Literary character. Archetypes of literary heroes

Literary heroes are usually fiction author. But some of them still have real prototypes that lived at the time of the author, or known historical figures. We will tell you who these figures, unfamiliar to a wide range of readers, were.

1. Sherlock Holmes

Even the author himself admitted that Sherlock Holmes has a lot common features with his mentor Joe Bell. On the pages of his autobiography one could read that the writer often recalled his teacher, spoke about his eagle profile, inquisitive mind and amazing intuition. According to him, the doctor could turn any matter into a precise, systematized scientific discipline.

Often Dr. Bell used deductive methods of inquiry. Just by looking at a person alone, he could tell about his habits, his biography, and sometimes even make a diagnosis. After the novel's release Conan Doyle corresponded with the “prototype” of Holmes, and he told him that perhaps this is exactly how his career would have turned out if he had chosen a different path.

2. James Bond

Literary history James Bond began with a series of books that were written by intelligence officer Ian Fleming. The first book in the series, Casino Royale, was published in 1953, a few years after Fleming was assigned to monitor Prince Bernard, who had defected from German service to English intelligence. After much mutual suspicion, the scouts began good friends. Bond took over from Prince Bernard to order a Vodka Martini, adding the legendary “Shaken, not stirred.”

3. Ostap Bender

The man who became the prototype of the great schemer from the “12 chairs” of Ilf and Petrov, at the age of 80, still worked as a conductor on railway on the train from Moscow to Tashkent. Odessa native Ostap Shor delicate nails was prone to adventure. He introduced himself either as an artist or as a chess grandmaster, and even acted as a member of one of the anti-Soviet parties.

Only thanks to his remarkable imagination, Ostap Shor managed to return from Moscow to Odessa, where he served in the criminal investigation department and fought against local banditry. This is probably where Ostap Bender’s respectful attitude towards the Criminal Code comes from.

4. Professor Preobrazhensky

Professor Preobrazhensky from the famous Bulgakov novel “ Heart of a Dog"was also real prototype- French surgeon of Russian origin Samuil Abramovich Voronov. At the beginning of the 20th century, this man made a real splash in Europe by transplanting monkey glands into humans to rejuvenate the body. The first operations showed a simply amazing effect: elderly patients experienced a resumption of sexual activity, improved memory and vision, ease of movement, and children who were lagging behind in mental development gained mental alertness.

Thousands of people were treated in Voronova, and the doctor himself opened his own monkey nursery on the French Riviera. But very little time passed and the miracle doctor’s patients began to feel worse. Rumors arose that the result of the treatment was just self-hypnosis, and Voronov was called a charlatan.

5. Peter Pan

The boy with the beautiful fairy Tinkerbell was given to the world and to James Barry himself, the author of the written work, by the Davis couple (Arthur and Sylvia). The prototype for Peter Pan was Michael, one of their sons. Fairytale hero received from a real boy not only his age and character, but also nightmares. And the novel itself is a dedication to the author’s brother, David, who died a day before his 14th birthday while ice skating.

6. Dorian Gray

It's a shame, but main character The novel “The Picture of Dorian Gray” significantly spoiled the reputation of its real-life original. John Gray, who in his youth was a protégé and close friend of Oscar Wilde, was handsome, rugged, and had the appearance of a 15-year-old boy. But their happy union came to an end when journalists became aware of their relationship. An angry Gray went to court and obtained an apology from the newspaper's editors, but after that his friendship with Wilde ended. Soon John Gray met Andre Raffalovich, a poet and native of Russia. They converted to Catholicism, and after some time Gray became a priest at St. Patrick's Church in Edinburgh.

7. Alice

The story of Alice in Wonderland began on the day Lewis Carroll walked with the daughters of the rector of Oxford University, Henry Lidell, among whom was Alice Lidell. Carroll came up with the story on the fly at the request of the children, but the next time he did not forget about it, he began to compose a sequel. Two years later, the author presented Alice with a manuscript consisting of four chapters, to which was attached a photograph of Alice herself at the age of seven. It was entitled “A Christmas gift to a dear girl in memory of a summer day.”

