Alexander Nikolaevich Ostrovsky's play "The Dowry" is rightfully considered a true masterpiece of Russian dramaturgy. It compares favorably with deep psychologism, colorful images, and the acuteness of social and personal issues. We invite you to familiarize yourself with literary analysis works according to a plan that will be useful to students in grade 10 in preparing for a lesson in literature.
Brief analysis
Year of writing- 1874-1878 years.
History of creation- As the basis of the plot, Ostrovsky, who held the honorary position of a justice of the peace, took the real story of the death of a young woman who died at the hands of her own husband. The author worked on the play for four years, from 1874 to 1878. At first, the work did not receive recognition, but after a while it became a resounding success.
Subject- Distorted relationships in a society in which the principles of "purchase and sale" reign. Any person, any act can be bought, the only question is the price.
Composition– A work consisting of four acts is characterized by a linear composition. The first act is the exposition and application (the arrival of Paratov), the second act is the development of the plot ( strong love Larisa to Paratov, for whom she is ready to make great sacrifices), the third act is the culmination (lunch at Karandyshev), the fourth act is the denouement (Larisa's death).
Genre- A play. Socio-psychological drama.
Direction- Realism.
History of writing
In the 70s of the 19th century, Alexander Nikolayevich served as a magistrate of the Kineshma district. On duty, he took part in high-profile court hearings and was well acquainted with criminal chronicle that time. All this gave Ostrovsky, as a writer, a rich literary material which he often used in his works.
Presumably, the plot of "Dowry" was based on real history, which shook the entire Kineshma district, when local Ivan Konovalov killed his own young beautiful wife.
Ostrovsky began writing the play in the autumn of 1874. However, parallel work on other works delayed her writing for four long years. Having successfully passed the censorship, "Dowry" was published in 1879 in the literary magazine "Domestic Notes".
The first performances were a failure and caused sharp criticism in their address. Such rejection was due to the fact that the author managed to open painful ulcers on the body of society. Such courage was not to everyone's taste, and was received with hostility by both theater critics and ordinary readers.
And only in the 90s of the 19th century, almost 10 years after the death of the writer, the well-deserved success came to the play.
Subject
The essence of Ostrovsky's drama fully reflects the meaning of the title- "Dowry". Previously, this was the name of poor girls who did not have a penny for their souls. Their position was very humiliating and difficult - rarely did anyone want to create a family with a dependent, who had to be fully supported all his life. Only beauty, upbringing and inner qualities could attract the attention of a worthy groom, ready to turn a blind eye to the lack of a dowry from the bride.
Thus, the author draws one of serious problems a society in which a person appears as a commodity that can be bought or sold. Few people are interested in the personality of a person, his emotional experiences, since everyone pursues only one goal - not to sell too cheap.
Larisa Ogudalova is a sensitive, kind and vulnerable girl, a real beauty, who, nevertheless, has one significant drawback - the lack of a dowry. They see the meaning of their lives in the search true love, and soon finds her in the face of Sergei Paratov. She sees his image in a kind of halo, endowing him with virtues that do not exist in reality.
However, soon the romantic veil falls from the eyes of the heroine, and she sensibly assesses the current situation. The people around her, including own mother, see in it only luxurious fun, expensive toy to be proud of in society. Even in close circle no one seeks to look into her soul, to show sincere participation in her.
Larisa comes to the sad conclusion that she is a thing that should be sold at a higher price. clash pure soul with vicious material world invariably leads to a tragic denouement - the death of the main character. However, Larisa finds consolation in her death, as it gives her long-awaited freedom.
Composition
In The Dowry, the analysis includes a description compositional structure works. The composition of the play is sustained according to all classical laws, and consists of four acts:
- first act contains an exposition and a plot (a description of the life of Larisa and her family, the arrival of Paratov);
- in the second act a development of events takes place (Larisa is becoming more and more convinced that her personal happiness is possible only with Paratov, and for his sake she is ready to sacrifice a lot);
- third act- climax (lunch at Karandyshev's, Larisa's singing, which, in fact, is a pure and sincere declaration of love for Paratov);
- fourth act- denouement (the death of Larisa, who, at the moment of her death, from the bottom of her heart forgives all those who, one way or another, are guilty of her death).
