Two Comedies by Catherine the Great, Empress of Russia: Oh, These Times and The Siberian Shaman (Russian Theatre Archive)
Editorial Reviews
Book Description
Catherine the Great (1729-1796) wrote over two dozen plays and operettas, but not until this edition has a complete translation of any of them been available to an English- speaking readership.
Oh, These Times& (1772) is a satirical attack on many vices Catherine wished to root out from her society: religious hypocrisy, superstition and slander. The main character, Mrs. Pious, is a superficially religious old woman who resembles Moliere's Tartuffe.
Catherine again sets her sights on superstition in The Siberian Shaman (1786), this time by satirizing shamanism as a deceitful profession which preys on the gullible. This play was part of a group of three plays usually known as Catherine's "anti-masonic" trilogy, written as a warning against the growing influence of the freemasons.
In a comprehensive introduction, Lurana Donnels O'Malley relates the plays to Catherine's status and philosophy.
Two Comedies by Catherine the Great, Empress of Russia: Oh, These Times and The Siberian Shaman (Russian Theatre Archive),L. O'malley,Routledge,9057550229,Continental European,Fiction,Humorous,Plays / Drama,Drama texts: 16th to 18th centuries,Performing Arts / Theater / General,Plays & playwrights: 16th to 18th centuries,Russian,c 1700 to c 1800,Theater,Drama
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