What titles are typical for Ostrovsky's plays. A

Ostrovsky was the first Russian classical playwright. There were poets before him. Writers...but not playwrights

Ostrovsky wrote 48 of his own plays, several with his students, translated several plays (The Taming of the Shrew and Goldoni's Coffee House). IN total he gave the theater 61 plays.

Before Ostrovsky, two of his parents' children died in infancy. Their whole family was spiritual. My uncle is a priest, my father also graduated from the seminary and the theological academy, but became a lawyer. And mother, daughter, prosvir. Uncle advised to name the child Alexander (protector of life). All the characters in Ostrovsky's plays have symbolic names! There are invented ones, and there are ordinary ones. Katerina (eternally pure, immaculate) he believes in her innocence! Although she commits 2 deadly sins. And in the dowry, he will name the heroine Larisa (seagull). Only through the names can one already understand the character of the characters and the attitude of the author towards him.

Another bathroom moment of his life is his work in the courts. He did not finish university and aspired to a free life. The father protested. He was rich and bought houses and wanted his son to follow in his footsteps. But Ostrovsky dreamed only of the theatre. And when he left the university, his father did not let him mess around and got him a scribe in a conscientious (arbitration) court. (The one who paid the most won.) And then a small clerk in a commercial one. He saw enough of different cases and this pushed him to creativity. "Bankrupt" is such a play that was born in this way.

"The Picture of Family Happiness" - the first play published in 1847

this is a sketch merchant life. The world of deceit and hypocrisy on which the whole society is built. After the two-volume playbook, Dobrolyubov will say that all relationships in Ostrovsky's plays are built on two principles - the beginning of the family (the head is the oppressor) and the material one (the one who owns the money)

end of lecture 56.41

Ostrovsky is not the way we used to imagine him in a dressing gown with fur. They had a company of 5 people. (Apollon Grigoriev - poet, prose writer, theorist; Tertius Filippov, Almazov, Edelson). All of them worked for Pogodin (university professor) in the Moskvityanin magazine Apollon Grigoriev wrote an epigram on Ostrovsky: Half Falstaff, half Shakespeare, debauchery with genius is a blind combination.

He was very loving. Agafya Ivanovna - an unmarried wife, an illiterate woman did not want to marry him, so as not to dishonor. They had children. But at this time he fell in love with the Nikulina-Kositskaya actress. He even proposed to her, but she refused. Then he started an affair with a young actress Vasilyeva. And she also had children. Agafya Ivanovna could not bear this and died, and then he married Vasilyeva.

And he liked to drink with friends and sang great together. have been successful in this

1849 wrote "Bankrupt" a play tough in tradition natural school. It is more earthly than Gogol's plays. It was read at Pogodin's house. This reading was arranged by Countess Rostopchina and invited Gogol there. There is a legend that Gogol later said that talent is felt in everything. There were some technical shortcomings, but it will come with practice, but in general it's all talented. And the censorship did not let the play through, citing the fact that there is not a single positive person. All rascals. Pogodin said. So that Ostrovsky would redo it a little, rename it and submit it again. He did just that. renamed it “Own people, let's settle”, and smallly signed Bankrupt and indeed the play was allowed. And in the year 50, in the 5th issue of the Moskvityanin magazine, it was printed. It immediately began to be staged in a small theater. Shumsky - Podkholyuzin, Prov Sadovsky - Bolshov. But before the premiere came a ban on staging. She was put off for 11 years! for the first time it was put in 61. The composition has changed. Prov Sadovsky played Podkholyuzin (Shumsky fell ill), Tishka was played by his son Mikhal Provovich, Shchepkin played the Bolshoi.

Three images of Podkholyuzin, Bolshov and Tishka - three different stages development of capitalism in Russia

Bolshov - semi-literate, gray, not thinking about anyone, turns out to be a victim of his darkness

Podkholyuzin - understands that it is impossible to steal just like Bolshov, and he arranges a marriage with Lipochka and legally appropriates the capital of the Bolshoi.

Tishka is a servant boy. He has 3 coins. And he manages these coins. One is sweets, one is to lend at interest, the third is hidden just in case. This is the disposal of coins, this is the distant future of Russia

This play stands alone. This is the only one so spicy where everyone is bad. Life broke the author and he wrote various plays. He understood that both good and bad are mixed in a person and began to write more voluminously, taking the characters out of life. He will say later. That there is no need to invent stories, they are all around us. The basis of his plays will be the stories of actors, friends, court proceedings in kinesh e Moscow court where his estate Shchelyk O in. There he wrote all his plays.

Winter is when I conceive the plot, spring and summer is when I process it, and in autumn I bring it to the theatre. Sometimes more than a play a year. Burdin is his high school friend, who has become a bad actor, but a good politician passed through the censorship of his plays in St. Petersburg, played there leading role and then the play freely passed to Moscow. If they set it up in St. Petersburg, there is no longer any need to obtain censorship in Moscow.

The second play, The Poor Bride, was also censored. He wrote it for 2 years.

After the ban on “we will count our people”, Ostrovsky came under double supervision (3 branches of the Buturlin Committee - political supervision and police supervision - monitored Ostrovsky’s morality) It was the reign of Nicholas 1. These were difficult years and his plays did not go on stage.

53-55 years is 3 years when Ostrovsky made a certain tactical move that saved him as a playwright. He wrote 3 plays with such a Slavophile bias (Slavophiles (Aksakov, Pogodin,) and Westerners (Herzen, Ogarev, Raevsky) - two currents that fought in the 1st half of the 19th century for the future of Russia.)

“Do not sit in your sleigh”, “Poverty is not a vice”, “do not live as you want.” These 3 pieces are not very deep, but they give the author a path to the stage.

Ostrovsky has 2 types play-titles proverbs and then it’s clear how they will develop and how things will end, and with an unpredictable name, according to which it is difficult to figure out the play right away (Thunderstorm, Dowry, Mad Money)

"Poverty is not a vice"

Gordey Tortsov (proud) - ashamed of his brother

We love Tortsov (beloved) - a drunkard, a fence, he has nowhere to live.

The play is played during Christmas time. Korshunov arrives to marry Gordey's daughter and Lyubim helps Lyubushka avoid this terrible fate. (Korshunov killed his previous wife, ruined whom?) Proud tyrant. To the question, for whom will you give your daughter? Answers - Yes, even for Mitka! (This is a clerk who has mutual love with Lyubushka) This seems to be a joke, but Lyubim helps young people find happiness. This play was a resounding success.

“Don’t get into your sleigh” is the first play that came out. played in Bolshoi Theater with a large collection. Nikulina-Kositskaya played Avdotya Maksimovna, Prov Sadovsky played the Bolshoi.

It was unusual to see the actress in a simple cotton dress. Usually actresses came out in luxurious outfits. The success was complete.

The next premiere was "Poverty is not a vice" (1854) was a deafening premiere. The audience liked P. Sadovsky so much that Apollon Grigoriev wrote in the article: Wider road, Lyubim Tortsov is coming!

But he also wrote a whole poem about Sadovsky in this role.

In the literature, you can find the statement. That Shchepkin did not accept Ostrovsky. They had a difficult relationship. Ivanova does not believe in this. Shchepkin could not be with anyone at all. bad relationship. Two eras collided here. Herzen wrote that Shchepkin was not theatrical at the theater. We must understand. What is the degree of non-theatricality, it is dialectical and mobile. When we listen to the recordings of the Moscow Art Theater today, we hear theatricality, exaggeration. Each generation puts forward its own measure of simplicity. Shchepkin, being not theatrical at the theater, still lives in a romantic era. And his style of perception of life is romantic.

P. Sadovsky creates Tortsov very naturalistically (dirty, drunk, not good) and Apollon Grigoriev praises him for this. And Shchepkin does not accept such Tortsov.

In 1954, Shchepkin is strong and may well say to a younger actor - move over, I myself will play Lyubim Tortsov. But he doesn't. He writes in Nizhny Novgorod and asks to take on the bike. Post Ostrovsky's play, learn it, and I will come and play Lyubim Tortsov. And so it happens. He rides and plays. For P. Sadovsky it is important to social. Tortsov's position, his filth, for Shchepkin his moral height and inner purity are important. He romantically plays this image. He raises him above the world that Sadovsky opens up.

Shchepkin also played the Bolshoi. He softens, justifies it. Feel sorry for him at the end. In 1961, censorship, which allowed the production, required the punishment of negative characters, and the theater brought in a policeman who, in the finale, came to arrest Podkholyuzin. And Sadovsky takes the policeman by the elbow, leads him to the forefront and gives him a wad of money. This is an actor's mise-en-scène, but in this way he corrects the intervention of censorship, the government, the directorate of the imperial theaters, who wanted to reduce the sound of the play.

In 1855, Nikolai-1 dies and Ostrovsky plays into this. And the oppression of his reign from 25 to 55 years will subside. After the Decembrist uprising, he saw a conspiracy everywhere and in everything. Arrests, strict supervision, everything will pass now. His son Alexander -2 comes to power. A lot is changing. Ostrovsky is released from supervision and goes to St. Petersburg. He is met by all writers (among them are Tolstoy and Kraevsky and Nekrasov and Saltykov-Shchedrin), they arrange a gala dinner. They lay a wreath, the ribbons of which are held by Goncharov and Turgenev. He is offered to publish in Otechestvennye Zapiski and Sovremennik. Then Ostrovsky goes on an expedition along the Volga, organized by the Russian Geographical Society (He compiled a dictionary of Volga words, collected plots and conceived a trilogy, but he will write only one play “Dream on the Volga”) In general, there is a Volga in many of Ostrovsky’s plays. (Invented by Mr. Kalinov in Thunderstorm, Dowry and Warm Heart)

In the 19th century, there were many playwrights-drama models who composed a certain plot around love triangle. All of these plays were the same. They were composed.

