Analysis of Vampilov's play The Eldest Son

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Analysis of Vampilov’s work The Eldest Son

History of creation : this play has several editions. The first publication was in 1964 under the title “Peace in Sarafanov’s House”, the second time it was published in the newspaper “Grooms”, then in 1968 it was published under the title “The Suburb”. And in the same year, the writer finally settled on the title “Eldest Son” and published it in a separate edition.

Genre : comedy

Plot

On a spring evening, two guys - Silva and Busygin - accompanied home to the sounds of a guitar by two girls whom they had recently met. The guys walked with the hope that the girls would let them spend the night at their place, but the girls refused to accept them at their home.

At this time, Andrei Grigorievich Sarafanov met with a neighbor holding a clarinet in his hand, Sarafanov begged him not to tell anyone that he worked part-time at funerals.

From the conversation between Vasya and Makarskaya it is clear that the guy is ten years younger than her and he is in love with her. But the girl does not reciprocate his feelings. She will drive Vasya away, not wanting any communication with him.

Semyon Sevostyanov and Vladimir Busygin, who were late for the train, are thinking about where to spend the night. Having met Makarska, they brazenly demand that she let them in. The girl closes the window angrily. Pondering all the options in the dark, they see the silhouette of Sarafanov, he asks Natalya to let him express his thoughts. The young guys saw that in the house where the adult had left, there was a guy left who was also going to leave.

Having let two guys into the house, Vasya found out why they came and could not think that it was a lie. The guys told Vasya that they were stepbrothers, this became the reason for the feast.

When Sarafanov returned home, he accepted the news with incomprehension. But he thought that this could happen. The owner’s daughter, Nina, joined the company. She wants to be provided with evidence that her dad and Busygin are relatives. All doubts go away when Busygin talks about his mother, and how his mother met his father. They overheard this entire conversation from the kitchen.

Sarafanov talks with the impostor until the morning. When morning came, the guests wanted to quietly leave the house, but Sarafanov noticed them and decided to continue the family tradition by giving Busygin a silver stool. Vladimir is impressed by the man’s action and says that he wants to stay one more day. Offering Nina his help in cleaning the room. From the conversation it is clear that her boyfriend is jealous, and she praises her fiancé. After a quarrel, they make up, and almost kiss, they are both at a loss.

Makarskaya persuaded Vasya to go to the cinema, and while he was running for tickets, the girl hosted Silva as her guest. Agreeing to meet him in the evening. When Vasya found out everything, he left the house blaming her father for getting into their relationship.

In the evening, the pilot Kudisov, whom Nina was going to marry, appeared at Safarov’s house. They sat down at the table, and the guest, looking at Sarafanov, could not understand where he had seen Nina’s father before. Busygin and Nina tell the truth, Sarafanov says with regret that he is playing at the funeral. Vova calms down. Soon Nina listens as Busygin confesses his love to her.

Sarafanov, not knowing the truth, wants to go with his eldest son to his mother. But Vasya, who ran into the house, talks about the arson of Makarskaya and her lover. They immediately ran after him and the victims Makarskaya drove Silva away, and looked at Vasya from the other side.

Before leaving, Silva told the truth that there are no family ties between Busygin and this family. But Sarafanov continues to consider Vladimir his son. And asks him to move into their house. Busygin says that the train has left.

Theme: an important idea that is embedded in the play is that spiritual intimacy is more important than blood relationship. The similarity of souls is much more important than official relatives.

Main characters: Nina, Sarafanov, Busygin, Vasenka, Kudimov, Silva, Makarskaya.

Composition: all actions take place in the Sarafanovs’ house. All these actions last three days. A lot happened during these days, but they were all connected with Sarafanov’s house. His house seems to be holding Busygin and his friend, stopping him and not letting him go. At the end of the work, the reader really thinks that Busygin is his son, because there are a lot of coincidences.

Analysis 2

Vampilov wrote a huge number of different works, but the most popular and interesting is “The Elder Son”.

Everything happens in one city where two young people live. One guy's name is Vladimir, and the second guy's name is Semyon. They want to find their soulmate as quickly as possible, but until this happens, they can calmly and easily enjoy freedom. And today they got the card of escorting beautiful girls home, and then maybe they’ll get something else. And they really hope so. But the girls are not quite as accessible as the guys might think, and they didn’t need anything more than to walk them home. It turns out that the girls lived outside the city and it was very far to get there. When they got to the girls’ house, they said goodbye to them and went home, but the guys were left on the street in the cold and now they couldn’t get home, but that’s all, because the last bus had already left.