All events take place during the day, which further enhances the drama of the story. The linear composition allows the author to convey the motives of the behavior of the main characters as accurately as possible. It becomes clear that their actions are largely determined not only by character traits, but also by the environment in which they live.
Main characters
Genre
The play "Dowry" is fully consistent with the genre of drama, since it presents difficult fate the main character, forced to live in a constant conflict of her soul and society.
The purpose of the socio-psychological drama, to which "Dowry" belongs, is to reveal to the reader all the hardships that a person has to face in an alien environment. As a rule, the main characters of the drama are expected internal contradictions, spiritual suffering, and as a result - tragic fate. But at the same time, the drama fully reflects the realities of the surrounding life, making you think about many important problems that prevail in any society.
The heroes of Ostrovsky's plays are most often women. Of course, these women are extraordinary and extraordinary personalities. Suffice it to recall the heroine of the drama Katerina. She is so emotional, impressionable that she stands apart from other heroes of the play. The fate of Katerina is somewhat similar to the fate of another heroine of Ostrovsky. In this case we are talking about the play.
Larisa Ogudalova had to experience the indifference and cruelty of those around her, to endure love drama, and as a result, she dies, just like the heroine of the Storm. But with a seeming similarity, Larisa Ogudalova is the owner of a completely different character than Katerina Kabanova. The girl received an excellent education. She is smart, sophisticated, educated, dreams of beautiful love, but initially her life is very different. She is a dowry. Larisa's mother is very mercenary. She trades in the beauty and youth of her daughters. Larisa's older sisters are already attached thanks to the cares of a resourceful parent, but, unfortunately, their life is very, very tragic.
Larisa Ogudalova falls in love with the brilliant gentleman Sergei Sergeevich Paratov. She sincerely considers him the ideal of a man. The master has a fortune, he fully corresponds to the idea of a noble and an educated person. Its inner essence is revealed later. Larisa is young and inexperienced, so she falls into Paratov's trap and destroys herself. She does not have a strong character and becomes a toy in the hands of others. It comes to the fact that the girl is played in a toss. People around her consider her a thing, expensive and beautiful fun, and her sublime soul, beauty and talent are not important. Karandyshev says to Larisa: They do not look at you as a woman, as a person ... they look at you as a thing.
She herself agrees with this: Thing ... yes, a thing! They are right, I am a thing, I am not a person….
Larisa has an ardent heart, she is sincere and emotional. She generously gives her love, but what does she get in return? For her loved one, Larisa is just another entertainment, fun. Out of desperation, she even agrees to accept Knurov's conditions.
Death is a kind of salvation for Larisa, spiritual salvation, of course. Such a tragic ending saves her from the difficult choice that she is trying to make, saves her from moral death and falling into the abyss called depravity.
A. N. Ostrovsky's drama "Thunderstorm" was published in 1960, on the eve of the revolutionary situation in Russia. The work reflects the impressions of the writer's journey along the Volga in the summer of 1856. But not some specific Volga city and not some specific persons depicted in "Thunderstorm". He reworked all his observations on the life of the Volga region and turned them into deep typical paintings Russian life.
The genre of drama is characterized by the fact that it is based on conflict. individual and the surrounding society. In The Thunderstorm, this person is Katerina Kabanova.
Katerina personifies moral purity, spiritual beauty Russian woman, her desire for will, for freedom, her ability not only to endure, but also to defend her rights, her human dignity. According to Dobrolyubov, she "did not kill human nature in herself."
Katerina - Russian national character. First of all, this is reflected by Ostrovsky, who perfectly owned all the wealth vernacular, in the speech of the heroine. When she speaks, she seems to be singing. Katerina's speech, associated with the common people, brought up on their oral poetry, is dominated by colloquial vernacular vocabulary, which is distinguished by high poetry, figurativeness, and emotionality. The reader feels the musicality and melodiousness, Katya's dialect reminds folk songs. The language of the Ostrov heroine is characterized by repetitions (“on the top three on a good one”, “people are disgusting to me, and the house is disgusting to me, and the walls are disgusting!”), An abundance of caressing and diminutive words (“sunshine”, “voditsa”, “grave”) , comparison (“I didn’t grieve about anything, like a bird in the wild”, “someone affectionately speaks to me, like a dove cooes”). Yearning for Boris, at the moment of the greatest tension of her mental strength, Katerina expresses her feelings in the language folk poetry, exclaiming: “Wild winds, you transfer my sorrow-longing to him!”
