Drama of the second half of the 19th century. Russian dramaturgy

It can hardly be regarded as an accident that among the very first and greatest realistic works in Russian literature are the comedy by A. S. Griboedov (1795, according to other sources 1790-1829) “Woe from Wit” (1824) and the tragedy by A. S. Pushkin “Boris Godunov” (1825).

It is therefore necessary to special attention take a closer look at the processes that took place in Russian dramaturgy of the first quarter of the XIX V. Of course, the main trends in the development of drama depended on general patterns in the movement of literature, but at the same time they also had their own specific quality, due to the special nature of the dramatic type of literature.

One of the significant features of dramaturgy is its close connection with the theater. Moreover, at the beginning of the 19th century. theater has largely subordinated dramaturgy to itself. Characteristic in in this regard statement of the most significant playwright of that time - V. A. Ozerov that he “agreed to publish his tragedies out of the same convictions ... of friends, never being curious to see in print what he wrote solely out of inclination ... to theatrical spectacles and without any search for the author and poet."

It is also noteworthy that in the first decades of the century, almost all plays were printed in theater printing houses, and the list of characters was certainly accompanied by the names of the actors - the first performers of these roles. The literary basis of the performance was considered at that time as something not entirely complete, unthinkable without a stage embodiment.

Having risen to classical heights, it is no coincidence that Russian drama breaks with such dependence, which degrades the play as a literary work. Having finished work on “Woe from Wit,” Griboyedov recalled: “The first outline of this stage poem, as it was born in me, was much more magnificent and of higher significance than now in the vain outfit in which I was forced to clothe it.

The childish pleasure of hearing my poems in the theater, the desire for them to succeed, forced me to spoil my creation as much as possible. Such is the fate of everyone who writes for the stage: Racine and Shakespeare suffered the same fate - so should I complain? - In an excellent poem there is a lot to guess; not fully expressed thoughts or feelings affect the reader’s soul all the more because in it, in its innermost depths, are hidden those strings that the author barely touched, often with one hint - but he was understood, everything is already intelligible, and clear, and strong.

This requires on both sides: on the one hand, a gift, an art; on the other - receptivity, attention. But how can one demand it from a crowd of people who are more preoccupied with their own personality than with the author and his work? Moreover, there are so many habits and conditions that have nothing to do with the aesthetic part of creation, but we must conform to them.”

It would be a mistake to interpret these lines in the sense of a romantic declaration about the elitist purpose of poetry. Breaking even more decisively with the essentially same “habits and conditions, not in the least connected with the aesthetic part of the creation,” Pushkin also anticipates a new type of theater, not subject to the narrow rules of “good form.”

In his notes on folk drama we find a striking consonance with Griboyedov’s thoughts, as if they were a continuation and development of them. “Our tragedy,” the poet noted, “formed after the example of Rasinova’s tragedy, can it wean itself from its aristocratic habits?

How can she move from her conversation, measured, important and decent, to the rough frankness of popular passions, to the freedom of judgment of the square - how can she suddenly give up servility, how to do without the rules to which she is accustomed, the forced adaptation of everything Russian to everything European, where , from whom can I learn a dialect that is understandable to the people? What are the essence of the passions of this people, what are the strings of their hearts, where will it find consonance - in a word, where are the spectators, where is the public?

Instead of an audience, she will meet the same small, limited circle - and - will offend his arrogant habits (dédaigneux); instead of consonance, echoes and applause, she will hear petty, affectionate criticism. Insurmountable obstacles will arise before it - in order for it to set up its stage, it would be necessary to change and overthrow the customs, mores and concepts of entire centuries...”

These notes largely clarify Griboyedov’s bitter confession. Dissatisfied with the writer’s enslavement to the conventions imposed on him by tradition, he, however, does not leave the dramatic field even after “Woe from Wit”; The sketches of his latest plans that have reached us clearly indicate that the writer is moving towards a national tragedy.

Paradoxically, in the above judgments of both writers, the factors holding back the original development of drama are those that had a positive meaning in previous decades and made the theater of that time an aesthetically and socially significant phenomenon.

The very dependence of the literary basis of a work on its theatrical embodiment, the play on the performance, during the first decades of the 19th century. was generally fruitful. Actually, literature in dramatic genres turned out to be closely connected with other types of art, more developed: with acting, painting, music and dance.

The performance usually consisted of several multi-genre performances and absorbed the entire palette of artistic influences. Here is the usual program of a theater evening in this sense, as it is described by a theater historian: “On February 11 (1818 - S.F.) there was a very remarkable performance at the Bolshoi Theater ...: “Semella, or the Vengeance of Juno,” a mythological performance in the 1st act, in free verse, adapted from German from Schiller's theater An. An. Gendre, with choirs and ballets... Then came “Feigned Infidelity”, a comedy in the 1st act, op. Barthes, remade from French by Griboyedov and Gendre.” Two plays are adaptations, not without innovations introduced into them by the translators, but still not too significant.

But that evening, almost the entire troupe with the choir, corps de ballet, opera and ballet orchestras performed in front of the audience, the success of the performance was predetermined not only by the skill of the wonderful actors - E. Semenova and Sosnitsky, ballerinas - Istomina and Novitskaya, but also by the scenery of Gonzago, the ballet by Didelot , music by Kavos and Antopolini.

The syncretism of theatrical performances could not help but influence dramaturgy. Although in the dramaturgical theory of those years the classicist canon seemed strong, theatrical practice constantly eroded this canon, causing the mutual enrichment of dramaturgical genres, which were subject to various, very whimsical modifications.

The entertainment and syncretism of theatrical performances of that era, apparently, can be correlated with Pushkin’s tragedy “Boris Godunov”: at least the clash of different genre scenes, from tragic to farcical, with singing (“The Inn on the Lithuanian Border”), dancing (“The Voivode’s Castle”) Mnishka in Sambir"), battles ("Plain near Novgorod-Seversky"), the very rapid change of scenery, the transformation of the castle into a garden with a fountain, the forest oak grove into the royal chambers - formally were not news for the theater of Pushkin's time, technically they were within the capabilities of the theatrical troupe, and theatrical machines, which was constantly demonstrated, for example, in the genre of magic-comic opera, the most widespread theatrical genre first quarter of the 19th century

History of Russian literature: in 4 volumes / Edited by N.I. Prutskov and others - L., 1980-1983.

