The history of the creation of the play is Ostrovsky's dowry. Ostrovsky, "Dowry": analysis and characteristics of the heroes of History

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drama

Alexander Nikolaevich Ostrovsky

"Bridal girl"- a play by Alexander Nikolaevich Ostrovsky. Work on it lasted four years - from 1874 to 1878. The premiere performances of The Dowry took place in the fall of 1878 and aroused protests from spectators and theater critics. Success came to the work after the death of the author.

• 1 History of creation
• 2 Characters
• 3 Plot
  • 3.1 Action one
  • 3.2 Second action
  • 3.3 Action three
  • 3.4 Action four
• 4 Stage destiny. Reviews
• 5 Artistic features
  • 5.1 Main characters
  • 5.2 City image
  • 5.3 Names and surnames of characters
• 6 Screen adaptations
• 7 Notes
• 8 Literature

History of creation

In the 1870s, Alexander Ostrovsky served as an honorary magistrate in the Kineshma district. Participation in the processes and acquaintance with the criminal chronicle gave him the opportunity to find new themes for his works. Researchers suggest that the plot of "Dowry" was suggested to the playwright by life itself: one of the resonant cases that stirred up the entire district was the murder of a local resident Ivan Konovalov of his young wife.

Coming to a new composition in November 1874, the playwright made a note: "Opus 40". The work, contrary to expectations, proceeded slowly; in parallel with "The Dowry" Ostrovsky wrote and published several more works. Finally, in the fall of 1878, the play was completed. Those days, the playwright told one of the actors he knew:

I have already read my play in Moscow five times, among the listeners there were persons who were hostile to me, and everyone unanimously recognized "Dowry" as the best of all my works.

Further events also indicated that the new play was doomed to success: it easily passed the censorship, the Otechestvennye Zapiski magazine began to prepare the work for publication, the troupes of the Maly Theater and then the Alexandrinsky Theater began rehearsals. However, the premiere performances in Moscow and St. Petersburg ended in failures; reviews from critics were rife with harsh assessments. Only ten years after the death of the author, in the second half of the 1890s, recognition of the audience came to the "Dowry"; it was associated primarily with the name of the actress Vera Komissarzhevskaya.

Characters

• Kharita Ignatievna Ogudalova is a middle-aged widow, mother of Larisa Dmitrievna.
• Larisa Dmitrievna Ogudalova is a young girl surrounded by admirers, but without a dowry.
• Mokiy Parmenych Knurov is a big businessman, an elderly man with a huge fortune.
• Vasily Danilych Vozhevatov - a young man who has known Larisa since childhood; one of the representatives of a wealthy trading company.
• Julius Kapitonich Karandyshev is a poor official.
• Sergei Sergeich Paratov is a brilliant master, of the ship owners, over 30 years old.
• Robinson is a provincial actor Arkady Schastlivtsev.
• Gavrilo is a club bartender and owner of a coffee shop on the boulevard.
• Ivan is a servant in a coffee shop.
• Ilya is a musician of the gypsy choir.
• Efrosinya Potapovna is Karandyshev's aunt.

Plot

Action one

The action takes place on the site in front of the coffee shop, located on the banks of the Volga. Local merchants Knurov and Vozhevatov talk here. In the course of the conversation, it turns out that the ship owner Paratov is returning to the city. A year ago Sergei Sergeevich hastily left Bryakhimov; the departure was so swift that the master did not have time to say goodbye to Larisa Dmitrievna Ogudalova. She, being a "sensitive" girl, even rushed to catch up with her beloved; she was returned from the second station.

According to Vozhevatov, who has known Larisa since childhood, her main problem is the lack of a dowry. Harita Ignatieva, the girl's mother, in an effort to find a suitable groom for her daughter, keeps the house open. However, after Paratov's departure, applicants for the role of Larissa's husband came across unenviable ones: an old man with gout, an ever-drunk manager of some prince and a fraudulent cashier who was arrested right in the Ogudalovs' house. After the scandal, Larisa Dmitrievna announced to her mother that she would marry the first person she met. It turned out to be a poor official, Karandyshev. Listening to the story of a colleague, Knurov notices that this woman was created for luxury; it, like an expensive diamond, needs an “expensive setting”.

Soon the mother and daughter of the Ogudalovs appear on the site, accompanied by Karandyshev. Larisa Dmitrievna's fiance invites coffee shop visitors to his dinner party. Kharita Ignatievna, seeing Knurov's contemptuous bewilderment, explains that "it's like we have lunch for Larisa." After the merchants leave, Yuliy Kapitonovich arranges a scene of jealousy for the bride; to his question, what is Paratov good for, the girl replies that she sees in Sergei Sergeevich the ideal of a man.

When a cannon shot is heard on the shore, announcing the arrival of the master, Karandyshev takes Larisa out of the coffee shop. However, the institution is not empty for long: a few minutes later the owner Gavrilo meets all the same merchants and Sergei Sergeevich, who arrived in Bryakhimov together with actor Arkady Schastlivtsev, nicknamed Robinson. The name of the book hero, as Paratov explains, the actor received because he was found on a deserted island. The conversation of old acquaintances is being built around the sale by Paratov of the steamer "Swallow" - from now on, Vozhevatov will become its owner. In addition, Sergei Sergeevich reports that he is going to marry the daughter of an important gentleman, and takes gold mines as a dowry. The news of the upcoming marriage of Larisa Ogudalova makes him think. Paratov admits that he feels a little guilt towards the girl, but now "the old scores are over."

Second action

The events unfolding in the second act take place in the Ogudalovs' house. While Larisa is changing clothes, Knurov appears in the room. Kharita Ignatievna meets the merchant as a dear guest. Mokiy Parmenych makes it clear that Karandyshev is not the best game for such a brilliant young lady as Larisa Dmitrievna; in her situation, the patronage of a rich and influential person is much more useful. Along the way, Knurov reminds that the bride's wedding dress should be exquisite, and therefore the entire wardrobe should be ordered in the most expensive store; he takes care of all the expenses.

After the merchant left, Larisa informs her mother that she intends to leave with her husband to Zabolotye, a distant district, immediately after the wedding, where Yuliy Kapitonych will run for magistrate. However, Karandyshev, appearing in the room, does not share the desire of the bride: he is annoyed by Larisa's haste. fervor, the groom makes a long speech that all Bryakhimov has gone mad; cabbies, taverns in taverns, gypsies - everyone is happy with the arrival of the master, who, having squandered in revelry, is forced to sell "the last steamer."

Next comes Paratov's turn to pay a visit to the Ogudalovs. First, Sergei Sergeevich mentally communicates with Kharita Ignatievna. Later, left alone with Larisa, she wonders how long a woman is able to live apart from her beloved. The girl is tormented by this conversation; when asked if she loves Paratova, as before, Larissa replies - yes.

Paratov's acquaintance with Karandyshev begins with a conflict: having uttered the saying that “one loves a watermelon, and the other loves a pork cartilage,” Sergei Sergeyevich explains that he learned the Russian language from barge haulers. These words cause indignation of Yuliy Kapitonovich, who believes that barge haulers are rude, ignorant people. Harita Ignatievna stops the growing quarrel: she orders to bring champagne. Peace has been restored, but later, in a conversation with merchants, Paratov admits that he will find an opportunity to "make fun" of the groom.

Act three

There is a dinner party at Karandyshev's house. Yulia Kapitonovich's aunt, Efrosinya Potapovna, complains to the servant Ivan that this event takes too much effort, and the costs are too high. It's good that we managed to save on wine: the seller released a batch of six hryvnias per bottle, re-gluing the labels.

Larisa, seeing that the guests did not touch the offered dishes and drinks, feels ashamed for the groom. The situation is aggravated by the fact that Robinson, who is entrusted with watering the owner to complete insensibility, suffers loudly due to the fact that instead of the declared Burgundy he has to use some kind of "kinder balsam".

Paratov, demonstrating affection towards Karandyshev, agrees to have a drink with his rival for brotherhood. When Sergei Sergeevich asks Larisa to sing, Yuliy Kapitonovich tries to protest. Answer Larissa takes the guitar and sings the romance "Don't tempt me unnecessarily." Her singing makes a strong impression on those present. Paratov confesses to the girl that he is tormented by the fact that he has lost such a treasure. He immediately invites the young lady to go beyond the Volga. While Karandyshev is proclaiming a toast in honor of his bride and looking for new wine, Larisa says goodbye to her mother.

Returning with champagne, Yuliy Kapitonovich discovers that the house is empty. The desperate monologue of the deceived groom is dedicated to the drama of a funny man who, being angry, is capable of revenge. Grabbing a pistol from the table, Karandyshev rushes in search of the bride and her friends.