The naturalness, sincerity, simplicity of the Ostrov heroine is striking. “I don’t know how to deceive; I can’t hide anything, ”she answers Varvara, who says that you won’t live in their house without deceit. Let's look at Katerina's religiosity. This is not the hypocrisy of Kabanikhi, but a childishly genuine faith in God. She often attends church and does it with pleasure and delight (“And I loved to go to church to death! It’s like, I used to go to heaven”), loves to talk about wanderers (“We had a house full of wanderers and praying women”), Katerina's dreams about "golden temples".
The love of the Ostrov heroine is unreasonable. Firstly, the need for love makes itself felt: after all, it is unlikely that her husband Tikhon, under the influence of "mother", showed his love for his wife very often. Secondly, the feelings of the wife and the woman are offended. Thirdly, the mortal anguish of a monotonous life suffocates Katerina. And, finally, the fourth reason is the desire for will, space: after all, love is one of the manifestations of freedom. Katerina struggles with herself, and this is the tragedy of her situation, but in the end she internally justifies herself. Committing suicide, committing, from the point of view of the church, a terrible sin, she thinks not about the salvation of her soul, but about the love that was revealed to her. "My friend! My joy! Goodbye!" - Here last words Catherine.
Another one characteristic Ostrov’s heroine is “a mature demand for the right and space of life that arises from the depths of the whole organism”, a desire for freedom, spiritual emancipation. To Varvara’s words: “Where will you go, you are your husband’s wife,” Katerina replies: “Oh, Varya, you don’t know my character! Of course, God forbid this happens! And if I get cold here, they won't hold me back by any force. I'll throw myself out the window, I'll throw myself into the Volga. I don’t want to live here, so I won’t, even if you cut me!” It is not for nothing that the image of a bird, a symbol of will, is repeatedly repeated in the play. From here permanent epithet"free Bird". Katerina, remembering how she lived before marriage, compares herself to a bird in the wild. "E Why do people they don't fly like birds, she says to Varvara. “You know, sometimes I feel like I’m a bird.” But the free bird got into an iron cage. And she struggles and yearns in captivity.
The integrity, decisiveness of Katerina's character was expressed in the fact that she refused to obey the routines of the Kabanikhinsky house and preferred death to life in captivity. And this was not a manifestation of weakness, but of spiritual strength and courage, of ardent hatred of oppression and despotism.
So the main thing actor drama "Thunderstorm" comes into conflict with environment. In the fourth act, in the scene of repentance, the denouement seems to be coming. Everything is against Katerina in this scene: both the “thunderstorm of the Lord”, and the cursing half-crazy “lady with two lackeys”, and the ancient painting on the dilapidated wall depicting “gehenna fiery”. poor girl all these signs of the outgoing, but such a tenacious old world almost drove her crazy, and she repents of her sin in a semi-delusion, a state of stupefaction. She herself later confesses to Boris that "she was not free in herself", "she did not remember herself." If the drama "Thunderstorm" ended with this scene, then it would show the invincibility of the "dark kingdom": after all, at the end fourth act triumphant: “What a son! Where will the will lead?
But the drama ends with a moral victory over external forces that fettered Katerina's freedom, and over the dark ideas that fettered her will and mind. And her decision to die, if only not to remain a slave, expresses, according to Dobrolyubov, "the need for the emerging movement of Russian life."
The drama of A. N. Ostrovsky "Dowry" is a wonderful play late period the creativity of the writer. It was conceived in 1874, completed in 1878 and staged in Moscow and St. Petersburg the same year. M. Ermolova, M. Savina, and later V. Komissarzhevskaya - best actors capital theaters - they took on the role of Larisa Ogudalova. What captivated them so this wonderful heroine?