Artistic structure comedy

A.S. Griboyedov "Woe from Wit"

* Practical tasks on systematization of material

Formulate aesthetic principles Griboyedov, based on his letter to P. Katenin. Comment on the positions of the disputants and the essence of the controversy.

Take notes on several literary sources, highlight the problems identified by scientists when studying comedy. Mark the most original works, in your opinion, and analyze them.

Interview Questions

I. Features of the conflict:

a) essence, social nature and developmental features. Reflection of Decembrist ideas and sentiments in the comedy;

b) conflict, its specificity, double intrigue; two dramas by Chatsky (“Woe from Wit” and “Woe from Love”), their relationship in comedy;

c) conflict: “archetypal” and “historical”;

d) Moscow and the “Moscow text” (utopia of social harmony and real life).

II. Character: text and extra-textual reality ( historical background and es-

thetic perspective). Modeling principles and nature of characteristics

• literary, theatrical associations (roles, roles, etc.);

· mixing of codes in Chatsky and fluctuating meaning: the elegiac canon and its decline (motive high madness, voluntary exile, fugitive, not understood by the world wanderer etc.; parody of the carriage motif), playing with the schemes of classicism (change of poles and point of view);

· Molchalin, Sophia and others;

· life-likeness (specification: historical, social, psychological)

chological, destruction of the rationalistic scheme, “living”

as contradictory, etc.);

• author's assessment;
• behavioral code;
• the principle of compromise;
• Repetilov’s place, off-stage and extra-plot functions

characters;

· Disputes about Chatsky in Russian criticism and literary criticism.

III. Artistic structure of comedy:

a) the poetics of the name;

b) originality of the plot;

c) the role of exposition in depicting the characters of the characters;

d) life-like authenticity of the plot;

e) increasing drama and ideological culmination;

f) the peculiarity of the outcome (unexpected end acts);

g) ambiguity of the ending.

Compositional principles:

· musicality of the structure (symmetry, specularity, contra-

point, “loop”, etc.);

· final, its rhythm, semantics and functions; “doubling” in the structure of the finale;

“In the finale, all links, including the last one, are broken, and instead of centripetal forces, centrifugal forces triumph. At the same time, the finale remains the finale in its sound, but as if in a mirror image, with positive signs changing to negative ones” (E. Khudoshina).

· “acting out” the ending in previous actions;

· classical, geometrically clear formula and non-

classical uncertainty;

• metaphysical overtones;
• transformation of unities;
• author's position (author and hero, dialectics of comic and

tragic).

IV. Genre genesis and synthesis (French comedy, slapstick comedy, etc.).

V. Comedy laughter:

· the dynamics of comedic couplings, their rhythm, from comic incongruity to the tragedy of misunderstanding;

· Dialogization of comedic conflict;

· the “ancient principle” – the dynamics of equality of all before fate – and its egalitarian tendency;

VI. Function of poetic form (repetitions, rhymes, etc.).

* Exercise. Analysis of the poster: the poetics of names and the principle of character modeling.

1. Analyze the work of M. Kiselev. Show ambiguity

semantics of character names;

2. Analysis of comedy motives;

3. Rhymes of characters and rhymes of situations, their content: poetics of mirroring;

4. Analysis of the plot composition.

Literature

1. Khalizev, V. Dramatic work and some problems of its study // Analysis dramatic work. – L.: Leningrad State University Publishing House, 1988. – P. 6-27.

Comedy Analysis

1. Medvedeva, I.N. “Woe from Wit” A.S. Griboedova. – M.: Artistic

nay literature, 1974. – 201 p.

Education, 1972. – 207 p.

3. Maimin, E. Theory and practice of literary analysis: textbook. manual for teachers Inst. – M.: Education, 1984. – 160 p.

4. Markovich, V.M. Comedy in verse by Griboedov “Woe from Wit” // Analysis of a dramatic work. – L., 1988. – P. 59-91.

5. Shavrogi, S.M. About the plot of the comedy “Woe from Wit” // Russian literature. – 1994. – No. 1.

6. Bilinkis, Y.S. About one scene in “Woe from Wit” // Russian literature. – St. Petersburg, 1995. – N 3. – P. 249-250.

7. Bilinkis, M.Ya. The phenomenon of “Woe from Wit” // “The present century and the past century...”: Comedy by A.S. Griboyedov “Woe from Wit” in Russian criticism and literary criticism: [Collection of articles / Intro. Art. V.M. Markovich; Comment. M.Ya. Bilinkis]. – St. Petersburg: ABC-classics, 2002. – P. 392-404.

8. Alexandrova, M.A. About the last act of “Woe from Wit” // Drama and Theater. – Tver, 2002. – Issue. 4. – pp. 30-39.

1. Belinsky, V.G. Woe from Wit // Collection. cit.: in 9 vols. – M.: Fiction– T. 2. – 1972. – P. 171 – 254.

2. Vyazemsky, P.A. Notes on the comedy “Woe from Wit” // New Literary Review. – 1999. – No. 38. – P. 237 – 251.

3. Goncharov, I.A. A million torments // Collection. cit.: in 4 vols. – M.: Goslitizdat. – T. 8. – 1955. – P. 7 – 41.

4. Gogol, N.V. What, finally, is the essence of Russian poetry and what is its peculiarity // Gogol N.V. Collection Op.: In 6 vols. – M., 1953.

5. Pushkin, A.S. Letter to Vyazemsky, A. Bestuzhev from the beginning of 1825 // Pushkin A.S. Collection cit.: In 10 T. T. 10.

6. Goncharov, I.A. “A Million Torments” (any edition).

Scientific literature

1. Tynyanov, Yu.N. The plot of “Woe from Wit” // Tynyanov Yu.N. Pushkin and his contemporaries. – M., 1969.

2. Piksanov, N.K. Creative history"Woe from Wit." – M.: Nauka, 1971. – 400 p.

3. Medvedeva, I.N. “Woe from Wit” by Griboyedov. – M.: Fiction, 1971. – 201 p.

4. Borisov, A. “Woe from Wit” by Griboedov and the poetic comedy of his time. – Saratov: Saratov University Publishing House, 1978. – 104 p.

