The history of theater is the world of humanity

Theater of Ancient Greece

Origins of Ancient Greek Drama and Theatre.

The appearance of drama in Greece was preceded by a long period, during which the dominant place was occupied first by the epic and then by the lyric. We all know the rich heroic epic poems “Iliad” and “Odyssey”, the didactic (instructive) epic poems of Hesiod (7th century BC); These are works of lyric poets of the 6th century. BC.

The birth of Greek drama and theater is associated with ritual games that were dedicated to the patron gods of agriculture: Demeter, her daughter Kore and Dionysus. From ritual games and songs in honor of Dionysus, three genres of ancient Greek drama grew: tragedy, comedy and satyr comedy (named after the chorus consisting of satyrs).

• The tragedy reflected the serious side of the Dionysian cult.
• Comedy - carnival-satirical.
• Satirovskaya drama seemed to be an average genre. Its cheerful playful character and happy ending determined its place at festivals in honor of Dionysus: the satyr drama was staged as a conclusion to the presentation of tragedies.

The role of tragic ideas in socio-political and ethical education was enormous. Already in the second half of the 6th century BC. The tragedy has reached significant development. Ancient history reports that the first Athenian tragic poet was Thespis (VI century BC). The first production of his tragedy (its name is unknown) took place in the spring of 534 BC. at the Feast of the Great Dionysius. This year is considered to be the year of the birth of world theater.

In comedy, much broader than in tragedy, everyday motifs were mixed with mythological ones, which gradually became predominant or even the only ones, although in general comedy was still considered dedicated to Dionysus. Improvised skits were an elementary form of folk farce theater and were called mimes (translated as “imitation”, “reproduction”; the performers of these skits were also called mimes). The heroes of the mimes were traditional folk theater masks: a would-be warrior, a market thief, a charlatan scientist, a simpleton fooling everyone, etc.

Theater of Athens.

Ancient Greek theatrical art reached its highest flowering in the work of three great tragedians of the 5th century BC - Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides and the comedian Aristophanes, whose activity spanned the beginning of the 4th century. BC. Other playwrights also wrote at the same time, but only small excerpts of their works have reached us, and sometimes only names and meager information.

Theater of the Hellenistic era.

In the Hellenistic era (VI-I centuries BC), the Greek theater of the classical era underwent significant changes regarding drama, acting, and the architecture of the theater building. These changes are associated with new historical conditions. Comedies and tragedies are still staged in the theater of the Hellenistic era. But from the tragedies of the 4th century. BC. Only small fragments have survived, and, apparently, the artistic merits of the Hellenistic tragedy were small. Much more data is available for judging comedy, since only one play and several excerpts from other plays by the greatest comedian of that time, Menander, have survived.

The comedy of the Hellenistic era is called new Attic (or neo-Attic) comedy. Big role in the new comedy the motive of love plays. The authors of the new Attic comedy widely used the psychological theory of Aristotle's student Theophrastus, according to which all character traits are manifested in a person's appearance and in his actions. The physiognomic descriptions of Theophrastus undoubtedly influenced the design of the masks, which helped viewers recognize this or that character. The influence of Euripides is noticeable in the new comedy. The closeness of many of his heroes to life, the revelation of their emotional experiences - this is what the new comedy took from Euripides.

Architecture of the ancient Greek theater.

Initially, the venue for performances was arranged extremely simply: the choir, with their chants and dances, performed on a round compacted platform-orchestra (from the verb orheomai - “I dance”), around which the audience gathered. But as the importance of theatrical art in public and cultural life Greece, and as drama became more complex, improvements became necessary. The hilly landscape of Greece suggested the most rational arrangement of the stage and spectator seats: the orchestra began to be located at the foot of the hill, and the audience was located along the slope.

All ancient Greek theaters were open and could accommodate great amount spectators. The Athens Theater of Dionysus, for example, could accommodate up to 17 thousand people, the theater in Epidaurus - up to 10 thousand. In the 5th century BC. In Greece, a stable type of theater structure developed, characteristic of the entire era of antiquity. The theater had three main parts: the orchestra, theatron (seats for spectators, from the verb teaomai - “I look”) and skene (skene - “tent”, later a wooden or stone structure).

The size of the theater was determined by the diameter of the orchestra (from 11 to 30 m). The skene was located tangentially to the circumference of the orchestra. The front wall of the skene-proskenium, which usually had the appearance of a colonnade, depicted the facade of a temple or palace. Adjoining the skene were two side buildings called paraskenia. Paraskenia served as a place to store scenery and other theatrical property. Between the skene and the seats for spectators, which occupied slightly more than half the circle, there were passages through which spectators entered the theater before the start of the performance, and then the choir and actors entered the orchestra. In the theater of the classical era, the attention of the audience was focused on the development of the action, on the fate of the heroes, and not on external effects. The layout of the Greek theater ensured good audibility. In addition, in some theaters, resonating vessels were placed among the audience seats to amplify sound. There was no curtain in the ancient Greek theater, although it is possible that in some plays some parts of the proskenium were temporarily closed from the audience.

Roman theater

Origins of Roman theater.

The origins of Roman theater and drama go back, as in Greece, to ritual games rich in carnival elements. Such, for example, is the holiday of Saturnalia - in honor of the Italian deity Saturn. The peculiarity of this holiday was the “reversal” of habitual social relations: masters temporarily became “slaves”, and slaves became “masters”.

One of the origins of Roman theater and drama was rural harvest festivals. Even in distant times, when Rome was a small community of Latium, villages celebrated holidays in connection with the end of the harvest. At these holidays, cheerful, rough songs-fescennins were sung. As in Greece, two semi-choirs usually performed and exchanged jokes, sometimes of a caustic nature.

Having originated during the clan system, the Fescennines existed in subsequent centuries, and in them, according to Horace, the social struggle between the plebeians and patricians was reflected. This is how saturas arose (translated as “mixture”). Saturas were dramatic scenes of an everyday and comic nature, including dialogue, singing, music and dancing.

Another type of dramatic performance of a comic nature were the atellans, which were borrowed from other tribes inhabiting the Apennine Peninsula, with which Rome waged continuous wars. Young people became interested in these games and began to organize them on holidays. The atellan featured four permanent comic characters: Makk, Bukkon, Papp and Dossin. The Atellans did not have a hard text, so when performing them, there was wide scope for improvisation. Mime also goes back to folk drama. As in Greece, the mime reproduced scenes from folk life, and sometimes parodied myths, portraying gods and heroes as a buffoon. Thus, in Rome there were approximately the same ritual games as in Ancient Greece. But the development of folk theater did not go beyond the weak beginnings of drama. This is explained by the conservative way of Roman life and the strong resistance of the priests. Therefore, in Rome there was no independent mythology, which in Greece served as the “soil and arsenal” of art, including drama.

Roman theater of the Republican era.

The Romans took literary drama in finished form from the Greeks and translated it into Latin, adapting it to their concepts and tastes. After the victorious end of the first Punic War, at the festive games of 240 BC, it was decided to stage a dramatic performance. The production was entrusted to the Greek Livius Andronicus, who was enslaved by a Roman senator, who gave him the Latin name Livius. After his release, he remained in Rome and began teaching Greek and Latin to the sons of the Roman nobility. This teacher staged a tragedy and probably also a comedy at the games, which he revised from the Greek model or, perhaps, simply translated from Greek language into Latin. This production gave the first impetus to the development of Roman theater.

From 235 BC The playwright Gnaeus Nevius begins to stage his plays on stage. Naevius' younger contemporary Titus Maccius Plautus. His work dates back to the period when Rome was transforming from an agricultural community into the strongest state - first of the Apennine Peninsula, and then of the entire basin Mediterranean Sea. Publius Terentius Afr, who, like Plautus, worked in the genre of palliata, belonged to the next generation of playwrights. Terence can be called the forerunner of the new European drama. The European theater has repeatedly turned to his work. The influence of his comedies "Formion" and "Brothers" is felt in the work of Moliere.

Roman theater of the imperial era.

In the 1st century BC, the republic in Rome fell. After the assassination of Caesar and the victory over Antony in 31 BC. Octavian became emperor in Rome, and subsequently received the honorary nickname Augustus (“Sacred”). August understood well public importance theater and contributed in every possible way to its development. First of all, Augustus wanted to revive the tragedy of the Greek type on the Roman stage, seeing in it a means of improving and educating the morals of his citizens. These aspirations of Augustus were supported by one of the outstanding Roman poets, Horace, and were reflected in his “Science of Poetry.” However, all the efforts of Augustus to revive the serious genre on the Roman stage were unsuccessful.

From the tragedy of the imperial era, nothing has reached us except the tragedies of the philosopher Seneca. Lucius Annaeus Seneca was the tutor of Emperor Nero, at one time he held the highest positions in the state under him, but then he was accused of conspiracy against the emperor and, on the orders of Nero, committed suicide by cutting his veins. Seneca began to write tragedies in last years life, when Nero’s attitude towards him changed and he was forced to more carefully express his views on the existing order.

Organization theatrical performances.

Performances were held in Rome during various public holidays. The plays were performed at the festival of the patricians - the Roman Games, held in September in honor of Jupiter, Juno and Minerva; at the Apollo Games - in July. There was no permanent theater building in Rome until the middle of the 1st century. BC.; the conservative Senate opposed its construction. For performances, a wooden platform half a man's height was usually erected in the forum. A narrow staircase of 4-5 steps led to the stage area, along which the actors climbed onto the stage.

In the tragedy, the action took place in front of the palace. In comedies, the scenery almost always depicted a city street with the facades of two or three houses facing it, and the action took place in front of the house. The audience sat on benches in front of the stage. But sometimes the Senate prohibited the arrangement of seats in these temporary theaters: sitting at performances, in the opinion of the Senate, was a sign of effeminacy. All structures built for theatrical games broke down immediately after their completion.

