Interesting characters. Favorite literary heroes of our contemporaries

In world literature, there are many images of female heroines who sunk into the soul of the reader, fell in love, they began to be quoted.Some works of world literature are filmed and the viewer believes that the picture is successful if the plot of the bookfully revealed in the film, and the actors correspond to their favorite literary hero.
The woman is given a very important and outstanding role in literature: she is the subject of admiration,a source of inspiration, a longed-for dream and the personification of the most sublime in the world.
Undoubtedly, the beautiful women of world literature different fate: someone is an eternal ideal, like Juliet,someone is a fighter and just a beautiful woman, like Scarlett O Hara, and someone is forgotten.How long the heroine of a literary work will linger in the memory of the reader is directly related to her appearance,character and actions. The literary heroine, as in life, must be self-sufficient, pretty,patient, purposeful, with a sense of humor and, of course, wise.
Our site site decided to compile Rating of the most beautiful literary heroines. On some photos famous actresses or models who have not starred in the roles of the presented literary heroines, but, in our opinion, are very suitable for these roles. The descriptions of the appearance of the heroines are taken from the books of the authors of world literature in England, France, Australia, America, Turkey and Russia. Some of the books we love have not yet been filmed,but we sincerely believe that this time will not be long in coming.

15. To Arla Saarnen (Shantaram, Gregory David Roberts)

Main character meets Carla during his first days in Bombay.It begins with the entry of the protagonist into the circles of the Mafia. Karla Saaranen is characterizedthe main character, as a wise and mysterious beautiful woman. Karla brunette s green eyes with oriental roots.Many philosophical considerations and sayings in the book belong to her.

14. Tess Durbeyfield (Tess of the D'Urbervilles, Thomas Hardy)

It was beautiful girl, perhaps no more beautiful than some of the others, but a mobile scarlet mouth and large innocent eyes emphasized her good looks. She adorned her hair with a red ribbon and among women dressed in white, she was the only one who could boast of such a bright decoration. There was still something childlike about her face. And today, despite her bright femininity, her cheeks sometimes suggested a twelve-year-old girl, her shining eyes a nine-year-old, and the curve of her mouth a five-year-old baby.
You can guess about the color of her face by the dark chestnut strand of hair that came out from under the bonnet ... Her face is the oval face of a beautiful young woman, deep dark eyes and long heavy braids that seem to cling pleadingly to everything that they touch.

13. Helen Kuragina (Bezukhova) ("War and Peace", L. Tolstoy)

Helen Kuragina (Bezukhova) - outwardly ideal female beauty, the antipode of Natasha Rostova.Despite external beauty, in Helen all the vices inherent in secular society: arrogance, flattery, vanity.

12 Rebecca Sharp (Vanity Fair, William Thackeray)

"Rebecca was small, fragile, pale, with reddish hair; her green eyes were usually lowered down, but when she raised them, they seemed unusually large, mysterious and alluring ...".

11. Maggie Cleary (The Thornbirds, Colin McCullough)

Maggie's hair, like a true Cleary's, blazed like a lighthouse: all the children in the family, except Frank, got this punishment, all red whirlwinds, only in different shades.Maggie's eyes were like "molten pearls", silvery grey.Maggie Cleary had ... Hair of such a color that it cannot be described in words - not copper-red, and not gold, some rare fusion of both ... Silver-gray eyes, amazingly clear, shining, like melted pearls.... Maggie's gray eyes ... Cast in all shades of blue, and violet, and deep blue, the color of the sky on a clear sunny day, the velvety green of the moss and even a little noticeable - swarthy yellowness. And they glow softly, like matte gems, rimmed with long curled eyelashes, as gleaming as if they had been bathed in gold.

10. Tatyana Larina ("Eugene Onegin", A.S. Pushkin)

The heroine from the first meeting captivates the reader with her spiritual beauty, lack of pretense.

So, she was called Tatyana.

Nor the beauty of his sister
Nor the freshness of her ruddy
She would not attract eyes.
Dika, sad, silent,
Like a forest doe is timid,
She is in her family
Seemed like a stranger girl.

9. Lara ("Doctor Zhivago", Boris Pasternak)

She was a little over sixteen, but she was a well-formed girl. She was given eighteen years or more. She had a clear mind and easy temper. She was very pretty.She moved silently and smoothly, and everything in her imperceptible speed of movement, height, voice, gray eyes and blond hair color matched each other.

8. Christina Dae (The Phantom of the Opera, Gaston Leroux)

Christina Dae had blue eyes and golden curls.

