Creative and life path of Ostrovsky Alexander Nikolaevich. Interesting facts from the life of Alexander Nikolaevich Ostrovsky

The creative path of A.N. Ostrovsky

Ostrovsky with early years was fond of fiction was interested in theater. While still a high school student, he began to visit the Moscow Maly Theater, where he admired the play of M. S. Shchepkin and P. S. Mochalov. The articles of V. G. Belinsky and A. I. Herzen had a great influence on the formation of the worldview of the young Ostrovsky. As a young man, Ostrovsky eagerly listened to the inspired words of professors, among whom were brilliant, progressive scientists, friends of great writers, about the fight against untruth and evil, about sympathy for “everything human”, about freedom as the goal of social development. But, the closer he became acquainted with the law, the less he liked the career of a lawyer, and, having no inclination for a legal career, Ostrovsky left Moscow University, which he entered at the insistence of his father in 1835, when he switched to the 3rd year. Ostrovsky was irresistibly attracted to art. Together with his comrades, he tried not to miss a single interesting performance, read a lot and argued about literature, passionately fell in love with music. At the same time, he himself tried to write poetry and stories. Since then - and for the rest of his life - Belinsky became the highest authority in art for him. The service did not captivate Ostrovsky, but it provided invaluable benefits to the future playwright, delivering rich material for his first divisions. Already in his first works, Ostrovsky showed himself to be a follower of the "Gogol trend" in Russian literature, a supporter of the school critical realism. Ostrovsky also expressed his commitment to ideological realistic art, the desire to follow the precepts of V. G. Belinsky in literary critical articles of this period, in which he argued that the peculiarity of Russian literature is its "accusatory character". Appearances best plays Ostrovsky was a public event that attracted the attention of advanced circles and aroused indignation in the reactionary camp. Ostrovsky's first literary experiments in prose were marked by the influence natural school(“Notes of a Zamoskvoretsky Resident”, 1847). In the same year, the Moscow City List published his first dramatic work- "Painting family happiness"(in later publications -" Family Picture "). Literary fame Ostrovsky brought published in 1850 comedy "Own people - we get along." Even before publication, it became popular. The comedy was forbidden to be presented on stage (first staged in 1861), and the author, by personal order of Nicholas I, was placed under police supervision.

He was asked to leave the service. Even earlier, censorship banned The Picture of Family Happiness and Ostrovsky's translation of W. Shakespeare's comedy The Pacification of the Wayward (1850).

In the early 1950s, during the years of increasing government reaction, there was a brief rapprochement between Ostrovsky and the “young editors” of the reactionary-Slavophile magazine Moskvityanin, whose members sought to present the playwright as a singer of “original Russian merchant class and its Domostroy foundations.” The works created at that time (“Do not sit in your sleigh”, 1853, “Poverty is not a vice”, 1854, “Do not live as you want”, 1855) reflected Ostrovsky’s temporary refusal from a consistent and irreconcilable condemnation of reality. However, he quickly freed himself from the influence of reactionary Slavophile ideas. In the decisive and final return of the playwright to the path of critical realism, revolutionary-democratic criticism played an important role, which issued an angry rebuke to the liberal-conservative "admirers".

New stage in the work of Ostrovsky is associated with the era of social upsurge of the late 50s and early 60s, with the emergence of a revolutionary situation in Russia. Ostrovsky draws closer to the revolutionary-democratic camp. Since 1857, he has been publishing almost all of his plays in Sovremennik, and after its closure, he goes to Domestic Notes, published by N. A. Nekrasov and M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin. The development of Ostrovsky's work was strongly influenced by the articles of N. G. Chernyshevsky, and later by N. A. Dobrolyubov, the work of N. A. Nekrasov and M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin.

Along with the merchant theme, Ostrovsky refers to the image of bureaucracy and the nobility (“ Plum", 1857, "Pupil", 1859). Unlike liberal writers, who were fond of superficial ridicule of individual abuses, Ostrovsky in the comedy Profitable Place subjected the entire system of the pre-reform tsarist bureaucracy to deep criticism. Chernyshevsky praised the play highly, emphasizing its "strong and noble direction".

The strengthening of anti-serfdom and anti-bourgeois motives in Ostrovsky's work testified to the well-known convergence of his worldview with the ideals of revolutionary democracy.

