Семейная картина

by Aleksandr Ostrovsky, Александр Николаевич Островский

Born in 1823, he was the son of a lawyer doing business among the Moscow tradesmen. With this merchant class Ostrovsky was familiar from his childhood. After finishing his course at the gymnasium and spending three years at the University of Moscow, he entered the civil service in 1843 as an employee of the Court of Conscience in Moscow, from which he transferred two years later to the Court of Commerce, where he continued until he was discharged from the service in 1851. Hence both by his home life and by his professional training he was brought into contact with types such as Bolshov and Rizpolozhensky in It's a Family We'll Settle It Ourselves. As a boy of seventeen Ostrovsky had already developed a passion for the theatre. His literary career began in the year 1847, when he read to a group of Moscow men of letters his first experiments in dramatic composition. In this same year he printed one scene of A Family Affair, which appeared in complete form three years later, in 1850, and established its author?s reputation as a dramatist of undoubted talent. Unfortunately, by its mordant but true picture of commercial morals, it aroused against him the most bitter feelings among the Moscow merchants. Discussion of the play in the press was prohibited, and representation of it on the stage was out of the question. It was reprinted only in 1859, and then, at the instance of the censorship, in an altered form, in which a police officer appears at the end of the play as a deus ex machina, arrests Podkhalyuzin, and announces that he will be sent to Siberia. In this mangled version the play was acted in 1861; in its original text it did not appear on the stage until 1881. Besides all this, the drama was the cause of the dismissal of Ostrovsky from the civil service, in 1851. The whole episode illustrates the difficulties under which the great writers of Russia have constantly labored under a despotic government. Alexander Ostrovsky (1823-1886) was an early Russian Realist whose work led to the founding of the Moscow Arts Theatre and to the career of Stanislavsky. He has been acknowledged to be the greatest of the Russian dramatists.

Genres: Plays, Russia, Classics

39 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1847

About the author

Alexander Nikolayevich Ostrovsky. Russian playwright, generally considered the greatest representative of the Russian realistic period

See Cyrillic profile Александр Николаевич Островский here.

Reviews

[Manuel Alfonseca · Rating 4 out of 5]

ENGLISH: This is the best play by Ostrovsky I have read (I have read four). The eight characters are all wicked or sneaky, just the mother can be considered good, although she is silly. Of course, the two sneakiest characters win and the others are baffled. But I can't see why this play would make such a scandal in its time, for there are bad people everywhere and in all professions. Or did Russian traders really believe that all of them were honest and good?

ESPAÑOL: Esta es la mejor obra de Ostrovsky que he leído (he leído cuatro). Los ocho personajes son todos malvados o astutos, sólo la madre puede considerarse buena, aunque sea tonta. Por supuesto, los dos personajes más astutos ganan y los demás quedan decepcionados. Pero no veo por qué esta obra provocó un escándalo en su época, pues hay gente mala en todas partes y en todas las profesiones. ¿O es que los comerciantes rusos creían que todos ellos eran honrados y buenos?

[Illiterate · Rating 3 out of 5]

Satire on mercantile greed.

[Trounin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Быть начинающим писателем тяжело. Не знаешь, с какого конца подойти к началу повествования. И как не пытайся, чаще результат получается неказистым. Впереди ожидают постоянные разочарования. И писатель принимает осуждение с пониманием, так как молод и не способен правильно повествовать. Иные писатели обижаются, не осознавая, насколько они заблуждаются. Нужно верить людям, советующим продолжать заниматься избранным ремеслом. Когда-нибудь и из посредственного человека получится умелый мастер. Вопрос только в том: сколько для этого потребуется времени? Иногда писатель так и не становится умелым повествователем. Но говоря об Александре Островском, знаешь, у него имелись талантливые работы, давшие право называться одним из лучших русских драматургов, но и он начинал с посредственных работ.

(c) Trounin

[Alina · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book plot is valid till today. What can happen when you spoil your kid too much and ends up being an egoistic brat. To make things worse, marry that brat to a gold digger and voilà! Good thing Karma is working even in novels.

[Mark Woodland · Rating 2 out of 5]

I only read this play for an assignment in school. Overall, it's not that great. It's a Russian middle-class comedy that pre-dates Chekhov, and is pretty clumsy in most respects. I'd only recommend reading it for the historical context.

[Bettie]

http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/10722

[Dmitriy Volkov · Rating 4 out of 5]

This play shows how greedy people can be. And how cruel they can be even to family because of money. And how education matters.