“The ideological and artistic originality of D. Fonvizin’s comedy “The Minor. Household comedy “The Minor” by D. I. Fonvizin and its artistic features
"is rightfully considered the pinnacle of Russian dramaturgy XVIII century. While maintaining some connection with traditional literary genres and styles, “Minor” is a deeply innovative work. The originality of Fonvizin’s comedy is manifested in the language, in the originality of the images created by the author, in the variety of themes, and in topical issues. But first of all, the writer’s innovation was expressed in the genre of the work itself.
"Undergrown." - the first socio-political comedy on the Russian stage. It combines bright, truthful pictures of life landed nobility and passionate preaching of educational ideas about the responsibilities of government. Ridicule of landowner morals, stupidity, and cowardice coexists here with an angry denunciation of the vices of the autocratic system. Thanks to the skilful use of numerous artistic techniques, the author managed to turn the estate corner of the local nobility into a public platform and, with the help of irony and sarcasm, condemn from this platform “the worthy fruits of evil.”
IN literary works dating back to the end of the 18th century, the problem of the relationship between man and society was raised more than once. But if the main task of classic writers was to create specific character traits and demonstrate the manifestation of this character in existing social conditions, then Fonvizin set himself a completely different goal. He sought to reveal the role of circumstances in the life of a person and society, to reveal the very process of character formation. Moreover, each of his characters has his own individual face, his own history, his own destiny. Drawing typical images of landowners, the writer at the same time gives all the heroes bright distinctive features. It shows the diversity of human characters and destinies, the difference not only between classes and estates, but also between individual representatives of the same class.
So in the comedy “The Minor” the evil and cruel Prostakova and the cunning, arrogant Skotinin appear; the humiliated but unbroken folk craftsman Trishka, the proud teacher Tsyfirkin and the maid Eremeevna slavishly devoted to her cruel masters; Pravdin, who condemns the abuses of the landowners, is proud of his position as Starodum and lives only at the behest of his heart, striving for exceptional justice.
All these heroes have not only individual character traits, but also their own language, different from other characters. In the field of comedy language, Fonvizin made a real revolution. The speech of his characters is closely related to the specifics of the image. “Cattle”, “swindlers”, “rascals”, “thieves”, “nasty beast”, “dog’s daughter” - these are the typical expressions of the brutal serf-woman Prostakova. “Indo bent my uncle to the back of his head” is a clear example of folk speech characteristic of peasants. “I’ll scratch out those thorns... Zhenya has sharp points of his own.” - Eremeevna threatens Skotinin. “It is in vain to call a doctor to the sick without healing,” Starodum’s speech, closest to the book’s style, is filled with similar aphorisms. Pravdin widely uses clericalism in his language, and Sophia and Milon are characterized by sentimental expressions: “the secret of my heart,” “the sacrament of my soul.”
The comedy “Minor” is a multi-themed and multi-problematic work in which the author raised the most pressing issues: about the steady performance of “duties” by every citizen, about the character family relations, about the injustice of serfdom, about education, about the form state power. All these topics are inextricably linked and interdependent. Thus, for the first time in Russian literature, the writer showed not just one side of the life of society, but life itself, in all its complexity and inconsistency. His heroes are divided not only into positive and negative. The comedy also presents characters who have both traits: Tsyfirkin, Kuteikin, Vralman, Eremeevna. In addition, unlike his predecessors, Fonvizin surrounds his heroes with their familiar surroundings and preserves all the traditions and customs of their lives. Although we do not see here a special description of the everyday situation, the details of everyday life imperceptibly, spontaneously emerge from each scene. Trying on a caftan, preparing for the “conspiracy”, training sessions Mitrofan - all this typical features Russian noble life of the 18th century.
Making fun of the nobility, the writer not only shows its vices, as was done before him, but reveals the very causes of these vices. First of all, he concerns here the issue of education, to which he assigns an important role in the development of both individual, and the whole society. Society, according to the author, was created for thinking, enlightened people who respect the laws and remember their duty. But many nobles are so low in mental and civic development that they can only be compared to animals. That is why Mrs. Prostakova is always compared to a dog, even saying about herself: “Have you ever heard of a bitch giving away her puppies?” or: “Oh me, a dog’s daughter!” In the image of Skotinin, comparisons with pigs are constantly visible: “I love pigs...” he admits, “and in our neighborhood we have such large pigs that there is not a single one of them that, standing on its hind legs, would not be taller than each of them.” whole head of us." And to his sister, Prostakova, he says: “No, sister, I want to have my own piglets.” Mitrofan is also equated to animals: “I am cattle,” he reads from the book of hours, “and not a man.”
Analyzing the genre of Fonvizin’s work, G. A. Gukovsky called it “half comedy, half drama.” Indeed, the comedy “The Minor” contains numerous features of Western European “philistine” drama. The writer himself indicated that he saw “a possible degree of perfection” in French comedy, and by combining it with Russian drama, he managed to create a completely unique and original work, in which touching, comic and moralistic principles are visible. Making fun of the vices of the landowner class, the author shows a deeply tragic downfall human relations, the destruction of the very institution of family, where children lack any signs of respect and love for their parents. By showing Mitrofan's attitude towards his mother, the playwright strives to evoke in the audience even some pity for the cruel and capricious landowner Prostakova.
The artistic originality of “The Minor” did not fit into the framework of classicism, much less into the framework of the sentimental-romantic movement. Here we can trace the search for other, completely new, hitherto unknown principles and techniques for creating a work of art. Pictures of objective reality in its broad scope, the creation of typical and at the same time individual images, the living, socially and psychologically motivated language of the characters - all this testified to the beginning of the formation of a new direction in literature - critical realism.