“Ostrovsky is a democratic writer, educator, ally of N. G. Chernyshevsky, N. A. Nekrasov and M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin. Drawing us in a vivid picture, false relationships with all their consequences, through this very thing he serves as an echo of aspirations that require a better device, ”wrote Dobrolyubov in the article“ A ray of light in dark kingdom". It is no coincidence that Ostrovsky constantly encountered obstacles in the publication and staging of his plays. Ostrovsky always looked at his writing and social activities as to the fulfillment of a patriotic duty, serving the interests of the people. His plays reflect the most burning issues of contemporary reality: the deepening of irreconcilable social contradictions, the plight of workers who are entirely dependent on the power of money, the lack of rights of women, the dominance of violence and arbitrariness in family and social relations, the growth of self-awareness of the working intelligentsia, etc.

The most complete and convincing assessment of Ostrovsky's work was given by Dobrolyubov in the articles "Dark Kingdom" (1859) and "Ray of Light in the Dark Kingdom" (1860), which had a huge revolutionary influence on the younger generation of the 60s. In the works of Ostrovsky, the critic saw, first of all, a remarkably truthful and versatile depiction of reality. Possessing a "deep understanding of Russian life and a great ability to depict sharply and vividly its most essential aspects," Ostrovsky was, according to Dobrolyubov's definition, a real folk writer. Ostrovsky's work is distinguished not only by its deep nationality, ideological spirit, and bold denunciation of social evil but also high artistic skill, which was entirely subordinated to the task of realistic reproduction of reality. Ostrovsky repeatedly emphasized that life itself is a source of dramatic collisions and situations.

The activities of Ostrovsky contributed to the victory of the truth of life on the Russian stage. With great artistic power, he depicted conflicts and images typical of contemporary reality, and this put his plays on a par with the best works classical literature of the 19th century. Ostrovsky acted as an active fighter for the development national theater not only as a playwright, but also as a remarkable theoretician, as an energetic public figure.

The great Russian playwright who created a truly national theatrical repertoire, needed all his life, endured insults from officials of the imperial theater directorate, met in ruling spheres stubborn resistance to his cherished ideas about the democratic transformation of theatrical business in Russia.

In Ostrovsky's poetics, two elements merged with remarkable skill: the cruel realistic element of the "dark kingdom" and the romantic, enlightened excitement. In his plays, Ostrovsky portrays fragile, tender heroines, but at the same time strong personalities capable of protest, forgiving the whole foundation of society.

In preparing this work, materials from the site http://www.studentu.ru were used.

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Alexander Nikolaevich Ostrovsky. Born March 31 (April 12), 1823 - died June 2 (14), 1886. Russian playwright, whose work has become milestone development of the Russian national theater. Corresponding member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences.

Alexander Nikolayevich Ostrovsky was born on March 31 (April 12), 1823 in Moscow on Malaya Ordynka.

His father, Nikolai Fedorovich, was the son of a priest, he himself graduated from the Kostroma Seminary, then the Moscow Theological Academy, but began to practice as a court lawyer, dealing with property and commercial matters. He rose to the rank of collegiate assessor, and in 1839 received the nobility.

Mother, Lyubov Ivanovna Savvina, the daughter of a sexton and a prosvir, died when Alexander was not yet nine years old. There were four children in the family (four more died in infancy).

Thanks to the position of Nikolai Fedorovich, the family lived in prosperity, great attention was paid to the education of children who received home education. Five years after the death of his mother, his father married Baroness Emilia Andreevna von Tessin, the daughter of a Swedish nobleman. The children were lucky with their stepmother: she surrounded them with care and continued to teach them.

Ostrovsky's childhood and part of his youth were spent in the center of Zamoskvorechye. Thanks to his father's large library, he became acquainted early with Russian literature and felt an inclination towards writing, but his father wanted to make him a lawyer.

In 1835, Ostrovsky entered the third grade of the 1st Moscow Provincial Gymnasium, after which in 1840 he became a student at the law faculty of Moscow University. He failed to complete the university course: without passing the exam in Roman law, Ostrovsky wrote a letter of resignation (he studied until 1843). At the request of his father, Ostrovsky entered the service of a clerk in the Constituent Court and served in the Moscow courts until 1850; his first salary was 4 rubles a month, after a while it increased to 16 rubles (transferred to the Commercial Court in 1845).