5. Fomichev, S.A. Comedy A.S. Griboyedov "Woe from Wit". Comment: Book. for the teacher. – M.: Education, 1983. – 208 p.

6. Smolnikov, I.F. Comedy A.S. Griboyedov “Woe from Wit”: Book. For students. – M.: Education, 1986. – 112 p.

7. Bazhenov, A. To the secret of “Woe from Wit.” Griboyedov and his immortal comedy. – M.: Moscow State University Publishing House, 2001. – 96 p.

8. Fomichev, S.A. A.S. Griboyedov: Encyclopedia. – St. Petersburg: Nestor-history, 2007. – 394 p.

9. Dictionary literary characters: In 2 volumes / Comp. and resp. ed. V.P. Meshcheryakov. – M.: Textbook. center "Moscow" Lyceum”, 1997. – T. 1: XVIII-mid-XIX centuries. – M.: Textbook. center "Moscow" Lyceum." – 254 s.; T.2. – 223 p.

Science articles

* Exercise.

Watch how the problems of scientific research are changing.

Take notes on several articles in preparation for class.

1. Korman, B.O. On the discussion about Griboyedov’s comedy “Woe from Wit” // Izvestia of the USSR Academy of Sciences. OLYA. Vol. VI. – T. 29. – 1970. – P. 522-531.

2. Solovyov, V. Living and Tenants (Philosophy and composition “Woe from Wit”) // Questions of Literature. – 1970. – No. 11. – P.155-176.

3. Levin, V. Griboyedov and Chatsky // News of the USSR Academy of Sciences. Series: OLYA. – 1970. – No. 1. – T. 29. – P. 33-47.

4. Goller, V. Drama of a Comedy // Questions of Literature. – 1988. – No. 1. – pp. 109–145.

5. Sverdlina, S.V. Monologues without an addressee in “Woe from Wit” by Griboyedov // Scientific reports of higher education. Philological sciences. – M., 1987. – N 2. – P. 71-73.

6. Khazan, V.I. The problem of artistic space in A.S. Griboyedov’s comedy “Woe from Wit” // Questions of Russian literature. – Lvov, 1988. – Issue. 1 (51). – P. 3-11.

7. Kachinskaya, I.B. About Repetilov’s speech mask // Russian speech. – M., 1990. – N 2. – P. 31-36.

8. Ognyanova, E.M. Comedy A.S. Griboyedov “Woe from Wit”: (From the experience of commenting) // Russian literature. – M., 1993. – N 3. – P. 52-56.

9. Shavrygin, S.M. About the plot of the comedy by A.S. Griboyedov “Woe from Wit”: (A.I. Pisarev – A.A. Shakhovskoy – A.S. Griboedov) // Russian literature. – St. Petersburg, 1994. – N 1. – P. 123-142.

10. Motorin, A.V. The evolution of artistic worldview in the works of A.S. Griboedova // Russian literature. – St. Petersburg, 1993. – N 1. – P. 21-36.

11. Shestakova, L.L. “The hand of Griboedov... guided the Russian language itself”: observations on the language of comedy in relation to the central problem, the problem of the mind // 1995. – No. 1. – P.51-58. (Analysis of literary text). – No. 7-8. – P.98-139.

12. Glass, A. “Princess Marya Alekseevna” // New Literary Review. – M., 1996. – N 17. – P. 119-140.

13. Lebedeva, O.B. A.S. Griboyedov and D.I. Fonvizin: On the problem of the typology of action and plot structure of Russian high comedy // Russian literature. – St. Petersburg, 1996. – N 1. – P. 129-138.

14. Kichikova, B.A. Genre originality“Woe from Wit” by Griboedov: (Poetic genres in the structure of poetic comedy) // Russian literature. – St. Petersburg, 1996. – N 1. – P. 138-150.

15. Fukson, L.Yu. Once again about the meaning of the name “Woe from Wit” // Humanities in Siberia. Series: Philology. – Novosibirsk, 2001. – N 4. – P. 8-12.

16. Kunarev, A.A. “Bah! All the faces are familiar!..”: Notes on anthroponymy “Woe from Wit.” – M., 2002. – N 5. – P. 123-128.

17. Uspensky, V.A. Do calendars lie to everyone and everything? // New Literary Review. – M., 2002. – N 56. – P. 232-240.

18. Tsimbaeva, E. Artistic image in a historical context: (Analysis of biographies of characters in “Woe from Wit”) // Questions of literature. – M., 2003. – Issue. 4. – pp. 98-139.

19. Tsimbaeva, E.N. Artistic image in a historical context: analysis of the biographies of the characters in “Woe from Wit” // Issues of Literature. – 2003. – No. 7-8. – P.98-139.

20. Kunarev, A.A. “I have an aversion to ranks and high titles...”: (Fragments of a commentary on the comedy “Woe from Wit” by A.S. Griboyedov) // Russian Literature. – M., 2004. – N 3. – P. 27-39.

21. Stapanov, A.V. Mind as a word-concept in “Woe from Wit” // Russian Literature. – M., 2004. – N 1. – P. 59-63.

22. Alpatova, T. “The Magic of the Word” in art world“Woe from Wit” by A.S. Griboyedov // Literature at school. – M., 2004. – N 8. – P. 2-7. Article two // Literature at school. – M., 2004. – N 10. – P. 2-7.

23. Kalashnikov, S.B. On the lyrical principle of plot formation in the comedy of A.S. Griboyedov “Woe from Wit” // Bulletin of the Voronezh State. un-ta. Series: Humanite. Sciences. – Voronezh, 2004. – N 2. – P. 120-124.

24. Radomskaya, T.I. A book in the life and work of A.S. Griboyedova // Library Science. – M., 2006. – N 6. – P. 50-55.

25. Radomskaya, T.I. Problems of books, mind and knowledge in the creative world A.S. Griboedova // Literature at school. – M., 2007. – N 10. – P. 11-13.

26. Todorov, L.V. Dramatic verse by Griboyedov // Literature at school. – M., 2007. – N 9. – P. 7-11.

27. Vlashchenko, V.I. Dreams in the works of Griboyedov and Pushkin: “Woe from Wit” and “Blizzard” // Literature at school. – M., 2007. – N 9. – P. 2-7.

28. Vlashchenko, V.I. Dreams in the works of Griboedov and Pushkin: “Woe from Wit” and “Blizzard” // Literature at school. – M., 2007. – N 10. – P. 7-11.

29. Sharafadina, K.I. The poetology of the floral motif of Sophia’s dream in “Woe from Wit” by A.S. Griboyedova // Philological sciences. – M., 2008. – N 1. – P. 14-23.

