Literary heroines list. The most famous book characters
Who is a literary character? We devote our article to this issue. In it we will tell you where this name came from, what literary characters and images are, and how to describe them in literature lessons according to your desire or the teacher’s request.
Also from our article you will learn what an “eternal” image is and what images are called eternal.
Literary hero or character. Who is this?
We often hear the concept of “literary character”. But few can explain what we are talking about. And even schoolchildren who have recently returned from a literature lesson often find it difficult to answer the question. What is this mysterious word “character”?
It came to us from ancient Latin (persona, personnage). The meaning is “personality”, “person”, “person”.
So, a literary character is an active person. We are mainly talking about prose genres, since images in poetry are usually called “lyrical hero”.
Without characters It is impossible to write a story or a poem, a novel or a story. Otherwise, it will be a meaningless collection of, if not words, then perhaps events. The heroes are people and animals, mythological and fantastic creatures, inanimate objects, for example, Andersen's steadfast tin soldier, historical figures and even entire nations.
Classification of literary heroes
They can confuse any literature connoisseur with their quantity. And it’s especially hard for secondary school students. And especially because they prefer to play their favorite game instead of doing homework. How to classify heroes if a teacher or, even worse, an examiner demands it?
The most win-win option: classify the characters according to their importance in the work. According to this criterion, literary heroes are divided into main and secondary. Without the main character, the work and its plot will be a collection of words. But in case of loss minor characters we will lose a certain branch storyline or expressiveness of events. But overall the work will not suffer.
The second classification option is more limited and is suitable not for all works, but for fairy tales and fantasy genres. This is the division of heroes into positive and negative. For example, in the fairy tale about Cinderella, poor Cinderella herself - goodie, she evokes pleasant emotions, you sympathize with her. And here are the sisters and evil stepmother- clearly heroes of a completely different type.
Characteristics. How to write?
Heroes literary works sometimes (especially in a literature lesson at school) they need a detailed description. But how to write it? The option “once upon a time there was such a hero. He is from a fairy tale about this and that” is clearly not suitable if the assessment is important. We will share with you a win-win option writing characteristics of a literary (and any other) hero. We offer you a plan with brief explanations of what and how to write.
- Introduction. Name the work and the character you will talk about. Here you can add why exactly you want to describe it.
- The place of the hero in the story (novel, story, etc.). Here you can write whether he is main or secondary, positive or negative, human or mythical or historical figure.
- Appearance. It would not be amiss to include quotes, which will show you as an attentive reader, and will also add volume to your description.
- Character. Everything is clear here.
- Actions and their characteristics in your opinion.
- Conclusions.
That's it. Keep this plan for yourself, and it will come in handy more than once.
Famous literary characters
Although the very concept of a literary hero may seem completely unfamiliar to you, if you tell you the name of the hero, you will most likely remember a lot. This is especially true famous characters literature, for example, such as Robinson Crusoe, Don Quixote, Sherlock Holmes or Robin Hood, Assol or Cinderella, Alice or Pippi Longstocking.
Such heroes are called famous literary characters. These names are familiar to children and adults from many countries and even continents. Not knowing them is a sign of narrow-mindedness and lack of education. Therefore, if you don’t have time to read the work itself, ask someone to tell you about these characters.
The concept of image in literature
Along with character, you can often hear the concept of “image”. What is this? Same as the hero or not? The answer will be both positive and negative, because a literary character may well be literary way, but the image itself does not have to be a character.
We often call this or that hero an image, but nature can appear in the same image in a work. And then the topic of the examination paper can be “the image of nature in the story...”. What to do in this case? The answer is in the question itself: if we are talking about nature, you need to characterize its place in the work. Start with a description, add character elements, for example, “the sky was gloomy,” “the sun was mercilessly hot,” “the night was frightening with its darkness,” and the characterization is ready. Well, if you need a description of the hero’s image, then how to write it, see the plan and tips above.
What are the images?
Our next question. Here we will highlight several classifications. Above we looked at one - images of heroes, that is, people/animals/mythical creatures and images of nature, images of peoples and states.
Also, images can be so-called “eternal”. What's happened " eternal image"? This concept names a hero who was once created by an author or folklore. But he was so “characteristic” and special that after years and eras other authors write their characters from him, perhaps giving them other names, but that doesn’t matter the essence changing. Such heroes include the fighter Don Quixote, the hero-lover Don Juan and many others.
Unfortunately, modern fantasy characters do not become eternal, despite the love of fans. Why? What's better than this funny Don Quixote of Spider-Man, for example? It's difficult to explain this in a nutshell. Only reading the book will give you the answer.
The concept of "closeness" of the hero, or My favorite character
Sometimes the hero of a work or movie becomes so close and loved that we try to imitate him, to be like him. This happens for a reason, and it’s not for nothing that the choice falls on this character. Often a favorite hero becomes an image that somehow resembles ourselves. Perhaps the similarity is in character, or in the experiences of both the hero and you. Or this character is in a situation similar to yours, and you understand and sympathize with him. In any case, it's not bad. The main thing is that you only imitate worthy heroes. And there are plenty of them in the literature. We wish you to meet only with good heroes and imitate only the positive traits of their character.