By 1846, Ostrovsky had already written many scenes from merchant life and the comedy "Insolvent Debtor" was conceived (later - "Own people - let's settle!"). The first publication was a short play "The Picture family life”and the essay“ Notes of a Zamoskvoretsky Resident ”- they were printed in one of the issues of the“ Moscow City List ”in 1847. Professor of Moscow University S.P. Shevyrev, after Ostrovsky read the play at his home on February 14, 1847, solemnly congratulated the audience on "the appearance of a new dramatic luminary in Russian literature."

Literary fame Ostrovsky brought comedy "Own people - let's count!"(original name - "Insolvent debtor"), published in 1850 in the journal of the university professor M.P. Pogodin "Moskvityanin". Under the text was: "A. O." and "D. G.", that is, Dmitry Gorev-Tarasenkov, a provincial actor who offered Ostrovsky cooperation. This cooperation did not go beyond one scene, and subsequently served as a source of great trouble for Ostrovsky, since it gave his detractors a reason to accuse him of plagiarism (1856). However, the play evoked favorable responses from H. V. Gogol and I. A. Goncharov.

The influential Moscow merchants, offended by their estate, complained to the "bosses"; as a result, the comedy was banned from staging, and the author was dismissed from service and placed under police supervision on the personal order of Nicholas I. Supervision was removed after the accession of Alexander II, and the play was allowed to be staged only in 1861.

The first play by Ostrovsky, which was able to get on theater stage, was "Don't get into your sleigh"(written in 1852 and staged for the first time in Moscow on stage Bolshoi Theater January 14, 1853).

Since 1853, for more than 30 years, new plays by Ostrovsky appeared almost every season in the Moscow Maly and St. Petersburg Alexandrinsky theaters. Since 1856, Ostrovsky became a permanent contributor to the Sovremennik magazine. In the same year, in accordance with the wishes of the Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolayevich, a business trip of outstanding writers took place to study and describe various areas of Russia in industrial and domestic relations. Ostrovsky took upon himself the study of the Volga from the headwaters to Nizhny Novgorod.

In 1859, with the assistance of Count G. A. Kushelev-Bezborodko, the first collected works of Ostrovsky were published in two volumes. Thanks to this edition, Ostrovsky received a brilliant assessment from N. A. Dobrolyubov, which secured him the fame of a painter " dark kingdom". In 1860, the Thunderstorm appeared in print, to which he dedicated the article “A Ray of Light in a Dark Kingdom”.

From the second half of the 1860s, Ostrovsky took up the history of the Time of Troubles and entered into correspondence with Kostomarov. Five “historical chronicles in verse” became the fruit of the work: “Kuzma Zakharyich Minin-Sukhoruk”, “Vasilisa Melentyeva”, “Dmitry the Pretender and Vasily Shuisky”, etc.

In 1863, Ostrovsky was awarded the Uvarov Prize (for the play "Thunderstorm") and was elected a corresponding member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences. In 1866 (according to other sources - in 1865), Ostrovsky founded the Artistic Circle, which later gave the Moscow stage many talented figures.

Ostrovsky's house was visited by I. A. Goncharov, D. V. Grigorovich, I. S. Turgenev, A. F. Pisemsky, F. M. Dostoevsky, I. E. Turchaninov, P. M. Sadovsky, L. P. Kositskaya-Nikulina, M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin, L. N. Tolstoy, P. I. Tchaikovsky, M. N. Ermolova, G. N. Fedotova.

In 1874 the Society of Russian Dramatic Writers was formed and opera composers, whose permanent chairman Ostrovsky remained until his death. Working in the commission "for the revision of legal provisions in all parts of the theater management", established in 1881 under the directorate of the Imperial Theaters, he achieved many changes that significantly improved the position of artists.

In 1885, Ostrovsky was appointed head of the repertoire of Moscow theaters and head of the theater school.

Despite the fact that his plays made good collections and that in 1883 Emperor Alexander III granted him an annual pension of 3 thousand rubles, money problems did not leave Ostrovsky until last days his life. Health did not meet the plans that he set for himself. Hard work exhausted the body.

On June 2 (14), 1886, on Spirits Day, Ostrovsky died in his Kostroma estate Shchelykovo. His last work was the translation of "Antony and Cleopatra" by W. Shakespeare - Alexander Nikolayevich's favorite playwright. The writer was buried next to his father at the church cemetery near the Temple in the name of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker in the village of Nikolo-Berezhki, Kostroma province. For the burial, Alexander III granted 3,000 rubles from the sums of the cabinet; widow, inseparably with 2 children, was assigned a pension of 3,000 rubles, and for education three sons and daughters - 2400 rubles a year. Subsequently, the widow of the writer M. V. Ostrovskaya, an actress of the Maly Theater, and the daughter of M. A. Shatelen were in the family necropolis.

