overmuch
importance to what she says, in her startled condition--she rushes off
and drowns herself. The savage mother-in-law, who is to blame for the
entire tragedy, sternly commands her son not to mourn for his dead wife,
whom he has loved in the feeble way which such a tyrant has permitted.
This outline gives hardly an idea of the force of the play, and its
value as a picture of Russian manners of the old school in general, and
of the merchant class (who retained them long after they were much
ameliorated in other classes of society) in particular.

But Ostrovsky did not confine his dramas within narrow limits. On the
contrary, they present a wonderfully broad panorama of Russian life, and
attain to a universality which has been reached by no other Russian
writer save Pushkin and Count L. N. Tolstoy. There are plays from
prehistoric, mythical times, and historical plays, which deal with
prominent epochs in the life of the nation. A great favorite, partly
because of its pictures of old Russian customs, is "The Voevoda" or
"The Dream on the Volga" (1865). "Vasilisa Melentieff" is popular for
the same reasons (1868). Ostrovsky's nervous organization was broken
down by the incessant toil necessary to support his family, and these
historical plays were written, with others, to relieve the pressure. His
dramas were given all over Russia, and he received more money from
private than from the government theaters. But towards the end of his
life comfort came, and during the last year of his life he was in charge
of the Moscow (government) Theater. At last he was master of the Russian
stage, and established a school of dramatic art on the lines laid down
by himself. But the toil was too great for his shattered health, and he
died in 1886. His plays are wonderfully rich as a portrait-gallery of
contemporary types, as well as of historical types, and the language of
his characters is one of the most surprising features of his work. It is
far too little to say of it that it is natural, and fits the characters
presented: in nationality, in figurativeness, in keen, unfeigned humor
and wit it represents the richest treasure of the Russian speech. Only
three writers are worthy of being ranked together in this respect:
Pushkin, Kryloff, and Ostrovsky.

While, like all the writers of the '40's, Ostrovsky is the pupil of
Gogol, he created his own school, and attained an independent position
from his very first piece. His plays have only