Ostrovsky made it possible for the material to develop, gave volume coming from life, even in proverb plays.

In the play "Not All the Cat's Shrovetide" the author will complete the development of the image of a tyrant merchant. He reveals such a trait. For the first time, he will talk about her in the play “In a Strange Feast of a Hangover” Tit Titovich Bruskov, the main character, an illiterate rich merchant, does not allow his son Andrei to study, because he does not see the need for it. O1.28.31 it is in this play that the very concept of a petty tyrant will appear. Then Ostrovsky uses this theme of tyranny in various social groups. In the "Pupil" of the tyrant noblewoman Ulanbekova, in the "Forest" Gurmyzhskaya, in the "Profitable Place" Yusov, in the "Thunderstorm" Wild. But the main tyrants are merchants. Kuroslepov and Khlynov are wonderful figures in Hot Heart. Kuroslepov - revenge on Prov Sadovsky. In "Dream on the Volga" there is a place when the governor falls asleep. And once Sadovsky actually fell asleep in this place. Ostrovsky ridiculed him in Kuroslepov and assigned him this role. Kuroslepov only sleeps and eats.

Khlynov is a wealthy man who drinks and plays games. He dresses up his people as robbers, goes on the high road to frighten passers-by.

Developing this image of such a merchant comes to the play "Shrovetide is not everything for a cat" 01.31.54

There is a merchant-tyrant Akhov. This is Ostrovsky's last petty-tyrant merchant.

He proposes to the poor dowry Agnia, she refuses and marries his nephew Hippolyte. And the nephew, threatening him with a knife, takes the money in order to marry Agnia. And the concubine and maid says that he got lost in his own room and began to bliss. This is such a hyperbole, very important. He seems to be the ruler and can achieve nothing. He asks the young people to sweep the yard. He is ready to pay for the wedding, just submit to me. And they refuse. And he's confused...

The next play is Crazy Money and the merchant Vasilkov, who combines love for Lydia Cheboksarova with profit. It is important for him to marry her in order to rise to another social circle (she is a noblewoman).

Knurov and Vozhevatov in "Dowry" play Larisa in a toss to take her to Paris. These are no longer illiterate merchants. These are no longer petty tyrants, but capitalists. They are going to an industrial exhibition in Paris.

"The last victim" merchant-capitalist Pribytkov. He collects pictures. Yulia Tukina.

His paintings are only originals, he is going to listen to Pati (Italian soprano superstar) at the opera. In the 80s for Russia, this is already a familiar level. 01.35.50

Tretyakov collects Russian painting. Shchukin collects paintings by the Impressionists. Ryabushinsky publishes the magazine "Golden Fleece"1.36.51 For this edition, Rus. artists paint portraits of playwrights and actors (Serov - a portrait of Blok, Ulyanov - Meyerhold in the role of Pierrot from "Balaganchik"). Bakhrushin collects theatrical relics. Mamontov will create a private Russian opera and educate Chaliapin. Morozov is associated with art theatre. He is a shareholder of the theater that was just born in 1998. In 1902, he built a building for them in Kamergersky Lane.

In Pribytkovo, Ostrovsky outlined the features of these merchants-philanthropists. They spend money wisely. Set up Russia. Ultimately, all this goes to the state.

Most of Ostrovsky's plays are about merchants. But great attention he pays theme - fate young woman. Starting with The Poor Bride, Ostrovsky explores the position of women in Russian society. Marya Andreevna is so poor that she is about to lose her shelter and food. She is in love with Meric. He is weak-willed, lacking initiative, he loves her, but he cannot help, he has no money. And as a result, she marries Benivalyavsky, who chooses a girl who has nothing as his wife. This means that she will be completely dependent on him and he will tyrannize her. Marya Andreevna understands this, but she has no way out.

Nadia in "The Pupil" is also forced to marry. Ulanbekova gave her everything, and therefore disposed of her as property. Tyranila. She destines her as a wife for the monster drunk, and thinks that Nadia's high morality will benefit him and correct him. But Nadia flees to the island with her son Ulanbekova and spends the night there. Then she says: there will be no more life. Everything is over.

Next on this list is Katerina in The Thunderstorm. She was born out of friendship with Nikulina-Kositskaya (about how she sailed away in a boat without oars and how she saw angels in a pillar of light - these are the stories of N-Kositskaya). But the actress herself is more versatile than Katerina. There is a lot from Barbara in it. She sings and has humor in her and she has a huge talent. Katerina was written for her by Ostrovsky. Barbara and Katerina are two sides of the same character. Katerina was given away without love. And it is difficult for her to love her husband. Tikhon under the power of the Boar And hee mute. If there was a child, Boris would not have appeared in her life. But from a drunkard and a weakling, she could not get pregnant. And Boris appears from misfortune and hopelessness. Kabanikhs were called huge stones that were placed at the crossroads. So that the triplets do not collide. So is Katerina's mother-in-law. On the way, you can’t go around everyone, you can’t get around. She crushes with her weight. Katerina throws herself into the water not from the pressure of her mother-in-law, but from Boris's betrayal. He leaves her, cannot help, does not love her.

Who, lovingly, wishes his beloved a speedy death? And he says that she would die soon, so that she would not suffer so much.

Katerina is a pious person. She falls to her knees in front of the fresco of the Last Judgment during a thunderstorm and repents. And maybe having committed the first mortal sin, she punishes herself by committing the second mortal sin in order to receive punishment from God in full. Although Ostrovsky gives her a name, meaning - purity.

Thunderstorm is a multifunctional name. She is present in everything. Not only in nature.

Next Larisa. She is unable to kill herself. She chooses between dying her or becoming a thing. Karandyshev wants to get married in order to rise in the eyes of society. Both Knurov and Vozhevatov play it as a thing. And in the end, she will make a decision - if a thing is an expensive thing. Ostrovsky saves Larisa by giving death at the hands of Karandyshev. And when he kills her, he treats her like a thing (so don't get it to anyone).

Yulia Tugina is a widow who marries Pribytkov.

19 century - woman must get married to survive. At the end of the 19th century, she had the opportunity to become a governess, to become a companion. But this is also not good ... a beggarly existence. Addiction... these are already Chekhov's themes.

Ostrovsky finds another way out for theater women. In the 19th century, actresses appeared in the theater. But there is such a law - if the nobleman is coming into actors, then he loses his nobility. And the merchant drops out of the merchant guild. And the life of an actress is always doubtful. It can be bought. In "Talents and Admirers" Ostrovsky will show the life of Negina in this way.

True, in the last play "Guilty Without Guilt", he writes a melodrama with a happy ending. There, the actress rises above all. becomes great and dictates its own rules. But this is 84, the end of the 19th century.

"Snegurochka" was born in Shchelykovo. There is nature, untouched forest. This is a play about the joy of life. About harmony in life. About the objective course of life. Harmony should brighten up all the tragedies. At the end, the heroes die. The Snow Maiden melted, Mizgir rushed into the lake, disharmony just left this settlement. The Snow Maiden was a foreign, unusual beginning that invaded the suburb from a fairy tale. But Mizgir is a traitor, he abandoned Kupava. And when they die, harmony, peace and happiness come. The play was written for Fedotova. Ostrovsky often wrote plays for certain actors. Tolstoy laughed at him, and then he began to do it himself.

"Vasilisa Milentiev" he also wrote for Fedotova 01.58.26

This play was invented by Gideon Jr. (director of the imperial theaters). Ostrovsky helped him bring this play to perfection. As well as in "The Marriage of Belugin" and "Wild One" there should be 2 names of authors. These are plays written with students. For the most part with Solovyov.

Ostrovsky has a line of a young man with a university education. who comes into life. This is Zhadov in Profitable Place. In The Poor Bride, Ostrovsky tried to bring out such an image of Merich. But this is his failure. Ostrovsky at one time tried to live in two projections of the realistic theater that he created and looked back at the romantic theater, through Merich. Two directions collided in the play and it became heavy.

Zhadov is a man without silver, walks a clean path. Ostrovsky says about him that he is like a discharged Christmas tree. He has nothing of his own. He took all these ideals out of the university, but did not suffer through them. That's why he does stupid things. Firstly, he marries Polina without a dowry, having nothing for his soul. In the 19th century, this is even a crime. Officials were given permission to marry. The husband must take responsibility for his wife. And Zhadov honestly tells Polina that they will honestly get their own bread, but she does not know how it is. She seeks to quickly leave the protection of her mother and is getting married. And from this all tragedy is born.

Chernyshevsky and Dobrolyubov reproached Ostrovsky for saving Zhadov by writing such a finale - the arrest of Yusov and Vyshnevsky.

In the play "Abyss" Ostrovsky continues the theme of such a young man. Kiselnikov, unlike Zhadov, who managed to get married and have children, is forced to sacrifice himself for the well-being of the family. He commits a crime for which he receives money. He will die, he will be imprisoned.

The theme of Glumov from “Enough Simplicity for Every Wise Man” continues the Proteus man - smart, evil. Able to take care of himself. But in this case, university education will play a trick on him. If he had been simpler, like Zhadov, or as evil and smart, he would not have written this diary. And Glumov, understanding his position and wanting to get out of this situation, takes care of his aunt, flatters, etc., and in the end pierces himself. And forever parted with dreams of a better life. He will never carry out this scam of his again.

