The most famous characters in books Favorite literary heroes of our contemporaries Literary characters list

Men rule the roost in literature: writers, heroes, villains. But aren't women less interesting and talented? We have selected several heroines who inspire with intelligence, ingenuity, strong character and kindness.

Women and goddesses from ancient literature

Scheherazade fought "toxic masculinity" before the term even existed. The Persian king Shahriyar faced the infidelity of his first wife and his brother's wife and decided that all women were vicious whores. Since he still could not do without women, he decided to marry innocent girls and execute them after the first wedding night. The smart and beautiful daughter of the vizier Scheherazade decided to rid the country of the tyranny of such misogyny. She appeared to the king as a new bride. And then you know: she began to tell an interesting story and cut it off at the most intriguing moment. Curiosity took possession of Shahriyar, and he kept the girl alive until the next night. This went on for a thousand days (almost three years!), during which time Scheherazade gave birth to three children. When at last she fell at his feet and asked to save her life for the sake of their common sons, Shahriyar replied that he had pardoned her long ago. This is how the courage, intelligence and skill of the storyteller saved many innocent lives.

Elizabeth. "Pride and Prejudice "

Witty and observant, Elizabeth conquered not only the impregnable and proud Mr. Darcy, but also millions of readers around the world. She loves her family very much, especially her sisters, whom she tries to protect. Moreover, she is offended to see the shortcomings of her parents, but she does not try to remake people close to her or rebel: she only wants to find an acceptable place for herself in her modern society.

Scarlett O'Hara. "Gone With the Wind "

Bright, wayward and eccentric, Scarlett causes conflicting feelings among readers. Many believe that she herself is to blame for her misfortunes and was generally an intolerable woman. Writer Margaret Mitchell herself was ambivalent about her character. But beautiful and strong women who are not used to losing often infuriate others. Unlike men: they are praised for the same qualities. Still, it is worth admiring the fortitude of the green-eyed Irish woman: she survived the civil war, the death of her parents and deprivation, having coped with all the hardships herself.

Margarita. "The Master and Margarita "

A beautiful woman who preferred love to a poor artist over a profitable marriage. For his sake, she went to humiliation, made a deal with the devil and took revenge on the offenders of her betrothed. Some see sacrifice in Margarita, but we know that she understood well for whom she risked everything. She is admired for the strength of her love and courage.

Pippi Longstocking. The cycle of stories

Astrid Lindgren was still a prankster and did not hesitate to break the far-fetched rules of decency. For example, she made a daring attempt to walk from her native Vimmerby to Lake Vättern (a distance of 300 kilometers) in the company of five women and completely without male help. Believe me, for Sweden at that time it was a challenge! It is not surprising that her heroines also cause boring inhabitants to itch. Pippi Longstocking easily violates social norms and infuriates adults: she goes to bed when she wants, keeps a horse on the balcony, beats thieves and generally lives without parental supervision. She also annoys real moms and dads: there were even complaints that because of Pippi, children "have the opportunity to find a socially acceptable excuse for aggression against their parents." But the children like her, because she can do everything that they would like, but they will not become out of fear of the “big ones”. The fact that Pippi has become so popular speaks only of a longing for direct, bright heroines, masterful and funny.

Hermione. Harry Potter book series

How not to love Hermione? We spend all our (and her) childhood with her. We meet her as a little girl who is very smart and wants to be no worse than others in the class. After all, she immediately realized that it would be more difficult for her, because she does not know those things that the children of wizards know from childhood. She makes friends, falls in love, grows stronger before our eyes. Hermione learns from her mistakes: after the story with the windbag Lockhart, she does not trust everyone, but only those who deserve her respect. She is brave and knows how to sympathize with the weak, and now someone who has an emotional range is clearly wider than a toothpick.

Hello dear.
So, I decided to present it :-) I wonder if your opinion will coincide with mine or not :-)
So...
10th place Kirila Petrovich Troekurov("Dubrovsky" A. S. Pushkin)

Landowner, retired general-in-chief. An idle voluptuary and drinker. An absolute tyrant who is ready to sacrifice anything for the sake of boredom and whim. Let's say he loves his daughter Masha, but passes her off as an old man she doesn't love. We are suing the estate from our old friend. And yes, he is a very unpleasant person. Although all this is solely out of boredom, which is even more disgusting.

9th place - Sergei Ivanovich Talberg("White Guard" M.A. Bulgakov)

Traitor, coward, opportunist. He easily changes his principles, beliefs, without much effort and remorse. He is always where it is easier to live. Moreover, it gives not only service, superiors, power, but also friends and even family. He is the husband of Elena Turbina.

Remember how he says to his wife: "I'm sure that it won't even be three months, well, at the latest in May, we will come to the city. Don't be afraid of anything.". He lied, because he simply fled abroad. Talberg was the first to put on a red armband at the military school in March 1917 and, as a member of the military committee, arrested the famous General Petrov. Not surprising.

