In and lookin mot love corrected to read. Mot, corrected by love "- the first example of the Russian "tearful comedy"
The sharpness of Lukin's literary intuition (far exceeding his modest creative possibilities) emphasizes the fact that in most cases he chooses texts where a loquacious, talkative or preaching character takes a central place as a source for his "additions". This heightened attention to the independent dramaturgical possibilities of the act of speaking in its plot, everyday writing or ideological functions is an unconditional evidence that Lukin was characterized by a sense of the specifics of “our mores”: Russian enlighteners, without exception, gave the word as such a fateful significance.
Quite symptomatic is the practical exhaustion of most of the characters in Mota, Corrected with Love and The Squirrel by a pure act of ideological or everyday speaking, not accompanied on stage by any other action. The word spoken aloud on the stage absolutely coincides with its carrier; his role is subject to the general semantics of his word. Thus, the word is, as it were, embodied in the human figure of the heroes of Lukin's comedies. Moreover, in the oppositions of vice and virtue, talkativeness is characteristic not only of protagonist characters, but also of antagonist characters. That is, the very act of speaking appears in Lukin as variable in its moral characteristics, and talkativeness can be a property of both virtue and vice.
This hesitation of a general nature, sometimes humiliating, sometimes elevating its carriers, is especially noticeable in the comedy “Mot, corrected by love”, where a pair of dramatic antagonists - Good-Hearted and Spiteful - equally divides large monologues facing the audience. And these rhetorical declarations are based on the same supporting motives for the crime against moral norm, repentance and remorse, but with a diametrically opposite moral meaning:
Dobroserdov. ‹…› Everything that an unfortunate person can feel, everything I feel, but I suffer more from him. He only has to endure the persecution of fate, and I have to repent and gnaw my conscience ... Since the time I parted with my parent, I have lived incessantly in vices. I deceived, dissembled, pretended ‹…›, and now I suffer worthily for that. ‹…› But I am very happy that I recognized Cleopatra. By her instructions I turned to virtue (30).
Zloradov. I’ll go and tell her [the princess] all his [Dobroserdov’s] intentions, I’ll bring him to extreme grief, and immediately, without wasting time, I’ll open up that I myself fell in love with her a long time ago. She, enraged, will despise him, but prefer me. It will surely come true. ‹…› Repentance and remorse are completely unknown to me, and I am not one of those simpletons whom future life and hellish torments are terrifying (40).
The straightforwardness with which the characters make their point moral character from the first appearance on stage, it makes Lukin see a diligent student not only of Detouche, but also of the “father of Russian tragedy” Sumarokov. In combination with total absence in "Mota" of the beginning of laughter, such straightforwardness prompts us to see in Lukin's work not so much a "tearful comedy" as a "petty-bourgeois tragedy." After all, the psychological and conceptual verbal leitmotifs of the play are oriented precisely towards tragic poetics.
The emotional pattern of the action of the so-called "comedy" is determined by a completely tragic series of concepts: some comedy characters are tormented by despair and longing, complain, repent and rage; they are tormented and gnawed by conscience, they consider their misfortune to be retribution for guilt; their permanent state is tears and weeping. Others feel pity and compassion for them, serving as motives for their actions. For the image of the protagonist Dobroserdov, such undoubtedly tragic verbal motifs as the motifs of death and fate are very relevant:
Stepanida. So that's why Dobroserdov is a dead man? (24);Dobroserdov. ‹…› the persecution of fate must endure ‹…› (30); Tell me, should I live or die? (31); Oh fate! Reward me with such happiness ‹…› (33); Oh, merciless fate! (34); Oh fate! I must thank you and complain about your severity (44); My heart flutters and, of course, new blow portends. Oh fate! Do not spare me and fight quickly! (45); A rather angry fate drives me away. Oh, wrathful fate! (67); ‹…› it is best, forgetting the offense and vengeance, to make an end to my frantic life. (68); Oh fate! You even added to my grief, so that he would be a witness to my shame (74).
And quite in the traditions of Russian tragedy, how this genre took shape in the 1750s-1760s. under the pen of Sumarokov, the fatal clouds that have gathered over the head of a virtuous character fall with just punishment on the vicious one:
Zloradov. Oh, perverse fate! (78); Good-hearted-smaller. May he receive a worthy retribution for his villainy (80).
Such a concentration of tragic motifs in the text, which has the genre definition of "comedy", is also reflected in the stage behavior of the characters, devoid of any physical action, with the exception of traditional falling to their knees and attempts to draw a sword (62-63, 66). But if Dobroserdov, as the main positive hero of a tragedy, albeit a petty-bourgeois one, by his very role is supposed to be passive, redeemed in a dramatic action by speaking akin to a tragic declamation, then Zloradov is an active person leading an intrigue against central hero. It becomes all the more noticeable against the background of traditional ideas about the role that Lukin prefers to give his negative character not so much by action as by informative speaking, which can anticipate, describe and sum up the action, but the action itself is not equivalent.
The preference for words over action is not just a flaw in Lukin's dramatic technique; it is also a reflection of the hierarchy of reality in the enlightenment consciousness of the 18th century, and an orientation to the already existing in Russian literature artistic tradition. Publicistic in its original message and seeking the eradication of vice and the planting of virtue, Lukin's comedy, with its emphasized ethical and social pathos, resurrects on a new round literary development traditions of Russian syncretic preaching-word. art word, put at the service of intentions foreign to him, it is unlikely that Lukin accidentally acquired a shade of rhetoric and oratory in Lukin's comedyography and theory - this is quite obvious in his direct appeal to the reader and viewer.
It is no coincidence that among the virtues of an ideal comedian, along with “graceful qualities”, “extensive imagination” and “important study”, Lukin in the preface to “Motu” also names the “gift of eloquence”, and the style of individual fragments of this preface is clearly oriented to the laws of oratory. This is especially noticeable in the examples of constant appeals to the reader, in enumerations and repetitions, in numerous rhetorical questions and exclamations, and, finally, in imitation of the written text of the preface under the spoken word, sounding speech:
Imagine, reader. ‹…› imagine a crowd of people, often more than a hundred people. ‹…› Some of them are sitting at the table, others are walking around the room, but all of them are constructing punishments worthy of various inventions to beat their rivals. ‹…› Here are the reasons for their gathering! And you, dear reader, imagining this, say impartially, is there at least a spark of good morals, conscience and humanity? Of course not! But will you still hear? (8).
