A.N. Ostrovsky and F.M. Dostoevsky: to the History of the Relationship

In: Solovʹëvskie issledovanija, Heft 4, S. 106-118

Abstract

The article reconstructs the relations between two contemporaries, two classics of Russian culture – Alexander Ostrovsky and Fyodor Dostoevsky. The relations are considered in the dynamics of their development. Despite the fact that contemporaries of Ostrovsky and Dostoevsky noted the playwright's critical perception of Dostoevsky's work, the emphasis is placed on the friendly nature of their relationship, the proximity of their aesthetic views, and the commonality of their creative framework. The article stresses that the proximity of their aesthetic views on artistic creativity will become the basis for Ostrovsky's cooperation with the Dostoevsky brothers' journal "Vremya" (Time). The research undertaken here analyzes the reasons for the termination of this cooperation and the nature of further relations between Ostrovsky and Dostoevsky, their mutual assessment of each other's creativity. As a result, it is noted that although Dostoevsky did not enter Ostrovsky's inner circle, in his plays the playwright addressed the issues that worried both of them.