Composition
Alexander Nikolaevich Ostrovsky... This phenomenon is unusual. His role in the history of the development of Russian drama, performing arts and all national culture difficult to overestimate. He did as much for the development of Russian drama as Shakespeare in England, Lone de Vega in Spain, Moliere in France, Goldoni in Italy and Schiller in Germany. Despite the oppression inflicted by the censorship, the theatrical and literary committee and the management of the imperial theaters, despite the criticism of reactionary circles, Ostrovsky's dramaturgy gained more and more sympathy every year among both democratic spectators and among artists.
Developing the best traditions of Russian dramatic art, using the experience of progressive foreign drama, tirelessly learning about life home country, constantly communicating with the people, closely connecting with the most progressive contemporary public, Ostrovsky became an outstanding portrayer of the life of his time, embodying the dreams of Gogol, Belinsky and other progressive literary figures about the appearance and triumph of Russian characters on the domestic stage.
Creative activity Ostrovsky had a great influence on everything further development progressive Russian drama. It was from him that our best playwrights came and learned from him. It was to him that aspiring dramatic writers in their time gravitated.
The power of Ostrovsky’s influence on the young writers of his day can be evidenced by a letter to the playwright of the poetess A.D. Mysovskaya. “Do you know how great your influence was on me? It was not love for art that made me understand and appreciate you: but on the contrary, you taught me to both love and respect art. I owe it to you alone that I resisted the temptation to fall into the arena of pathetic literary mediocrity, and did not chase after cheap laurels thrown by the hands of sour-sweet dropouts. You and Nekrasov made me fall in love with thought and work, but Nekrasov gave me only the first impetus, while you gave me the direction. Reading your works, I realized that rhyming is not poetry, and a set of phrases is not literature, and that only by cultivating the mind and technique will an artist be a real artist.”
Ostrovsky had a powerful impact not only on the development of domestic drama, but also on the development of Russian theater. The colossal importance of Ostrovsky in the development of Russian theater is well emphasized in a poem dedicated to Ostrovsky and read in 1903 by M. N. Ermolova from the stage of the Maly Theater:
On the stage life itself, from the stage the truth blows,
And the bright sun caresses us and warms us...
The living speech of ordinary, living people sounds,
On stage there is not a “hero”, not an angel, not a villain,
But just a man... A happy actor
Hastens to quickly break the heavy shackles
Conventions and lies. Words and feelings are new,
But in the recesses of the soul there is an answer to them, -
And all lips whisper: blessed is the poet,
Tore off the shabby, tinsel covers
And poured into the dark kingdom bright light
The famous artist wrote about the same thing in 1924 in her memoirs: “Together with Ostrovsky, truth itself and life itself appeared on the stage... The growth of original drama began, full of responses to modernity... They started talking about the poor, the humiliated and the insulted.”
The realistic direction, muted by the theatrical policy of the autocracy, continued and deepened by Ostrovsky, turned the theater onto the path of close connection with reality. Only it gave life to the theater as a national, Russian, folk theater.
“You have donated a whole library to literature works of art, they created their own special world for the stage. You alone completed the building, the foundation of which was laid by Fonvizin, Griboyedov, Gogol.” This wonderful letter was received, among other congratulations, on the year of the thirty-fifth anniversary of literary and theatrical activity by Alexander Nikolaevich Ostrovsky from another great Russian writer - Goncharov.
But much earlier, about the very first work of the still young Ostrovsky, published in “Moskvityanin”, a subtle connoisseur of the elegant and sensitive observer V. F. Odoevsky wrote: “If this is not a momentary flash, not a mushroom squeezed out of the ground by itself, cut by all kinds of rot, then this man has enormous talent. I think there are three tragedies in Rus': “The Minor”, “Woe from Wit”, “The Inspector General”. On “Bankrupt” I put number four.”
From such a promising first assessment to Goncharov’s anniversary letter, complete, full of work life; labor, and which led to such a logical relationship of assessments, because talent requires, first of all, great work on itself, and the playwright did not sin before God - he did not bury his talent in the ground. Having published his first work in 1847, Ostrovsky has since written 47 plays and translated more than twenty plays from European languages. And in total in the folk theater he created there are about a thousand characters.