Action four

Returning from a night walk along the Volga, Knurov and Vozhevatov are discussing the fate of Larisa. Both understand that Paratov will not exchange a rich bride for a dowry. To remove the question of possible rivalry, Vozhevatov proposes to solve everything with the help of a lot. A thrown coin indicates that Knurov will take Larissa to the exhibition in Paris.

Meanwhile, Larisa, climbing up the hill from the pier, has a difficult conversation with Paratov. She is interested in one thing: is she now a wife to Sergei Sergeyevich or not? The news that the beloved is engaged becomes a shock for the girl.

She is sitting at a table not far from the coffee shop when Knurov appears. He invites Larisa Dmitrievna to the French capital, guaranteeing, in case of consent, the highest content and execution of any whims. Next comes Karandyshev. He tries to open the bride's eyes to her friends, explaining that they see only a thing in her. The found word seems to Larissa to be successful. Telling her ex-fiancé that he is too small and insignificant for her, the young lady ardently declares that, not finding love, she will look for gold.

Karandyshev, listening to Larissa, takes out a pistol. The shot is accompanied by the words: "So don't get it to anyone!" To Paratov and the merchants who ran out of the coffee shop, Larisa informs in a fading voice that she is not complaining about anything and is not offended by anyone.

Stage destiny. Reviews

The premiere at the Maly Theater, where the role of Larisa Ogudalova was played by Glykeriya Fedotova, and Alexander Lensky was Paratov, took place on November 10, 1878. The excitement around the new play was unprecedented; in the hall, as the reviewers later reported, “all Moscow gathered, loving the Russian scene,” including the writer Fyodor Dostoevsky. The expectations, however, did not come true: according to the testimony of the observer of the newspaper "Russkiye vedomosti", "the playwright tired the entire audience, even the most naive spectators." This was the most deafening failure in Ostrovsky's creative biography.

The first production on the stage of the Alexandrinsky Theater, where the main role was played by Maria Savina, caused less derogatory responses. Thus, the St. Petersburg newspaper "Novoye Vremya" admitted that the performance based on "Bride" made a "strong impression" on the audience. However, there was no need to talk about success: a critic of the same publication, a certain K., lamented that Ostrovsky spent a lot of effort on creating an interesting story about a "silly, seduced girl":

Those who expected a new word, new types from the venerable playwright are cruelly mistaken; instead of them, we got updated old motives, got a lot of dialogues instead of actions. Vera Komissarzhevskaya as Larisa Ogudalova

Critics and actors who participated in "Dowry" were not spared. The capital newspaper "Birzhevye Vedomosti" (1878, No. 325) noted that Glykeriya Fedotova "did not understand the role at all and played badly." The journalist and writer Pyotr Boborykin, who published an article in Russkiye Vedomosti (1879, March 23), remembered in the work of the actress only "the imagination and falsity from the first step to the last word." Actor Lensky, according to Boborykin, when creating the image made too obvious an emphasis on the white gloves that his hero Paratov put on "without any need every minute." Mikhail Sadovsky, who played the role of Karandyshev on the Moscow stage, presented, in the words of the Novoye Vremya observer, "a poorly conceived type of official-groom."

In September 1896, the play, which had long been removed from the repertoire, undertook to revive the Alexandrinsky Theater. The role of Larisa Ogudalova played by Vera Komissarzhevskaya at first caused the familiar irritation of the reviewers: they wrote that the actress "played unevenly, in the last act she hit melodramaticism." However, the audience understood and accepted a new stage version of The Dowry, in which the heroine was not between the suitors, but above them; the play gradually began to return to the theaters of the country.

Performances

• 1932 - Drama Theater "Comedy" (former Korsh Theater). Fast. Vasily Sakhnovsky and Elizaveta Telesheva. Larisa - Vera Popova, Karandyshev - Anatoly Ktorov, Paratov - Nikolai Sosnin, Ogudalova - Nadezhda Borskaya, Knurov - Semyon Mezhinsky, Vozhevatov - Mikhail Bolduman, Robinson - Boris Petker, Evfrosinya Potapovna - Maria Blumenthal-Tamarina.
• 1935 - Bolshoi Drama Theater. Fast. Sergey Morshchin, thin. Alexander Samokhvalov, comp. Mikhail Chulaki.
• 1936 - Yaroslavl Theater. Fast. Arkady Nadezhdov, thin Nikolay Medovshchikov. Larisa - Chudinova.
• 1937 - People's Theater (Sofia). Fast. Nikolai Massalitinov, thin. Milenkov and Georgiev. Larisa - Petran Gerganova, Karandyshev - Konstantin Kisimov, Paratov - Vladimir Trandafilov.
• 1939 - Theater. M. Azizbekova (Baku). Fast. Sharifova, thin. Efimenko. Larisa - Kadri, Paratov - Afganly, Knurov - Aliev.
• 1940 - Theater of the Revolution. Fast. Yuri Zavadsky, artistic director Vladimir Dmitriev. Larisa - Maria Babanova, Karandyshev - Sergey Martinson, Paratov - Mikhail Astangov, Knurov - Osip Abdulov, Ogudalova - Anna Bogdanova.
• 1944 - Saratov Drama Theater. Karl Marx. Fast. Andrey Efremov, thin. Konstantin Kisimov; Larisa - Valentina Soboleva, Karandyshev - Ivan Slonov, Paratov - Muratov, Knurov - Karganov, Robinson - Petrov.
• 1944 - Theater. K. A. Mardzhanishvili (Tbilisi). Fast. Tabliashvili, thin Sumbatashvili. Larisa - Veriko Anjaparidze, Karandyshev - Georgy Gotsireli, Paratov - Kabakhidze, Ogudalova - Cecilia Takaishvili, Knurov - Shalva Gambashidze.
• 1944 - Theater. Hamzy (Tashkent). Larisa - Ishanturaeva, Paratov - A. Khodzhaev.
• 1946 - Theater. G. Sundukyan (Yerevan). Fast. Gurgen Janibekyan, artist Lokshin, Larisa - Rozanna Vartanyan, Paratov - David Malyan, Ogudalova - Olga Gulazyan, Robinson - Avet Avetisyan.
• 1948 - Maly Theater. Fast. Konstantin Zubov, dir. Lev Prozorovsky and Boris Nikolsky, thin. Vladimir Kozlinsky, musician design by S. M. Boguchevsky. Larisa - Konstanzia Roek, Karandyshev - Alexander Afanasyev, Paratov - Boris Telegin, Ogudalova - Sofya Fadeeva, Knurov - Vladimir Vladislavsky, Robinson - Nikolai Svetlovidov, Evfrosinya Potapovna - Varvara Ryzhova.
• 1948 - Bolshoi Drama Theater. Fast. Ilya Shlepyanov, thin. Vladimir Dmitriev. Larisa - Nina Olkhina, Karandyshev - Vitaly Poliseimako, Paratov - Bruno Freundlich, Vozhevatov - Pavel Pankov, Ogudalova - Anna Nikritina, Knurov - Alexander Larikov, Robinson - Vasily Sofronov. Guitar part - Sergey Sorokin.
• 1948 - Latvian Drama Theater (Riga). Fast. Vera Balun. Larisa - Velta Line, Knurov - Alfred Amtmanis-Brieditis.
• 1948 - Theater. A. Lakhuti (Stalinabad).
• 1950 - Lithuanian Drama Theater (Vilnius).
• 1951 - Kyrgyz Drama Theater (Frunze). Larisa - Kydykeeva, Karandyshev - Sargaldaev, Knurov - Ryskulov.
• 1952 - Bolshoi Drama Theater. Resumption of the production by Ilya Shlepyanov. The director of the renewal is Isai Sonne. Renewal artist Illarion Belitsky.
• 1953 - Bashkir Drama Theater (Ufa). Dir. Brill, thin. Kalimullin. Larisa - Bikbulatova.
• 1953 - Theater. K. S. Stanislavsky. Dir. Mikhail Yanshin, art director Boris Volkov. Larisa - Lilia Gritsenko, Karandyshev - Sergey Markushev, Paratov - Boris Belousov, Robinson - Boris Lifanov.
• 1953 - Theater "Powshechny" (Warsaw).
• 1954 - People's Theater (Plovdiv).
• 1973 - Odessa Drama Theater. Fast. Matvey Osherovsky. Larisa - Svetlana Pelikhovskaya.
• 1983 - Tatar State Academic Theater named after G. Kamal (Kazan). Dir. Marcel Salimzhanov, thin. Rashit Gazeev, muses. Fuat Abubakirov. Larisa - Alsu Gainullina, Ogudalova - Halima Iskanderova, Karandyshev - Rinat Tazetdinov, Paratov - Nail Dunaev, Knurov - Shaukat Biktemirov, Vozhevatov - Ildus Akhmetzyanov, Robinson - Ravil Sharafeev.
• 1997 (?) - Voronezh Drama Theater. Fast. Anatoly Ivanov, art director Larisa and Mikhail Kurchenko.
• 2002 - Baltic House. Staged by Anatoly Proudin, artist Alexander Mokhov.
• 2008 - Workshop of P. Fomenko. Production by Pyotr Fomenko, artist Vladimir Maksimov.
• 2012 - Theater on Vasilievsky (St. Petersburg). Production by Denis Khusniyarov, artist Nikolai Slobodyanik, choreography by Yegor Druzhinin.
• 2012 - Maly Theater
• 2014 - Moscow Academic Theater. V. Mayakovsky. Production by Lev Ehrenburg, production designer Valery Polunovsky.