Glumov Ostrovsky will show us back in "Mad Money" and we understand that he has not achieved anything.

Ostrovsky has a play “The Characters Didn’t Agree” where the young man Paul marries a rich merchant’s wife in the hope of managing her wealth. But she quickly makes it clear that he won't get the money. And they run away.

And in order for Glumov to have this happiness, he needs to be Balzaminov and marry the fool Belotelova, who agrees to bathe him in gold. But this is vaudeville. Fantasy game. And it is no coincidence that Ostrovsky introduces Glumov in Crazy Money to show that he will not be happy. And in contrast to Vasilkov, who offers to multiply money and make it work, Glumov is going to marry money and, of course, nothing good awaits him.

And there is one more young man, this is Petya Meluzov in "talents and admirers" - Negina's teacher. He's left with nothing and walks away so invincible. Telling the fans. That you corrupt and I enlighten.

Speaking of Meluzov, Petya Trofimov comes to mind. They are very similar and have such an impression. That Chekhov quotes Ostrovsky. Petya Trofimov is like the future of Petya Meluzov. He is an idealist and therefore will never achieve a positive result.

Ostrovsky plays with images, and as he writes new plays, one can trace the development of these images.

Wolves and Sheep (1868) is a play from life. Ostrovsky took him out of the court chamber, where the case of Abbess Mitrofania, nee Baroness Rosen, was being decided. She, like Murzavetskaya, was engaged in forgery and practically robbed stupid merchants. This case was dealt with by a civil court, although usually the clergy did not allow their own to the state court. They had their own spiritual court. But the case was so high-profile that it was impossible to do otherwise. Ostrovsky dreamed of writing about the monastery, but the censors would not let it through. Spiritual persons cannot be brought to the stage. And he arranges such a monastery in figuratively. Murzavetskaya herself is in black, her hangers-on too. And the conditions there are so strict monastic.

This is the law of life. Some are wolf, some are sheep. And at some point they can change roles (dialectical changes). Glafira from a sheep turns into a wolf. We think about Lynyaev like a sheep, but in the end he unravels all the crime of Murzavetskaya and finds the source of all the atrocities taking place around Kupavina. On all the wolves in the play, the most important wolf Berkut appears. Murzavetskaya understands that she has become a sheep, she asks Berkutov to leave her at least a poor wolf.

Ostrovsky has many themes. Lots of theater plays. By these plays we can judge the theater of the 19th century. What is the theater like in the province. ("Forest", "Talents and Admirers", "Guilty Without Guilt")

Talent cannot break through, because fans buy it and try to humiliate and addict it, and only in the melodrama Guilty Without Guilt does Kruchinina turn from a young suffering woman, Lyubov Ivanovna Otradina, into a brilliant actress, tk. will go through the path of losses and tragedies and eventually gain the talent of an actress for whom nothing is scary. And in the end he will find his son. Ostrovsky understands that the theater is in a deplorable state, that three rehearsals are not enough for a production. He tried to help in some way. Make comments, but it's all crumbs. Once he asked to replace a torn backdrop for the play “Dream on the Volga” and on the day of the premiere he saw a backdrop with a winter landscape, and he has summer in his play ...

Martynov (the first performer of Tikhon Kabanov), Prov Sadovsky (Ostrovsky's closest friend) and Nikulina-Kositskaya are actors who developed in the 1st half of the 19th century and came to the theater before Ostrovsky. They idolized him for his plays.

Savina, Strepetova, Davydov, Varlamov, Lensky, Yuzhin, Shchepkin - become actors in the imperial theaters, being once provincial actors. Then they asked for a debut in the theater (they didn’t pay for the debut) and stayed in the capitals.

Ostrovsky does not like this situation. People without school, not even trained for the role. In 1738 a school was opened (ballet and choir). and such schools appear in Moscow and St. Petersburg. Children from the age of 8.9 were taken there and taught ballet. Ballet became the basis of the imperial school. (Ermolova, Fedotova, Semenova, Martynov went this way). After that, you could choose 3 ways - to ballet, to drama actors or to become a theater artist (there were painting classes)

Tuberculosis is a common illness among actors in the 19th century. Dust, open fire. Dancing in vaudeville… at 40, actors die.

Ostrovsky observed this and devoted his articles to actresses. In one of them, he compares Savina and Strepetova and writes that Savina, who can play up to 15 roles per season, is quite beneficial for the theater, while Strepetova, who lives on stage and after the performance, she is taken away and then she comes to her senses for 2 weeks , it is not beneficial for the imperial theater. The public in the 19th century went to see the actor. And when the actor was ill, the performance was filmed. There were no substitutions. In 1865, Ostrovsky created an artistic circle. MP Sadovsky and his wife Olga Osipovna Lazareva (Sadovskaya) will be brought up in this circle. Those actors who were brought up on his dramaturgy, he will try to give a school. Ostrovsky struggles with the theatrical monopoly. He takes part in meetings, soon becomes convinced that everything is meaningless. There, everyone is looking for their own benefit, and does not care about the theater. And he comes to the idea to create his own theater.

In 1881, he received permission to create a folk theater. It is impossible to create a private theater. The theatrical monopoly does not allow this in Moscow. He is looking for a sponsor. And in 1982, the monopoly was abolished and private theaters grew in huge numbers and became competitors for Ostrovsky, so he abandoned the idea of ​​a folk theater. And the only way he could help the theater was to go there to work. He becomes the head of the repertoire and the theater school. But he's having a hard time. They do not like him, he is not convenient, not affectionate, principled. But he nevertheless begins to rebuild the theater, but in the summer of 86 he suddenly dies and the theater returns to its old habits. And the Moscow Art Theater, which was born 12 years later, will largely rest on the reforms that Ostrovsky intended to implement. First of all, he dreamed of a repertory theater. He wanted to create a Russian national theater because it is a sign of the coming of age of a nation.

The pinnacle of Russian dramaturgy of the period under review is the work of Alexander Nikolayevich Ostrovsky (1823-1886). Ostrovsky's first "big" comedy "Our people - let's settle!" (1850) gave a clear idea of ​​the new original theater, Ostrovsky's theater. Evaluating this comedy, contemporaries invariably recalled the classics of Russian comedy - Fonvizin's "Undergrowth", Griboedov's "Woe from Wit", Gogol's "Inspector General". With these "landmark" works of Russian dramaturgy, they put the comedy "Bankrupt" ("Our people - we'll settle!") on a par.

Accepting Gogol's view of the importance of social comedy, attentive to the range of topics he set in dramaturgy and the plots he introduced into this genre, Ostrovsky, from the first steps of his literary path, showed complete independence in interpreting modern collisions. The motives that Gogol interpreted as secondary, already in the early works of Ostrovsky become the nerve that determines the action, come to the fore.

In the early 1950s, the playwright believed that modern social conflicts were the most

degrees make themselves felt in a merchant environment. This class seemed to him a layer in which past and present societies merged into a complex, contradictory unity. Merchants, who have long played a significant role in the economic life of the country, and sometimes took part in political conflicts, are connected by many threads of kinship and business relations, on the one hand, with the lower strata of society (peasantry, philistinism), on the other hand, with the upper classes, in second half of the 19th century changed its shape. The vices that affect the merchant environment and which the writer exposes in his plays, he analyzes, revealing them. historical roots and anticipating their possible manifestations in the future. Already in the title of the comedy “Own people - let's settle!” the principle of homogeneity of its heroes is expressed. The oppressors and the oppressed in comedy not only constitute single system, but often change places in it. A wealthy merchant, a resident of Zamoskvorechye (the most patriarchal part of patriarchal Moscow), convinced of his right to implicitly control the fate of his family members, tyrannizes his wife, daughter and employees of his "institutions". However, his daughter Lipochka and her husband Podkhalyuzin, Bolshov's former clerk and favorite, "repay" him in full. They embezzle his capital and, having ruined the "tyatenko", cruelly and cold-bloodedly send him to prison. Podkhalyuzin says about the Bolshovs: “It will happen to them - they have thought in their lifetime, now it’s time for us!” This is how relationships develop between generations, between fathers and children. Progress here is less tangible than continuity, besides Bolshov, for all his crude simplicity, turns out to be psychologically less primitive in nature than his daughter and son-in-law. Accurately and vividly embodying in his characters the image of “modern vices and shortcomings noticed in the century”, the playwright sought to create types that have universal moral significance. “I wanted,” he explained, “so that the public stigmatizes vice in the name of Podkhalyuzin in the same way that it stigmatizes with the name of Harpagon, Tartuffe, Undergrowth, Khlestakov and others.” Contemporaries compared Bolshov with King Lear, and Podkhalyuzin was called "Russian Tartuffe".

Alien to any kind of exaggeration, avoiding idealization, the author clearly outlines the contours of the figures depicted by him, determines their scale. Bolshov's horizons are limited by Zamoskvorechye, in his limited world he experiences all the feelings that a ruler experiences on a different scale, whose power is unlimited. Power, strength, honor, greatness not only satisfy his ambition, but also overwhelm his feelings and tire him. He is bored, weighed down by his power. This mood, combined with a deep faith in the steadfastness of patriarchal family foundations, in his authority as the head of the family, gives rise to a sudden outburst of Bolshov's generosity, giving everything he has acquired "down to the shirt" of his daughter and Podkhalyuzin, who has become her husband.