Shortly before his death, in 1886, Alexander Nikolaevich received a letter from L.N. Tolstoy, in which the brilliant prose writer admitted: “I know from experience how people read, listen to and remember your works, and therefore I would like to help ensure that you have now quickly become in reality what you undoubtedly are - a national figure in the very in a broad sense writer."
All creative life A.N. Ostrovsky was inextricably linked with the Russian theater and his service to the Russian stage is truly immeasurable. He had every reason to say at the end of his life: "... the Russian drama theater only I. I am everything: the academy, the philanthropist, and the defense. In addition, ... I became the head of the performing arts."
Ostrovsky took an active part in the production of his plays, worked with the actors, was friends with many of them, and corresponded. He put a lot of effort into defending the morals of the actors, seeking the creation in Russia theater school, own repertoire.
In 1865, Ostrovsky organized an Artistic Circle in Moscow, the purpose of which was to protect the interests of artists, especially provincial ones, and to promote their education. In 1874 he created the Society of Dramatic Writers and Opera Composers. He drafted memos to the government on the development of performing arts (1881), conducted directing activities at the Maly Theater in Moscow and the Alexandrinsky Theater in St. Petersburg, served as head of the repertoire department of Moscow theaters (1886), and was the head of the theater school (1886). He “built” an entire “Russian theater building” consisting of 47 original plays. “You brought a gift to literature with a whole library of works of art,” I. A. Goncharov wrote to Ostrovsky, “you created your own, special world for the stage. You alone completed the building, the foundation of which was laid by Fonvizin, Griboyedov, Gogol. But only after you We, Russians, can proudly say: we have our own Russian national theater."
Ostrovsky's work constituted an entire era in the history of Russian theater. During his lifetime, almost all of his plays were staged on the stage of the Maly Theater; several generations of artists were brought up on them, who grew into remarkable masters of the Russian stage. Ostrovsky's plays played such a significant role in the history of the Maly Theater that it is proudly called the House of Ostrovsky.
Ostrovsky usually staged his plays himself. He knew well the inner, hidden from the eyes of the audience, behind the scenes life theater Knowledge of the playwright acting life clearly manifested itself in the plays "Forest" (1871), "Comedian XVII century"(1873), "Talents and Admirers" (1881), "Guilty Without Guilt" (1883).
In these works we see living types of provincial actors of various roles. These are tragedians, comedians, “first lovers”. But regardless of their role, the life of actors is usually not easy. Depicting their destinies in his plays, Ostrovsky sought to show how difficult it is for a person with subtle soul and talent to live in an unjust world of callousness and ignorance. At the same time, the actors portraying Ostrovsky could turn out to be almost beggars, like Neschastlivtsev and Schastlivtsev in “The Forest”; humiliated and losing their human appearance from drunkenness, like Robinson in "Dowry", like Shmaga in "Guilty Without Guilt", like Erast Gromilov in "Talents and Admirers".
In the comedy "The Forest" Ostrovsky revealed the talent of the actors of the Russian provincial theater and at the same time showed their humiliating position, doomed to vagrancy and wandering in search of their daily bread. When they meet, Schastlivtsev and Neschastlivtsev don’t have a penny of money or a pinch of tobacco. Neschastlivtsev, however, has some clothes in his homemade backpack. He even had a tailcoat, but in order to play the role, he had to exchange it in Chisinau “for a Hamlet costume.” The costume was very important for the actor, but in order to have the necessary wardrobe, a lot of money was needed...
Ostrovsky shows that the provincial actor is on a low rung of the social ladder. There is prejudice in society towards the profession of an actor. Gurmyzhskaya, having learned that her nephew Neschastlivtsev and his comrade Schastlivtsev are actors, arrogantly declares: “They won’t be here tomorrow morning. I don’t have a hotel or a tavern for such gentlemen.” If you don't like the actor's behavior local authorities or he does not have documents, he is persecuted and may even be expelled from the city. Arkady Schastlivtsev was “kicked out of the city three times... the Cossacks drove him with whips for four miles.” Due to instability and constant wanderings, actors drink. Visiting taverns is their only way to escape reality, to forget about troubles at least for a while. Schastlivtsev says: “...We are equal, both are actors, he is Neschastlivtsev, I am Schastlivtsev, and we are both drunkards,” and then with bravado he declares: “We are a free people, a partying one, the tavern is dearer to us than anything else.” But this buffoonery of Arkashka Schastlivtsev is only a mask hiding the unbearable pain of social humiliation.