Artistic features

Literary critic Boris Kostelyanets, studying the history of The Dowry, came to the conclusion that the negative reaction of Ostrovsky's contemporaries was associated both with the “innovative nature of the play itself” and with the uneasy relationship that developed between the playwright and the audience. Literary critic Alexander Skabichevsky wrote in the mid-1870s that Ostrovsky is one of the authors whose works the theatrical community has always studied with particular scrupulousness. "The Dowry" became for Ostrovsky a "questing play"; she "kind of anticipated the poetics of Chekhov's drama." The same accusations about the lack of dynamics will later be heard from critics by both the author of The Seagull and Leo Tolstoy, who presented the play The Living Corpse to the public.

main characters

Larissa, included in the gallery of notable female images of literature of the second half of the 19th century, strives for independent actions; she feels like a person capable of making decisions. However, the impulses of the young heroine collide with the cynical morality of society, which perceives her as an expensive, refined thing.

The girl is surrounded by four fans, each of whom is trying to get her attention. At the same time, according to researcher Vladimir Lakshin, it is not love that drives Larissa's boyfriends. So, Vozhevatov is not very distressed when the lot in the form of a thrown coin points to Knurov. He, in turn, is ready to wait for Paratov to enter the game in order to later "take revenge and take the broken heroine to Paris." Karandyshev also perceives Larisa as a thing; however, unlike his rivals, he does not want to see his beloved someone else's thing. The simplest explanation of all the troubles of the heroine, associated with the lack of a dowry, is broken by the theme of loneliness, which the young Ogudalova carries in herself; her inner orphanhood is so great that the girl looks "incompatible with the world."

Critics perceived Larisa as a kind of "continuation" of Katerina from Ostrovsky's play "The Thunderstorm" (they are united by ardor and recklessness of feelings, which led to a tragic ending); at the same time, traits of other heroines of Russian literature were found in her - we are talking about some Turgenev girls, as well as Nastasya Filippovna from The Idiot and Anna Karenina from the novel of the same name:

The heroines of Dostoevsky, Tolstoy and Ostrovsky are brought together by their unexpected, illogical, reckless actions dictated by emotions: love, hatred, contempt, repentance. Mikhail Sadovsky - the first performer of the role of Karandyshev in Moscow

Karandyshev, like Larissa, is poor. Against the background of the "masters of life" - Knurov, Vozhevatov and Paratov - he looks like a "little man" who can be humiliated and insulted with impunity. at the same time, unlike the heroine, Yuliy Kapitonovich is not a victim, but part of a cruel world. Wanting to connect his life with Larisa, he hopes to settle accounts with former offenders, to demonstrate to them his moral superiority. Even before the wedding, he tries to dictate to the bride how to behave in society; her retaliatory protest is incomprehensible to Karandyshev, he cannot delve into the reasons for their disagreements, because he is "too busy with himself."

Drawing a parallel between Karandyshev and Dostoevsky's "humiliated" heroes, the researchers emphasize that Yuliy Kapitonovich is infinitely far from Makar Devushkin from the novel "Poor People" and Marmeladov from the novel "Crime and Punishment". His "literary brothers" are the hero of the story "Notes from the Underground" and Golyadkin from "The Double".

Karandyshev's shot is a complex action in its motives and in its results. You can see here just a criminal act of an owner and an egoist obsessed with one thought: not for me, so for no one. But you can see in the shot and the answer to the secret thoughts of Larisa - in a difficult way they penetrate the consciousness of Karandyshev, the only one of the four men who did not want to transfer her into someone else's hands.

City image

If the fate of Larisa largely repeats the story of Katerina, carried over from the middle of the 19th century to the 1870s, then Bryakhimov is the development of the image of the city of Kalinov from the same "Thunderstorm". During the two decades separating one Ostrovsky's play from another, the main types of townspeople have changed: if previously the tyrant merchant Dikoy was dominant in the outback, now he was replaced by Knurov, dressed in a European costume, "a businessman of a new formation". Kabanikha, etching all living things around her, also became a character of the outgoing era - she gave up her place to the "trading daughters" Kharita Ignatievna Ogudalova. Dikiy's nephew Boris, who succumbed to the realities of life, according to the trends of the times, turned into a brilliant master Paratov.

At the same time, the pace of urban life has not changed. Life in Bryakhimov is subject to the usual rituals - every day mass, vespers and long tea drinking near samovars. Then, according to the bartender Gavrila, the city is covered with a feeling of "first melancholy", which is removed by long walks - so, Knurov "every morning the boulevard measures back and forth, as if according to a promise."

All the characters in the play are connected by a "common interest": they find it unbearable in this city. Even Knurov's silence is evidence of the "conflict situation" into which he entered with the hated Bryakhimov. And Vozhevatov? He is also in "conflict with Bryakhimov's boredom." Larissa is oppressed not only by the situation in her house, but by "the whole atmosphere of Bryakhimov."

Names and surnames of characters

Boris Kostelyanets is convinced that Ostrovsky put a special meaning in the names and surnames of his heroes. So, Knurov, according to the author's remarks, is "a man with an enormous fortune." The character's surname enhances the feeling of power coming from the "big businessman": "knur" (according to Dal) is a hog, a wild boar. Paratov, whom the playwright characterizes as a "brilliant master", also did not accidentally find his surname on the pages of the play: "paratym" was called a particularly impetuous, irrepressible breed of dog.

Kharita Ignatievna, who knows how to deceive and flatter if necessary, bears the surname "Ogudalova", based on the verb "ogudat", meaning "to braid", "to cheat".

Screen adaptations

• The first film adaptation of The Dowry took place in 1912 - the film was directed by Kai Ganzen, the role of Larisa Ogudalova was played by Vera Pashennaya. Among the most famous film versions of the work is the film by Yakov Protazanov, released in 1936.

• Film adaptation of Eldar Ryazanov's "Cruel Romance", carried out in 1984, has caused contradictory assessments of critics. In an effort to protect the director, Nina Alisova - the performer of the role of Larisa in the Protazanov tape - recalled from the pages of Literaturnaya Gazeta that "Ostrovsky's plays are limitless, and each artist has the right to stage him in his own way."

Notes (edit)

1. 1 2 Alexander Ostrovsky. Plays. - M .: Olma-Press Education, 2003. - S. 30-31. - 830 p. - ISBN 5-94849-338-5.
2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Kostelyanets, 2007
3. 1 2 3 4 Eldar Ryazanov. Unsummed results. - M .: Vagrius, 2002 .-- P. 447.
4. 1 2 Drama, 2000, p. 215
5. // Russkie vedomosti. - 1878. - No. 12 November.
6. 1 2 Eldar Ryazanov. Unsummed results. - M .: Vagrius, 2002 .-- P. 446.
7. 1 2 3 Vladimir Lakshin. Theatrical echo. - M .: Vremya, 2013 .-- 512 p. - ISBN 978-5-9691-0871-4.
8. Lotman L. M. Ostrovsky I. - M .: Nauka, 1991 .-- T. 7. - P. 71.
9. Drama, 2000, p. 228
10. 1 2 Dramaturgy, 2000, p. 229
11. Derzhavin K. N. Ostrovsky. - M., L .: Publishing house of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, 1956 .-- T. 8. - P. 469.
12. Isakova I. N. Own names in the plays by A. N. Ostrovsky "The Thunderstorm" and "Dowry". Linguistic and cultural thesaurus "Humanitarian Russia". Retrieved April 30, 2015.
13. Dowry. Encyclopedia of Russian cinema. Retrieved April 30, 2015.
14. Eldar Ryazanov. Unsummed results. - M .: Vagrius, 2002 .-- S. 451.

