A Lucrative Post

"A Profitable Position" is one of Ostrovsky’s idealistic comedies, where positive and negative characters are visible at a glance. This approach matches the fundamentally simplified aesthetics of “exposure” literature.

A young clerk, Zhadov, marries for love a poor girl with no dowry—and for this he’s condemned by both his rich uncle and acquaintances. Out of principle, Zhadov doesn’t want to take bribes, please his superiors, or look for “a profitable position,” even though his wife’s relatives press him to do so and his entire circle pushes him in that direction; at the very last moment, almost yielding to persuasion and reproach, he nevertheless refuses to betray his beliefs.