However, the most curious thing is that Lukin draws on the entire arsenal of expressive means of oratorical speech in the most vivid moral descriptive fragment of the preface, in which he gives a kind of genre picture from the life of card players: “Here is a living description of this community and the practiced exercises in it” (10) . And it is hardly by chance that in this seemingly bizarre alliance of high rhetorical and low everyday writing stylistic traditions, the national idea beloved by Lukin reappears:
Others are like the pallor of the dead ‹…›; others with bloody eyes - terrible furies; others with despondency of spirit - criminals, drawn to execution; others with an unusual blush - a cranberry ‹…› but no! It is better to leave the Russian comparison! (9).
To the “cranberry berry”, which really looks like a kind of stylistic dissonance next to the dead, furies and criminals, Lukin makes the following note: “This likeness will seem strange to some readers, but not to everyone. There must be something in Russian that is Russian, and here, it seems, my pen did not err ‹…›» (9).
So again, the theoretical antagonist Sumarokova Lukin actually approaches his literary opponent in practical attempts to express national idea in the dialogue of older Russian aesthetic traditions and attitudes of satirical life writing and oratory. And if Sumarokov in The Guardian (1764-1765) for the first time tried to stylistically differentiate the world of things and the world of ideas and push them into conflict, then Lukin, parallel to him and simultaneously with him, begins to find out how the aesthetic arsenal of one literary series is suitable for recreating realities another. Oratory speaking in order to recreate the material world image and everyday life, pursuing the lofty goals of moralizing and edification, is the result of such a crossing of traditions. And if in “Mota” Lukin mainly uses oratorical speech in order to create a reliable everyday coloring of the action, then in “Schepetilnik” we see the opposite combination: everyday plasticity is used for rhetorical purposes.
Remarks in the texts of Lukin's comedies, as a rule, mark the addressing of speech ("brother", "princess", "worker", "Schepetilnik", "nephew", "aside", etc.), its emotional richness ("angry", “with annoyance”, “with humiliation”, “weeping”) and movement actors on the scene with the registration of a gesture (“pointing to Zloradov”, “kissing her hands”, “falling to his knees”, “makes various gestures and expresses his extreme confusion and frustration”).
As O. M. Freidenberg noted, a person in tragedy is passive; if he is active, then his activity is guilt and error, leading him to disaster; in comedy, he must be active, and if he is still passive, another tries for him (the servant is his double). - Freidenberg O. M. The origin of literary intrigue // Proceedings on sign systems VI. Tartu, 1973. (308) S.510-511.
Wed according to Roland Barthes: the sphere of language is “the only sphere to which tragedy belongs: in tragedy one never dies, for one speaks all the time. And vice versa - leaving the stage for the hero is one way or another tantamount to death.<...>For it is pure language world as tragedy is, action appears as the ultimate embodiment of impurity.” - Bart Roland. Rasinovsky man. // Bart Roland. Selected works. M., 1989. S. 149,151.
Read in 9 minutes
Comedy is preceded by a spacious author's preface, which says that most writers take up the pen for three reasons. The first is the desire to become famous; the second - to get rich; the third is the satisfaction of one's own base feelings, such as envy and the desire to take revenge on someone. Lukin, on the other hand, seeks to benefit his compatriots and hopes that the reader will be condescending to his work. He also expresses gratitude to the actors involved in his play, believing that they all have the right to share the praise with the author.
The action takes place in the Moscow home of the Dowager Princess, who is in love with one of the Dobroserdov brothers. Servant Vasily, waiting for the awakening of his master, talks to himself about the vicissitudes of the fate of his young master. The son of a decent man is completely squandered and lives in fear of prison punishment. Dokukin appears, who would like to receive a long-standing debt from the owner of Vasily. Vasily is trying to get rid of Dokukin under the pretext that his owner is about to receive the money and will soon return everything in full. Dokukin is afraid of being deceived and not only does not leave, but follows Vasily to the master's bedroom, who was awakened by loud voices. Seeing Dokukin, Dobroserdov consoles him by informing him of his marriage to the local mistress, and asks him to wait a bit, since the princess promised to give such a sum of money for the wedding that she would be enough to repay the debt. Dobroserdov goes to the princess, but Dokukin and Vasily remain. The servant explains to the creditor that no one should see him in the princess's house - otherwise Dobroserdov's debts and ruin will become known. The lender (creditor) leaves, muttering to himself that he will make inquiries with Zloradov.
The maid Stepanida, who appeared with the princess half, manages to notice Dokukin and asks Vasily about him. The servant tells Stepanida in detail about the circumstances due to which his master, Dobroserdov, found himself in distress. At the age of fourteen, his father sent him to Petersburg in the care of his brother, a frivolous man. The young man neglected science and indulged in entertainment, making friends with Zloradov, with whom he settled together after his uncle died. In a month he was completely ruined, and in four he owed thirty thousand to various merchants, including Dokukin. Zloradov not only helped squander the estate and borrowed money, but also quarreled Dobroserdov with another uncle. The latter decided to leave the inheritance to the younger brother of Dobroserdov, with whom he left for the village.
There is only one way to beg for the uncle's forgiveness - by marrying a prudent and virtuous girl, whom Dobroserdov considers Cleopatra, the princess's niece. Basil asks Stepanida to persuade Cleopatra to run away with the Good-Hearted Taik. The maid does not believe that the well-behaved Cleopatra will agree, but she would like to save her mistress from her aunt-princess, who spends her niece's money on her whims and outfits. Dobroserdov appears, who also asks Stepanida for help. The maid leaves, and the princess appears, not hiding her attention to young man. She invites him to her room to get dressed for the upcoming exit in his presence. Not without difficulty, Dobroserdov, embarrassed by the need to deceive the princess in love with him, seems so busy that he happily avoids the need to be present at the princess's toilet, all the more so to accompany her to visit. Overjoyed, Dobroserdov sends Vasily to Zloradov, his true friend, to open up to him and lend him money to escape. Vasily believes that Zloradov is not capable of good deeds, but he fails to dissuade Dobroserdov.
Dobroserdov does not find a place for himself in the expectation of Stepanida and curses himself for the recklessness of former days - disobedience and extravagance. Stepanida appears and reports that she did not have time to explain to Cleopatra. She advises Dobroserdov to write a letter to the girl with a story about her feelings. Delighted, Dobroserdov leaves, and Stepanida reflects on the reasons for her participation in the fate of the lovers and comes to the conclusion that the point is her love for Vasily, whose kindness is more important to her than the unsightly appearance of an elderly age.
The princess appears and lashes out at Stepanida with abuse. The maid justifies herself by saying that she wanted to serve the mistress and came to find out something about Dobroserdov. The young man, who appeared from his room, at first does not notice the princess, but when he sees her, he imperceptibly thrusts the letter to the maid. Both women leave, and Dobroserdov remains waiting for Vasily.