7. Esmeralda ("Cathedral Notre Dame of Paris", Victor Hugo)

Esmeralda is a beautiful young girl who earns money by dancing and performing with a trained goat, Jalli.She is the embodiment of chastity and naivety, not at all like the others.Even the fact that she has to make a living by dancing does not corrupt her. She has a good heart.

“She was short in stature, but seemed tall - her thin frame was so slender. She was swarthy, but it was not difficultguess that during the day her skin had a wonderful golden hue, inherent in the Andalusians and Romans. Smallher foot was also an Andalusian's foot, so lightly did she step in her narrow elegant shoe. The girl danced, fluttered,whirled on an old Persian carpet carelessly thrown under her feet, and whenever her radiant faceappeared in front of you, the look of her large black eyes blinded you like lightning. The eyes of the crowd were fixed on her,all mouths open. She danced to the rumble of a tambourine, which her round virgin hands raised high abovehead. Thin, fragile, with bare shoulders and slender legs occasionally flashing from under her skirt,black-haired, quick as a wasp, in golden, tight-fittingher corsage waist, in a motley swollen dress, shining with her eyes, she seemed to be a truly unearthly creature ... "

6. Mercedes ("The Count of Monte Cristo", A. Dumas)

"A beautiful young girl, with jet-black hair, with velvety eyes like a gazelle..."

5. Carmen ("Carmen", Prosper Merimee)

She had a large bouquet of jasmine in her hair. She was dressed simply, perhaps even poorly, in all black ... I dropped the mantilla that covered her head on her shoulders, I saw that she was short, young, well-built and that she had huge eyes ... Her skin, really , immaculately smooth, closely reminiscent of copper in color. Her eyes were slanted, but wonderfully carved; lips a little full, but beautifully defined, behind them teeth were visible, whiter than peeled tonsils. Her hair, perhaps a little coarse, was black, with a blue tint like a raven's wing, long and shiny ... She wore a very short red skirt, allowing you to see white silk stockings and pretty shoes of red morocco, tied with ribbons of fiery color.

4. Irene Forsythe (The Forsyte Saga, John Galsworthy)

The gods gave Irene dark brown eyes and golden hair - a peculiar combination of shades that attracts the eyes of men and, as they say, indicates a weakness of character. And the even, soft whiteness of her neck and shoulders, framed by a golden dress, gave her some extraordinary charm.Golden-haired, dark-eyed Irene looks like a pagan goddess, she is full of charm, distinguished by sophistication of taste and manners.

3. Scarlett O'Hara ("Gone with the Wind" Margaret Mitchell)

Scarlett O'Harane was a beauty, but men were hardly aware of this if, like the Tarleton twins, they became victims of her charms. The refined features of her mother, a local aristocrat of French origin, and large, expressive features were very bizarrely combined in her face. her father, a healthy Irishman.Scarlett's broad-cheeked, chiseled-chin face involuntarily attracted her gaze.Especially her slightly slanting, light green, transparent eyes, framed by dark eyelashes.On a forehead as white as a magnolia petal, ah, that white skin that women are so proud of American South, carefully protecting her with hats, veils and mitts from the hot Georgia sun! - two impeccably clear lines of eyebrows rapidly flew up obliquely - from the bridge of the nose to the temples.green eyes - restless, bright (oh, how much willfulness and fire they had!) - entered into an argument with a courteous secular restraint of manners, betraying the true essence of this nature ...

2. Feride ( "Kinglet singing bird", Reshad Nuri Gyuntekin)

The legendary Turkish actress Aydan Shener starred as Feride (biography, photo)

Feride was short in stature, but with an early figure. In her youth, her cheerful, carefree eyes...

Light blue... It seemed to consist of gold dust dancing in a transparent light.When these eyes are not laughing, they appear large and deep, like living suffering. But as soon as they sparkle with laughter,they decrease, the light ceases to fit in them, it seems that small diamonds are scattered on the cheeks.What beautiful, what delicate features! In the pictures, such faces are touched to tears. Even with his flaws...I saw some charm ... Eyebrows ... They begin beautifully - beautifully, thinly, thinly, but then they go astray ...Curved arrows stretched to the very temples. The upper lip was a little short and slightly exposed a row of teeth.Therefore, it seemed that Feride always smiled a little. ... Being young, fresh as an April rose,strewn with drops of dew, with a face as clear as the morning light.

1. Angelica ("Angelica", Anne and Serge Gollon)

French actress Michel Mercier starred as Angelica (biography, photo)

Series of artistic literary works tells about Angelica, a fictional beauty-adventurer of the 17th century. In the novel, the emphasis is on her golden hair and unusually bewitching green eyes.Angelica is wise, adventurous, impressionable, always striving for love and happiness.