30. Kozlova, S.M.; Zimina, M.A. Historical dynamics of the discourse of madness in the comedy of A.S. Griboyedov “Woe from Wit” // Siberian Philological Journal. – Barnaul et al., 2009. – N 3. – P. 33-36.

31. Goller, B. “Woe from Wit” in a Changing World // Questions of Literature. – M., 2009. – Issue. 4. – pp. 220-290.

32. Kunarev, A.A. “...and don’t play cards: he’ll sell you”: From the comments to “Woe from Wit” by A.S. Griboyedova // Literature at school. – M., 2010. – N 12. – P. 20-22.

33. Kunarev, A.A. Who did Famusov warm up to: From the comments to “Woe from Wit” by A.S. Griboedova // Literature at school. – M., 2011. – N 2. – P. 13-15.

Additionally:

1. Zorin, A. “Woe from Wit” and Russian comedy art of the 10-20s of the 19th century (N3/1993)

2. Yzerman, L. “Woe to Wit and Woe to Wit” (N1/1995).

3. Mezentseva, L. “Flying cap” (N5/1995)

4. Vlashchenko, Vl. Chatsky and Sophia (N12/1995).

5. Rassadin, S. The Riddle of Chatsky (N20/1996).

6. Prorokov, M. “Which of the two?” About the plot of the dream and the hero of the conflict in Griboyedov’s comedy (N2/1997).

7. Ishchuk-Fadeeva, N. Comedy about the tragedy of personality (N27/1997).

8. Koshelev, V. “The light is growing stupid” and “the light is empty.” Griboedov's formulas in Pushkin's Onegin (N34/2000).

9. Mendeleeva, D. Comedy without a hero (N44/2000).

10. Mashevsky, A. Who cares? About Griboedov's comedy (N11/2003).

11. Romanicheva, E. The role of off-stage characters in the comedy of A.S. Griboyedov “Woe from Wit” (N9/2005).

12. Romanicheva, E. What is the meaning of the “open” ending of A.S.’s comedy. Griboyedov "Woe from Wit"? (N9/2005).

13. Rylova, A. The role of costume in the comedy “Woe from Wit” (N12/2005).

14. Gorsky, M. The motive of deafness in the comedy “Woe from Wit” (N12/2005).

The origins of Russian progressive drama, in line with which the work of A.N. Ostrovsky and A.P. arose. Chekhov, - in the people's theater. Domestic

The folk theater is characterized by:

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13. Ostrovsky's innovation

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16. OSTROVSKY THEATER

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18. The main ideas of theater reform:

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20. “My task is to serve Russian dramatic art. I am everything: the academy, the philanthropist, and the defense.”

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30. Scene from the Maly Theater play “The Seagull”. Doctor Dorn - Yaroslav Baryshev, Arkadina - Irina Muravyova

18th century theater

European theater of the 18th century. was first and foremost a theater of actors. He was at the mercy of individual performers. Many playwrights created their works for their specific talents. Often the actors themselves remade classics to suit their own tastes and express individual style execution. Shakespeare's plays were especially often changed, while trying to please not only the tastes of the actors, but also to correspond to the classical ideals of justice and goodness. Sometimes this led to funny things. "King Lear", "Romeo and Juliet", for example, were given happy endings. But the reaction against neoclassicism gradually increased, largely due to the emergence of the middle class. Playwrights such as Lessing, Marivaux, Lillo wrote “average” dramas, i.e. depicted lower, middle class characters in more or less realistic and simplified situations in which perfection invariably triumphed. These plays were known by different names: internal drama, tearful comedy, sentimental drama. In writing and production, there was an increasing emphasis on realistic detail and historical accuracy, although these elements were not used with full consistency until late XIX century.

Romanticism.

IN late XVIII V. some philosophical ideas, which stood in obvious or hidden opposition to classicism, began to actively develop and, ultimately, were expressed in the beginning XIX century, in a movement known as romanticism. In its purest form, Romanticism focused on the spiritual world of man. It was the expression of a certain desire to exceed limitations physical world and body (finite), in search of ideal truth (infinite). Perhaps one of the best examples of romantic drama is Goethe's Faust (1808-1832). Based on the classic legend of a man who sells his soul to the devil, this play of epic proportions depicts humanity's attempt to master all knowledge and power in a constant struggle with the universe. Romanticism, based and focused on emotion, as opposed to rationalism, did not describe objects of study of the real world, but rather an ideal and glorified the idea of ​​​​the artist as a mad genius, unfettered by any rules. Romanticism thus gave rise to a vast body of dramatic literature and productions in which the presentation of significant ideas was replaced by emotional manipulation. Romantics tried to contrast the prosaic everyday life of bourgeois modernity with a world of adventure, bright and bizarre images.

The largest romantic playwrights in France were V. Hugo, Dumas the Father, and P. Merimee. They tried to create a new type of drama (see Hugo's preface to Cromwell) of an epic nature, but excessive passion for politics and a lack of stage presence did not allow this idea to come true. An important place in theoretical terms is occupied by the theory of the romantic grotesque, which was understood not as an exaggeration, but as a combination of opposite, sometimes mutually exclusive, sides of reality. For many romantics, Shakespeare was the example of such a connection. In addition, romantic drama is characterized by a complicated composition, fabulousness and symbolism of images, social types and naturalistic scenes.

One of the most striking phenomena in history European romanticism there was the work of German romantic playwrights: L. Tieck, G. Kleist, G. Buchner and K. Gutzkow. In their work they embodied the main tendency of romanticism - to move away from the vulgarity and prose of life into the world of fantasy and fabulousness. In the play "Puss in Boots" Tick used the technique of "theater within a theater", when the stage is both a "stage" and an "auditorium". On the “stage” there is an emphatically “theatrical” performance (the tale of Puss in Boots), and the “audience” (i.e. actors) are in the “ auditorium" constantly interferes with the course of the play. This technique (“theater within a theater”) will receive its maximum development in the twentieth century and will be called “metatheater.” Romanticism dominated the first quarter of the 19th century in most theaters in Europe. Many of the ideas and methods of Romanticism manifested themselves in the German Sturm und Drang movement led by Goethean F. Schiller.

Melodrama.