Stepanida suddenly returns with sad news. It turns out that the princess went to visit her daughter-in-law in order to sign documents (in line) for Cleopatra's dowry. She wants to marry her to the wealthy breeder Srebrolyubov, who undertakes not only not to demand the prescribed dowry, but also gives the princess a stone house and ten thousand in addition. The young man is indignant, and the maid promises him her help.
Vasily returns and tells about the vile act of Zloradov, who incited Dokukin (the creditor) to immediately claim the debt from Dobroserdov, since the debtor intends to hide from the city. Kind-hearted does not believe, although some doubt settles in his soul. Therefore, at first it is cold, and then with the same simplicity of heart, he tells Zloradov who has appeared about everything that happened. Zloradov feignedly promises to help get the necessary three hundred rubles from the princess, realizing to himself that Cleopatra's wedding with the merchant will be very beneficial to him. To do this, you should write a letter to the princess asking for a loan in order to pay gambling debt and take him to the house where the princess is staying. Dobroserdov agrees and, forgetting Stepanida's warnings not to leave the room, leaves to write a letter. Vasily is indignant because of the gullibility of his master.
Stepanida, who has reappeared, informs Dobroserdov that Cleopatra has read the letter, and although it cannot be said that she decided to run away, she does not hide her love for the young man. Suddenly, Panfil appears - a servant of Dobroserdov's younger brother, sent secretly with a letter. It turns out that the uncle was ready to forgive Dobroserdov, as he learned from his younger brother about his intention to marry a virtuous girl. But the neighbors hastened to report the debauchery of the young man, allegedly squandering Cleopatra's estate along with her guardian, the princess. Uncle was furious, and there is only one way: immediately come with the girl to the village and explain the true state of affairs.
Dobroserdov, in desperation, tries to delay the decision of the magistrate with the help of the lawyer Prolazin. But none of the methods of a solicitor suits him, since he does not agree either to renounce his signature on bills of exchange, or to give bribes, and even more so to solder creditors and steal bills, accusing his servant of this. Having learned about the departure of Dobroserdov, creditors appear one after another and demand the repayment of the debt. Only one Pravdolyubov, who also has the bills of the ill-fated Dobroserdov, is ready to wait until better times.
Zloradov comes, pleased with that how he managed to circle the princess around his finger. Now, if it is possible to adjust the sudden appearance of the princess during Dobroserdov’s date with Cleopatra, the girl is threatened with a monastery, her beloved prison, all the money will go to Zloradov. Dobroserdov appears and, having received money from Zloradov, again recklessly dedicates him to all the details of his conversation with Cleopatra. Zloradov leaves. Cleopatra appears with her maid. During an ardent explanation, the princess appears, accompanied by Zloradov. Only Stepanida was not taken aback, but the young man and his servant were amazed by her speech. Rushing to the princess, the maid reveals Dobroserdov's plan for the immediate escape of her niece and asks the princess's permission to take the girl to the monastery, where their relative serves as abbess. The enraged princess entrusts the ungrateful niece to the maid, and they leave. Dobroserdov tries to follow them, but the princess stops him and showers him with reproaches of black ingratitude. The young man is trying to find support from an imaginary friend of Zloradov, but he reveals his true face, accusing the young man of debauchery. The princess demands from Dobroserdov respect for her future husband. Zloradov and the overripe coquette leave, and Dobroserdov rushes with belated regrets to his servant.
A poor widow appears with her daughter and reminds the young man of the debt she has been waiting for for a year and a half. Dobroserdov without hesitation gives the widow three hundred rubles brought from Princess Zloradov. After the widow leaves, he asks Vasily to sell all his clothes and underwear in order to pay off the widow. Vasily offers freedom. Vasily refuses, explaining this by the fact that he will not leave the young man in such hard time, especially since he moved away from a dissolute life. Meanwhile, lenders and clerks, invited by Zloradov, are gathering near the house.
Suddenly, Dobroserdov's younger brother appears. The older brother is even more desperate because the younger one has witnessed his shame. But things take an unexpected turn. It turns out that their uncle died and left his estate to his older brother, forgiving all his sins. The younger Dobroserdov is ready to immediately pay off debts to creditors and pay for the work of clerks from the magistrate. One thing upsets Dobroserdov Sr. - the absence of the beloved Cleopatra. But she is here. It turns out that Stepanida deceived the princess and took the girl not to the monastery, but to the village to her lover's uncle. On the way they met their younger brother and told him everything. Zloradov was trying to get out of this situation, but, having failed, began to threaten Dobroserdov. However, creditors who have lost future interest from the wealthy debtor present Zloradov's bills to the clerks. The princess repents of her actions. Stepanida and Vasily get their freedom, but they are going to continue to serve their masters. Vasily also makes a speech about the fact that all the girls should be likened to Cleopatra in good manners, “obsolete coquettes” would refuse affectation, like the princess, and “the god of villainy does not leave without punishment.”
V. I. Lukin
Mot, corrected by love
Comedy in five acts
(Excerpts)
Zapadov V. A. Russian literature of the XVIII century, 1770-1775. Reader M., "Enlightenment", 1979.