14.02.2018Men are attracted predominantly to masculine images, while women are interested in both masculine and female characters.
In the Year of Literature, the Reading Section of the RBA held an Internet campaign “Monument to a Literary Hero,” inviting people to talk about literary traditions and literary preferences of readers of different generations.
From January 15 to March 30, 2015, a questionnaire was published on the RBA website with the possibility of reprinting it. Colleagues from many libraries, regional book and reading centers, educational institutions, The media supported the action by posting a questionnaire on their resources.
More than four and a half thousand people from 63 constituent entities of the Russian Federation aged from 5 to 81 took part in the event. In the overall sample, women made up 65%, men – 35%. Answering the question “Which literary hero would you like to see a monument to in the area where you live?”, respondents named 510 heroes from 368 works created by 226 authors. Adults over 18 years old named 395 heroes. Children and teenagers 17 years old and younger – 254 heroes. Adult women named 344 heroes. Men – 145 heroes.
The top ten heroes to whom the action participants would like to see monuments are as follows:
1st place: Ostap Bender - named 135 times (including the joint monument with Kisa Vorobyaninov), 179 mentions;
2nd place: Sherlock Holmes – 96 times (including the joint monument with Dr. Watson), totaling 108 mentions;
3rd place: Tom Sawyer – 68 times (including the joint monument to Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn), making 108 mentions;
4th place: Margarita – 63 (including the joint monument with the Master) is 104 mentions;
5th place: Evgeny Onegin – 58 (including the joint monument with Tatiana) is 95 mentions;
6th-7th place was shared by Vasily Terkin and Faust - 91 times each;
8th place: Romeo and Juliet – 86;
9th place: Anna Karenina – 77;
10th place: Stirlitz – 71.
Looking at male and female preferences, it can be said that men are attracted predominantly to masculine characters, while women are interested in both male and female characters. The top ten male preferences are as follows (we consider by analogy with the data for the entire array, taking into account joint monuments): 1) Ostap Bender; 2) Stirlitz; 3) Musketeers; 4-5) Sherlock Holmes and Don Quixote; 6) Margarita; 7) Fedor Eichmanis; 8) Sharikov; 9) Artyom Goryainov; 10-11) shepherd Santiago; Robinson Crusoe. So, in the top ten there is only one female image - Margarita. It should be added that very rarely Galina is present with Artyom Goryainov. Women's preferences look different: 1) Ostap Bender; 2) Tatyana Larina; 3) Anna Karenina; 4-5) Romeo and Juliet; Arseny-Lavr; 6) Sherlock Holmes; 7-8) Cat Hippo; Margarita; 9-10) Strange children; Angie Malone; 11) Mary Poppins.
Survey data provides compelling evidence of intergenerational reading preferences. The top ten preferences of girls 17 years old and younger include (in descending order): Assol, Romeo and Juliet, The Little Mermaid, Thumbelina, Snow Maiden, Little Red Riding Hood, Gerda, Mary Poppins, Harry Porter, Alice.
Thus, the majority are female images. At the same time, girls’ orientation toward female images is not as pronounced as their preference male images in boys.
The top ten preferences of boys 17 years old and younger: Tom Sawyer, Vasily Terkin, Robinson Crusoe, D'Artagnan and the Musketeers, Dunno, Sherlock Holmes, Andrei Sokolov, Mowgli, Faust, Hottabych.
Boys, like men, clearly demonstrate a preference for and need for male heroes. Boys in the top twenty heroes have no female characters at all. The first of them appear only in the third ten of the ratings, and even then in company with male heroes: The Master and Margarita; Harry, Hermione, Ron; Romeo and Juliet.
According to the survey, the absolute leader in the number of preferred monuments is Ostap Bender.
Matching preference lists by different parameters shows that the image of Ostap Bender is the undisputed leader, but he is still closer to men.
Why is this image of a hero-adventurer so attractive to our contemporaries? Analyzing the most numerous and famous monuments loved ones literary heroes, which arose in post-Soviet times(Ostap Bender, Munchausen, Vasily Terkin, Koroviev and Behemoth), M. Lipovetsky notes the common thing that unites them: “Apparently, the fact that all of them, to one degree or another, but always quite clearly represent the cultural archetype of the trickster.
Looking back at Soviet culture in its various manifestations, it is not difficult to see that most of the characters who gained mass popularity in Soviet culture, represent different versions of this ancient archetype."
Moreover, the author proves that the significance of such images remains in post-Soviet culture. Both men and women are also interested in the image of Sherlock Holmes, who, according to M. Lipovetsky, also belongs to the trickster archetype.
Traditionally, in the structure of women’s preferences, the share of domestic and foreign classics, as well as melodrama. Men, especially young men, have a clear interest in the heroes of adventure literature.