We asked Konstantin Demidov, the director of the Vysotsky Center performance "Faryatyev's Fantasies" and a very well-read person, to name ten literary characters who are not alien to a sense of style, and at the same time take part in photography

Dorian Gray

Perhaps, main character Oscar Wilde, who sold his soul to the devil in order to become the most fashionable and stylish ... Actually, he achieved his goal, but another problem arises - a young man endowed with incredible beauty, falling under the influence of the ideas of new hedonism, devotes his life to vices and the pursuit of pleasures. This character combines a subtle esthete, even a romantic, and a vicious, ruthless criminal and libertine. Times are changing, but even today, many fashionistas would probably like to acquire such a portrait and be the most sophisticated and stylish person in society, without thinking about the consequences. Although, the conclusion is clear: the sale of the soul does not bode well.

Jay Gatsby

As they say, self-made man. Appearing from oblivion (read - not fashion), Gatsby became a trendy person. Even apart from the pompous parties, only the yellow convertible and a luxurious wardrobe are worth a separate psychological analysis or someone's dissertation. For example, we can recall that the pink color in a man’s clothes symbolizes openness to love, and Gatsby wore a pink suit. In his own palace, he collected all the cream of society, in this place there was the largest concentration of stylish people per square meter. Yes, the great Gatsby was one of the most famous people on Long Island, but neither the car nor the shirts, tailored by the best tailors in New York, did not save him.

Sherlock Holmes

English dandy of the highest rank, albeit a morphine drinker. The manner of expressing himself exquisitely, a checkered jacket, a pipe and even a violin, not to mention an extraordinary mind, memory and ways to draw conclusions even without any superpowers put Holmes one step higher. ordinary people. This character is also very much loved in the world of cinema, but the cooling interest of the new generation in the classics managed to warm up only Benedict Cumberbatch. The costume designers were able to make the new Holmes' style quite recognizable. Even my wife wants to find me a coat like Sherlock. Although I personally watched the series from the BBC once, and I’m unlikely to revise it, I can watch Maslennikov’s version from anywhere.

Pants, shirt, blazer, tie, belt - all Dockers;
watch, pasha scarf - the property of the stylist; boots are the property of the model

Erast Fandorin

Hero of a series of historical detectives Russian writer Boris Akunin. This character becomes more and more stylish from book to book: “A starched collar sticks out like alabaster, a pearl pin in a silk tie, a scarlet carnation in a buttonhole. A smooth parting hair to hair, well-groomed nails, a thin black mustache, as if drawn with charcoal. Gaining experience and more and more entering the circle of officials, Erast tries to correspond to the new position in society. Reading another adventure about this detective, you always imagine him dressed to the nines.

Ostap Bender

Despite poverty and humble origins, Ostap is very smart and quick-witted. Charming swindler liked women different ages. He went in the same jacket, which did not prevent him from marrying (albeit fictitiously) Madame Gritsatsueva, proving once again that in order to achieve his goals, it is not necessary to be the most stylish. Energy, inexhaustibility for fiction, rich imagination, sense of humor, humanity (at least in relation to his companions) - this is why Bender is so fond of readers.

Ermolai Lopakhin

A character that many may not remember. But if you love the works of Anton Pavlovich Chekhov or go to the theater at least twice a year, you may know him. Lopakhin - a former peasant, and then a merchant from the play " The Cherry Orchard". It was he who advised Sorin and Ranevskaya how to save the estate from ruin. His grandfather and father were serfs, and Yermolai was the first to enter the same house on other rights, but he remained a “muzhik a muzhik”. If I ever stage this play, I would like to make it more stylish than it might seem on first reading. Since in his relationship with Ranevskaya one feels a certain emotion that can make the “man” dress up in the fashion of that time.

Cyrano de Bergerac

Real-life person who became a literary character and received the greatest fame as a hero play of the same name Edmond Rostand. Excellent poet, breter and swordsman, knight beautiful lady, after reading the works about him, it seems to us very stylish and refined. So let's assume that this is one of the most fashionable characters of the Baroque era.

hat, bow tie, watch - the property of the stylist; boots are the property of the model

Eugene Onegin

The one who is "dressed like a London dandy." Main character novel of the same name A.S. Pushkin. Wikipedia characterizes him as follows: "Onegin's life in St. Petersburg was full of love affairs and secular entertainment, but this constant series of amusements led the hero to the blues." Pushkin himself does not spend many words describing appearance hero, limiting himself to a capacious description that before going out he spent at least three hours in front of a mirror. So there is no doubt that Onegin's wardrobe was impeccable. In the village where Onegin comes to rest from high society, he rejects the girl and kills his new friend Lensky in a duel. Obviously, being a fashionable metropolitan thing and being a man with a capital letter are not the same thing.