FROM THE PREFACE TO THE COMEDY "LOVE, FIXED TO LOVE"
Most of the comic and satirical writers are now taken to the pen for one of the three following reasons. According to the first in order to glorify one's name out of self-love, showing both fellow-zemstvos and contemporaneous labors worthy of their attention for a while, and through it to attract readers to show respect to themselves ... According to the second in order to make a profit, regardless of whether his writing is useful to society, and forgetting that the writer should acquire self-interest, which is characteristic of all people, if not useful, then certainly harmless means for his fellow citizens. By the third in order to satisfy envy, malice and vengeance, with which they are infected with some people, or in order to harm innocent virtue both by words and writing, due to innate hatred of all neighbors, which does not tolerate alien well-being. But since all the writings produced for such reasons are so disgusting to me that I, for the very sin, put someday to give them a place in my heart, then I set to pen, following only a heartfelt impulse that makes me look for the derision of vices and my own in virtues of pleasure, and benefit to my fellow citizens, giving them an innocent and amusing pastime ... I named my comedy "Waste, corrected by love" in order to, showing young people the dangers and shame that happen from extravagance, as a precaution, have ways to please everyone viewers, according to the difference in their inclinations. One and a very small part of the stalls love characteristic, pitiful and noble thoughts filled with thoughts, and the other, and the main one, is cheerful comedies. The taste of the former from that time was established, as they saw the Detushevs and Shosseevs ( Philip Neriko Detouches(1680--1754) and Pierre Claude Nivelle de la Chaussée(1692-1754) - French playwrights, authors of "serious" comedies.) best comedies. For this, I had to try to introduce pitiful phenomena, which, if I didn’t call my comedy "Mot, corrected by love," it would not be so capable to do ... My hero Kind-hearted, it seems to me, truly has kind heart and gullibility combined with him, which was his death ... I showed in him most of the young people and I wish that most, if not the best, so, but at least, at least by the same means, corrected, that is, by the instruction of virtuous mistresses ... My servant was made very virtuous, and some of the condemners who armed themselves with me told me that we had never had such servants before. to produce his like, and he must serve as a model. I used to be ashamed, my merciful ones, - I continued, - to look at the fact that in all the translated comedies the servants are great idlers and that at the denouement almost all of them remain without punishment for cheating, while others also receive rewards. this, one of them said to me with an abusive smile: but why suddenly such a chosen and fruitful moralizing for this vile kind? To this I answered: in order to cleanse him of meanness and teach zeal for his masters and deeds, decent for every honest person ... ... Detushev's servant Mota is free, and Vasily is a serf. He, being free, gives money to his master in the most extreme; I confess that virtue comes from only low man great, but Vasiliev more. He is released into the wild and receives a reward, but he does not accept both. Let us suppose that money is a trifle for him; but freedom, that precious thing, about which they most of all seem and for which the good of them, their young years, diligently serve you, in order to free themselves from bondage in old age - however, Basil despises liberty and remains with his master. Here is an exemplary virtue, and one that cannot be called common even among the boyars ... Now it remains for me, ending this preface, to assure all readers that I wrote "Mota" by no means in order to satirically sting my fellow countrymen, but solely the house of their benefit and to give them innocent pleasure ... ... I myself know that my comedy is not enriched with excellent and selective thoughts, but is written as close as possible to the samples that make it up. My main desire, which can be fulfilled very easily, is to see myself succeed in this kind of writing ... 1765
ILO, LOVE FIXED
COMEDY IN FIVE ACTS
(Excerpt)
Characters
Dobroserdov big) Dobroserdov lesser) siblings Princess, a widow in love with big Dobroserdov. Cleopatra, niece of the princess, mistress of the great Dobroserdov. Zloradov. Stepanida, servant of the princess. Vasily, the uncle of the big Dobroserdov. Panfil, servant of the lesser Dobroserdov. Climbing through, solicitor. Pravdolyubov. Dokukin. Relentless. Widow, carriage maker. Karetnitsyn's daughter (no speeches). Servant of the great Dobroserdov. Magistrate's clerk. Mailers (no speeches). Several merchants and a cab driver, creditors of the big Dobroserdov (no speeches).
Action in Moscow, in the princess's house.
(The gullible young man Kindhearted-big (i.e. senior) got carried away card game and in two years he squandered his father's estate, made debts, which was greatly facilitated by the advice of his imaginary friend, the treacherous Zloradov, whose evil influence, Dobroserdov's servant, his uncle Vasily, tried in vain to fight. Fortunately for himself, Dobroserdov fell in love with the virtuous Cleopatra, who reciprocated his feelings, and in order to see her more often, he settled in the house of the princess, with whom he was forced to pretend to be in love. Dobroserdov's offer to flee from Moscow to the village to his younger brother Cleopatra rejects, at the moment of the explanation the princess enters; enraged, she sends Cleopatra allegedly to a monastery, while Zloradov incites Dobroserdov's creditors to put the hero, as an insolvent debtor, in prison. Dobroserdov is about to flee Moscow.)
ACT FIVE
Event VI
Basil (entering). What would you like? Dobroserdov. Is everything ready? And did you find out about Cleopatra? Basil. Everything, sir, is ready, and I asked Mavra that the princess of your mistress does not want to cut her hair, only intends to hide her for a while. Dobroserdov. I can find her everywhere! But now, with your sincerity, you aggravate the gnaw of my conscience ... And I am unable to repay all your services worthy of reward; but how much I have, I will share with you. That's half my wealth! And here's your vacation! From this moment you are free. Go and look elsewhere for happiness, and leave me alone to end my ill-fated life. It won't last long. Accept and don't deny! Basil. I will not take, sir, either one or the other. And when at that time I did not lag behind you, when I endured every need and saw your disfavor towards me, then can I leave you when you have become virtuous and have more need for my services than ever? I do not recall the past in order to sadden you more, but to assure you of my diligence. I will never part with you. Dobroserdov. O rare virtue in a man of such a state! You amaze me with your honesty. And I've been punished enough for doubting you. Basil. You weren't the only one who doubted me, and I've already learned how hard it is to make a name. good man. If I were a slacker, then I would rob you along with Zloradov and ... Good-hearted. Don't mention him. You have already sufficiently proved your good heart to me. Basil. But I must confess that this honest act was taught to me by your late parent. He always observed the truth, and he tried to deduce vices from his servants. But for whom? Everything for your children, to establish them in virtue. Dobroserdov. Don't remind me of my parent's virtues. They confuse me more. How much he was virtuous, so much I am vicious. I will not go now to my uncle and brother, but I will go where fate will show me the way. Accept this and say goodbye to me forever. Basil (falling to his knees). If you value my services and loyalty in anything, so... Good-hearted (raising Vasily). Get up! Basil (getting up, continuing his speech). So at least leave them with you. Listen to my advice and to your uncle ... Good-hearted. Don't force me. Basil. Shaleya about yourself, fulfill my request. God himself will incline your uncle to pity for your appeal, and if you don’t go to him, then I won’t leave you. Dobroserdov. Don't convince me anymore. I'm ashamed to show them. Once again I beg you! Accept as a reward for all your loyalty. Basil. And I still dare to ask you that you, even if not for your servant, but for your own benefit and for the sake of saving the pity of worthy Cleopatra food ... Good-hearted. If you say her name, you can force me to do anything. Moreover, gratitude tells me not only to listen to your advice, but to obey them. Let's go to uncle. Let us save dear Cleopatra, and then I will prove my gratitude to you. (They want to go, but at that time the widow enters with her daughter.)
PhenomenonVII
Dobroserdov, Vasily and the widow with her daughter
Dobroserdov. Oh my God! You have sent this poor woman to my greater torment, but she will not be deceived. Widow. Do not be angry, sir, that I have come to disturb you. The most extreme compelled me to do so. You know that my late husband waited for his debt on you for a year, and I wait for a year and a half. Have mercy on the poor widow with orphans! Here is the eldest of them, and four more remained at home. Dobroserdov. I know, madam, that I am guilty before you, but I cannot pay you all the money and I swear that I do not have more than three hundred rubles. Take them, and you will, of course, receive the remaining hundred and fifty in three days or less. Although you will hear that I will not be in the city, however, do not worry about that. This person will give them to you; trust me and leave me alone. Widow. I'm satisfied with that (leaves).
