What makes him different among other dramatists or of the likes of Tolstoy, Turganev and Dostoyevsky, was he took off from the theme which centered on the nobility and focused on the emerging merchant class. Alexander Ostrovsky was considered to be one of the greatest Russian dramatist during the 19th century in Russia, a proponent of realism.

His plays were considered to have shed light to the other side of Russian life beyond the stories of nobility and royalty. Apart from the merchants, Ostrovsky touched on the lives of peasants, of those who were not educated, rough and coarse, those not cultivated by the ideology of aristocracy.

Drama in Russia during the 19th century and early on, tackled themes which involved the aristocracy for it served more than an entertainment rather as a political stance to support the existing ideals of the higher classes. At present, his plays may not be as superior as others such as Ibsen, however, the point is taken in the context when it was written. His play may not be of good material to us today but it does speak of the departure of a theme to another in Russian theater.

Among his works are The poor Bridem Poverty is No Crime, Don't Push Yourself in Another Man's Sledge, The Tempest, Svoi lyudi – sochtyomsya!. Most of these earlier works were comedies, whose characters he drew from the merchant class. Unfortunately, one of the comedies Svoi lyudi – sochtyomsya!  Was prohibited for about ten years. And saddest about it, was that, when Alexander II took the throne, Ostovsky was dismissed from the government. Bad enough, he was also under the police supervision afterwards.

Other works in later years include historical dramas such as Kozma Zakhar'yich Minin-Sukhoruk, The False Dmitriy and Vasily Shuisky, Vassilisa Melentieva and the comedy Voyevoda. Most of his later works centered on Russian nobility that includes Beshaniye Dengi, Bespridannitsa, and Volki i Ovtsi; others relate to the world of actors, such as Les, Bez viny vinovatiy, and Talanty i Poklonniki. Ostrovskiy