An event for Rome was the appearance of the first permanent theater built of stone. This theater was built in 55 BC. Gnaeus Pompey the Great and could accommodate up to 40 thousand people. At the end of the 1st century. BC. Two more stone theaters were built in Rome: the Theater of Balbus and the Theater of Marcellus. From the latter, the remains of the outer wall, divided into three floors, which correspond to the three internal tiers, have survived to this day.

Theater of the Middle Ages

Liturgical and semi-liturgical drama.

One of the forms of theatrical art of the early Middle Ages was church drama. Fighting against the remnants of the ancient theater, against rural games, the church sought to use the effectiveness of theatrical propaganda for its own purposes.

Already in the 9th century, the Mass was dramatized, and a ritual of reading episodes from legends about the life of Christ, his burial and resurrection was developed. From these dialogues early liturgical drama is born. There were two cycles of such drama - the Christmas one, telling about the birth of Christ, and the Easter one, conveying the story of his resurrection. In the Christmas liturgical drama, a cross was placed in the middle of the temple, then it was wrapped in black material, which meant the burial of the Lord's body.

Over time, the liturgical drama becomes more complex, the costumes of the “actors” are diversified, and “director’s instructions” are created with precise instructions for the test and movements. The priests themselves did all this. The organizers of liturgical performances accumulated staging experience and began to skillfully show the people the ascension of Christ and other gospel miracles. Approaching life and using production effects, liturgical drama no longer attracted, but distracted parishioners from the service. The development of the genre concealed its self-destruction. Not wanting to give up the services of the theater and not being able to cope with it, church authorities are moving liturgical drama from under the arches of churches to the porch. A semi-liturgical drama is born. And here the church theater, formally being in the power of the clergy, fell under the influence of the city crowd. Now she is already dictating her tastes to him, forcing him to give performances on fairs, not church holidays, and completely switch to his native language, understandable to the crowd. Concerned about success, churchmen began to select more everyday subjects, and biblical subjects subject to everyday interpretation became the material for semi-liturgical drama. Biblical legends are subject to poetic treatment over time. Technical innovations are also being introduced: the principle of simultaneous scenery is finally established, when several scenes of action are shown simultaneously; the number of tricks increases. However, despite all this, church drama continued to maintain a close connection with the church. The drama was staged on the porch, with church funds, its repertoire was compiled by clergy (although the participants in the performances, along with priests and laity). Thus, intricately combining mutually exclusive elements, church drama existed for a long time.

Secular drama.

The beginning of the realistic movement

The first shoots of a new realistic movement are associated with the name of the trouvère (troubadour) Adam de La Halle (circa 1238-1287) from the French city of Arras. De La Al was passionate about poetry, music and theater. He lived in Paris and Italy (at the court of Charles of Anjou) and became quite widely known as a poet, musician, and playwright.

In the 13th century, the current of comedy was already drowned out by the theater of the miracle, which also had life events as its theme, but turned to religion.

Miracle.

The name "miracle" comes from the Latin word "miracle". And indeed, all conflicts, sometimes very acutely reflecting the contradictions of life, in this genre were resolved thanks to the intervention of divine forces - St. Nicholas, the Virgin Mary, etc. Time itself - the 14th century, full of wars, popular unrest and inhuman massacres - explains the development of such a controversial genre as the miracle. It is no coincidence that a miracle, which usually began with an incriminating image of reality, always ended with a compromise, an act of repentance and forgiveness, which practically meant reconciliation with the atrocities only shown, for it presupposed a possible righteous person in each villain. This suited both the burgher consciousness and the church.

Mystery.

The heyday of the mystery theater was the 15th-16th centuries, a time of rapid growth of cities and aggravation of social contradictions. The city has already largely overcome feudal dependence, but has not yet fallen under the rule of an absolute monarch. The mystery was an expression of the flourishing of the medieval city and its culture. It grew out of the so-called “mimic mysteries” - city processions in honor of religious holidays, in honor of the ceremonial trips of kings. From these festivities, a square mystery gradually took shape, using the early experience of medieval theater. Mystery performances were organized not by the church, but by city workshops and municipalities. The authors were figures of a new type - theologians, lawyers, doctors. Despite the fact that the performances were directed by the city's upper bourgeoisie, mystery plays were a mass public amateur art. Hundreds of people took part in the performances.

The mystery showed the creation of the world, the rebellion of Lucifer against God, and biblical miracles. Mystery expanded the thematic range of medieval theater and accumulated vast stage experience, which was used by subsequent genres of the Middle Ages. The performer of the mystery was the city people. Individual episodes of the huge theatrical performance were performed by representatives of various city workshops. At the same time, the mystery gave each profession the opportunity to express itself as fully as possible. The mysteries developed theatrical technique, established the people's taste for theater, and prepared some of the features of Renaissance drama. But by 1548, mystery societies, especially widespread in France, were prohibited from showing mystery plays: the critical comedy line of the mystery theater had become too noticeable. The reason for her death is also that she did not receive support from the new, progressive forces of society.

Reformation movement

Anti-feudal character

The Reformation unfolded in Europe in the 16th century. It was anti-feudal in nature and took the form of a struggle against the ideological support of feudalism - the Catholic Church.

The Reformation movement affirms the principle of “personal communication with God,” the principle of personal virtue. In the hands of the wealthy burghers, morality becomes a weapon of struggle both against the feudal lords and against the poor urban masses. The desire to impart holiness to the bourgeois worldview gives rise to morality theater.

Morality.

Moralite freed moralization from both religious subjects and everyday distractions and, having become isolated, acquired stylistic unity and a greater didactic orientation.

Farce.

The area farce stands out as an independent theatrical genre from the second half of the 15th century. However, he had gone through a long path of hidden development before this. The name itself comes from the Latin farta (“filling”). And indeed, the organizers of the mysteries often wrote: “Insert a farce here.” Cheerful Maslenitsa performances and folk performances give rise to “stupid corporations” - an association of petty judicial officials, diverse urban bohemia, schoolchildren, and seminarians. In the 15th century, clownish societies spread throughout Europe. There were four large organizations in Paris and regular parades of their farcical performances were held. In these parades, the speeches of bishops, the debates of judges, and the entry of kings into the city were ridiculed. In response to this, the secular and spiritual authorities persecuted the Farsers, expelled them from the city, and threw them into prison. The farce is directed with all its content and artistic structure towards reality. He ridicules marauding soldiers, monks selling indulgences, arrogant nobles, and stingy merchants. Sharply noticed and outlined character traits carry a satirically pointed vital material. The main principles of acting for farceurs were characterization, brought to the point of parody caricature, and dynamism, expressing the activity and cheerfulness of the performers themselves. The monarchical and church authorities increasingly attacked urban freethinking and one of its forms - farcical theater.

Farce had a great influence on the further development of theater in Western Europe. In Italy, commedia dell'arte was born from farce; in Spain - the work of the “father of Spanish theater” Lope de Rueda; and in England John Heywood wrote his interludes as a farce; in Germany, Hans Sachs; in France, farcical traditions nourished the art of the brilliant Moliere and the great Shakespeare.

It was the farce that became the link between the old and new theater.

New theater

Theater (from the Greek theatron - place for spectacle, spectacle). The generic concept of theater is divided into types of theatrical art: drama theater, opera, ballet, pantomime theater, etc. The origin of the term is associated with the ancient Greek theater, where this was the name given to seats in the auditorium. However, today the meaning of this term is extremely diverse.

During the Age of Enlightenment, the transition to modern culture was completed. A new way of life and thinking was taking shape, which means that the artistic self-awareness of a new type of culture was also changing. The name “Enlightenment” well characterizes the general spirit of this movement in the field of cultural and spiritual life, which sets itself the goal of replacing views based on religious or political authorities with those resulting from the demands of the human mind.

XVIII century gave world culture such remarkable artists and theorists of theater art as Sheridan in England, Voltaire, Diderot, Beaumarchais in France, Lessing, Goethe, Schiller in Germany, Goldoni in Italy. The dominance of reason led to the fact that the art of the Enlightenment suffered from rationality; a rational analysis of life required ordered forms.

However, the enlighteners, who saw the ideal of man in a harmonious personality, could not neglect the demands of feeling when it came to art. The theater of the Enlightenment remarkably expressed, both in content and method, a new view of the world that was adequate to the era.

Theater in the Age of Enlightenment in England.

The theater audiences of the 18th century became much more democratic. Simple benches were installed in the stalls for the townspeople. The racks were filled with servants, students and small craft people. During the performances, the audience behaved very actively, reacting animatedly to what was shown on stage.

Thus, in England, the theater of the Enlightenment criticized the vices of the emerging bourgeois system. A new ideological doctrine of theater emerges: public and moral education viewer. This doctrine fit perfectly into the Puritan traditions of England - later the Puritans softened their position in relation to theatrical art, and no longer fought against the theater as such, but for its reformation: the eradication of immorality and the transformation of the theater into a socially useful institution.

The programmatic document of the theater reformation was the treatise of the Puritan theologian Jeremy Collier against the aristocratic theater, A Brief Review of the Immorality and Impiety of the English Stage (1698). This treatise defined emphasized moralizing and didacticism English theater throughout almost the entire 18th century. The work of such playwrights as Joseph Addison (Cato, The Drummer), Richard Steele (The Liar Lover, or Women's Friendship; The Carefree Husband), Samuel Johnson (Irene), Colley Cibber (The Carefree Husband; The Wife's Last Bid; The Irritated Husband) developed in this direction. ).

In 1731, in the preface to his play The London Merchant, or the History of George Barnwell, playwright George Lillo published a manifesto of a new aesthetic program - a realistic theory of bourgeois drama. He opposes the class restrictions of the tragedy, which brought out only high-ranking individuals as its heroes. Without hiding his hostility towards the aristocracy, he demands that tragedy become a conductor of the moral ideas of the bourgeoisie. Ten years earlier, in 1721, the anonymous play “Fatal Madness” appeared in England, written on one of the favorite themes of bourgeois drama - about the disastrous consequences of gambling passion. Then the play went virtually unnoticed - the time for a new genre had not yet come. But now bourgeois issues have become in great demand among viewers.