The same forces that led to Romanticism also led, in combination with various popular forms, to the development of melodrama, the most widespread dramatic genre in the 19th century. Melodrama concentrated what literature rejected and what was despised by most critics. What epithets did she deserve: “illegitimate daughter of Melpomene” (Geoffroy); “a parody form of classic tragedy” (Pavi), etc. Melodrama generally mocked or ignored this attitude towards her. Yet, melodrama is undoubtedly the most popular theatrical form that has ever existed. The term "melodrama" has two meanings: a mixture of tragedy and comedy (mixed drama), and drama accompanied by music. The music and characters in melodrama are identified with the audience's themes and emotions, and are driven by them through the music.

The leading playwright of this form was the German playwright Kotzebue, the most popular playwright in theater XIX centuries. Many of his more than 200 plays have been translated, in fact every Western country. Melodramas - usually consisted of three acts instead of the classic five; the intrigue was built around the conflict between a virtuous protagonist and an obvious villain; the hero overcame a number of apparently insurmountable difficulties before triumphing in victory; conspiracies are often invented and reduced to a series of climaxes; Main events often include exciting elements such as floods, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, battles, etc. In melodrama, the universal nature of the conflict, combined with bourgeois values, strives to evoke “social catharsis” in the viewer. The combination of simple intrigue, clearly defined characters, strong emotions, spectacle and morality makes melodrama extremely popular, having perhaps the most large audience in the history of theater.

Bourgeois drama.

After the first quarter of the 19th century, melodrama and romantic drama tended to be somewhat exotic, focusing on historical or extraordinary events. They sought to simplify or idealize real life, which naturally was not an accurate reflection of it. In the 1830s. begins to show interest in the image modern life and serious thematic issues. The emphasis was moved from spectacle and sensation to the depiction of private, external and internal life details. This required new methods of organizing stage space, many of which formed the basis of modern stagecraft. The “box” set is firmly in fashion: a setup depicting three walls of a room with the implication that the audience is viewing through an imaginary fourth wall. Three-dimensional furniture replaced the painted backdrops used previously. Because this new scenography was no longer a mere background. In it, the performers acted as if they were in a real environment and were unaware of the audience's presence. The actors created realistic actions that suited the characters and the situation. The focus was on precision and consistency in costume and acting. All this naturally required the emergence of a new dramaturgy, in which playwrights would attach greater importance to realistic details than before.

A well-made piece (piece bien faite).

The French equivalent of bourgeois drama was the so-called "well-made play", a form invented and popularized by E. Scribe. It was continued by his follower V. Sardou. Like melodrama, a well-made play has a clear formula, or structure. The specific features of each play changed, but the structure or pattern of intrigue remained essentially the same: masterly intrigue, perfect construction of action through a series of closed scenes, continuously developing towards a climax. The basic principles of a “well-made play” include continuous and sequential development of action. This action must have a series of ups and downs. The technique of surprise, a chain of misunderstandings, unexpected endings, and moments of tense anticipation are also actively used. All these elements are necessary to keep the audience's attention at all times. Compositional structure in these plays it is carried out according to strict rules (it is the strictness of the rules that ensures good “doneness”). Namely: in beginning the development of the action and its follow-up are planned denouement; in each act the action develops progressively; climax takes place in the central scene; here via reasoner The author expresses his opinion about what is happening. The main requirements are non-problematic and plausible. "A Well Made Play" can be considered the completion of the dramatic technique of classicism. In addition to Scribe, Sardou and Ibsen wrote in this genre.

Naturalism.

By the middle of the 19th century, interest in realistic detail, psychological manifestation of characters, total reproduction of reality, passion for showing social problems in society - led to naturalism in theater and drama. Playwrights and actors, according to naturalists, should, like scientists, objectively observe and depict the real world. In accordance with the theories of Charles Darwin, many believed that heredity and environment- to be at the root of all human action and that drama should illustrate this. The romantic struggle for spiritual values ​​was abandoned. The result was a drama that focused more on the underbelly of society than on the beautiful or ideal. Naturalism is an artistic method based on the philosophy and aesthetics of positivism. It claims to tell the truth about the “whole” person, so theatrical performance presented as reality itself, and not as an artistic reflection.

The theater at that time lagged behind literature, and although E. Zolyan wrote the article “Naturalism in the Theater” (1881), and T. Requin staged the first naturalistic play in 1873, the theater nevertheless did not turn to the Naturalistic movement until Antoine founded the Free Theater. New theater He demanded not only truthfulness and plausibility in the writing of the play, but also in the acting and scenography. The actors were required not to pay attention to the audience, to act and speak as if they were at home. The actors began to turn their backs to the audience and from this style of acting, the concept of the “fourth wall” appeared, separating the stage from the audience. Behind this wall, invisible to the audience but impenetrable to the actor, they played as authentically as possible. Antoine even hung animal carcasses across the stage in The Butcher. Although he committed himself to being consistently naturalistic, subsequently much of his ball repertoire was not naturalistic and from the descriptions of several Free Theater performances we see that he experimented with light, and lighting effects created real conditions and an atmosphere of reality. This marks a movement from naturalism to realism.

Zola, the philosopher of this movement, deplored the fact that Naturalist theater began by creating an external image of the world instead of concentrating on the inner world of the character. Strindberg showed that a few carefully chosen props can reveal an entire room. With the ideas of Antoine and Strindberg came the time for slamming canvas doors and painted kitchen cabinets on the wall. The time had come for detailed and naturalistic action that took place on painted stages. New model theater in France was imitated by the German and English theater of the same period.

Boulevard theaters.

Next to the serious one, literary drama There were, of course, popular forms in the boulevard theaters of Paris. Their audience consisted mainly of the petty and middle bourgeoisie. The repertoire was colorful and varied. Most of the plays had the character of emphatic entertainment - a mixture of music, dance, and circus. The stage was dominated by short comic plays, reviews, pantomimes, vaudeville, melodramas, extravaganzas, and acrobatic performances. They also staged plays by Dumas, Ogier, and others.

Symbolist drama.