The survey clearly showed other preferences related to the age and gender of readers. Each new generation wants to see its heroes, corresponding to their time, acting in books created at the present time. Thus, “The Home for Peculiar Children” by R. Riggs is of interest mainly to 20-year-olds and mostly girls. Also mainly of interest to 20-year-olds “ street cat named Bob" by J. Bowen.
According to online stores, both books are in great reader demand. Their high rating among young people is also noted by various online reading communities. And the image of Katerina from the story by V. Chernykh for the film “Moscow Doesn’t Believe in Tears” gathers a female audience aged 40-50 years and is not found among those under 30 and over 60 years old.
The undisputed hero of the older generation is Stirlitz. Among 20-year-olds it is not mentioned once, among 30-year-olds - once, 40-year-olds - 7 times, 50-year-olds - 26 times, among 60-year-olds it is the absolute leader among men, it is also found among women and is the leader overall. V senior group by age. The Yulian Semyonov Cultural Foundation has already held an Internet voting “Monument to Stirlitz. What should he be like?
However, a monument to one of the most iconic heroes of Soviet literature and cinema never appeared.
The results of a study by the FOM “Idols of Youth”, conducted in 2008, noted: “It is significant that relative majority people who had idols in their youth remain faithful to them in adulthood: two-thirds (68%) of such people (that’s 36% of all respondents) admitted that they can still call their idol the one who was them in their youth.” . Probably, this can partly explain the attitude of older people towards Stirlitz.
According to the survey, readers would like to erect monuments to heroes of completely different books: including the heroes of Homer and Sophocles, Aristophanes, G. Boccaccio, as well as L.N. Tolstoy, A.S. Pushkina, I.S. Turgeneva, N.V. Gogol, F.M. Dostoevsky, I.A. Goncharova, M.Yu. Lermontov, A.P. Chekhov. Among foreign literature The heroes of the books of G. Hesse, G. García Márquez, R. Bach were named in the 20th century; among domestic ones are the heroes of books by K. Paustovsky, V. Astafiev, B. Mozhaev, V. Zakrutkin, V. Konetsky, V. Shukshin and many others.
If we talk about works of modern literature, the survey participants showed significant interest in the heroes of D. Rubina’s trilogy “Russian Canary” and the heroes of the novel “The Abode” by Z. Prilepin.
It should be noted that there is another work of modern fiction that has earned a fairly high reader rating - this is the novel “Laurel” by E. Vodolazkin, which received the “ Big book"in 2013. There is one main character here - Arseny-Lavr, to whom they would like to erect a monument.
Among the works whose heroes would like to have a monument erected, thus, the obvious leaders are noted:
| № | Author | Work | Number of mentions |
| 1 | I. Ilf and E. Petrov | 12 chairs, Golden calf | 189 |
| 2 | Bulgakov M. | The Master and Margarita | 160 |
| 3 | Pushkin A. | Evgeny Onegin | 150 |
| 4 | Prilepin Z. | Abode | 114 |
| 5 | Dumas A. | Musketeer trilogy | 111 |
| 6-7 | Doyle A.-K. | Notes on Sherlock Holmes | 108 |
| 6-7 | Mark Twain | The Adventures of Tom Sawyer | 108 |
| 8 | Rubina D. | Russian canary | 93 |
| 9-10 | Tvardovsky A. | Vasily Terkin | 91 |
| 9-10 | Goethe I. | Faust | 91 |
| 11 | Shakespeare W. | Romeo and Juliet | 88 |
| 12 | Defoe D. | Robinson Crusoe | 78 |
| 13 | Tolstoy L.N. | Anna Karenina | 77 |
| 14 | Green A. | Scarlet Sails | 73 |
| 15 | Bulgakov M. | Heart of a Dog | 71 |
| 16 | Semenov Yu. | Seventeen moments of spring | 70 |
| 17 | Travers P. | Mary Poppins | 66 |
| 18 | Saint-Exupery A. | The Little Prince | 65 |
| 19 | Rowling J. | Harry Potter | 63 |
| 20 | Cervantes M. | Don Quixote | 59 |
The diversity of the presented literature is noteworthy. The top ten books include Russian and foreign classical literature, a classic of world adventure literature, the best domestic literature, created during the Soviet period, are modern bestsellers.
To the question about which existing monuments to literary heroes do they like and where they are located, 690 people answered, which is 16.2% of the number of participants. In total, 355 monuments were named, dedicated to 194 heroes. These heroes act in 136 works created by 82 authors.
The rating of heroes whose monuments are well known and liked is headed by: The Little Mermaid; Ostap Bender; Pinocchio; White Bim Black Ear; Chizhik-Pyzhik; Baron Munchausen; Mumu; Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson; Bremen Town Musicians…
The overall ranking of monuments is headed by: The Little Mermaid from Copenhagen; White Bim Black Ear from Voronezh; Samara Pinocchio; St. Petersburg Chizhik-Pyzhik, Ostap Bender, Mumu; Baron Munchausen from Kaliningrad; Moscow Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson; The Bremen Musicians from Bremen; monument to the Cat Behemoth and Koroviev from Moscow.