8. Karabas-Barabas

As you know, Alexei Tolstoy only planned to present Carlo Collodio’s “Pinocchio” in Russian, but it turned out that he wrote an independent story, in which analogies were clearly drawn with cultural figures of that time. Since Tolstoy had no weakness for Meyerhold’s theater and its biomechanics, it was the director of this theater who got the role of Karabas-Barabas. You can guess the parody even in the name: Karabas is the Marquis of Karabas from Perrault’s fairy tale, and Barabas is from the Italian word for swindler - baraba. But the no less telling role of the leech seller Duremar went to Meyerhold’s assistant, who worked under the pseudonym Voldemar Luscinius.

9. Lolita

According to the memoirs of Brian Boyd, biographer of Vladimir Nabokov, when the writer was working on his scandalous romance"Lolita", he regularly looked through newspaper columns in which reports of murder and violence were published. His attention was drawn to the sensational story of Sally Horner and Frank LaSalle, which occurred in 1948: a middle-aged man kidnapped 12-year-old Sally Horner and kept her with him for almost 2 years until the police found her in a California hotel. Lasalle, like Nabokov’s hero, passed off the girl as his daughter. Nabokov even briefly mentions this incident in the book in the words of Humbert: “Did I do to Dolly the same thing that Frank LaSalle, a 50-year-old mechanic, did to eleven-year-old Sally Horner in ’48?”

10. Carlson

The story of Carlson’s creation is mythologized and incredible. Literary scholars claim that possible prototype this funny character became Hermann Goering. And although Astrid Lindgren’s relatives deny this version, such rumors still exist today.

Astrid Lindgren met Goering in the 1920s when he organized air shows in Sweden. At that time, Goering was just “in the prime of his life,” a famous ace pilot, a man with charisma and a wonderful appetite. The motor behind Carlson’s back is an interpretation of Goering’s flying experience.

Supporters of this version note that for some time Astrid Lindgren was an ardent fan of the National Socialist Party of Sweden. The book about Carlson was published in 1955, so there could be no talk of a direct analogy. However, it is possible that the charismatic image of the young Goering influenced the appearance of the charming Carlson.

11. One-Legged John Silver

Robert Louis Stevenson in the novel “Treasure Island” portrayed his friend Williams Hansley not at all as a critic and poet, which he essentially was, but as a real villain. During his childhood, William suffered from tuberculosis and his leg was amputated at the knee. Before the book appeared on store shelves, Stevenson told a friend: “I have to confess to you, Evil on the surface, but kind at heart, John Silver was copied from you. You're not offended, are you?

12. Winnie the Pooh Bear

According to one version, known throughout the world Teddy bear received its name in honor of the favorite toy of the writer Milne's son Christopher Robin. However, like all the other characters in the book. But in fact, this name comes from the nickname Winnipeg - that was the name of the bear who lived in the London Zoo from 1915 to 1934. This bear had many child fans, including Christopher Robin.

13. Dean Moriarty and Sal Paradise

Despite the fact that the main characters in the book are named Sal and Dean, Jack Kerouac's novel On the Road is purely autobiographical. One can only guess why Kerouac abandoned his name in the very famous book for the beatniks.

14. Daisy Buchanan

In the novel “The Great Gatsby,” its author Francis Scott Fitzgerald deeply and soulfully described Ginevra King, his first love. Their romance lasted from 1915 to 1917. But due to different social statuses they separated, after which Fitzgerald wrote that "poor boys should not even think of marrying rich girls." This phrase was included not only in the book, but also in the film of the same name. Ginevra King became the prototype for Isabel Borge in Beyond Paradise and Judy Jones in Winter Dreams.

Especially for those who like to sit up and read. If you choose these books, you will definitely not be disappointed.