Despite the difficult life, adversity and insults, many of Melpomene’s servants retain kindness and nobility in their souls. In "The Forest" Ostrovsky created the most bright image noble actor - tragic Neschastlivtsev. He depicted a “living” person, with a difficult fate, with a sad life story. The actor drinks heavily, but throughout the play he changes, opens up best features his nature. Forcing Vosmibratov to return Gurmyzhskaya’s money, Neschastlivtsev puts on a performance and puts on fake medals. At this moment he plays with such strength, with such faith that evil can be punished, that he achieves the real, life success: Vosmibratov gives the money. Then, giving his last money to Aksyusha, arranging her happiness, Neschastlivtsev no longer plays. His actions are not a theatrical gesture, but truly noble deed. And when, at the end of the play, he pronounces the famous monologue of Karl More from F. Schiller’s “The Robbers,” the words of Schiller’s hero become, in essence, a continuation of his own angry speech. The meaning of the remark that Neschastlivtsev throws to Gurmyzhskaya and her entire company: “We are artists, noble artists, and you are the comedians,” is that in his view, art and life are inextricably linked, and the actor is not a pretender, not a performer, his art based on genuine feelings and experiences.
IN verse comedy"Comedian of the 17th century" the playwright turned to the early pages of the history of the Russian stage. The talented comedian Yakov Kochetov is afraid to become an artist. Not only he, but also his father are sure that this is a reprehensible activity, that buffoonery is a sin, worse than which nothing can be, because such were the Domostroevsky ideas of people in Moscow in the 17th century. But Ostrovsky contrasted the persecutors of buffoons and their “acts” with the lovers and zealots of theater in the pre-Petrine era. The playwright showed special role stage performances in the development of Russian literature and formulated the purpose of comedy in “...to make the vicious and evil funny, to make people laugh....To teach people by depicting morals.”
In the drama “Talents and Admirers,” Ostrovsky showed how difficult the fate of an actress endowed with a huge stage gift, who is passionately devoted to the theater, is. The actor's position in the theater, his success depends on whether he is liked by the rich spectators who hold the whole city in their hands. After all, provincial theaters existed mainly on donations from local patrons of the arts, who felt like masters of the theater and dictated their terms to the actors. Alexandra Negina from “Talents and Admirers” refuses to participate in behind-the-scenes intrigues or respond to the whims of her wealthy admirers: Prince Dulebov, official Bakin and others. Negina cannot and does not want to be content with the easy success of the undemanding Nina Smelskaya, who willingly accepts the patronage of wealthy fans, turning, in essence, into a kept woman. Prince Dulebov, offended by Negina’s refusal, decided to destroy her by disrupting the benefit performance and literally surviving from the theater. For Negina, parting with the theater, without which she cannot imagine her existence, means being content with a miserable life with a sweet but poor student Petya Meluzov. She has only one option left: to go to the support of another admirer, the wealthy landowner Velikatov, who promises her roles and resounding success in the theater he owns. He calls his claim to Alexandra’s talent and soul ardent love, but in essence it is an open deal between a large predator and a helpless victim. What Knurov did not have to accomplish in “Dowry” was done by Velikatov. Larisa Ogudalova managed to free herself from the gold chains at the cost of death, Negina put these chains on herself because she cannot imagine life without art.
Ostrovsky reproaches this heroine, who had less spiritual dowry than Larisa. But at the same time he heartache told us about the dramatic fate of the actress, which evoked his sympathy and sympathy. No wonder, as E. Kholodov noted, her name is the same as Ostrovsky himself - Alexandra Nikolaevna.
In the drama “Guilty Without Guilt,” Ostrovsky again turns to the theme of theater, although its problems are much broader: it talks about the fate of people disadvantaged by life. At the center of the drama is the outstanding actress Kruchinina, after whose performances the theater literally “falls apart from applause.” Her image gives reason to think about what determines significance and greatness in art. First of all, Ostrovsky believes, this is a huge life experience, the school of deprivation, torment and suffering that his heroine had to go through.
