It's a comedy written in 1870. For the first time Ostrovsky presents representatives of the world of the actors on stage. The play deals with the social classes of the noble and of the merchants whose interest is to obtain as much money as they can by cheating one another. The merchant who comes from the class of the villains buys the forests of the noble, occupying in this way their part. In this world of greedy, avaricious and egoists the dramatist introduces a poor actor. With much love Ostrovsky sketches out his hero who is ready to give his last money for the happiness of a poor girl whose rich aunt refused to provide her with a dowry. The satirical image of the conflict between the noble the merchants and the landowners, such as the obvious sympathy of the writer for the underprivileged and the depended, provoked the praises of the intellectuals of his time.