Larisa Ogudalova is the main character of A. N. Ostrovsky’s play “Dowry,” which was first published in “Notes of the Fatherland” in 1879. In Ostrovsky's dramaturgy of the 70s and 80s, the main theme becomes the power of money, property, and wealth in the era of the “triumph of the bourgeoisie.” The playwright continues to search for forces in Russian life that could resist the elements of unbridled predation, humiliation of human dignity, cold calculation and selfishness. The writer’s concern for the fate of a person “with a warm heart” is especially felt, who, even in this calculating time, continues to live by feeling, looking for love, understanding, and happiness. Such is the heroine of the play “Dowry”.
Larisa has everything - intelligence, talent, beauty, sensitivity. She is pure in soul and selfless. She reaches out to people, believes them, hopes for understanding and reciprocal feelings. But Larisa is homeless, and this predetermines her tragic fate.
Larisa's mother strives to get her daughter married at a better price; she is trying to teach Larisa to live by the rules that time dictates, forcing her daughter to lie and be nice to richer young people. But the heroine of the play cannot act according to calculation. She gives her heart to Sergei Sergeevich Paratov, handsome, smart and strong. But Paratov is a man of his time, living by the principle: “Every product has a price.” Larisa is also a commodity for him. And he is not ready to pay his material well-being for love and happiness. Paratov marries a rich bride, or rather, the gold mines that 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 looks for traits 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 go to the village, where she hopes to find at least peace of mind. It is more important for Yuliy Kapitonovich to “in turn laugh” at those whose humiliation he endured for three years. He has no time for Larisa’s torment!
After breaking up with Karandyshev, after Paratov’s deception, Larisa seeks simple human sympathy, turning to her childhood friend Vozhevatov: “Well, at least cry with me,” she asks him. However, Vozhevatov has already lost the opportunity to influence Larisa’s fate in a toss to Knurov. “I can’t, I can’t do anything,” is Vozhevatov’s answer to Larisa. Material from the site
Having found neither love, nor respect, nor simple compassion and understanding, Larisa loses the meaning of life. She says bitterly: “They looked at me and look at me as if I was a joke. No one ever tried to look into my soul, I didn’t see sympathy from anyone, I didn’t hear a warm, heartfelt word. But it’s cold to live like this.”
Karandyshev’s shot becomes for her a deliverance from mental anguish, from the vulgar life of a “thing”, a toy in the hands of those who can pay for it. “To die while there is still nothing to reproach yourself with” is the best thing 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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The drama by A. N. Ostrovsky "Dowry" is a wonderful play late period writer's creativity. It was conceived in 1874, completed in 1878 and staged in Moscow and St. Petersburg in the same year. M. Ermolova, M. Savina, and later V. Komissarzhevskaya - best actors capital theaters- took on the role of Larisa Ogudalova. What captivated them so much with this wonderful heroine?
Larisa Ogudalova is distinguished by her truthfulness, sincerity, and directness of character, thereby reminiscent of Katerina from “The Thunderstorm.” According to Vozhevaty, Larisa Dmitrievna “has no cunning.” What brings her closer to the heroine of “The Thunderstorm” is her high poetry. Larisa is attracted by the Trans-Volga distance, the forests beyond the river, beckoned by the beauty itself - the Volga with its spaciousness. “There is no earthly, this worldly thing,” notes Knurov. And in fact: she all seems to be raised above the dirt of reality, above the vulgarity and baseness of life. In the depths of her soul, like a bird that she herself resembles, beats the dream of a beautiful and noble, honest and quiet life, Translated from Greek, Larisa means “seagull”, and this is no coincidence.
Shouldn't I prefer my mother's lifestyle? Kharita Ignatievna, left a widow with three daughters, is constantly cunning and cunning, flattering and ingratiating, 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 splendor of life. And all this in order to trade in human goods under the cover of this tinsel. She has already ruined two daughters, now it’s her turn to sell the third. But Larisa cannot accept her mother’s lifestyle; it is alien to her. The mother tells her daughter to smile, but she wants to cry. And she asks her groom to tear her out of this “bazaar” surrounding her, where there is a lot of “all sorts of rabble,” and to take her further away, beyond the Volga.
However, Larisa is a dowryless, poor, cash-strapped bride. She has to put up with it. In addition, she herself managed to become infected with a craving for external brilliance. Larisa lacks integrity of character, her mental life is quite contradictory. Not only does she not want to see the vulgarity and cynicism of the people around her, but for quite a long time she cannot discern it. All this distinguishes her from Katerina. Refusing her mother's lifestyle, she exists among vulgar admirers.
Larisa Ogudalova had to experience the indifference and cruelty of those around her, to survive love drama, and as a result she dies, just like the heroine of “The Thunderstorm”. But despite the apparent similarity, Larisa Ogudalova has 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 turns out completely differently. She is homeless. Larisa's mother is very selfish. She sells 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 “I had to be nice: mummy orders.” Then the rich manager of some prince came running, always drunk. Larisa has no time for him, but in the house they accept him: “her position is unenviable.” Then a certain cashier “appeared”, showering Kharita Ignatievna with money. This one fought off everyone, but didn’t show off for long. Circumstances here helped the bride: he was arrested in their house with a scandal.
