"The Proud Poeter" is a poetic comedy in five acts by Nikolai Petrovich Nikolaev .
| Proud poet | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Comedy |
| Author | Nikolai Petrovich Nikolev |
| Original language | Russian |
| Date of writing | 1775 |
| Date of first publication | 1787 |
First published in the Russian Theater, 1787, No. 15.
The play was first staged on June 15, 1781 in St. Petersburg. [one]
Content
- 1 characters
- 2 Literary context
- 3 References
- 4 notes
- 5 Literature
Characters
- Haughty, poet .
- Milan, his niece .
- Cruton, father of Chesnodum .
- Chesnodum, lover of Milanin .
- Modstrih, petimeter in love with Milan .
- Marina, the servant of Milan .
- Panfil, servant of Chesnodum .
- Compositor.
Literary context
The play "The Proud Poacher" was an evil and witty pamphlet on the famous poet and playwright, founder of the Russian theater A. P. Sumarokov [2] . The main object of satire in the play is the exorbitant conceit of Nadmen, which the maidservant Marina characterizes as follows:
... Arrogance of such high thoughts
About his title, about a gift, about art,
What thinks, as if not in the mind, nor in feeling
Worthy of praise for his merits,
That all writers mean nothing [3] .
In one of the replicas, Nadman puts himself on a par with Racine , Cornel and Voltaire . [4] All this fully corresponded to the conceit and hot-tempered character of Sumarokov, who rightly considered himself the creator of the Russian theater and, not without reason, who claimed the place of the first Russian poet. The family relationships described in the play also have a transparent interplay with relationships in the well-known public literary family from life [5] .
Famous theatrical and literary figure of the late XVIII and first half of the XIX century. Prince A. A. Shakhovskaya in his Chronicle of the Russian Theater describes the reaction of the literary admirers of Sumarokov to one of the productions of the play:
| When presenting this comedy (written in Sumarokov's mockery) for the first time a whistle avenging Sumarokov was heard in the Russian theater. They say that he was heard from the box of his daughter, K. A. Knyazhnina, and was repeated in many places and by many spectators, offended by the scolding of the father of our theater. |
[6]
In addition, during these years Sumarokov was perceived as a literary exponent of dissatisfied with the policies of Catherine II , that is, as a political figure. Therefore, in a negative reaction to Nikolayev’s work, it is difficult to separate literary reasons from political ones.
Despite attacks against Sumarokov, the comedy “The Proud Poeter” was staged “at the court theater more than once to the delight of the audience” [7] .
Links
Notes
- ↑ http://lib.pushkinskijdom.ru/Default.aspx?tabid=956 Kochetkova ND Nikolay Nikolayev Petrovich // Dictionary of Russian writers of the 18th century
- ↑ Altshuller, 2014 , p. 259.
- ↑ Comedy, 1964 , p. 78.
- ↑ Comedy, 1964 , p. 126.
- ↑ Altshuller, 2014 , p. 261-262.
- ↑ Shakhovskoy A. A. Chronicle of the Russian Theater // Repertoire of the Russian Theater. 1840, part II. S. 3
- ↑ Berkov, 1977 , p. 170.
Literature
- Berkov P.N. History of Russian comedy of the 18th century .. - L .: Nauka, 1977. - P. 392.
- Altshuller M. In the Shadow of Derzhavin: Literary Portraits. - SPb. : Pushkin House, 2014.
- Poetic comedy of the late XVIII - early XIX century. - M.-L.: Science, 1964.