1. The meaning of the terms “hero”, “character”

2. Character and character

3. The structure of a literary hero

4. Character system

1. The meaning of the terms “hero”, “character”

The word "hero" has rich history. Translated from Greek, “heros” means demigod, deified person. In pre-Homeric times (X-IX centuries BC) heroes in Ancient Greece were called the children of god and mortal woman or a mortal and a goddess (Hercules, Dionysus, Achilles, Aeneas, etc.). Heroes were worshiped, poems were written in their honor, and temples were erected for them. The right to the hero's name gave the advantage of clan and origin. The hero served as an intermediary between the earth and Olympus, he helped people comprehend the will of the gods, and sometimes he himself acquired the miraculous functions of a deity.

Such a function, for example, gets beautiful Elena in the ancient Greek temple legend-tale about the healing of the daughter of a friend of Ariston, the king of the Spartans. This nameless friend of the king, as the legend tells, had a very beautiful wife, who was very ugly in infancy. The nurse often carried the girl to the temple of Helen and prayed to the goddess to save the girl from deformity (Elena had her own temple in Sparta). And Elena came and helped the girl.

In the era of Homer (8th century BC) and up to the literature of the 5th century BC. inclusively, the word “hero” is filled with a different meaning. It is no longer only the descendant of the gods who turns into a hero. Any mortal who has achieved outstanding success in earthly life becomes one; any person who has made a name for himself in the field of war, morality, and travel. Such are the heroes of Homer (Menelaus, Patroclus, Penelope, Odysseus), such are Theseus of Bacchylides. The authors call these people “heroes” because they became famous for certain exploits and thereby went beyond the historical and geographical.

Finally, starting from the 5th century BC, not only an outstanding person, but any “husband”, both “noble” and “worthless”, who finds himself in the world of a literary work, turns into a hero. A craftsman, a messenger, a servant and even a slave also act as a hero. Aristotle scientifically substantiates such a reduction and desacralization of the hero’s image. In “Poetics” there is a chapter “Parts of tragedy. Heroes of tragedy" - he notes that the hero may no longer be distinguished by "(special) virtue and justice." He becomes a hero simply by falling into tragedy and experiencing the “terrible”.

In literary criticism, the meaning of the term “hero” is very ambiguous. Historically, this meaning grows from the meanings indicated above. However, in theoretical terms, it reveals a new, transformed content, which can be read on several semantic levels: artistic reality works, literature itself and ontology as a science of being.

IN art world In creation, a hero is any person endowed with external appearance and internal content. This is not a passive observer, but an actant, a person actually acting in the work (translated from Latin, “actant” means “acting”). The hero in the work necessarily creates something, protects someone. The main task of the hero at this level is the development and transformation of poetic reality, the construction artistic meaning. At the general literary level, a hero is artistic image a person who summarizes the most character traits reality; living through repeated patterns of existence. In this regard, the hero is the bearer of certain ideological principles, expresses the author's intention. It models a special imprint of existence, becomes the seal of the era. Classic example– this is Lermontov’s Pechorin, “the hero of our time.” Finally, at the ontological level, the hero forms special way knowledge of the world. He must bring the truth to people, acquaint them with the diversity of forms human life. In this regard, the hero is a spiritual guide, leading the reader through all circles of human life and showing the path to the truth, God. Such is Virgil D. Alighieri (“ The Divine Comedy"), Faust I. Goethe, Ivan Flyagin N.S. Leskova (“The Enchanted Wanderer”) etc.

The term “hero” is often used adjacent to the term “character” (sometimes these words are understood as synonyms). The word "character" French origin, however, has Latin roots. Translated from Latin language“regzopa” is a person, a face, a guise. The ancient Romans called a “persona” the mask that an actor put on before a performance: tragic or comic. In literary criticism, a character is the subject of a literary action or statement in a work. The character represents the social appearance of a person, his external, sensually perceived person.

However, a hero and a character are far from the same thing. The hero is something holistic, complete; character is partial, requiring explanation. The hero embodies an eternal idea and is destined for higher spiritual and practical activity; the character simply denotes the presence of a person; “works” as a statistician. The hero is an actor in a mask, and the character is only a mask.

