistic as possible. The author manages to create integral, psychologically full-blooded social types.
Alexander Nikolaevich paid special attention to the language of his characters, to its sound. He tries to convey the social affiliation of the characters not only with the help of characteristic vocabulary, certain words that sometimes look ridiculous in combination with an inappropriate way of speaking. Ostrovsky uses different aspects of speech: morphological, phonetic, syntactic and lexical, in order to more clearly and accurately show the characters' belonging to a certain social environment.
"Dowry" has a very strong effect on the reader. This play makes you think about many moral themes. Reading it, we reflect on justice, honor and honesty, humanity and much more. I believe that this drama is able to touch the deepest corners of the soul of every reader.
Updated: 2017-02-19
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