Grigory Pechorin

The main character of the "Hero of Our Time" M.Yu. Lermontov. Typical Byronic hero with all the ensuing consequences - always impeccably dressed, as required by the officer's charter, a thoughtful look and unusual appearance(black mustache and eyebrows with blond hair), which made women fall in love with him right and left. Pechorin is practically the same Onegin, with the only difference that he wore the uniform of the Russian imperial army, and not velvet camisoles. But the result is the same - broken female hearts and a comrade killed in a duel. Oddly enough, the image of Pechorin is remembered as positive, which once again proves that any vices are forgiven to beautiful and stylish people.

Count Dracula

Romanian vampire. According to the surviving drawings of those times, the style of this character cannot be traced. But the filmmakers fell in love with the count and turned a man with a strange (terrible) story into a stylish person. Particularly funny and interesting in terms of style is Tod Browning's 1931 retro version, where Bela Lugosi plays the Count. His hairlined Dracula, in a tuxedo, red-lined cloak and bow tie, resembles a crazy conductor, and his fingers and manner before biting some young beauty are beyond praise.

Pants, shirt, belt - all Dockers;
the coat is the property of the model

Photographer: Pavel Kondratiev
Stylist: Alexey Moiseenkov
Producer: Mikhail Volodin

We express our gratitude to the Pushkin Moscow Drama Theater for the premises provided for shooting

Alla Sokolova dedicated the play "Fantasies of Faryatyev" to her father,
and I want to dedicate this performance to all dreamers and, pardon the pathos,
those who look at the stars, even when they are covered with a veil.
And also to all inventors and poets, and, of course, to all lovers.

Konstantin Demidov

The world of books has an amazing property to take the reader into a completely different reality. When you are addicted to this or that book, it is easy to get lost, blurring the line between reality and fiction, created by one of the greatest authors. the globe, forcing us to go all the way with the characters, experiencing the same as they do.

World literature is full of various characters: positive, negative, romantic, militant, strong-willed, weak, cult, etc. Probably each of us school years by reading any love story, or any other work with a charming main character, was overflowing with dreams of meeting such a person on her way. Even as adult self-sufficient women, after reading another book, the thought often subconsciously arises: “Well, why aren’t there such women in real life?».

In the classics of world literature, there are so many carefully thought out and described male characters, so charming that it is hard to resist the ardent desire to revive them and stay with them until the end of their days. Moreover, you understand that this is an ideal, and ideals do not exist in real life. Let's take a look at some of the very best men of your dreams that can be found in the pages of your favorite book...

1. Christian Gray (Fifty Shades of Grey, E. L. James)

This is probably the newest male character from literature, which I would like to revive for myself. Well, who wouldn't want to meet an amazingly sexy, charming, educated and successful entrepreneur who is undoubtedly the subject of many's fantasies. modern women. Yes, yes, with him even BDSM seems not so painful, but even more romantic than one might think. How I would like to see next to me such a handsome, intelligent and mysterious man with a heart of gold, eager to overcome hunger on the planet ...

2. Mr Darcy (Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen)

Now this is a classic. A classic is not a work, but a hero. Mr Darcy is a classic character best man in the world, dating back to the 1800s, but age only adds to its appeal. No one knows what it is that makes him so irresistible: his self-confidence, a touch of arrogance, or the passionate love that he has for Elizabeth and his enduring sense of moral duty, but Mr. Darcy has a certain immortal charm that makes him so perfect. Also, this episode where Colin Firth (" Diary of Bridget Jones"," The King says ") comes out of the lake in a wet white shirt ...

3. Philip Pirrip (Pip) (“Great Expectations,” Charles Dickens)

This is an amazingly complex character with the most simple name. His love is sincere and pure. It grows in conditions in which all the men of the planet should live. And he also has an amazing thirst to succeed and improve in all respects: moral, social, financial and educational. He always has a dream and a clear goal, certain expectations and hopes for the future. Here they are, ambition! Yet he is in some ways an idealist, seeing the world only in black and white colors, while there are so many shades of gray. And having achieved his goals and becoming a gentleman, he began to behave slightly snobbishly and coldly. But he still remains one of the most beloved male characters!

