Alexander Ostrovsky - Legacy

Legacy

Alexander Ostrovsky is considered one of the most important Russian playwrights of the nineteenth century, credited with bringing dramatic realism to the Russian theatre stage. His best-known plays, in which he meticulously portrayed the Russian society of his time, focusing on the morals and manners of the newly emerging merchant class, were extremely popular during his lifetime and remain an integral part of the Russian repertoire. They are esteemed for their skillful characterization and use of dialect.

Ostrovsky wrote 47 original plays featuring 728 characters, "a real word of its own where some figures might seem similar, but no two of them are the same," according to Y.Kholodov. "Ostrovsky's world was exceptionally diverse, as was his set of formats: he's written dramas, historical chronicles, scenes of Moscow life, a spring fairytale and a dramatic etude… His legacy could be seen as one endless play set on one stage, that of Russia, of the last three centuries," the critic continued. Never restricting himself now with merchants' life, Ostrovsky in the 1850s started to portray state officials, land-owners and Russian nobility. His work divided the critics, and while Apollon Grigoriev enthused about their originality and Nikolai Dobrolyubov praised their social straightforwardness, some (like Nikolai Chernyshevsky) criticised the author of being maudlin and sentimental as regards patriarchal habits and ways. Politically neutral critics and the theatre community especially, though, loved his work and the best Russian stage stars, like Sadovsky, S.Vasiliev, Stepanov, Kositskaya and Borozdina were totally on his side.

Some scholars doubted the existence of the piece of paper on which allegedly Gogol had allegedly scribbled words of encouragement to the young dramatist, but in retrospect most of them agreed that regardless of that Ostrovsky came as a direct heir to Gogol's tradition of realism, humanism and closeness to folk culture and language. Ostrovsky was foreign to pastel colours and undertones, subtlety was not his thing. Critics used to compare his scenes to paintings by Pavel Fedotov. His was juiciness of natural brightness, dramatism, strong emotions, bright humour and unforgettable, lavishly painted characters. Ostrovsky was regarded as a real master of language. Back in 1859 Nikolai Dobrolyubov (in his Realm of Darklness essay) remarked that many phrases he coined were being eagerly adopted by people and attributed the quality of folk sayings, common people talk. "Nobody has had such glorious, tasteful and clear Russian language before Ostrovsky," Turgenev wrote.

Ostrovsky is considered a master of the realistic drama, being praised in particular for his insight into the psychology of the Russian people, and many of his well-drawn characters are favorites among Russian actors and audiences. While international recognition of his talent has been limited by the difficulties of translating his heavily idiomatic dialogue, his contributions remain central to the development of modern Russian drama.

Detractors often referred to Ostrovsky as a vain man but this has not been corroborated by facts. He's failed to write a comprehensive autobiography and did nothing to present himself in a 'winning' way to the posterity. He's never kept diaries and his letters were informational, obviously never meant to be preserved. In 1879, answering Russkaya Starina’s Mikhail Semevsky who was asking for memoirs, Ostrovsky replied:

Most of Ostrovsky's letters (including those to Nikolai Nekrasov, biographer S.Maksimov and friend Ivan Gorbunov) disappeared. The dramatist's son S.A.Ostrovsky when he was going to the World War I promised to hand to Knyaznin (Apollon Grigoriev's biographer) all the Ostrovsky's letters he had in his disposal, but never did so. In Shchelykovo huge amount of papers has been destroyed through negligence. The first academic works dealing with Ostrovsky and his legacy started to appear only in the Soviet times, via scholars N.Kashin, N.Dolgov, A.Revyakin, A.Lotman, E.Kholodov, V.Lakshin. Still, there are many gaps in his biography, unconfirmed dates and uncorroborated facts, according to Lakshin.