Satirical tendencies in drama were successfully developed by Henry Fielding (“Don Quixote in England”; “Grabstreet’s Opera, or Under the Shoe of the Wife”; “Historical Calendar for 1736”). The severity of satirical denunciation led in 1737 to the publication of a government law on theatrical censorship, which put an end to political satire. The attention of playwrights and educators focused on the comedy of manners, which provided the opportunity for at least social satire. Most interesting works comedies of manners of this period were written by Oliver Goldsmith (Good; The Night of Errors) and Richard Sheridan (The Rivals; The School for Scandal).

The best representative of English artistic arts appeared famous David Garrick (1717-1779), humanist and educator on stage. He successfully promoted Shakespeare's dramaturgy, playing the roles of Hamlet, Lear and others.

End of the 18th century marked in England by the emergence of a new genre - the tragedy of "nightmares and horrors", which was the predecessor of a new aesthetic movement - romanticism. The creator of this genre was Horace Walpole. Although he only wrote one play, “The Mysterious Mother” (1768), depicting the story of incestuous passion, the writer had a great influence on pre-romantic and romantic drama.

French theater of the 18th century.

The process of democratization of society during the Enlightenment brought to life a new dramatic genre - bourgeois drama, the creators of which in France were D. Diderot, M. J. Seden, L. S. Mercier.

The shortcomings of bourgeois drama and “tearful comedy” were overcome in the comedies of P. O. Beaumarchais “The Barber of Seville” (1775) and “The Marriage of Figaro” (1784), in which the traditions of Moliere were revived with renewed vigor and the best features of educational aesthetics were embodied.

The heroic and civic aspirations of educational drama were revealed with greatest force during the period of the French bourgeois revolution the end of the 18th century. The tragedies of M. J. Chenier, imbued with anti-feudal pathos (Charles IX, 1789, Henry VIII, 1791, Jean Calas, 1791, Caius Gracchus, 1792), were examples of the dramaturgy of revolutionary classicism.

In France, the Enlightenment philosopher Voltaire, turning in his drama to pressing social issues and denouncing despotism, continued to develop the genre of tragedy.

At the same time, the comedy-satirical tradition was maintained on the French stage. Thus, Lesage (1668-1747) in the comedy “Turcare” criticized not only the decaying nobility, but also the usurious bourgeoisie. He sought to create comedies for mass popular theater.

Another educator and playwright, Denis Diderot (1713-1784), defended truth and naturalness on stage. In addition to a number of plays (“Bad Son”, “Father of the Family”, etc.), Diderot wrote a treatise “The Paradox of the Actor”, where he developed the theory of acting.

In the productions of Voltaire's educational tragedies, a new type of actors emerged, capable of expressing the civic pathos of heroic and accusatory themes.

Fair and boulevard theaters occupied a large place in the development of theater during the Enlightenment in France. The genre of fair theater was pantomimes, farces, morality plays, and fastachtspiels, the performances of which were based on the art of improvisation. These were performances that were often satirical, with elements of the grotesque and buffoonery, filled with crude humor. Rope dancers, jugglers, and trained animals—prototypes of circus actors—also performed at the fairs. They made extensive use of parody and satire. The democratic character of this art caused attacks on it from privileged theaters.

Formation of the German theater.

The true creator of the German national theater was the most prominent German enlightenment writer Gotthold-Ephraim Lessing (1729 -1781). He created the first German national comedy “Minna von Barnholm”, the anti-feudal tragedy “Emilia Galotti” and a number of other dramatic works. In the educational tragedy “Nathan the Wise,” the author spoke out against religious fanaticism.

In the famous book “Hamburg Drama,” Lessing outlined his opinions on aesthetics and theory of drama. G. E. Lessing is the creator of social drama, national comedy and educational tragedy, theater theorist, and founder of the realistic movement in German theater of the 18th century.

Enlightenment ideas had a great influence on German acting, bringing it closer to realism. The most prominent actor in Germany during these years was Friedrich Ludwig Schröder (1744-1816), associated with the ideas of “sturm und drang”. In the 70s XVIII century A new movement called “Storm and Drang” arose in German art.

It reflected the movement of the most advanced, revolutionary-minded circles of the bourgeoisie, who fought against feudalism and absolutism. The greatest German poets and playwrights, Goethe and Schiller, participated in this movement. In 1777, the Mannheim National Theater was opened, which became one of the largest German theaters of the 80-90s. In the 18th century, the activity of the actor, director and playwright A.V. Iffland unfolded there. He implanted bourgeois-philistine dramaturgy on the Mannheim stage (his own plays, as well as the plays of A. Kotzebue), which determined the creative face of the theater.

IN late XVII I century The development of German theater is associated with the activities of the great German playwrights J. W. Goethe and F. Schiller in the Weimar theater. Here for the first time in Germany they staged major works world classical dramaturgy (Goethe, Schiller, Lessing, Voltaire and others), the foundations of the art of directing were laid, the principle of an acting ensemble subordinate to a single artistic design.

Goethe, in his theoretical program and artistic practice, affirmed the principles of creating a monumental theater that met the strict standards of ancient art. "Weimar School" acting was opposite to the Mannheim one and closer to the classicist one.

Italian theater.

Despite its economic and political backwardness, Italy was distinguished by the richness and diversity of its theatrical life. By the 18th century Italy had the best in the world musical theater, in which two types were distinguished - serious opera and comic opera (opera buffe). There was a puppet theater, and commedia dell'arte performances were performed everywhere.

However, the reform of the drama theater has been brewing for a long time. In the Age of Enlightenment, improvised comedy no longer met the requirements of the time. We needed a new, serious one, literary theater. The Comedy of Masks could not exist in its previous form, but its achievements had to be preserved and carefully transferred to the new theater.

Penetration of enlightenment ideas into Italian theater was accompanied by a long struggle against formalism and lack of ideas in theater stage. An innovator in Italy was the remarkable playwright Carlo Goldoni (1707 -1793). He created new comedy characters. Instead of improvisation, the performance was based on a literary text.

The second half of the 18th century went down in Italian history as a time of theatrical wars. Abbot Chiari, a mediocre and therefore harmless playwright, opposed him, but his main opponent, equal to him in terms of talent, was Carlo Gozzi. Gozzi defended the theater of masks, setting the task of reviving the tradition of improvised comedy. And at some stage it seemed that he succeeded. And although Goldoni left room for improvisation in his comedies, and Gozzi himself eventually wrote down almost all of his dramatic works, their dispute was cruel and uncompromising. Since the main nerve of the confrontation between the two great Venetians is the incompatibility of their social positions, in different views on the world and man.

Carlo Gozzi (1720-1806) was a talented playwright. In an effort to contrast his repertoire with Goldoni's comedies, Gozzi developed the genre of theatrical fairy tales. These are his plays “The Love for Three Oranges”, “The Deer King”, the famous “Princess Turandot”, “The Snake Woman” and others. Thanks to their rich irony and rich humor, Gozzi’s talented fairy tales for the stage are still popular today.

The greatest author of tragedies was Vittorio Alfieri. The birth of Italian repertoire tragedy is associated with his name. He created a civil tragedy almost single-handedly. A passionate patriot who dreamed of liberating his homeland, Alfieri opposed tyranny. All his tragedies are imbued with the heroic pathos of the struggle for freedom.

Alfieri argued that the people should receive freedom from the hands of the aristocracy; he asserted the freedom of the human person, the will of which is subject only to reason and a sense of duty. In his treatise “On the Prince and Literature” (1778-86), Alfieri defined the task of dramatic poetry as awakening feelings of virtue and love of freedom. Alfieri's tragedies Saul, Philip, Virginia, Brutus I and Brutus II contributed to the development of Italian theater.

Danish theater of the Enlightenment.

Professional theater in Denmark arose in the 18th century, its creation was caused by the economic and cultural development of the country. On September 23, 1722, the Danish Stage theater opened in Copenhagen with the play “The Miser,” and soon the premiere of L. Holberg’s first comedy “The Tin Man-Politician” took place.

In 1728, representatives of court circles achieved the closure of the Danish Stage. The theater resumed work only in 1748 (in premises on Royal Square). In 1770 it received the name Royal and came under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of the Court. In the second half of the 18th century. The theater staged singspiels, comedies by J. Ewald, tragedies by Voltaire and his Danish epigones, but the basis of the theater's repertoire continued to be Holberg's dramaturgy.

A prominent role in the promotion of the ideas of the Enlightenment in Denmark was played by the work of I. H. Wessel, the author of the parody tragedy “Love without Stockings” (1772), who continued the traditions of Holberg.

The theater of the Enlightenment is one of the most striking and significant phenomena in the history of world culture; this is a powerful source of European theatrical art - for all times. The new theater was born out of the need to pour young energy into action. And if you ask yourself the question into what sphere of art this action, this sea of ​​fun, should have resulted, then the answer is clear: of course, into the sphere of theater.

During the 18th century European theater lived a long and complex life. Aesthetic norms, considered absolutes, lost their former meaning during this time. Over the course of a century, opinions and tastes were in constant conflict, and auditoriums more than once turned into an arena of public clashes. The authors were political opponents who, for the first time, learned that there could also be a fierce struggle in their art.

Theater as an art form is not preserved in such material monuments as painting and sculpture, as well as works of literature and music. But the history of the theater tells about the great actors of the past, how they played, what aspirations of their contemporaries they embodied in their acting, what demands of the time they responded to.

Theatrical life of Russia in the 19th century.