Literature

• Kostelyanets B.O. Drama and Action: Lectures on Theory. - M .: Coincidence, 2007 .-- 502 p. - (Theatrum Mundi). - ISBN 978-5-903060-15-3.
• Ostrovsky A.N.Dramaturgy. - M .: Astrel, 2000 .-- ISBN 5-271-00300-6.

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Dowry Information About

Year of writing:

1878

Reading time:

Description of the work:

The play Dowry was written by Alexander Ostrovsky in 1878. It is interesting that the play Bridannytsya is his fortieth work, to which Ostrovsky devoted about four years of work, thereby honing all the details of the work and creating a masterpiece.

Ostrovsky himself said these words: "This play begins a new kind of my works."

Read below a summary of the play Dowry.

A large fictional city on the Volga - Bryakhimov. An open area near a coffee shop on Privolzhsky Boulevard. Knurov ("one of the big businessmen of recent times, an elderly man with a huge fortune", as it is said about him in the remark) and Vozhevatov ("a very young man, one of the representatives of a wealthy trading company, European in costume), having ordered champagne in a teapot, begin to discuss the news: the well-known in society beauty dowry Larisa Ogudalova is marrying a poor official Karandyshev. Vozhevatov explains the modest marriage with the desire of Larisa, who survived the strongest passion for the "brilliant master" Paratov, who turned her head, beat off all the suitors and suddenly left. After the scandal, when another groom was arrested for embezzlement right in the Ogudalovs' house, Larisa announced that she would marry the first person to marry, and Karandyshev, an old and unsuccessful admirer, “and right there”. Vozhevatov informs that he is waiting for Paratov, who sold him his steamer "Swallow", which causes joyful animation of the owner of the coffee shop. The best quadruplets in the city galloped to the pier with the owner on the box and gypsies in ceremonial clothes.

The Ogudalovs and Karandyshev appear. Ogudalova is treated to tea, Karandyshev takes air and, like an equal, turns to Knurov with an invitation to dinner. Ogudalova explains that the dinner is in honor of Larisa, and she joins the invitation. Karandyshev reprimands Larisa for being familiar with Vozhevatov, several times condemning the Ogudalovs' house, which offends Larisa. The conversation turns about Paratov, to whom Karandyshev treats with envious hostility, and Larisa with delight. She is outraged by the groom's attempts to compare himself with Paratov, declares: "Sergei Sergeich is the ideal of a man." During the conversation, cannon shots are heard, Larisa is frightened, but Karandyshev explains: "Some tyrant merchant gets off his barge," meanwhile, from the conversation between Vozhevatov and Knurov, it is known that the firing was in honor of Paratov's arrival. Larissa and her fiance are leaving.

Paratov appears, accompanied by the provincial actor Arkady Schastlivtsev, whom Paratov calls Robinson, since he removed him from an uninhabited island, where Robinson was dropped off for a brawl. When Knurov asked if he was sorry to sell Swallow, Paratov replied: “What is 'sorry', I don't know.<…>I’ll find a profit, so I’ll sell everything, whatever ”, and after that he announced that he was marrying a bride with gold mines, he came to say goodbye to his bachelor’s will. Paratov invites you to a men's picnic across the Volga, makes a rich order for the restaurateur and invites him to dine with him for now. Knurov and Vozhevatov regretfully refuse, announcing that they are having dinner with Larisa's fiancé.

The second action takes place in the Ogudalovs' house, the main feature of the living room is a grand piano with a guitar on it. Knurov arrives and reproaches Ogudalova that she gives Larissa for a poor man, predicts that Larissa will not bear the miserable half-bourgeois life and will probably return to her mother. Then they will need a solid and rich "friend" and offer themselves to be such "friends". After that, he asks Ogudalova, not stingy, to order Larisa a dowry and a wedding toilet, and send the bills to him. And leaves. Larisa appears and tells her mother that she wants to leave for the village as soon as possible. Ogudalova paints village life in dark colors. Larissa plays the guitar and hums the romance "Don't tempt me unnecessarily", but the guitar is upset. Seeing the owner of the Gypsy choir Ilya through the window, she calls him to adjust the guitar. Ilya says that the master arrives, which "they have been waiting for the whole year," and runs away at the call of other gypsies who announced the arrival of a long-awaited client. Ogudalova is worried: did they hurry up with the wedding and have they missed a more profitable party? Karandyshev appears, whom Larisa asks to leave for the village as soon as possible. But he does not want to rush to "glorify" (Ogudalova's expression) Larisa, to satisfy his pride, which for so long suffered from neglect of him, Karandyshev. Larissa reproaches him for this, not at all hiding that she does not love him, but only hopes to love him. Karandyshev scolds the city for its attention to the depraved, squandered carousel, whose arrival drove everyone crazy: restaurateurs and sex workers, cabbies, gypsies and townspeople in general, and when asked who this is, he angrily throws: "Your Sergey Sergeich Paratov" and, looking into window, says that he came to the Ogudalovs. Frightened Larissa, together with the groom, goes to other chambers.

Ogudalova affectionately and familiarly accepts Paratov, asks why he suddenly disappeared from the city, learns that he went to save the remains of the estate, and now he is forced to marry a bride with a half-million dowry. Ogudalova calls Larisa, an explanation takes place between her and Paratov in private. Paratov reproaches Larisa that she soon forgot him, Larisa confesses that she continues to love him and is getting married in order to get rid of humiliation in front of “impossible suitors”. Paratov's vanity is satisfied. Ogudalova introduces him to Karandyshev, a quarrel occurs between them, since Paratov seeks to offend and humiliate Larisa's fiancé. Ogudalova settles the scandal and forces Karandyshev to invite Paratov to dinner. Vozhevatov appears, accompanied by Robinson, posing as an Englishman, and introduces him to those present, including Paratov, who himself recently lost to Robinson. Vozhevatov and Paratov conspire to have fun at dinner at Karandyshev's.

The third act is in Karandyshev's office, poorly and tastelessly cleaned, but with great pretensions. On stage, Karandysheva's aunt, ridiculously complaining about the losses from lunch. Larisa appears with her mother. They discuss a terrible dinner, Karandyshev's humiliating misunderstanding of his position. Ogudalova says that the guests are deliberately drinking Karandyshev and laughing at him. After the women leave, Knurov, Paratov and Vozhevatov appear, complaining about a trashy dinner and terrible wines and rejoicing that Robinson, who can drink anything, helped to get Karandyshev drunk. Karandyshev appears, flaunts and brags, not noticing that they are laughing at him. He is sent for brandy. At this time, the gypsy Ilya reports that everything is ready for a trip across the Volga. The men talk among themselves that it would be good to take Larisa, Paratov undertakes to persuade her. When Larisa appears, she is asked to sing, but Karandyshev tries to forbid her, then Larisa sings "Do not tempt." The guests are delighted, Karandyshev, intending to say a long-prepared toast, leaves for champagne, the rest leave Paratov alone with Larisa. He dips her head, saying that a few more such moments, and he will give up everything to become her slave. Larissa agrees to go on a picnic in the hope of getting Paratov back. Appeared Karandyshev makes a toast to Larisa, in whom the most precious thing to him is that she "knows how to take people apart" and therefore chose him. Karandyshev was sent for more wine. Returning, he learns about Larisa's departure for a picnic, realizes, finally, that they laughed at him, and threatens to take revenge. Grabbing the pistol, he runs away.

The fourth act is back in the coffee shop. Robinson, not taken to the picnic, learns from the conversation with the servant that they saw Karandyshev with a pistol. He appears and asks Robinson where his comrades are. Robinson gets rid of him, explaining that they were casual acquaintances. Karandyshev leaves. Knurov and Vozhevatov, who have returned from the picnic, appear, believing that "the drama is beginning." Both understand that Paratov gave Larisa serious promises that he does not intend to fulfill, and therefore she is compromised and her position is hopeless. Now their dream of going with Larisa to Paris for an exhibition can come true. In order not to interfere with each other, they decide to toss a coin. The lot falls to Knurov, and Vozhevatov gives his word to withdraw.