In this plot twist, the comedy about a malicious bankrupt and a cunning clerk approaches Shakespeare's tragedy "King Lear" - the collision of the pursuit of profit develops into a conflict of deceived trust. However, the viewer cannot sympathize with Bolshov's disappointment, experience it as tragic, just as he cannot sympathize with the disappointment of the matchmaker and the lawyer, who resold their services to Podkhalyuzin and made a mistake in their calculations. The play is in the genre of comedy.

Ostrovsky's first comedy played a special role both in the creative life of the author and in the history of Russian drama. Subjected to strict censorship after its publication in the Moskvityanin magazine (1850), it was not staged for many years. But it was this comedy that opened new era in the understanding of the "laws of the stage", heralded the emergence of a new phenomenon in Russian culture - the Ostrovsky theater. Objectively, it contained the idea of ​​a new principle of stage action, the behavior of an actor, a new form of recreating the truth of life on stage and theatrical entertainment. Ostrovsky appealed primarily to the mass audience, the “fresh public”, “which requires strong drama, big comedy, causing frank, loud laughter, hot, sincere feelings, live and strong characters". The immediate reaction of the democratic audience was the playwright's criterion for the success of his play.

The first comedy struck with its novelty to a greater extent than Ostrovsky's subsequent plays, which made their way onto the stage and forced Ostrovsky to be recognized as a "repertory playwright": "Poor Bride" (1852), "Don't get into your sleigh" (1853) and "Poverty is no vice" (1854).

In The Poor Bride, if not a change in the writer's ideological position, then the desire to approach the problem of public comedy in a new way. The dramatic unity of the play is created by the fact that in the center of it stands the heroine, whose position is socially typical. She, as it were, embodies the general idea of ​​the position of a young lady without a dowry. Each "line" of action demonstrates the attitude of one of the contenders for the hand and heart of Marya Andreevna

to her and represents a variant of the relationship of a man to a woman and the following from such an attitude female destiny. Inhumanly accepted traditional forms family relations. The behavior of the "suitors" and their view of the beauty, who does not have a dowry, do not promise her a happy fate.

Thus, The Poor Bride also belongs to the accusatory direction of literature, which Ostrovsky considered the most appropriate for the character and mindset of Russian society. If Gogol believed that the “narrowness” of the “love plot” contradicts the tasks of public comedy, then Ostrovsky, precisely through the depiction of love in modern society assesses his condition.

In The Poor Bride, while working on which Ostrovsky, by his own admission, experienced great creative difficulties, he managed to master some new construction techniques dramatic action, which were subsequently applied by him mainly in plays of dramatic or tragic content. The pathos of the play is rooted in the experiences of the heroine, who is gifted with the ability to feel strongly and subtly, and in her position in an environment that cannot understand her. Such a construction of the drama required a careful development of the female character and a convincing depiction of the typical circumstances in which the hero finds himself. In The Poor Bride, Ostrovsky has not yet succeeded in solving this creative problem. However, in the secondary line of the comedy, an original image was found, independent of literary stereotypes, embodying the specific features of the position and mentality of a simple Russian woman (Dunya). The capacious, diversely outlined character of this heroine opened in the work of Ostrovsky a gallery of images of ingenuous women, the wealth of the spiritual world of which is "worth a lot."

To give a voice to a representative of the lower, “non-Europeanized” social strata, to make him a dramatic and even tragic hero, to express the pathos of experiences on his behalf in a form that meets the requirements of a realistic style, i.e. so that his speech, gesture, behavior are recognizable, typical , - such was the difficult task facing the author. In the work of Pushkin, Gogol, and especially the writers of the 40s, in particular Dostoevsky, accumulated artistic elements, which could be useful to Ostrovsky in solving this specific problem.

In the early 50s, a circle of writers, ardent admirers of his talent, formed around Ostrovsky. They became employees, and over time, the "young editors" of the Moskvityanin magazine. The neo-Slavophile theories of this circle contributed to the playwright's interest in traditional forms. national life and culture, inclined him to the idealization of patriarchal relations. His ideas about social comedy, its means and structure have also changed. So, stating in a letter to Pogodin: “It is better for a Russian person to rejoice at seeing himself on stage than to yearn. Correctors will be found even without us, ”the writer, in fact, formulated a new attitude to the tasks of comedy. The world comedy tradition, which Ostrovsky carefully studied, offered many samples of a cheerful humorous comedy, affirming the ideals of direct, natural feelings, youth, courage, democracy, and sometimes freethinking.

Ostrovsky wanted to base a life-affirming comedy on folklore motifs and folk-gaming traditions. The fusion of folk poetic, ballad and social plots can already be noted in the comedy "Don't get into your sleigh." The plot about the disappearance, "disappearance" of a girl, most often a merchant's daughter, her abduction by a cruel seducer was borrowed from folklore and popular with romantics. In Russia, it was developed by Zhukovsky ("Lyudmila", "Svetlana"), Pushkin ("Groom", Tatyana's dream in "Eugene Onegin", "The Stationmaster"). The situation of the "abduction" of a simple girl by a person of a different social environment - a nobleman - was sharply socially interpreted by the writers of the "natural school". Ostrovsky took into account this tradition. But the folklore-legendary ballad aspect was no less important for him than the social one. In subsequent plays of the first five years of the 50s, the importance of this element is growing. In "Poverty is not a vice" and "Do not live as you want" the action unfolds during calendar holidays, accompanied by numerous rituals, the origin of which goes back to ancient, pagan beliefs, and the content is fed by myths, legends, fairy tales.

And yet, in these plays by Ostrovsky, the legendary or fairy-tale plot "sprouted" contemporary issues. In "Don't get into your sleigh," the collision arises as a result of an outside invasion of the patriarchal environment, which is thought of as a nobleman who does not know significant internal contradictions - a "hunter" for merchant brides with a rich dowry. In "Poverty is no vice" the playwright is already drawing merchant environment as a world not free from serious internal conflicts.

Next to the poetry of folk rituals and holidays, he sees the hopeless poverty of workers, the bitterness of the dependence of the worker on the owner, children on their parents, an educated poor man on an ignorant moneybag. Ostrovsky also notes socio-historical shifts that threaten the destruction of the patriarchal way of life. In "Poverty is no vice" is already criticized older generation demanding unquestioning obedience from children, his right to unquestioned authority is called into question. The young generation acts as representatives of the living and ever-renewing tradition of folk life, its aesthetics and ethics, and the old, repentant sinner, troublemaker in the family, who squandered the capital "meteor" with the expressive name "Lubim" acts as the herald of the youth's rightness. The playwright “instructs” this character to tell the words of truth to the unworthy head of the family; he assigns him the role of a person who miraculously unties all the tightly drawn-out knots of conflicts.

The apotheosis of Lyubim Tortsov at the end of the play, which delighted the public, brought many reproaches and even ridicule to the writer. literary critics. The playwright entrusted the role of the bearer of noble feelings and the preacher of goodness to a man who not only fell in the eyes of society, but also a “jester”. For the author, the feature of "buffoonery" in Lyubim Tortsov was extremely important. In the Christmas event, which is being played out on stage at the time when the tragic courtship of the rich villain, who is separating the lovers, takes place, Lyubim Tortsov plays the role of a traditional joker grandfather. At the moment when the mummers appear in the house and the orderly order of life of a closed, impenetrable merchant's nest, impervious to prying eyes, is violated, Lyubim Tortsov, the representative of the street, the outside world, the crowd, becomes the master of the situation.

The image of Lyubim Tortsov combined two elements of folk drama - comedy, with its jokes, wit, farcical tricks - "knees", buffoonery, on the one hand, and tragedy, generating an emotional outburst, allowing pathetic tirades addressed to the public, direct, open expression grief and indignation - on the other.

Later, in a number of his works, Ostrovsky embodied the contradictory elements, the internal drama of the moral principle, folk truth in “paired” characters, leading an argument, dialogue, or simply “in parallel” expounding the principles of harsh morality, asceticism (Ilya - “Do not live as you want”; Afonya - “Sin and trouble does not live on anyone”) and the precepts of folk humanism, mercy (Agafon - “Do not live like this ...”, grandfather Arkhip - “Sin and trouble ...”). In the comedy The Forest (1871), the universal moral principle of kindness, creativity, fantasy, love of freedom also appears in a dual guise: in the form of a high tragic ideal, the bearer of real, “grounded” manifestations of which is the provincial tragedian Neschastlivtsev, and in its traditionally comedic forms - denial, travesty, parodies, which are embodied in the provincial comedian Schastlivtsev. The notion that the people's morality itself, the very lofty moral concepts of goodness, are the subject of dispute, that they are mobile and that, existing forever, they are constantly being updated, determines the fundamental features of Ostrovsky's dramaturgy.