Symbolism developed from a general opposition to the philosophy inherent in naturalism. Symbolists sought intuitive and spiritual forms of knowledge, which were seen as superior to what science provides. If Naturalism preached the materialistic values ​​of society from the standpoint of criticism and reform, then Symbolism rejected them together. In their manifesto of 1886, the Symbolists argued that subjectivity, spirituality and secret internal forces present highest forms truth than objective research outside world. The Belgian Maurice Maeterlinck, the most famous playwright of Symbolism, said that, in his opinion, an old man sitting on a chair in silence is more dramatic and closer to life than a lover who strangles his beloved out of jealousy. The symbolists considered Wagner and Ibsen's late plays as their inspirations. They were also influenced by the poets Mallarmée and Baudelaire. The latter’s poem “Correspondence,” which equally reflects sound, color, and music, was perceived as the first manifesto of the Symbolism movement. Gauguin's expressive creations also influenced this movement.

Play texts abounded symbolic images, not always easy to understand, and sometimes quite indecent. General mood the plays were mysterious and fabulous. The intention was to evoke an unconscious response rather than an intellectual reaction and to depict the non-rational aspects of human characters and life events. Maeterlinck's plays by Paul Claudel were extremely popular in the 1890s and early twentieth century.

The first theater of Symbolism was "Theatre d" Art" founded French poet Paul Fort in 1890. He was considered a strong poet, but never wrote anything brilliant for the stage. In his play The Girl with the Cut-off Hands, staged by the Frenchman Pierre Quillard in 1891, the actors intoned their text behind a gauze curtain, they were dressed in gold clothes framed by red ribbons. Before the curtain, a girl in a long blue tunic repeated the text of the actors and commented on their feelings. This was the first production in which the actors' performances depended entirely on the director's ideas, and not on the traditions and text of the play. The image of a girl with her hands cut off was implied visually in the play, but was not present in the performance as such. This poetic vision was not explored in a specific context in the play.

The dialectic of conflict in symbolist drama unfolded on stage and moved into the hall. However, if the production expected that the attacks on the viewer would be more severe than usual, then the distance between the stage and the audience was reduced. Gradually, attempts were made to combine stage and audience into a single, unified space, or to adapt existing space, in order to break the barrier imposed by the proscenium arch. Explicit symbolist elements can be found in Chekhov's plays, recent works Ibsen and Strindberg. Symbolist influence is also evident in the works of later playwrights such as Eugene O'Neill and Tennessee Williams, Harold Pinter and many others.

A huge influence on the development of aesthetic thought of their time was exerted by N. G. Chernyshevsky (1828-- 1889) and N. A. Dobrolyubov (1836-- 1861), who continued the traditions of Belinsky, establishing the “Gogolian direction” in Russian literature, which was called "critical".

Dobrolyubov considered Ostrovsky the only truly folk playwright who continued the critical direction of Russian literature, to whose work he devoted two articles - “The Dark Kingdom” (1859) and “A Ray of Light in the Dark Kingdom” (1860), where he analyzed Ostrovsky’s dramaturgy from the point of view of its social content. The critic saw in her “a deep understanding of Russian life and a great ability to depict sharply and vividly its most significant aspects,” and considered Ostrovsky to be the direct heir and successor of Gogol.

The revolutionary democrat M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin (1826-1889), who acted as a prose writer, publicist, literary and theater critic and playwright, also had a serious influence on the theater of his time. In his articles and works of art, he defended the social and educational role of art, developing the principles critical realism; connected the analysis of a work of art with socio-political problems of life.

The author of the satirical “Provincial Sketches,” “The History of a City,” “Pompadours and Pompadours,” and the novel “Gentlemen Golovlevs,” Saltykov-Shchedrin admitted: “I have never had any special affection or great confidence in the stage.” Nevertheless, he became the author of several dramatic works.

“The Death of Pazukhin” (1857) is the most significant of them. The author worked on it for a long time, changing the names. According to the censor, the play shows “the complete moral decay of society.” In its center are the merchants Ivan Pazukhin and his son Prokofy, their images reflect the process of transformation of the old Russian merchants into modern Europeanized business people. The characters inhabiting the play are a society of morally degraded people: retired general Lobastov, who seeks to marry his daughter to the younger Pnzukhin; state councilor Furnachev, whose career began with the fact that he robbed his own mother, stealing money from a chest after his father’s death, “so that his mother would have no inheritance after him”; retired lieutenant Zhivnovsky, living in Pazukhin’s house, expelled from the regiment for cheating, but never tired of talking about virtue. Women who are obsessed with one desire - to make money - are no better.

The play saw the light of the stage only thirty years after it was written. The same fate awaited another play by Saltykov-Shchedrin - “Shadows”, which was not published at all in the 19th century.

In “Shadows,” the playwright directed the edge of his satire at the bureaucratic world. The play shows officials of different ranks, from the executor Svistikov to the minister Prince Tarakanov, who himself does not appear on stage, but invisibly participates in all events. What these people have in common is that they are “not so much... scoundrels (God forbid)... but... prudent people!” Instead of Tarakanov, who has fallen into insanity, Klara is practically the mistress of the ministry, profitably trading in “lucrative places.” Taking advantage of the naive gullibility of the official Bobyrev, who suffered in the provinces for “dissenting opinions,” the director of the department, Klaverov, involves him in his machinations, but does it so sophisticatedly that Bobyrev does not immediately understand what he is participating in. And having understood, first, while drunk, he calls Klaverov a scoundrel, and when he sobers up, he writes a letter of repentance. Dirty deeds are covered up with the noble pathos of speeches. The only aspiration of all is upward career ladder, by any means.

Chernyshevsky highly valued the work of Saltykov-Shchedrin.

One of the major figures in dramaturgy of the second half of the 19th century is A. V. Sukhovo-Kobylin (1817-1903), author of three plays: “Krechinsky’s Wedding,” “The Affair” and “The Death of Tarelkin.” The original of the first edition contains the subtitle: “Wrote from life by Sukhovo-Kobylin.” However, any real fact taken as the basis of the plot was generalized by the playwright to the scale of a typical phenomenon, and the social acuity of the image increased from play to play.

Sukhovo-Kobylin began writing “Krechinsky’s Wedding” in his youth, but finished it only in 1854 in Tula prison, where he ended up on suspicion of murdering his common-law wife Louise Simon-Dimanche. “Krechinsky’s Wedding” is the story of a gambler and adventurer who decided to improve his financial difficulties by marrying a rich bride, Lidochka Muromskaya. An educated, intelligent, certainly talented man, Krechinsky accurately and prudently builds a multi-step combination, as a result of which he will be the owner of a huge dowry. It costs Krechinsky nothing to seduce the provincial Lidochka and her narrow-minded aunt Atueva. He also overcomes old man Muromsky. The case, however, still breaks down because of a trifle at first glance, but, in essence, the whole life of the player is in this trifle. The structure built on deception collapsed. A strong rogue is defeated by an even stronger one. Not the naively honest and ordinary Nelkin, but the powerful moneylender Beck.