Larisa appears with Paratov. Paratov thanks Larisa for the pleasure, but she wants to hear that she has now become his wife. Paratov replies that he cannot break up with a rich bride because of a passion for Larisa, and instructs Robinson to take her home. Larissa refuses. Vozhevatov and Knurov appear, Larisa rushes to Vozhevatov with a request for sympathy and advice, but he decisively declines, leaving her with Knurov, who offers Larisa a joint trip to Paris and maintenance for life. Larissa is silent, and Knurov leaves, asking her to think. In despair, Larisa approaches the cliff, dreaming of dying, but does not dare to commit suicide and exclaims: "As if someone would kill me now ..." Karandyshev appears, Larisa tries to drive him away, speaks of her contempt. He reproaches her, says that Knurov and Vozhevatov played her as a toss, like a thing. Larissa is shocked and, picking up his words, says: “If you are a thing, it’s so expensive, very expensive”. She asks to send Knurov to her. Karandyshev tries to stop her, shouts that he forgives her and will take her away from the city, but Larisa rejects this offer and wants to leave. She does not believe his words about love for her. Enraged and humiliated, Karandyshev shoots her. The dying Larissa gratefully accepts this shot, puts the revolver near her and tells those who have fled to the shot that no one is to blame: “It’s me.” Gypsy singing is heard behind the stage. Paratov shouts: "Tell me to shut up!"

You have read a summary of the story The Dowry. We invite you to visit the Summaries section to see other expositions of popular writers.

The plays "Dowry" a summary will be useful to those readers who want to superficially familiarize themselves with the work. In this article, you can find a basic retelling of events in all four acts. The material will help to form a general impression of the work of the author Nikolai Ostrovsky and to understand the main idea.

The beginning of the story

A brief summary of "The Dowry" begins with the fact that the Volga town called Bryakhimov is shown. On the higher bank there is a coffee shop, where Gavrilo and a servant are trying to prepare an establishment. Two merchants named Mokiy Knurov and Vasily Vozhevatov walk in this area every day and love to go for a glass of champagne. They call it their special tea, and Gavrilo must pour it from a special dish. This is how they hide their habit from people. Soon they come and start discussing all the news. Vasily informs about the purchase of the steamer "Lastochka" from Sergei Paratov. The next topic was the marriage of the third daughter of the widow Harita Ogudalova named Larisa. The merchants believe that she will suffer the same bad fate.

The misfortune of the sisters

The summary of "The Dowry" in the first act continues with the fact that the daughters of the widow Harita Ogudalova are haunted by misfortunes in marriage. The older girl married a Caucasian prince, a very jealous man. For this reason, he stabbed her to death even before they reached their future place of residence. The middle sister was carried away by a foreigner, under the guise of which a sharper was hiding. Only Larisa Dmitrievna remained in the family, but young men do not want to take her due to the lack of a dowry. The heroine sings beautifully, plays the guitar and thus attracts attention. The widow Harita is pretty herself and wants to rebuild her personal life. Only here, first of all, you need to arrange a daughter, and the option with Sergei Paratov failed. The wealthy ship owner managed to fall in love with Larisa, but it did not come to the wedding. He said that he saw no benefit for himself in such a marriage. The girl suffered from unrequited love, although later there were other applicants. The mother said her word, and the daughter married the first who called. Such a man turned out to be Yuliy Karandyshev.

Conversation in a coffee shop

The summary of "The Dowry" at the end of the first act brings the reader back to the coffee shop, where the Ogudalovs and Yuliy Karandyshev come. The poor official invites all those present to dinner in honor of his future wife. The merchants decided not to agree, but Harita's mother explained that this was only in honor of Larisa's birthday. A conversation begins between the newlyweds, in which Julius reproaches the girl for her way of life. The reason was the familiar treatment of the merchant Vasily Vozhevatov. At this moment, cannons sound on the pier, and Larisa remembers the ship owner Paratov, who is usually greeted with such a signal. She realizes that she loves him even now. It turns out that the shots were fired in honor of this rich man. Later Sergey enters a coffee shop and introduces everyone to his new friend Arkady Schastlivtsev. He picked him up on a deserted island, where the guy was dropped by the captain of the ship because of drunkenness. Paratov also notifies everyone that he is marrying a rich girl, and the gold mines go to him as a dowry. For this reason, he sold his best steamer, the Swallow, and other vessels.

Celebration start

In the summary of Ostrovsky's "Dowry" in the second act, the events begin with the birthday of Larisa. Vozhevatov gives an expensive brooch, and his mother immediately sells it for seven hundred rubles. Knurov begins a conversation with Harita that the wedding of the youngest daughter is wrong. She should not marry a poor official, because her appearance and talents should be appreciated much higher. The merchant claims that Larisa will run away anyway, and a powerful friend will come in handy for Harita to improve the situation. As such, Knurov offers himself. Because of his interest, the married hero offers to pay for all the necessary items for the wedding. Soon Larisa herself appears with a guitar, sings romances and shares her dreams of life in the village with her mother. The widow Ogudalova immediately settles her daughter down by the fact that Zabolotye is far from the best place and she may not like it there. Larisa from the window calls comrade Ilya, who tunes the guitar at the request of the heroine. He reports that an important man has come to them.

Birthday

In the summary of "Dowry" in action, the story continues at Larisa's birthday. Her fiancé appears, and she asks him to leave as soon as possible to the village. He refuses to hold the wedding in his homeland. He will not allow rumors to spread that Yuliy Karandyshev is not a couple for her. This dinner is the first step to the wedding, and at it he announces a toast to Larisa. At the same time, the man mentions that the girl reacted to his person extremely sympathetically, unlike other people. Soon Paratov himself appears, who promised to call on Harita Ogudalova. He calls her "aunty", talks about a successful engagement and reproaches Larisa because she forgot about him so quickly. The former ship owner, in a conversation with the main character, learns that she still has feelings for him. After that, the man deliberately quarrels with Karandyshev and promises to punish the poor official for his insolence. Other guests arrive, and Julius, under pressure, invites Paratov. The master agrees, but only because of the opportunity to take revenge on Larissa's fiancé.

Lunch from the groom

The summary in the play "The Dowry" in the third act begins with insulting the guests. The dinner included cheap wine in expensive bottles, low-grade cigarettes, and a minimum of food. High-ranking merchants also did not like the fact that Karandyshev had already gotten drunk. Paratov is comforted by a similar circumstance of affairs, and therefore says that he sent his friend Arkady to Larissa's fiancé. It is because of this that he is in this state. After that, all the guests and gypsies decide that they should go for a walk along the Volga. Vozhevatov was generous and promised to pay for the rowers. He also lied to Arkady about the future Paris on the trip and the need to rest before a difficult path. All people who arrived for lunch, including Paratov, agree that you need to take Larisa with you for complete fun. It remains only to persuade the girl and finally give Karandyshev a drink. This idea was successfully implemented.

Continuation of the story

In the summary of Ostrovsky's "Dowry", the story continues from dinner at Karandyshev's house. Harita Ogudalova starts a quarrel with him because of his condition. The poor official counters this by saying that his house can be anything. After that, the widow comes to Paratov so that he does not continue to scoff at Larisa's future fiancé. Sergei agrees to drink with him for the sake of reconciliation, but only cognac. Karandyshev finally gets drunk, and the former ship owner goes to Larisa Dmitrievna. He asks to sing something, but the girl is too depressed by Julia's behavior. The drunk groom intervenes with a ban on singing for the future wife. This hurts Larisa, who immediately begins to perform the romance. Gypsy Ilya happily picks up the song and complements the performance with a second voice. When the heroine finishes singing, all the guests praise her talent. After that, they leave, and Larisa is left alone with Sergei Paratov.

Conversation of people in love

If you start reading the summary of Ostrovsky's "Dowry", then in the third act you can learn about Sergey Paratov's confession to Larisa. He says that the girl's singing made him regret his refusal from the wedding. The barin mentioned that he barely managed to restrain himself so as not to give up his contractual marriage and return to this beauty. The man calls the heroine with other guests for a walk along the Volga. Larisa could not make up her mind for a long time, and then she remembered Karandyshev's vengeful toast. She was able to cast aside doubts and agree. Guests return, and Paratov says a toast to the groom, Julia, who is so lucky with the bride. All the guests seize the moment when the groom went for a bottle of wine, and run away through the back gate. Larisa told her mother Harita that she should either be happy or look for a girl after this day in the Volga. Karandyshev returns and understands the guests' actions. The man is not going to forgive this huge offense, and therefore takes a gun and leaves the house.

The beginning of the fourth act

In a summary of "The Dowry" by chapters, Yuliy Karandyshev in the last act goes to a coffee shop. Assistant Ivan sees his gun. Meanwhile, the future groom asks Paratov's friend Arkady about where the guests have gone. He is offended because of Vozhevatov's behavior and talks about their walk along the Volga. The gypsies soon returned to the coffee shop, and with them the merchants Vozhevatov and Knurov. On the way, rich men say that Larisa Dmitrievna again believed the cunning Paratov. This gentleman will never exchange his rich bride for her. They talk about the abandoned Julia and who will take the girl to support the two of them. The merchants wish to travel with the beautiful lady to the exhibition in Paris.