The named monuments are located in 155 cities, including 86 domestic cities(55.5%) and 69 foreign (44.5%). Among foreign cities the leaders are: Copenhagen, Odessa, London, Kyiv, Bremen, Kharkov, New York, Osh, Nikolaev. Among domestic ones: Moscow, St. Petersburg, Voronezh, Samara, Kaliningrad, Ramenskoye, Tobolsk, Tomsk. It should be said that in fact two cities in the country top the list in terms of the number of mentions of monuments: monuments in Moscow were named 174 times, and monuments in St. Petersburg - 170 times. In third place is Copenhagen with the only monument The Little Mermaid - 138 times, on the fourth Voronezh - 80 times.
During the survey, the participants of the action also named their region of residence. A comparison of the region of residence of the survey participant with the hero to whom they would like to erect a monument (and we were talking specifically about a monument for their place of residence), as well as with those existing monuments that they like, showed that respondents from less than half of the regions named real or desired monuments , where the hero, the author of the work or the location of the action were associated with the place of residence of the participant.
IN modern Russia A tradition has formed of erecting street sculptures of literary heroes, and architecture of small forms is developing. Literary heroes can and do become local cultural symbols.
The social demand for this kind of symbols is quite large. Literary monuments create comfortable conditions for city residents to spend their time, aim at a reciprocal emotional response, and form the unity of local self-awareness.
A series of events develops around them, that is, they are included in traditional commemorative or everyday practices, they become accustomed to the urban environment.
The appearance of objects of decorative urban sculpture, monuments to literary heroes, monuments dedicated to books and reading can contribute not only to the aesthetic education of the population, but also to the formation of a personal perception of their small homeland, new traditions.
Sculptures, especially street sculptures that are close to people, play and entertain townspeople, form unofficial practices for handling such an object and personal attitudes towards it.
Filling public spaces with such symbols undoubtedly carries a positive emotional load and contributes to the humanization of the public environment.
I continue the series “Literary Heroes” that I once started...
Heroes of Russian literature
Almost every literary character has its own prototype - a real person. Sometimes it is the author himself (Ostrovsky and Pavka Korchagin, Bulgakov and the Master), sometimes it is a historical figure, sometimes it is an acquaintance or relative of the author.
This story is about the prototypes of Chatsky and Taras Bulba, Ostap Bender, Timur and other heroes of the books...
1.Chatsky "Woe from Wit"
The main character of Griboyedov's comedy - Chatsky- most often associated with a name Chaadaeva(in the first version of the comedy Griboyedov wrote “Chadsky”), although the image of Chatsky is in many ways social type era, "hero of the time."
Petr Yakovlevich Chaadaev(1796-1856) - participant in the Patriotic War of 1812, was in foreign trip. In 1814 he joined Masonic lodge, and in 1821 he agreed to join a secret society.
From 1823 to 1826, Chaadaev traveled around Europe, comprehended the latest philosophical teachings. After returning to Russia in 1828-1830, he wrote and published a historical and philosophical treatise: “Philosophical Letters.” The views, ideas, judgments of the thirty-six-year-old philosopher turned out to be so unacceptable for Nicholas Russia that the author " Philosophical letters" suffered an unprecedented punishment: by the highest decree he was declared crazy. It so happened that the literary character did not repeat the fate of his prototype, but predicted it...
2.Taras Bulba
Taras Bulba is written so organically and vividly that the reader cannot leave the feeling of his reality.
But there was a man whose fate was similar to the fate of Gogol’s hero. And this man also had the surname Gogol!
Ostap Gogol born in early XVII century. On the eve of 1648, he was the captain of the “panzer” Cossacks in the Polish army stationed in Uman under the command of S. Kalinovsky. With the outbreak of the uprising, Gogol, along with his heavy cavalry, went over to the side of the Cossacks. 
In October 1657, Hetman Vygovsky with the general foreman, of which Ostap Gogol was a member, concluded the Korsun Treaty of Ukraine with Sweden.
In the summer of 1660, Ostap's regiment took part in the Chudnivsky campaign, after which the Slobodishchensky Treaty was signed. Gogol took the side of autonomy within the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, he was made a nobleman.
In 1664, an uprising broke out against the Poles and the hetman in Right Bank Ukraine Teteri. Gogol initially supported the rebels. However, he again went over to the enemy's side. The reason for this was his sons, whom Hetman Potocki held hostage in Lvov. When Doroshenko became hetman, Gogol came under his mace and helped him a lot. When he fought with the Turks near Ochakov, Doroshenko at the Rada proposed recognizing the supremacy Turkish Sultan, and it was accepted.
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At the end of 1671, Crown Hetman Sobieski took Mogilev, Gogol's residence. One of Ostap’s sons died during the defense of the fortress. The colonel himself fled to Moldova and from there sent Sobieski a letter of his desire to submit.
