People who influenced the formation of Ostrovsky’s personality. Alexander Ostrovsky

Ostrovsky Alexander Nikolaevich (1823-1886). Born in Moscow, grew up in merchant environment. Father is a judge. O. himself graduated from high school, did not graduate from the law department of Moscow State University, and after (1843-1851) he served in the army, holding low positions. IN creative development Ostrovsky distinguishes four periods:

1) First period (1847-1851)- the time of the first literary experiments. Ostrovsky began quite in the spirit of the times - with narrative prose. In his essays on the life and customs of Zamoskvorechye, the debutant relied on Gogolian traditions and creative experience " natural school» 1840s During these years the first dramatic works, including the comedy “Bankrupt” ("Our people - we'll be numbered!»), which became the main work early period. (Published in the magazine “Moskvityanin” in 1850. The story of the merchant Samson Silych Bolshov, who decided to deceive his creditors and declare himself bankrupt, and as a result found himself deceived and sent to debtor’s prison by his unscrupulous daughter Lipochka and her husband, clerk Podkhalyuzin. The play was banned from production , the playwright was placed under police supervision.The work was seen in the world 12 years later (68 years)).

2) Second period (1852-1855) are called “Moskvityanin”, since during these years Ostrovsky became close to the young employees of the Moskvityanin magazine: A.A. Grigoriev, T.I. Filippov, B.N. Almazov and E.N. Edelson. The playwright supported the ideological program of the “young editorial staff,” which sought to make the magazine an organ of a new trend social thought - "soilism". During this period, only three plays were written: “Don’t get on your own sleigh,” "Poverty is not a vice" and “Don’t live the way you want.”

3) Third period (1856-1860) marked by Ostrovsky's refusal to search for positive principles in the life of the patriarchal merchants (this was typical for plays written in the first half of the 1850s). The playwright, who was sensitive to changes in the social and ideological life of Russia, became close to the figures of the common democracy - the employees of the Sovremennik magazine. The creative outcome of this period was the plays “At Someone Else’s Feast, a Hangover”, “Profitable Place” and “Thunderstorm”,“the most decisive”, as defined by N.A. Dobrolyubov, is Ostrovsky’s work.

4) Fourth period (1861-1886)- the longest period creative activity. The genre range has expanded, the poetics of his works have become more diverse. Over twenty years, plays have been created that can be divided into several genre and thematic groups: 1) comedies from merchant life(“It’s not all Maslenitsa”, “The truth is good, but happiness is better”, “The heart is not a stone”), 2) satirical comedies (“Simplicity is enough for every wise man”,“Warm Heart”, “Mad Money”, “Wolves and Sheep”, “Forest”), 3) plays that Ostrovsky himself called “pictures of Moscow life” and “scenes from the life of the outback”: they are united by the theme of “little people” ( " old friend better than the new two", " Hard days", "Jokers" and the trilogy about Balzaminov), 4) historical chronicle plays ("Kozma Zakharyich Minin-Sukhoruk", "Tushino", etc.), and, finally, 5) psychological dramas ("Dowry", " The last victim" and etc.). Stands apart fairy tale play"Snow Maiden".

10. "Thunderstorm". Drama or tragedy (TRAGEDY!).

The unity of “Thunderstorm” is not complete (i.e. classicism is violated = this means it’s not a drama):

1. Time is not 24 hours, but 10 days. 2. Places – change constantly. 3. Action – Ekaterina + Feklusha, and not 1 character. Besides, main character- from a low class, and for classicism heroes are gods, demigods, kings, etc.

Construction scheme tragedy complied with: 1. Availability tragic hero; 2. Hero upper class; 3. Availability tragic conflict(a conflict that cannot be resolved peacefully = Euripides “God from the Machine”); 4. catharsis (purification of both the hero and the viewer) - occurs in Tikhon, Varvara (runs away with Kudryash), Kulibin (changes).