End of the piece

A summary of Ostrovsky's play "The Dowry" at the end of the work tells about the situation between Larisa and Paratov. Sergei tells her to go home, and she demands an answer about who she is to him. The master dazzles the heroine by the fact that he is already engaged to another girl. He blames it on the momentary passion that caused him to be distracted. Larisa drives him away, and she herself wants to commit suicide, although she cannot decide. Knurov appears and invites her to become a kept woman with this married merchant. He played a toss with Vozhevatov on it and won. Karandyshev returns and begs Larisa to return to him, because he will be able to forgive everything. The girl replies that she already feels like a simple thing. She calls Knurov, but Julius shoots her. The main character perceives death as salvation. The gypsies start humming different melodies, Larisa says to the people who come running that she shot herself on her own.

"Dowry" is a drama by A.N. Ostrovsky, the fortieth ("jubilee") play written by the great Russian playwright. The amazing, even exceptional stage fate of this 19th century play continues to attract the attention of theater historians and literary scholars to this day. Theatrical performances and film adaptations of The Dowry, which have long become classics, continue to enjoy the love of the domestic audience.

Nina Alisova as Larisa

How could it happen that of the entire huge literary heritage of the great Russian playwright A.N. Ostrovsky, only this play, which was not accepted and understood by the author's contemporaries, crossed all the time lines and gained real immortality?

Let's try to figure it out.

Throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, the attitude of viewers and critics to the work of A.N. Ostrovsky has undergone many changes. Democratic criticism of the late 1850s and early 1860s tried to see in the works of the playwright a kind of social protest against the inertia and stagnation of the surrounding reality. Some contemporaries (in particular the writer and critic P. Boborykin) generally denied Ostrovsky the right to be a playwright, noting the non-stage, even epic character of his most successful plays.

The most acute controversy was caused by Ostrovsky's drama "The Thunderstorm". According to the majority of literary scholars, A.N. Ostrovsky gained universal fame as a playwright exclusively through the efforts of N. Dobrolyubov. Dobrolyubov's detailed critical analyzes of Ostrovsky's plays on the pages of Nekrasov's Sovremennik became textbooks already in the 19th century. It was Dobrolyubov who invented the "dark kingdom", and the "ray of light", and a host of other cliches that are still actively used in school essays. However, next to Dobrolyubovskaya, another line took shape almost immediately in the interpretation of A.N. Ostrovsky. This is the line of A. Grigoriev, a personal friend of the playwright, who considered the world of his works not at all a “dark kingdom”, but the kingdom of “the poetry of the life of the people.” (The articles of MM Dostoevsky and MI Pisarev gravitate towards it). For Dobrolyubov and Grigoriev, The Thunderstorm was included in different aesthetic contexts (depending on the critics' worldview, their understanding of historical patterns and the driving forces of Russian life). In one case, it was read as a harsh social drama, in the other - as a high poetic tragedy.

The play "Dowry" was much less fortunate. If in the late 1850s - early 1860s Dobrolyubov, Grigoriev, M. Pisarev and other leading critics broke their spears in disputes: is Katerina from The Storm a “ray of light in the dark kingdom”, then in 1878, when "Dowry", the play was practically not noticed.

Despite the fact that A.N. Ostrovsky considered his fortieth play the best dramatic work, its performances in Moscow and St. Petersburg disappointed not only critics, but also longtime admirers of the playwright's work. They stuck the label of a very ordinary, boring piece with a banal plot to "The Bride" and forgot about it for many years.

But really talented works, as a rule, outlive their authors and find a response in the hearts of future generations. The play "Dowry" was provided by A.N. Ostrovsky immortality for centuries. The playwright unmistakably foresaw this immortality, taking the plot of a cruel urban romance as the basis of the play. The eternal, enduring theme of the relationship between the ideal and the material principles (love and poverty), forever “caught in the net” of the Russian viewer. In our opinion, this is precisely what explains the phenomenon of the "Dowry", which has outlived all its critics and persecutors. For almost a century and a half, the play has not left the stages of the country's leading theaters, and its cinematic versions - "Dowry" by Protazanov (1936) and Khudyakov (1974), "Cruel Romance" by E. Ryazanov (1982) - have remained and remain favorite films for several generations of both Soviet and post-Soviet people.

The history of the play

A. N. Ostrovsky, being very dependent on the theater, exclusively a theatrical playwright, usually wrote his works in a relatively short time. For 30 years (from 1853 to 1883) his new plays were staged every season on the stages of the main Moscow and St. Petersburg theaters. During his creative life A.N. Ostrovsky managed to compose fifty-four plays (of which only seven in collaboration with other playwrights). However, the author deliberately removed his fortieth play "The Dowry" from the usual theatrical conveyor, thought over and created it for several years.

As evidenced by Ostrovsky's litter on the first sheet of the autograph, the drama was conceived on November 4, 1874 in Moscow, and finished only in the fall of 1878.

In parallel with the work on The Dowry, the playwright managed to create several very famous plays, which were immediately accepted for staging by the Maly Theater: Wolves and Sheep (1875), Rich Brides (1876), Truth is good, but happiness is better (1877 ), "The Last Sacrifice" (1878). All of them went with great success.

But, as evidenced by the correspondence of A.N. Ostrovsky, for four years the author literally lived with his "Dowry". He constantly returned to this particular play, pondering the plot lines, characters and monologues of the main characters; not wanting to miss the slightest detail, he finished his fortieth item in the most careful way.

On October 1, 1876, informing his friend, the actor of the Alexandrinsky Theater F. A. Burdin about his work on the comedy "Truth is good, but happiness is better", Ostrovsky wrote: "All my attention and all my forces are directed to the next big play, which was conceived more than a year ago and on which I have been working continuously. I think to finish it in the same year and will try to finish it in the most careful way, because it will be my fortieth original work. "

On the draft autograph of "Dowry" kept in the Department of Manuscripts of the State Library of the USSR. V. I. Lenin, Ostrovsky marked: "Opus 40". Secondary mention of the work on "Dowry" is found in a letter from the playwright to Burdin from February 3, 1878 from Moscow: "... I am now busy with a large original play; I wish to finish it in the winter by the next season, in order to be freer in the summer. "

In September 1878, the playwright also wrote to one of his acquaintances: “I am working on my play with all my might; it seems that it will not come out badly. "

It would seem that the hopes were justified. Soon after the completion of the work, on November 3, 1878, the playwright reported from Moscow: "I have already read my play in Moscow five times, among the listeners there were persons who were hostile to me, and everyone unanimously recognized" Dowry "as the best of all my works."

At the same time, Ostrovsky was negotiating the staging of "Dowry" in Moscow and St. Petersburg. On October 28, 1878 "The Dowry" was already approved for staging by the Theater and Literary Committee.

Failure in Moscow

The premiere of "Dowry" took place on the stage of the Maly Theater in Moscow on November 10, 1878. It passed under the sign of the benefit performance of the actor N.I. Muzil, who played Robinson. The play was performed for the second time at the benefit performance of M.P. Sadovsky (Karandyshev). Ostrovsky has repeatedly testified about the great success of the performance in Moscow (see his letter to F.A. Burdin dated December 27, 1878, and also “Note on the draft“ Rules on Prizes ... for Dramatic Works ”in 1884).

However, in the opinion of the majority of reviewers, the play "Dowry" suffered a complete, undoubted and even final failure.

The staging of Ostrovsky's new work was carried out in just ten days. Now it's hard even to believe it. However, for that time it was a completely ordinary phenomenon. It is clear that in such a tight time frame, neither the actors nor the director could even really comprehend the work that was to be presented to the public from the stage.

Glyceria Fedotova

The first performer of the role of Larisa Ogudalova on the Moscow stage was the actress Glikeria Nikolaevna Fedotova. G. Fedotova was a brilliant actress who was equally successful in both dramatic and comedic roles. However, the role of Larisa performed by Fedotova was recognized as extremely unsuccessful. Here are some remarks from critics: "It finally deprived of the truth and originality"; “The gap between the melodramatic tone taken by the actress and“ the rest of the everyday environment ”made the actress's face“ fake and banal, ”and so on.

In subsequent productions of "The Dowry" at the Maly Theater, Larisa was played by M.N. Ermolova. The role of Karandyshev was played by M.P. Sadovsky, who had the roles of "everyday simpleton" and "comedian" in the theater. He also failed to reveal one of the most psychologically difficult images of the play.