As a reward for this, Ostap received the village of Vilkhovets. The certificate of the estate's salary served the grandfather of the writer Nikolai Gogol as evidence of his nobility.
Colonel Gogol became Hetman of Right Bank Ukraine on behalf of King John III Sobieski. He died in 1679 at his residence in Dymer and was buried in the Kiev-Mezhigorsky Monastery near Kyiv.
Analogy with the story is obvious: both heroes are Zaporozhye colonels, both had sons, one of whom died at the hands of the Poles, the other went over to the side of the enemy. Thus, a distant ancestor of the writer and was the prototype of Taras Bulba.
3.Plyushkin
Oryol landowner Spiridon Matsnev he was extremely stingy, walked around in a greasy robe and dirty clothes, so that few could recognize him as a rich gentleman.
The landowner had 8,000 peasant souls, but he starved not only them, but also himself. 
N.V. Gogol brought this stingy landowner to “ Dead souls"in the image of Plyushkin. “If Chichikov had met him, so dressed up, somewhere at the church door, he would probably have given him a copper penny”...
“This landowner had more than a thousand souls, and anyone else would try to find so much bread in grain, flour and simply in storage, whose storerooms, barns and drying rooms were cluttered with so many linens, cloth, dressed and rawhide sheepskins...” .
The image of Plyushkin became a household name.
4. Silvio
“Shot” A.S. Pushkin
Silvio's prototype is Ivan Petrovich Liprandi.
Pushkin's friend, the prototype of Silvio in "The Shot".
Author of the best memoirs about Pushkin's southern exile.
The son of a Russified Spanish grandee. Participant Napoleonic wars since 1807 (from 17 years old). Colleague and friend of the Decembrist Raevsky, member of the Union of Welfare. Arrested in the Decembrist case in January 1826, he was in a cell with Griboyedov. 
“...His personality was of undoubted interest due to his talents, fate and original way of life. He was gloomy and gloomy, but he loved to gather officers at his place and entertain them widely. The sources of his income were shrouded in mystery to everyone. A book reader and a book lover, he was famous for his brawling, and a rare duel took place without his participation."
Pushkin "Shot" 
At the same time, Liprandi turned out to be an employee of military intelligence and the secret police.
Since 1813, the head of the secret political police under Vorontsov’s army in France. He communicated closely with the famous Vidocq. Together with the French gendarmerie, he participated in the disclosure of the anti-government “Pin Society”. Since 1820, the chief military intelligence officer at the headquarters of Russian troops in Bessarabia. At the same time, he became the main theorist and practitioner of military and political espionage.
Since 1828 - head of the Higher Secret Foreign Police. Since 1820 - directly subordinate to Benckendorf. Organizer of provocation in the Butashevich-Petrashevsky circle. Organizer of Ogarev's arrest in 1850. Author of a project to establish a spy school at universities...
5.Andrey Bolkonsky
Prototypes Andrey Bolkonsky there were several. His tragic death was “copied” by Leo Tolstoy from the biography of a real prince Dmitry Golitsyn.
Prince Dmitry Golitsyn was registered for service in the Moscow archive of the Ministry of Justice. Soon Emperor Alexander I granted him the rank of chamberlain cadet, and then actual chamberlain, which was equivalent to the rank of general. 
In 1805, Prince Golitsyn entered the military service and together with the army went through the campaigns of 1805-1807.
In 1812, he submitted a report with a request to enlist in the army, became an Akhtyrsky hussar; Denis Davydov also served in the same regiment. Golitsin took part in border battles as part of the 2nd Russian army of General Bagration, fought at the Shevardinsky redoubt, and then found himself on the left flank of the Russian formations on the Borodino field.
In one of the skirmishes, Major Golitsyn was seriously wounded by a grenade fragment., he was carried from the battlefield. After the operation in the field hospital, it was decided to take the wounded man further east.
"Bolkonsky House" in Vladimir. 
They made a stop in Vladimir, Major Golitsyn was placed in one of the merchant houses on a steep hill on Klyazma. But, almost a month after the Battle of Borodino, Dmitry Golitsyn died in Vladimir...
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6. Assol
The gentle dreamer Assol had more than one prototype.
First prototype - Maria Sergeevna Alonkina, secretary of the House of Arts, almost everyone living and visiting this House was in love with her.
One day, while climbing the stairs to his office, Green saw a short, dark-skinned girl talking with Korney Chukovsky.
There was something unearthly in her appearance: flying gait, radiant look, ringing happy laugh. It seemed to him that she looked like Assol from the story “Scarlet Sails,” which he was working on at that time.
The image of 17-year-old Masha Alonkina occupied Green's imagination and was reflected in the extravaganza story. 
"I don't know how much years will pass, only in Kaperna will one fairy tale blossom, memorable for a long time. You will be big, Assol. One morning, in the distance of the sea, a scarlet sail will sparkle under the sun. The shining bulk of the scarlet sails of the white ship will move, cutting through the waves, straight towards you..."