8th place Grushnitsky("The Hero of Our Time" M.Yu. Lermontov)

It's funny, but in the story Grushnitsky has no name :-)) He was created as a kind of "double of Pecheroin", but negative. Empty, insincere and pretentious, he is "... one of those people who have ready-made lush phrases for all simply the beautiful does not touch and which are importantly draped in extraordinary feelings, sublime passions and exceptional suffering. To produce an effect is their pleasure ... "".

Grushnitsky is in love with Princess Mary, and at first she answers him with special attention, but then falls in love with Pechorin. The case ends in a duel. Grushnitsky is so low that he conspires with friends and they do not load Pechorin's pistol. The hero cannot forgive such frank meanness. He reloads the pistol and kills Grushnitsky. And that's not a pity.

7th place Lady("Mumu" I. S. Turgenev)

One of the most annoying side characters. No name, it's hard to tell about her appearance. The old woman is a tyrant. She lives in her house in Moscow. She also has several villages where her serfs live and work. The lady is an old widow: ". ..once lived a lady, a widow, surrounded by numerous households. Her sons served in Petersburg, her daughters got married..."The lady lives in solitude and is rarely in public, and she has a lot of servants. She keeps her people and peasants "in a black body", I repeat, a tyrant.

Remember how she gave the washerwoman Tatyana, with whom Gerasim was in love, to the drunkard shoemaker Kapiton, which ruined both. The lady, at her own discretion, decides the fate of her serfs, not at all considering their wishes, and sometimes even common sense. It's a pity for both Gerasim and Mumu. The lady is disgusted

6th place Alexey Ivanovich Shvabrin("The Captain's Daughter" A. S. Pushkin)
Traitor, low man and coward


Shvabrin was exiled to the Belogorsk fortress for a duel in which his opponent was killed. He treated the inhabitants of the fortress with contempt and arrogance. There is no honor and he is able to slander a girl only because she refused him reciprocity. During the assault and capture of the Belogorsk fortress, Shvabrin realizes that the siege of a poorly fortified fortress cannot be sustained, he goes over to the side of Pugachev. Judas.

He did not become his own there, and finally lost respect among his circle: "Shvabrin fell to his knees ... At that moment, contempt drowned out all feelings of hatred and anger in me. I looked with disgust at the nobleman, wallowing at the feet of a runaway Cossack."

5th place Fyodor Pavlovich Karamazov("The Brothers Karamazov" F.M. Dostoevsky)

The landowner is the head of the Karamazov family and the father of Dmitry, Ivan and Alexei Karamazov, a voluptuary, very stingy, envious, stupid. He was ready to do anything for money and women. Absolutely unprincipled and he has no understanding of good and evil. There are only his interests and all. By maturity, he was flabby, began to drink a lot, opened several taverns, made many fellow countrymen his debtors ...

He began to compete with his eldest son Dmitry for the heart of Grushenka Svetlova, which paved the way for the crime - Karamazov was killed by his illegitimate son Peter Smerdyakov.

4th place Malchish-Plohish("The Tale of the Military Secret, of Malchish-Kibalchish and his firm word." A.P. Gaidar).
This, of course, is not Russian classical literature. But let's make an assumption:-) Let it be "almost Russian classics".


Malchish-Plokhish - has become a collective image of a traitor and a scoundrel in general.
How it happened: It happened after the war, when the Red Army drove the white troops of the damned bourgeois. And they all lived quietly and calmly. But the bourgeois attacked again because of the Black Mountains. And all the men began to leave to fight, and the time came when only the old men remained. Then Malchish-Kibalchish called on everyone: “Hey, you boys, boys-babies! Or do we, boys, just play sticks and jump ropes? And the fathers are gone, and the brothers are gone. bourgeoisie came and took us to their damned bourgeoisie?" Then they went to help. And only one Malchish-Plokhish wanted to outwit everyone and thus get into the bourgeoisie.

How it ended: The bourgeois could not defeat Malchish-Kibalchish. And Malchish-Plokhish took it and helped them: he chopped firewood, dragged hay, lit boxes with black bombs, with white shells and yellow cartridges. There was an explosion, and the bourgeoisie of Malchish-Kibalchish seized. Rewarded with a basket of cookies and a barrel of jam
What was the result: The traitor achieved his cause: Malchish-Kibalchish was tortured and killed, but he did not tell them the Red Army secret. And the Red Army came and defeated the bourgeoisie. "And Malchish-Kibalchish was buried on a green hillock near the Blue River. And they put a big red flag over the grave.
And no one else remembered Malchish-Plokhish. Escaped, means punishment :-)

3rd place Viktor Ippolitovich Komarovsky("Doctor Zhivago". B.L. Pasternak)
Rich and unscrupulous lawyer

He is guilty of the ruin of the Zhivago family and the death of the protagonist's father, he cohabits with Lara's mother and with Lara herself. Finally, Komarovsky deceives Zhivago and his wife apart. Komarovsky is smart, prudent, greedy, cynical.