A day after the Moscow premiere, on November 12, Russkiye Vedomosti published a review by P. Boborykin, a longtime and constant opponent of Ostrovsky. According to the reviewer, for the benefit performance of the artist N. Musil (he played Robinson) "all Moscow gathered, loving the Russian scene." Everyone expected a good play, but did not wait. “The playwright tired the entire audience, even the most naive spectators,” because the audience “clearly outgrew those spectacles” that Ostrovsky offers it. The reviewer's particular indignation was aroused by the uncomplicated plot of "Dowry", for there is no interest in the story of how "some provincial girl fell in love with a villain, agreed to marry an antipathetic vulgar and, rejected another time by the object of her passion, puts her breast under the gun of the groom ". The heroine also got it: “... this girl with her sufferings could have attracted our attention if she were a colorful, large, socially significant person. Alas ... there is nothing of this in her, Larisa speaks platitudes, her story about why she considers Paratova, "a lecher and impudent," a "hero," is simply ridiculous in her mental and moral "lowness."

Maria Ermolova

In Larisa Boborykin saw a complete repetition of the heroines from "Mad Money" and other plays by Ostrovsky, and in Paratov - another villain from a number of dissolute vulgarians in the playwright's previous plays (including Vadim Dulchin in "The Last Victim"). The most successful name was Karandyshev, but criticism was very embarrassing for his contradictory and duality. Theater actors of the 19th century did not know how to play this yet. Even a very good actor could hardly “disguise” Karandyshev's duality at the end of the third and fourth acts.

It is quite significant that an experienced writer, author of novels and plays, P. Boborykin was unable to comprehend the plot of the play, or to understand the complexity of the characters and the relationships that bind them. He simplified everything to the extreme, roughened, did not grasp the main thing either in the problematics of the play, or in its artistic embodiment, did not even come close to the core of the idea.

The rest of the Moscow criticism either echoed Boborykin, or was completely silent.

Unfortunately, in 1878, when neither N. Dobrolyubov nor the most faithful admirer of A.N. Ostrovsky Apollo Grigoriev, there was no one to appreciate the "Dowry" at its true worth. The playwright outlived all his talented critics, giving the right to distant descendants to evaluate his fortieth, "jubilee" work.

Premiere in St. Petersburg

In St. Petersburg, "Dowry" drew more sympathetic responses. The premiere took place on the stage of the Alexandrinsky Theater on November 22, 1878, at the benefit performance of F.A. Burdin, with the participation of the premiere M.G.Savina, who played the role of Larisa. The play was also attended by: Polonsky (Karandyshev), Burdin (Knurov), Sazonov (Vozhevatov), ​​Nilsky (Paratov), ​​Chitau (Ogudalova), Ardi (Robinson), Vasiliev 1st (Gavrilo), Gorbunov (Ivan), Konstantinov (Ilya), Natarova 1st (Evfrosinya Potapovna).

The actors of the Alexandrinsky Theater, among whom Ostrovsky had many friends, reacted very coolly to the new play. Burdin initially objected to Knurov's role. She seemed to him episodic and unimportant for the benefit performance ("accessory role"). NF Sazonov refused to play Karandyshev, demanding significant reductions in the text from the author.

Theatrical critics noted the excellent performance of M.G. Savina, but the actress herself did not like the play, just as she did not like her own work in it. On a tour in the provinces, where Savina took her favorite roles, she played "Dowry" only three times and left forever. She played Larisa “too perfect”, “too incomprehensible” from the point of view of common sense, theater critics and a few reviewers.

Petersburg newspapers "Novoye Vremya" and "Golos" twice returned to the assessment of "Dowry". The play made a “strong impression” on the reviewer of Novoye Vremya, but he also saw nothing new in the plot: neither the type of the main character, nor other figures are new; the play lacks stage movement, action, etc. The reviewers of The Voice, on the one hand, praised Ostrovsky as a writer of everyday life, emphasizing the precise characteristics and complex characters of her characters. But at the same time, they could not forgive the playwright for too rough realism, overt cynicism of his heroes (Paratov, Knurov with Vozhevatov, even Larisa). It turned out that critics appreciated The Dowry for realistically revealed in it “shameless and cold heartlessness”, which became the main sign of modern progress, but immediately accused the author of underestimating the positive aspects of this notorious progress and impenetrable pessimism.

The inconsistency of critical assessments, in our opinion, is caused by the innovative nature of the play itself, its stage, compositional, psychological complexity, which was much ahead of the canons of its time. Unfortunately, contemporary theater critics, directors and actors, who are not accustomed to going beyond their stage roles, were unable to understand Ostrovsky's innovation. On the contrary, in the 1870s, the playwright was increasingly accused of ideological backwardness, hackneyedness, stereotypes, exhaustion of his dramatic poetics. The public insistently demanded the appearance on the stage of other characters, free from pessimism and remnants of the "dark kingdom", that is, heroes living in the present, responding to the social and political problems of our time, heroes-workers, innovators, fighters.

But the author of "The Thunderstorm", "Forest", "Dowry" was sharply different from the playwrights who wrote on the "news of the day" and indulged the momentary interests of the viewer. He called for the comprehension of deep, hard-to-reach truths and therefore believed not only in the spectator of today, but also in tomorrow, in the spectator of the future. That is why Ostrovsky's play, deeply thought out, in many respects ahead of its time, in the 70s of the XIX century, did not come to the court of either theatrical criticism or the general audience. Despite the full ensemble of actors, in the season of 1878-79, the play was rarely staged in the repertoire of the Alexandrinsky Theater, and then it was completely forgotten. In St. Petersburg "Dowry" left the stage already in 1882 and did not appear on it for 15 years. In Moscow, the play lasted longer - until 1891. Renewed "Dowry" on both stages of the capital in the season 1896-1897. But this was already a new life for a well-forgotten play.

The second life of the "Dowry"

Return of the "Dowry" by A.N. Ostrovsky on the stage of metropolitan and provincial theaters is associated with the name of the great Russian actress Vera Fedorovna Komissarzhevskaya. It was Komissarzhevskaya who really opened the role of Larisa, and the already largely changed era breathed new life into this character.

Vera Komissarzhevskaya

At the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, the theater, like the whole society, was experiencing a breakdown in worldviews, a reassessment of values, could not stay away from new trends in literature and art. In the wake of the modernist quest of the late 1890s, the unpretentious plays of A.N. Ostrovsky from the life of the provincial merchants did not look like something archaic and indigestible at all.

Eighteen years have passed since the writing of The Dowry. And in 1896, ten years after the death of A.N. Ostrovsky, the Alexandrinsky Theater decided to re-stage the once failed play.

It is known that V.F. Komissarzhevskaya herself strongly demanded that the Alexandrinka directorate appoint her to the role of Larisa Ogudalova. At the same time, the actress even resorted to blackmail: either you give me the role of Larissa in "Dowry", or I leave the theater. The directors still did not set out to give Ostrovsky's old play a new reading, but they did not want to lose the talented actress. However, no one, except Komissarzhevskaya herself, expected success ...

On September 17, 1896, the theater was full. The respectable audience came to see the obstinate Komissarzhevskaya in the famous play. The first two acts were perplexed by the audience. They are accustomed to Larisa Savinsky - a pretty bourgeois woman who leads a reckless life in her mother's house. And suddenly Larisa - Komissarzhevskaya: fragile, shy, dim, speaks softly, at first it seemed - even uninteresting. During the intermissions, the audience was discouragingly talking among themselves about the failure of the performance, but there were already separate spectators, mainly from the gallery, who began to understand that in front of them was an actress who embodied the image of a “wounded”, deeply suffering woman, that this had never happened before on the stage of the Russian theater ... In the third act, the coughing, the whispering, the rustling of the programs stopped. Komissarzhevskaya became the only ruler of the public. And when the last chord of the guitar broke, the audience was afraid to move.

Criticism was expressed very favorably about the game of Komissarzhevskaya. In her Larissa there were no typical gypsy features and the imprint of the old province, although other performers of the role (Fedotova, Ermolova, Savina) considered these features to be the main ones.

One of the critics, Yuri Belyaev, noted that by her performance Komissarzhevskaya “raises the prestige” of Larisa - a girl who has fallen to the position of “a precious trinket on which lots are thrown.” The critic admired the actress, but believed that she created an image that was strikingly different from the heroine Ostrovsky. He believed that Vera Fyodorovna showed Larisa some kind of "white gull", and not at all a girl with seething gypsy blood. Another critic, Fyodor Stepun, appreciated in Komissarzhevskaya's game that from her very first phrase (“I was looking at the Volga now, how good it is on the other side”) she raises Larisa's inner world to a tremendous spiritual height.

