V.S. Solovyov and A.N. Ostrovsky: Creative Convergence and Repulsion as a Reflection of The Era of Change

Abstract

The problem of the influence of the ideas of Vl.S. Solovyov on the theatrical art of the Silver Age was considered in the articles by Y.D. Kuzin, N.O. Osipova, E.S. Shevchenko, N.G. Yurina, O.A. Dashevskaya, O.K. Strashkova, I.B. Rodnyanskaya. The attention of all researchers was focused on the dramatic experiments of Vl.S. Solovyov, in which both elements of the theater of the medieval and the nineteenth century were found. In the synthesis of these elements, the researchers saw the prototype of the early twentieth century theater. In this article, the question of possible creative intersections of Vl.S. Solovyov and A.N. Ostrovsky is asked for the first time. The material for the study was the work of Vl.S. Solovyov of the 1880–1890 and “late” plays by A.N. Ostrovsky. Special attention is paid to the analysis of such texts by Vl.S. Solovyov, as “Readings on God-manhood”, “The General Meaning of Art”, “The Meaning of Love”, and from the plays of A.N. Ostrovsky, in addition to the “late” ones (from “Dowry” to “Not of this world”), the text of “Thunderstorms” is used. With a general ontological approach in understanding the essence of the problem, when carrying out analytical procedures, methods such as historical and cultural (to comprehend the specifics of the era), biographical (to reproduce significant facts from the life of Vl.S. Solovyov and A.N. Ostrovsky), cultural-philosophical (when analyzing texts). The article discusses the specific features of the era of the 1870s in Russia, a response to which became the plays of A.N. Ostrovsky and “Readings on God-Mankin” by Vl.S. Solovyov. The reasons for Vl.S. Solovyov to the elements of theatrical aesthetics are explained, these elements are compared with the theoretical and practical considerations of A.N. Ostrovsky. As a result, the author of the article argues that despite the similarity of views, which was facilitated by the era, there were fundamental differences. These differences are associated with a different approach to the use of elements of theatrical aesthetics: practical in the plays and texts of A.N. Ostrovsky and theoretical and philosophical in the texts of Vl.S. Solovyov. In the “late” plays of A.N. Ostrovsky, questions of a philosophical nature were raised, the answers to which could be found in the texts of Vl.S. Solovyov.