At the beginning of the 19th century, a network of Russian Imperial theaters was formed, which were managed
"the Ministry of the Court of His Imperial Majesty." Subordinate to the court there were three theaters in St. Petersburg - Alexandria, Mariinsky and Mikhailovsky - and two in Moscow - the Bolshoi and Maly theaters.

With the advent of plays by A.N. Ostrovsky, I.S. Turgenev, prose by F.M. Dostoevsky, Nekrasov’s poetry, realism came to Russian culture.

The art of acting changed along with dramaturgy, breaking old ideas about what truth is on stage. November 16, 1859 was the day of the premiere of Ostrovsky’s play “The Thunderstorm” at the Maly Theater. A storm erupted around the performance. The first performer of the role of Katerina was the wonderful actress L.P. Nikulina - Kositskaya. With Ostrovsky's plays, the elements of Russian life, a new, rich and modern language, burst onto the stage. Maly's actors shone in Ostrovsky's plays throughout the subsequent decades. G.N. Fedotova, M.N. Ermolova is a wonderful actress of the Maly Theater.

Russian artists of the first half of the 19th century M.S. Shchepkin, P.S. Mochalov, V.A. Karatygin remained in the memory of descendants as figures from legend. Shchepkin played almost 600 roles in plays by Shakespeare, Moliere, Gogol, Ostrovsky and Turgenev. He was one of the first to assert realism in the Russian theater; he created truth on the Russian stage.

Mochalov is the direct opposite of Shchepkin. He played leading roles in plays of Russian and Western drama - Shakespeare's Hamlet, Karl Moor in Schiller's drama The Robbers, Chatsky in Woe from Wit.

In productions of plays, Russian actors created images that went down in the history of theatrical art. The public admired Ekaterina Semyonova and Alexei Yakovlev. These actors completely transformed into the person they represented. Gradually, the Maly Theater began to specialize in dramatic productions, and the Bolshoi in opera and ballet.

Bolshoi Petrovsky Theater 1825-1853

The opening of the Bolshoi Petrovsky Theater on January 6, 1825 was very solemn. The spectators who visited the new theater that evening were shocked by the nobility of the architectural design and its implementation, the unprecedented scale of the building, and the beauty of the decoration of its auditorium.

Writer Sergei Aksakov recalled: “The Bolshoi Petrovsky Theater, which emerged from old, charred ruins... amazed and delighted me... The magnificent huge building, exclusively dedicated to my favorite art, just by its appearance brought me into joyful excitement...”

Before the start of the performance, the audience called the theater builder Osip Bove onto the stage and awarded him applause.

On a cloudy, frosty morning on March 11, 1853, for an unknown reason, a fire started in the theater. The flames instantly engulfed the entire building, but the fire raged with greatest force on the stage and in the auditorium. “It was scary to look at this giant engulfed in fire,” an eyewitness described the fire. “When it was burning, it seemed to us that a person dear to us, who endowed us with the most beautiful thoughts and feelings, was dying before our eyes...”

For two days Muscovites fought the flames, and for the third day the theater building resembled the ruins of the Roman Colosseum. The remains of the building smoldered for about a week. Theatrical costumes collected since the end of the 18th century, excellent scenery for performances, the troupe's archives, part of the music library, and rare musical instruments were irretrievably lost in the fire.

The design of the new theater building, drawn up by Professor A. Mikhailov, was approved by Emperor Alexander I in 1821, and its construction was entrusted to the architect Osip Bova.

One of the largest theaters in Europe, it was built on the site of a burnt theater building, but the façade was facing Teatralnaya Square...

Bolshoi Theater (1856-1917)

On August 20, 1856, the restored Bolshoi Theater was opened in the presence of the royal family and representatives of all states with V. Bellini’s opera “The Puritans” performed by an Italian troupe. The Moscow ballet of this period owes its successes to the talent of the Frenchman Marius Petipa, who settled in St. Petersburg. The choreographer came to Moscow several times to stage performances. The most significant of his Moscow works was “Don Quixote” by L. Minkus, first shown in 1869. Petipa subsequently transferred the Moscow edition of this ballet to the St. Petersburg stage.

Great importance the work of P. Tchaikovsky had a role in the development of performing culture. The composer's debuts in opera music - "The Voevoda" (1869) and ballet music - " Swan Lake"(1877) took place on the stage of the Bolshoi Theater. Here the opera “Eugene Onegin” (1881) received its real birth, the first attempt on the big stage after the Conservatory production of 1879; The opera “Mazeppa” (1884), one of the peaks of the composer’s operatic creativity, was first released; the final version of the opera “Blacksmith Vakula”, which received the new name “Cherevichki” in the 1887 performance.

A memorable performance in the annals of the theater was the first performance on December 16, 1888 of I. Mussorgsky’s folk drama “Boris Godunov”. The first of N. Rimsky-Korsakov’s operas to see the light of the Bolshoi Theater stage was “The Snow Maiden” (1893), and then “The Night Before Christmas” (1898). In the same 1898, the theater first showed the audience A. Borodin’s opera “Prince Igor”, and two years later fans choreographic art got acquainted with A. Glazunov’s ballet “Raymonda”.

The theater's opera troupe of the late 19th and early 20th centuries includes many outstanding singers. Among the glorious names of past years are Eulalia Kadmina, Anton Bartsal, Pavel Khokhlov, Nadezhda Salina, Ivan Gryzunov, Margarita Gunova, Vasily Petrov, etc. Singers appeared on the theater stage in these years, whose names soon became widely known not only in Russia, but and abroad - Leonid Sobinov, Fyodor Chaliapin, Antonina Nezhdanova.

The activity in the theater of Sergei Rachmaninov, who also established himself as a conductor, was fruitful a brilliant musician. Rachmaninov improved the sound quality of Russian opera classics in the theater. By the way, the name of Rachmaninov is associated with the transfer of the conductor's console to the place where it is now; before, the conductor stood behind the orchestra, facing the stage.

In 1899, The Sleeping Beauty was staged for the first time at the Bolshoi Theater. The production of this ballet, which established the partnership of music and dance in the Russian ballet theater, was the beginning of a long and happy work in Moscow for the choreographer, librettist and teacher Alexander Gorsky. I worked with him large group talented artists - Ekaterina Geltser, Vera Caralli, Sofya Fedorova, Alexandra Balashova, Vasily Tikhomirov, Mikhail Mordkin, conductor and composer Andrei Arende, etc. To design a new production of the ballet “Don Quixote” (1900), Gorsky for the first time invited young artists Konstantin Korovin and Alexander Golovin, future great masters of theatrical painting.

1911 The plan submitted by Albert Kavos won the competition for the restoration of the theater building.

Kavos, while maintaining the layout and volume of the Beauvais building, increased the height, changed the proportions and redesigned the architectural decoration. In particular, slender cast-iron galleries with lamps were built on the sides of the building. Contemporaries noted the appearance of this colonnade, especially beautiful in the evenings, when you look at it from a distance, and a row of burning lamps seems like a diamond thread running along the theater.

The alabaster Apollo group that decorated the Beauvais Theater was destroyed in a fire. To create a new one, Kavos invited the famous Russian sculptor Pyotr Klodt (1805-1867), the author of the famous four equestrian groups on the Anichkov Bridge over the Fontanka River in St. Petersburg.

Klodt created the now world-famous sculptural group with Apollo. It was cast in the factories of the Duke of Lichtenberg from a metal alloy plated with red copper.

During the reconstruction of the auditorium, Kavos changed the shape of the hall, narrowing it towards the stage, deepening orchestra pit. Behind the stalls, where there used to be a gallery, he built an amphitheater. The dimensions of the auditorium became: almost equal depth and width - about 30 meters, height - about 20 meters. The auditorium began to accommodate over 2000 spectators.

In this form, the Bolshoi Theater has survived to this day, with the exception of minor internal and external reconstructions.

Theater is a miracle of the human world.

The dominant trend in literature and art of the second half of the 19th century. was method of critical realism, the fundamental principle of which was a truthful reflection of reality and understanding of the depicted phenomena from the point of view of their correspondence to social progress. Enormous social reach, an offensive, accusatory spirit, and an appeal to topical problems - this is what defined the literature of the post-reform period. Russian literature was distinguished not only by its critical attitude to reality, it exposed evil, looked for ways to combat this evil, and carried out a socially transformative mission. Ideological completeness, deep penetration into life phenomena, rejection of injustice, richness of artistic expression literary works determined the leading role of literature in the development of other types of art.

In the second half of the 19th century. and the first decade of the 20th century. accounts for the creativity of the artist's thoughts and words L.N. Tolstoy ( 1828-1910), who created such masterpieces as the stories " Childhood. Adolescence. Youth", "Hadji Murat", "The Death of Ivan Ilyich", "Kreutzer Sonata", novels" War and Peace", "Anna Karenina", "Resurrection", dramas The Power of Darkness", "The Fruits of Enlightenment", "The Living Corpse" and etc.

Russian literature post-reform decades can be considered a phenomenon of European artistic culture of the 19th century. No country in the world at that time had such correct and highly spiritual literature. The realistic dictatorship of Russia reflected the entire range of problems of a historical and religious nature, comprehended with scientific accuracy and philosophical depth.

Each of the galaxy of great writers saw the future of Russia differently. But all of them were united by a love for the Fatherland, a thirst for its prosperity through the free and honest labor of all members of society. Many have written about the need to increase the well-being of the peasantry - V.G. Belinsky, N.G. Chernyshevsky, N.A. Dobrolyubov, D.I. Pisarev. The recognized master of populist poetry of these years was ON THE. Nekrasov ( 1821-1877). He entered Russian culture as a “sorrower of the people’s grief,” a defender of ordinary peasants against oppressors of all stripes. Nekrasov's poetry is realistic and to some extent comparable to realistic prose. It is characterized by the poet’s ability to objectively and accurately evaluate this or that fact, this or that event:

A brilliant writer played a different role in Russian culture F.M. Dostoevsky ( 1821-1881). According to the apt definition of M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin, Dostoevsky looked for answers to pressing questions of our time “in the most distant quests of humanity.” Possessing a unique gift of prophecy and the ability to analyze the movements of the human soul, the writer professed ideas that went beyond the ideas of a specific historical period of time into the sphere of the highest timeless interests of people's lives. He draws images of the people in accordance with the logic of characters and the truth of life, connecting good and evil.