Another critic, A. Kugel, considered Vera Fedorovna's play charming, but wrong. In his opinion, Larisa came out too sad and elegiac. Perhaps it is true that the performance of Komissarzhevskaya was too "superficial".

Komissarzhevskaya, perhaps in spite of all the performers who preceded her, as well as theater directors and critics, understood what the main drama of Ostrovsky's play was. The author called "The Dowry" a drama not only because of the tragic outcome. Almost all of her characters are complex people, ambiguous, in many ways ambiguous.

Larisa, of course, is not a "ray of light in the dark kingdom", but she is not a carefree fool who was deceived by a visiting villain, and then accidentally shot by a local madman. Larisa is a thinking person, deeply feeling, perfectly understanding all the absurdity of her position ("I am a doll for you. You will play with me, break it and throw it away"; "Why do you constantly reproach me with this camp? Did I like this kind of life myself?" etc.). She needs love like a beautiful flower needs water and sunlight. Larisa is torn between the world of her beautiful dreams and hopes and the world of cruel reality, into which she is drawn by her own mother and proud, predatory admirers. In search of a way out, the girl rushes to everyone who promises to love her, even to Karandyshev, but "everyone only loves themselves." And the best way out for her is death.

This is exactly how, tragically, doomed, hysterically, hopelessly, Larisa sounded in the interpretation of Komissarzhevskaya. This was the new birth of the play. "Dowry" for many days occupied the imagination of theatrical Petersburg. It was impossible to get a ticket for the performance. Komissarzhevskaya brought to the theater that part of the Russian intelligentsia, which for many years considered the theater only a place of vulgar entertainment.

In the 1930s, "The Dowry" was one of Ostrovsky's plays that enjoyed the greatest love of the Soviet audience. It was the social pathos of this wonderful drama that was most sharply expressed on the stage of the Soviet theater. It was staged in many drama theaters in Moscow, Leningrad and in the periphery. Of the Moscow productions of The Dowry, the most significant are the performances of the Drama Theater (formerly Korsh) with VN Popova as Larisa (1932) and the Central Theater of Transport (1946). In 1948, "The Dowry" was resumed on the stage of the Maly Theater.

Screen adaptations

However, the play by A.N. Ostrovsky's "Dowry" became familiar only thanks to the successful film versions of Y. Protazanov (1936) and E. Ryazanov (1984), which are rightfully considered classics of Russian cinema.

Unlike most other dramatic works of the 19th century, "The Dowry" has been staged four times in our country.

The first attempt belongs to director Kai Ganzen. In 1912, he shot a non-sound film of the same name, in which Vera Pashennaya and Nikolai Vasiliev played the main roles.

In 1936 Y. Protazanov's "Dowry" appeared (starring N. Alisov and A. Ktorov). Protazanov did not change the plot, but Vladimir Schweitzer worked on the script significantly - the same one who worked on the scripts of the Soviet fairy-tale films Vasilisa the Beautiful, The Little Humpbacked Horse, Kashchei the Immortal, and others.

Protazanov and Schweitzer literally "anatomized" Ostrovsky's play, but did not blindly follow the text. The possibilities of a film production were much more extensive than the possibilities of a theatrical performance and, in general, the possibilities of dramatic action. Therefore, a lot of new episodes appeared in the film (the wedding of Larissa's sister, the adventures of Robinson, wonderful outdoor shooting, etc.).

The ensemble was impeccable: A. Ktorov (Paratov), ​​B. Tenin (Vozhevatov), ​​M. Klimov (Knurov), O. Pyzhova (Larisa's mother), V. Balikhin (Karandyshev). For the role of Larisa Protazanov, he invited a very young student, a first-year student of VGIK, Nina Alisova. Filming on location took place in Kineshma, Kaluga, Kostroma and Plyos.

"Dowry" by Protazanov immediately became a landmark film for the entire Soviet pre-war cinema. The film immediately, as they say, “went to the people”. For many years, the Soviet viewer was sure that the famous episodes with a beaver coat thrown into the mud, a steamer race and Robinson's ugliness are the original text of Ostrovsky. A. Guerich's song "No, he did not love" was sung by all the girls of the 1930s-1940s, sincerely considering it an old gypsy romance, which was performed by Larisa Ogudalova in the play.

The screen version of Protazanov and Schweitzer turned out to be so successful that it suited the Soviet audience for almost fifty years.

The TV show "The Dowry" by K. Khudyakov (1974), despite the wonderful constellation of actors (T. Doronina, A. Dzhigarkhanyan, V. Gaft), only disappointed with its "theatricality" and "intimacy". After the Protazanov film, which was based on the interpretation of the image of Larisa Komissarzhevskaya, the return of T. Doronina to Larisa of the “pre-commissioner” period looked original, but looked already without interest.

Therefore, when E. Ryazanov's film "Cruel Romance" was released in 1984, it became practically a revelation for viewers who had not seen or fundamentally did not look at the somewhat "outdated" by that time Protazanov's picture.

So much has been written and said about the remarkable film by E. Ryazanov that it makes no sense to repeat all the critical reviews in this essay.

However, today many do not even remember that when it appeared, "Cruel Romance" caused a lot of controversy and criticism, especially among people of the older generation - fans of the "Dowry" in 1936. The director and screenwriter of the film E. Ryazanov himself has repeatedly admitted in his numerous interviews: when he wrote the script for "Cruel Romance", his motto was the maximum deviation from the text of Ostrovsky's play, in order to deprive the film of its "intimacy", to make it interesting for the modern viewer. But then, in the process of filming, the director threw a cry: "Back to Ostrovsky!" And the film only benefited from this. All (with rare exceptions) replicas of the characters in the play "The Dowry" sound in the "Cruel Romance", all the characters are presented vividly and vividly, the action of the film fully corresponds to the author's concept of A.N. Ostrovsky.

Especially a lot of criticism about the film "Cruel Romance" was for the original interpretation, even the development of the image of Paratov (N. Mikhalkov). The older generation could not forgive Ryazanov for the overly democratic Mikhalkov, whose temperament was more reminiscent of a Mexican macho than a Russian master. One of my elderly relatives, brought up on the Protazanov version, after watching Ryazanova's movie, was indignant for a long time with an episode where Paratov, getting off a white horse, moves a dirty carriage with his own hands: "He is a master, not a bindyuzhnik!" Of course, the episode with the fur coat in the Protazanov film looked much more impressive, but it was already used 50 years ago, and the repetition of this gesture by the actor Mikhalkov would look rather like a parody. It was obvious to all viewers of the 1980s that Mikhalkov was not Ktorov, and Ktorov was not Mikhalkov. Such types as Protazanovsky Paratov died out in the first half of the century.

That is why, in our opinion, Ryazanov, in his film, very successfully removed from Paratov both the mask of an inveterate scoundrel and a socially colored gentleman-white-handed, a slave of class prejudices. Having psychologically developed the image of the central character of the play, the director brought him closer at the same time to the realities of Russian life in the 70s of the XIX century, and made him interesting to people of the XX century. In fact, Paratov is not an insidious seducer and far from a calculating businessman. A ruined nobleman, a former ship owner, he himself fell victim to his difficult time, the time of the Knurovs and Vozhevatovs. Ostrovsky by no means equates Paratov and the Bryakhimov merchants-moneybags. For him, money is not an end, but a means of livelihood, meaningless and aimless, for this person cannot have any definite end. Paratov is the same thing, the same senseless trinket as Larissa. The only difference is that all his suffering and throwing at the moment of "selling" himself for money remain outside the framework of the stage action and are not visible to the viewer. We see an unhappy man who has already resigned himself to his fate, who finally throws dust in his eyes, but also dies, crushed, broken. Larissa dies, remaining herself - loving and free.

The theme of "Dowry" became especially close to the Russian audience at the turn of the XX-XXI centuries, in the era of a total revision of previous values, breaking of human relations, thoughtless worship of the "golden calf". How many of these Laris - beautiful, smart, talented girls with a university education - went to the modern Knurovs or Vozhevatovs as kept women, not a single statistic will tell. Perhaps some of them still believe that they did the right thing, seizing on material well-being, trampling on everything that they once considered the main thing in their lives. God is their judge.

But one thing is clear: the phenomenon of "Dowry" as an eternal plot for all time does not let us go today. Thirty years after the release of "Cruel Romance" on the screens, the film still looks in one breath, and modern youth have an idea of ​​the work of the great Russian playwright A.N. Ostrovsky exclusively from this film. And this is not the worst option.

In 2011, director A. Puustusmaa, based on Ostrovsky's drama, filmed another "Dowry". The plot of the film generally repeats the plot of the play, but the action has been postponed to our days.