The guys here don’t know anyone, and around them there are two multi-story buildings and several small houses. And then they have only one choice, which is to seek shelter from one of these residents. But not every person will accept strangers into their home. They would really like to ask someone to spend the night, but no one agreed.

And the guys were already desperate to find a place to stay for the night, but suddenly they saw an elderly man going not to his home, but to the apartment where their teacher lived and trying to get through to her. More than anything else, he enjoys playing different tunes. But most often they have to be played at funerals. The guys think that this man is trying in different ways to get into her house in order to later win her heart, because it is still free. And in order to find out all this, they decide to get into her apartment by any means.

From the very beginning, the guys seem stupid and even frivolous to readers. They don't care what's going on in the world. But as the story progresses, the characters develop differently, and their minds begin to think in a different way.

Meanwhile, the apartment of this very elderly man remains open and the guys do not miss the opportunity to sneak in there. Although there were people there, each of them was minding their own business and they simply didn’t care about new and uninvited guests. It turns out that this man has a beloved and only daughter named Nina, who has already found her love and tomorrow will go to live with her beloved in Sakhalin.

At first glance, you might think that the work is written in the form of a comedy, but when you start to read the plot, it turns out that everything is different.

"Eldest son." Analysis of Vampilov's play

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The history of the creation of the play “The Eldest Son”

1964 - work began on a play called “The World in Sarafanov’s House.”
1965 publication of the play in excerpts under the title “Grooms.”
1968 - publication in the anthology “Angara” under the title “Suburb”.
1970 - revision of the play, its release as a separate edition.

Composition and plot of the play “The Eldest Son”

The beginning

The plot of the play has an almost vaudeville character: Volodya Busygin and his friend Silva are late for the train and try to spend the night in the first house they come across.

Development of action

The guys pretend to be acquaintances of Sarafanov in order to warm up in the apartment, and Silva unexpectedly reveals that Busygin is Sarafanov’s son. Sarafanov believes in this and gives his “son” a family heirloom - a silver snuff box. The young man has to participate in solving the problems of his new “family”.

Climax

Nina is going to marry a pilot cadet and go with him to Sakhalin, but she falls in love with Busygin. He also feels sympathy for his new sister, and both regret that they turned out to be “relatives.” Busygin exposes himself, but admits to Sarafanov: “Frankly speaking, I myself no longer believe that I am not your son.”

Denouement

“Whatever it is, I consider you my son,” Sarafanov answers Busygin. He remains in Sarafanov’s house.

The main images of the play “The Eldest Son”

Vladimir Busygin:

a young man, a medical student;
lied irresponsibly;
grew up without a father, for the first time I felt love for myself;
feels responsible for Vasenka, who is in love with a frivolous woman;
wants to save Nina from a loveless marriage;
tries to unite someone else's family;
not only enters into the role of the eldest son, but also feels like one;
he grew up overnight and now can’t help but take care of the people who accepted him as their own.

Andrey Sarafanov:

an elderly man raising a daughter and son alone;
I didn’t find myself in life, I didn’t become a great musician, I fed my family by playing at funerals and in cinemas, I hide it from my children;
loves all people, looks at the world openly and trustingly;
with joy and hope he accepts the news about his son and finds a kindred spirit in him.

Ideological and thematic content of the play “The Eldest Son”

⦁ Topic: house as a symbol of the universe. ⦁ Idea: searching for like-minded people. Every person has a need to be needed and loved. Loneliness can drive a person to despair and lead him to commit rash acts. The kinship of people in spirit is more important than family ties, and the responsiveness of the heart is the main dignity of a person. People should treat each other more carefully, and most importantly, not try to play with other people's feelings.

Genre originality of the play “The Eldest Son”

The author defined the genre of the play as a comedy (in two parts), but in essence it is a tragicomedy: ridiculous situations, funny remarks from the characters, a happy ending, and in the main part - a family drama.

Artistic features of the play “The Eldest Son”

⦁ There is no hierarchy of heroes, they are all equally important for revealing the author’s plan, the storylines are self-sufficient and intertwined, a person is controlled by the element of life. ⦁ Plot development techniques: eavesdropping, passing off one character as another, imposture, sincere belief in a hoax.