The daughter of Lara and Zhivago, who was born in the Far East, later said that Komarovsky was “the Russian minister in Belomongolia” and left during the Red offensive, taking Lara with him.

2nd place Porfiry Vladimirovich Golovlev(“Lord Golovlyovs” by M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin)

Everyone is beautiful there :-) But the most disgusting, of course, is Porfiry Golovlev, nicknamed Judas and the Blood Drinker, He is the last representative of a swindled family. He is hypocritical, greedy, cowardly, prudent. He spends his life in endless slander and litigation, drives his son to suicide, while imitating extreme religiosity by reciting prayers.

Toward the end of his dark life, Golovlev gets drunk and runs wild, goes into a March blizzard. In the morning, his stiff corpse is found. A disgusting character who is not sorry.

1 place Arkady Ivanovich Svidrigailov("Crime and Punishment" F.M. Dostoevsky)

Svidrigailov is an active, intelligent and strong character who works exclusively for evil. He is a widower, at one time he was ransomed by his wife from prison, lived in the village for 7 years. A cynical and depraved person. On his conscience, the suicide of a servant, a 14-year-old girl, possibly the poisoning of his wife. Due to Svidrigailov's harassment, Raskolnikov's sister lost her job.

Upon learning that Raskolnikov is a murderer, Luzhin blackmails Dunya. The girl shoots at Svidrigailov and misses. Svidrigailov is an ideological scoundrel, he does not experience moral torment. He's just bored. He does evil for the sake of evil, and to dispel boredom. But she overcomes him and he ends up killing himself with a shot from a revolver.

What is your list?
Have a nice time of the day.

Russian literature has given us a cavalcade of both positive and negative characters. Let's remember the second group.
Beware, spoilers!)

1. Alexei Molchalin (Alexander Griboedov, "Woe from Wit")

Molchalin is the hero of "nothing", Famusov's secretary. He is faithful to his father's behest: "to please all people without exception - the owner, the boss, his servant, the janitor's dog." In a conversation with Chatsky, he sets out his life principles, which are that "at my age one should not dare to have one's own judgment." Molchalin is sure that you need to think and act as is customary in the "famus" society, otherwise they will gossip about you, and, as you know, "evil tongues are worse than pistols." He despises Sophia, but is ready to please Famusov to sit with her all night long, playing the role of a lover.

2. Grushnitsky (Mikhail Lermontov, "A Hero of Our Time")

Grushnitsky has no name in Lermontov's story. He is the "double" of the main character - Pechorin. According to Lermontov’s description, Grushnitsky is “... one of those people who have ready-made lush phrases for all occasions, who are simply not touched by the beautiful and who importantly drape in extraordinary feelings, sublime passions and exceptional suffering. To produce an effect is their delight ... ". Grushnitsky is very fond of pathos. There is not an ounce of sincerity in him. Grushnitsky is in love with Princess Mary, and at first she answers him with special attention, but then falls in love with Pechorin. The case ends in a duel. Grushnitsky is so low that he conspires with friends and they do not load Pechorin's pistol. The hero cannot forgive such frank meanness. He reloads the pistol and kills Grushnitsky.

3. Afanasy Totsky (Fyodor Dostoyevsky, The Idiot)

Afanasy Totsky, having taken Nastya Barashkova, the daughter of a deceased neighbor, for upbringing and dependent, eventually “became close to her”, developing a suicidal complex in the girl and indirectly becoming one of the culprits of her death. Extremely greedy to the female, at the age of 55, Totsky decided to connect his life with the daughter of General Yepanchin Alexandra, deciding to marry Nastasya to Ganya Ivolgin. However, neither of these things worked out. As a result, Totsky "was captivated by a visiting Frenchwoman, a Marquise and a Legitimist."

4. Alena Ivanovna (Fyodor Dostoevsky, "Crime and Punishment")

The old pawnbroker is a character that has become a household name. Even those who have not read Dostoevsky's novel have heard of her. Alena Ivanovna is not so old by today's standards, she is “60 years old”, but the author describes her like this: “... a dry old woman with sharp and angry eyes with a small pointed nose ... Her blond, slightly graying hair was oiled with oil. Some kind of flannel rag was wrapped around her thin and long neck, similar to a chicken leg ... ". The old woman pawnbroker is engaged in usury and profits from the grief of people. She takes valuable things at huge interest, treats her younger sister Lizaveta, and beats her.