And in 1921 Green met with Nina Nikolaevna Mironova, who worked for the Petrograd Echo newspaper. He, gloomy and lonely, was at ease with her, he was amused by her coquetry, he admired her love of life. Soon they got married.
The door is closed, the lamp is lit.
She will come to me in the evening
There are no more aimless, dull days -
I sit and think about her...
On this day she will give me her hand,
I trust quietly and completely.
A terrible world is raging around,
Come, beautiful, dear friend.
Come, I've been waiting for you for a long time.
It was so sad and dark
But the winter spring has come,
Light knock...My wife came.
Green dedicated the extravaganza “Scarlet Sails” and the novel “The Shining World” to her, his “winter spring.”
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7. Ostap Bender and the Children of Lieutenant Schmidt
The person who became the prototype of Ostap Bender is known.
This - Osip (Ostap) Veniaminovich Shor(1899 -1979). Shor was born in Odessa, was an employee of the UGRO, a football player, a traveler... Was a friend E. Bagritsky, Y. Olesha, Ilf and Petrov. His brother was the futurist poet Nathan Fioletov.
The appearance, character and speech of Ostap Bender are taken from Osip Shor.
Almost all the famous “Bendery” phrases - “The ice has broken, gentlemen of the jury!”, “I will command the parade!”, “My dad was a Turkish subject...” and many others - were gleaned by the authors from Shor’s vocabulary.
In 1917, Shor entered the first year of the Petrograd Technological Institute, and in 1919 he left for his homeland. He got home almost two years, with many adventures, which I talked about the authors of "The Twelve Chairs".
The stories they told about how he, unable to draw, got a job as an artist on a propaganda ship, or about how he gave a simultaneous game in some remote town, introducing himself as an international grandmaster, were reflected in “12 Chairs” practically unchanged.
By the way, the famous leader of the Odessa bandits, Teddy Bear, which UGRO employee Shor fought, became the prototype Benny Krika, from " Odessa stories" by I. Babel.
And here is the episode that gave rise to the creation of the image "children of Lieutenant Schmidt."
In August 1925, a man with an oriental appearance, decently dressed, wearing American glasses, appeared at the Gomel Provincial Executive Committee and introduced himself Chairman of the Central Executive Committee of the Uzbek SSR Fayzula Khojaev. He told the chairman of the provincial executive committee, Egorov, that he was traveling from Crimea to Moscow, but his money and documents were stolen on the train. Instead of a passport, he presented a certificate that he was really Khodzhaev, signed by the Chairman of the Central Election Commission of the Crimean Republic, Ibragimov.
He was received warmly, given money, and began to be taken to theaters and banquets. But one of the police chiefs decided to compare the Uzbek’s personality with the portraits of the chairmen of the Central Election Commission, which he found in an old magazine. Thus, the false Khojaev was exposed, who turned out to be a native of Kokand, traveling from Tbilisi, where he was serving his sentence...
In the same way, posing as a high-ranking official, ex-convict had fun in Yalta, Simferopol, Novorossiysk, Kharkov, Poltava, Minsk...
It was a fun time - the time of the NEP and such desperate people, adventurers as Shor and the false Khojaev.
Later I will write separately about Bender...
………
8.Timur
TIMUR is the hero of the film script and A. Gaidar’s story “Timur and His Team.” One of the most famous and popular heroes of Soviet children's literature of the 30s - 40s.
Under the influence of the story by A.P. Gaidar “Timur and his team” in the USSR arose among pioneers and schoolchildren in the early years. 1940s "Timurov movement". Timurovites provided assistance to military families, the elderly...
It is believed that the “prototype” of Timurov’s team for A. Gaidar was a group of scouts that operated back in the 10s in a dacha suburb of St. Petersburg. The “Timurovites” and the “scouts” really have a lot in common (especially in the ideology and practice of children’s “knightly” care for the people around them, the idea of committing good deeds"in secret")
The story Gaidar told turned out to be surprisingly in tune with the mood of a whole generation of guys: the fight for justice, an underground headquarters, a specific alarm system, the ability to quickly gather “in a chain,” etc. 
It is interesting that in the early edition the story was called "Duncan and his team" or “Duncan to the rescue” - the hero of the story was - Vovka Duncan. The influence of the work is obvious Jules Verne: yacht "Duncan""At the first alarm signal I went to the aid of Captain Grant.
In the spring of 1940, while working on a film based on an unfinished story, the name "Duncan" was rejected. The Cinematography Committee expressed bewilderment: “A good Soviet boy. A pioneer. He came up with this useful game and suddenly - “Duncan”. We consulted with our comrades here - you need to change your name"
And then Gaidar gave the hero the name of his own son, whom he called “little commander” in life. According to another version - Timur- the name of the neighbor boy. Here's a girl Zhenya got the name from adopted daughter Gaidar from his second marriage.
The image of Timur embodies the ideal type of a teenage leader with his desire for noble deeds, secrets, pure ideals.
Concept "Timurovets" firmly entered into everyday life. Until the end of the 80s, Timurites were children who provided selfless help to those in need.