Larisa Ogudalova falls in love with the “brilliant master” Sergei Sergeevich Paratov. She sincerely considers him the ideal man. The master has a fortune, he fully corresponds to the idea of a noble and educated person. His inner essence is revealed later. Larisa is young and inexperienced, so she falls into Paratov’s trap and ruins herself. She doesn't have strong character and becomes a toy in the hands of others. It comes to the point where the girl is being played toss. Those around her consider her a thing, an expensive and beautiful amusement, but her sublime soul, beauty and talent turn out to be unimportant. Karandyshev tells Larisa: “They don’t look at you as a woman, as a person... they look at you as a thing.”
She herself agrees with this: “A thing... yes, a thing! They are right, I am a thing, I am not a person...”.
Larisa has a passionate 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 form of entertainment and fun. Out of despair, she even agrees to accept Knurov’s conditions.
Death is a kind of salvation for Larisa, a spiritual salvation, of course. Such a tragic ending saves her from the difficult choice she is trying to make, saves her from moral ruin and falling into the abyss called depravity.
The only way out that Larisa finds is leaving this world. Larisa first wanted to commit suicide herself. She approached the cliff and looked down, but unlike Katerina, she did not have enough determination and strength to accomplish her plan. However, Larisa's death is predetermined and prepared by the entire play. Suddenly a shot is heard from the pier (this is what Larisa is scared of). Then the ax in Karandyshev’s hands is mentioned. He calls certain death a fall from a cliff. Larisa talks about Paratov’s “indifferent shot” at the coin she was holding in her hands. She herself thinks that here on any branch “you can hang yourself,” but on the Volga “it’s easy to drown yourself everywhere.” Robinson has a premonition of a possible murder. Finally, Larisa dreams: “If only someone would kill me now?”
The death of the heroine becomes inevitable, and it comes. In a mad fit of ownership, performing a great deed for her, Karandyshev kills her. This is the last and involuntary choice of the homeless woman. This is how the tragedy ends main character Ostrovsky's plays.
"Dowry" is a drama about the catastrophe of personality in an inhuman world. This work is about the tragedy of an ordinary Russian woman, a homeless woman with a warm, loving heart.
“He showed not only the morals, priorities, traditions of businessmen, boyars, and petty officials, but also the personal drama of a woman in love. And this woman is Larisa Ogudalova.
Larisa has a poetic soul striving for love and happiness. She is well brought up, gifted with beauty and intelligence. Her character is opposed to the foundations of the “new time”. Ogudalova lives in a world of businessmen, where main value is money, where everything is bought and sold, where “every product has a price.”
Larisa is the main product of the play. “I am a doll for you; “If you play with me, you’ll break me and throw me away,” she says. It is sold by mother, childhood friend Vozhevatov, Knurov, Paratov, and even Karandyshev. So, Karandyshev, organizing a dinner in honor of Larisa, decided to simply show off the acquired “toy” and show his superiority over others: “I have the right to be proud and I am proud! She understood me, appreciated me and preferred me to everyone else.”
Vozhevatov and Knurov throw a coin to see who will get such a decoration. But Larisa doesn’t care about them. All her thoughts and feelings are connected with Paratov, but Paratov is only concerned about his condition. As soon as he has problems, he immediately drives off, forgetting to say goodbye to Larisa. She forgives him for this. And as soon as he returns, Larisa already feels the precariousness of her position: “You are drowning me, pushing me into the abyss.” She asks to go further away, to the village, just as Katerina, the heroine of the play “The Thunderstorm,” asked to take an oath from Tikhon.
Larisa wants to protect herself from the act that her heart strives for. But Karandyshev does not support Larisa, just as Tikhon did not support Ekaterina. Karandyshev cares only about pride. So Larisa is left alone with her fears.
Upon arrival, Paratov does not remember Larisa until Vozhevatov informs him that Larisa is getting married. Paratov also marries, or rather, the process of buying and selling occurs again: in exchange for his freedom, he acquires gold mines. Paratov wants to play for the last time, and Larisa is a great toy. He gives her the most terrible thing - faith in happiness. “I dream of one bliss: to be your slave; I lost more than a fortune, I lost you,” says Paratov. He deceives, talks about love when there is not even a grain of pity in him. Larisa believes him and plunges headlong into the pool.
Paratov’s goal has been achieved: Larisa, maddened by her love, with faith and hope in their future together, agrees to be his entirely. However, in the morning, when Larisa asks if she can consider herself his wife, Paratov “remembers” that he is bound by chains that he cannot break. This does not stop Larisa: “I will share this burden with you, I will take on most of the burden,” until Paratov admits that he is engaged. Larisa was trampled, her love was not cared for, her feelings were trampled into the dirt, they laughed in her face. And again fate plays with her, Knurov offers to buy her. She is disgusted, she is sick of this world.