5. Arkady Svidrigailov (Fyodor Dostoevsky, Crime and Punishment)

Svidrigailov - one of Raskolnikov's doubles in Dostoevsky's novel, a widower, at one time was bought out of prison by his wife, lived in the village for 7 years. A cynical and depraved person. On his conscience, the suicide of a servant, a 14-year-old girl, possibly the poisoning of his wife. Due to Svidrigailov's harassment, Raskolnikov's sister lost her job. Upon learning that Raskolnikov is a murderer, Luzhin blackmails Dunya. The girl shoots at Svidrigailov and misses. Svidrigailov is an ideological scoundrel, he does not experience moral torment and experiences "world boredom", eternity seems to him "a bathhouse with spiders." As a result, he commits suicide with a shot from a revolver.

6. Boar (Alexander Ostrovsky, Thunderstorm)

In the image of Kabanikh, one of the central characters in the play "Thunderstorm", Ostrovsky reflected the outgoing patriarchal, strict archaism. Kabanova Marfa Ignatievna - "a rich merchant's wife, widow", Katerina's mother-in-law, mother of Tikhon and Varvara. The boar is very domineering and strong, she is religious, but more outwardly, because she does not believe in forgiveness or mercy. She is as practical as possible and lives by earthly interests. The boar is sure that the family way of life can only be maintained on fear and orders: “After all, out of love, parents are strict with you, out of love they scold you, everyone thinks to teach good.” She perceives the departure of the former order as a personal tragedy: “That’s how the old days are brought out ... What will happen, as the elders die, ... I don’t know.”

7. Lady (Ivan Turgenev, "Mumu")

We all know the sad story that Gerasim drowned Mumu, but not everyone remembers why he did it, but he did it because the despotic lady ordered him to do so. The same landowner had previously given the washerwoman Tatyana, with whom Gerasim was in love, to the drunkard shoemaker Kapiton, which ruined both. The lady, at her own discretion, decides the fate of her serfs, not at all considering their wishes, and sometimes even common sense.

8. Footman Yasha (Anton Chekhov, The Cherry Orchard)

Lackey Yasha in Anton Chekhov's play "The Cherry Orchard" is an unpleasant character. He openly bows to everything foreign, while he is extremely ignorant, rude and even boorish. When his mother comes to him from the village and waits for him in the servants' room all day, Yasha dismissively declares: "It is very necessary, I could come tomorrow." Yasha tries to behave decently in public, tries to appear educated and well-mannered, but at the same time, alone with Firs, she says to the old man: “You are tired, grandfather. If only you'd die sooner." Yasha is very proud of the fact that he lived abroad. With a foreign gloss, he wins the heart of the maid Dunyasha, but uses her location for his own benefit. After the sale of the estate, the lackey persuades Ranevskaya to take him back to Paris with her. It is impossible for him to stay in Russia: "the country is uneducated, the people are immoral, moreover, boredom ...".

9. Pavel Smerdyakov (Fyodor Dostoyevsky, The Brothers Karamazov)

Smerdyakov is a character with a speaking surname, according to rumors, the illegitimate son of Fyodor Karrmazov from the city's holy fool Lizaveta Smerdyashchaya. The surname Smerdyakov was given to him by Fyodor Pavlovich in honor of his mother. Smerdyakov serves as a cook in Karamazov's house, and, apparently, he cooks quite well. However, this is "a man with rottenness." This is evidenced by at least Smerdyakov’s reasoning about history: “In the twelfth year there was a great invasion of Russia by the Emperor Napoleon of France the first, and it would be good if these very French had conquered us then, an intelligent nation would have conquered a very stupid one, sir, and annexed to itself. There would even be other orders.” Smerdyakov is the murderer of Karamazov's father.

10. Pyotr Luzhin (Fyodor Dostoevsky, Crime and Punishment)

Luzhin is another of the twins of Rodion Raskolnikov, a business man of 45 years old, "with a cautious and obnoxious physiognomy." Having broken out "from rags to riches", Luzhin is proud of his pseudo-education, behaves arrogantly and stiffly. Having made an offer to Dunya, he anticipates that she will be grateful to him all her life for the fact that he "brought her to the people." He also wooed Dunya by calculation, believing that she would be useful to him for his career. Luzhin hates Raskolnikov because he opposes their union with Dunya. Luzhin, on the other hand, pockets Sonya Marmeladova one hundred rubles at her father's funeral, accusing her of stealing.

11. Kirila Troyekurov (Alexander Pushkin, "Dubrovsky")

Troekurov is an example of a Russian master, spoiled by his power and environment. He spends his time in idleness, drunkenness, voluptuousness. Troekurov sincerely believes in his impunity and unlimited possibilities (“That is the strength to take away the estate without any right”). The master loves his daughter Masha, but passes her off as an old man she does not love. Troekurov's serfs look like their master - the Troekurov kennel is insolent to Dubrovsky Sr. - and thereby quarrels old friends.

12. Sergei Talberg (Mikhail Bulgakov, White Guard)

Sergei Talberg is the husband of Elena Turbina, a traitor and opportunist. He easily changes his principles, beliefs, without much effort and remorse. Thalberg is always where it is easier to live, so he runs abroad. He leaves his family and friends. Even Talberg's eyes (which, as you know, are the "mirror of the soul") are "two-story", he is the exact opposite of the Turbins. Talberg was the first to put on a red armband at the military school in March 1917 and, as a member of the military committee, arrested the famous General Petrov.

