The article “The Dark Kingdom” is one of the most important literary and theoretical speeches of Dobrolyubov, combining a masterful critical analysis of Ostrovsky’s dramaturgy with far-reaching conclusions of a socio-political order. Characterizing the very great national-democratic significance of Ostrovsky’s comedies, which were equally misunderstood by critics from both the Slavophile and bourgeois-liberal camps, Dobrolyubov argued that the pathos of Ostrovsky as one of the most advanced Russian writers is the exposure of “the unnaturalness of social relations occurring as a result of the tyranny of some and the lack of rights of others.” . Having correctly and deeply defined the social content of Ostrovsky’s dramaturgy, his “plays of life,” Dobrolyubov showed the typical, generalizing meaning of his images, revealed to the reader a stunning picture of the “dark kingdom,” oppressive tyranny, and moral corruption of people.