After the death of the playwright, the Moscow Duma set up a reading room named after A. N. Ostrovsky in Moscow.

Family and personal life of Alexander Ostrovsky:

Younger brother - statesman M. N. Ostrovsky.

Alexander Nikolaevich had a deep passion for the actress L. Kositskaya, but both of them had a family.

However, even after becoming a widow in 1862, Kositskaya continued to reject Ostrovsky's feelings, and soon she began a close relationship with the son of a wealthy merchant, who eventually squandered her entire fortune. She wrote to Ostrovsky: "I do not want to take away your love from anyone."

The playwright lived in cohabitation with the commoner Agafya Ivanovna, but all their children died at an early age. Uneducated, but a smart woman, with a subtle, easily vulnerable soul, she understood the playwright and was the very first reader and critic of his works. Ostrovsky lived with Agafya Ivanovna for about twenty years, and two years after her death, in 1869, he married the actress Maria Vasilyevna Bakhmetyeva, who bore him four sons and two daughters.

Plays by Alexander Ostrovsky:

"Family Picture" (1847)
"Own people - let's count" (1849)
"An Unexpected Case" (1850)
"Morning young man» (1850)
"Poor Bride" (1851)
"Do not get into your sleigh" (1852)
"Poverty is no vice" (1853)
"Do not live as you like" (1854)
Hangover in someone else's feast (1856)
"Profitable Place" (1856)
"Festive Sleep Before Dinner" (1857)
"They didn't get along" (1858)
"Pupil" (1859)
"Thunderstorm" (1859)
"An old friend is better than two new ones" (1860)
“Your own dogs squabble, don’t pester someone else’s” (1861)
"The Marriage of Balzaminov" (1861)
"Kozma Zakharyich Minin-Sukhoruk" (1861, 2nd edition 1866)
"Hard Days" (1863)
"Sin and trouble does not live on anyone" (1863)
Voevoda (1864; 2nd edition 1885)
"The Joker" (1864)
"In a Busy Place" (1865)
"Abyss" (1866)
"Dmitry the Pretender and Vasily Shuisky" (1866)
"Tushino" (1866)
"Vasilisa Melentyeva" (co-authored with S. A. Gedeonov) (1867)
"Sufficient Simplicity for Every Wise Man" (1868)
"Hot Heart" (1869)
"Mad Money" (1870)
"Forest" (1870)
"Not everything is Shrovetide for the cat" (1871)
"There was not a penny, but suddenly Altyn" (1872)
"Comedian XVII century» (1873)
"Snow Maiden" (1873)
"Late Love" (1874)
"Labor Bread" (1874)
"Wolves and Sheep" (1875)
"Rich Brides" (1876)
"Truth is good, but happiness is better" (1877)
"The Marriage of Belugin" (1877)
« Last victim» (1878)
"Dowry" (1878)
"Good gentleman" (1879)
"Wild Woman" (1879), together with Nikolai Solovyov
"Heart is not a stone" (1880)
"Slaves" (1881)
"Shines, but does not warm" (1881), together with Nikolai Solovyov
"Guilty Without Guilt" (1881-1883)
"Talents and Admirers" (1882)
"Handsome Man" (1883)
"Not of this world" (1885)

Alexander Nikolayevich Ostrovsky was born on March 31 (April 12), 1823 in Moscow. His father, a graduate of the Moscow Theological Seminary, served in the Moscow City Court. He was in private judicial practice property and commercial matters. A mother from a family of the clergy, the daughter of a sexton and a prosvir, died when the future playwright was eight years old. Ostrovsky spends his childhood and early youth in Zamoskvorechye - a special corner of Moscow with its well-established merchant-petty-bourgeois way of life. Alexander was addicted to reading as a child, receives a good education at home, knows Greek, Latin, French, German, and later - English, Italian, Spanish. When Alexander was thirteen years old, his father married a second time to the daughter of a Russified Swedish baron, who was not too busy raising children from her husband's first marriage. With her arrival, the household way of life noticeably changes, the official life is redrawn in a noble manner, the environment changes, new speeches are heard in the house.