13. Alexey Shvabrin (Alexander Pushkin, The Captain's Daughter)

Shvabrin is the antipode of the protagonist of Pushkin's story "The Captain's Daughter" by Pyotr Grinev. He was exiled to the Belogorsk fortress for murder in a duel. Shvabrin is undoubtedly smart, but at the same time he is cunning, impudent, cynical, and mocking. Having been refused by Masha Mironova, he spreads dirty rumors about her, wounds him in the back in a duel with Grinev, goes over to Pugachev’s side, and, having been captured by government troops, spreads rumors that Grinev is a traitor. In general, a rubbish person.

14. Vasilisa Kostyleva (Maxim Gorky, "At the Bottom")

In Gorky's play "At the Bottom" everything is sad and melancholy. Such an atmosphere is diligently maintained by the owners of the rooming house where the action takes place - the Kostylevs. The husband is a nasty cowardly and greedy old man, Vasilisa's wife is a prudent, dodgy opportunist, forcing her lover Vaska Ash to steal for her sake. When she finds out that he himself is in love with her sister, she promises to give her away in exchange for killing her husband.

15. Mazepa (Alexander Pushkin, Poltava)

Mazepa is a historical character, but if in history the role of Mazepa is ambiguous, then in Pushkin's poem Mazepa is an unambiguously negative character. Mazepa appears in the poem as an absolutely immoral, dishonorable, vengeful, vicious person, like a treacherous hypocrite for whom nothing is sacred (he “does not know the shrine”, “does not remember goodness”), a person who is accustomed to achieve his goal at any cost. The seducer of his young goddaughter Maria, he publicly executes her father Kochubey and - already sentenced to death - subjected to severe torture in order to find out where he hid his treasures. Without equivocation, Pushkin denounces Mazepa's political activity, which is determined only by the love of power and the thirst for revenge on Peter.

16. Foma Opiskin (Fyodor Dostoevsky, "The Village of Stepanchikovo and Its Inhabitants")

Foma Opiskin is an extremely negative character. Livelier, hypocrite, liar. He diligently portrays piety and education, tells everyone about his supposedly ascetic experience and sparkles with quotes from books ... When he gets power into his hands, he shows his true essence. “The low soul, having come out from under oppression, oppresses itself. Thomas was oppressed - and he immediately felt the need to oppress himself; they broke down on him - and he himself began to break down on others. He was a jester and immediately felt the need to have his own jesters. He boasted to the point of absurdity, broke down to the point of impossibility, demanded bird's milk, tyrannized without measure, and it came to the point that good people, having not yet witnessed all these tricks, but listening only to stories, considered all this to be a miracle, an obsession, they were baptized and spat…”

17. Viktor Komarovsky (Boris Pasternak, Doctor Zhivago)

Lawyer Komarovsky is a negative character in Boris Pasternak's novel Doctor Zhivago. In the fates of the main characters - Zhivago and Lara, Komarovsky is an "evil genius" and a "grey eminence". He is guilty of the ruin of the Zhivago family and the death of the protagonist's father, he cohabits with Lara's mother and with Lara herself. Finally, Komarovsky deceives Zhivago and his wife apart. Komarovsky is smart, prudent, greedy, cynical. All in all, a bad person. He himself understands this, but it suits him perfectly.

18. Judas Golovlev (Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin, "Gentlemen Golovlevs")

Porfiry Vladimirovich Golovlev, nicknamed Yudushka and Krovopivushka, is "the last representative of a swindled family." He is hypocritical, greedy, cowardly, prudent. He spends his life in endless slander and litigation, drives his son to suicide, while imitating extreme religiosity, reading prayers "without the participation of the heart." Toward the end of his dark life, Golovlev gets drunk and runs wild, goes into a March blizzard. In the morning, his stiff corpse is found.

19. Andriy (Nikolai Gogol, Taras Bulba)

Andriy is the youngest son of Taras Bulba, the hero of the story of the same name by Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol. Andriy, as Gogol writes, from early youth began to feel the "need for love." This need brings him down. He falls in love with a panochka, betrays his homeland, and friends, and his father. Andriy admits: “Who said that my homeland is Ukraine? Who gave it to me in my homeland? The fatherland is what our soul seeks, which is sweeter for it than anything. My homeland is you! ... and everything that is, I will sell, give, destroy for such a homeland! Andrew is a traitor. He is killed by his own father.