In "The Thunderstorm" - 2 conflicts - this is INNOVATION IN EUROPEAN LITERATURE.

- External. Katya is a ray of light in the good kingdom; kingdom - personified by Feklusha.

- Internal. Catherine is a believer and she sinned = doomed. BUT! She cannot help but sin, because... 1. she doesn’t love her husband, she doesn’t need him. 2. cannot help but love (stay alone); all this leads her to SUICIDE.

RESULT: TRAGEDY: 1. hero. 2. conflict. 3. catharsis.

11. Life and work of Goncharov.

One novel to choose from: “Oblomov”, “Cliff”, “ An ordinary story" Know the essence of his travels.

Ivan Aleksandrovich Goncharov (1812–1891), was born into a merchant family with 4 children. Education in a private boarding school - introduction to the books of Western European and Russian authors, study of French. language. 1823 – Moscow State University, Faculty of Philology.

After university, service in the office of the Simbirsk governor, then moving to St. Petersburg - translator at the Ministry of Finance. Goncharov’s first creative experiments - poetry, anti-romantic story "Dashing pain" and story "Lucky Mistake"– were published in a handwritten journal. In 1842 he wrote essay “Ivan Savich Podzhabrin”, published only six years after its creation. In 1847, the novel “Ordinary History” was published in the Sovremennik magazine. At the heart of the novel is a clash between two central characters– Aduev the uncle and Aduev the nephew, personifying sober practicality and enthusiastic idealism. Each of the characters is psychologically close to the writer and represents different projections of his spiritual world. "Ordinary History" received the approval of V. G. Belinsky(in the article “A Look at Russian Literature of 1847”), whose assessment was the subject of special pride for Goncharov throughout his life. Leaders of the democratic trend in literature of that time welcomed the novel for the deep content it contained. artistic research And a sharp denial of romance in its diverse forms. Aduev writes poetry, but his romanticism is lifeless, which his uncle, Pyotr Ivanovich Aduev, mockingly states. In explaining the reasons why the life of Aduev Jr. turns out to be meaningless and useless, Goncharov anticipates the main idea of ​​the novel "Oblomov". The empty, enthusiastic rantings of the hero appear as a consequence of his lordly upbringing. Goncharov began work on this novel back in the 40s. In 1849 in the almanac "Literary Collection with Illustrations" at the Sovremennik magazine, "Oblomov's Dream" was published. An episode of an unfinished novel." But before G. finishes the novel, many more events will happen. In October 1852 of the year G Oncharov became a participant trip around the world on a sailing warship - the frigate "Pallada" - as secretary to the head of the expedition, Vice Admiral Putyatin. She was equipped to inspect Russian possessions in North America- Alaska, which belonged to Russia at that time, as well as to establish political and trade relations with Japan. Cycle of travel essays “Frigate “Pallada””(1855-1857) - a kind of “writer’s diary” ». During the trip, he kept careful notes, describing in them everything he saw in Europe, Africa and Asia. Entries = true picture life. The sailor-traveler is simultaneously in “his” world of the ship and in the “alien” world of geographical space. He returned and entered the service of the St. Petersburg Censorship Committee (provided assistance to Turgenev’s Notes of a Hunter, Pisemsky’s A Thousand Souls, etc.). In 1859, the novel “Oblomov” was published (10 years passed after the chapter was published in the magazine). Immediately Art. Dobrolyubova “What is Oblomovism?”

The last novel Goncharova "Cliff" published in 1869, is new option Oblomovism in the image of the main character - Boris Raisky. Conceived in 1849 as a novel about difficult relationships artist and society, but the writer changed his plan: at the center of the novel was the fate of revolutionary-minded youth, represented in the image of the “nihilist” Mark Volokhov. The novel "The Break" caused mixed assessment critics. Many questioned the author's talent and denied him the right to judge modern youth. Further, Goncharov rarely published.