2. Character and character

A character easily turns into a hero if it receives an individual, personal dimension or character. According to Aristotle, character refers to the manifestation of the direction of “the will, whatever it may be.”

In modern literary criticism, character is the unique individuality of a character; his internal appearance; that is, everything that makes a person a person, that distinguishes him from other people. In other words, the character is the very actor who plays behind the mask - the character. At the heart of character is the inner “I” of a person, his self. Character reveals the image of the soul with all its searches and mistakes, hopes and disappointments. It denotes the versatility of human individuality; reveals her moral and spiritual potential.

Character can be simple or complex. A simple character is distinguished by integrity and staticity. He endows the hero with an unshakable set of value guidelines; makes it either positive or negative. Positive and negative heroes usually divide the system of characters in a work into two warring factions. For example: patriots and aggressors in the tragedy of Aeschylus (“Persians”); Russians and foreigners (English) in the story by N.S. Leskova “Lefty”; “last” and “sets” in the story by A.G. Malyshkina "The Fall of Dire".

Simple characters are traditionally combined into pairs, most often on the basis of opposition (Shvabrin - Grinev in “ The captain's daughter» A.S. Pushkin, Javert - Bishop Miriel in “Les Miserables” by V. Hugo). Contrast sharpens the virtues goodies and belittles the merits of negative heroes. It arises not only on an ethical basis. It is also formed by philosophical oppositions (such is the confrontation between Joseph Knecht and Plinio Designori in G. Hesse’s novel “The Glass Bead Game”).

Complex nature manifests itself in a constant search, inner evolution. It expresses the diversity of the individual’s mental life. It reveals both the brightest, highest aspirations of the human soul, and its darkest, basest impulses. A complex character lays, on the one hand, the prerequisites for human degradation (“Ionych” by A.P. Chekhov); on the other hand, the possibility of his future transformation and salvation. A complex character is very difficult to define in the dyad of “positive” and “negative”. As a rule, it stands between these terms or, more precisely, above them. The paradox and contradictoriness of life thickens in it; all the most mysterious and strange things that make up a person’s secret are concentrated. These are the heroes of F.M. Dostoevsky R. Musil, A. Strindberg and others.

3. The structure of a literary hero

Literary hero– a complex, multifaceted person. He can live in several dimensions at once: objective, subjective, divine, demonic, bookish (Master M.A. Bulgakova). However, in his relationships with society, nature, other people (everything that is opposite to his personality), a literary hero is always binary. He receives two appearances: internal and external. He follows two paths: introverting and extroverting. In the aspect of introversion, the hero is a “thinking in advance” (we will use the eloquent terminology of C. G. Jung) Prometheus. He lives in a world of feelings, dreams, dreams. In the aspect of extra-version, the literary hero is “acting and then thinking” Epitheus. He lives in real world for the sake of its active development.

To create appearance The hero is “worked” by his portrait, profession, age, history (or past). The portrait gives the hero a face and figure; teaches him a complex distinctive features(fatness, thinness in A.P. Chekhov’s story “Fat and Thin”) and bright, recognizable habits (the characteristic wound in the neck of partisan Levinson from A.I. Fadeev’s novel “Destruction”).

Very often, a portrait becomes a means of psychologization and indicates certain character traits. As, for example, in famous portrait Pechorin, given through the eyes of the narrator, a certain traveling officer: “He (Pechorin - P.K.) was of average height; his slender, thin frame and broad shoulders proved a strong build, capable of enduring all the difficulties of nomadic life<…>. His gait was careless and lazy, but I noticed that he did not wave his arms - a sure sign of a secretive character.

The hero's profession, vocation, age, and history pedal the process of socialization. Profession and vocation give the hero the right to socially useful activities. Age determines the potential for certain actions. The story about his past, parents, country and place where he lives gives the hero sensually tangible realism and historical specificity.

