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 a teacher prevented him from finishing his last year at 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 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 began to manage the repertoire department of Moscow theaters and headed drama 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 of 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.

Creative path of A.N. Ostrovsky

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. 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, 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 and argued a lot about literature, 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 “ Gogol direction"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. Ostrovsky's first literary experiments in prose were marked by the influence natural school(“Notes of a Zamoskvoretsky resident”, 1847). In the same year, his first was published in the Moscow City Leaflet. 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 Otechestvennye zapiski, 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 the 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, 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 public relations, 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 nationalism, ideological nature, and bold denunciation 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.

Ostrovsky's activities contributed to the victory of life's truth on the Russian stage. With great artistic force, 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 the development of the 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 theater he was in need of a special repertoire 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 protest, forgiving the entire foundation of society.

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

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Ostrovsky's chronological table helps to highlight the main stages of the writer's life. This article provides information about Ostrovsky’s life and work by date in a convenient form. The biography of A. N. Ostrovsky, a famous Russian playwright, will be of interest to schoolchildren and anyone interested in Russian classical literature.

Ostrovsky made a unique contribution to performing arts. The theater business occupies a place of honor in Ostrovsky’s life. The periodization of his creative path reflects the dates of development of the Russian theater associated with the founding of the Artistic Circle. The works of Alexander Nikolaevich Ostrovsky in the table are indicated in chronological sequence. You can learn more about the playwright’s work in a special section.

1823, March 31– A.N. was born. Ostrovsky in Moscow in the family of an official of the Moscow departments of the Senate Nikolai Fedorovich Ostrovsky and his wife Lyubov Ivanovna.

1831 – Death of mother A.N. Ostrovsky.

1835 – Admission to the third grade of the 1st Moscow gymnasium.

1840 – Admission to the Faculty of Law of Moscow University.

assigned to serve in the Moscow Conscientious Court.

1847, February 14– Reading the play “The Picture of Family Happiness” by S.P. Shevyreva, first success.

1853, January 14– Premiere on the stage of the Maly Theater of the comedy “Don’t Sit in Your Own Sleigh,” the first play by A. N. Ostrovsky staged in the theater.

1856 – Cooperation with the Sovremennik magazine.

1860, January– The play “The Thunderstorm” was first published in No. 1 of the “Library for Reading” magazine.

1865, March-April– The charter of the Moscow artistic circle was approved (A.N. Ostrovsky, V.F. Odoevsky, N.G. Rubinstein).

opening of the Artistic Circle.

1868, November– In issue No. 11 of the magazine “Otechestvennye zapiski” the comedy “Simplicity is Enough for Every Wise Man” was published.

1870, November– On the initiative of A. N. Ostrovsky, the Meeting of Russian Dramatic Writers was established in Moscow, which was later transformed into the Society of Russian Dramatic Writers and Opera Composers.

1874 – A. N. Ostrovsky was unanimously elected chairman of the Society of Russian Dramatic Writers and Opera Composers.

1879 – The drama “Dowry” was published in No. 5 of Otechestvennye Zapiski.

"Table talk about Pushkin."

1882, January– The comedy “Talents and Admirers” was published in No. 1 of Otechestvennye Zapiski.

1882, February– Honoring A. N. Ostrovsky on the occasion of the 35th anniversary of his creative activity.

1886, June 2– Death of A.N. Ostrovsky. He was buried in the cemetery in Nikolo-Berezhki near Shchelykovo.

March's most popular materials for the classroom.

Vital and creative path Alexander Nikolaevich Ostrovsky (1823-1886)

• 1. The beginning of the writer’s creative path. The nature of his plays
• 2. Ostrovsky's dramaturgy. Features of character creation
• 3. The main features of the worldview and methods of their development in accordance with the development of literature and society
• 4. The significance of the work of Ostrovsky the playwright

A.N. Ostrovsky is a great Russian playwright. Developing traditions realistic the dramaturgy of Griboyedov, Pushkin, Gogol, with his creativity he completed the creation of Russian national dramaturgy and established realism on the Russian stage. His theater was the school of several generations of Russian actors. The significance of the activities of Ostrovsky, who for more than 40 years published in the best magazines of Russia and staged plays on the stages of the imperial theaters of St. Petersburg and Moscow, many of which were events in the literary and theatrical life era. Briefly but very accurately described in Goncharov’s famous letter to the playwright himself: “You have brought a whole library as a gift to literature works of art, they created their own special world for the stage. You alone completed the building, which was based on the cornerstones of Fonvizin, Griboedov, and Gogol. But only after you, we Russians can proudly say: “We have our own Russian national theater.” It should rightly be called the "Ostrovsky Theater".

Ostrovsky began his creative journey in the 40s during the lifetime of Gogol and Belinsky and completed it in the second half of the 80s, when Chekhov entered literature.

He was published in Sovremennik and Otechestvennye zapiski; he had friendly relations with Nekrasov, L. Tolstoy, Turgenev, Goncharov and other writers. He followed their work and listened to their opinions about his plays.

A.N. Ostrovsky was born on March 31, 1823 in the family of an official who lived in Zamoskvorechye. The ancestors belonged to the spiritual class.

Ostrovsky had home teachers from the age of 6, and at the age of 12 he entered the 3rd grade of the first Moscow gymnasium.

Having graduated with honors, he, at the request of his father, entered the Faculty of Law of Moscow University (without exams). Didn't finish 2nd year because... received a 1 in legal history, submitted a petition and was expelled. From an early age he was interested in art and dreamed of literary activity, but out of necessity he had to deal with the affairs of a minor official. From 1843 to 1851 he served in court. It brought a lot of benefits.