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9. Captain Vrungel
From the story Andrey Nekrasov "The Adventures of Captain Vrungel"".
A book about the incredible sea adventures of the resourceful and resilient captain Vrungel, his senior mate Lom and sailor Fuchs. 
Christopher Bonifatievich Vrungel- the main character and narrator on whose behalf the story is told. An experienced old sailor, with a solid and prudent character, not lacking in ingenuity.
The first part of the surname uses the word "liar". Vrungel, whose name has become a household name, is a naval analogue Baron Munchausen,
telling tall tales about his sailing adventures.
According to Nekrasov himself, the prototype of Vrungel was his acquaintance with the surname Vronsky, lover of telling maritime fables with his own participation. His last name was so suitable for the main character that the book was originally supposed to be called " The Adventures of Captain Vronsky", however, for fear of offending a friend, the author chose a different surname for the main character.
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The world of books has the amazing ability to take the reader into a completely different reality. When you get carried away by a particular book, it’s easy to get lost, blurring the line between reality and fiction created by someone greatest authors globe, forcing us to go all the way along with the heroes, experiencing the same thing as them.
World literature is full of various characters: positive, negative, romantic, warlike, strong-willed, weak, cultish, etc. Probably each of us, since our school years, having read some romance novel, or any other work with a charming main character, was filled 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 people in real life?».
In the classics of world literature, there are so many detailed and described male characters, so charming, that it is difficult 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 best men of your dreams who can be found in the pages of your favorite book...
1. Christian Gray (Fifty Shades of Gray, E.L. James)
This is probably the newest one male character from literature that I would like to revive for myself. Well, who wouldn't want to meet an amazingly sexy, charming, educated and... successful entrepreneur, which is undoubtedly the subject of the fantasies of many modern women. Yes, yes, with him even BDSM seems less painful, and even more romantic than one might think. How I would like to see such a handsome, smart and mysterious man with a heart of gold, eager to overcome hunger on the planet...2. Mr. Darcy (Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen)
But this is already a classic. A classic not a work, but a hero. Mr. Darcy is a classic best man in the world character that's been around since the 1800s, but his age only adds to his appeal. No one knows what exactly makes him so irresistible: his self-confidence, a slight touch of arrogance or passionate love, with which he burns for Elizabeth and his strong sense of moral duty, but Mr. Darcy has a certain immortal charm that makes him so ideal. Also, this episode where Colin Firth (“ Bridget Jones's Diary", "The King Speaks") comes out of the lake in a wet white shirt...
3. Philip Pirrip (Pip) (Great Expectations, Charles Dickens)
This is amazing complex character with the most simple name. His love is sincere and pure. He grows up in conditions in which all men on the planet should live. He also has an amazing thirst for success and improvement 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, ambitions! Yet he is something of an idealist, seeing the world only in black and white, while there are so many shades of gray. And having achieved his goals and becoming a gentleman, he began to behave slightly snobbish and cold. 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 still locked...). We all subconsciously gravitate towards bad boys, and Mr. Rochester has just the right balance of impending anger and passion for which one can overlook 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 Victorian England men were considered superior to women. If only he were real, he would be the most eligible bachelor 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 person, and this is clearly not Robert Pattison (“Bel Ami”, “Cosmopolis”)... The character of Edward Cullen is truly enchanting. Sephanie Meyer describes him as impossibly handsome, with ideal features face and a slender muscular body (who cast Pattison for the role????). But he seduces not with his sweetness or meanness, but with something mysterious, charming and absolutely genuine, peculiar only to him... (Really, who was involved in the selection of actors?!?!)
6. Sherlock Holmes (The Complete Works of Sherlock Holmes, Arthur Conan Doyle)
Perhaps it's all to blame Robert Downey Jr (« iron man ", "Soloist"), who gave this strong image his own special charm and killer appearance, which would not have been possible to do Vasily Livanov(« The Master and Margarita», « Don Quixote returns"), but it is still an irresistible explosive mixture of genius, charm, humor and irony. He constantly creates the impression of a man with his head in the clouds, incredibly capable of surprising the reader. This is an outstanding, unsolved personality who can stop any criminal.
7. James Bond (Books about James Bond, Ian Fleming)
Probably one of the most famous womanizers in the history of world literature, James Bond is the main gallant gentleman. He is handsome and charming, self-confident and cool-headed, able to protect in any situation, and he also has all these gadgets and other cool gadgets. Just remember the amazing Sean Connery (“Highlander”, “ League distinguished gentlemen "), which became one of the best incarnations hero.
8. Rhett Butler (Gone with the Wind, Margaret Mitchell)
A list of the best male literary characters would be incomplete without the extremely charming mustachioed man, Rhett Butler. He is handsome and rich, brave, determined and enterprising. He disdains the orders and opinions of society, a cynic who does not particularly choose methods for achieving success. But he is unusually smart, even wise, showing delicacy and appreciating spiritual beauty people. He also knows how to love boundlessly 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 you, gently pressed you to yourself, and whispered something affectionate in your ear?