20. Fyodor Karamazov (Fyodor Dostoyevsky, The Brothers Karamazov)

In the first place in our ranking is Karamazov the father. Fyodor Pavlovich does not live long in Dostoevsky's novel, but the description of his "exploits" raises this character to the anti-pedestal of heroism. He is voluptuous, greedy, envious, stupid. To maturity, he became flabby, began to drink a lot, opened several taverns, made many countrymen his debtors ... He began to compete with his eldest son Dmitry for the heart of Grushenka Svetlova, which paved the way for the crime - Karamazov was killed by his illegitimate son Peter Smerdyakov.

(Guillermo Erades)

And also about why Russian women understand: you should not count on "happily ever after"

After the recent BBC adaptation of War and Peace, many TV viewers dusted off their old copies of Tolstoy's masterpiece and went for a new approach. Those who are especially brave, perhaps inspired by the magnificent Natasha Rostova, will want to plunge into the vast world of Russian literature in search of equally memorable female characters. Where to begin? You have found what you need. Here is your guide to selected heroines of Russian literature.

We all know that all happy heroines are equally happy, and each unhappy heroine is unhappy in her own way. But here's what's interesting: in Russian literature, happy heroes are a rarity. In fact, Russian heroines tend to complicate their lives. And it works, because in no small part of the charm of these characters is due to their suffering and tragic fates. Because they are Russian.

The narrator in my first novel Back to Moscow is working - or pretending to be working - on a dissertation on female characters in Russian literature. He tries to build relationships with the women he meets along the way, drawing on the lessons he has learned from the Russian classics. He soon realizes that modern Russia is no longer the country that Tolstoy and Chekhov described in their books. And Moscow at the dawn of the 21st century is a bustling metropolis undergoing rapid and profound changes, and women in this city very rarely behave as described in books.

One thing is worth remembering about Russian heroines: their stories are not about overcoming obstacles on the way to a happy ending. As guardians of national values ​​that have long been revered, they know that there is more to life than happiness.

Tatyana Larina - Eugene Onegin

In the beginning there was Tatyana. She was the Eve of Russian literature. Not only because she was the first, but also because of Pushkin's special place in the hearts of Russians - he is like a shrine. Any Russian, holding a pickle in his hands, is ready to recite entire poems of the father of modern Russian literature (and after a couple of glasses of vodka, many do just that). Pushkin's masterpiece "Eugene Onegin" is actually not about Onegin, but about Tatyana, a young provincial lady in love with the title character.

Unlike the cynical reveler Onegin, corrupted by the influence of European values, Tatyana embodies the purity and essence of the Mysterious Russian Soul, including the readiness for self-sacrifice and the ability to despise happiness - these qualities of her are obvious, it is worth remembering the famous scene in which she refuses her beloved man .

Anna Karenina

Unlike Pushkin's Tatyana, who resisted the temptation, Tolstoy's Anna decided to leave both her husband and son for Vronsky. The somewhat hysterical heroine is distinguished by a special talent for making the wrong choice, for which she then has to pay.

Her main mistake is not that she started an affair or left her child. Anna's sin, from which her tragedy was born, lies elsewhere - in a "selfish" desire to satisfy her romantic and sexual desires, she forgot about the lesson of the selfless Tatyana: if you see a light at the end of the tunnel, cool down and step aside - it could be an approaching train .

Sonya Marmeladova - Crime and Punishment

In Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment, Sonya is opposed to Raskolnikov. Both a harlot and a saint, Sonia perceives her existence as a long road of martyrdom. Upon learning of Raskolnikov's crimes, she did not run away, on the contrary, she is ready to share this burden with him and save his soul, for example, tirelessly reading the Bible to him and reminding him of the story of the resurrection of Lazarus. Sonya can forgive Raskolnikov because she believes that all people are equal before God, and God forgives everything. You just have to repent - it's wonderful.

Natasha Rostova - War and Peace

Natasha Rostova is a dream come true. Smart, cheerful, spontaneous, funny. Pushkin's Tatyana is too good to be true, but Tolstoy's Natasha seems real, alive. Partly, perhaps, the reason is that, among other things, she is a wayward, naive, flirtatious and - in the manner of the early 19th century - teasing.

For the first time on the pages of the novel, Natasha appears as a charming teenager, full of joy and love of life. As the story progresses, she matures, learns life lessons, tames her fickle heart, gains depth and wisdom. In addition, this woman, which is so uncharacteristic of Russian literature, is still smiling after a thousand pages.

Irina Prozorova - Three sisters

At the beginning of Chekhov's play "Three Sisters", Irina, the youngest of them, is full of hope and light. While her older sisters, bored in the provinces, complain and frown, Irina's naive soul exudes endless optimism. She dreams of leaving for Moscow, where, as she thinks, she will meet true love, and their whole family will be happy. But the hopes of moving are fading, Irina realizes that she can forever be stuck in her town, and her inner fire is gradually fading.

In the images of Irina and her sisters, Chekhov shows life as a series of dull episodes, which is only occasionally interrupted by occasional outbursts of joy. Like Irina, we all live our lives, constantly distracted by the insignificant, dreaming of a better future, gradually realizing the insignificance of our own existence.