1871 - literary critical article « A million torments», dedicated to the stage production of Griboyedov’s comedy “Woe from Wit”. After “Notes on Belinsky’s personality,” article "Hamlet", feature article « Literary evening» and newspaper feuilletons. The result of Goncharov’s creative activity in the 70s. counts critical work about him own creativity entitled " Better late than never". Last years he lived alone, worked quite a lot, but before his death he burned everything.

Ostrovsky with early years got carried away fiction, was interested in theater. While still a high school student, he began visiting the Moscow Maly Theater, where he admired the performances of M. S. Shchepkin and P. S. Mochalov. Big influence The articles of V. G. Belinsky and A. I. Herzen influenced the formation of the young Ostrovsky’s worldview. 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 a goal social development. But the closer he became acquainted with the law, the less he liked the career of a lawyer, and, not having an inclination towards a legal career, Ostrovsky left Moscow University, which he entered at the insistence of his father in 1835, when entering 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, and passionately fell in love with music. At the same time, he himself tried to write poetry and stories. From then on - and for the rest of his life - Belinsky became the highest authority in art for him. The service did not captivate Ostrovsky, but it was of invaluable benefit to the future playwright, providing rich material for his first units. Already in his first works, Ostrovsky showed himself to be a follower of the “Gogolian trend” in Russian literature, a supporter of the school critical realism. Ostrovsky expressed his commitment to ideological realistic art and his desire to follow the precepts of V. G. Belinsky in literary works. critical articles 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 progressive circles and caused indignation in the reactionary camp. First literary experiments Ostrovsky's prose is marked by the influence of the natural school ("Notes of a Zamoskvoretsky Resident", 1847). In the same year, his first dramatic work, “Painting family happiness"(in later publications - “Family Picture”). Ostrovsky's literary fame came from the comedy "Our People - Let's Be Numbered" published in 1850. Even before publication it became popular. The comedy was banned from being presented on stage (it was 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 50s, during the years of intensifying government reaction, there was a short-term rapprochement between Ostrovsky and the “young editors” of the reactionary Slavophile magazine “Moskvityanin”, whose members sought to present the playwright as a singer of the “original Russian merchant class and its Domostroevsky foundations.” The works created at this time (“Don’t get into your own sleigh”, 1853, “Poverty is not a vice”, 1854, “Don’t live as you want”, 1855) reflected Ostrovsky’s temporary refusal to consistently and irreconcilably condemn 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 a large role, delivering an angry rebuke to liberal-conservative “fans.”

New stage in Ostrovsky’s work 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 is moving closer to the revolutionary-democratic camp. Since 1857, he published almost all of his plays in Sovremennik, and after its closure he moved to Domestic notes", published by N. A. Nekrasov and M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin. The development of Ostrovsky’s work was greatly 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 turns to the depiction of bureaucracy and the nobility (“Profitable Place”, 1857, “Pupilite”, 1859). Unlike liberal writers, who were keen on superficially ridiculing individual abuses, Ostrovsky, in the comedy “Profitable Place,” deeply criticized the entire system of the pre-reform tsarist bureaucracy. Chernyshevsky praised the play, emphasizing its “strong and noble direction.”

The strengthening of anti-serfdom and anti-bourgeois motives in Ostrovsky’s work testified to a certain 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. By painting us a vivid picture of false relationships with all their consequences, through this he serves as an echo of aspirations that require best device“- wrote Dobrolyubov in the article “A Ray of Light in dark kingdom" It is no coincidence that Ostrovsky constantly encountered obstacles when publishing and staging his plays. Ostrovsky always looked at his writing and social activities, as fulfilling a patriotic duty, serving the interests of the people. His plays reflected the most pressing issues of contemporary reality: the deepening of irreconcilable social contradictions, difficult situation 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 class intelligentsia, etc.