Larisa Ogudalova is distinguished by her truthfulness, sincerity, directness of character, thus reminiscent of Katerina from Thunderstorm. According to Vozhevaty, there is no "cunning" in Larisa Dmitrievna. With the heroine of "Thunderstorm" brings together her high poetry. Larisa is attracted by the trans-Volga distance, the forests across the river, the beauty itself is beckoning - the Volga with its spaciousness. "Earthly, this worldly is not" - notes Knurov. And in fact: it is all as if raised above the dirt of reality, above the vulgarity and baseness of life. In the depths of her soul, like a bird, which she herself looks like, beats a dream of a beautiful and noble, honest and quiet life, Translated from Greek, Larisa means "seagull", and this is no coincidence.
Shouldn't you prefer your mother's lifestyle? Harita Ignatievna, left a widow with three daughters, is constantly cunning and cunning, flattering and fawning, begging from the rich and accepting their handouts. She set up a real noisy "gypsy camp" in her house to create the appearance of beauty and brilliance of life. And all this in order to trade as living goods under the cover of this tinsel. She had already ruined two daughters, now it was the turn of the third to trade. But Larisa cannot accept this way of life of her mother, it is alien to her. The mother tells her daughter to smile, but she wants to cry. And she asks her fiancé to tear her out of this "bazaar" surrounding her, where there are a lot of "all sorts of rabble", to take her away, beyond the Volga.
However, Larisa is a dowry, a poor, penniless bride. She has to put up with it. In addition, she herself managed to catch a craving for external brilliance. Larisa is devoid of integrity of character, her mental life pretty controversial. She not only does not want to see the vulgarity and cynicism of the people around her, but - for quite a long time - she cannot see. All this distinguishes her from Katerina. Abandoning her mother's lifestyle, she exists among vulgar admirers.
Larisa Ogudalova had to experience the indifference and cruelty of those around her, endure a love drama, and as a result she dies, just like the heroine of Thunderstorm. But with a seeming similarity, Larisa Ogudalova is the owner of a completely different character than Katerina Kabanova. The girl received an excellent education, she is smart, sophisticated, educated, dreams of beautiful love, but initially her life is completely different. She is a dowry. Larisa's mother is very mercenary. She trades in the beauty and youth of her daughters.
First, an old man with gout appeared in the house. Larisa clearly does not want this unequal marriage, but "it was necessary to be amiable: mother orders." Then the wealthy manager of some prince, always drunk, would "run in". Larisa is not up to him, but in the house they accept him: "her position is unenviable." Then a certain cashier "appeared" who bombarded Kharita Ignatievna with money. This one repulsed everyone, but did not show off for long. Circumstances helped the bride here: in their house he was arrested with a scandal.
Larisa Ogudalova falls in love with the "brilliant gentleman" Sergei Sergeevich Paratov. She sincerely considers him the ideal of a man. The master has a fortune, he fully corresponds to the idea of a noble and educated person. Its inner essence is revealed later. Larisa is young and inexperienced, so she falls into Paratov's trap and destroys herself. She does not have a strong character and becomes a toy in the hands of others. It comes to the fact that the girl is played in a toss. People around her consider her a thing, expensive and beautiful fun, and her sublime soul, beauty and talent are not important. Karandyshev tells Larisa: "They do not look at you as a woman, as a person ... they look at you as a thing."
She herself agrees with this: "Thing ... yes, thing! They are right, I am a thing, I am not a person ...".
Larisa has an ardent heart, she is sincere and emotional. She generously gives her love, but what does she get in return? For her loved one, Larisa is another entertainment, fun. Out of desperation, she even agrees to accept Knurov's conditions.
Death is a kind of salvation for Larisa, spiritual salvation, of course. Such a tragic ending saves her from the difficult choice that she is trying to make, saves her from moral death and falling into the abyss called depravity.