4. Edward Fairfax Rochester (Jane Eyre, Charlotte Brontë)

Ah, Mr Rochester! In fact, you can even turn a blind eye to his crazy wife locked in the attic (she's locked anyway...). We all subconsciously gravitate towards bad boys, and Mr. Rochester has just the right balance of impending anger and passion, for which you can close your eyes to all his shortcomings. He may be mysterious, rude, and ungracious, but he is extremely intelligent, kind, and treats Jane as an equal, noting her intelligence and strength, despite the fact that in Victorian England, men were considered superior to women. If only he were real, he would be the most enviable groom on the planet!

5. Edward Cullen (Twilight, Stephenie Meyer)

Even if you're not a fan of the Twilight saga, it's hard to deny that this hero is one of the best. There is something special about him that makes him charm even the most skeptical persons, and this is clearly not Robert Pattison ("Dear Friend", "Cosmopolis") ... Edward Cullen's character is truly enchanting. Sefani Meyer describes him as impossibly handsome, with perfect features and a lean, muscular body (who cast Pattinson????). But he seduces not with his sweetness or meanness, but with something mysterious, charming and absolutely genuine, peculiar only to him alone ... (Really, who was involved in the selection of actors?!?!)

6. Sherlock Holmes (The Complete Works of Sherlock Holmes, Arthur Conan Doyle)

Maybe it's all to blame Robert Downey Jr (« iron Man "," Soloist"), who gave this strong image its own special charm and murderous appearance, which could not be done Vasily Livanov(« The Master and Margarita», « Don Quixote is back”), but it is still an irresistible explosive mixture of genius, charm, humor and irony. He constantly creates the impression of a person hovering in the clouds, incredibly capable of surprising the reader. This is an outstanding, unsolved personality that can stop any criminal.

7. James Bond (James Bond Books, Ian Fleming)

Probably one of the most famous womanizers in the history of world literature, James Bond is the main gallant cavalier. He is handsome and charming, self-confident and cold-blooded, able to protect in any situation, and he also has all these gadgets and other cool gadgets. Enough to remember the amazing Sean Connery ("Highlander", " League of Extraordinary Gentlemen”), which became one of the best incarnations of the hero.

8. Rhett Butler (Gone with the Wind, Margaret Mitchell)

The list of the best male literary characters would be incomplete without the extremely charming mustache, Rhett Butler. He is handsome and rich, brave, determined and enterprising. He neglects the order and opinion of society, a cynic who does not particularly choose methods for achieving success. But he is unusually intelligent, even wise, showing delicacy and appreciating spiritual beauty of people. And he knows how to love infinitely and selflessly, even a woman like Scarlett O'Hara. Well, who wouldn't want Clark Gable (" It happened one night”) once came off the TV screen, hugged him, gently hugged him, and whispered something affectionate in his ear?

Recently, the BBC showed a series based on Tolstoy's "War and Peace". In the West, everything is like ours - there, too, the release of a film (television) adaptation dramatically increases interest in the literary source. And now the masterpiece of Lev Nikolaevich suddenly became one of the bestsellers, and with it the readers became interested in all Russian literature. On this wave, the popular literary site Literary Hub published the article "10 Russian Literary Heroines You Should Know" (The 10 Russian Literary Heroines You Should Know). It seemed to me that this is a curious look from the outside on our classics and I translated the article for my blog. I post it here too. The illustrations are taken from the original article.

Attention! There are spoilers in the text.

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

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

1. Tatyana Larina (A.S. Pushkin "Eugene Onegin")

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

2. Anna Karenina (L.N. Tolstoy "Anna Karenina")

Unlike Pushkin's Tatyana, who resists the temptation to get along with Onegin, Anna Tolstoy leaves both her husband and son to run away with Vronsky. Like a real dramatic heroine, Anna voluntarily does not right choice, an option for which she will have to pay. Anna's sin and its source tragic fate not in the fact that she left the child, but in the fact that selfishly indulging her sexual and romantic desires, she forgot the lesson of Tatyana's selflessness. If you see a light at the end of a tunnel, make no mistake, it could be a train.

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

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

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

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

5. Irina Prozorova (A.P. Chekhov "Three Sisters")

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

6. Liza Kalitina (I.S. Turgenev "The Noble Nest")

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

7. Margarita (M. Bulgakov "The Master and Margarita")

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

8. Olga Semyonova (A.P. Chekhov "Darling")

In Darling, Chekhov tells the story of Olga Semyonova, who loves and gentle soul, a simple person who is said to live by love. Olga becomes a widow early. Twice. When there is no one around to love, she closes herself in the company of a cat. In a review of Darling, Tolstoy wrote that, intending to ridicule a narrow-minded woman, Chekhov accidentally created a very endearing character. Tolstoy went even further, he condemned Chekhov for being too harsh on Olga, urging her to judge her soul, not her intellect. According to Tolstoy, Olga embodies the ability of Russian women to love unconditionally, a virtue unknown to men.

