"Woe from Wit" and "Misanthrope" by Moliere
Of foreign works, the comedy by Moliere “Misanthrope” was especially important for “Woe from Wit” (see the summary, analysis and the full text). Studies by Professor Alexei Veselovsky showed that…

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Akaky Akakievich Bashmachkin in the story "The Overcoat"
The Gogol story “The Overcoat” (see its full text, summary and analysis) depicts a petty, downtrodden and pathetic official Akaky Akakiyevich Bashmachkin (see his description in the text of the…

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Belinsky "Literary dreams"
The basis of the article "Literary Dreams" by Belinsky was based on the idea that we do not have literature, because there is still no society, the physiognomy of the…

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Aristophanes “Clouds”

Somewhat different from the usual carnival type of Aristophanes are his comedies, which pose problems of a non-political, but cultural order. Already the first (not come down to us) comedy by Aristophanes “Feasting” (427) was devoted to the question of the old and new upbringing and portrayed the evil effects of learning in the spirit of the new sophistic fashion. To the same topic, Aristophanes returned to the comedy “Clouds” (423), making fun of sophistry. But “Clouds”, which the author considered to be the most serious of the works he wrote so far, did not succeed with the audience and won the third prize. Subsequently, Aristophanes partially reworked his play, and it came to us precisely in this second edition. Continue reading

Ariosto, “Furious Roland”

Poem Ludoviko Ariosto “Furious Roland” had more than 80 editions in the XVI century. The elegant and at the same time simple language brought her a quick triumph over the poem Boyardo. The adventures of Furious Roland are no less varied and much better narrated; the fantasy is rich, youthful fresh, courageous; the poem is imbued with a tender feeling that charmed women. Far surpassing Boyardo by the power of poetic creativity, Ludovico Ariosto surpasses her and his successor, Torquato Tasso. Even those scenes full of voluptuousness are depicted in Ariosto with tenderness and modesty. Continue reading

Puglia “Golden Ass”

The Roman writer Apuleius won his main glory with the novel Metamorphoses (Transformations). Subsequently, this novel, in connection with the high appreciation of its readers, received another name, the Golden Ass.

At the beginning of the novel, Apuleu says: “I begin the story in order to weave various fables in Milesian manner.” By this, he points to the closeness of his work to the Greek stories of Aristide of Miletus, translated into Latin in the first century. BC er By Cornelius of Sizenna. Continue reading

Afanasy Nikitin "Going beyond three seas"
“Going beyond the three seas of Afanasy Nikitin” (see its full text) - a description by a 15th century Russian man of his journey to far India.Afanasy Nikitin was a…

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Akhmatova and Tsvetaeva - Comparison
Probably in the distant future and for our era will find an elegant synthesis. Contradictions will become dull, contrasts will be extinguished, variegation will be reduced to unity, and a…

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