PhenomenonVIII
Dobroserdov and Vasily
Dobroserdov. Now I'm going to leave the city, and you stay here. I no longer order, but please, listen to me! Sell all my things and please this poor widow. I hope that you can get so much for my dress and linen. Basil. I'm not from you ... Good-hearted. Do not disobey my request, and when I already agree to yours, so you fulfill mine. At your pleasure, I will go straight to my uncle, and you, having corrected the situation, will find me at his place. Sorry!
(The creditor merchants, at the instigation of Zloradov, bring the magistrate's clerk and messengers to take the big Dobroserdov to prison. However, the younger Dobroserdov, who suddenly appeared, announces that the deceased uncle left all his fortune to the brothers, and the debts of big Dobroserdov, who has become very rich, may So that the "magistrate's team" would not be called in vain, the merchants decide to send Zloradov, who is also their debtor, to prison.)
PhenomenonXII
Princess, B. Dobroserdov, M. Dobroserdov, Vasily and Zloradov (who makes various body movements and expresses his extreme confusion and frustration)
B. Dobroserdov (brother). Although you have delivered me from dishonor, you cannot make my perfect well-being. I can't see my beloved anymore... M. Dobroserdov. You will see her this time. Basil, go and ask Madame Cleopatra here. She sits at the gate in a carriage. Basil. Immediately, sir. B. Dobroserdov. What? She... she's here... M. Dobroserdov. You will see her immediately. Zloradov. O perverse fate! Princess. What do I hear!
PhenomenonXIII
Princess, B. Dobroserdov, M. Dobroserdov and Zloradov
B. Dobroserdov. But are you flattering me? I will run to her. (Running and smaller brother, having reached, stops.) Princess (to the side). How can I see her? I will die of shame. (To Zloradov.) Get away from me, you imbecile. M. Dobroserdov (brother). Don't go, but stay here. I will tell you with what unintentional happiness I managed to bring your mistress. Approaching the Pereslavskaya Yamskaya, I met the carriage and heard that those sitting in it asked me to stop. When I came out, I saw Cleopatra and Stepanida, and this honest maid informed me of all your misfortune and said that instead of the monastery she was taking Cleopatra, without telling her, directly to the village of your late uncle, and from the road she wanted to notify you about it. On the contrary, I announced to them the change of your happiness, and Stepanida and I did our best to persuade your mistress to return here. B. Dobroserdov. A! Dear brother, you give me life! Zloradov (to the side). Is it done? The stupid girl turned all my cunning into nothing!
PhenomenonXIV
The same, Cleopatra, Stepanida and Vasily
Princess. I dare not look at her, and my legs cannot hold me. (He leans on the armchair and covers himself with a handkerchief.) B. Dobroserdov (rushing to Cleopatra, kissing her hands). Dear Cleopatra! Let me kiss your hands, and first of all listen to my request. Forget the past! Forgive your aunt! She's not to blame (looking at Zloradov) and he is the cause of everything. Say that not only will you not exact anything from her, but you will give her a living good village. I am now so rich that I do not need your dowry. I ask this of you as a token of your love for me. Do it!.. Cleopatra (Dobroserdov). I will do more than that. (Leaving him, she runs to the princess, wants to fall at her feet, but she does not allow her; however, she takes her hand and kisses it.) It’s not for me, madam, to forgive you, but you let me go of my guilt, that I dared to return against your will. Living here, I didn’t see any annoyance to myself and, on the orders of my parent, I had to obey you in everything .. Forgive me! I am his words (pointing to Dobroserdov) I confirm and ask with tears ... Princess (weeping). Stop bringing me to shame! Stop doing that, kind niece! You multiply my repentance with your humility ... I am so guilty before you that I am unworthy of such magnanimity. (Pointing to Zloradov.) This wicked one has turned me on to everything! But in my future life I will try to make amends for my guilt... From this moment on, I leave my former actions and will be with you inseparably after death... (They embrace.) Zlofadov (during the princess's speech he tried to leave twice, but, suddenly gathering his strength, he returned and, approaching Dobroserdov, speaks to him with humiliation). When you are all so generous here, so I hope to be forgiven. B. Dobroserdov. As for me... M. Dobroserdov. No, brother! You shouldn't forgive him. Through this, we will do a lot of harm to honest people. Let him receive a worthy retribution for his villainy, and if he corrects himself, then I will not be the first to renounce helping him. Zloradov (M. Dobroserdov). When you now despise me so much, I will try to harm you first of all. The time is ahead, and I will use it for that, in order to build death for all of you. (He leaves, and as soon as he opens the door, so soon Dokukin and his comrades, who are waiting for him, take it.) Basil (following Zloradov). You are not afraid of us now, and they are waiting for you at the gate. (How soon the merchants will pick him up, he says.) Yes, now you have already fallen into the hole that you prepared for your friend.