The only way out that Larisa finds is to leave this world. Larisa at first wanted to commit suicide herself. She went to the cliff and looked down, but unlike Katerina, she did not have the determination and strength to accomplish her plan. Nevertheless, the death of Larisa is a foregone conclusion and prepared by the whole play. Suddenly a shot is heard from the pier (this is what Larisa is frightened of). Then the ax in the hands of Karandyshev is mentioned. He calls certain death falling off a cliff. Larisa talks about Paratov's "indifferent shot" at the coin she was holding. She herself thinks that here on any knot "you can hang yourself", but on the Volga "it's easy to drown yourself everywhere." Robinson anticipates a possible murder. Finally, Larisa dreams: "What if someone killed me now?"
The death of the heroine becomes inevitable, and it comes. In an insane fit of the owner, doing a great good deed for her, Karandyshev kills her. This is the last and involuntary choice of the dowry. Thus ends the tragedy of the main character of Ostrovsky's play.
"Dowry" is a drama about the catastrophe of the individual in an inhuman world. This is a work about the tragedy of an ordinary Russian woman, a dowry with a warm loving heart.
Ostrovsky's drama "Dowry" shows readers the tragedy of Larisa Ogudalova, who has become a weak-willed toy in the hands of others. Larisa Ogudalova, like Katerina Kabanova, the protagonist of another Ostrovsky drama, also becomes a victim. However, Larisa initially has other qualities than Katerina, who grew up in a patriarchal environment. The drama "Dowry" was written in 1879. At this time, capitalist relations had already been established in Russia. This means that patriarchal foundations are gradually losing their relevance.
Larisa Ogudalova received a good education. She is European-style refined. Larisa dreams of love. The girl has a warm heart. She cannot allow her life to be connected with an unloved person. But Larisa's desire for love coincides with her dream and beautiful life. Larisa is poor, but in order to become happy, she also needs wealth.
Larisa is surrounded by petty, ignoble people. Brilliant master Paratov perceives Larisa only as a beautiful thing. This imposing narcissist seems to the girl the embodiment of the ideal. But in fact, Paratov does not have either nobility or kindness. He is selfish, petty, cruel, prudent.
However, Karandyshev, who is not initially perceived as a worthy couple for Larisa, differs little from him. Larisa is young and inexperienced. She does not have strong character to deal with the prevailing circumstances. She seems to be playing by someone else's rules, becoming a toy in someone else's hands. Even Larisa's mother perceives her daughter only as a commodity. She is ready to sacrifice the beauty, youth of Larisa, as this makes it possible to obtain material benefits, to strengthen social status Ogudalov.
Everyone who surrounds Larisa thinks of her exclusively as a thing, an object of entertainment. It is no coincidence that they play it in a toss. All best qualities Larisa, her soul, feelings are of no interest to anyone. People only think about her external beauty. That's what makes it such an attractive toy.
Karandyshev tells Larisa: "They do not look at you as a woman, as a person ... they look at you as a thing." Ogudalova herself agrees with this: “Thing ... yes, thing! They are right, I am a thing, I am not a man...”. In my opinion, the main tragedy girls lies precisely in the fact that Larisa has a warm heart. If she had been cold-blooded, prudent, cunning, Larisa, with her external data and the ability to present herself, would have managed to get along quite well in life. However, the ardor, emotionality, openness of the heroine makes her suffer more from the role that is assigned to her. Love, Larisa's feelings are of no interest to anyone, she is needed solely for entertainment. The girl at the end of the drama is crushed, destroyed. This leads to the fact that the desperate Larisa even agrees to accept Knurov's conditions.
The tragic ending of "Dowry" is a salvation for the heroine, deliverance from humiliation. Now she belongs to no one. Death seems to be a boon for Larisa. After all, humiliated, unhappy, she sees no point in later life. The act of Sergei Sergeevich Paratov makes the girl realize that terrible fact that the end of her life would inevitably be tragic. Yes, now someone other than Sergei Paratov still needs her, but years will pass, youth will fade and Larisa will simply be thrown out by one of the rich landlords, as a worn out and unnecessary thing.