Liza Kalitina - Noble Nest

In The Nest of Nobles, Turgenev represents the quintessential Russian heroine. Liza is young, naive, pure in heart. There are two admirers in her life - a young and cheerful handsome officer and a sad married man older than her. Guess who won her heart? The choice of Lisa says a lot about the Mysterious Russian Soul. She clearly gravitates toward suffering.

Her decision shows that the pursuit of melancholic sadness is a life path like any other. In the finale, Lisa renounces her love and goes to a monastery, choosing the path of self-denial and deprivation. “Happiness didn’t come to me,” she says, as if explaining herself, “even when I had hopes for happiness, my heart ached.” She is lovely.

Margarita - Master and Margarita

Chronologically, the last addition to the canon, Bulgakov's Margarita is the strangest in this series. At the beginning of the novel, this is an unhappy woman who becomes the Master's lover and muse, and then turns into a flying witch. In Margarita, the Master draws energy, she, like Sonya for Raskolnikov, is his healer, lover, savior. When he needs help, she turns to Satan himself and, in the name of love, concludes an agreement with him in the spirit of Faust, after which, finally, she reunites with her chosen one, albeit not in this world.

Olga Semyonovna - Darling

Chekhov's "Darling" tells the story of Olga Semyonovna, a loving and gentle nature, an ingenuous woman who, as the reader will know, lives to love. Poor Olga became a young widow. Twice. Left without a man to love, she lost her taste for life and preferred seclusion in the company of her cat.

In his review of Darling, Tolstoy wrote that Chekhov, intending to ridicule this ingenuous woman, unexpectedly portrayed an unusually sweet heroine. Tolstoy went further, accusing Chekhov of being too harsh with Olga, that he judges her by her mind, and not by her spiritual qualities. According to Tolstoy, Olga embodies the ability of a Russian woman to unconditional love - a virtue unfamiliar to a man.

Madam Odintsova - Fathers and Sons

In Turgenev's "Fathers and Sons" (the title of this novel in English is often erroneously translated as "Fathers and Sons") Mrs. Odintsova, as her surname hints, is a lonely woman. At least, by the standards of its time. Even if Odintsova was conceived as an unusual character, she passed the test of time and became, in a sense, a pioneer among literary heroines.

In contrast to other female characters in the novel, who obey the demands placed on them by society, Odintsova, a widow without children and without a mother, stubbornly defends her independence, refusing, like Tatyana in Pushkin, the only opportunity to experience true love.

Nastasya Filippovna - Idiot

The heroine of The Idiot, Nastasya Filippovna, is an example of Dostoevsky's complexity. This is a woman who has been used, a victim of her own beauty. Orphaned at an early age, she found herself in the care of an adult man who made her his mistress. In an attempt to break free from the chains of fate and become a kind of femme fatale, Nastasya, suffering from mental wounds, cannot get rid of the guilt that casts a shadow on her every decision.

In the manner traditional for Russian literature, life puts the heroine in front of a difficult choice - mainly the choice of a man. And within the framework of the same tradition, she is unable to make the right choice, but instead submits to fate and, ultimately, allows her to carry herself towards a tragic ending.

Every book that has become a masterpiece has its heroes (bad and good). Today we want to talk about characters that, even after 100 years, remain relevant and famous. Many of these books were filmed, so we sometimes recognize many of the characters from films. Let's start with Sherlock Holmes.

Sherlock Holmes

Literary character created by Arthur Conan Doyle. His works, dedicated to the adventures of Sherlock Holmes, the famous London private detective, are considered classics of the detective genre. The prototype of Holmes is considered to be Dr. Joseph Bell, a colleague of Conan Doyle, who worked at the Edinburgh Royal Hospital and was famous for his ability to guess the character and past of a person from the smallest details.

The first work about the famous detective, the story "A Study in Scarlet", was written by Arthur Conan Doyle in 1887. The last collection, The Sherlock Holmes Archive, was published in 1927. Sherlock Holmes is apparently a biochemist by training. At the time of meeting Watson, he worked as a laboratory assistant in one of the London hospitals.

Hercule Poirot

Literary character of the famous English writer Agatha Christie, Belgian detective, protagonist of 33 novels, 54 short stories and 1 play written between 1920 and 1975, and based on them in films, television series, theater and radio shows.

Poirot is a Belgian immigrant, a former policeman. Poirot himself in the book "A Tragedy in Three Acts" says that "... in my youth I was poor and had many brothers and sisters ... worked for some time in the police in Belgium ... then the War began, I was wounded ... I was sent to England for treatment, where I stayed…”.

Robin Hood

A popular hero of medieval English folk ballads, a noble leader of forest robbers. According to legend, he acted with his gang in Sherwood Forest near Nottingham - robbed the rich, giving the spoils to the poor.