5 / 5. 4

The play “The Eldest Son” was declared by AB Vampilov to be a comedy in genre. However, only the first picture in it looks comedic, in which two young men, who were late for the train, decide to find a way to spend the night with one of the residents and come to the Sarafanovs’ apartment.

Suddenly, things take a serious turn. The head of the family innocently recognizes Busygin as his eldest son, since twenty years ago he actually had an affair with one woman. Sarafanov’s son Vasenka even sees the hero’s external resemblance to his father. So, Busygin and his friend are part of the Sarafanovs’ family problems. It turns out that his wife left the musician long ago. And the children, having barely grown up, dream of flying out of the nest: daughter Nina gets married and leaves for Sakhalin, and Vasenka, not having finished school, says that she is going to the taiga to work on a construction site. One has happy love, the other has unhappy love. That's not the point. The main idea is that caring for an elderly father, a sensitive and trusting person, does not fit into the plans of grown children.

Sarafanov Sr. recognizes Busygina as his son, practically without requiring significant evidence or documents. He gives him a silver snuff box - a family heirloom that passed from generation to generation into the hands of his eldest son.

Gradually, the liars get used to their roles as a son and his friend and begin to behave at home: Busygin, already as a brother, interferes in the discussion of Vasenka’s personal life, and Silva begins to look after Nina.

The reason for the excessive gullibility of the Sarafanovs Jr. lies not only in their natural spiritual openness: they are convinced that an adult does not need parents. This idea is voiced in the play by Vasenka, who later misspoke and, in order not to offend his father, corrects the phrase: “Someone else’s parents.”

Seeing how easily the children he raised rush to leave their home, Sarafanov is not very surprised when he finds Busygin and Silva preparing to leave secretly in the morning. He continues to believe the story about his eldest son.

Looking at the situation from the outside, Busygin begins to feel sorry for Sarafanov and tries to persuade Nina not to leave her father. During the conversation, it turns out that the girl’s fiancé is a reliable guy who never lies. Busygin becomes interested in looking at him. He soon learns that Sarafanov Sr. has not been working at the Philharmonic for six months, but is playing at dances in the railway workers’ club. “He’s a good musician, but he’s never been able to stand up for himself. Besides, he drinks, and so, in the fall there was a layoff in the orchestra...” says Nina. Sparing their father's pride, the children hide from him that they know about the dismissal. It turns out that Sarafanov himself composes music (a cantata or oratorio “All Men Are Brothers”), but he does it very slowly (he got stuck on the first page). However, Busygin treats this with understanding and says that maybe this is how serious music should be composed. Calling himself the eldest son, Busygin takes on the burden of other people's worries and problems. His friend Silva, who started the mess by introducing Busygin as Sarafanov’s son, is only having fun participating in this whole complicated story.

In the evening, when Nina Kudimov’s fiance comes to the house, Sarafanov raises a toast to his children and utters a wise phrase that reveals his philosophy of life: “...Life is fair and merciful. It makes heroes doubt, and those who have done little, and even those who have done nothing but lived with a pure heart, it will always console.”

Truth-loving Kudimov finds out that he saw Sarafanov in the funeral orchestra. Nina and Busygin, trying to smooth out the situation, claim that he made a mistake. He doesn’t let up, continuing to argue. In the end, Sarafanov admits that he has not played in the theater for a long time. “I didn’t turn out to be a serious musician,” he says sadly. Thus, the play raises an important moral issue. What is better: the bitter truth or the saving lie?

The author shows Sarafanov in a deep impasse in life: his wife left, his career did not take place, his children also do not need him. The author of the oratorio “All Men Are Brothers” feels like a completely lonely person in real life. “Yes, I raised cruel egoists. Callous, calculating, ungrateful,” he exclaims, comparing himself to an old sofa that they have long dreamed of throwing away. Sarafanov is already planning to go to Chernigov to visit Busygin’s mother. But suddenly the deception is revealed: after quarreling with a friend, Silva betrays him to imaginary relatives. However, this time the good-natured Sarafanov refuses to believe him. “Whatever it is, I consider you my son,” he says to Busygin. Even after learning the truth, Sarafanov invites him to stay in his house. Nina also changes her mind about leaving for Sakhalin, realizing that Busygin, who lied, is at heart a good, kind person, and Kudimov, who is ready to die for the truth, is cruel and stubborn. At first, Nina even liked his honesty and punctuality, his ability to keep his word. But in reality these qualities do not justify themselves. Kudimov’s straightforwardness becomes not so necessary in life, as it makes the girl’s father grieve for his creative failures and exposes his spiritual wound. The pilot's desire to prove that he is right turns into a problem that no one needs. After all, the children have long known that Sarafanov does not work at the Philharmonic.

