The characteristics of the genre of the Russian school theatre plays of the XVII century.

Transcription

1 The characteristics of the genre of the Russian school theatre plays of the XVII century. Irina Moshchenko The typological comparison of the texts of the Russian allegorical school plays and the English medieval plays of the XV century morality. The researchers engaged in studying of history of Russian theatre of the XVII century, sooner or later face the problem of genre classification of the plays performed on Russian stage. Such a problem arose quite naturally as it is very difficult to create a common method of analysis for such variegated phenomenon as a theatre of the XVII century in Russia. The first attempts of genre classification go back to the beginning of the XX century when V.I. Rezanov one of the first researchers of the early Russian drama has represented his classification of plays on the basis of subject and plot. Quite naturally he failed to create a coherent classification based on these criterions: finding new plots and narrative subjects, he more and more incorrectly defines the subject groups which this or that text belongs to. Therefore the plays that belong to the same genre can be found in different subject groups or can be set against each other by the plot. The division of plays by the place of production (staging) is more reliable and safe. So the terms "court theatre ", "public theatre" and "school theatre" appear. Though these terms are actively used in the modern research literature, they are very conventional. As a rule, each of these terms contains the plays of different genres. And in the present work we will show the variety of genres of the Russian theatre in general and allegorical plays within the Russian school theatre in particular. The allegorical texts are chosen not only as a perfect example of conventionality of the term "school theatre". So, defining the specific features of

2 school theatre, Rezanov wrote: "the characters of school plays are mainly personifications of abstract concepts, vices, virtues, etc... The internal scheme of a vast majority of plays is reduced to the following: the temptation and life in sin, then - repentance and salvation, or on the contrary resistance to conversion and everlasting punishment..." However not all plays of "school theatre" were allegorical, historical dramas and plays on scripture were also performed on the school stage. A special interest of the researchers was caused by the fact, that allegorical plays (medieval plays morality), initially borrowed from the European literature, have been revised in Russia and turned into the original phenomenon. And so, we are going to dwell on the allegorical genres of the school theatre which ascend to poetics of medieval morality plays. The basic elements that form the morality genre are: 1. The clear structure of the plot based on the "battle" plot scheme that is debate, dispute, struggle or fight (for example the morality "The Castle of Perseverance") or on the "progress" plot scheme when the life of the main character is described as a movement, progress, pilgrimage. These types of plays show the life of the main character from the day of birth up his to death ( for example, "Everyman", "Reasonable and Unreasonable"). 2. A vast majority of personages of the play are allegorical personifications. They can be allegorical personification of spiritual features (Avarice, Envy, Charity, Largeness, Vices, Virtues), allegories of external forces (Time, Fate), allegories of historical changes (Rebellion, War). 3. The main character of morality is always an allegorical personage. He is a universal type and is always associated with all humanity, therefore he is called Human Genus, Everyman. At the same time he is associated with every individual man in the world. His spiritual conflicts and actions are understandable even to the most ignorant audience. 4. Morality (as it is an allegorical genre) is based on the principle of action predictability. That means that we can precisely predict how allegorical characters

3 will act in the text. And due to recognizable and predicable actions of characters of morality plays the pressure on spectators is reduced. By comparing these specific features of the morality plays with the similar elements of allegoric plays within the Russian school theatre we can find the basic elements that form the morality genre. We will take the text intitled "Terrible treachery (betrayal) " as an example. The plot of this play is based on the "progress" plot scheme the similar scheme was used in a morality "Everyman". The main character Feast-lover is an allegorical personage similar to Everyman from the morality "Everyman". The plots of these plays are organized in the similar way. They describe the last, agonal (deathbed) episode of the main character s life. In the text of "Terrible treachery (betrayal)" the overwhelming majority of personages are allegorical personification; they represent the struggle between vices and virtues in a soul of a man (compare with "The Castle of Perseverance"). There are various allegorical personifications of the external and nature forces in the play. They have the same functions as in morality: sins aim to ruin the main character, virtues - to save and to warn him. All allegorical characters act in a predictable way the principle of action predictability remains unchangeable. All other allegorical plays of school theatre "Fearful representation of the Last Judgment", "Triumph of orthodox world" etc. inherit some elements of morality, but the plays scheme of morality gets broken under the influence of the genre of emblem. "Fearful representation of the Last Judgment" is, in our opinion, a transition from morality to a new emblematic theatre, so we will use a term transitional type to refer to this kind of plays. The author still tries to focus attention on the main character, however the main character (the World) cannot unite the text. The narrative connections between the parts are broken, the play splits into small separate plots. The main character of the play is an allegorical personage, most of the characters are allegorical personifications, but there is a decrease in their number, the principle of action predictability to a certain extent is still there.

