"Anti-hero" in the Russian drama: from Chatsky up to now

The term "anti-hero" appears to be hardly conceptualised. In reference books only two attempts at definition are found. In Yu.B.Borev's dictionary the anti-hero is treated as "an ordinary-looking person of ordinary character and trivial life High genres offer samples of heroes The social environment of the hero changes: the great ones of the earth give way to the middle class refuse the character social identity. Anti - hero - the unheroic protagonist (main character) of the play, novel, not capable of brave acts, of courage or nobility" [6]. In Patrice Pavia's "Dictionary of theater" the relationship of the hero and anti-hero is described in the following way: the abilities and talents of the hero surpass those of mere mortals, but "appearance of the hero stabilizes the image of the person". De-glorification of the character occurs, since 19th century he loses his mythical character and the importance of a role model and gains the only significance - the character of the drama work. "The modern hero cannot influence events any more, he has no position with regard to reality As all values which are treasured by the classical hero either go down in price, or are rejected, the anti-hero appears as the only alternative for the description of human acts the person is systematically dismantled, reduced to the state of an individual stuffed with contradictions and integrated into the story which defines him more than he can imagine" [7].