''A Bitter Fate'' (russian: Горькая судьбина, ), also translated as ''A Bitter Lot'', is an 1859 realistic play by

Aleksey Pisemsky Aleksey Feofilaktovich Pisemsky (russian: Алексе́й Феофила́ктович Пи́семский) () was a Russian novelist and dramatist who was regarded as an equal of Ivan Turgenev and Fyodor Dostoyevsky in the late 1850s, but whos ...

.Banham (1998, 861) and Moser (1992, 273). Started in early 1859 in

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

, finished on 19 August and first published by ''

Biblioteka Dlya Chteniya ''Biblioteka Dlya Chteniya'' (russian: Библиоте́ка для чте́ния, en, The Reader's Library) was a Russian monthly magazine founded in Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire, in 1834 by Alexander Smirdin. History The magazine "of lit ...

'' in November that year,Yeryomin, M.P.
Commentaries to Горькая судьбина
The Selected Works by A.F. Pisemsky. 1959 // А.Ф.Писемский. Собр. соч. в 9 томах. Том 9. Издательство "Правда" биб-ка "Огонек", Москва, 1959 the four-act play tackles

serfdom Serfdom was the status of many peasants under feudalism, specifically relating to manorialism, and similar systems. It was a condition of debt bondage and indentured servitude with similarities to and differences from slavery, which develop ...

in Russia and the social and moral divisions that it creates by means of a story that focuses on a provincial ''

ménage à trois A () is a domestic arrangement and committed relationship with three people in polyamorous romantic or sexual relations with each other, and often dwelling together; typically a traditional marriage between a man and woman along with anothe ...

''. With the exception of

Leo Tolstoy Count Lev Nikolayevich TolstoyTolstoy pronounced his first name as , which corresponds to the romanization ''Lyov''. () (; russian: link=no, Лев Николаевич Толстой,In Tolstoy's day, his name was written as in pre-refor ...

's ''

The Power of Darkness ''The Power of Darkness'' (russian: Власть тьмы, Vlast′ t′my) is a five- act drama by Leo Tolstoy. Written in 1886, the play's production was forbidden in Russia until 1902, mainly through the influence of Konstantin Pobedonostsev. I ...

'' (1886), it is the only major play to dramatise the experiences of

peasant A peasant is a pre-industrial agricultural laborer or a farmer with limited land-ownership, especially one living in the Middle Ages under feudalism and paying rent, tax, fees, or services to a landlord. In Europe, three classes of peasants ...

s in the history of Russian realistic

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has been ...

. It has been described as a

masterpiece A masterpiece, ''magnum opus'' (), or ''chef-d’œuvre'' (; ; ) in modern use is a creation that has been given much critical praise, especially one that is considered the greatest work of a person's career or a work of outstanding creativity, ...

of the Russian theatre and the first Russian realistic

tragedy Tragedy (from the grc-gre, τραγῳδία, ''tragōidia'', ''tragōidia'') is a genre of drama based on human suffering and, mainly, the terrible or sorrowful events that befall a main character. Traditionally, the intention of tragedy ...

.Banham (1998, 861) and Eriksen, MacLeod, and Wisneski (1960, 471). The play is available in English translation in ''Masterpieces of the Russian Drama'', Volume 1, edited by George Rapall Noyes, Dover Publications, 1961.

References

Sources

* Banham, Martin, ed. 1998. ''The Cambridge Guide to Theatre.'' Cambridge: Cambridge UP. . * Eriksen, Gordon, Garrard MacLeod, and Martin Wisneski, ed. 1960. ''Encyclopædia Britannica 15th Edition.'' Volume 9. * Moser, Charles A., ed. 1992. ''The Cambridge History of Russian Literature.'' Rev. ed. Cambridge: Cambridge UP. . {{DEFAULTSORT:Bitter Fate, A Works by Aleksey Pisemsky 1859 plays Russian plays Plays set in Russia