By this time, the future playwright had read almost the entire father's library. From 1835-1840 - Ostrovsky studies at the First Moscow Gymnasium. In 1840, after graduating from the gymnasium, he was enrolled in the law faculty of Moscow University. At the university, a law student Ostrovsky was lucky enough to listen to lectures by such connoisseurs of history, jurisprudence and literature as T.N. Granovsky, N.I. Krylov, M.P. Pogodin. Here, for the first time, the riches of Russian chronicles are revealed to the future author of "Minin" and "Voevoda", the language appears before him in a historical perspective. But in 1843, Ostrovsky left the university, not wanting to retake the exam. Then he entered the office of the Moscow Constituent Court, later served in the Commercial Court (1845-1851). This experience played a significant role in the work of Ostrovsky. The second university is the Maly Theatre. Having become addicted to the stage back in his gymnasium years, Ostrovsky became a regular in the oldest Russian theater. 1847 - Ostrovsky publishes the first draft in the Moscow City List future comedy"Own people - let's settle" under the title "Insolvent debtor", then the comedy "Picture of family happiness" (later "Family picture") and an essay in prose "Notes of a Zamoskvoretsky resident". "The most memorable day for me in my life," Ostrovsky recalled, "was February 14, 1847 ... From that day on, I began to consider myself a Russian writer and already, without doubts and hesitations, believed in my vocation." Ostrovsky's recognition comes from the comedy "Our People - Let's Settle" (original title - "Bankrut", completed at the end of 1849). Even before publication, it became popular (in the reading of the author and P.M. Sadovsky), evoked approving responses from H.V. Gogol, I.A. Goncharova, T.H. Granovsky and others. "He started unusually ..." - testifies I.S. Turgenev. His very first big play, "Own People - Let's Settle" made a huge impression. She was called the Russian "Tartuffe", "Brigadier" 19th century, the merchant's "Woe from Wit", compared with the "Inspector"; Yesterday, the still unknown name of Ostrovsky was put next to the names of the greatest comedians - Moliere, Fonvizin, Griboyedov, Gogol.

Possessing an outstanding social temperament, Ostrovsky fought all his life actively for the creation of a new type of realistic theater, for a truly artistic theater. national repertoire, for the new ethics of the actor. In 1865, he created the Moscow Artistic Circle, founded and headed the Society of Russian Dramatic Writers (1870), wrote numerous "Notes", "Projects", "Considerations" to various departments, proposing to take urgent measures to stop the decline theatrical art. Creativity Ostrovsky had a decisive influence on the development of Russian drama and Russian theater. How the playwright and director Ostrovsky contributed to the formation new school realistic play, the promotion of a galaxy of actors (especially in the Moscow Maly Theater: the Sadovsky family, S.V. Vasiliev, L.P. Kositskaya, later - G.N. Fedotova, M.N. Yermolova, etc.). Theatrical biography Ostrovsky did not coincide at all with his literary biography. The audience got acquainted with his plays in a completely different order in which they were written and printed.

Only six years after Ostrovsky began to publish, on January 14, 1853, the curtain went up at the first performance of the comedy Don't Get in Your Sleigh at the Maly Theater. The play shown to the audience first was Ostrovsky's sixth completed play. At the same time, the playwright entered into a civil marriage with the girl Agafya Ivanovna Ivanova (who had four children from him), which led to a break in relations with his father. According to eyewitnesses, she was a kind, warm-hearted woman, to whom Ostrovsky owed much of his knowledge of Moscow life. In 1869, after the death of Agafya Ivanovna from tuberculosis, Ostrovsky entered into a new marriage with the actress of the Maly Theater Maria Vasilyeva. From his second marriage, the writer had five children. Corresponding member of the Imperial St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences (1863). Ostrovsky's literary views were formed under the influence of the aesthetics of V.G. Belinsky. For Ostrovsky, as well as for other writers who began in the 40s, the artist is a kind of researcher-physiologist who subjects various parts of the social organism to a special study, opening up to his contemporaries as yet unexplored areas of life. In the open field, these tendencies found expression in the genre of the so-called "physiological essay", which was widespread in the literature of the 1940s and 1950s.