The internal appearance of the hero consists of his worldview, ethical beliefs, thoughts, attachments, faith, statements and actions. Worldview and ethical beliefs endow the hero with the necessary ontological and value guidelines; give meaning to his existence. Attachments and thoughts outline the diverse life of the soul. Faith (or the lack thereof) determines the presence of the hero in the spiritual field, his attitude towards God and the Church (in the literature of Christian countries). Actions and statements indicate the results of the interaction of soul and spirit.

Reading works of art, we first of all pay attention to its main characters. All of them have clear characteristics in literary theory. We will find out which ones exactly from this article.

The word "image" in Russian literary criticism has several meanings.

Firstly, all art is figurative, i.e. reality is recreated by the artist with the help of images. In the image, the general, generic is revealed through the individual, transformed. In this sense, we can say: the image of the Motherland, the image of nature, the image of man, i.e. depiction in artistic form of the Motherland, nature, man.

Secondly, at the linguistic level of the work, the image is identical to the concept of “trope”. In this case we're talking about about metaphor, comparison, hyperbole, etc., i.e. about figurative means poetic language. If you imagine the figurative structure of the work, then the first figurative layer is the image-details. From them grows a second figurative layer, consisting of actions, events, moods, i.e. everything that unfolds dynamically in time. The third layer is images of characters and circumstances, heroes who find themselves in conflicts. From the images of the third layer a holistic image of fate and the world is formed, i.e. concept of being.

The image of a hero is an artistic generalization of human properties, character traits in the individual appearance of the hero. A hero can inspire admiration or repel, commit actions, act. The image is artistic category. You cannot, for example, say: “I despise the image of Molchalin.” One can despise the silent type, but his image as an artistic phenomenon evokes admiration for the skill of Griboyedov. Sometimes, instead of the concept of “image,” the concept of “character” is used.

The concept of "character" is broader than the concept of "image". A character is any character in a work. You can't speak instead of " lyrical hero""lyrical character". A lyrical hero is an image of a hero in lyrical work, experiences, feelings, thoughts which reflect the author’s worldview. This is an artistic “double” of the author-poet, which has its own inner world, your destiny. The lyrical hero is not an autobiographical image, although he reflects personal experiences, attitudes towards different aspects of the life of the author himself. The lyrical hero embodies spiritual world the author and his contemporaries. The lyrical hero of A. S. Pushkin is a harmonious, spiritually rich personality who believes in love, friendship, and is optimistic in his outlook on life. Another lyrical hero of M. Yu. Lermontov. This is the “son of suffering”, disappointed in reality, lonely, romantically yearning for will and freedom and tragically not finding them. Characters, like heroes, can be major or minor, but when applied to episodic characters, only the term “character” is used.

Often a character is understood as a minor person who does not influence events, while a literary hero is a multi-faceted character who is important for expressing the idea of ​​a work. You can come across the judgment that a hero is only that character who carries positive principles and is an exponent of the author’s ideal (Chatsky, Tatyana Larina, Bolkonsky, Katerina). The statement that negative satirical characters (Plyushkin, Judushka Golovlev, Kabanikha) are not heroes is incorrect. Here two concepts are mixed - the hero as a character and the heroic as a way of human behavior.

The satirical hero of a work is a character, a character against whom the edge of satire is directed. Naturally, such a hero is unlikely to be capable of heroic deeds, i.e. is not a hero in the behavioral sense of the word. IN creative process creating images of heroes, some of them embody the most characteristic features of a given time and environment. Such an image is called a literary type.

A literary type is a generalized image of human individuality, the most possible, characteristic of a certain social environment in certain time. The literary type reflects patterns social development. It combines two sides: the individual (single) and the general. Typical (and this is important to remember) does not mean average; the type always concentrates in itself everything that is most striking, characteristic of the whole group people - social, national, age, etc. Types of positive heroes have been created in literature (Tatyana Larina, Chatsky), " extra people"(Eugene Onegin, Pechorin), Turgenev's girls. In aesthetically perfect works, each type is a character.