The most complete and convincing assessment of Ostrovsky’s work was given by Dobrolyubov in his articles “The Dark Kingdom” (1859) and “A Ray of Light in the Dark Kingdom” (1860), which had a huge revolutionary influence on the younger generation of the 60s. In Ostrovsky's works 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 significant aspects,” Ostrovsky was, according to Dobrolyubov’s definition, a real national writer. Ostrovsky’s work is distinguished not only by its deep national character, ideological spirit, and bold denunciation of social evil, but also by its 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.

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

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

In Ostrovsky’s poetics, two elements merged with remarkable skill: the cruel realistic element of the “dark kingdom” and romantic, enlightened emotion. In his plays, Ostrovsky portrays fragile, gentle heroines, but at the same time strong personalities capable of protesting against the entire foundation of society.

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

Born on March 31 (April 12), 1823 in Moscow, he grew up in a merchant environment. His mother died when he was 8 years old. And the father married again. There were four children in the family.

Ostrovsky was educated at home. His father had a large library where little Alexander I started reading Russian literature for the first time. However, the father wanted to give his son a legal education. In 1835, Ostrovsky began his studies at the gymnasium, and then entered Moscow University at the Faculty of Law. Due to his interests in theater and literature, he never completed his studies at the university (1843), after which he worked as a scribe in court at the insistence of his father. Ostrovsky served in the courts until 1851.

Ostrovsky's creativity

In 1849, Ostrovsky’s work “Our People – Let’s Be Numbered!” was written, which brought him literary fame; he was highly appreciated by Nikolai Gogol and Ivan Goncharov. Then, despite censorship, many of his plays and books were published. For Ostrovsky, writings are a way to truthfully depict the life of the people. The plays “The Thunderstorm”, “Dowry”, “Forest” are among his most important works. Ostrovsky's play "Dowry", like other psychological dramas, describes characters in a non-standard way, inner world, the torment of heroes.

Since 1856, the writer has been participating in the publication of the Sovremennik magazine.

Ostrovsky Theater

In the biography of Alexander Ostrovsky, theater takes pride of place.
Ostrovsky founded the Artistic Circle in 1866, thanks to which many talented people in the theater circle.

Together with the Artistic Circle, he significantly reformed and developed the Russian theater.

Ostrovsky's house was often visited famous people, among whom I. A. Goncharov, D. V. Grigorovich, Ivan Turgenev, A. F. Pisemsky, Fyodor Dostoevsky, P. M. Sadovsky, Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin, Leo Tolstoy, Pyotr Tchaikovsky, M. N. Ermolova and other.

In a brief biography of Ostrovsky, it is worth mentioning the emergence in 1874 of the Society of Russian Dramatic Writers and opera composers, where Ostrovsky was chairman. With his innovations, he achieved improvement in the lives of theater actors. Since 1885, Ostrovsky headed drama school and was the head of the repertoire of Moscow theaters.

Writer's personal life

It cannot be said that Ostrovsky’s personal life was successful. The playwright lived with a woman from a simple family, Agafya, who had no education, but was the first to read his works. She supported him in everything. All their children died in early age. Ostrovsky lived with her for about twenty years. And in 1869 he married the artist Maria Vasilyevna Bakhmetyeva, who bore him six children.

last years of life

Until the end of his life, Ostrovsky experienced financial difficulties. Hard work greatly depleted the body, and the writer’s health increasingly failed. Ostrovsky dreamed of reviving a theater school in which it would be possible to teach professional acting, however, the death of the writer prevented the implementation of long-conceived plans.

Ostrovsky died on June 2(14), 1886 on his estate. The writer was buried next to his father, in the village of Nikolo-Berezhki Kostroma province.