The last phenomenon
Princess, Cleopatra, B. Dobroserdov, M. Dobroserdov, Stepanida and Vasily
M. Dobroserdov. Do you see what he is like? B. Dobroserdov. I forgive him everything. Princess. Let go of my guilt, too, following the example of your mistress, and when she still honors me with respect and friendship, then I will use the power given to me over her in your favor. (Takes Dobroserdov and Cleopatra by the hand.) I always agree to your well-being and ask you not to deprive me of your friendship. Cleopatra. I will forever be a submissive niece. B. Dobroserdov. My respect for you after death will not change, and you can demand any experience from me. But I, relying on you, take the liberty now to ask for such a favor, which we really need. Princess. Everything I can do, I will gladly do. B. Dobroserdov. Forgive me, madam, Stepanida, and give her free rein, as I will always free my Vasily. They love each other. Princess. She is in your power, release her! Stepanida (kisses the hand of the princess). I will never forget your graces, madam. B. Dobroserdov (taking Vasily and Stepanida). Now you are free people. Here's the vacation pay you didn't want to take the davych, and I'm giving you two thousand rubles for your wedding, and I want you not to deny it with a single word. Basil (having accepted, bows). I now accept your graces, and although you let me go free, however, I will serve you forever as a token of my gratitude. And when you have already become prosperous, then we only have to wish that all the girls become like your mistress, and the outdated coquettes who go to the coffin with affectation, following her Excellency, received disgust from that. All the moths, following your example, turned to the true path, and the servants and maids, like me and Stepanida, faithfully served the masters. Finally, so that the ungrateful and sly, fearing their vile vices, lag behind them and remember that the god of villainy does not leave without punishment. 1764
NOTES
Vladimir Ignatievich Lukin is the son of a nobleman who served as a footman at court. In 1752, Lukin was appointed as a copyist to the Senate, from 1756 he transferred to military service as a copyist, and in 1762 he was transferred as a secretary to the hetman K. G. Razumovsky. By 1763, the beginning literary activity Lukin. Having found a patron in the person of the secretary of state of the Empress I.P. Yelagiva, who at that time was her main assistant in literary and theatrical affairs, Lukin translated the 5th and 6th parts of the "Adventures of the Marquis G ***" Prevost (St. Petersburg. , 1764-1765; the correct four parts were translated by Elagin in 1756-1758). In 1764-1765, Lukin was the most active figure in the "Yelagin circle": he translated and adapted to "Russian manners" a number of comedies by French playwrights; in lengthy prefaces to his plays, he substantiated the idea of the need for borrowing, expounded the basic principles of the theory of "addition", go "inclination to our mores" (this theory is completely borrowed from the writings of the Danish playwright L. Holberg), resolutely rejected the principle satirical image social vices of Russian reality and attacked the largest satirist of the era - Sumarokov. Denying satire "on faces", Lukin asserted the principle of satire "on vices". Finally, Lukin energetically supported the "nationwide" theater created in St. Petersburg on the idea of Catherine II under the supervision of the police; with the help of this theater, the government was to obtain a strong means of influencing the "morality" of the people. An example of such "morality", the pseudo-folk "original Russian virtue" (as it was interpreted by Empress Catherine), in the writings of Lukin himself, the image of Vasily's servant - a slave by conviction (see the preface and text of the play "Mot, corrected by love"). At the same time, the activities of Lukin (as well as other members of the "Elagin circle") contributed to an increase in the theatrical repertoire, and the creation of the first examples of the new genre of "tearful comedy" for Russia expanded the possibilities of dramaturgy. The servile nature of Lukin's writings and the reactionary meaning of his dramatic activity were correctly understood and condemned by all progressively minded writers. In the second half of the 1760s, Lukin created several more alterations, and in 1769, apparently, he collaborated in the pro-government magazine Vsyakaya Vsyachina, which caused a new wave of attacks on him from satirical magazines (Truten and others. ). Service career Lukin developed very successfully. At the end of 1764, he was officially appointed cabinet secretary under Elagin, in 1774 he served in the Main Palace Chancellery, of which Elagin was a member. He also accepted Lukin into the Freemasons and made him Grand Secretary of the Masonic Main Provincial Lodge and Master of the Chair (i.e. Head) of the Urania Lodge. Lukin rose to the rank of real state councilor (rank IV class, equal to major general). After 1770, Lukin moved away from literature. The last significant appearance in the press is the translation of the 7th and 8th parts of the "Adventures of the Marquis G ***", containing the story of the Chevalier de Grieux and Manon Lesko (Moscow, 1790).
In the dramaturgy of the second half of the 18th century, works began to penetrate that were not provided for by the poetics of classicism, testifying to the urgent need to expand the boundaries and democratize the content of the theatrical repertoire. Among these novelties, first of all, there was a tearful comedy, i.e. a play that combines touching and political beginnings.
Tearful comedy suggests:
Morally didactic tendencies;
Replacing the comedic beginning with touching situations and sentimental pathetic scenes;
Showing the power of virtue, awakening the conscience of vicious heroes.
The appearance of this genre on the stage caused a sharp protest from Sumarokov. The combination of funny and touching in a tearful comedy seems to him bad taste. He is outraged not only by the destruction of the usual genre forms, but also by the complexity and inconsistency of the characters in the new plays, whose heroes combine both virtues and weaknesses. In this confusion, he sees a danger to the morality of the audience. The author of one of these plays is Vladimir Lukin, a St. Petersburg official. In his lengthy prefaces to the plays, Lukin laments the lack of plays in Russia with national Russian content. However, Lukin's literary program is half-hearted. He proposes to borrow plots from foreign works and incline them in every possible way to our customs. In accordance with this program, all Lukin's plays go back to one or another Western model. Of these, the tearful comedy “Mot, corrected by love” can be considered relatively independent, the plot of which only remotely resembles the comedy of the French playwright Detouche. The hero of Lukin's play is Dobroserdov, a card player. He is seduced by a false friend of the Zloradov. Dobroserdov is entangled in debt, he faces a prison. But by nature he is kind and capable of repentance. The moral revival of the hero is helped by his bride Cleopatra and the servant Vasily, selflessly devoted to his master. The most pathetic moment in the fate of Vasily, the author considers the refusal of the freestyle offered to him by Goodheart. It showed the limited democracy of Lukin, who admires the peasant, but does not condemn serf relations.
The passion of the first Russian spectators, who got into the taste of theatrical spectacles, to see in the performance the same life that they led outside the theater, and in the characters of the comedy - full-fledged people, was so strong that it provoked an incredibly early act of self-awareness of Russian comedy and gave rise to the phenomenon of the author's incredulity to its text and insufficiency artistic text by itself to express the whole complex of thoughts that are embedded in it.
All this required auxiliary elements explaining the text. Lukin's preface-comments accompanying each artistic publication in the "Works and Translations" of 1765 bring comedy as a genre closer to journalism as a form of creativity.
The running theme of all Lukin's prefaces is "benefit for the heart and mind", the ideological purpose of the comedy, designed to reflect public life with the sole purpose of eradicating vice and presenting the ideal of virtue with a view to introducing it into public life. The latter is also a mirror act in its own way, only the image in it precedes the object. This is what Lukin motivates comedic creativity:
<...>I took up my pen, following only one heartfelt impulse, which makes me look for ridicule of vices and my own in virtue for the pleasure and benefit of my fellow citizens, giving them an innocent and amusing pastime. (Foreword to the comedy "Mot, corrected by love", 6.)
The same motive of the direct moral and social benefit of the spectacle determines in Lukin's understanding the goal of comedy as a work of art. The aesthetic effect that Lukin conceived as the result of his work had, for him, above all, an ethical expression; the aesthetic result is the text as such with its own artistic features- was secondary and, as it were, accidental. Characteristic in this respect is the dual orientation of comedy and the theory of the comedy genre. On the one hand, all of Lukin's texts aim to change the existing reality towards the moral standard.
On the other hand, this negative attitude towards correcting vice by accurately reflecting it is complemented by a directly opposite task: by reflecting a non-existent ideal in a comedic character, comedy seeks to cause by this act the emergence of a real object in real life. In essence, this means that the transformative function of comedy, traditionally recognized for this genre by European aesthetics, coexists with Lukin and directly creative:
Some condemners who armed themselves with me told me that we had never had such servants before. It will, I told them, but Basil was made by me for this, in order to produce others like him, and he should serve as a model. (Preface to the comedy "Mot, corrected by love", 12.)
