George Lillo ( eng. George Lillo ; February 4, 1693 , London - September 3, 1739 , London ) - English playwright, son of a Dutch jeweler, himself worked for a long time as a jeweler. His works had a great influence on literature in the UK and in France . Connoisseurs of Lillo's talent were Denis Diderot , Jean-Jacques Rousseau , Edward Moore .
| George Lillo | |
|---|---|
| George Lillo | |
| Date of Birth | February 4, 1693 |
| Place of Birth | |
| Date of death | September 3, 1739 (46 years) |
| Place of death | |
| Citizenship | England |
| Occupation | playwright |
| Direction | realism |
| Genre | bourgeois drama |
| Language of Works | English |
He was born in the family of a London jeweler, educated in accordance with his profession, successfully continued the jewelry business and left a decent fortune to the heirs. The writer by profession was not.
Lillo wanted to create a new theatrical genre - “home tragedy”. Instead of the usual for the time classical and biblical scenes Lillo used scenes from ordinary everyday life with ordinary characters that can be found on the street. It was a revolution in theatrical art . The “Home Tragedy”, which we would now call a melodrama , will dominate the English theater for almost the entire XIX century . At the same time, Lillo carefully observed that his plays were correct from the point of view of morality and Christianity .
In the brief theoretical statements set forth in the preface to the London Merchant, L. says: “If only aristocrats were subject to misfortunes depending on the weaknesses of human nature and vices, then the role of tragic art could be limited only to the environment of noble people; but it’s obvious to everyone that the opposite is true: the middle class is more susceptible to misery. ”
The main danger for his class L. saw in the imitation of the aristocracy. All misfortunes came from there: luxury, drive, card game, drunkenness. The danger of such an imitation L. perfectly aware and fought against him. His dramas are agitational in the full sense of the word, their social role is the defense and strengthening of the class positions of the bourgeoisie. The London merchant followed the path of the aristocracy, quickly spent his money; this forced him to commit a crime, as a result he killed his uncle, in order to quickly get an inheritance. The drama ends with the execution of the merchant and his accomplice. The plot is extremely simple, but its processing is far from agitation or moral preaching. The big stage master, L. built his dramas, taking into account all the details and features of the production. Lilo's dramas present the antithesis of classical tragedy, not only thematically but also formally. “Three unities” are broken, a lot of “everyday trifles” are introduced, and the poetic form, although not everywhere, is replaced by prose. Kings and heroes — extraordinary people, speaking in a sublime language, doing extraordinary feats — have given way to the ordinary bourgeois with its everyday concerns and anxieties. Bourgeois became the head of society, pushing the aristocracy from all areas, starting with production and ending with such superstructures as art.
Lillo's most famous works include:
original names are given
- "The London Merchant, or the History of George Barnwell" ( 1731 )
- "The Christian Hero" ( 1735 )
- Fatal Curiosity ( 1736 )
- Elmerick, or Justice Triumphant ( 1740 , published posthumously)
Bibliography
- Dramatical Works, 2 ed., 1810 (Memoirs attached to this ed.); The London Merchant, or The Barnwell, ed. A. Word, Boston, 1906; Fatal Curiosity, ed. A. Word, Boston, 1906.
- A. Chebyshov , Essays on the history of European drama. English comedy of the XVII and a half of the XVIII centuries, SPB, 1897; Storozhenko N., Essay on the History of Western European Literature, 2nd edition, M., 1910; Kogan P., Essays on the history of Western European literature, vol. I, ed. 9th, Guise, M. - L., 1928; Fritsch V., Essay on the development of Western European literature, Kharkov, 1927; Letters to Lillo, ed. Messingham.
The article is based on the materials of the Literary Encyclopedia of 1929-1939 .
Links
- Lillo, William // Encyclopedic dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron : in 86 tons (82 tons and 4 extras). - SPb. , 1890-1907.
- Lillo, George // The Great Soviet Encyclopedia : 66 t. (65 t. And 1 extra) / ch. ed. O. Yu. Schmidt . - M .: Soviet Encyclopedia , 1926-1947.