She tries to die, but she doesn’t succeed: “What is holding me over this abyss, what is stopping me? Oh, no, no... not Knurov... luxury, brilliance... no, no... I’m far from vanity... Debauchery... oh, no... I just don’t have the determination.” At the denouement, Larisa falls in the struggle and accepts the position that society assigned her from the very beginning: “Yes, a thing,... I am a thing, not a person;... Each thing has its own price... I am too expensive for you.” But Larisa’s tragedy is different, her words sound like thunder in “The Thunderstorm”: “I was looking for love and didn’t find it. They looked at me and look at me as if I was a joke... I was looking for love and didn’t find it... it doesn’t exist in the world, there’s nothing to look for. I haven’t found love, so I’ll look for gold.” Larisa is lying, she doesn’t need gold, she doesn’t need anything. That is why, when Karandyshev shoots Larisa, she thanks him.
There were several options for the outcome of events in her life. Until the last minutes, Larisa loved Paratov, and if she had remained alive, she would have been able to forgive him once again, and if he had accidentally returned to the city again, she would have believed him again, and again found herself deceived. Larisa could become Knurov's luxury, but for her it is exactly death. She would never have become Karandyshev’s wife; Karandyshev’s patronage is a grave insult. Be that as it may, Larisa would not have found happiness, there is no love for her in this world, because in those days, love was felt only for money, and not for people.
Many poets and writers dedicated their lines to women, the beautiful half of humanity. In Russian literature, the image of a woman was depicted with great warmth, her best features were sung: loyalty, sincerity, beauty, intelligence, nobility, tenderness and selfless love.
Larisa is an unusually interesting and attractive character in A.N. Ostrovsky's play "Dowry".
The meaning of the life of the main character is love. Larisa is a beautiful, smart, gentle, multi-talented girl with a pure soul. She lives in a provincial town, in a family without sufficient means of subsistence. But the girl does not chase a successful match, she waits and hopes that true love will come to her.
Kharita Ignatievna is trying to arrange the fate of her daughter, so she is busy looking for the best groom, but the main condition is money. The girl’s mother is not interested in the education and decency of the groom, just to marry off her daughter more profitably.
Frequent receptions are held in the house with the money of Knurov and Vozhevatov. The audience is very diverse: rich merchants and the modest Karandyshev, officials and the brilliant nobleman Sergei Sergeevich Paratov. Larisa fell in love with Sergei Sergeevich with all her soul. He is handsome, charming, smart, courteous and calculating. But the girl does not notice his shortcomings, forgives him any sin, condemns herself to shame for his pleasure and is ready to follow him to the ends of the world.
Having squandered his fortune, Paratov is forced to marry a rich bride. Larisa is deceived, disgraced and abandoned. Desperate, she is ready to marry Karandyshev, hoping to find peace with him. Childhood friend Vasya Vozhevatov plays her toss with the elderly and serious merchant Knurov. Like a person , Larisa is not interested in any of them. For them, she is a “thing,” dear and beautiful. Having lost everything, the girl is ready to become a “thing.” Karandyshev’s shot brings her deliverance: she dies free, without becoming anyone’s. Larisa’s death is perceived as deliverance from torment: “I was looking for love and didn’t find it. They looked at me and look at me as if I was a joke. No one ever tried to look into my soul, I didn’t see sympathy from anyone, I didn’t hear a warm, heartfelt word.”
Sincere and proud Larisa was alien to cunning and lies, she is a woman with a “warm heart”. Such people are not capable of compromise. They can either win or die. Beauty and youth are ruined, but Larisa dies free.
Ostrovsky "Dowry" - essay "The tragic fate of Larisa in the "dark kingdom" (based on the play "Dowry" by A. N. Ostrovsky)"
The heroes of Ostrovsky's plays most often become women. Of course, these women are extraordinary and extraordinary individuals. Suffice it to recall the heroine of the drama “The Thunderstorm” Katerina. She is so emotional and impressionable that she stands apart from the other characters in the play. Katerina's fate is somewhat similar to the fate of Ostrovsky's other heroine. IN in this case We are talking about the play “Dowry”.
Larisa Ogudalova had to experience the indifference and cruelty of those around her, survive a love drama, and as a result she dies, just like the heroine of “The Thunderstorm”. But despite the apparent similarity, Larisa Ogudalova has 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 turns out completely differently. She is homeless. Larisa's mother is very selfish. She sells the beauty and youth of her daughters. Larisa’s older sisters have already been “settled in” thanks to the care of their resourceful parent, but, unfortunately, their lives are developing very, very tragically.
Larisa Ogudalova falls in love with the “brilliant master” Sergei Sergeevich Paratov. She sincerely considers him the ideal man. The master has a fortune, he fully corresponds to the idea of a noble and educated person. His inner essence is revealed later. Larisa is young and inexperienced, so she falls into Paratov’s trap and ruins herself. She does not have a strong character and becomes a toy in the hands of others. It comes to the point where the girl is being played toss. Those around her consider her a thing, an expensive and beautiful amusement, but her sublime soul, beauty and talent turn out to be unimportant. Karandyshev tells Larisa: “They don’t look at you as a woman, as a person... they look at you as a thing.”
She herself agrees with this: “A 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 form of entertainment and fun. Out of despair, she even agrees to accept Knurov’s conditions.
Death is a kind of salvation for Larisa, a 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.