Ostrovsky was one of the most staunch exponents of this trend. Many of his early writings written in the manner of a "physiological essay" (sketches of life outside Moscow; dramatic sketches and "pictures": "Family Picture", "Morning of a Young Man", "An Unexpected Case"; later, in 1857, - "The characters did not agree"). In a more complex refraction, the features of this style were also reflected in most of Ostrovsky's other works: he studied the life of his era, observing it as if under a microscope, like an attentive researcher-experimenter. This is clearly shown by the diaries of his trips around Russia, and especially the materials of a many-month trip (1865) along the upper Volga with the aim of a comprehensive survey of the region. The published report of Ostrovsky on this trip and draft notes represent a kind of encyclopedia of information on the economy, composition of the population, customs, and mores of this region. At the same time, Ostrovsky does not cease to be an artist - after this trip, the Volga landscape as a poetic leitmotif is included in many of his plays, starting with "Thunderstorm" and ending with "Dowry" and "Voevoda (Dream on the Volga)". In addition, there is an idea for a cycle of plays called "Nights on the Volga" (partially implemented). Guilty Without Guilt is the last of Ostrovsky's masterpieces. In August 1883, just at the time of work on this play, the playwright wrote to his brother: good stories, but ... they are inconvenient, you need to choose something smaller. I'm already living my life; when will I be able to speak? So go to the grave without doing everything that I could do?" At the end of his life, Ostrovsky finally achieved material prosperity (he received a lifetime pension of 3 thousand rubles), and also in 1884 took the position of head of the repertoire Moscow theaters (the playwright dreamed of serving the theater all his life. But his health was undermined, his strength was exhausted. Ostrovsky not only taught, he also studied.

Numerous experiences of Ostrovsky in the field of translation of ancient, English, Spanish, Italian and French dramatic literature not only testified to his excellent acquaintance with dramatic literature of all times and peoples, but also rightly considered by the researchers of his work as a kind of school of dramatic skill, which Ostrovsky went through all his life (he began in 1850 with the translation of Shakespeare's comedy "The Taming of the Shrew"). Death caught him translating Shakespeare's tragedy "Antony and Cleopatra") on June 2 (14), 1886 in the Shchelykovo estate, Kostroma region, from a hereditary disease - angina pectoris. He went down to the grave without doing all that he could do, but he did exceedingly much. After the death of the writer, the Moscow Duma set up a reading room named after A.N. Ostrovsky. On May 27, 1929, in Moscow, on Theater Square in front of the Maly Theater, where his plays were staged, a monument to Ostrovsky was unveiled (sculptor N.A. Andreev, architect I.P. Mashkov). A.N. Ostrovsky is listed in Russian Book records "Divo" as "the most prolific playwright" (1993). Ostrovsky's work can be divided into three periods: 1st - (1847-1860), 2nd - (1850-1875), 3rd - (1875-1886). FIRST PERIOD (1847-1860) It includes plays reflecting the life of pre-reform Russia. At the beginning of this period, Ostrovsky actively collaborated as an editor and as a critic with the Moskvityanin magazine, publishing his plays in it. Starting as a continuer of Gogol's accusatory tradition ("Our people - let's settle", "Poor Bride", "We didn't get along"), then, partly under the influence of the main ideologist of the magazine "Moskvityanin" A.A. Grigoriev, in the plays of Ostrovsky, motifs of the idealization of Russian patriarchy, the customs of antiquity begin to sound ("Do not sit in your sleigh" (1852), "Poverty is not a vice" (1853), "Do not live as you want" (1854). These moods Ostrovsky's critical pathos has been muffled since 1856. Ostrovsky, a regular contributor to the Sovremennik magazine, has been drawing closer to the leaders of democratic Russian journalism. peasant reform 1861 intensifies again social criticism in his work, the drama of conflicts becomes sharper ("Hangover in someone else's feast" (1855), "Profitable place" (1856), "Thunderstorm", (1859). SECOND PERIOD (1860-1875) He includes plays that reflect the life of Russia after the reform Ostrovsky continues to write household comedies and dramas ("Hard Days", 1863, "Jokers", 1864, "Abyss", 1865), still highly talented, but rather reinforcing already found motives than mastering new ones. At this time, Ostrovsky also turns to the problems national history, to the patriotic theme. Based on the study a wide range sources it creates a cycle historical plays: "Kozma Zakharyich Minin - Sukhoruk" (1861; 2nd edition 1866), "Voevoda" (1864; 2nd edition 1885), "Dmitry the Pretender and Vasily Shuisky" (1866), "Tushino "(1866). In addition, a cycle is created satirical comedies("There is enough simplicity for every wise man" (1868), "Hot Heart" (1868), "Mad Money" (1869), "Forest" (1870), "Wolves and Sheep" (1875). Standing apart among the plays of the second period is the dramatic poem in verse "The Snow Maiden" (1873) - " spring fairy tale", by definition of the author, created on the basis of folk tales, beliefs, customs. THE THIRD PERIOD (1875 - 1886) Almost all of Ostrovsky's dramatic works of the 70s and early 80s. published in the journal "Domestic Notes". During this period, Ostrovsky created significant socio-psychological dramas and comedies about tragic destinies richly gifted, sensitive women in the world of cynicism and self-interest ("Dowry", 1878, "The Last Victim", 1878, "Talents and Admirers", 1882, etc.). Here the writer also develops new forms of stage expression, in some respects anticipating the plays of A.P. Chekhov: keeping character traits In his dramaturgy, Ostrovsky seeks to embody "internal struggle" in "intelligent, subtle comedy" (see "AN Ostrovsky in the memoirs of his contemporaries", 1966, p. 294). The playwright remained in the history of Russian literature not just "Columbus of Zamoskvorechye", as she called him literary criticism, but the creator of the Russian democratic theater, who applied the achievements of Russian psychological prose of the 19th century to theatrical practice. Ostrovsky is a rare example of stage longevity, his plays do not leave the stage - this is a sign of true folk writer. Ostrovsky's dramaturgy contained the whole of Russia - its way of life, its customs, its history, its fairy tales, its poetry. It is even difficult for us to imagine how much poorer our idea of ​​Russia, of the Russian man, of Russian nature, and even of ourselves would be if the world of Ostrovsky's creations did not exist for us. Not with cold curiosity, but with pity and anger, we look at the life embodied in Ostrovsky's plays. Sympathy for the disadvantaged and indignation against the "dark kingdom" - these are the feelings that the playwright experienced and which he invariably arouses in us. But especially close to us is the hope and faith that have always lived in this wonderful artist. And we know - this hope is in us, this is faith in us.