The drama "Dowry" again makes us think about the place of a woman in the world. If in the play "Thunderstorm" Katerina became a victim of the Domostroy way of life, then Larisa is a victim of new, capitalist relations. It is noteworthy that the rules by which society lives are changing. And the woman still remains a powerless creature. Katerina Kabanova finds the strength to protest. After all, her suicide is a clear protest against the reality4 in which the heroine had to live. Larisa lacks the courage to even attempt to protest. She remains a toy in the hands of circumstances to the last. Perhaps the reason for this is the upbringing that Larisa Ogudalova received. If we turn again to the image of Katerina from The Thunderstorm, we can recall that this girl grew up in an atmosphere parental love and guardianship. Therefore, she very sharply perceived her current disenfranchised position. As for the heroine of the drama "Dowry", here, apparently, Larisa was initially prepared by her mother for the role of a commodity, a toy. Hence the passivity of the girl, the lack of desire to fight, to defend her rights.
The fate of Larisa is regrettable. But at the same time, you involuntarily wonder why the heroine, who has an ardent heart, passionately desiring to love, finds no other way out for her passions. After all, she, having received a Europeanized upbringing, could guess that her lover sees in her only entertainment. However, Larisa was brought up in such an atmosphere that the opportunity to profitably sell herself, her beauty and talent seemed quite acceptable. It is no coincidence that Larisa's mother is depicted as very mercenary. It is sad that from the whole environment of Larisa there is no one who would not be so indifferent and cruel to the fate of a young girl.
Larisa Ogudalova - main character A. N. Ostrovsky's play "Dowry", which was first published in " Domestic notes» in 1879. In the dramaturgy of Ostrovsky in the 1970s and 1980s, the theme of the power of money, property, wealth in the era of the "triumph of the bourgeoisie" becomes the main theme. The playwright continues to look for forces in Russian life that could withstand the elements of unbridled predation, humiliation human dignity, cold calculation and selfishness. The writer's anxiety is especially felt for the fate of a person "with a warm heart", who, even at this prudent time, continues to live with feeling, looking for love, understanding, happiness. Such is the heroine of the play "Dowry".
Larisa has everything - intelligence, talent, beauty, sensitivity. She is pure in heart and selfless. She reaches out to people, trusts them, hopes for understanding and a reciprocal feeling. But Larisa is a dowry, and this predetermines her tragic fate.
Larisa's mother seeks to marry off her daughter more profitably, she tries to teach Larisa to live by the rules dictated by time, forcing her daughter to lie, to be nice to richer young people. But the heroine of the play cannot act according to calculation. She gives her heart to Sergey Sergeevich Paratov, handsome, smart and strong. But Paratov is a man of his time, living by the principle: "There is a price for every product." Larisa is also a commodity for him. And he's not ready to pay his material well-being for love and happiness. Paratov marries a rich bride, or rather, in gold mines, which are given to her as a dowry.
Not finding love, Larisa tries to live "like everyone else." She decides to marry the poor Official Yuli Kapitonovich Karandyshev. In her chosen one, Larisa is looking for features worthy of respect: “I should at least respect my husband,” she says. But it is difficult to respect Karandyshev. In his vain attempts to compare with Knurov and Vozhevatov, he looks ridiculous and pathetic. He does not hear Larisa's plea to leave for the village, where she hopes to find at least peace of mind. It is more important for Julius Kapitonovich to “in turn laugh” at those whose humiliations he endured for three years. He is not up to the torment of Larisa!
After breaking up with Karandyshev, after deceiving Paratov, Larisa is looking for simple human sympathy, turning to her childhood friend Vozhevatov: “Well, at least cry with me,” she asks him. However, Vozhevatov has already lost to Knurov the opportunity to influence the fate of Larisa. “I can’t, I can’t do anything,” is Vozhevatov’s answer to Larisa. material from the site
Finding no love, no respect, no simple compassion and understanding, Larisa loses the meaning of life. She says bitterly: “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 cold to live like that.”
Karandyshev's shot becomes for her deliverance from mental anguish, from vulgar life"things", toys in the hands of those who can pay for it. “To die while there is nothing to reproach yourself with yet” is the best that remains for a “hot heart” in the world of calculation and vanity.
This is Larisa's personal tragedy. But this is also the tragedy of a society where money rules and a person's happiness is measured only by their quantity.
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