Kruchinina’s whole life outside the stage is “grief and tears.” This woman has known everything: the hard work of a teacher, betrayal and the departure of a loved one, the loss of a child, serious illness, loneliness. Secondly, this is spiritual nobility, a sympathetic heart, faith in goodness and respect for man, and, thirdly, an awareness of the high goals of art: Kruchinina brings to the viewer high truth, ideas of justice and freedom. With her words from the stage, she strives to “burn people’s hearts.” And together with rare natural talent and common culture all this makes it possible to become what the heroine of the play has become - a universal idol whose “glory thunders.” Kruchinina gives her viewers the happiness of contact with beauty. And that’s why the playwright himself in the finale also gives her personal happiness: finding lost son, the destitute actor Neznamov.
The merit of A. N. Ostrovsky to the Russian stage is truly immeasurable. His plays about theater and actors, which accurately reflect the circumstances of Russian reality in the 70s and 80s of the 19th century, contain thoughts about art that are still relevant today. These are thoughts about difficult, sometimes tragic fate talented people who, realizing themselves on stage, completely burn themselves out; thoughts about the happiness of creativity, complete dedication, about the high mission of art that affirms goodness and humanity.
The playwright himself expressed himself, revealed his soul in the plays he created, perhaps especially openly in plays about theater and actors, in which he very convincingly showed that even in the depths of Russia, in the provinces, you can meet talented, unselfish people, capable of living by the highest interests . Much in these plays is consonant with what B. Pasternak wrote in his wonderful poem “Oh, if only I knew that this happens...”:
When the line dictates the feeling,
It sends a slave to the stage,
And this is where art ends,
And the soil and fate breathe.
The literary life of Russia was stirred up when Ostrovsky's first plays entered it: first in reading, then in magazine publications and, finally, on the stage. Perhaps the largest and most profound critical legacy dedicated to his dramaturgy was left by Ap.A. Grigoriev, a friend and admirer of the writer’s work, and N.A. Dobrolyubov. Dobrolyubov’s article “A Ray of Light in a Dark Kingdom” about the drama “The Thunderstorm” has become well-known and textbook.
Let us turn to the estimates of Ap.A. Grigorieva. An extended article entitled “After Ostrovsky’s “The Thunderstorm”. Letters to Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev” (1860), largely contradicts Dobrolyubov’s opinion and polemicizes with him. The disagreement was fundamental: two critics held different understanding nationalities in literature. Grigoriev considered nationality not so much a reflection in artistic creativity The lives of the working masses, like Dobrolyubov, are as much an expression of the general spirit of the people, regardless of position and class. From Grigoriev’s point of view, Dobrolyubov reduces the complex issues of Ostrovsky’s plays to denouncing tyranny and in general “ dark kingdom”, and the playwright is assigned only the role of satirist-accuser. But not the “evil humor of a satirist”, but the “naive truth of a people’s poet” - this is the strength of Ostrovsky’s talent, as Grigoriev sees it. Grigoriev calls Ostrovsky “a poet who plays in all modes folk life" “The name for this writer, for such a great writer, despite his shortcomings, is not a satirist, but folk poet" - Here main thesis Ap.A. Grigoriev in polemics with N.A. Dobrolyubov.
The third position, which does not coincide with the two mentioned, was held by D.I. Pisarev. In the article “Motives of Russian Drama” (1864), he completely denies everything positive and bright that A.A. Grigoriev and N.A. Dobrolyubov was seen in the image of Katerina in “The Thunderstorm”. The “realist” Pisarev has a different view: Russian life “does not contain any inclinations of independent renewal,” and only people like V.G. can bring light into it. Belinsky, the type that appeared in the image of Bazarov in “Fathers and Sons” by I.S. Turgenev. Darkness art world Ostrovsky is hopeless.
