What do you think?
Rate this book
Four Russian Plays
Four Russian Plays:
The Infant (aka The Minor) by Denis Fonvizin
Chatsky (aka Woe from Wit) by Alexander Griboyedov
The Inspector General by Nikolai Gogol
Thunder (aka The Storm) by Alexander Ostrovsky
The Infant (aka The Minor) by Denis Fonvizin
Chatsky (aka Woe from Wit) by Alexander Griboyedov
The Inspector General by Nikolai Gogol
Thunder (aka The Storm) by Alexander Ostrovsky
- GenresPlays
400 pages, Paperback
First published January 2, 1972
1 person is currently reading
42 people want to read
About the author
Nikolai Gogol
2,137 books5,739 followersPeople consider that Russian writer Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol (Николай Васильевич Гоголь) founded realism in Russian literature. His works include
The Overcoat
(1842) and
Dead Souls
(1842).
Ukrainian birth, heritage, and upbringing of Gogol influenced many of his written works among the most beloved in the tradition of Russian-language literature. Most critics see Gogol as the first Russian realist. His biting satire, comic realism, and descriptions of Russian provincials and petty bureaucrats influenced later Russian masters Leo Tolstoy, Ivan Turgenev, and especially Fyodor Dostoyevsky. Gogol wittily said many later Russian maxims.
Gogol first used the techniques of surrealism and the grotesque in his works The Nose , Viy , The Overcoat , and Nevsky Prospekt . Ukrainian upbringing, culture, and folklore influenced his early works, such as Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka .
His later writing satirized political corruption in the Russian empire in Dead Souls .
Ukrainian birth, heritage, and upbringing of Gogol influenced many of his written works among the most beloved in the tradition of Russian-language literature. Most critics see Gogol as the first Russian realist. His biting satire, comic realism, and descriptions of Russian provincials and petty bureaucrats influenced later Russian masters Leo Tolstoy, Ivan Turgenev, and especially Fyodor Dostoyevsky. Gogol wittily said many later Russian maxims.
Gogol first used the techniques of surrealism and the grotesque in his works The Nose , Viy , The Overcoat , and Nevsky Prospekt . Ukrainian upbringing, culture, and folklore influenced his early works, such as Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka .
His later writing satirized political corruption in the Russian empire in Dead Souls .
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 of 1 review
February 9, 2024
Head and shoulders above the rest of the plays in this book, is Nikolai Gógol's brilliant, incisive and uproariously funny five-star satirical farce The Inspector (1830). All the main officials in a provincial city are corrupt scoundrels and fall into a dither when they think a high ranking inspector is coming from Moscow to look into how they are carrying out their duties and responsibilities. The “inspector” turns out to be another scalliwag who has irresponsibly lost his travel money gambling and is afraid of being jailed since he has been living in a hotel without paying. However he is quick to latch on to his mistaken identity and takes advantage of it to bilk the frightened officials. Wonderfully written, with excellent timing, I highly recommend it. In the introduction, Joshua Cooper mentions that Gógol based this play on an experience Pushkin had and told Gógol about.
Denis Fonvitzin's The Infant (1782) is a well-written 18th century comedy of manners set in a backward provincial Russia which is occasional ly visited and awed by St. Petersburgh officials.
A. S. Griboyédov's Chatsky (1824) is a less optimistic comedy of manners which does not end well, as one character after another is undeceived about the true nature of everyone else. It is even better written, its ending far more interesting than The Infant.
Alexander Ostróvsky's Thunder (1859) is considered one of the first Russian naturalistic plays and even to foreshadow Chekhov's plays. However, there is little psychological depth to the characters in Thunder: the female lead suffers from a little digested mixture of suicidal romanticism and hysteria, her husband is a spineless drunkard bullied around by his mother, an autocratic harpy, while the heroine's lover only exists to carry the plot along.
Joshua Cooper's brief introduction is fascinating and I strongly recommend anyone interested in Russian dramatists and their times to look it up. It provides a very convincing justification for including the four plays in the book.
Denis Fonvitzin's The Infant (1782) is a well-written 18th century comedy of manners set in a backward provincial Russia which is occasional ly visited and awed by St. Petersburgh officials.
A. S. Griboyédov's Chatsky (1824) is a less optimistic comedy of manners which does not end well, as one character after another is undeceived about the true nature of everyone else. It is even better written, its ending far more interesting than The Infant.
Alexander Ostróvsky's Thunder (1859) is considered one of the first Russian naturalistic plays and even to foreshadow Chekhov's plays. However, there is little psychological depth to the characters in Thunder: the female lead suffers from a little digested mixture of suicidal romanticism and hysteria, her husband is a spineless drunkard bullied around by his mother, an autocratic harpy, while the heroine's lover only exists to carry the plot along.
Joshua Cooper's brief introduction is fascinating and I strongly recommend anyone interested in Russian dramatists and their times to look it up. It provides a very convincing justification for including the four plays in the book.
Displaying 1 of 1 review