The action in his plays, as a rule, takes place in one family, among relatives or in a narrow circle of people associated with the family to which the characters belong. At the same time, since the beginning of the 1950s, conflicts in the playwright's works are determined not only by intra-family relations, but also by the state of society, the city, and the people. The action of many, perhaps most, plays takes place in the pavilion of a room, at home (“Our people - let's settle!”, “Poor Bride”). But already in the play “Out of Your Sleigh...” one of the most dramatic episodes is transferred to a different setting, takes place in an inn, as if embodying the road, the wandering that Dunya doomed herself to when she left her home. The inn has the same meaning in "Do not live as you want." Wanderers coming to Moscow and leaving the capital meet here, whom grief, dissatisfaction with their position and concern for loved ones “drives” from home. However, the inn is depicted not only as a refuge for wanderers, but also as a place of temptation. Here comes the revelry, reckless fun, opposing the boredom of a decorous merchant family home. The suspicions of the inhabitants of the city, the impenetrable isolation of their homes and families, is contrasted with open, open to all winds and festive freedom. Shrovetide "whirling" in "Do not live like this ..." and Christmas divination in "Poverty is not a vice" predetermine the development of the plot. The dispute between the old and the new, which is an important part of the dramatic conflict in Ostrovsky's plays in the early 1950s, is interpreted by him ambiguously. Traditional forms of life are seen as ever-renewing, and only in this the playwright sees their viability. As soon as the tradition loses the ability to “deny itself”, to respond to

Illustration:

Illustrations by P. M. Boklevsky for the comedies of A. N. Ostrovsky

Lithographs. 1859

living needs modern people, so it turns into a dead, fettering form and loses its own living content. The old enters into the new, into modern life, in which it can play the role of either a "fettering" element, oppressing its development, or stabilizing, providing strength to the emerging novelty, depending on the content of the old that preserves the people's life.

The clash of the militant defenders of traditional forms of life with the bearers of new aspirations, the will to free self-expression, to assert their own, personally developed and hard-won concept of truth and morality, is the core of the dramatic conflict in The Thunderstorm (1859), a drama that was evaluated by contemporaries as a masterpiece of the writer and the most vivid embodiment of the public mood of the era of the fall of serfdom.

Dobrolyubov in his article "Dark Kingdom" (1859) described Ostrovsky as a follower of Gogol, a critically thinking writer who objectively showed all the dark aspects of life in modern Russia: the lack of legal awareness, the unlimited power of elders in the family, the tyranny of the rich and those in power, the silence of their victims, and interpreted this picture of universal slavery as a reflection of the political system that prevails in the country. After the appearance of The Thunderstorm, the critic supplemented his interpretation of Ostrovsky’s work with an essential proposition about the awakening of protest and spiritual independence among the people as an important motive for the playwright’s work at a new stage (“A Ray of Light in a Dark Kingdom”, 1860). He saw the embodiment of the awakening people in the heroine of "Thunderstorm" Katerina - a creative, emotional nature and organically unable to put up with the enslavement of thoughts and feelings, with hypocrisy and lies.

Disputes about the position of Ostrovsky, about his attitude to the patriarchal way of life, to antiquity and new trends in folk life began at the time of the writer's collaboration in the Moskvityanin and did not stop after Ostrovsky in 1856 became a permanent collaborator of Sovremennik. However, even an ardent and consistent supporter of the view of Ostrovsky as a singer of ancient life and patriarchal family relations A. Grigoriev in the article “Art and Morality” admitted that “the artist, responding to the questions of the time, first sharply turned back to his former

in a negative manner ... Then there was a step to protest. And a protest for a new beginning of the life of the people, for the freedom of the mind, will and feelings ... this protest broke out boldly like a “Thunderstorm”.

Dobrolyubov, like A. Grigoriev, noted the fundamental novelty of The Thunderstorm, the completeness of the embodiment in it of the features of the writer's artistic system and the organic nature of his entire creative path. He defined Ostrovsky's dramas and comedies as "plays of life".

Ostrovsky himself, along with the traditional designations of the genres of his plays as “comedy” and “drama” (he, unlike his contemporary Pisemsky, did not use the definition of “tragedy”) gave indications of the originality of their genre nature: "pictures from Moscow life" or "pictures of Moscow life", "scenes from village life", "scenes from backwoods life". These subtitles meant that the subject of the image is not the story of one hero, but an episode of the life of an entire social environment, which is defined historically and territorially.

In The Thunderstorm, the main action takes place between members of the Kabanov merchant family and their entourage. However, the events are elevated here to the rank of phenomena of a general order, the characters are typified, the central characters are given bright, individual characters, numerous secondary characters take part in the events of the drama, creating a wide social background.

Features of the poetics of the drama: the scale of the images of its heroes, driven by convictions, passions and adamant in their manifestation, the significance in the action of the "choral principle", the opinions of the inhabitants of the city, their moral concepts and prejudices, symbolic and mythological associations, the fatal course of events - give "Thunderstorm" genre features of tragedy.

The unity and dialectics of the relationship between home and city are expressed in the drama in a plastic way, by changing, alternating pictures taking place on the high bank of the Volga, from which distant fields beyond the Volga are visible, on the boulevard, and scenes that convey a closed family life, enclosed in the stuffy rooms of a boar's house, meetings of heroes in a ravine near the coast, under the night starry sky- and at the closed gates of the house. Closed gates that do not allow outsiders to enter, and the fence of the Kabanovs' garden behind the ravine separate the free world from the family life of a merchant's house.

The historical aspect of the conflict, its correlation with the problem of national cultural traditions And social progress in "Thunderstorm" are expressed especially tensely. Two poles, two opposite tendencies of people's life, between which the "power lines" of the conflict in the drama run, are embodied in the young merchant's wife Katerina Kabanova and her mother-in-law - Marfa Kabanova, nicknamed Kabanikha for her tough and stern disposition. Marfa Kabanova is a convinced and principled keeper of antiquity, once and for all found and established norms and rules of life. It legitimizes the habitual forms of life as an eternal norm and considers it its highest right to punish those who have violated any customs as the laws of being, since for it there is no big or small in this single and unchanging, perfect structure. Having lost an indispensable attribute of life - the ability to change and die, all the customs and rituals in the interpretation of Kabanova turned into an eternal, frozen, empty form. Her daughter-in-law Katerina, on the contrary, is unable to perceive any action outside of its content. Religion, family and kinship relations, even a walk over the Volga - everything that among the Kalinovites, and especially in the Kabanovs' house, has turned into an outwardly observed ritual, for Katerina either full of meaning, or unbearable. Katherine carries creativity development. She is accompanied by the motive of flight, fast driving. She wants to fly like a bird, and she dreams about flying, she tried to sail away in a boat along the Volga, and in her dreams she sees herself racing in a troika. This desire to move in space expresses her readiness for risk, the bold acceptance of the unknown.

The ethical views of the people in The Thunderstorm appear not only as a dynamic, internally contradictory spiritual sphere, but as a region of irreconcilable struggle, tragically torn by antagonism, entailing human sacrifices, giving rise to hatred that does not subside even over the coffin (Kabanova speaks over the corpse of Katerina : “It’s a sin to cry about her!”).

The tradesman Kuligin's monologue about cruel morals anticipates the tragedy of Katerina, and his reproach to the Kalinovites and appeal to the highest mercy serve as her epitaph. He is echoed by the desperate cry of Tikhon, Kabanova’s son, Katerina’s husband, who realized too late the tragedy of his wife’s position and his own impotence: “Mamma, you ruined her! .. Good for you, Katya! Why am I left to live in the world and suffer!”

The dispute between Katerina and Kabanikha in the drama is accompanied by a dispute between the self-taught scientist Kuligin and the wealthy merchant-tyrant Wild. Thus, the tragedy of desecration of beauty and poetry (Katerina) is complemented by the tragedy of enslavement

science that seeks thought. The drama of the slavish position of a woman in the family, the trampling of her feelings in the world of calculation (Ostrovsky's constant theme is "Poor Bride", "Hot Heart", "Dowry") in "Thunderstorm" is accompanied by an image of the tragedy of the mind in the "dark kingdom". In The Thunderstorm, this theme is carried by the image of Kuligin. Before "Thunderstorm" she sounded in "Poverty is not a vice" in the image of the self-taught poet Mitya, in "Profitable Place" - in the history of Zhadov and dramatic stories about the fall of the lawyer Dosuzhev, the poverty of the teacher Mykin, the death of the intellectual Lyubimov, later in the comedy “The Truth is Good, but Happiness is Better” in the tragic position of the honest accountant Platon Zybkin.

In Profitable Place (1857), as in The Thunderstorm, the conflict arises as a result of incompatibility, mutual total rejection of two forces that are unequal in their capabilities and potential: a force that has established itself, endowed with official power, on the one hand, and an unrecognized force, but expressing the new needs of society and the requirements of people interested in meeting these needs, on the other.

The hero of the play Plum» Zhadov, a university student who invaded the environment of officials and denies in the name of the law and, most importantly, his own moral sense, the relations that have long been established in this environment, becomes the object of hatred not only of his uncle, an important bureaucrat, but also the head of the office, Yusov, and the petty official Belogubov , and the widow of a collegiate assessor Kukushkina. For all of them, he is a daring troublemaker, a freethinker encroaching on their well-being. Abuses for mercenary purposes, violation of the law are interpreted by representatives of the administration as state activity, and the requirement to comply with the letter of the law - as a manifestation of unreliability.

"Scientist", university definition of the meaning of laws in political life society, assimilated by Zhadov, as well as his moral sense, the main opponent of the hero Yusov opposes the knowledge of the actual existence of the law in the then Russian society and the attitude to the law, “sanctified” by age-old everyday life and “practical morality”. The "practical morality" of society is expressed in the play in the naive revelations of Belogubov and Yusov, the latter's confidence in his right to abuse. The official actually appears not as an executor and not even as an interpreter of the law, but as a bearer of unlimited power, although divided among many. In his later play “Hot Heart” (1869), Ostrovsky, in the scene of a conversation between the mayor Gradoboev and the townsfolk, demonstrated the peculiarity of such an attitude to the law: “Gradoboev: It’s high up to God, but far from the tsar ... and a judge ... If we judge you according to the laws, then we have many laws ... and the laws are all strict ... So, dear friends, as you wish: should I judge you according to the laws or according to my soul, as God is in my heart put?..