Finally, let us dwell on the position of the playwright and public figure A.N. Ostrovsky in the context of struggle in Russian literature ideological trends Russian social thought - Slavophilism and Westernism. The time of Ostrovsky's collaboration with the magazine "Moskvityanin" M.P. Pogodin is often associated with his Slavophile views. But the writer was much broader than these positions. Someone caught a statement from this period, when from his Zamoskvorechye he looked at the Kremlin on the opposite bank and said: “Why were these pagodas built here?” (it would seem clearly “Western”) also did not in any way reflect his true aspirations. Ostrovsky was neither a Westerner nor a Slavophile. The playwright’s powerful, original, folk talent blossomed during the period of formation and rise of Russian realistic art. The genius of P.I. awakened Tchaikovsky; arose at the turn of the 1850-1860s XIX century creative community of Russian composers " Mighty bunch"; Russian realistic painting flourished: they created I.E. Repin, V.G. Perov, I. N. Kramskoy and other major artists - this is how intense life was in full swing for the rich in talents of fine art and musical art second half XIX centuries. The portrait of A. N. Ostrovsky belongs to the brush of V. G. Perov, N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov creates an opera based on the fairy tale “The Snow Maiden”. A.N. Ostrovsky entered the world of Russian art naturally and fully.
As for the theater itself, the playwright himself, assessing artistic life 1840s - the time of his first literary quest, speaks of a great variety of ideological movements and artistic interests, many circles, but notes that everyone was united by a common, craze for theater. Writers of the 1840s who belonged to the natural school, everyday life writers and essayists (the first collection of the natural school was called “Physiology of St. Petersburg”, 1844-1845) included an article by V.G. in the second part. Belinsky "Alexandrinsky Theater". The theater was perceived as a place where classes of society collided “to get a good look at each other.” And this theater was waiting for a playwright of such caliber, which manifested itself in A.N. Ostrovsky. The significance of Ostrovsky’s work for Russian literature is extremely great: he truly was the successor of the Gogol tradition and the founder of a new, national Russian theater, without which the emergence of A.P.’s dramaturgy would have been impossible. Chekhov. Second half XIX century V European literature did not produce a single playwright comparable in scale to A. N. Ostrovsky. The development of European literature proceeded differently. The French romanticism of W. Hugo, George Sand, the critical realism of Stendhal, P. Mérimée, O. de Balzac, then the work of G. Flaubert, the English critical realism of C. Dickens, W. Thackeray, C. Bronte paved the way not for drama, but for epic , first of all - the novel, and (not so noticeably) the lyrics. The issues, characters, plots, depiction of Russian character and Russian life in Ostrovsky’s plays are so nationally unique, so understandable and in tune with the Russian reader and viewer that the playwright did not have such an impact on the world literary process, like Chekhov later. And in many ways the reason for this was the language of Ostrovsky’s plays: it turned out to be impossible to translate them, preserving the essence of the original, to convey that special and special thing with which he fascinates the viewer.
Source (abbreviated): Michalskaya, A.K. Literature: Basic level: 10th grade. At 2 p.m. Part 1: study. allowance / A.K. Mikhalskaya, O.N. Zaitseva. - M.: Bustard, 2018
It is unlikely that it will be possible to briefly describe the work of Alexander Ostrovsky, since this man left a great contribution to the development of literature.
He wrote about many things, but most of all in the history of literature he is remembered as a good playwright.
Popularity and features of creativity
Popularity of A.N. Ostrovsky brought the work “Our people - we will be numbered.” After it was published, his work was appreciated by many writers of that time.
This gave confidence and inspiration to Alexander Nikolaevich himself.
After such a successful debut, he wrote many works that played a significant role in his work. These include the following:
- "Forest"
- "Talents and Fans"
- "Dowry."
All of his plays can be called psychological dramas, since in order to understand what the writer wrote about, you need to delve deeply into his work. The characters in his plays were versatile personalities that not everyone could understand. In his works, Ostrovsky examined how the country’s values were collapsing.
Each of his plays has a realistic ending; the author did not try to end everything with a positive ending, like many writers; for him, the most important thing was to show real, rather than fictional, life in his works. In his works, Ostrovsky tried to depict the life of the Russian people, and, moreover, he did not embellish it at all - but wrote what he saw around him.
Childhood memories also served as subjects for his works. Distinctive feature His work can be said to be that his works were not entirely censored, but despite this, they remained popular. Perhaps the reason for his popularity was that the playwright tried to present Russia to readers as it is. Nationality and realism are the main criteria that Ostrovsky adhered to when writing his works.