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

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

10. Nastasya Filippovna (F.M. Dostoevsky "The Idiot")

The heroine of The Idiot, Nastasya Filippovna, gives an idea of ​​how complex Dostoevsky is. Beauty makes her a victim. Orphaned as a child, Nastasya becomes a kept woman and mistress of the elderly man who picked her up. But every time she tries to break free from the clutches of her position and build her own destiny, she continues to feel humiliated. Guilt casts a fatal shadow on all her decisions. According to tradition, like many other Russian heroines, Nastasya has several options for fate, mainly associated with men. And in keeping with tradition, she fails to make the right choice. Resigned to fate instead of fighting, the heroine drifts to her tragic end.

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

Guillermo does not explain his choice of characters in any way. In my opinion, the absence of Princess Mary is surprising or " poor Lisa"(which, by the way, was written earlier than Pushkin's Tatyana) and Katerina Kabanova (from Ostrosky's Thunderstorm). It seems to me that these Russians literary heroes nor better known to us than Lisa Kalitina or Olga Semyonova. However, this is mine Subjective opinion. Who would you add to this list?

Once again, our editors decide to conduct field research on the topic of books. This time we asked women, including those from other countries, to answer the question: who are their favorite female literary characters? Who do they look up to, who inspired them to be what they have become, or inspires them to develop themselves?

We got interesting results. Most of our respondents, and there were more than two dozen of them, named the dramatic heroines of classic novels like Jane Eyre, passionate, restless, not always happy. But the favorite movie characters had a completely different character: the warrior princess Xena or Kerry Bradshaw. We drew two conclusions from this: many film adaptations completely changed the personality of classic book heroines: for example, in the legend of Robin Hood, Lady Marion is a gentle lady who needs to be saved, and in the film with Costner, she is an ironic and strong-willed girl who skillfully wields a sword. Secondly, for reasons beyond our control, we didn’t read the books based on which many of our favorite films were made - for example, Italo Calvino’s Fantaghiro, but everyone watched the film about the adventurous princess in knightly armor with pleasure.

Nevertheless, we present you our heroines. Let's start with those who are dear to us since childhood.

Pippi Longstocking

Irina (30 years old, Ukraine, social worker): Peppy taught me that obedience is not always good, that manners and rules can be neglected for the sake of sincerity, honesty, friendship, that a girl can fight, be independent and make herself respected.

Peppy Dovgapanchokha

Astrid Lindgren, "Makhaon-Ukraine"

Actually, it's very, very funny book. It’s funny how Pippi cracks down on hooligans: one on a tree, the other in a doll carriage (the reader laughs to tears), how she makes clumsy policemen chase her, how she performs in a circus (the reader jumps on the sofa), how she fools thieves and tries to behave well in a "decent" society (the reader pours the sugar bowl on the floor). Pippi does things exactly the way kids SHOULD NOT do, and that's what delights young readers. True, at the same time, Peppy is a kind, generous, noble girl. Don't forget to reread this book with your children!

Ronya

Elena (27 years old, Ukraine, entrepreneur): It also seemed to me in childhood that my parents did not understand me and I really wanted to run away into the forest and be on my own, Ronya made me feel that everything is in our power and there is nothing to be afraid of, that we need to look for and find like-minded people. The same adventurous boys, for example.

Ronya, daughter of a robber

Astrid Lindgren, Makhaon-Ukraine

Quite a happy and promising daughter of the robber Roni one day meets her son from a gang of competitors - the boy Birk. Children of sworn enemies, Roni and Birk either argue and compete, or save each other from danger - and finally, imbued mutual sympathy. Secretly from their parents, they decide to become sister and brother. But the irreconcilable enmity of the robber families interferes with their friendship. Children quarrel with their parents and run away from the castle into the forest. Here, among the dangers of wildlife and fabulous monsters, they will test their friendship and live full of adventure summer. In order to get their children back, parents have to give up their enmity. At the end of the story, the robber clans unite, and Roni and Birk, to the displeasure of their fathers, take an oath that they will never become robbers.

Ann Shirley

Miroslava (24 years old, journalist): I love the whole series even though I read these books when I was no longer a child or even a teenager. This is a story about an independent, hardworking and principled girl. Anne taught me to rely on myself and not wait for any princes.