We asked Konstantin Demidov, the director of the performance “Fantasy of Faryatiev” at the Vysotsky Center 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 here another problem appears - a young man endowed with incredible beauty, having fallen under the influence of the ideas of new hedonism, devotes his life to vices and the pursuit of pleasures. This character combines 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: selling your soul does not bode well.
Jay Gatsby
As they say, self-made man. Having emerged from oblivion (read: not fashion), Gatsby became an ultra-fashionable man. Even without pompous parties, the yellow convertible and luxurious wardrobe alone are worth a separate psychological analysis or someone's dissertation. For example, one may recall that pink in a man's clothing symbolizes openness to love, and Gatsby's entire suit was pink. In his own palace, he collected all the cream of society; this place had the greatest concentration of stylish people in square meter. Yes, the great Gatsby was one of the most famous people on Long Island, but neither a car nor shirts cut to fit by the best tailors in New York could save him.
Sherlock Holmes
An English dandy of the highest rank, albeit a morphine addict. His elegant manner of speaking, a checkered jacket, a pipe and even a violin, not to mention his extraordinary mind, memory and ways of drawing conclusions even without any superpowers put Holmes a step above 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 was only able to warm up Benedict Cumberbatch. The costume designers were able to make the new Holmes' style quite recognizable. Even my wife dreams of finding me a coat like Sherlock’s. Although I personally watched the BBC series once, and I’m unlikely to watch it again, I can watch Maslennikov’s version from anywhere.
Pants, shirt, blazer, tie, belt – all Dockers;
watches, scarf - the property of the stylist; boots are the property of the model
Erast Fandorin
The hero of a series of historical detective stories by Russian writer Boris Akunin. This character becomes more and more stylish from book to book: “The starched collar sticks out as if it were alabaster, there is a pearl pin in the silk tie, and a scarlet carnation in the buttonhole. Smooth hair-to-hair parting, sleek nails, thin black mustache, as if drawn with charcoal.” Gaining experience and increasingly entering the circle of officials, Erast tries to correspond to his 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. Women liked the charming scammer different ages. He wore the same jacket, which did not stop him from marrying (albeit fictitiously) Madame Gritsatsueva, once again proving that to achieve your goals you don’t have to be the most stylish. Energy, inexhaustible inventions, rich imagination, sense of humor, humanity (at least in relation to his companions) - this is why Bender is so loved by 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, then you may know him. Lopakhin is a former peasant and then a merchant from the play “ Cherry Orchard" It was he who advised Sorin and Ranevskaya on how to protect the estate from ruin. His grandfather and father were serfs, and Ermolai was the first to enter the same house with different rights, but he remained a “man a man.” If I ever stage this play, I'd like to make it more stylish than it might appear on first reading. Since in his relationship with Ranevskaya one can feel a certain emotion that can force the “man” to dress up in the fashion of that time.
Cyrano de Bergerac
A real person who became literary character and received greatest fame like a hero play of the same name Edmond Rostand. Excellent poet, warrior and swordsman, knight beautiful lady, after reading works about him, it seems to us very stylish and sophisticated. 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
Evgeny 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 love affairs And social 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 succinct description that before going out he spent at least three hours in front of the mirror. So there is no doubt that Onegin’s wardrobe was impeccable. In the village where Onegin comes to take a break from high society, he rejects the girl and kills his new friend Lensky in a duel. Obviously, being a fashionable metropolitan thing and remaining a person with capital letters- not the same thing.
Grigory Pechorin
The main character of “A Hero of Our Time” M.Yu. Lermontov. Typical Byronic hero with all the ensuing consequences - always impeccably dressed, as required by the officer’s regulations, a thoughtful look and unusual appearance (black mustache and eyebrows with blond hair), which made women fall in love with him left and right. Pechorin is practically the same Onegin, with the only difference being that he wore a Russian uniform imperial army, not velvet camisoles. But the result is the same - broken women’s hearts and a comrade killed in a duel. Oddly enough, the image of Pechorin is remembered as positive, which once again proves that beautiful and stylish people are forgiven any vices.
Count Dracula
Romanian vampire. It is impossible to trace the style of this character from the surviving drawings of those times. But filmmakers fell in love with the count and turned a man with a strange (terrible) story into a stylish person. Particularly fun and stylistically interesting is Todd Browning's 1931 retro version, in which Bela Lugosi plays the Count. His Dracula, with his greased head, tuxedo, red-lined cloak and bow tie, resembles a crazy conductor, and his fingers and mannerisms before biting some young beauty are beyond praise.
Pants, shirt, belt – all Dockers;
coat is the model's property
Photographer: Pavel Kondratyev
Stylist: Alexey Moiseenkov
Producer: Mikhail Volodin
We would like to express our gratitude to the Pushkin Moscow Drama Theater for providing the premises for filming
Alla Sokolova dedicated the play “Faryatyev’s Fantasies” to her father,
and I want to dedicate this performance to all dreamers and, forgive the pathos,
to 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