Work in recent years
A.N. Ostrovsky became especially interested in creativity in recent years his life, it was then that he wrote the most significant dramas and comedies for his work. All of them were written for a reason, mainly his works describe tragic fates women who have to deal with their problems alone. Ostrovsky was a playwright from God; it would seem that he managed to write very easily, thoughts themselves came to his head. But he also wrote works where he had to work hard.
IN latest works The playwright developed new techniques for presenting text and expressiveness - which became distinctive in his work. His style of writing works was highly appreciated by Chekhov, which for Alexander Nikolaevich is beyond praise. He tried to show in his work internal struggle heroes.
The playwright almost never included political and philosophical problems, facial expressions and gestures, through playing out the details of their costumes and household furnishings. To enhance comic effects the playwright usually introduced minor persons into the plot - relatives, servants, hangers-on, random passers-by - and incidental circumstances of everyday life. Such, for example, is Khlynov’s retinue and the gentleman with a mustache in “A Warm Heart,” or Apollo Murzavetsky with his Tamerlane in the comedy “Wolves and Sheep,” or the actor Schastlivtsev with Neschastlivtsev and Paratov in “The Forest” and “Dowry,” etc. The playwright continued to strive to reveal the characters’ characters not only in the course of events, but no less through the peculiarities of their everyday dialogues - “characterological” dialogues, which he aesthetically mastered in “His People...”.
Thus, in the new period of creativity, Ostrovsky emerges as an established master, possessing a complete system of dramatic art. His fame and his social and theatrical connections continue to grow and become more complex. The sheer abundance of plays created in the new period was the result of an ever-increasing demand for Ostrovsky's plays from magazines and theaters. During these years, the playwright not only worked tirelessly, but also found the strength to help less gifted and novice writers, and sometimes actively participate with them in their work. Thus, in the creative collaboration with Ostrovsky, a number of plays were written by N. Solovyov (the best of them are “The Marriage of Belugin” and “Savage”), as well as by P. Nevezhin.
Constantly promoting the production of his plays on the stages of the Moscow Maly and St. Petersburg Alexandria theaters, Ostrovsky knew well the state of theatrical affairs, which were mainly under the jurisdiction of the bureaucratic state apparatus, and was bitterly aware of their glaring shortcomings. He saw that he did not depict the noble and bourgeois intelligentsia in their ideological quests, as Herzen, Turgenev, and partly Goncharov did. In his plays, he showed the everyday social life of ordinary representatives of the merchants, bureaucrats, and nobility, life where personal, particularly love, conflicts revealed clashes of family, monetary, and property interests.
But Ostrovsky’s ideological and artistic awareness of these aspects of Russian life had a deep national-historical meaning. Through the everyday relationships of those people who were masters and masters of life, their general social condition was revealed. Just as, according to Chernyshevsky’s apt remark, the cowardly behavior of the young liberal, the hero of Turgenev’s story “Asya,” on a date with a girl was a “symptom of the disease” of all noble liberalism, its political weakness, so the everyday tyranny and predation of merchants, officials, and nobles appeared a symptom of a more terrible disease is their complete inability to at least in any way give their activities national progressive significance.
This was quite natural and logical in the pre-reform period. Then the tyranny, arrogance, and predation of the Voltovs, Vyshnevskys, and Ulanbekovs were a manifestation of the “dark kingdom” of serfdom, already doomed to be scrapped. And Dobrolyubov correctly pointed out that, although Ostrovsky’s comedy “cannot provide the key to explaining many of the bitter phenomena depicted in it,” nevertheless, “it can easily suggest many analogous considerations related to everyday life that it does not directly concern.” And the critic explained this by the fact that the “types” of tyrants drawn by Ostrovsky “are not. rarely contain not only exclusively merchant or bureaucratic, but also national (i.e. national) features.” In other words, Ostrovsky's plays of 1840-1860. indirectly exposed all the “dark kingdoms” of the autocratic-serf system.
In the post-reform decades, the situation changed. Then “everything turned upside down” and a new, bourgeois system of Russian life gradually began to “establish itself.” And the question of how exactly this was “fitted” was of enormous, national significance. new system, to what extent the new ruling class, the Russian bourgeoisie, could take part in the struggle for the destruction of the remnants of the “dark kingdom” of serfdom and the entire autocratic-landowner system.
