During Lermontov’s lifetime, his play “Masquerade” was neither published nor staged. One of the best productions of the play “Masquerade” was directed by Vsevolod Emilyevich Meyerhold at the Alexandrinsky Theater in 1917. The set design was prepared by the well-known artist Alexander Yakovlevich Golovin.

In 1988, Svetozar Aleksandrovich Ostrov created a series of etchings for Mikhail Lermontov’s play “Masquerade”. The illustration on display called “Masks” depicts a masquerade hall. This work features a vertical composition. The foreground is occupied by the column shaft. On both sides behind it, Ostrov depicted the guests of the masquerade.

The costumed figures on the left are Prince Zvezdich and Baroness Strahl listed among the main characters in the drama. In the second subscene of the second scene, the Mask says to the prince:

Mikhail Yuryevich Lermontov saw the masquerade as a place reigned by never-ending idleness and hypocrisy. However, it is chosen to be the setting for developing the main conflict of the play and all its most significant events. The splendor and glitter of the halls encourage the careless and ardent guests to plunge into unbridled fun, revelry and carouse.

The image of the masquerade is also used to reveal the way the society of that time worked and the state of mind of each of its respected members. The play’s protagonist says about the guests of the House of Engelhardt the following, “If facial features are disguised, it is the task The feelings to unmask And to be bold.”

The people of that era were brought up to meet the expectations of others. They were so accustomed to behaving a certain way in public that the only way for them to show their true colors and freely share their feelings, desires, dreams and worries was to hide the face behind a mask. Unrecognized, they gained courage and were ready to tell each other things that they would not have even dared to think about if they were not at the masquerade.