‟WHAT KIND OF PEOPLE! WHAT A LANGUAGE!..” RUSSIAN CRITICISM OF THE SECOND HALF OF THE 19TH CENTURY ON THE BOUNDARIES OF ‟ETHICAL” AND ‟DECENT” IN THE DRAMATURGY OF A.N. OSTROVSKY

Abstract

The article highlights the problem of moral and aesthetic evaluation of the works of A.N. Ostrovsky in literary criticism of Russia in the second half of the 19th century. On the material of newspaper and magazine reviews published in the 1850s–70s, contradictions are revealed between the ethical and aesthetic expectations of the reading audience and the artistic innovations of A.N. Ostrovsky in depicting scenes of everyday reality. The article attempts to generalize critical judgments of moral and aesthetic nature, outline the range of issues and claims against the author, and track their influence on the playwright’s work.