Character is human individuality, consisting of certain spiritual, moral, mental traits. This is the unity of an emotional reaction, temperament, will and a type of behavior determined by the socio-historical situation and time (era). Character consists of diverse traits and qualities, but this is not a random combination of them. Each character has a main, dominant feature, which gives living unity to the entire variety of qualities and properties. The character in a work can be static, already formed and manifested in actions. But most often character is presented in change, in development, in evolution. A pattern emerges in the development of character. The logic of character development sometimes conflicts with the author’s intention (even A.S. Pushkin complained to Pushchin that Tatyana got married without his “knowledge”). Obeying this logic, the author cannot always turn the hero’s fate the way he wants.

A character easily turns into a hero if it receives an individual, personal dimension or character. According to Aristotle, character refers to the manifestation of the direction of “the will, whatever it may be.”

In modern literary criticism, character is the unique individuality of a character; his internal appearance; that is, everything that makes a person a person, that distinguishes him from other people. In other words, the character is the same actor who plays behind the mask - the character. At the heart of character is the inner “I” of a person, his self. Character reveals the image of the soul with all its searches and mistakes, hopes and disappointments. It denotes the versatility of human individuality; reveals her moral and spiritual potential.

Character can be simple or complex. A simple character is distinguished by integrity and staticity. He endows the hero with an unshakable set of value guidelines; makes it either positive or negative. Positive and negative heroes usually divide the system of characters in a work into two warring factions. For example: patriots and aggressors in the tragedy of Aeschylus (“Persians”); Russians and foreigners (English) in the story by N.S. Leskova “Lefty”; “last” and “sets” in the story by A.G. Malyshkina "The Fall of Dire".

Simple characters are traditionally combined into pairs, most often on the basis of opposition (Shvabrin - Grinev in “The Captain's Daughter” by A.S. Pushkin, Javert - Bishop Miriel in “Les Miserables” by V. Hugo). The contrast accentuates the merits of positive heroes and diminishes the merits of negative heroes. It arises not only on an ethical basis. It is also formed by philosophical oppositions (such is the confrontation between Joseph Knecht and Plinio Designori in G. Hesse’s novel “The Glass Bead Game”).

A complex character manifests itself in a constant search and internal evolution. It expresses the diversity of the individual’s mental life. It reveals both the brightest, highest aspirations of the human soul, and its darkest, basest impulses. A complex character lays, on the one hand, the prerequisites for human degradation (“Ionych” by A.P. Chekhov); on the other hand, the possibility of his future transformation and salvation. A complex character is very difficult to define in the dyad of “positive” and “negative”. As a rule, it stands between these terms or, more precisely, above them. The paradox and contradictoriness of life thickens in it; all the most mysterious and strange things that make up a person’s secret are concentrated. These are the heroes of F.M. Dostoevsky R. Musil, A. Strindberg and others.

The structure of a literary hero

A literary hero is a complex, multifaceted person. He can live in several dimensions at once: objective, subjective, divine, demonic, bookish (Master M.A. Bulgakova). However, in his relationships with society, nature, other people (everything that is opposite to his personality), a literary hero is always binary. He receives two appearances: internal and external. He follows two paths: introverting and extroverting. In the aspect of introversion, the hero is a “thinking in advance” (we will use the eloquent terminology of C. G. Jung) Prometheus. He lives in a world of feelings, dreams, dreams. In the aspect of extra-version, the literary hero is “acting and then thinking” Epitheus. He lives in the real world for the sake of actively exploring it.

To create the external appearance of the hero, his portrait, profession, age, history (or past) “works”. The portrait gives the hero a face and figure; teaches him a complex of distinctive features (fatness, thinness in A.P. Chekhov’s story “Fat and Thin”) and bright, recognizable habits (the characteristic wound in the neck of partisan Levinson from A.I. Fadeev’s novel “Destruction”).