The clash of the Muromskys with the Krechinskys is a clash of the patriarchal nobility with the latest adventurism, a clash of pressure, energy, ingenuity with powerlessness and inability to defend themselves. In this struggle, the talented and passionate Krechinsky evokes sympathy not only because he has intelligence and passion, but also because he does not value money itself, but only the opportunity to lead with it. big game. This figure is typical and at the same time unique. The author created the image of a truly extraordinary person, whose abilities are put to pitiful use in this society. This is the drama of Krechinsky.

In the play there is an image of another player in whom there is neither Krechinsky’s talent, nor his scale, nor his courage - this is Rasplyuev. An insignificant and cowardly person, he is also a product of this society and its victim.

There are no winners in the struggle that is waged in the play. The exposed Krechinsky is erased from life, and Muromsky, saved from his adventure, begins a painful journey in search of justice, which forms the content of Sukhovo-Kobylin’s second play, “The Case” (1861), where the action is transferred to the environment of officials.

The basis of the actual content of the play was the “case” of the writer himself, who learned from his own experience what a terrible mechanism for destroying a person and his dignity is the machine of Russian legal proceedings. The degree of generalization can be judged by the list of characters, who are divided into five categories: “Superiors”, “Forces”, “Subordination”, “Nobodies, or Private Individuals”, and one character, the serf Tishka, is placed in a separate section called “Not face". The ordeal of Muromsky, who belongs to the category of “nobodies,” constitutes the content of the play, the action of which takes place “in the halls and apartments of whatever department,” personifying the entire bureaucratic apparatus of Russia. Climbing the steps of the departmental ladder from the very bottom to the very top, moving from one official to another, Muromsky is everywhere met with indifference to human destiny and arbitrariness.

“Krechinsky’s Wedding,” for all its revealing power, belonged to the genre domestic comedy, in “The Case” the author already resorts to the techniques of satirical grotesque, especially in the characterization of Varravin, who either disappears under a pile of papers, then, talking about the truth, “turns around and looks for the truth.” Aphoristic language, where literally every phrase has multiple meanings; images in which automatism prevails over natural human feelings; the opposition of two spheres of action - the Muromsky house and the department, not only in essence, but also in the nature of their depiction - all this makes the works of Sukhovo-Kobylin outstanding in the dramaturgy of their time.

The satirical style is even sharper in “The Death of the Plate on” (1869), where, based on the material of the same “case,” the author creates a picture of a police investigation, mockingly defining it as a “comedy-joke.”

Of the three plays, only “Krechinsky’s Wedding” saw the light of the stage immediately after writing - on November 26, 1855, it was shown at the Maly Theater and since then has firmly entered the repertoire of the Russian stage.

Complex political situation in the country has aroused interest in the past in search of analogues to explain modern processes.

The most significant works in historical genre created by Alexey Konstantinovich Tolstoy (1817-1875), prose writer, poet, satirist, one of the authors who wrote under the pseudonym Kozma Prutkov. His trilogy—“The Death of Ivan the Terrible” (1864), “Tsar Fyodor Ioannovich” (1868) and “Tsar Boris” (1870)—is interesting because the author reinterprets historical figures, although he treats history quite freely, idealizing Russian antiquity, especially the boyars of the pre-Moscow period. This position in relation to history was fundamental for the author; he considered the poet’s main task to show “human truth,” and “ historical truth he is not connected." In Tolstoy's works you combine documentaryism with fiction, not only in figures born of fantasy, but also in those who actually existed. For example, in the character of Fyodor Ioannovich, what was important to the playwright was not his historical inconsistency, but the tragedy of a personality endowed with high moral qualities, conscience, kindness, faced with a cruel and immoral world, where these qualities cannot be demonstrated. Treating the theme of man and power, the playwright pays main attention to psychology, internal processes, contradictions both within the person himself and between him and the circumstances, between his personal properties and the mission of the autocrat. Tolstoy interprets the images of the three monarchs as tragic images, emphasizing their historical doom.

With reservations, only “The Death of Ivan the Terrible” was allowed on stage. For thirty years, his “Tsar Fyodor Ioannovich” did not see the light of the stage, since, according to the censorship committee, “the spectacle of the feeblemindedness and helpless weakness of the crown bearer can produce a stunning and unfavorable impression.”

The most important event in the dramatic art of the end of the century was the arrival of Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy (1828-1910) at the theater.

The great writer’s relationship with the theater was complicated. At the beginning of its creative activity He showed great interest in the performing arts, he himself participated in amateur productions and even conceived several plays that remained in sketches. In the late 1850s, Tolstoy was fascinated by the work of Ostrovsky, whom he called “a gensad dramatic writer.” Two of his completed works for the stage date back to the 1860s: “The Infected Family” and “The Nihilist.” Both plays did not make it to the professional stage.

Then Tolstoy made a twenty-year pause in his dramatic activity, during which, more than once, both in artistic and journalistic works, he turned to the theater, which outraged him with its “unnaturalness.” He considered the modern stage “empty fun for idle people,” although he respected the creativity of individual actors and actively helped create folk theater.

In the mid-1880s, Tolstoy again turned to drama and wrote two plays at once. This was a period of intense moral quest for the writer, who broke with his class and took the position of the patriarchal peasantry. He chose the most objective literary genre in order to “say something important for people, about man’s relationship to God, to the world, to everything eternal and infinite.”

Having met during folk festival with farcical performances, Tolstoy told V.S. Serova: “You know, I felt ashamed and hurt, looking at all this disgrace. Immediately I promised myself to process some little thing for a stage folk performance.” And indeed, in 1886, the writer remade the story “How the Little Devil Redeemed a Crumb” into the comedy “The First Distiller, or How the Little Devil Earned a Crumb,” strengthening the critical motives, introducing new characters and expanding some phrases into entire scenes. The play was performed by the farce theater of a porcelain factory located near St. Petersburg, but soon after the first performance it was banned by censorship.