Ostrovsky repertoire creativity playwright

It is hardly possible to briefly describe the work of Alexander Ostrovsky, since this person 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

The popularity of A.N. Ostrovsky was brought the work "Our people - we will settle." After it was published, his work was appreciated by many writers of that time.

This gave confidence and inspiration to Alexander Nikolayevich himself.

After such a successful debut, he wrote many works that played a significant role in his work. Among them are the following:

• "Forest"
• "Talents and Admirers"
• "Dowry".

All his plays can be called psychological dramas, because 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, he considered how the values ​​of the country 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, it was more important for him to show real, not fictional life in his works. In his works, Ostrovsky tried to reflect 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 plots for his works. Distinctive feature his work can be called the fact 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 for what it is. Nationality and realism are the main criteria that Ostrovsky adhered to when writing his works.

Work in recent years

A.N. Ostrovsky was especially engaged in creativity in last years of 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 such works where he had to work hard.

In recent works, the playwright developed new methods of presenting the text and expressiveness - which became distinctive in his work. Chekhov highly appreciated his writing style, which for Alexander Nikolaevich is beyond praise. He tried in his work to show the inner struggle of the characters.

(1823-1886)

Alexander Nikolayevich Ostrovsky was born in 1823 in Moscow: in Zamoskvorechye, in an old merchant and bureaucratic district. The father of the future playwright, an educated and skilled court official, and then a well-known lawyer in Moscow commercial circles, amassed a fair amount of wealth; rising through the ranks, he received the rights of a hereditary nobleman, became a landowner; it is clear that he wanted to let his son go on the legal side as well.

Alexander Ostrovsky received a good education at home - from childhood he was addicted to literature, spoke German and French, knew Latin well, willingly studied music. He successfully graduated from the gymnasium and in 1840 entered the law faculty of Moscow University. But Ostrovsky did not like the career of a lawyer, he was irresistibly attracted to art. He tried not to miss a single performance: he read a lot and argued about literature, passionately fell in love with music. At the same time he tried to write poems and stories.

Having cooled off to study at the university, Ostrovsky left the teaching. For several years, at the insistence of his father, he served as a minor official in court. Here the future playwright saw enough human comedies and tragedies. Finally disillusioned with judicial activities, Ostrovsky dreams of becoming a writer.