4 This play can be easily divided into the following parts: 1. The prologue and the 1,2,3 scenes are connected by the same idea. The actions of the character submit to the poetics of morality. The Church with 7 Virtues appear on stage complaining and accusing the World and his 8 Friends (Sins). Then the negative characters, the World and his friends, boast and brag of there might and power. In the 2 and 3 scenes other allegorical heroes explain the main point of the conflict, and accuse the World of sins. The destiny of the World is predetermined as the destiny of Everyman when the God sends Death to him. The World has sunk into the evil (sins) and he should carry a penalty for his sinful life. In the plot based on such scheme the main character as a rule has an opportunity to repent his errors and find a salvation. But the allegorical conflict of "Fearful representation of the Last Judgment" ends up right after the World has been convicted of sins. The main character loses the leading role and moves from the main narration to periphery. The World is mentioned only in 3 more scenes of the play, but his role is insignificant there. In this play in the scene of the Last Judgment the World as an allegory, personification is replaced by the image of the whole mankind consisted of separate human beings thus the allegory turns into concept again. 2. The next part of the play is based on the Old Testament (Covenant) history. The history of the prophet Daniel, his visions of the end of the world are described in the 4, 8, 9, 11, 12 scenes. There are no allegorical characters in this part (except the 4, 8scenes), but the events described here are connected with the basic idea of the whole play the idea of representing the Last Judgment of the world at the end of ages. 3. The last part of the play is a political episode (scene 6 and 7) devoted to the history of the polish-lithuanian and the russian-swedish political relations of the beginning of the 18 th century (the Northern war ). There are no logical connections between this part and the other parts of the text, neither on the level of plot nor on the conceptual level.

5 The structure of the play where the narrative connections between the parts are broken and the parts are connected rather conceptually then by narration were actively used by the authors of emblematic theatre. Each part of the play represents the main idea, and at the same time plays the role of comments. Each action intensifies the basic idea and proves its own value in dramatic structure. The interaction between literature and grafic arts gave the birth to emblem. The emblem has a three-level structure. Every emblem consists of the following parts: image ( pictura, icon, imago ), then inscription or motto, and subscription (subscripto). As a rule motto is a brief aphorism in Latin or Greek, subscription is a short verse or citation in national language that corresponds to the image. Another kind of subscription a scientific commentary in prose that explains and interprets an emblem and gives various historical examples and parallels appeared later on. The structure of allegorical plays of the Russian school theatre converts into an emblem. The text structure consists of three parts: figurative part ( pictura, icon, imago ) that is an allegorical introduction or the first allegorical act of the play, where the main idea is described by debate between vices and virtues, interpretational part ( subscripto ) and motto ( inscriptio, moto ) that is the main part of the play, the historical and biblical parts of the text. These parts extend the main idea with the help of biblic and historical associations (for example, Apostle Peter Mars of Russia Peter the Great). There is no such ideological unity in the play "Fearful representation of the Last Judgment". The political episode devoted to the history of the Russian-Polish political relations doesn t have any logical connections with the other parts of the play, its plot is isolated (separated). On the contrary in a play "The Triumph of Orthodox World" allegorical, biblic and political (Russian) scenes are connected by the general idea of protection of the Orthodox world. This play belongs to a group of allegorical plays devoted to celebration of victories of Peter the Great in the Northern war with Sweden in the period of 1702-

6 1709. The texts of these plays are converted into emblems. They took all specific features of the morality plays and at the same time reinterpret morality within the baroque aesthetics. The texts of these plays didn t survive. Researchers have found and published only the staging programs of these texts. But just with the help of the programs it is possible to analyse the structure of the plot and the system of characters. We are going to dwell on the play "Triumph of orthodox world" as it is a perfect example of a new emblematic theatre. The political scene in comparison to earlier dramas (for example "The Kingdom of the World") is more clearly separated from the other plots. At the same time the structure of the whole plot is clearer then in the later plays. "The Triumph of Orthodox World" consists of three actions that correspond to allegorical, biblic and historical plots. The 1 and the 2 actions combine allegorical and biblic characters and link allegorical and biblic plots together. However we can easily set against the first action where allegorical characters act more actively and the plot is similar to morality and the second action where biblic history and scripture characters play the main role. There are three main characters (the World, Apostle Peter and Mars of Russia) in this text. Their acts and interactions, in our opinion, is a new specific feature of the emblematic theatre (compared to the morality tradition where there is only one main character). The Mars of Russia and the World act in different plots, they are not interact within the same act, the World and Apostle Peter coexist in one allegorical-scripture plot. The World - the main character of an allegorical plot is seduced by the sin of Profan Love and Idolatry. Together they deprive the World of a crown and scepter, and seize four parts of the word (Asia, Africa, America and Europe) from him (scenes 7, 8). The allegorical plot goes on in the last two scenes of the first action (scenes 8, 9): Idolatry, Malice and Profan Love fight against Apostle Peter and Godliking, and ends in the last two scenes of the second action: Idolatry finally expelled in Gehenna, and the World again put on the royal cloth.

7 Simon - Apostle Peter is the main character in the other scenes of the first two actions. The first action (scenes 4, 5, 6) based on evangelic history of Apostle, the second - on the Acts and apocrypha. The author of the play set his mind on representing the victory of Orthodox Church and thus to celebrate the victories of Peter the Great in the North war. The third action begins with a new threat to the Orthodox world : Malice - a terrible evil demon sets on fire the two comets the Moon of Tavrikiya and the Swedish lion. Thus, all three parts are connected by the same idea (protection of Orthodox). Each part is rather independent and serves to explanation and commenting on the basic idea. And this is the specific feature of emblematic theatre. Elements of a baroque are used on all levels of the text: in plot, in structure, in system of characters and its qualities, in decorations of the stage. The narrative connections of the parts of the emblematic plays are broken the parts are connected rather by concept (general idea) then by narration. The various decoration of the stage such as ornaments, triumphal arch, pillars, solemn processions are also the specific feature of emblematic tradition in theatre. Thus we can make the following classification of the genre of allegorical plays of the Russian school theatre: "Terrible treachery (betrayal)" the morality, Fearful representation of the Last Judgment - the transitive type, and Triumph of orthodox world emblematic plays.