In the prefaces to his “tearful comedies” (“Riddlemaker”, “Rewarded Constancy”, “Love Corrected by Love”), Lukin consistently formulated and defended the theory of “inclination” (“additions”) of foreign works to “our morals”. Its essence was to remake translated plays in the Russian way (the scene is Russia, Russian life, Russian names, Russian characters) so that the comedy could influence the audience, strengthening them in virtues and cleansing them from vices. The theory of the "prepositional" direction was supported by the playwrights of the circle of I.P. Elagin, whose ideologist was Lukin. Catherine II focused on her in her comedies; in the spirit of the “prepositional” direction, she wrote her first comedy “Korion” (1764) by D.I. Fonvizin.
In Russian dramaturgy of the second half of the 18th century. lines of departure from the traditions of classical tragedy and comedy are outlined. The influence of the "tearful drama", noticeable already in early work Kheraskov, but peculiarly adapted to the needs of the art of the nobility, penetrates into the works of authors who are excluded from the system of the feudal worldview. A prominent place in the circle of such authors is occupied by V. I. Lukin, a dramatic writer and translator who focused on a new reader and spectator from the unprivileged classes and dreamed of creating a public folk theater.
Vladimir Ignatievich Lukin was born in 1737. He came from a poor and unborn, albeit noble, family. He early went to serve in the court department, where he was patronized by I. P. Elagin, later a cabinet minister and a prominent dignitary. Lukin died in 1794 with the rank of real state councilor.
Lukin's literary activity developed under the direction of Elagin. He participated in the translation of Prevost's famous French novel The Adventures of the Marquis G., or the life of a noble man who left the world, begun by Elagin. In 1765, four Lukin's comedies appeared on the stage: "The Mot, Corrected by Love", "Riddle", "Rewarded Constancy" and "Schepeter". In the same year they were published, making up two volumes of "Works and translations of Vladimir Lukin." With the exception of "Mota", they are adaptations of the plays by Boissy ("Le Babillard"), Campistron ("L'amante amant") and the French translation from the English original of the play "Boutique de bijoutier". After 1765, Lukin translated and reworked several more comedies.
Lukin's comedies were a notable contribution to Russian dramatic literature. Before their appearance, Russian comedy had only three works by Sumarokov (“Tresotinius”, “Monsters”, “Empty Quarrel”), plays - “Russian Frenchman” by Elagin, “Godless” by Kheraskov, comedies by A. Volkov. Translated comedies were usually staged on the stage, far from Russian reality and devoid of typical everyday and typological features. Recognizing this shortcoming of his contemporary repertoire, Lukin seeks to correct it in his own dramatic practice, reinforcing it with theoretical arguments.
Lukin's statements do not have the character of a complete aesthetic program, do not differ in sequence; its mood is rather vague, but, nevertheless, it introduces a fundamentally new attitude to the tasks of Russian dramaturgy and causes lively controversy. Opponents of Lukin, which included the main magazines of 1769 (Novikov’s Drone, Emin’s Mix and Catherine II’s magazine Vsyakaya
stuff"), irritated by the stylistic shortcomings of Lukin's plays and his attempts to challenge the unshakable authority of Sumarokov. The "father of the Russian Parnassus" then reigned supreme on the stage, and Lukin ran into him. Lukin was declared "the only detractor" of the first Russian dramatic poet; Sumarokov openly expressed his hostile attitude towards Lukin, and the latter bitterly said that “the pseudo-powerful judge [of course Sumarokov] in our verbal sciences sentenced me to be expelled from the city because I dared to issue a five-act drama and thereby made an infection in young people ". However, Lukin's plays, despite the censure of critics, often went on stage and were accompanied by success with the public.
However, Lukin did not remain indebted to his opponents and vigorously argued with them in the prefaces to his plays, which sometimes acquired a solid length; when translating foreign plays, he defended his right to "incline them to Russian customs", bringing the speech and behavior of characters borrowed from European plays closer to the viewer. Recognizing that national dramaturgy was still in its infancy, Lukin was convinced of the correctness of his views, especially since, in his words, original works require great effort and time, “many talents both innate and acquired by teaching, which, in order to compose a good scribe necessary” and which, according to him, he did not have. Before the appearance of such a "scribe" Lukin considered it possible to enrich the repertoire of the Russian stage to the best of his ability, adapting foreign plays for it.
Justifying his point of view, Lukin wrote in the preface to the comedy “Rewarded Constancy” as follows: “It always seemed unusual for me to hear foreign sayings in such writings, which should by depicting our morals correct not so much the general vices of the whole world, but the more common vices of our people; and I have repeatedly heard from some viewers that it is not only their mind, but also their hearing that is disgusting if faces, although somewhat resembling our customs, are called Clitandre, Dorant, Citalida and Clodine in the presentation and speak speeches that do not signify our behavior " .
Lukin said that the audience of a translated foreign play does not take morality personally, attributing it to the vices inherent in foreigners portrayed on the stage. As a result, in his opinion, the educational value of the theater, this purgatory of morals, is lost. When it comes to borrowing a play from a foreign repertoire, it must be reworked and brought into line with the everyday conditions of Russian life.
Lukin's attempts to assimilate translated comedies into the Russian repertoire, to bring them closer to Russian life, despite their imperfection, should be regarded as a desire to speed up the process of creating a national comedy based on the material of Russian reality.
The concept of "Russian" often coincided with Lukin's concept of "folk". It is in this sense that Lukin's article in the form of a letter to B.E. Elchaninov should be understood, in which he talks about the organization of a "nationwide theater" in St. Petersburg. This theater was put together in a wasteland behind Malaya Morskaya and was willingly visited by "low-ranking people." It was played by amateurs, “collected from different places”, and the main roles were played by a compositor of an academic printing house. Talking about this theatre, Lukin expresses confidence that “this popular entertainment can produce not only spectators, but over time, scribes, who, although they will be unsuccessful at first, will later improve.”
He pays tribute to the development and dignity of readers and spectators from the unprivileged classes and defends them from the attacks of noble writers. Objecting to the "mockingbirds" who claimed that "our servants do not read any books," Lukin ardently declared: "It's not true ... , very many read; and there are those who write better than mockingbirds. And all people can think, because each of them with thoughts, except for heliporters and fools, will be born.
Lukin clearly sympathizes with these new readers and viewers. He indignantly describes the behavior of the “clean” audience in the theater stalls, busy with gossip, gossip, making noise and interfering with the performance, returning to this topic more than once and thus preserving for researchers the picture of the theatrical customs of his time. It would be difficult to find in Lukin a clearly expressed democratic worldview - he hardly possessed it to any full extent - however, he focuses on an audience of the third estate order, for which he wants to write his plays.