Chekhov opened new paths in the development of domestic and world drama. In his plays, he abandoned the tradition of dividing characters into “positive” and “negative”. The character of Chekhov's heroes develops on the basis of a multifaceted analysis of various motives of behavior. Chekhov sensitively grasped the alarming sign of the times - the lack of mutual understanding between people. His characters are fenced off by an invisible wall, they listen, but do not seem to hear each other, plunging into the world of their own experiences.

The historical turning point in the development of Russian theater is associated with Chekhov's plays "The Seagull", "Three Sisters", "The Cherry Orchard", staged at the Moscow Art Theater by K.S. Stanislavsky and Vl.I. Nemirovich-Danchenko And - " The Seagull" (1895-1896) amazed contemporaries with its lyricism and subtle symbolism. The love vicissitudes underlying the play develop sharply and dramatically.

art post-reform period, like literature, was closely connected with turbulent processes public life. It reflected debates about ways to transform Russia, a harsh critical assessment of social reality, populist views on the peasantry, and the eternal Russian longing for perfection and a moral ideal. General features painting and literature are journalistic, realistic assessment of everyday and personal phenomena through the prism of generalized typification and social analysis. The moral and educational problems that both literature and fine art tried to solve are also common.

The social function of painting of this period changed radically. If the art of classicism was subordinated to the idea of ​​decorating life, then in the art of the 60s - 70s. the aesthetic moment was no longer considered the main thing. It seemed much more important to the artists to truthfully reflect social problems, thoughts and feelings of representatives of various classes. The desire to keep up with the times, educational beliefs and illusions gave rise to critical painting, highlighting situations of national misfortune. Belief in the social significance of art contributed to the formation of a galaxy of artists who found their calling in reflecting the world of poverty, oppression, and lawlessness. Among them is an outstanding master V.G. Perov ( 1834-1882).

Sensitive to changes in the social climate, the artist reflected in his work the development of mentalities of the 60s - 80s. Rapatskaya LA Russian artistic culture. M.: Humanite. ed. VLADOS center, 1998. - 608 pp., p. 393

The development of theater in the second half of the 19th century is inextricably linked with the name of A.N. Ostrovsky. He created the national Russian theater, which became “a sign of the maturity of the nation, as well as academies, universities, and museums.” Realistic plays by A.N., full of deep psychologism. Ostrovsky contributed to the establishment of critical realism on the Russian stage. The main centers of theatrical culture were the Maly Theater in Moscow and the Alexandrinsky Theater in St. Petersburg.

Russian opera art was improved. Culturology. History of world culture. Ed. AND ABOUT. Voskresenskaya. - M.: UNITY-DANA, Unity, 2003. - 759 p., P. 434

Music, painting, and theater are inextricably linked with the development of literature. Late XIX - early XX centuries. - the period of achievements of Russian musical culture associated with the names of P.I. Tchaikovsky, M.P. Mussorgsky, N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov, M.A. Balakireva, Ts.A. Cui, SV. Rachmaninov, A.K. Glazunova, SI. Taneyeva, A.N. Skryabina, I.F. Stravinsky and others

IN musical culture second half of the 19th century occupies a special place" Mighty bunch" or " New Russian music school". This is a group consisting of five Russian composers - M.A. Balakireva ( 1837-1910), A.P. Borodin ( 1833-1887), Ts.A. Cui ( 1835-1918), M.P. Mussorsky ( 1839-1881) and ON THE. Rimsky-Korsakov, - took shape in the late 50s and early 60s. Tasks and aesthetic positions members of the circle were formed under the influence of the views of Russian artistic and music critic V.V. Stasova ( 1834-1906).

Composers" Mighty bunch"in their work they developed the traditions of classical music by M.I. Glinka and A.S. Dargomyzhsky, widely expanded the boundaries of the genres of symphonic, operatic, instrumental music, enriched them with new forms, bringing them closer to pressing issues of public life. During the period of activity of the “Mighty Handful” some of the best works of the circle members were created: oriental fantasy " Islamey", symphonic poem" Rus" M. Balakireva; First Symphony A. Borodina; operas William Ratcliff" And " Son of a Mandarin" C. Cui; symphonic picture " Night on Bald Mountain" opera" Boris Godunov" M. Mussorgsky; First and Second Symphonies, opera" Pskovite" N. Rimsky-Korsakov.

According to Stasov, three most important features were characteristic of the music of the new school: the absence of prejudices and blind faith, the desire for nationality and “its extreme inclination towards program music.” Composers called for the creation of national music, drawing melodies from folk songs and turning to subjects of social history. Russian artistic culture of the second half of the 19th century. /V.G. Kisunko, M.N. Briskly and before. M.: Nauka, 1988. - 388 pp., p. 167

Despite the totalitarian state control over all spheres of cultural development of society, the art of the USSR in the 30s of the 20th century did not lag behind the world trends of that time. The introduction of technological progress, as well as new trends from the West, contributed to the flourishing of literature, music, theater and cinema.

A distinctive feature of the Soviet literary process of this period was the confrontation of writers into two opposing groups: some writers supported Stalin’s policies and glorified the world socialist revolution, others resisted the authoritarian regime in every possible way and condemned the inhumane policies of the leader.

Russian literature of the 30s experienced its second heyday, and entered the history of world literature as a period Silver Age. At this time they were creating consummate masters words: A. Akhmatova, K. Balmont, V. Bryusov, M. Tsvetaeva, V. Mayakovsky.

Russian prose also showed its literary power: the works of I. Bunin, V. Nabokov, M. Bulgakov, A. Kuprin, I. Ilf and E. Petrov have firmly entered the guild of world literary treasures. Literature during this period reflected the full reality of state and public life.

The works highlighted the issues that worried the public at that unpredictable time. Many Russian writers were forced to flee from totalitarian persecution by the authorities to other states, however, they did not interrupt their writing activities abroad.

In the 30s, the Soviet theater experienced a period of decline. First of all, theater was seen as the main instrument of ideological propaganda. Over time, Chekhov's immortal productions were replaced by pseudo-realistic performances glorifying the leader and the Communist Party.

Outstanding actors who tried in every possible way to preserve the originality of the Russian theater were subjected to severe repression by the father of the Soviet people, among them V. Kachalov, N. Cherkasov, I. Moskvin, M. Ermolova. The same fate befell the talented director V. Meyerhold, who created his own theater school, which was worthy competition for the progressive West.

With the development of radio, the age of pop music began in the USSR. Songs that were broadcast on the radio and recorded on records became available to a wide audience of listeners. Mass song in the Soviet Union was represented by the works of D. Shostakovich, I. Dunaevsky, I. Yuryev, V. Kozin.

The Soviet government completely rejected the jazz direction, which was popular in Europe and the USA (so in the USSR the work of L. Utesov, the first Russian jazz performer, was ignored). Instead, musical works that glorified the socialist system and inspired the nation to work and exploits in the name of the great revolution were welcomed.

Film art in the USSR

The masters of Soviet cinema of this period were able to achieve significant heights in the development of this art form. D. Vetrov, G. Alexandrov, A. Dovzhenko made a huge contribution to the development of cinema. Unsurpassed actresses - Lyubov Orlova, Rina Zelenaya, Faina Ranevskaya - became the symbol of Soviet cinema.

Many films, as well as other works of art, served the propaganda purposes of the Bolsheviks. But still, thanks to the skill of acting, the introduction of sound, high-quality scenery Soviet movies and in our time they evoke genuine admiration from their contemporaries. Such films as “Jolly Fellows”, “Spring”, “Foundling” and “Earth” became a real treasure of Soviet cinema.

Question 1. What themes have become leading in Russian musical art?

Answer. Realism also comes to music. In the work of the “Mighty Handful” (Milia Alekseevich Balakirev, Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky, Caesar Antonovich Cui, Alexander Porfiryevich Borodin and Nikolai Andreevich Rimsky-Korsakov) it is clear how much they wanted to convey the truth of life in their works. In particular, they wrote a lot on topics taken from folk art. Also, topics are taken from history, most often the history of Russia. Often these two sources intertwine and create something unified that inspires the composer.

Question 2. What is characteristic of the Russian theater of the second half of the 19th century?

Answer. The theater is also imbued with the spirit of realism. A set of conventional gestures that the actors used before leave the stage. Now they strive to play a role, as if living it. The viewer seems to see what is happening through a transparent wall - life, which goes on as usual, as if not for the viewer, but for itself. This phenomenon was called the “fourth wall” (a wall between the audience and the actors, which does not exist for the audience, but must necessarily exist for the actors, hiding the hall for them so that they act without being guided by it in any way). The themes of the plays were appropriate. They mainly staged stories from modern life, revealing the problems of society, problems that ruined people's destinies. These are the plays of A.N. Ostrovsky, A.P. Chekhov.

Question 3. Prepare a report about one composer or actor of the second half of the 19th century.

Answer. Konstantin Sergeevich Stanislavsky, message plan:

1) the first years of life - the son of a major industrialist, who became an actor;

2) on the amateur stage in the house of A. A. Karzinkin on Pokrovsky Boulevard;

3) member of the directorate and treasurer of the Moscow branch of the Russian Musical Society and its conservatory;

4) the birth of a stage name;

5) creation and creativity of the Moscow Society of Art and Literature;

6) acting work - the experience that formed the basis of Stanislavsky’s famous actor training system;

7) meeting with Nemirovich-Danchenko and the creation of the Moscow Art Theater.

Question 4. Why in the second half of the 19th century. Is there a revival of folk crafts?