In 1860, Ostrovsky conceived a historical verse comedy"Voevoda", which, according to his plan, was to be included in the cycle of dramatic works "Nights on the Volga", combining plays from modern folk life and historical chronicles. Voyevoda shows the roots of modern social phenomena, including a "practical" attitude to law, as well as historical traditions of resistance to lawlessness.

In the 1960s and 1970s, the satirical element intensified in Ostrovsky's work. He creates a number of comedies in which a satirical approach to reality prevails. The most significant of them are “Each wise man is quite simple” (1868) and “Sheep and Wolves” (1875). Returning to Gogol's principle of "pure comedy", Ostrovsky revives and rethinks some of the structural features of Gogol's comedy. Characteristics of society and the social environment are of great importance in comedy. A “stranger” penetrating this environment in moral and social terms cannot be opposed to a society into which, due to misunderstanding or deceit, he falls (“For every wise man ...” cf. “Inspector”). The author uses a plot scheme about "rogues" deceived by a "rogue" or misled by him ("Players" by Gogol - cf. "For every wise man ...", "Wolves and sheep").

“For every wise man...” depicts the time of reforms, when timid innovations in the field of public administration and the very abolition of serfdom were accompanied by containment, “freezing” of the progressive process. In an atmosphere of distrust of democratic forces, the persecution of radical figures who defended the interests of the people, renegade became a common phenomenon. The renegade and hypocrite becomes the central character in Ostrovsky's public comedy. This careerist hero, penetrating the environment major officials, Glumov. He scoffs at the stupidity, tyranny and obscurantism of "statesmen", at the emptiness of liberal phrase-mongers, at the hypocrisy and debauchery of influential ladies. But he betrays and desecrates his own

beliefs, perverts his moral sense. In an effort to make a brilliant career, he bows to the "masters of society" he despised.

Ostrovsky's artistic system assumed a balance between the tragic and the comedic, negation and the ideal. In the 1950s, such a balance was achieved by depicting, along with the bearers of the ideology of the "dark kingdom", petty fools, young people with pure, warm hearts, fair old people - the bearers of folk morality. In the next decade, at a time when the image of tyranny in a number of cases acquired a satirical and tragic character, the pathos of a selfless desire for will, a feeling freed from conventions, lies, coercion, intensified (Katerina - "Thunderstorm", Parasha - "Hot Heart" , Aksyusha - “Forest”), the poetic background of the action acquired special significance: pictures of nature, the Volga expanses, the architecture of ancient Russian cities, forest scenery, country roads ("Thunderstorm", "Voevoda", "Hot Heart", "Forest").

The manifestation in Ostrovsky's work of a tendency to strengthen satire, to develop a purely satirical stories coincided with the period of his appeal to the historical and heroic themes. In historical chronicles and dramas, he showed the formation of many social phenomena and state institutions, which he considered the old evil of modern life and pursued in satirical comedies. However, the main content of his historical plays is the depiction of the movements of the masses in the crisis periods of the country's life. In these movements, he sees deep drama, tragedy and high poetry of patriotic deeds, mass manifestations of selflessness and disinterestedness. The playwright conveys the pathos of the transformation of a “little man”, immersed in everyday prosaic concerns about his well-being, into a citizen who consciously commits acts of historical significance.

The hero of Ostrovsky's historical chronicles, whether Kozma Zakharyich Minin-Sukhoruk (1862, 1866), Dmitry the Pretender and Vasily Shuisky (1867), Tushino (1867), is the masses, suffering, seeking truth, afraid to fall into "sin" and lies, defending their interests and their national independence, fighting and rebelling, sacrificing their property for the sake of common interests. "Disorganization of the land", strife and military defeats, intrigues of power-hungry adventurers and boyars, abuses of clerks and governors - all these disasters primarily affect the fate of the people. Creating historical chronicles depicting "the fate of the people", Ostrovsky focused on the traditions of the dramaturgy of Shakespeare, Schiller, Pushkin.

On the eve of the 60s, a new theme appeared in Ostrovsky's work, which increased the dramatic intensity of his plays and changed the very motivation for the action in them. This is the theme of passion. In the dramas "Thunderstorm", "Sin and trouble does not live on anyone," Ostrovsky made the central character a carrier of an integral character, a deeply feeling person, capable of reaching tragic heights in his emotional response to lies, injustice, humiliation human dignity, cheating in love. In the early 70s, he created the dramatic fairy tale "Snow Maiden" (1873), in which, depicting various manifestations and "forms" of love passion against the background fantastic circumstances, compares it with the life-giving and destructive forces of nature. This work was an attempt by the writer - a connoisseur of folklore, ethnography, folklore - to base the drama on the reconstructed plots of ancient Slavic myths. Contemporaries noted that in this play, Ostrovsky consciously follows the tradition of Shakespearean theater, especially such plays as "Dream in midsummer night”, “Storm”, the plot of which is symbolic and poetic in nature and is based on the motifs of folk tales and legends.

At the same time, The Snow Maiden by Ostrovsky was one of the first in European drama at the end of the 19th century. attempts to interpret contemporary psychological problems in a work whose content conveys ancient folk ideas, and artistic structure provides for the synthesis of the poetic word, music and plastics, folk dance and ritual (cf. Ibsen's Peer Gynt, Wagner's musical dramas, Hauptmann's Drowned Bell).

Ostrovsky experienced an urgent need to expand the picture of the life of society, to update the "set" of modern types and dramatic situations from the beginning of the 70s, when the post-reform reality itself changed. At this time, in the work of the playwright, there was a tendency to complicate the structure of plays and the psychological characteristics of the characters. Prior to that, the heroes in Ostrovsky's works were distinguished by their integrity, he preferred the well-established characters of people whose beliefs corresponded to their social practice. In the 1970s and 1980s, such faces were replaced in his works by contradictory, complex natures, experiencing diverse influences, sometimes distorting their inner appearance. During the events depicted in the play

they change their views, become disappointed in their ideals and hopes. Remaining merciless to the adherents of routine, portraying them satirically both when they show stupid conservatism, and when they claim the reputation of mysterious, original personalities, the “title” of liberals, Ostrovsky draws with deep sympathy the true bearers of the idea of ​​enlightenment. and humanity. But even these beloved heroes in his later plays he often displays in a dual light. These heroes express high “chivalrous”, “Schillerian” feelings in a comic, “reduced” form, and their real, tragic situation is softened by the author’s humor (Neschastvitsev - “Forest”, Korpelov - “Labor Bread”, 1874; Zybkin - “True - good, but happiness is better", 1877; Meluzov - "Talents and Admirers", 1882). The main place in the later plays of Ostrovsky is occupied by the image of a woman, and if before she was portrayed as a victim of family tyranny or social inequality, then now it is a person who makes his demands to society, but shares his delusions and bears his share of responsibility for the state of public mores. The woman of the post-reform period ceased to be a "terem" recluse. In vain the heroines of the plays The Last Victim (1877) and The Heart Is Not a Stone (1879) try to “shut themselves” into the silence of their home, and here they are overtaken by modern life in the form of prudent, cruel businessmen and adventurers who consider the beauty and the very personality of a woman as application to capital. Surrounded by successful businessmen and losers dreaming of success, it cannot always distinguish between real values ​​and imaginary ones. The playwright peers with condescending sympathy at the new attempts of his contemporaries to gain independence, noting their mistakes and worldly inexperience. However, he is especially fond of subtle, spiritualized natures, women striving for creativity, moral purity, proud and strong in spirit Kruchinin - “Guilty Without Guilt”, 1884).

IN best drama writer of this period "Dowry" (1878) modern woman, who feels like a person who independently makes important life decisions, is faced with the cruel laws of society and can neither reconcile with them nor oppose them with new ideals. Under the spell strong man, a bright personality, she does not immediately realize that his charm is inseparable from the power that wealth gives him, and from the merciless cruelty of the "capital collector". The death of Larisa is a tragic way out of the insoluble moral contradictions of the time. The tragedy of the heroine's situation is aggravated by the fact that in the course of the events depicted in the drama, experiencing bitter disappointments, she herself changes. The falsity of the ideal is revealed to her, in the name of which she was ready to make any sacrifices. In all its ugliness, the position to which it is doomed is revealed - the role of an expensive thing. For its possession, the rich are fighting, confident that beauty, talent, a spiritually rich personality - everything can be bought. The death of the heroine of "Dowry" and Katerina in "Thunderstorm" mark the verdict on a society that is not able to preserve the treasure of a spiritual personality, beauty and talent, it is doomed to moral impoverishment, to the triumph of vulgarity and mediocrity.

In the later plays of Ostrovsky, comedic colors gradually fade, which helped to recreate the separated from each other social spheres, life of different classes, differing in their way of life and vocabulary of speech. Wealthy merchants, industrialists and representatives of commercial capital, landowning nobles and influential officials constituted a single society at the end of the 19th century. Noting this, Ostrovsky at the same time sees the growth of the democratic intelligentsia, which is represented in his latest works no longer in the form of lonely eccentric dreamers, but as a certain established environment with its own way of working life, its own ideals and interests. Ostrovsky attached great importance to the moral influence of representatives of this milieu on society. Serving art, science, education, he considered the high mission of the intelligentsia.

Ostrovsky's dramaturgy in many respects contradicted the cliches and canons of European, especially modern French, dramaturgy with its ideal of a "well-made" play, complex intrigue and a tendentiously unambiguous solution to straightforwardly posed topical problems. Ostrovsky had a negative attitude towards sensational "actual" plays, to the oratorical declarations of their heroes and theatrical effects.

