Vladislav Ozerov
Encyclopedia
Vladislav Aleksandrovich Ozerov (11 October 1769 – 17 September 1816) was the most popular Russia
n dramatist in the first decades of the 19th century.
Ozerov wrote five tragedies "in the stilted and sentimental manner of the Frenchified era". Their success was tremendous, largely owing to the remarkable acting of one of the greatest Russian tragediennes, Ekaterina Semyonova. What the public liked in these tragedies was the atmosphere of sensibility and the polished, Karamzinian sweetness that Ozerov infused into the classical forms.
Ozerov's first success was Oedipus in Athens (1804), a wry comment on Alexander I
's rumoured privity to the murder of his father Paul. The public was ecstatic about his next tragedy, Fingal (1805), staged with effective sets representing sombre Scottish scenery. Dmitry Donskoy (1807) was staged within days after the Battle of Eylau
, when its patriotic ethos was particularly apposite. His last play was Polyxena (1809), variously assessed as the finest sentimental tragedy in the language and the best Russian tragedy on the French classical model.
The production of Polyxena turned out to be a flop, largely due to intrigues of Ozerov's literary woes. He was forced to leave St. Petersburg for his country estate near Zubtsov
, where he reportedly went mad and burnt all his papers. Ozerov's last years were spent in poverty, and his posthumous reputation was damaged by Pushkin's dismissal of his plays as "very mediocre".
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n dramatist in the first decades of the 19th century.
Ozerov wrote five tragedies "in the stilted and sentimental manner of the Frenchified era". Their success was tremendous, largely owing to the remarkable acting of one of the greatest Russian tragediennes, Ekaterina Semyonova. What the public liked in these tragedies was the atmosphere of sensibility and the polished, Karamzinian sweetness that Ozerov infused into the classical forms.
Ozerov's first success was Oedipus in Athens (1804), a wry comment on Alexander I
Alexander I of Russia
Alexander I of Russia , served as Emperor of Russia from 23 March 1801 to 1 December 1825 and the first Russian King of Poland from 1815 to 1825. He was also the first Russian Grand Duke of Finland and Lithuania....
's rumoured privity to the murder of his father Paul. The public was ecstatic about his next tragedy, Fingal (1805), staged with effective sets representing sombre Scottish scenery. Dmitry Donskoy (1807) was staged within days after the Battle of Eylau
Battle of Eylau
The Battle of Eylau or Battle of Preussisch-Eylau, 7 and 8 February 1807, was a bloody and inconclusive battle between Napoléon's Grande Armée and a Russian Empire army under Levin August, Count von Bennigsen near the town of Preußisch Eylau in East Prussia. Late in the battle, the Russians...
, when its patriotic ethos was particularly apposite. His last play was Polyxena (1809), variously assessed as the finest sentimental tragedy in the language and the best Russian tragedy on the French classical model.
The production of Polyxena turned out to be a flop, largely due to intrigues of Ozerov's literary woes. He was forced to leave St. Petersburg for his country estate near Zubtsov
Zubtsov
Zubtsov is a town and the administrative center of Zubtsovsky District of Tver Oblast, Russia, located at the confluence of the Volga and Vazuza Rivers, south of Tver, southeast of Rzhev, and southwest of Staritsa. Population: 8,100 ....
, where he reportedly went mad and burnt all his papers. Ozerov's last years were spent in poverty, and his posthumous reputation was damaged by Pushkin's dismissal of his plays as "very mediocre".