Answer. Folk crafts lose their utilitarian significance during this period. Industrial products turn out to be much cheaper. But industrial products are standard and faceless. At the same time, they are becoming popular in various types of art. folk motives, fashion begins on them. This is how some folk crafts are revived in certain areas, whose craftsmen worked in a certain characteristic style. Now handicrafts are becoming, first of all, works of art.

Question 5. What common ideas can be seen among the authors of works of various types of art?

Answer. Different types of art are characterized by realism, showing life as it is, with all its problems, with its inconsistency. Such are the paintings, music, and theater of those years. The idea of ​​unsettled life and the complexity of the human personality is visible everywhere, which only becomes more complex due to the unsettled nature of life.

DEVELOPMENT OF LITERATURE IN 1700 – 1730

(LITERATURE OF PETER'S ERA)

Russian literature of the 18th century grew on the soil prepared by ancient Russian writing and oral folk art. Russian literature of the 18th century, both chronologically and essentially, begins with the era of Peter I. The enormous economic and social changes that took place in the Russian state at the beginning of the century could not but affect the spiritual needs of society. The art and literature of the medieval type that dominated Rus' could no longer satisfy these demands. The first decades of the century were the time of the formation of new art, the time of the creation of literature that was qualitatively different from the works of ancient Russian literature.

The most important sign of something new in literary creativity was the writers’ view of reality from a national point of view. The horizon of the author's vision is expanding. Literary heroes Now they live not only in Russia - they often go to “foreign countries”, and the very image of other countries is gradually freed from the touch of fantasy. The number of translations from modern Western European literature is growing. More and more often we hear in Russian literature the words that every person is a member of society, that this imposes certain responsibilities on him: a person must bring real benefit to society, the state (one of the ideas of Kantemirov’s satires). State institutions become the subject of poeticization (“Tilemakhida” by Trediakovsky, solemn odes of Lomonosov).

At the beginning of the century, other, deep-seated trends appeared in verbal art: an attempt was made to reflect human psychology. Such attempts were also made in prose (“Ride to the Island of Love” by Trediakovsky based on Talman’s novel). But a particularly significant result was the development of love lyrics. The whole sphere human life, previously almost unknown in literature, has now become accessible to artistic depiction.

These new literary trends largely contradicted each other, entered into struggle with each other and did not always find their complete stylistic face. Along with attempts to portray reality as truthfully and accurately as possible, there also arose a desire to go into the world of fantasy (usually drawn from folklore), into the realm of the exotic, the bizarre and the unexpected (in the plays of the Kunst Theater, partly in stories - “histories”).

If Russian literature of the 18th century as a whole can be conditionally called a creative laboratory that prepared the artistic achievements of the 19th century, then the experimental principle was especially strong in the literature of the first decades of the century. This feature of the literary process is most fully realized in the years 1700-1730. expressed in his work by V.K. Trediakovsky.

Thus, the work of writers of the beginning of the century is not united by any one or even several literary trends in the modern understanding of this word (as it will be characteristic of the literature of the second half of the 18th century and subsequent times). As in the 17th century, literary life is still developing spontaneously. Writing has not yet become a large and internally organized part of the ideological struggle, has not yet become a profession. There are also no clearly understood literary theoretical programs, no literary manifestos (which in general will be destined to play a lesser role in the history of Russian literature than in the history of Western literatures). There are, however, various ideological and stylistic trends, which in their totality prepare the ground for Russian literary classicism.

Against what historical and cultural background did Russian literature develop at the beginning of the century? What was the general state of the country's culture at that time?

This time went down in history as the “era of Peter’s reforms.” Peter I, as you know, did a lot to bring Russian culture closer to European culture. A.S. Pushkin said this well: “Russia entered Europe like a deflated ship, with the sound of an ax and the thunder of cannons.” And this huge ship was built thanks to the efforts of Peter I. Although in Russia, as D.S. Likhachev notes, there was no revival, renaissance, in the European sense of the word, nevertheless, the end of the 17th and beginning of the 18th centuries. can rightfully be considered equivalent to the European Renaissance for Russia. From a monarchy of the old type, from a state bound by outdated class prejudices, from a state in which the ruling class was the boyars, Russian society came to a powerful state of a different, European type, to an “enlightened” monarchy, where the master was the nobility, uniting the ancient clan nobility - the boyars with the new nobility, which arose relatively recently or even just emerged, with the nobility in the proper sense of the word.

The new state consists of landowners who own the land, and peasants, finally enslaved, living on this land. These are, finally, merchants, now, during a rapid economic recovery, Agriculture and industry, which have become an important force social development, and the clergy.

The West, which was largely oriented towards Russian state beginning of the century, was also, of course, heterogeneous. In Western Europe there was a counter-reformation, but there was also enlightenment, and there was also Renaissance humanism. If Simeon of Polotsk in the 17th century had not yet clearly defined his position: either he was closer to the Enlightenment, or to Renaissance humanism (this probably was not clear to him either), then Peter I in his transformations, in his reforms clearly and definitely gravitated towards the educational, humanistic West. This was inevitable historically.

In accordance with these new trends, a completely new worldview took shape in Russia. Interest in sciences, which had previously been considered as something bordering on sorcery, witchcraft, and mysticism, manifested itself with enormous force; Interest in the exact sciences especially increased. In connection with this, faith in the power of the human mind is gradually being established. Reason becomes the measure of everything (this is how the ground is prepared for the emergence of classicism). And this measure is gradually, imperceptibly pushing into the background many traditional religious ideas. The authority of the church is replaced by the authority of the state, a state that has subordinated church authority to itself. Serving the state becomes a criterion of a person’s value and moral qualities. Social benefit is gradually becoming the highest ethical standard. And these new ideas, which originally arose in the West, along with new concepts enter Russian everyday life: public benefit, public cause, citizen, patriot. The conviction arises that civil laws are not written by inspiration from above, but are created according to the laws of reason, determined by “natural law” and not by “divine providence.”

Connections with Europe are being established very quickly. The dam that had been separating Russia from Western culture for many centuries was broken. Russian people, mainly young people, are urgently “sent” by the government to “foreign lands”; quite a large number of educational books appear, both translated and their own in Russian. L. Magnitsky writes Arithmetic, remarkable for its time, with poetic inserts. The significance of this book (1703) went beyond the study of mathematics. The first Russian printed newspaper Vedomosti was published, the circulation of which sometimes rose to several thousand copies. Introduced new calendar(1700). A new civil font was approved, which greatly facilitated book printing and increased the possibility of disseminating literacy among the wider population.

Attaching great importance to the publication of educational books and the development of exact sciences, Peter I and his associates encouraged the development applied arts. The first gymnasiums, still few in number, appeared. Thus, in 1703, the Ernst Gluck gymnasium was founded in Moscow. Peter I widely, sometimes going to extremes, attracted foreigners for such purposes. Quite a number of “digital schools” are being created – schools in which the teaching of exact sciences occupies the main place. Zaikonospasskoe Moscow school transforms into higher educational institution– Slavic-Greek-Latin Academy. New, more qualified teachers are attracted here and training rises to a higher level.

Interest in ancient culture is growing. In this regard, in 1705, an interesting book with the Latin title “Symbols and Emblems” was published. This book contained over eight hundred allegorical emblems and symbols most commonly used in Western European literature and mostly associated with Greek and Roman mythology. Such a book is a kind of ABC of mythology, an introduction to the world of conventional images, so characteristic of the culture of European Baroque and Classicism, and turned out to be very useful for the Russian reader. The book “The Library, or about the gods” by Apollodorus is also being published. Its translation into Russian pursued the same goals and also contributed to familiarizing the Russian public with ancient culture.

A need arose to publish a collection of rules of good manners and other books that could introduce the Russian average person to Western European culture. Such books sometimes bore a satirical imprint. An example is the collection “The Honest Mirror of Youth,” which contained numerous advice on behavior in public places; the life of a Russian person was brought out from the chambers and chambers into meetings and into the public. “Don’t spit on the floor in society,” “Zertsalo” taught a Russian young man dressed in a European caftan, “don’t blow your nose loudly, hold back the hiccups in front of the ladies,” etc.

All this was absolutely necessary to instill in young people who had never previously attended crowded meetings in the presence of women and were not familiar with European rules of polite behavior. Such advice was not harmful to the female part of society.

The Russian people also had to learn a lot of new things about the rules of postal correspondence, especially love correspondence. “Butts, how different compliments are written” – that was the title of the collection sample texts postal correspondence, where it was explained in detail what formulas should be used to begin a letter, how to speak in a message about your feelings for a lady, and how to end the letter.

Samples of business letters, messages from a husband to his wife, letters from a wife to her husband, etc. were also given. It is worth emphasizing the desire to affirm human dignity, characteristic of Butts. Here we find a decisive statement against derogatory signatures, so common in pre-Petrine Rus', such as “your bridegroom”, “your Ivashko”.

In 1724, the “Academy of Sciences and Curious Arts” was founded, and thus the development of science in Russia was finally centralized and taken under the care of the state. Literature acquires a purely secular character. Of the 600 books printed during the reign of Peter I, only 48 were church books.

Peter's economic reforms, his administrative reforms, the introduction of ministries, the construction of a fleet, the development of industry were of great importance - the whole life, all the ideas of the Russian people were turned upside down, radically changed. New customs, a new way of life required other words to be reflected in literature, a new literary language, new genres, new forms. Under Peter, a new intelligentsia, albeit small in number, but very active, quickly emerged. Among them were commoners, i.e. came from the third estate, as well as from the minor clergy. A very prominent figure among these people was Ivan Tikhonovich Pososhkov, who died in 1726, a self-taught peasant, an extremely gifted scientist-economist, who superbly studied the structure of the Russian economy of his time, its way of life, and in his old age wrote the famous “Book of Poverty and Wealth”, in which completely new, sometimes very bold ideas of economic and political transformations with patriarchal remnants and traditions are surprisingly intertwined. For this book, the “seditious” (author) was imprisoned in the Peter and Paul Fortress, where he died. Pososhkov's book was published only in the 19th century.

