Two centuries of the Russian classics

2686-7494

IWL RAS

https://doi.org/10.22455/2686-7494-2026-8-2-258-283

Research Article

Articles

The Novel “The Precipice” by I. A. Goncharov and the Play “Truth is Good, but Happiness is Better” by A. N. Ostrovsky

Ermolaeva

Nina L.

red@rusklassika.ru

25 06 2026

8 2 258 283

cultural tradition heroes heroism young generation love plots heart reason truth justice vision of the future

2026

Based on the premise of the affinity of the artistic thinking of I. A. Goncharov and A. N. Ostrovsky, the author of this article draws a parallel between works of the epic and dramatic genres: the comedy “Truth is Good, but Happiness is Better” is viewed as a peculiar adaptation of the epic novel “The Precipice”. The article analyzes the similarities between these works at the level of characters and plot situations. The dependence of characters and conflicts construction on the author’s individuality and on the genre differences between the novel and the comedy is considered. The analysis concludes that Goncharov and Ostrovsky share a deeply national commitment to truth and justice, as well as a preference for the heart over reason within the human being. The characters of the novel and the comedy are distinguished by a distinctive “heroism,” which F. M. Dostoevsky noted in his views on people in the 1860s and 1870s. The presence in Ostrovsky’s comedy of certain elements characteristic of Goncharov’s fictional world demonstrates the kinship and differences in the moral position of the two Russian writers, in their understanding of the past and future of Russia.

Andreeva, V. G. O natsional’nom svoeobrazii russkogo romana vtoroi poloviny XIX veka [On National Specificity of Russian Novel of the Second Half of the 19th Сentury]. Kostroma, Kostroma State University Publ., 2016. 492 p. (In Russ.)

Grishunin, A. L. “A. N. Ostrovskii i A. S. Griboedov” [“A. N. Ostrovskii and A. S. Griboedov”]. Nasledie Ostrovskogo i sovetskaia kul’tura [Ostrovsky’s Heritage and the Soviet Culture]. Moscow, Nauka Publ., 1974, pp. 77–92. (In Russ.)

Zhuravleva, A. I. “ʽPravda — khorosho, a schast’e luchshe’.” [“ʽTruth is Good, but Happiness is Better’.”]. Literatura v shkole, no. 3, 1998, pp. 12–18. (In Russ.)

Ermolaeva, N. L. “A. N. Ostrovskii i I. A. Goncharov” [“A. N. Ostrovskii and I. A. Goncharov”]. Vestnik Voronezhskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta. Seriia: Filologiia. Zhurnalistika, no. 1, 2014, pp. 27–31. (In Russ.)

Ermolaeva, N. L. “Goncharov Ivan Aleksandrovich” [“Goncharov Ivan Aleksandrovich”]. A. N. Ostrovskii: Entsiklopediia [A. N. Ostrovskii: Encyclopedia], ed. by I. A. Ovchinina. Kostroma, Kostromaizdat Publ., Shuia, Shuia State Pedagogical University Publ., 2012, pp. 110–112. (In Russ.)

Ermolaeva, N. L. “Peterburg, Moskva, provintsiia v tvorchestve A. N. Ostrovskogo i I. A. Goncharova” [“Saint-Petersburg, Moscow, Province in the Creative Work of I. A. Goncharov and A. N. Ostrovsky”]. Dva veka russkoi klassiki, vol. 1, no. 2, 2019, pp. 144–173. https://doi.org/10.22455/2686-7494-2019-1-2-144-173 (In Russ.)

Kapustin, N. V. “Nesluchainaia sluchainost’ v komedii A. N. Ostrovskogo ʽPravda — khorosho, a schast’e luchshe’.” [“About Non-random Chance in the Comedy of A. N. Ostrovsky ʽTruth is Good, but Happiness is Better’.”]. Vestnik of Kostroma State University, vol. 29, no. S, 2023, pp. 20–25. (In Russ.). https://doi.org/10.34216/1998-0817- 2023-29-S-20-25

Kuptsova, O. N. “ʽV chuzhom piru pokhmel’e’ A. N. Ostrovskogo i traditsiia ‘komedii vospitaniia’.” [“ʽHungover in Someone else’s Feast” by A. N. Ostrovsky and the Tradition of “The Comedy of Education’.”]. A. N. Ostrovskii. Materialy i issledovaniia. Sbornik nauchnykh trudov. Vypusk 3 [A. N. Ostrovskii. Materials and Research. Collection of Scientific Papers. Issue 3]. Shuia, Shuia State Pedagogical University Publ., 2010, pp. 94–107. (In Russ.)