Chronological table

Other biography options

• Ostrovsky knew Greek, German and French languages, and at a later age he also learned English, Spanish and Italian. All his life he translated plays into different languages Thus, he increased his skills and knowledge.
• The writer’s creative path covers 40 years of successful work on literary and dramatic works. His activities influenced an entire era of theater in Russia. For his works, the writer was awarded the Uvarov Prize in 1863.
• Ostrovsky is the founder of modern theatrical arts, whose followers were such prominent figures like Konstantin Stanislavsky and Mikhail Bulgakov.
• see all

A.N. OSTROVSKY

(1823 – 1886)

Alexander Nikolaevich Ostrovsky considered the beginning of his literary path 1847, when he read the play “Family Picture” with great success in the house of professor and writer S.P. Shevyrev. His next play “We will be our own people!” ( original title“Bankrupt”) made his name known throughout reading Russia. Since the early 50s. he actively collaborates in the journal of the historian M.P. Pogodin “Moskvityanin” and soon, together with A.A. Grigoriev, L.A. Me and others formed the “young editorial board” of “Moskvityanin”, which tried to make the magazine an organ of a new trend of social thought, close to Slavophilism and anticipating pochvenism. The magazine promoted realistic art, interest in people's life and folklore, Russian history, especially the history of the unprivileged classes.

Ostrovsky came to literature as the creator of a nationally original theatrical style, based in poetics on folklore tradition. This turned out to be possible because he began with the depiction of the patriarchal strata of the Russian people, who preserved the pre-Petrine, almost non-Europeanized family and household and cultural way of life. This was still a “pre-personal” environment; to depict it, the poetics of folklore could be used as widely as possible with its extreme generality, with stable types, as if immediately recognizable to the listener and viewer, and even with a repeating basic plot situation– the struggle of a young couple in love for their happiness. On this basis, Ostrovsky’s type of “folk comedy” was created.

Major milestones. IN creative path Ostrovsky can distinguish the following periods:

early, 1847-1851, the period of searching for ways and entering into great literature with the play “Our People – We Will Be Numbered!”;

"Moscowite" 1852 – 1854, when folk comedies “Don’t sit in your own sleigh”, “Poverty is not a vice” are created;

pre-reform, 1855 – 1860, when Ostrovsky’s independent literary and ideological position was finally determined, the plays “At Someone Else’s Feast a Hangover,” “A Profitable Place,” “The Kindergarten,” and “The Thunderstorm” were created;

post-reform, 1861 – 1886.

Already in the comedy “Our People – We Will Be Numbered!” the main features of the poetics of Ostrovsky’s theater are emerging: focus on moral issues, through which the social aspects of life are analyzed; the ensuing absolute predominance of family and household conflicts; the subordination of vivid everyday descriptive elements to the task of depicting characters and the circumstances that shape them.

In the next period, Ostrovsky turned to the search for positive principles. Like friends from the “young editorial staff” of Moskvityanin, the ideals folk morality he sees in patriarchal forms of national life. But even during this period, Ostrovsky shows that the idyll of a patriarchal family is fraught with drama. In the play “Poverty is not a vice,” social conflict in the Tortsov family is brought to high voltage. Poetic world folk culture and morality, created by Ostrovsky, is opposed to tyranny, but it is vulnerable in the face of modern “civilization.” Only Lyubim Tortsov, who “broke out” of patriarchal life and found bitterness, is able to protect him. life experience beyond its borders and therefore managed to actively intervene in the course of events, directing them to a happy ending.

A new stage in Ostrovsky’s path, caused by a general rise in anti-serfdom sentiments after the defeat in Crimean War and the death of Nicholas I, begins with the play “In someone else’s feast, a hangover”, where he was created classic look tyrant Tit Titych Bruskova, who became a household name. During this period, Ostrovsky, turning to traditional topics Russian literature, develops them in a completely original way. In “A Profitable Place” he not only exposes the covetousness of officials, but also reveals deep social and historical roots bureaucratic philosophy (the image of Yusov), the illusory nature of hopes for a new generation of educated officials, whom life itself inexorably pushes to compromise (Zhadov). In “The Kindergarten” Ostrovsky paints life landowner's estate without the slightest lyricism, so common among writers of the nobility when depicting local life. The highest achievement This period became "The Thunderstorm".

