Larisa Ogudalova and Katerina Kabanova: comparison experience

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Katerina and Larisa Ogudalova are the main characters of two famous plays by A. N. Ostrovsky, The Storm (1859) and The Dowry (1878). Nineteen years separate the works, but there is much in common in these dramas.

Two heroines share a similar fate

The action takes place in a small provincial town, in a merchant-philistine environment, the secondary characters are representatives of the so-called third estate. The re-creation of everyday life occupies a central place in the plot, serving as a background for concretizing and developing the images of the characters, as well as creating a sharp contrast between Larisa Ogudalova and Katerina, on the one hand, and the environment, on the other. The characterization of Larisa Ogudalova and the comparison of the heroine with Katerina Kabanova are the subject of this review.

Common traits in the characters of Larisa and Katerina

The images of the heroines have a lot in common. Girls do not fit into the merchant-philistine world in any way, despite the fact that they were born, raised and brought up in it. Both dream of freedom and happy love and in every possible way oppose the norms, rules and attitudes that their families, acquaintances and, finally, the inhabitants of the city adhere to. Both are unhappy in love: Katerina suffered in the familyTikhon Kabanov, and the engagement of Larisa with Karandyshev ended in tragedy. The girl did not have a relationship with Paratov either: the latter, although he was not indifferent to her, considered it more profitable for himself to marry a rich bride. Both of them took these shocks hard: for their sensitive, gentle and soft natures, it was too hard a blow.

Protest of heroines against the patriarchal way of life

Each in her own way protests against the patriarchal way of life: Larisa Ogudalova is trying with all her might to oppose the efforts of her mother, Kharita Ignatievna, to profitably marry her off to a rich and influential fiancé. Katerina directly declares her rejection of the lifestyle that she leads in the house of her mother-in-law Kabanova. At the same time, it should be noted that Katerina expresses her position more decisively and boldly than Larisa: in principle, she cannot get along in the new environment in which she found herself after marriage. In her husband's family, everything seems alien to her, and even before the fateful meeting with Boris, she directly declares to Varvara that nothing is dear to her in her husband's family. Larisa's protest manifested itself only when she was seriously carried away by Sergei Sergeyevich Paratov: the girl unexpectedly shows such traits of character that, it seemed, could not be suspected in this educated young lady. However, already from the first remarks of the heroine, the reader can judge her resolute disposition: she speaks rather sharply about her fiancé Karandyshev and directly tells him that he is losing in comparison with Paratov.

Larisa's character

Larisa Ogudalova, a dowry, is very proud: so, she is ashamed of herself and her mother, of the beggarly lifestyle that they are forced to lead, catering to rich guests who come in crowds to their house to look at the beautiful, but poor bride. Nevertheless, Larisa endures these parties, despite repeated scandals in the house, which immediately become known to the whole city. However, when her feelings were affected, the heroine defied all conventions and fled after Paratov on the day of his departure from Bryakhimov (which, by the way, like Kalinov, is located on the banks of the Volga). After returning home, the heroine continues to live her usual life and even agrees to marry Karandyshev - the marriage is unequal in all respects. And if not for the reappearance of Paratov on the stage, then, most likely, Larisa would have become Mrs. Karandysheva, she would have left with her husband for the village and, perhaps, after some time in the bosom of nature, she would have found the strength to continue to lead her usual existence.

Katerina's character

However, such a scenario is difficult to imagine in relation to Katerina: the latter would hardly have come to terms with such an existence. It should be added to the characterization of Larisa Ogudalova that the heroine is extremely self-contained: at her first appearance on stage, she is limited to only a few lines, while Katerina from the very beginning is frank with her husband's sister Varvara. She willingly shares her childhood memories with her, admits how difficult it is for her in a new environment. In the lightHaving said that, it makes sense to compare the images of the heroines with Tatyana Larina, with whom, at first glance, one can find a lot in common: all three are distinguished by impulsiveness and immediacy of perception of the world around them. However, both Katerina and Larisa are too divorced from reality: both live as if in a dream, and it seems that they are always in their own inner world.

Comparison of Larisa and Katerina

Knurov not without reason said that in Larisa "there is nothing worldly", that she looks like "ether". Perhaps this is the best characteristic of Larisa Ogudalova: the girl is really constantly distracted and remains surprisingly indifferent to everything around her, and only sometimes she breaks down individual remarks that betray her dislike for the petty-bourgeois life. It is surprising that she does not at all express her love or even any affection for her own mother. Of course, from a moral point of view, the portrait of Kharita Ignatievna is far from ideal, but this woman, after all, takes care of her daughter, is concerned about her fate and, of course, deserves some respect. Larisa gives the impression of a young lady alienated from life: her image, so to speak, is incorporeal and cut off from the historical and social soil. In this regard, Katerina is more realistic: she reacts vividly and sharply to what is happening around; she lives a full-blooded, rich, albeit more tragic, life. However, the image of Katerina is somewhat idealized, despite quite recognizable features.

Comparison of heroines with Tatyana Larina

Tatyana Larina is not like that - she is firmly attached to her native corner in the village, which Yevgeny says at the end of the novel. Pushkin's heroine firmly stands on her own ground, which gives her moral strength to endure the trials that have befallen her. That is why she commands respect, and Larisa and Katerina - compassion and pity. Undoubtedly, the composition "Larisa Ogudalova" should draw a parallel between her drama, the tragedy of Katerina Kabanova and the story of Tatiana Larina.