Chekhov rightly considered “smooth, smooth, ordinary life as it really is” as plots characteristic of Ostrovsky. Ostrovsky himself has repeatedly argued that the simplicity and vitality of the plot is the greatest merit of any literary work. The love of young people, their desire to unite their destinies, overcoming material calculations and class prejudices, the struggle for existence and the thirst for spirituality.

independence, the need to protect one's personality from the encroachments of those in power and the torment of self-esteem of the humiliated "

What is the meaning of the play's title "Thunderstorm"? Answering this question, it is necessary, first of all, to remember the time of its creation. It is 1859 - the time immediately preceding the cardinal changes in the life of Russia. One of the main changes is the abolition of serfdom, which was the result of the mentality in the society of that period. Without understanding their essence, it will be difficult to explain the meaning of the title of Ostrovsky's play "Thunderstorm". Therefore, we will briefly touch on this side of the issue.

Reflection of moods in the Russian provinces of the middle of the 19th century

Immediately before writing the play, the author traveled through small towns along the Volga. Therefore, it reflects the life and customs of provincial residents. Although the theme of serfdom is not directly addressed in The Thunderstorm, it conveys the mood of an acute public conflict- the conflict of the "dark kingdom" (serf-owning Russia) and people of a new type.

The writer associated this mood with the state of nature that happens before a thunderstorm. It is characterized by thickened clouds covering sunlight, heavy humid air and closeness. This is where the understanding of what the meaning of the name of the play "Thunderstorm" begins. Its action takes place in the fictional small town of Kalinovo, which emphasizes Ostrovsky's idea that the "pre-storm" atmosphere was characteristic of all of Russia.

Family situation

For the family, headed by Marfa Ignatievna Kabanova, as well as for many other merchant families, the atmosphere of a rigid housing construction was characteristic. Having married the son of Kabanikha Tikhon, Katerina (the main character), previously surrounded by her mother's love, fell "from the fire into the frying pan."

She is alien to a forced life in an atmosphere of oppression of the individual, tyranny and constant pressure on her freedom-loving nature. Everyone knows that A.N. Dobrolyubov described Katerina as a ray of light that peeped into the dark kingdom, which also evokes an association with the rays of the sun that illuminate the sky after a storm. This vision of the image of the main character also helps to understand what is the meaning of the title of the play "Thunderstorm".

The image of a thunderstorm in nature and in the soul of the characters

Between the victims of the house-building - Katerina, her beloved Boris, husband Tikhon, his sister Varvara and representatives of the "dark kingdom" - Marfa Kabanova and Wild, a conflict is brewing, which is central to the play. The development of this conflict Ostrovsky artistically displays by parallel description of the changes taking place in nature and in people's lives.

First, a beautiful, serene nature is drawn, against which the unbearable life of the heroes of the play takes place under the yoke of tyrant merchants. Katerina cannot stand her hardships. The humiliation of human dignity is contrary to her character. As a witness to these spiritual torments, the author, as it were, calls on nature itself, in which the approach of a thunderstorm is clearly felt. The colors are thickening, the skies are darkening - terrible events are approaching in the lives of the heroes. And this again feels the meaning of the title of the play "Thunderstorm" by Ostrovsky.

Thunderstorm in the speech of the heroes of the play

The first time the word "thunderstorm" in the play is pronounced by Tikhon when he leaves home. He says that for two whole weeks there will be no thunderstorm over him. Tikhon wholeheartedly strives to escape from under the yoke of his mother, to inhale fresh air after the suffocating home atmosphere. He wants to take a walk for the whole coming and, as always painful, year.

For Tikhon, a thunderstorm is Kabanikh's unlimited power over him, fear of her formidable nature, as well as fear of responsibility for her sins.

The merchant Dikoy tells the self-taught mechanic Kuligin that a thunderstorm is sent to people as a punishment for their freethinking and disobedience. And the fear of punishment is inherent in all the characters, including Katerina.

She is extremely religious, considers her love for Boris a great sin, fights with it as best she can, but to no avail and awaits retribution. Here we see another facet of what the meaning of the title of the play "Thunderstorm" is. This is a technique that reflects the author's idea that people, being not free, at the same time feel guilty and afraid of a new life.

What mechanic Kuligin sees in a thunderstorm

Continuing to understand the question of what is the meaning of the name of the play "Thunderstorm", one cannot help but consider Kuligin's attitude to the thunderstorm. He is one of all the heroes not afraid of her. He makes an attempt to counter this powerful natural phenomenon by making a lightning rod. In a thunderstorm, the mechanic sees not a terrible punishing force, but a wonderful, majestic spectacle, a powerful, cleansing force.

He, like a child, rejoices at the changes in nature, calling not to be afraid of a thunderstorm, but to admire it. He says that every blade of grass and flower welcomes a thunderstorm, and people hide from it, as if from misfortune, make a scarecrow out of it. What is the meaning of the title of the play "Thunderstorm", if we judge it based on Kuligin's attitude to this phenomenon?

It is believed that the inventor Ivan Kulibin was his prototype, which makes it possible to judge Kuligin as a bearer of new, progressive views, ready to make life around him better, to deal with difficulties, and not be afraid of them. Do not be afraid of the onset of a thunderstorm, but perceive it as the arrival of a new, bright, free life. This view contrasts with the views of the rest of the characters.

Thunderstorm as a symbol of love of Katerina and Boris

Studying the meaning of the title of the play "Thunderstorm", it is necessary to touch on the relationship between Katerina and Boris, Diky's nephew. The storm symbolizes this side in the life of the heroine. In the love of young people, the presence of a stormy element, which they are so afraid of, is felt.

Their feeling is strong, passionate, but it does not bring joy or happiness to their souls, does not help to unite in the fight against reality. Being married, Katerina is tormented by the fact that she does not love Tikhon, although she tried to love. But he was not able to understand his wife, nor protect her from the arbitrariness of her mother-in-law.

The thirst for love, heart turmoil, which led to the emergence of feelings of affection for Boris, also evoke associations with the pre-storm state of nature. However, Boris did not understand Katerina's aspirations for personal happiness, he turned out to be not the person she needed. Thus, the development of a love line is a reflection of a growing conflict, that is, a symbol of an emerging thunderstorm.

Conclusion

The name of the work is closely connected with its content, with the images of many characters. It can even be said that the thunderstorm is an independent protagonist of the play. It is present in the descriptions of nature, being an omen of the conflict between people and its resolution.

Katerina cannot live as before, she craves freedom, craves love, normal human relationships. A storm comes in her life, a thunderstorm breaks out. First, she rushes into love, as into the abyss, and then, not finding the strength to fight, into the Volga.

At the end of the play, against the background of thunderclaps, a crazy young lady appears, who predicts the imminent death of Katerina. Here the image of a thunderstorm acts as an impetus to the outcome of the conflict. Despite the tragic end, Ostrovsky showed that the main character did not accept the hated reality and went against it.

The work of Alexander Nikolayevich Ostrovsky is deservedly the pinnacle of Russian drama mid-nineteenth century. It is familiar to us from school years. And despite the fact that Ostrovsky's plays, the list of which is very long, were written in the century before last, they remain relevant even now. So what is the merit of the famous playwright and how did the innovation of his work manifest itself?

short biography

Alexander Ostrovsky was born on March 31, 1823 in Moscow. The childhood of the future playwright passed in Zamoskvorechye, a merchant district of Moscow. The playwright's father, Nikolai Fedorovich, served as a court lawyer and wanted his son to follow in his footsteps. Therefore, Ostrovsky studied law for several years and after that, at the behest of his father, he entered the court as a scribe. But even then Ostrovsky began to create his first plays. Since 1853, the playwright's works have been staged in St. Petersburg and Moscow. Alexander Ostrovsky had two wives and six children.

General characteristics of creativity and themes of Ostrovsky's plays

Over the years of his work, the playwright created 47 plays. "Poor Bride", "Forest", "Dowry", "Snow Maiden", "Poverty is not a vice" - all these are Ostrovsky's plays. The list can go on for a very long time. Most of the plays are comedies. Not without reason Ostrovsky remained in history as a great comedian - even in his dramas there is a funny beginning.

The great merit of Ostrovsky lies in the fact that it was he who laid down the principles of realism in Russian dramaturgy. His work reflects the very life of the people in all its diversity and naturalness, the heroes of Ostrovsky's plays are the most different people: merchants, artisans, teachers, officials. Perhaps, the works of Alexander Nikolayevich are still close to us precisely because his characters are so realistic, truthful and so similar to ourselves. Let's analyze this for concrete examples several plays.

Early work of Nikolai Ostrovsky. "Own people - let's get along"

One of the debut plays that gave Ostrovsky a universal celebrity was the comedy “Own people - let's get it right”. Its plot is based on real events from the playwright's legal practice.

The play depicts the deception of the merchant Bolshov, who declared himself bankrupt so that he would not have to pay his debts, and the reciprocal swindle of his daughter and son-in-law, who refused to help him. Here Ostrovsky depicts the patriarchal traditions of life, the characters and vices of Moscow merchants. In this play, the playwright sharply touched on a theme that ran through all his work in red lines: this is the theme of the gradual destruction of the patriarchal way of life, transformation and human relations themselves.

Analysis of Ostrovsky's play "Thunderstorm"

The play "Thunderstorm" became a turning point and one of the best works in the works of Ostrovsky. It also shows the contrast between the old patriarchal world and a fundamentally new way of life. The action of the play takes place on the banks of the Volga in the provincial town of Kalinov.

