The Drama “Thunderstorm” by A. N. Ostrovsky as the Object of the Polemic of L. Tolstoy with N. Doblolyubov

Abstract

Aim. We reveal Tolstoy’s attitude to Ostrovsky’s play “Thunderstorm” in its interpretation by Dobrolyubov, the founder of “real criticism”.
Methology. Using the analysis of Tolstoy’s views on Ostrovsky’s work, the drama “Thunderstorm”, and the draft versions of the novel “Anna Karenina” relating to the death of Katerina, we make conclusions that Tolstoy possibly used not only Ostrovsky’s play, but also Dobrolyubov’s articles dedicated to it and hidden polemic with a critic.
Results. The choice made by Tolstoy in favor of one of the variants of the tragic outcome in the novel “Anna Karenina” gives an idea of the reasons for the writer’s rejection of Ostrovsky’s drama “Thunderstorm”, about his critical assessment of the democratic wing of Russian social thought in the person of its main representatives such as Dobrolyubov and Chernyshevsky. Tolstoy and Dobrolyubov interpreted human nature in their own ways; each had his own understanding of eudmonism, the problem of good and evil, the relationship of the individual and the environment, and the tasks of literature. The writer polemicized with the writers of the mid-18th century in three main directions: social, ethical, and aesthetic, which was reflected in several his works, including in the novel Anna Karenina.
Research implications. The paper discusses the issue of Tolstoy’s polemic position in relation to the tasks of modern literature, the revolutionary and democratic education, the “real criticism” of Dobrolyubov, and his interpretation of Ostrovsky’s drama the “Thunderstorm”, which was realized both in direct journalistic statements of the artist, and in the process of writing the novel “Anna Karenina.” The results of the study can be used to further study Tolstoy’s work and the history of Russian criticism, as well as in the course of teaching the history of the Russian literature of the 19th century