During Ostrovsky's youth, peasants and merchants dressed, ate, drank and had fun differently than people of the enlightened classes. Even the general Orthodox faith did not fully unite them with the educated. In the Russian land, it was as if there were two different, little connected, little understood worlds for each other. But in the middle of the 19th century, the boundaries of these worlds began to gradually collapse. Educated people began to look for ways to overcome the gap, to restore not so much the state - it was! - how much spiritual and cultural unity of the Russian people. And simple people, faithful to the old way of life, with the development of business life, are increasingly forced to face the modern state. I had to apply to the courts to resolve property and inheritance disputes, to obtain permits for fishing and trade in various institutions. Officials deceived them, intimidated and robbed them. Therefore, the smartest began to teach their children, began to adapt to the "Europeanized" life. But at first, only the various external aspects of the upper classes were often mistaken for education.

Wealthy, but only yesterday living in the old fashioned way and the new demands that powerfully imposes on them modern life, - this is the basis of the comedic conflicts of the young Ostrovsky, and even those where the funny is intertwined with the sad: after all, the quirks of those in power are not only funny, but also dangerous for the poor: dependent and oppressed.

His all-Russian fame began with the second comedy - “Let's get our people together!” (or "Bankrupt" 1849) The play was a huge success with readers after being published in the magazine "Moskovityanin". However, its production was banned at the direction of Tsar Nicholas 1 himself. The censorship ban lasted eleven years.

Already in the comedy “Own people - let's settle!” the main features of Ostrovsky's dramaturgy appeared: the ability to show important all-Russian problems through family conflict, to create vivid and recognizable characters not only of the main ones, but also minor characters. Juicy, lively folk speech sounds in his plays. And each of them - not a simple, thought-provoking ending.

After: as in the comedy “Own people - let's settle!” such a bleak picture was created, Ostrovsky wanted to show positive heroes, capable of resisting the immorality and cruelty of modern relations. He was afraid to instill a sense of hopelessness in his spectacles. It is precisely these characters, calling for sympathy, that appear in the comedy Don’t Sit on Your Sleigh (1853) (the first of Ostrovsky’s plays that went on stage) and Poverty Is Not a Vice (1954).

In 1956, Ostrovsky traveled along the Volga: from the source of the river to Nizhny Novgorod. The impressions received have nourished his work for many years. They were also reflected in The Thunderstorm (1959), one of his most famous plays. The action of the play takes place in the fictional remote town of Kalinovo. Ostrovsky showed in the play not only the external circumstances of the tragedy: the severity of the mother-in-law, the lack of will of the husband and his commitment to wine; the indifferent formal attitude of the Kalinovites to the faith; not only imperious rudeness of rich merchants, poverty and superstition of the inhabitants. The main thing in the play is the inner life of the heroine, the emergence in her of something new, still unclear to herself. Drama Ostrovsky, as it were, captured people's Russia at a turning point, on the threshold of a new historical era.

In the 60s. in the work of Ostrovsky, the hero of the nobleman also appears. But one who is not engaged in truth-seeking, but successful career. For example, in the comedy “Enough Stupidity for Every Wise Man” there is a whole gallery of noble types who experience the abolition of serfdom in different ways. The main characters of "The Forest" are two from the noble family of the Gurmyzhskys: a rich and middle-aged landowner who squanders her estate with her lovers, and her nephew is an actor.

In the latest works of Ostrovsky, a woman is increasingly at the center of events. The writer seems to be disappointed in the moral merits of the active hero, the “business man”, the interests and vitality who is too often completely absorbed in the struggle for material success. At the end of his creative way he wrote the drama "Rich Brides" But Ostrovsky's most famous play is about fate: as it was then expressed, "girls of marriageable age" - "Dowry" (1878)

In the last decades of his life, Ostrovsky creates a kind of artistic monument national theater. In 1972, he wrote the 17th century Comedian, a verse comedy about the birth of the first Russian theatre. But Ostrovsky's plays about contemporary theater are much more famous - "Talents and Admirers" (1981) and "Guilty Without Guilt" (1983). Here he showed how tempting and difficult the life of actors.

Having worked for the Russian stage for almost forty years, Ostrovsky created a whole repertoire - about fifty plays. The works of Ostrovsky still remain on the stage. And after a hundred and fifty years it is not difficult to see the heroes of his plays next to him.

Ostrovsky died in 1886 in his beloved Trans-Volga estate Shchelykovo, in the Kostroma dense forests: on the hilly banks of small meandering rivers. For the most part, the life of the writer proceeded in these core places of Russia: where from a young age he could observe the primordial customs and customs, still little affected by contemporary urban civilization, and hear the native Russian speech.