The main character Katerina Kabanova lives in the house of her husband and his mother, the merchant's wife Kabanikhi. She suffers from constant pressure and oppression from her mother-in-law, a bright representative of the patriarchal world. Katerina is torn between a sense of duty towards her family and an overwhelming feeling for another. She is confused because she loves her husband in her own way, but she cannot control herself and agrees to dates with Boris. After the heroine repents, her desire for freedom and happiness collides with established moral principles. Katerina, incapable of deceit, confesses her deed to her husband and Kabanikh.

She can no longer live in a society where lies and tyranny reign and people are not able to perceive the beauty of the world. The heroine's husband loves Katerina, but cannot, like her, rise up against his mother's oppression - he is too weak for that. Beloved, Boris, is also unable to change anything, since he himself cannot free himself from the power of the patriarchal world. And Katerina commits suicide - a protest against the old way of life, doomed to destruction.

As for this play by Ostrovsky, the list of heroes can be divided into two parts. The first will be representatives of the old world: Kabanikha, Wild, Tikhon. In the second - heroes symbolizing a new beginning: Katerina, Boris.

Heroes of Ostrovsky

Alexander Ostrovsky created a whole gallery of a wide variety of characters. Here officials and merchants, peasants and nobles, teachers and artists - many-sided, like life itself. A remarkable feature of Ostrovsky's drama is the speech of his characters - each character speaks his own language, corresponding to his profession and character. It is worth noting the skillful use by the playwright folk art: proverbs, sayings, songs. As an example, one can cite at least the title of Ostrovsky's plays: "Poverty is not a vice", "Our people - we will get along" and others.

The Significance of Ostrovsky's Dramaturgy for Russian Literature

The dramaturgy of Alexander Ostrovsky served as a significant stage in the formation of the national Russian theater: it was he who created it in its present form, and this is the undoubted innovation of his work. Ostrovsky's plays, a list of which was briefly given at the beginning of the article, confirmed the triumph of realism in Russian drama, and he himself went down in history as a unique, original and brilliant master of the word.

1. Brief biographical information.
2. Most famous plays Ostrovsky; characters and conflicts.
3. The value of Ostrovsky's work.

The future playwright A. N. Ostrovsky was born in 1823. His father served in the city court. Ostrovsky lost his mother at the age of eight. The father married a second time. Left to himself, the boy became interested in reading. After graduating from the gymnasium, A. N. Ostrovsky studied for several years at the Faculty of Law of Moscow University, then served in the judiciary. It should be noted that the acquired professional experience played a big role in the subsequent literary creativity Ostrovsky. The deep knowledge of folk life, which we find in Ostrovsky's plays, is connected with childhood impressions; apparently, the playwright owes much to his unmarried wife, Agafya Ivanovna, with whom he became friends in the mid-1950s, with the expansion of ideas about the life of Muscovites. After her death, Ostrovsky remarried (1869).

Ostrovsky during his lifetime achieved not only fame, but also material wealth. In 1884 he was appointed head of the repertoire of the Moscow theaters. A. N. Ostrovsky died in 1886 in his estate Shchelykovo. However, interest in the works of Ostrovsky did not fade after his death. And until now, many of his plays are successfully performed on the stages of Russian theaters.

What is the secret of the popularity of Ostrovsky's plays? Probably, in the fact that the characters of his heroes, despite the color of a certain era, at all times remain modern in their basis, in their deepest essence. Let's look at this with examples.

One of the first plays that brought wide popularity to Ostrovsky is the play "Our People - Let's Settle", which was originally called "Bankrupt". As already mentioned, Ostrovsky at one time served in court. The plot of "Bankrut" is developed on the basis of real cases from judicial practice: the fraud of the merchant Bolshov, who declared himself insolvent in order not to pay his debts, and the reciprocal fraud of his son-in-law and daughter, who refused to redeem the "tyatenko" from the debt hole. Ostrovsky in this play clearly shows the patriarchal life and customs of the Moscow merchants: “Mama has seven Fridays a week; Auntie, if not drunk, is so silent, but if he is drunk, he will beat him, just look. The playwright reveals a deep knowledge of human psychology: the portraits of the petty tyrant Bolshov, the rogue Podkhalyuzin, Lipochka, who imagines herself to be "an educated young lady," and other characters are very realistic and convincing.

It is important to note that in the play "Our People - Let's Settle" Ostrovsky raised a theme that became a cross-cutting one for all his work: this is the theme of the destruction of the traditional patriarchal way of life, a change in the essence of human relations, a change in value priorities. Interest in folk life also manifested itself in a number of plays by Ostrovsky: “Do not sit in your sleigh”, “Poverty is not a vice”, “Do not live as you want”.

It should be noted that not all of Ostrovsky's plays have a plausible, realistic ending. A happy resolution of the conflict sometimes looks deliberate, not quite corresponding to the characters of the characters, as, for example, in the plays “Poverty is not a vice”, “Bulk apples”. However, such utopian "happy endings" do not reduce the high artistic level of Ostrovsky's plays. However, one of famous works Ostrovsky was the drama "Thunderstorm", which can be called a tragedy. In fact, this play is deeply tragic, not only because of the death of the main character in the finale, but because of the insolubility of the conflict shown by Ostrovsky in The Thunderstorm. It can even be said that in The Thunderstorm there are not one, but two conflicts: the antagonism of Katerina and her mother-in-law Marfa Ignatievna (Kabanikha), as well as Katerina's internal conflict. Usually, literary critics, following N. A. Dobrolyubov, call Katerina “a ray of light in the dark kingdom”, contrasting her with Kabanikha and other heroes of the play. Undoubtedly, there are worthy qualities in the character of Katerina. However, these qualities become the cause of the internal conflict of Ostrovsky's heroine. Katerina is not able to resign herself to her fate, patiently waiting for the time when she could become the second Kabaniha and give free rein to her character, nor enjoy secret meetings with her beloved, outwardly showing a model of obedience to her husband and mother-in-law. The main heroine of "Thunderstorm" surrenders to her feelings; however, in her heart she considers this a sin and is tormented by remorse. Katerina lacks the strength to refrain from a step that she herself considers sinful, but her voluntary confession of her misdeed in the eyes of her mother-in-law does not at all reduce her guilt.

But are the characters of Katerina and her mother-in-law so different? Kabanikha, of course, is a type of complete tyrant who, despite ostentatious piety, recognizes only his own will. However, after all, one can say about Katerina that in her actions she does not take into account anything - neither with decency, nor with prudence, or even with the laws of religion. “Oh, Varya, you don’t know my character! Of course, God forbid this happens! And if I get sick of it here, they won’t hold me back by any force, ”she sincerely admits to her husband’s sister. The main difference between Katerina is that she does not want to hide her actions. “You are kind of tricky, God bless you! But in my opinion: do what you want, if only it was sewn and covered, ”Varvara is surprised. But it is unlikely that the girl herself came up with it. Obviously, she caught this worldly "wisdom" in the hypocritical atmosphere of her mother's house. The theme of the collapse of the traditional way of life in The Thunderstorm sounds especially sharp - both in the ominous forebodings of Katerina, and in the melancholy sighs of Kabanikh, dedicated to the outgoing "old times", and in the formidable prophecies of the crazy lady, and in the gloomy stories of the wanderer Feklusha about the approaching end of the world. Katerina's suicide is also a manifestation of the collapse of the patriarchal values ​​that she betrayed.

The theme of the collapse of the values ​​of "old times" in many of Ostrovsky's plays is refracted into the theme of careerism and greed. The hero of the play “Enough Stupidity for Every Wise Man”, the cunning cynic Glumov, is even charming in his own way. In addition, one cannot fail to recognize his intelligence and ingenuity, which, of course, will help him get out of unpleasant situation formed as a result of the exposure of his machinations. Images of prudent businessmen are found more than once in Ostrovsky's plays. This is Vasilkov from Mad Money, and Berkutov from Wolves and Sheep.

In the play "The Forest" the theme of decline again sounds, but not the patriarchal merchant way of life, but the gradual destruction of the foundations of the life of the nobles. We see the nobleman Gurmyzhsky in the image of the provincial tragedian Neschastlivtsev, and his aunt, instead of taking care of the fate of her nephew and niece, thoughtlessly spends money on the subject of her late love interest.

It should be noted Ostrovsky's plays, which can rightly be called psychological dramas, for example, "Dowry", "Talents and Admirers", "Guilty Without Guilt". The characters of these works are ambiguous, multifaceted personalities. For example, Paratov from "Dowry" - brilliant gentleman, a secular man who can easily turn the head of a romantic young lady, the “ideal of a man” in the eyes of Larisa Ogudalova, but at the same time he is a prudent businessman and a cynic for whom there is nothing sacred: “I, Moky Parmenych, have nothing cherished; I will find a profit, so I will sell everything, anything. Karandyshev, Larisa's fiancé is not just a petty official, " small man”, “A straw”, which Larisa tried to grasp in desperation, but also a person with a painfully hurt pride. And about Larisa herself, we can say that she is a subtle, gifted nature, but she does not know how to soberly assess people and treat them calmly, pragmatically.

Finally, it should be noted that Ostrovsky firmly entered literature and stage art as a writer who laid down realistic traditions in the Russian theater, a master of everyday and psychological prose XIX century. The plays of Columbus Zamoskvorechye, as Ostrovsky was called by critics, have long become classics of Russian literature and theater.