IN post-reform period the thematic and genre range of Ostrovsky's dramaturgy continues to expand: from historical events and privacy XVII century (chronicles, “Voevoda”) to the most acute topicality; from the inhabitants of the outback, the poor middle-class outskirts (“There wasn’t a penny, but suddenly Altyn”, “ Late love") to modern "civilized" entrepreneurs ("The Last Victim", "Slaves", "Dowry"), from noble living rooms disturbed by reforms ("Simplicity is enough for every wise man") to the forest road on which the actors Happy and Unschastlivtsev meet (" Forest").

Early Ostrovsky does not have the hero-intellectual, the nobleman, characteristic of most Russian classics. extra person" Appeal to this type in the late 60s. leads to the creation of a kind of satirical

cycle: “Simplicity is enough for every wise man”, “Mad Money”, “Forest”, later – “Wolves and Sheep”.

The rise in the sense of individuality caused by the reforms, which captured fairly wide sections of the population, provides material for the creation of the drama genre. The formation of this genre required the search for a hero who would be able to enter into a dramatic struggle and would evoke the sympathy of the viewer, having a worthy goal. For Ostrovsky, who did not see such heroes in post-reform reality, the center dramatic action becomes a woman. This, naturally, shifts the emphasis from action in the proper sense to the feelings of the characters and creates conditions for the development of a psychological drama (“Dowry”, “The Last Victim”, “Talents and Admirers”, “Guilty Without Guilt”).

It is the surname of A. N. Ostrovsky that stands at the origins of the development of Russian drama theater. His dramas are still very popular to this day thanks to the extraordinary flavor of his talent as a writer and playwright, who always felt what the secular public expected from him. Therefore, it is interesting to know what kind of person Alexander Ostrovsky was. His books contained a huge creative heritage. Among his most famous works: “Guilty Without Guilt”, “Dowry”, “Thunderstorm”, “Wolves and Sheep”, “Snow Maiden”, “At someone else’s feast there is a hangover”, “What you go for is what you will find”, “Your own people” - let’s settle”, “Mad money”, etc.

Alexander Nikolaevich Ostrovsky. short biography

Alexander Nikolaevich was born in the spring of March 31 (April 12), 1823. He grew up on Malaya Ordynka in Moscow. His father was the son of a priest, and his name was Nikolai Fedorovich. Having received a seminary education in Kostroma, he went to study at the Moscow Theological Academy. But he never became a priest, but began to practice as a lawyer in judicial institutions. Over time, he rose to the rank of titular councilor and received the title of nobility.

Ostrovsky's biography (short) says that Ostrovsky's mother, Lyubov Ivanovna, died when he was 7 years old. There are six children left in the family. Subsequently, their stepmother, Emilia Andreevna von Tesin, who was the daughter of a Swedish nobleman, took care of the family. The Ostrovsky family did not need anything; much attention was paid to the education and upbringing of children.

Childhood

Ostrovsky spent almost his entire childhood in Zamoskvorechye. His father had a large library, the boy began studying Russian literature early and felt a craving for writing, but his father wanted his son to become a lawyer.

From 1835 to 1940, Alexander studied at the Moscow Gymnasium. Then he entered Moscow University and began studying to become a lawyer. But a quarrel with the teacher did not allow him to finish last course university. And then his father got him a job in court. He received his first salary in the amount of 4 rubles, but then it increased to 15 rubles.

Creation

Further, Ostrovsky’s biography (brief) indicates that Alexander Ostrovsky’s fame and popularity as a playwright was brought to him by the play “Our People - Let’s Be Numbered!”, published in 1850. This play was approved by I. A. Goncharov and N. V. Gogol. But the Moscow merchants did not like it, and the merchants complained to the sovereign. Then, by personal order of Nicholas I, its author was dismissed from service and placed under police supervision, which was lifted only under Alexander II. And in 1861, the play again saw the theatrical stage.

