Sofya Smirnova’s Three Plays

• In Event: 19th-Century Russophone Women Writers III: Tragicomedy and the Khvoshchinskaia Sisters, Sofia Smirnova, and Anastasiia Verbitskaia

Abstract

Although the bulk of her literary publications were fiction, Sofya Smirnova actually lived her
daily life in the world of St. Petersburg theater – thanks to her husband’s position as a leading
actor in the Imperial theater troupe, her daughter’s pursuit of an acting career, and her friend Suvorin's creation of the St. Petersburg Maly Theater. Under these circumstances, one might wonder why Smirnova didn't write more plays, but she wrote only 3 that were produced, and only 2 were ever published. All have contemporary settings and treat the popular theme of the adulterous woman but each from a different angle. This paper discusses Smirnova's plays in their theatrical and literary contexts.

Author

• Maude Meisel, Columbia U