SOURCE: Gukovskii, Grigorii A. “The Empress as Writer.” In Catherine the Great: A Profile, edited by Marc Raeff, pp. 64-89. New York: Hill and Wang, 1972.

In this essay, first published in Russian in 1947, Gukovskii focuses on Catherine's literary works, particularly her dramas. Gukovskii stresses Catherine's conservatism and didacticism, suggesting that her aptitude for creative writing was minimal and that her understanding of Russian history and culture was superficial at best. For Gukovskii, the sole value of Catherine's literary output rests in the political stature of the author.

Catherine was an active writer for about a quarter of a century, and an extremely prolific one, too, more prolific than Frederick II, whom she regarded as her competitor as “philosopher on the throne” and writer-monarch. In that competition she undoubtedly had the advantage, both because, unlike Frederick, she did her writing herself, in the main without substantial outside help, and...