During Ostrovsky’s disgraced period, the first play staged in St. Petersburg was called “Don’t Get in Your Own Sleigh.” Ostrovsky's biography (brief) includes information that for 30 years his plays were staged at the St. Petersburg Alexandrinsky and Moscow Maly Theaters. In 1856, Ostrovsky began working for the Sovremennik magazine.

Ostrovsky Alexander Nikolaevich. Works

In 1859, Ostrovsky, with the support of G. A. Kushelev-Bezborodko, published the first collection of essays in two volumes. At this point, the Russian critic Dobrolyubov will note that Ostrovsky is an accurate portrayal of the “dark kingdom.”

In 1860, after “The Thunderstorm,” Dobrolyubov called him “a ray of light in a dark kingdom.”

Indeed, Alexander Ostrovsky knew how to captivate with his remarkable talent. “The Thunderstorm” became one of the playwright’s most striking works, the writing of which was also associated with his personal drama. Prototype main character the play was played by actress Lyubov Pavlovna Kositskaya, with her for a long time had a close relationship, although they were both not free people. She was the first to play this role. Ostrovsky made the image of Katerina tragic in its own way, so he reflected in it all the suffering and torment of the soul of a Russian woman.

Cradle of Talents

In 1863, Ostrovsky was awarded the Uvarov Prize and became an elected corresponding member of the Academy of Sciences of St. Petersburg. Later, in 1865, he organized the Artistic Circle, which became the cradle of many talents.

Ostrovsky hosted such eminent guests in his house as F. M. Dostoevsky, L. N. Tolstoy, P. I. Tchaikovsky, M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin, I. S. Turgenev, etc.

In 1874, the writer-playwright founded the Society of Russian Dramatic Writers and Opera Composers, of which Ostrovsky remained the chairman until his death. He also served on the commission associated with the revision of the theater management regulations, which led to new changes, thanks to which the position of artists was significantly improved.

In 1881, a benefit performance of the opera “The Snow Maiden” by N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov took place at the Mariinsky Theater. Ostrovsky's biography (short) indicates that at these moments Ostrovsky was incredibly pleased musical arrangement great composer.

Last years

In 1885, the playwright became the head of the repertoire department of Moscow theaters and headed the theater school. Ostrovsky almost always had money problems, although he collected good fees from his plays and had a pension assigned by the emperor Alexander III. Ostrovsky had many plans, he was literally burning at work, this affected his health and depleted his vitality.

On June 2, 1886, he died on his Shchelykovo estate near Kostroma. He was 63 years old. His body was buried next to his father’s grave at the Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker in the Kostroma province in the village of Nikolo-Berezhki.

The widow, actress Maria Andreevna Bakhmetyeva, three sons and a daughter were awarded a pension by Tsar Alexander III.

His estate in Shchelykovo is now a memorial and natural museum Ostrovsky.

Conclusion

Ostrovsky created his own drama school with its holistic concept theatrical production. The main component of his theater was that it did not contain extreme situations, but depicted life situations, going into the everyday life and psychology of a person of that time, which Alexander Nikolaevich Ostrovsky knew very well. short biography describes that Ostrovsky’s theater had many ideas, but to bring them to life, new stage aesthetics and new actors were needed. All this was later brought to mind by K. S. Stanislavsky and M. A. Bulgakov.

Ostrovsky's dramas served as the basis for film adaptations and television series. Among them are the film “The Marriage of Balzaminov”, shot in 1964 based on the play “What You Go For, That’s What You Will Find” by director K. Voinov, the film “ Cruel romance", filmed in 1984 based on "Dowry" by director Eldar Ryazanov. In 2005, Evgeny Ginzburg directed the film “Anna” based on the play “Guilty Without Guilt.”

Ostrovsky created an extensive repertoire for the Russian theater stage, which included 47 highly original plays. He worked in collaboration with talented young playwrights, including P. M. Nevezhin and N. Ya. Solovyov. Ostrovsky's dramaturgy became national due to its origins and traditions.