Attaching a special meaning to the concept of “brother,” AB Vampilov emphasizes that people should treat each other more carefully, and most importantly, not try to play with other people’s feelings.

The happy ending of the play reconciles its central characters. It is symbolic that both the main deceiver and adventurer Silva, and the truth-loving to the core Kudimov leave Sarafanov’s house. This suggests that such extremes are not needed in life. AB Vampilov shows that a lie is still sooner or later supplanted by the truth, but sometimes it is necessary to give a person the opportunity to realize this himself, and not bring him to light.

However, there is another side to this problem. By feeding himself with false illusions, a person always complicates his life. Afraid to be frank with children, Sarafanov almost lost his spiritual connection with them. Nina, wanting to quickly arrange her life, almost left for Sakhalin with a man she did not love. Vasenka spent so much effort trying to win Natasha’s favor, not wanting to listen to his sister’s sensible reasoning that Makarskaya was not a match for him.

Sarafanov Sr. is considered by many to be blessed, but his endless faith in people makes them think and care about him, becoming a powerful unifying force that helps him hold on to his children. It is not for nothing that during the development of the plot, Nina emphasizes that she is daddy’s daughter. And Vasenka has the same “fine mental organization” as her father.

As at the beginning of the play, in the finale Busygin is again late for the last train. But the day spent in the Sarafanovs’ house teaches the hero a good moral lesson. However, by joining the fight for the fate of Sarafanov Sr., Busygin receives a reward. He finds the family he dreamed of. In a short period of time, people who were completely strangers to him become close and dear. He breaks up with the empty and worthless Silva, who is no longer interesting to him, and finds new true friends.

Vampilov “The Elder Son” summary: retelling of the play by action

The final version of A. Vampilov’s play “The Eldest Son,” a summary of which is presented below, was published in 1970, the author rewrote the play 4 times. The full version is written based on actions, the chapters are structured in the form of a dialogue between the characters.

Critics note the non-standard plot of the work, which begins with farce and continues with philosophical depth. A magnificent film was also made based on the play with Nikolai Karachentsev and Evgeny Leonov in the leading roles.

The best actors of the Soviet period were involved in the film adaptation of the play.

A very short retelling

By chance, two young people find themselves in the apartment of the father of the family, musician Sarafanov. In order not to spend the night on the street, one of them (Vladimir Busygin) pretends to be his son, about whom nothing was known before. His youngest son Vasily and daughter Nina live with Sarafanov.

Both plan to leave their father's house for a long time or even forever. Vasya is hopelessly in love with his neighbor Makarskaya, a girl much older than him, and often runs away from home because of unhappy love. Nina plans to marry a future military man and go to Sakhalin.

Busygin spends a couple of days in the apartment of his new acquaintances, during which he changes the children’s attitude towards their father. Vladimir falls in love with Nina, who reciprocates his feelings. Relationships within the family are improving. Vasenka returns home, Nina changes her mind about getting married.

After the truth is revealed, Sarafanov continues to treat Busygin as his eldest son.

The main idea of the play

The summary of the play reveals the idea that Alexander Vampilov conveys to the reader: kinship of souls does not always mean blood kinship. Outwardly cynical Busygin and Silva discover in themselves the ability to compassion and understanding.

By coincidence, finding himself in someone else’s house, Vladimir becomes closer and understands “father” better than Sarafanov’s own children. The author raises themes of love, good, evil, truth and lies.

It turns out that deception does not always lead to trouble, but sometimes becomes salvation.

You need to read the retelling of the play “The Eldest Son” in order to understand the author’s idea: caring for loved ones, responsibility for their lives and feelings is the key to real family happiness. Playing with the feelings of others does not lead to good, and lies, sooner or later, will still come to the surface.

Source: https://ChitaemKratko.ru/kratkoe-soderzhanie/vampilov/starshiy-syn.html