ABSTRACT
In Catherine's first and most famous play Oh, These Times!, this chapter shows the comic techniques that Catherine will use in most of her subsequent work: sharply drawn humorous characters with strong vices, in contrast to clear-headed and rational characters; and the engineering of a wedding. It compares the play to its German source and concludes that Catherine's alterations strengthen the play and reveals her dramaturgical skill. It treats in detail the various fools and foolishness present in another related comedy, Mrs. Grumbler's Nameday. The chapter examines the unusually structured Prominent Nobleman after briefly summarizing Mrs. Tattler and her Family and The Questioner. Catherine's indebtedness to Gellert's play The Prayer Sister was not acknowledged until 1905, when D. Prohaska first examined and compared the two works. The chapter compares the apples of Gellert's sentimental comedy and the oranges of Catherine's humorous or laughing satire. It argues that Catherine is satirizing a foreign personage, rather than a recognizable Russian figure.