Very often, a portrait becomes a means of psychologization and indicates certain character traits. As, for example, in the famous portrait of Pechorin, given through the eyes of the narrator, a certain traveling officer: “He (Pechorin - P.K.) was of average height; his slender, thin frame and broad shoulders proved a strong build, capable of enduring all the difficulties of nomadic life<…>. His gait was careless and lazy, but I noticed that he did not wave his arms - a sure sign of a secretive character.

The hero's profession, vocation, age, and history pedal the process of socialization. Profession and vocation give the hero the right to socially useful activities. Age determines the potential for certain actions. The story about his past, parents, country and place where he lives gives the hero sensually tangible realism and historical specificity.

The internal appearance of the hero consists of his worldview, ethical beliefs, thoughts, attachments, faith, statements and actions. Worldview and ethical beliefs provide the hero with the necessary ontological and value guidelines; give meaning to his existence. Attachments and thoughts outline the diverse life of the soul. Faith (or the lack thereof) determines the presence of the hero in the spiritual field, his attitude towards God and the Church (in the literature of Christian countries). Actions and statements indicate the results of the interaction of soul and spirit.

Very important role in the depiction of the hero’s inner appearance, his consciousness and self-awareness play a role. The hero can not only reason and love, but also be aware of emotions, analyze his own activities, that is, reflect. Artistic reflection allows the writer to identify the hero’s personal self-esteem; characterize his attitude towards himself.

The individuality of the literary hero is reflected especially clearly in his name. The hero's life begins with the choice of a name. literary work. The name condenses it inner life, are issued mental processes. The name gives the key to a person’s character and crystallizes certain personality traits.

So, for example, the name “Erast”, derived from the word “eros”, is hinted at in the story by N.M. Karamzin on the sensitivity, passion and immorality of Liza’s chosen one. The name “Marina” in Tsvetaeva’s famous poem recreates the variability and inconstancy of the lyrical heroine, who is like “sea foam.” But what was invented by A. Green beautiful name“Assol” reflects the musicality and inner harmony of Longren’s daughter.

As part of philosophy (according to Father Pavel Florensky), “names are the essence of categories of personal knowledge.” Names are not just named, but actually declare the spiritual and physical essence of a person. They form special models of personal existence, which become common to each bearer of a certain name. Names predetermine a person’s spiritual qualities, actions and even fate. So, conventionally, all Annas have something in common and typical in grace; all Sophia is in wisdom; all of Anastasia is in resurrection.

In literature, the name of the hero is also a spiritual norm of personal existence; a stable type of life that deeply generalizes reality. The name correlates its external, sound-letter style with the internal, deep meaning; predetermines the actions and character of the hero, unfolds his existence. The hero is revealed in close connection with the general idea and image of his name. Such is the “poor”, unfortunate Liza, Natasha Rostova, Masha Mironova. Each personal name here is special literary type, a universal path of life, peculiar only to this specific name. For example, the path

Lisa is the path of a quiet, touching rebellion against moral standards, against God (although Elizabeth is a “God-honorer”). Natalia's path is the path of simple natural attractions that are beautiful in their naturalness. The path of Mary is the path of the “golden mean”: the path of a serving mistress, combining both majesty and humility.

In other words, the name transforms the “life” of a literary hero and determines the latter’s way of moving in the sea of ​​life.

A vivid illustration of the philosophy of P.A. Florensky presents the plot of the story by A.N. Nekrasov "The Adventures of Captain Vrungel". The yacht "Pobeda" with the famous captain (Vrungel) is setting off for an international regatta organized by the Enland Club. Vrungel shows firm confidence in victory and is indeed the first to reach the finish line. But victory comes at a high price. The new name (the first two letters fall off at the beginning of the voyage and turn the yacht into “Trouble”) assigns the ship the status of doomed. "Trouble" goes to victory through ebbs and flows, fires and icebergs. She is detained by the regatta regulations, customs police, crocodiles and sperm whales. It is under attack by the NATO navy and organized crime. And all thanks to the middle name.