It is also impossible to pass by Lukin's regret that in the play "Schepeter" he was poorly able to convey the peasant speech, because he, "having no villages", lived little with the peasants and rarely talked to them, "and past his excuse: "Full , among us not all those peasants understand the language who are endowed with villages; there are few landowners, who are ex officio members of the assembly of these poor people. There are quite a few of those who, because of excessive abundance, do not think differently about the peasants, as about animals, created for their voluptuousness. These arrogant people, living in luxury, often good-hearted villagers, to improve the life of our working people, plunder without any pity. Sometimes you will see that from their gilded carriages, harnessed by six horses needlessly, the blood of innocent farmers flows. And we can say that only those who are philanthropic by nature and revere them as different creatures know the peasant life, and therefore they are baked about them.
These denunciations of Lukin, together with his attacks on other social shortcomings, come close to the speeches of satirical journalism, or rather, they warn her for several years. Courage needs to be valued. similar statements writer, take into account his craving for rapprochement with the mass of non-noble readers, in order to imagine the acuteness of the literary struggle that broke out around Lukin in the late 1760s and early 1770s.
The struggle was around the problem of tragedy and tearful drama, which Sumarokov was the implacable opponent of. Defending the principles of classical aesthetics, he denied the new bourgeois understanding of art and the new requirements for drama that were expressed by the third estate and formulated in the middle of the 18th century. Diderot in France. For Sumarokov, bourgeois drama was a "dirty kind" of dramatic performances, stigmatized by him on the example of Beaumarchais's play "Eugenie". In Russia in the 60s of the XVIII century. there are still no direct examples of this genre, but the approach to them is noticeable in Lukin's dramatic practice, which to some extent responded to the urgent demands of society.
In his original comedy Mot, Corrected by Love, Lukin boldly violates the teachings of classical poetics about comedy: “Comedy is hostile to sighs and sadness” (Boileau). He follows in the footsteps of Lachosset, Detouche, Beaumarchais, who reflected in their comedies the desire for stage truth and naturalness, gave an image of the life of modest ordinary people and were inclined to educate the audience by including elements of morality and open moralizing. The experience of these samples of "tearful comedy" and "philistine drama"
Lukin takes this into account, somewhat naively explaining his intentions in the preface to Motu. He introduces “compassionate phenomena” into comedy, shows the struggle of opposing feelings in the characters, the drama of passion that came into conflict with the demands of honor and virtue; this is expected, according to Lukin, part of the audience, moreover, a small part. To meet the requirements of the "main part" it includes comic moments; this mixing is still mechanical in nature.
Lukin sets an important goal: to show on stage the correction of a person, a change in his character. The hero of the comedy Dobroserdov, a young nobleman entangled in the whirlpool of the capital, under the influence of love for Cleopatra, returns to the path of virtue and breaks with the sins of youth. His fate should serve as an example to young people whom the author wants to protect from the "danger and shame" caused by card games and extravagance. In the preface, Lukin describes the gambling house in detail, regretting the fate of young people who fall into the clutches of card "artists", "creators of evil and evil." One such dangerous person is depicted in the play; this is Zloradov, an imaginary friend of Dobroserdov. Not yet able to make him act on the stage, to reveal his nature purely artistic means, Lukin makes him say himself: “Repentance and remorse are completely unknown to me, and I am not one of those simpletons who are horrified by the future life and hellish torments. If only I could live here in contentment, and there, whatever happens to me, I don’t worry about it. In my age there will be fools and fools !.. »
Lukin also failed to create the image of Cleopatra; she is not included in the action, is colorless and appears only in two or three scenes, so best qualities her, which aroused Dobroserdov's love, remain unclear to the viewer. The secondary figures of creditors, whom Lukin is trying to force to speak in a characteristic language, are presented much more vividly.
New for the Russian scene Lukin says in the comedy "Schepeter". Merchants who traded rings, rings, cufflinks, earrings and other small goods were called scribblers. Items of imported haberdashery were then referred to the "squeamish" goods. In Lukin's play, Shchepetilnik is a man with an unusual biography for a merchant. He is the son of an officer and himself a retired officer, but not a nobleman. The father, enduring the need, nevertheless gave his son a metropolitan upbringing, rare at that time even for noble children. The future Scribbler entered the service, but turned out to be too honest man to put up with injustice and to flatter their superiors. Having retired without any reward, he was forced to earn a livelihood and became a merchant, but a merchant of a special kind, a kind of misanthrope, in the face denouncing the vices of his buyers-nobles and telling them insolence. Fashionable merchandise Sneaker sells at exorbitant prices, considering it fair to help the ruin of spendthrifts and distributing a third of what he has acquired to the poor.
In the comedy, dandies, red tape, bribe-takers, flatterers pass in front of the counter of the Swindler, set up in a free masquerade, whose vices are denounced by the resonator-merchant as an edification to the audience.
The sharp and truthful speeches of the Scribbler castigate the vicious representatives of the noble society. The third-class positive hero thus appears for the first time on the Russian stage in Lukin's comedy.
Compared to the original, the comedy "The Squirrel" has added several characters. Among them are two peasants, workers of the Schepetilnik; these workers are the first peasants who spoke in our comedy in a common language, and in an exact language. Lukin, resorting to
phonetic transcription, conveys the dialect of the Galich peasants, with characteristic transitions of "c" to "h", "i" to "e", etc. He generally seeks to individualize the speech of the characters. Thus, in a footnote, he proves that "all foreign words they speak such patterns to which they are characteristic; and Shchepetilnik, Chistoserdov and nephew always speak Russian, except occasionally they repeat the word of some empty talker. On the other hand, Lukin conveys the speech of the petimeter in mixed Russian-French slang, ridiculing the mangling mother tongue and warning in this direction the attacks of subsequent satirists. “Attach to us,” says the dandy Verkhoglyadov, “and you yourself will be a savant. A small obscenity, avek espri pronounced, animates the company; this is marc de bon san, trez estime in ladies' serkels, when playing cards, and best of all at balls ... There are many merites in my experience, etc.
If Lukin's dramatic talent was not great and his plays from the artistic side are not of particular interest now, then Lukin's views on the tasks of the Russian theater, on the creation of national repertoire his experiments in this direction deserve careful and grateful evaluation. Further development these experiences are obtained in the Russian comic opera, and later - in the literary activity of P. A. Plavilshchikov, who turned in his household comedies"Sidelets" and "Bobyl" to plots from merchant and peasant life.