The Power of Darkness (1886) was also initially intended for the folk theater. The play was written based on a true incident, the material of which was introduced to Tolstoy by the prosecutor of the Tula District Court N.V. Davydov back in 1880. Tolstoy began direct work on the play only six years later, and wrote it very quickly, although he later reworked it many times, creating seven editions and changing the original title “The claw is stuck - the whole bird is lost.”

“The Power of Darkness” is a folk drama about a remote village, which is being invaded by new bourgeois relations; money is destroying the old patriarchal way of life, the old patriarchal morality. New social relations give birth to a new morality. Multiplied by peasant darkness, it leads to terrible results: to a whole series of crimes - murder, theft, cruelty, meanness, debauchery. Crimes are becoming commonplace. Matryona, inviting Anisya to poison her sick husband, wishes the young woman and her son well - the death of Peter will free Anisya, make her rich and give her the opportunity to marry Nikita. Nikita, having married Anisya for the sake of money, goes on a rampage, carousing with his mistress in front of his wife. Having adopted a child with Akulina, he kills him. In Nikita’s soul there is a terrible struggle between the morality originally nurtured in him and the corrupting, evil power of money. He commits each new crime under the pressure of circumstances forcing him to pay dearly for his sins. In the end, he cannot stand it and first wants to hang himself, and then publicly repents of his atrocities, thereby purifying his soul.

The images of Akim and Mitrich are of fundamental importance in the play. Nikita's father Akim is an exponent of the author's position, the worldview of the patriarchal peasantry with its conscientiousness and high morality. Mitrich, an experienced soldier, shocked by the cruelty of what was happening, personifies peasant morality, which is basically morally healthy.

Published in 1886 in “Works of Gr. L.N. Tolstoy,” the play was enthusiastically received by his contemporaries. I. E. Repin wrote to Tolstoy: “Yesterday I read your new drama by V. G. Chertkov. This is such an amazing truth, such a merciless power of life reproduction.” “I haven’t read anything like this for many, many years,” V.V. Stasov wrote to the author. M. G. Savina took the play for a benefit performance and they have already begun rehearsing it at the Alexandrinsky Theater. However, at the request of the Chief Prosecutor of the Holy Synod, K. Pobedonostsev, “The Power of Darkness” was banned, and the Tsar ordered the Minister of Internal Affairs to “put an end to this disgrace” of Tolstoy, in his words, “a nihilist and an atheist.”

In 1890, the play was performed by amateurs in the Priselkovs' house in Tsarskoye Selo. The play was staged by the actor of the Alexandria Theater V. N. Davydov. “The power of darkness* spread widely throughout Europe, and in 1895, when the censorship ban was asleep, it appeared imperial theaters, then to the provinces.

In 1886, Tolstoy began work on “The Fruits of Enlightenment,” but, busy with “The Power of Darkness,” he put the comedy aside and returned to it three years later, when the play was needed for a home performance in Yasnaya Polyana. Work to improve the play continued after the performance was performed. Tolstoy made eight editions, changed the title several times - “Spirits”, “Cunned”, “Cunned, or the Fruits of Enlightenment”, finally, simply “Fruits of Enlightenment. The final edition was ready in 1890.

The impetus for writing the play was given to Tolstoy by a seance in one house, but from a private case the writer created an accusatory picture of the morals of noble society, depicting the empty, meaningless life, filled with spiritualistic séances, mediums, charades, and worries about “husky dogs” that can really make you “go crazy.” Tolstoy paints this life evilly, sharply, ridiculing empty gravitas and self-confidence. It’s as if he sees life through the eyes of three men who came to buy land from Zvezdintsev in installments, because their own land is “small, not like cattle, let’s say, there’s nowhere to let it go,” as one of the men says. All three look at the life of the masters with amazement, and only the quick-witted maid Tanya turns the stupidity of the owners in favor of her fellow countrymen, suggesting the necessary solution during a spiritualistic session.

The two groups of characters also conflict stylistically in the play: sharply satirical portraits of nobles and pseudo-scientists are contrasted with authentically and sympathetically written images of men and servants.

In 1891, “The Fruits of Enlightenment” was allowed to be staged on the imperial stage and staged at the Alexandrinsky Theater, where V. N. Davydov superbly played the third man.

But shortly before this, the play was staged by the Society of Arts and Letters. The premiere took place in February 1891 and was significant for what it became. the first directorial work of K. S. Stanislavsky!

Tolstoy's next play, The Living Corpse, appeared only ten years after The Fruits of Enlightenment - in 1900.

The plan for the play, entitled “Corpse,” was written in a diary back in 1897, but the immediate impetus for the implementation of this plan was Chekhov’s play “Uncle Vanya,” which Tolstoy, after watching on stage, actively did not accept (“he was indignant,” but his own admission).

The writer again based the plot on a real case - the court case of the Gimer spouses, which was told about by the same Davydov. And as in the first two cases, a private “affair” resulted, under the pen of the great writer, into a wonderful work of art, which reveals the complex process of Fedya Protasov’s break with his family, with his environment in the desire for freedom from falsehood family relations. It is this feeling of falsehood that is the gap between Fedya and other representatives of his society - Liza, Karenin. This contradiction of natural human feelings, spiritual and emotional emancipation, on the one hand, and artificial convention, form that has become content, on the other, determines the movement of the play. Moreover, Tolstoy in no way compromises either Lisa, Victor, or their entourage. On the contrary, he completely removes the motive of guilt from Lisa: if Gimer staged suicide at the request of his wife and carried out her plan, then both Lisa and Karenin are shown as impeccably decent, pure and noble people. But this only aggravates Fedya’s conflict with society and makes him feel acutely guilty towards Lisa. This conflict, Tolstoy emphasizes, is not with individuals, but with the laws of society, which is based on false morality, protects the form, ignoring the essence, protects lies and “dirtyness.” Fedya Protasov, even degraded, “dead,” evokes the writer’s sympathy with his conscientiousness and high morality, which precisely consists in living “according to conscience” and not according to form. And if Fedya first applies this formula primarily to himself, then the further the action develops, the wider it spreads to the whole society. Protasov’s monologue with the investigator brings the psychological drama into open journalism, the author speaks in Fedya’s voice, denouncing, branding the world with which his hero tried in vain to get along. It is impossible to come to an agreement with this world, it is difficult to deceive it, you can only leave it in death.

“The Living Corpse” violates the traditional composition - its action flows continuously, flowing from episode to episode (there were supposed to be fifteen of them, but twelve were written, the play remained unfinished).