Kuptsova, O. N. “Eshche raz ob Ostrovskom i Diukanzhe” [One More Time about A. N. Ostrovsky and Diukanzh”]. Shchelykovskie chteniia. Tvorcheskoe nasledie A. N. Ostrovskogo: bytie vo vremeni. Sbornik statei [Readings at Shchelykovo. Creative Heritage of A. N. Ostrovsky in the Course of Time. Collection of Articles]. Kostroma, State Memorial and Natural Museum-Reserve of A. N. Ostrovsky “Shchelykovo Publ.”, 2004, pp. 145–158. (In Russ.)

10.

Kuptsova, O. N. “ʽPuchina’: ʽSemnadtsat’ let, ili zhizn’ semeinogo cheloveka’ (melodrama v IV deistviiakh)” [“ʽThe Deep’: ʽSeventeen Years or the Life of a Family Man’ (Melodrama in 4 Acts)”]. Shchelykovskie chteniia. A. N. Ostrovskii v sovremennom mire. Sbornik statei [Readings at Shchelykovo. A. N. Ostrovsky in the Modern World. Collection of Articles]. Kostroma, State Memorial and Natural Museum-Reserve of A. N. Ostrovsky “Shchelykovo” Publ., 2003, pp. 214–235. (In Russ.)

11.

Kuptsova, O. N. “Roli Gennadiia Neschastlivtseva: Shekspir, Shiller, Servantes” [“The Roles of Gennadii Neschastlivtsev: Shakespeare, Shiller, Cervantes”]. Pamiati Anny Ivanovny Zhuravlevoi. Sbornik statei [In Memoriam of Anna Ivanovna Zhuravleva. Collection of Articles]. Moscow, Tri kvadrata Publ., 2012, pp. 443–463. (In Russ.)

12.

Lebedev, Iu. V. Pravoslavnaia traditsiia v russkoi literature XIX veka [Orthodox Tradition in the Russian Literature of the 19th Century]. Kostroma, Kostroma State University Publ., 2010. 428 p. (In Russ.)

13.

Meshcheriakov, V. P. A. S. Griboedov. Literaturnoe okruzhenie i vospriiatie (XIX — nachalo XX veka) [A. S. Griboedov. Literary Surroundings and Perception (19th — early 20th century)]. Leningrad, Nauka Publ., 1983. 269 p. (In Russ.)

14.

Milovzorova, M. A. “P’esy A. N. Ostrovskogo i Diuma-syna: strukturno- tipologicheskii aspect” [“The Plays of A. N. Ostrovsky and Dumas fils: A Structural and Typological Aspect”]. Shchelykovskie chteniia. A. N. Ostrovskii v sovremennom mire. Sbornik statei [Readings at Shchelykovo. A. N. Ostrovsky in the Modern World. Collection of Articles]. Kostroma, State Memorial and Natural Museum-Reserve of A. N. Ostrovsky “Shchelykovo” Publ., 2003, pp. 235–244. (In Russ.)

15.

Mosaleva, G. V. Neprochitannyi A. N. Ostrovskii: poet ikonnoi Rossii [The Unread A. N. Ostrovsky: The Poet of the Icon-Russia]. Izhevsk, Udmurt State University Publ., 2014. 295 p. (In Russ.)

16.

Fomichev, S. A. “ʽGore ot uma’ v nasledii Ostrovskogo” [“ʽWoe from Wit’ in Ostrovsky’s Heritage”]. A. N. Ostrovskii i literaturno-teatral’noe dvizhenie XIX–XX vekov [A. N. Ostrovsky and the Literary and Theatre Movement of the 19th–20th Centuries]. Leningrad, Nauka Publ., 1974, pp. 7–27. (In Russ.)

17.

Khromova, I. A. “Interpretatsionnyi potentsial zaglaviia komedii A. N. Ostrovskogo ʽPravda — khorosho, a schast’e luchshe’.” [“The Interpretational Potential of the Title of the Ostrovsky’s Comedy ‘Truth is Good, but Happiness is Better’.”]. Lingvokul’turnye universalii v mirovom prostranstve. [Linguocultural Universals in the World Space]. Voronezh, Voronezh State Technical University Publ., 2021, pp. 249–253. (In Russ.)