Almost twenty new plays by Ostrovsky on modern themes gave a clear negative answer to this fatal question. The playwright, as before, depicted the world of private social, household, family and property relations. Not everything was clear to him about the general trends of their development, and his “lyre” sometimes made not quite the “right sounds” in this regard. But in general, Ostrovsky's plays contained a certain objective orientation. They exposed both the remnants of the old “dark kingdom” of despotism and the newly emerging “ dark kingdom” bourgeois predation, money rush, death of all moral values in an atmosphere of general buying and selling. They showed that Russian businessmen and industrialists are not capable of rising to the level of awareness of the interests of national development, that some of them, such as Khlynov and Akhov, are only capable of indulging in crude pleasures, others, like Knurov and Berkutov, can only subjugate everything around them with their predatory, “wolf” interests, and for still others, such as Vasilkov or Frol Pribytkov, the interests of profit are only covered up by external decency and very narrow cultural demands. Ostrovsky's plays, in addition to the plans and intentions of their author, objectively outlined a certain perspective of national development - the prospect of the inevitable destruction of all remnants of the old “dark kingdom” of autocratic-serf despotism, not only without the participation of the bourgeoisie, not only over its head, but along with the destruction of its own predatory "dark kingdom"
The reality depicted in Ostrovsky's everyday plays was a form of life devoid of nationally progressive content, and therefore easily revealed internal comic inconsistency. Ostrovsky dedicated his outstanding dramatic talent to its disclosure. Based on the tradition of Gogol’s realistic comedies and stories, rebuilding it in accordance with the new aesthetic demands put forward by “ natural school” of the 1840s and formulated by Belinsky and Herzen, Ostrovsky traced the comic inconsistency of the social and everyday life of the ruling strata of Russian society, delving into the “world of details,” examining thread by thread the “web of daily relationships.” This was the main achievement of the new dramatic style created by Ostrovsky.
Essay on literature on the topic: The significance of Ostrovsky’s work for the ideological and aesthetic development of literature
Other writings:
- A.S. Pushkin entered the history of Russia as an extraordinary phenomenon. It's not only greatest poet, but also the founder of Russian literary language, founder of new Russian literature. “Pushkin’s muse,” according to V. G. Belinsky, “was nourished and educated by the works of previous poets.” On Read More......
- Alexander Nikolaevich Ostrovsky... This is an unusual phenomenon. His role in the history of the development of Russian drama, performing arts and the entire national culture can hardly be overestimated. For the development of Russian drama, he did as much as Shakespeare in England, Lone de Vega in Spain, Moliere Read More ......
- Tolstoy was very strict about artisan writers who composed their “works” without real passion and without the conviction that people needed them. Tolstoy retained his passionate, selfless enthusiasm for creativity until last days life. While working on the novel “Resurrection,” he admitted: “I Read More ......
- A. N. Ostrovsky is rightfully considered a singer merchant environment, father of Russian domestic drama, Russian theater. He is the author of about sixty plays, of which the most famous are “Dowry”, “ Late love”, “Forest”, “Simplicity is enough for every wise man”, “Our people are numbered”, “Thunderstorm” and Read More ......
- Discussing the power of “inertia, numbness” that hobbles a person, A. Ostrovsky noted: “It is not without reason that I called this force Zamoskvoretskaya: there, beyond the Moscow River, is its kingdom, there is its throne. She drives a man into a stone house and locks the iron gate behind him, she dresses Read More......
- IN European culture the novel embodies ethics, just as church architecture embodies the idea of faith, and the sonnet embodies the idea of love. An outstanding novel is not only a cultural event; it means much more than just a step forward in the literary craft. This is a monument to the era; monumental monument, Read More ......
- The merciless truth spoken by Gogol about his contemporary society, his ardent love for the people, the artistic perfection of his works - all this determined the role that he played great writer in the history of Russian and world literature, in establishing the principles critical realism, in the development of democratic Read More ......
- Krylov belonged to the Russian enlighteners of the 18th century, led by Radishchev. But Krylov was unable to rise to the idea of uprising against autocracy and serfdom. He thought he could improve social order it is possible through moral re-education of people that social issues should be allowed Read More......