The identity of the prototype of these ballads and legends has not been established. Presumably, he lived at the beginning of the XIV century, during the reign of King Edward II. However, at present, the artistic version of Walter Scott is the most popular, according to which Robin lived in the second half of the 12th century (that is, he was a contemporary of Richard the Lionheart and John Landless). A number of historical details speak in favor of the first version and against Scott's version: for example, archery competitions began to be held in England no earlier than the 13th century.

E rast Fandorin

The hero of a series of historical detective stories by Russian writer Boris Akunin "The Adventures of Erast Fandorin". In this series, the writer set himself the task of writing one detective of different styles: conspiracy detective, spy detective, hermetic detective, ethnographic detective, etc.

The reviewers expressed the opinion that Fandorin's surname is an allusion to the journalist Jerome Fandor, the hero of a series of detective novels by French writers Marcel Allen and Pierre Souvestre about Fantômas (1911-1913) and a French film trilogy of the 1960s based on these novels.

Erast Petrovich Fandorin was born on January 8 (20), 1856 in an old noble family. The boy's mother died during childbirth. Therefore, either out of annoyance, or in mockery of the bitter fate, the father, Pyotr Isaakievich, mourning his wife Elizabeth, called the boy Erast.

To Commissioner Maigret

Commissaire Jules Maigret

Commissioner Jules Maigret is the hero of the popular series of detective novels and short stories by Georges Simenon, a wise policeman.

Jules Joseph Anselm Maigret was born in 1884 in the village of Saint-Fiacre near Mantignon in the family of the estate manager, Count Saint-Fiacre. There he spent his childhood and youth. Simenon repeatedly mentions Maigret's peasant roots. The commissioner's mother died in childbirth. When he was 8 years old, he spent several months at the Lyceum, where he had a very hard time, and, in the end, his father sent him to his sister, who was married to a baker in Nantes. Arriving in Paris, Megre began to study as a doctor, but for a number of reasons and circumstances he left his studies and decided to join the police.

Maigret, with his talent and perseverance, rose from an ordinary inspector to the position of divisional commissar, head of a brigade for the investigation of especially serious crimes.

Maigret is unimaginable without a smoking pipe, he has a whole collection of them.

Z orro

A fictional character, a variation on the theme of Robin Hood, a "masked hero" who comes to the aid of the destitute people of New Spain. Zorro was originally a character in Johnston McCully's adventure books.

Zorro was originally a character in Johnston McCully's adventure books. He first appeared in the story The Curse of Capistrano, published in 1919. According to one version, when creating the image, McCully was based on stories about a certain William Lamport. The following year saw the first Fox film, The Mark of Zorro, starring Douglas Fairbanks. Subsequently, many films were made about Zorro both in America and abroad.

T arzan

Fictional character created by writer Edgar Rice Burroughs and first appeared in the book Tarzan of the Apes. Journal publication of the novel took place in 1912, in 1914 it came out as a separate book, followed by twenty-three sequels. Tarzan is called the most recognizable literary character in the world. In addition to a huge number of books written by Burroughs himself and other authors, the character has also appeared in many films, television programs, radio, comics and parodies.

d racula

Vampire, the title character and main antagonist of Bram Stoker's novel Dracula. As an archetypal vampire, Dracula has appeared in many works of popular culture, not even directly related to Bram Stoker's novel.

B the right soldier Schweik

A satirical character invented by the Czech writer Jaroslav Hasek; the protagonist of the unfinished novel "The Adventures of the Good Soldier Schweik during the World War", written in 1921-1923, a cycle of 5 stories "The Good Soldier Schweik. Fascinating Adventures of an Honest Servant" and the story "The Good Soldier Schweik in Captivity".

According to the literary critic S. V. Nikolsky, the prototypes of the good soldier Schweik were two people with whom Hasek was familiar: Corporal Josef Schweik and Frantisek Strashlipka, the orderly of the real Lieutenant Lukash, Hasek's company commander during the First World War.

B etman

Fictional superhero comic book character published by DC Comics who first appeared in Detective Comics #27 in May 1939. Along with Superman, Batman is one of the most popular and famous comic book characters. Created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger. Until recently, Bob Kane was considered the main creator of the character, but after much research, authorship was transferred to Bill Finger in 2015, since Kane's real contribution to the creation of the character was very small.

Tom Sawyer

One of the main characters in Mark Twain's novels: "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer", "Tom Sawyer Abroad" and "Tom Sawyer - Detective"; also a character in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Tom Sawyer is featured in at least three more of Mark Twain's unfinished works - School Hill, The Tom Sawyer Conspiracy, and Huck and Tom Among the Indians.

The fictitious character's name may have been taken from a real person named Tom Sawyer, whom Twain met in San Francisco, California, where Mark Twain worked as a reporter for the San Francisco Call. Mark Twain states in the preface that the character was based on three boys he knew as a child.

The most famous book characters updated: November 26, 2017 by: website