Another major cultural figure of the beginning of the century was Vasily Nikitich Tatishchev, a famous historian, famous for his “History of Russia from the most ancient times” in five books. A man of a completely new mindset, he was in principle an opponent of serfdom, although he did not yet know specific ways to eliminate serfdom.

A number of major churchmen should also be included among the people who energetically supported Peter’s reform activities. This is the Ryazan Bishop Gabriel Buzhinsky, a very knowledgeable man with very progressive views, this is the Archbishop of Novgorod Feofan Prokopovich, encyclopedic educated, who also fully supported the reforms of Peter I, especially the reform of church government carried out by the latter (the abolition of the patriarchate and the establishment of the Synod), and who became “the first member of the Synod " Feofan Prokopovich developed a “spiritual regulation” that determined the activities of the Russian Orthodox Church under Peter I.

Another major figure who supported Peter I was Theophilus Rabbit. The result of the efforts of these major representatives of Russian culture was the emergence of an advanced group of intelligentsia of various ranks, the traditions of which were continued in the 60s by the publishers of satirical magazines and the authors of stories designed for the third-class reader (M. Chulkov, V. Levshin). In the 20s - 30s, such intelligentsia rallied around Feofan Prokopovich into the well-known “Scientific Squad”. The “Scientific Squad” also included the wonderful Russian satirist poet Antioch Dmitrievich Kantemir.

Of great importance was the creation of the Russian printed newspaper Vedomosti, published from the end of 1702 to 1727. The newspaper was filled with newsreels and also published official documents. Fiction, articles, and essays were not published in the newspaper. The volume of the newspaper was unstable and ranged from two to twenty-two. The circulation also fluctuated sharply from thirty to four thousand. This newspaper published various reports about wars, popular uprisings, unrest, the activities of schismatics, and what was said and written about Russia abroad. The editor was Polikarpov, the translators were Volkov and Sinyavich. “Vedomosti” existed for a quarter of a century, “outliving” Peter I for two years. After 1727, “Vedomosti” was replaced by another newspaper, “Petersburg Vedomosti”.

In the 17th century, an attempt was made to give the Russian reader some idea of ​​what they thought abroad about the Russian state. It was a handwritten newspaper, Kuranty, which was written in one copy, by hand, and distributed only among the tsar’s close associates, so that the scope of action was incomparably narrower than the scope of Vedomosti.

At the end of 1702, a certain Johann Kunst, a German from Danzig, a man knowledgeable in theater and possessing well-known organizational skills, on Peter’s initiative, recruited a troupe of “comedians” and prepared several plays. These plays were performed in accordance with the tradition of traveling acting troupes. The plays were staged initially in German, then in Russian. But the Kunst Theater did not last very long: the very next year Kunst died and the performances stopped. These performances were full of bizarre, spectacular episodes; they featured colorful characters of unusual fate, designed to capture the imagination of the viewer. Melodramatic plots were full of horror, murders and duels, and unexpected turns of action. The rules for conducting the performance were very unique. Female roles were played by male actors. The actors themselves introduced each other to the audience. Due to the extreme simplicity of the scenery, and sometimes the absence of it, the actors announced the name of the scene and the city. The curtain was mostly not used. These theaters did not last long. By the end of the first decade of the 18th century. their popularity declined.

The Russian professional theater was to emerge and finally strengthen only at the beginning of the second half of the century through the efforts of Feodor Volkov. Only this birth of professional theater in Rus' will lead in the 50-60s to the complete establishment of a new type of art in the cultural life of Russia.

Lyric poetry of this time, weak in artistically, is extremely important in the historical and literary sense, because it opened up to the reader, opened up to Russian word art a completely new, previously unknown area of ​​human life - the sphere of personal experiences. In ancient Russian and medieval Russian literature, as well as in folklore (with the exception of love “lingering” songs), the theme of lyrical, in the proper sense of the word, experiences was absent. Descriptions of the characters’ love experiences were not of any interest important place. If there was talk about love, then it was not the feeling of love itself that was described, but the emphasis was placed on economic importance marriage union. Love was usually replaced by predestination, fate, which linked the destinies of people. In pre-Petrine literature, we were talking about carnal attraction, cynical attraction, devoid of any spirituality. The feeling of love was not depicted in all its meaning, i.e. as a feeling that transforms the entire spiritual world of a person, as a feeling that plays a huge role in a person’s life. This is exactly how, in a new way, only poets of the 18th century spoke about love. In their “songs” and “arias,” love not only becomes the driving force of the work, the basis of its conflict, but love here is exalted in the artistic sense of the word, poeticized, almost deified. But book lyrics were still artistically helpless and attracted readers only with their innovative content.

Literary language came into a chaotic state due to the fact that life changed radically, a mass of new concepts appeared, for the expression of which the old language of class, caste medieval Rus' was completely unsuitable. Neither the Old Church Slavonic language style, nor the style of business documents, nor the folklore style was suitable here. It was necessary to look for a completely new fusion of verbal elements. Of course this is extremely difficult task could not be resolved immediately. At the beginning of the century, such a task was only posed.

Of great importance for the development of poetry in Russia was the craze for writing syllabic and pre-syllabic poems - verses, characteristic of seminary life at that time. The writing of poetry was included in the curriculum of seminaries, and at the end of the 17th and beginning of the 18th centuries the main attention was paid to purely external, graphical view poetic work. It was assumed that it was the visual symmetry of the text set out on paper that was a manifestation of the highest artistic and poetic mastery. Hence the poems in the shape of a cross, heart or some other shape. Such poems were called figured poems. Acro- and meso-verses are also written, where either the initial letters of the lines, read from top to bottom, or the middle letters of the verses, highlighted in capitals, are formed into some meaningful word, the name of the person to whom this poem was dedicated. Much attention was also paid to writing so-called “crawfish poems,” or werewolf poems, which could be read in the usual order, from left to right, and vice versa, and the meaning of the verse did not change.

Literary creativity had great internal resistance and was difficult to update. Very durable in ancient Russian literature stylistic traditions lived for a long time in the literature of the 18th century. In the first decades, genres characteristic of the 16th-17th centuries also retained their importance. In the 17th century, the genre of the story was most widespread in Russian literature. It remains popular in the first decades of the new century. In an old, familiar genre, the old, both in content and in stylistic form, begins to come into conflict with the new, while at the same time continuing to generally coexist with this new. This phenomenon can be traced through the example of the most widespread story of Peter’s time - “The History of the Russian sailor Vasily Koriotsky, about the beautiful princess Irakli of the Florensky land.” The fashionable word “historia” or “history” is very often introduced into the title of such works. This, of course, is the spirit of the times, and not only lexical: with this word, the anonymous authors of the stories wanted to emphasize the authenticity, truthfulness, and typicality of the events depicted in the works. This work develops a conflict familiar to the stories of the 17th century. Here we also have a clash of old and new ideas about the purpose of life, about moral values, about the moral foundations of society, about the clash of the ideologies of fathers and sons. But if in the stories of the 17th century such a clash usually acquired a very acute character and was depicted as an antagonistic conflict, then here there is no direct clash, a plot conflict between father and son, the hero of the work. On the contrary, the hero of the story, Vasily, always remembers his father, sends him money from abroad, there is no enmity between father and son. Moreover, the father does not prevent his son from living by his own mind and even sympathizes with such filial behavior. But ideological content the story as a whole reflects the impossibility of living in the old way, represents the denial of all old life, its entire way of life, its morality. And the hero, living in a new way, actively building his destiny, wins and reaches the highest rung of the social ladder. This did not happen in the stories of the 17th century. This is a fundamentally new solution to the conflict - quite in the spirit of the turbulent times of Peter the Great. Vasily enjoys great sympathy from the author. His image primarily emphasizes purposefulness, initiative, active attitude to life, the ability to “live with one’s own mind” (a skill that previously destroyed the hero of the story “About Grief-Misfortune”). Vasily treats “notable persons” with respect. But at the same time he has an independent character and always maintains human dignity. The hero at the end of the story achieves the highest position in society not thanks to the merits of his father, not the nobility of his family, but solely thanks to his own outstanding qualities. The end of the story also differs from the endings of stories of the 17th century - hopeless ones - not the departure to a monastery, not the death of the hero, but his triumph as a winner in the struggle of life, and a winner in moral terms. The love conflict plays a big role; it is she who drives the action throughout the predominant part of the plot. At the same time, love is idealized as opposed to its condemnation as a demonic or antisocial principle in the stories of the 17th century.

In compositional terms, “The History of Vasily Koriotsky” is perhaps the most perfect of all the stories of Peter the Great’s time. Other works of this genre are distinguished by the complexity of the conflict and uncoordinated composition. To a lesser extent this applies to the parody “The Story of Russian merchant Joanna", the hero of which is not a nobleman, but a merchant. He goes to Paris to “taste the pleasures of social life.” Much attention in the story is paid to the description of love flirtation, the vicissitudes of John's courtship with Eleanor. Love notes are introduced into the text for the first time. But everything is painted in ironic tones. The appearance of a work clearly tinged with parody is evidence that the genre of “history” has begun to become obsolete to some extent.

The most significant in volume, and at the same time the least coherent compositionally, of all the stories of Peter the Great’s time, is undoubtedly “The Tale of Alexander, the Russian Nobleman.” Here one can feel the strong influence of popular print novels, as well as Russian folklore works, in particular adventurous Russian fairy tales.