Enn iz Zelenyh Dahiv

Lucy-Maud Montgomery, Urbino

To begin with, Ann was supposed to be a boy. That is, Marilla and Matthew Cuthbert, single middle-aged brother and sister living in the village of Avonlea on Prince Edward Island, decided to adopt a boy from an orphanage who would help with the housework. And a girl arrived, Ann Shirley, smart. lively, kind, quick-tempered, red-haired. Anne's character is very fond of readers. In other books in the series, Ann grows up, learns, falls in love, raises children. Little Ann became the prototype of Pippi Longstocking, and Mark Twain once called her "the most touching and charming child in literature since the immortal Alice."

Pallas Athena and other Greek goddesses and nymphs

Kristina (35 years old, Ukraine, teacher): My dad was a sailor, so I really liked to read The Odyssey, of course, adapted for children, and then all the myths ancient greece. Of course, Pallas Athena was my favorite heroine: wise, fair, courageous. I will say now: not involved in "dubious" affairs, like other nymphs, goddesses and princesses of Hellas. real lady. But they were all beautiful, omnipotent, irresistible.

Myths of Ancient Greece

"Eksmo"

First of all, it is the basis Western culture. We can't even imagine how the plots, characters and their adventures have influenced everything that has been written, invented and said since Homer. Without knowledge of myths, a person cannot have any literary culture as such. Yes, this is the opinion of our editors.

Growing up, we began to read other books. About love. And they themselves began to want love “like in a book” and began to look for similarities with the heroines of their favorite novels. All the brave and passionate are in our thoughts: Larisa from The Dowry, hetaera Thais of Athens from the novel of the same name by Efremov and all the heroines of Dumas, and Consuelo George Sand.

Scarlett O'Hara

Let's make a reservation right away that the majority of our respondents called this particular heroine as a woman with whom they compare themselves and who they would like to be, of course, in terms of independence, perseverance, ingenuity and perseverance. Perhaps because the first time we saw the film and read the book at a time when a woman had to be a Komsomol member and mother-heroine at the same time.

Maria (25 years old, Ukraine, fashion confectioner): Scarlett knows no barriers, she is a master of flirting and all sorts of female tricks, she wanted to spit on the opinion of society, capable of love, but not able to recognize it in another person. Strong woman. And, of course, “I’ll think about it tomorrow!”

gone With the Wind

Margaret Mitchell, Eksmo

A novel about how a beautiful and ambitious girl loved the wrong man all her life, loved the image she invented herself, loved because she could not get it. She loved through war and poverty, marrying others "for evil to the conductor" or to improve the financial condition of the family - after all Civil War between the southern and northern states walked right through her estate in Georgia. In general, she almost got her way. And she realized that this hero of her dreams was not a hero at all, but that person who should have reciprocated, left and did not turn around.

margarita

Maria (37 years old, Ukraine, designer): I wanted to feel in myself the same mystical, “witchish” beginning as in Margarita. A little "play with fire", decide to change your fate and attract higher powers to your side, albeit not bright ones. All for love.

The Master and Margarita

Mikhail Bulgakov, Eksmo

This is one of the most beloved novels in our selection about. Satan and his servants suddenly enter the ordinary, even ordinary, vulgar and terrible life of some Muscovites. He has absolutely his own affairs in Moscow, but suddenly he comes across two whose love needs help, and then the power "which always wants evil and always does good" saves the Master and Margarita. Publishing house "Kalvaria" published this novel in translation into Ukrainian.

Anna Karenina

Oksana (32 years old, Russia, actress): It is during this period of my life that I love Anna Karenina. For the depth of feelings, for honesty, for courage.

Ramona (40 years old, Italy, editor): Fearless, nonconformist, passionate, luxurious. And I don't like the way Tolstoy dealt with her character in the finale.

Anna Karenina

Leo Tolstoy, "Eksmo"

Once upon a time there was a beautiful, smart Anna married to an unloved old husband. She was in high society, wore expensive clothes, adored her son. And suddenly she fell in love with the young and handsome, and he fell in love with her. It was possible to hide, hide and drag an affair for years. But she decided to leave her husband, live openly with her beloved, gave birth to a daughter from him and resigned herself to the fact that in high society she was no longer called. A bold choice. Everything would be fine, but only young and beautiful life with a tarnished reputation ceased to suit him and he decided to marry a "decent" girl. What was Anna to do?

