Hobson, Mary Elizabeth; (2000) Griboedov's "Gore ot uma" in the context of his life and other writing. Doctoral thesis (Ph.D), UCL (University College London).

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Abstract

This dissertation seeks to analyse and account for the disparity between Gore ot uma and Griboedov's other works, by examining his plays and poems, his letters and travel notes, the memoirs of his contemporaries, his literary sources and social milieu. His writing is divided into three categories which correspond to three distinct periods in his life: the early plays and poems in which Griboedov exercised his craft; Gore ot uma, his single work of art; and the small amount of later work, much of it unfinished, inspired largely by ambition. A chronological survey of his life discusses positive and negative influences. Among the former may be numbered Griboedov's association with Shakhovskoi, his wide knowledge of Russian, Classical and European literature, his admiration for the Book of the Prophet Isaiah and the salutary shock of a duel. This last gave him the opportunity of reflecting, in enforced isolation, on the flaws in his own society and the ineptitude of those who sought to reform it; the dual theme of Gore ot uma. Two powerful negative influences are discussed; his ability to write a passion out of his system and his reaction to the terrible aftermath of the Decembrist uprising. His idealism fell to the former, his gift for comedy was a victim of the latter. A comparison of earlier Russian verse comedies with Gore ot uma shows it to be rooted in neo-classicism. In the last chapter the final text of the play is compared with the earliest known version and the effect of the numerous alterations is assessed. A synthesis of Griboedov's own character and that of Aleksandr Odoevskii is seen as the source of Chatskii's disruptive naturalness; this is discussed in relation to the neo-classical tradition in Russia, of which Gore ot uma was the fatal crowning achievement.

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