While still a student, I became a passionate theatergoer. He saw his calling in dramaturgy, and serving the theater became his cherished dream. His father rose in rank and became rich, he turned into an ordinary conservative. He did not like his eldest son's passion for theater and literature. But the father’s even greater displeasure was caused by the fact that Alexander Nikolaevich fell in love a simple girl from a bourgeois environment, he brought her into his home as his wife.

An angry father deprived his son of all financial assistance. For Ostrovsky, material insecurity began, which continued throughout his life.

In 1867, the playwright's first wife Agafey Ivanovna died and in 1869 he married the actress of the Moscow Maly Theater Maria Vasilievna Vasilyeva. Ostrovsky had 4 sons and 2 daughters. He died at his desk, like a sentry on duty, on June 14, 1886.

In the early 40s, Ostrovsky, fascinated by the work of Gogol and criticism of the Gogol period, especially criticism of Belinsky, wrote essays. Already in these years, he not only determined the range of topics for his future work, but also came close to assessing the moral meaning of the phenomena of reality he observed. Already in the mid-40s, young Ostrovsky was faced with questions:

• 1) about the relationship between progress and strength inertia, numbness in the life of entire layers of Russian society and its individual representatives;
• 2) about real and imaginary enlightenment;
• 3) about living traditions and dead stereotypes of life (the first aspects are reflected in the works of Fonvizin and Griboyedov).

Ostrovsky approached these problems as a keen observer, an original and deeply thinking person.

He turns his observations to Zamoskvorechye. In his “Notes of a Zamoskvoretsky Resident” (1847), he reports that the subject of his image will be a certain part of everyday life, limited from the rest of the world territorially (by the Moscow River) and fenced off by the conservative isolation of its way of life.

Ostrovsky correlates the customs of Zamoskvorechye with the rights of the rest of Moscow, contrasting them, but even more often bringing them together. the main problem, which the young writer places as the basis for his knowledge of the world of Zamoskvorechye - the relationship in this closed world of traditionality, stability of being and the active principle, development trends. Under Ostrovsky's pen, Zamoskvorechye turns into a symbol of patriarchal life.

Ostrovsky shows a special interest in mass psychology and the worldview of an entire social environment. He comes to the conviction that the continuous interaction of the patriarchal traditional way of life and the stable views formed in its bosom with the new needs of society and constructions reflecting the interests of historical progress is the source of the endless variety of modern social and moral illusions and conflicts.

The dramatic form, according to Ostrovsky, most corresponded to ideas about the features historical existence Russian society and was in tune with the desire for educational art of a special type.

Ostrovsky's interest in the aesthetics of drama and his view of the drama of Russian life bore fruit in his first major comedy, “Our People - We Will Be Numbered.” It was perceived as a great event in art, a completely new phenomenon.

Parents. 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 lawyer, dealing with property and commercial matters; rose to the rank of titular councilor, and in 1839 received the nobility.

Education year - Alexander Ostrovsky was sent to the 1st Moscow Gymnasium year - Ostrovsky graduates from high school and enters the Faculty of Law of Moscow University, but did not complete the courses. His father wants Alexander to become a lawyer, but his desire to literary creativity and passion for theater turn out to be stronger.

1843 service in the office of the Moscow Conscientious Court. Work in the Moscow Commercial Court.

In 1853 he entered into a civil marriage with Agafya Ivanovna Ivanova, who had four children from him. In 1869, after the death of Agafya Ivanovna from tuberculosis, Ostrovsky entered into new marriage with Maly Theater actress Maria Vasilyeva. From his second marriage the writer had five children.

After the death of the writer, the Moscow Duma established a reading room named after A.N. in Moscow. Ostrovsky. May 27, 1929, in Moscow, on Theater Square A monument to Ostrovsky was unveiled in front of the Maly Theater building (sculptor N.A. Andreev, architect I.P. Mashkov). A.N. Ostrovsky is listed in the Russian Divo Book of Records as “the most prolific playwright” (1993).

Work in the judiciary greatly helped Ostrovsky as a writer, it provided rich material for future creativity, because before him were unimagined stories from privacy ordinary people. The result is 48 works, in which 547 characters act.

On January 14, 1853, the curtain rose on the first performance of the comedy “Don’t Get in Your Own Sleigh” at the Maly Theater.

First period () Time of the first literary experiments. He relied on Gogol’s traditions and the creative experience of the “natural school” of the 1840s. During these years, the first dramatic works were created, including the comedy “Bankrut” (“We will count our own people!”), for which the author was dismissed from service and placed under police supervision.

The second period () is called “Moscow”. Ostrovsky became close to the young employees of the Moskvityanin magazine: A.A. Grigoriev, T.I. Filippov, B.N. Almazov and E.N. Edelson. During this period, only three plays were written: “Don’t get into your own sleigh,” “Poverty is not a vice,” and “Don’t live the way you want.”

Third period () I became close to the leaders of the Raznochinsky democracy by the staff of the Sovremennik magazine. The creative outcome of this period were the plays “At Someone Else’s Feast There’s a Hangover,” “A Profitable Place,” and “The Thunderstorm.”

Fourth period () The genre range expanded, the poetics of his works became more diverse. 1) comedies from merchant life (“Maslenitsa is not for everyone”, “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 about “little people” (“An old friend is better than two new ones”, “Hard days ", "Jokers" and the trilogy about Balzaminov), 4) historical chronicle plays ("Kozma Zakharyich Minin-Sukhoruk", "Tushino", etc.), 5) psychological dramas ("Dowry", " The last victim" and etc.). The fairy-tale play “The Snow Maiden” stands apart.