Feride

Tatyana (36 years old, translator, journalist, writer): If we talk about girlish fiction, then I was a big fan of Feride, a girl who created problems for herself, and then with great effort, but also with rare dignity, got out of them. She counted on herself, knew how to make friends, love, be grateful, generous and proud. In love, either everything or nothing. Over time, I realized that extremes, especially in love, are good only in books, but in life you need to be smarter. And more fun.

Wren - songbird

Reshad Nuri Guntekin

This is a book about Turkish Jane Eyre. About a poor orphan who fell in love with her cousin and he had to marry someone else. Therefore, Feride ran away from home and led a hard working life in the pedagogical field: she sowed reasonable, kind, eternal in remote Turkish villages. Of course, she had to fend off the advances of unsuitable men. A few years later, she returned to visit her relatives and found out that her cousin (a green-eyed handsome man with a mustache) was a widower. But in fact, in general, he always loved only her, and that wife, already deceased, it happens like that.

Hermione

Tatyana (26 years old, Ukraine, journalist, editor): I could name many book heroines that I liked, reading about which, I imagined myself in their place. But Hermione Granger has influenced me the most. Everything that the heroine did in the book impressed me. For me she is the best interesting character, you can see with what love her character was prescribed by J.K. Rowling. I love her for her insight, intelligence, talent, dedication, ability to be a good friend, resourcefulness and composure when necessary. The only thing that upsets me about Hermione is her choice of companion. And as Rowling herself recently admitted, it was Hermione and Harry who are the perfect couple, but the writer had her own reasons to wrap the character's story in a different direction.

Harry Potter

J.K. Rowling, A-BA-BA-HA-LA-MA-HA

School of magic, spells, curses, prophecies, friends, enemies and monsters. Surprisingly, a whole generation not only had fun reading these books, but also found their own role models. Hermione is a smart, proactive, not afraid of responsibility, girl-comrade.

Dagny Taggart

Svetlana (36 years old, Ukraine, PR manager): Men call that woman a bitch, from whom they failed to make a fool. And she is a stylish beauty!

Atlas shrugging his shoulders

Ayn Rand, "Our Format"

The "Atlanteans" in Ayn Rand's novel are condemned to carry the main driving forces humanity - production, creation and creativity. In her opinion, it is thanks to the "Atlantes", the heroes of the novel, that the existence of mankind is possible. According to a 1991 public opinion poll conducted by the Library of Congress and the Book of the Month Club in America, Atlas Shrugged is the second book after the Bible to change the lives of American readers. In our country, the novel Atlas Shrugged was little known until 2008, but it became popular in the next two years, regularly included in the top twenty bestsellers of business literature.

Simone de Beauvoir

Aminata (32 years old, Senegal-Italy-France, anthropologist, writer): Honestly, I can't think of any iconic female character. Holden from Catcher in the Rye was my model for honesty, but he's a guy. But the woman whose life and philosophy is an example for me is Simone de Beauvoir.

Second floor

Simone de Beauvoir

Do you enjoy reading forbidden books? Which were forbidden, so that women would not consider themselves for an hour equal to men? So, this book is included by the Vatican in the Index of Forbidden Books. "The Second Sex" is one of the most famous works author, telling about the treatment of women during human history; often regarded as one of the main philosophical works of the feminist movement and as the starting point of second wave feminism.

Dubravka Ugreshich

Olya (42 years old, Serbia-Italy, teacher, translator): I also used to love the Brontë sisters and " gone With the Wind". And recently, I have been translating books by Dubravka Ugresic, a Croatian writer, and I admire her and her heroines: strong, courageous, principled, not compromising with the patriarchal world.

No need to read!

Dubravka Ugreshich, O. Morozova Publishing House

"You don't need to read!" Dubravki Ugresic is a bold criticism modern literature. The book consists of critical essays, more like fascinating stories. And the sparkling rebellious novel “Baba Yaga Laid a Testicle” was also translated into Russian.

Frida

Julia (36 years old, Germany, project manager): Frida is both the author and protagonist of her works, main character his paintings and poems. I love her for her firmness of spirit, her ability not to indulge in grief, to remain true to herself and at the same time not to betray love.

Frida Kahlo. Ruthless kind

Gerard de Cortanz, "Nora-Druk"

Mexican artist Frida Kahlo has long been a cult, icon, film, pop art and inspiration for many people around the world. Frida's life has always been about overcoming pain, its sublimation into art. She was born only because her parents' only son died. She fell into a terrible catastrophe that forever undermined her health. She fell in love with a poet who did not know how to be faithful. She painted herself, her life, her soul, her country. The Greatest Female Artist and greatest woman in the emotional book by Gerard de Cortanza, the presentation of which in Ukrainian took place quite recently.