Alexander, the hero of this work, like Vasily and John, goes to Europe, which appears to the reader as a land of pleasure and gallantry, and in the second part of the work - as a world of adventure and knightly tournaments. In the city of Lille, Alexander falls in love with the beautiful Eleanor, their romance continues for a long time, but the heroes lose each other more than once, while the disguise of the heroes, which the author resorts to, does not allow the heroes to recognize each other. Alexander is a rather frivolous gentleman and Eleanor, having learned about his betrayal, dies of grief. Alexander falls in love with Hedwig-Dorothea, then with Tirra, who at the end of the story stabs herself to death over the body of the deceased Alexander out of grief.

A comic parallel to the main characters of the story, Alexander and Eleanor, is Vladimir with his many lovers.

The Story of the French Son enjoyed some popularity. All these stories portrayed the Russian person as a European, giving him qualities alien to the old Russian story: independence, resourcefulness, gallantry - what the new way of life, the new reality powerfully demanded.

Standing somewhat apart from the “stories” is “Excerpt from a Novel in Verse,” which is an autobiographical story of a young woman about the collapse of her hopes of being united in marriage with her loved one. For the first time in Russian literature, on behalf of a woman, free love is spoken openly, fearlessly, and the parental domostroev power, which opposes this feeling and ultimately destroys it, is openly condemned.

All these works were closer to folklore than to books literary tradition. They were not published, but, having pleased the readers, were distributed in lists and varied, which brought them closer to folklore and contributed to their images acquiring a touch of traditionalism and saturating the works with commonplaces.

Lecture 2

FEOFAN PROKOPOVYCH

(1681 – 1736)

One of the most educated people of his time, Feofan Prokopovich was the first to feel and comprehend the need for the Russian state to make fundamental changes in the field of politics, ideology and art, and to fight for the implementation of Peter’s reforms. Feofan Prokopovich, according to N.K. Gudziya, this “enlightener in a cassock” devoted all his vigorous energy and all his talent to the cause of enlightening Russia.

The son of a small Kyiv merchant, Feofan Prokopovich experienced poverty in childhood, but managed to become a student at the Kiev-Mohyla Academy. However, the knowledge he received was not enough, and he, without much hesitation, accepted Unianism (the Uniate Church is a Christian association created by the Union of Brest in 1596, was subordinate to the Pope, recognized the basic dogmas of the Catholic Church while preserving Orthodox rites) to be able to continue their education in the West. He studied for some time in Poland, and then in Rome, at the College of St. Athanasius (opened specifically for the training of propagandists of Catholicism among the Slavs and Greeks). His path to knowledge speaks of the thoroughness of his knowledge and the independence of his judgment and tolerance. This was typical for the era of Peter the Great's reforms - a time of revision of all traditional ideas.

In 1704, he returned to Kyiv and taught poetry and rhetoric for some time at the Kiev-Mohyla Academy. Having become a personal friend of the tsar, Prokopovich was confirmed in the position of “prefect” - rector of the Kyiv Academy. He was distinguished by an extraordinary breadth of interests; he was interested in history, philology, theology, philosophy and even mathematics. Together with Kantemir, Tatishchev and Golitsyn, he entered the “scientific squad” that formed at the end of the 20s and became the leader of this circle of Russian enlighteners - champions of the affairs of Peter I.

Prokopovich entered Russian literature as the author of lyrical poems and the creator of the tragic-comedy “Vladimir”, where, using material borrowed from the chronicle, an attempt was made to show the struggle of an enlightened monarch with the ignorant clergy, and also as the author of the treatise “De arte poetica” - a textbook on poetry .

He was an outstanding speaker and left many sermons in which he glorified the foreign and domestic policies of the government of Peter I. As a prominent church figure (he held the rank of Archbishop of Novgorod), Theophanes actively supported Peter I in the reorganization of the Russian church. It was to this support that Peter I largely owed his success in eliminating the patriarchate, which had always competed with the royal power, and creating a kind of collegium for managing church affairs - the Holy Synod. Prokopovich became the leading member of the Synod. He wrote the so-called “Spiritual Regulations”, which determined the activities of the Russian Church for decades. In his work and in his sermons, Prokopovich expressed the ideology of the advanced part of the nobility and the various intelligentsia of Peter the Great's time. In “A Homily for Concluding Peace with Sweden,” Prokopovich meaningfully wishes “for the people’s burdens to be diminished.” A wonderful speaker, Feofan knew how to make the language of his sermons colorful and varied.

In the field of poetic form, Prokopovich introduced the octave into Russian poetry, which he used quite often. Often in his poems he used approximate rhyme and consonance: it is visible - it is very poor, the viewer is virtue. Prokopovich wrote his lyrical poems in syllabic verse, which was then common in Ukraine and Belarus. But the influence of the folk song element is also felt. This is explained by his organically inherent lyricism. As if aware of the insufficient rhythmic organization of a long syllabic verse, Prokopovich often alternated verses of different lengths in his works and widely used short, unsyllabic verses that sounded almost like syllabic-tonic ones.

For example: “Behind the Pockmarked Grave”:

Behind the pockmarked grave

Above the Prutova River

There was an army in a terrible battle.

On a weekday from noon

The hour has become very difficult for us -

A crowded Turchin arrived.

Or “Cossack repentant”:

I don't know what to do.

And I die unknown:

Wandered into impenetrable forests,

To countries that are smooth and waterless;

Atamans and hetmans,

I fell into your deceptions.

You will disappear beyond the thresholds,

Just not to go astray.

I wish I could not fall into strong hands,

I wouldn't accept the terrible torment.

This is a short syllabic verse (octyllabic), in which the stress is often placed in syllabic-tonic order (trochaic - as in folk dance songs). Sometimes there are Ukrainianisms. Some of his poems are autobiographical. For example, “The shepherd boy cries in long bad weather.” This poem was written on the fifth anniversary of the death of Peter I (“the fifth day has passed”) and testifies to the close connection that existed in the poet’s mind between personal experiences and political life country, how close he took to heart the political reaction and the collapse of his educational hopes.

Prokopovich also turned to the odic genre. This is his poem “Epinikion, or a victorious song about the same glorious victory.” Here, widely using Old Church Slavonicisms, Prokopovich glorifies the victory over the “Svei armies” won near Poltava. In this work, Prokopovich acts as a master high style. We find a strict distinction between high and ordinary, non-elevated style already in the work of Feofan Prokopovich.

Prokopovich’s tragic-comedy “Vladimir” is one of the most significant dramatic works of the beginning of the century. Here the writer turned to the time of the baptism of Rus' under Vladimir Svyatoslavich, using chronicle information about this event as a historical source. On this plot basis he put together contemporary socio-political material, revealing two main themes that always worried him: the struggle for the spread of education in Russia and the struggle within the church between progressive and reactionary church leaders. During Prokopovich's time, these two aspects of ideological life were closely connected.

Grotesque images of dull, stupid and greedy priests with characteristic names: Zherivol, Kuroyad, Piyar - depicted, undoubtedly, by the hand of a gifted master. This group of ignorant priests (symbolizing everything that is inert in Russian life) strongly opposes Vladimir’s intention to accept Christianity, which brings with it a higher morality, a higher culture. The shadow of Yaropolk, who died at the hands of Vladimir, also comes to the aid of the priests in their struggle for antiquity. But Vladimir, in spite of everything, supported by his sons and like-minded people, accepts Christianity and crushes pagan idols. Here Prokopovich also seeks to show the inconsistency of human character. So, his Vladimir hesitates: to accept Christianity or not, because it is difficult for him to give up his habitual polygamy. But Vladimir overcomes these hesitations, this human weakness. Here we can already talk about some realistic tendency in the writer’s work.

The tragic comedy was presented in the same year 1705 by students of the Kiev-Mohyla Academy. This was the only performance of the play.

Prokopovich acts as a satirist writer, the immediate predecessor of Antioch Cantemir. Prokopovich’s satirical pathos appeared in places in “Spiritual Regulations.” Here there are vivid sketches of the morals of people who are opposed to the restructuring of Russian life in a new way and the renewal of the Russian church. About the court flatterers, he writes: “When the rumor gets around that the Tsar shows his love to someone special, everyone goes to the court, everyone congratulates, gives gifts, bows to and die for him as if ready.”

Prokopovich’s “Poetics” is of interest. Such handwritten piitiks were often created in theological academies of that time. Prokopovich's treatise was published only at the end of the 18th century, but it influenced Cantemir's work. A number of his provisions anticipated the views of the theorists of romanticism and realism, although in general Feofan’s poetics are closely connected with pre-classical tendencies in European art words.

Prokopovich's treatise “On Poetic Art” consists of three books, small in volume.

The first book deals with the origin and specificity of poetry, the meaning of poetic skill. The most interesting sections are devoted to poetic fiction, where Prokopovich highlights the main specific feature artistic creativity– the use of poetic conventions, thinking in images. Other issues are treated in the first book in an idealistic spirit. For example, the divine origin of poetry is affirmed, but poetic creativity is considered as a type of ordinary labor that has no qualitative difference from other types of labor, for example, from physical labor. If “powerful inspiration” is still considered necessary to create works of a heroic nature, then the creation of works of less “significant” content is accessible to any diligent author. So, great inspiration equals great physical labor necessary for writing heroic works of significant volume. We will subsequently find the development of similar thoughts, characteristic of the theorists of pre-classicism and antiquity, in Lomonosov’s “Rhetoric”. The classic exaggeration of the role of imitation leads Prokopovich to underestimate creativity, to underestimating the writer's originality. But at the same time, he opposes “petty” imitation and plagiarism and requires conscious assimilation of the writer’s manner.

The second book deals with epic and dramatic poetry. As a figure in the Christian church, he opposes the excessive use of mythological images, reserving the right of the poet to use these images in a purely metonymic sense. Touching on the difference between a historian and a poet, Prokopovich again emphasizes fiction as the main determinant of poetic creativity. Prokopovich writes: “The historian tells about a real event, how it happened: with a poet, either the whole story is fictitious, or, even if he describes a true event, he talks about it not as it happened in reality, but as it could or should have happened."