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Funny and tragic in D. I. Fonvizin’s comedy “Minor”
Funny and tragic in D. I. Fonvizin’s comedy “The Minor” All this would be funny if it weren’t so sad. M. Yu. Lermontov The last four decades of the 18th century. are distinguished by the genuine flowering of Russian drama. But classic comedy and tragedy far from exhaust its genre composition. Works not provided for by the poetics of classicism are beginning to penetrate into dramaturgy, indicating an urgent need to expand the boundaries and democratize the content of the theatrical repertoire. Among these new products, first of all, was the so-called tearful comedy, that is, a play that combines touching and comic beginning. It was distinguished not only by the destruction of the usual genre forms, but also by the complexity and contradictory nature of the characters of the new heroes, who combined both virtues and weaknesses. The famous comedy by D. I. Fonvizin “The Minor” is distinguished by its great social depth and sharp satirical orientation. In essence, this is where Russian social comedy begins. The play continues the traditions of classicism. “For life,” G. A. Gukovsky pointed out, “his artistic thinking retained a clear imprint of the school." However, Fonvizin's play is a phenomenon of later, more mature Russian classicism, which experienced strong influence educational ideology. In “The Minor,” as the first biographer Fonvizin notes, the author “no longer jokes, no longer laughs, but is indignant at vice and brands it without mercy, and even if it makes you laugh, then the laughter it inspires does not distract from deeper and more regrettable impressions.” The object of ridicule in Fonvizin’s comedy is not the private life of the nobles, but their public, official activities and serfdom. Not content with just depicting noble “evil morality,” the writer strives to show its causes. The author explains the vices of people by their improper upbringing and dense ignorance, presented in the play in its various manifestations. The genre uniqueness of the work lies in the fact that “The Minor,” according to G. A. Gukovsky, is “half comedy, half drama.” Indeed, the basis, the backbone of Fonvizin’s play is a classic comedy, but serious and even touching scenes are introduced into it. These include Pravdin’s conversation with Starodum, Starodum’s touching and edifying conversations with Sophia and Milon. The tearful Drama suggests the image of a noble reasoner in the person of Sta-Rodum, as well as of “suffering virtue” in the person of Sophia. The finale of the play also combines touching and deeply moralistic principles. Here Mrs. Prostakova is overtaken by a terrible, completely unforeseen punishment. She is rejected, rudely pushed away by Mitrofan, to whom she devoted all her boundless, albeit unreasonable love. The feeling that the positive characters have for her - Sophia, Starodum and Pravdin - is complex and ambiguous. It contains both pity and condemnation. It is not Prostakova who evokes compassion, but trampled human dignity. Starodum’s final remark addressed to Prostakova also resonates strongly: “Here are the worthy fruits of evil” _ i.e. fair retribution for violating moral and social norms. D.I. Fonvizin managed to create a vivid, strikingly true picture of the moral and social degradation of the nobility at the end of the 18th century. The playwright uses all the means of satire, denounces and criticizes, ridicules and condemns, but his attitude towards the “noble” class is far from the view of an outsider: “I saw,” he wrote, “from the most respectable ancestors of despised descendants... I am a nobleman, and here that tore my heart apart." Fonvizin's comedy is an extremely important milestone in the history of our drama. Following it are “Woe from Wit” by Griboedov and “The Inspector General” by Gogol. “...Everything turned pale,” Gogol wrote, “before two bright works: before Fonvizin’s comedy “The Minor” and Griboyedov’s “Woe from Wit.” .. They no longer contain light mockery of the funny sides of society, but the wounds and illnesses of our society... Both comedies took two different eras. One was struck by illnesses from lack of enlightenment, the other from ill-understood enlightenment.”
The pinnacle of Russian drama of the 18th century is D. I. Fonvizin’s comedy “The Minor,” the first Russian socio-political comedy, in which “the worthy fruits of evil” are condemned with sarcasm. According to Gogol, Fonvizin created “truly social comedy“, where he revealed “the wounds and illnesses of our society, serious internal abuses, which, by the merciless power of irony, are exposed in stunning evidence.”
The comedy genre has been known since ancient times. Aristotle also defined the main features of comedy, based on the fact that the main thing in dramatic work is an image of a person, his character. Since people “are either good or bad”, “are distinguished by either depravity or virtue,” he saw the difference between tragedy and comedy in the fact that comedy “seeks to portray the worst,” and tragedy “ the best people than existing ones." The next stage in the development of comedy was associated with classicism, which preserved the distinction between the tragic and the comic, characteristic of the era of antiquity. The moral principle of dividing people into “best” and “worst” was also preserved. At the same time, in the literature of classicism, those who were concerned about state affairs were recognized as the “best”, and those who lived by their own interests were recognized as the “worst”.
Target classic comedy“enlighten”, ridiculing shortcomings: eccentricity, extravagance, laziness, stupidity. However, it does not follow from this that the comedy of the classic period was devoid of social content. Just the opposite: the ideal of that era, its a true hero a person of a social nature was recognized, for whom the interests of the state and nation were higher than personal ones. Comedy was intended to affirm this high ideal by ridiculing psychological human properties that reduced the social significance of the individual.
D. I. Fonvizin in “Nedorosl” observes the classic principle of the “trinity” of time, place and action: events take place “in the village of Prostakova” during the day. At the same time, readers are delighted by the boldness and unexpectedness of the artistic solutions proposed by the playwright. It is safe to say that in “Nedorosl” Fonvizin acted as a true innovator. The genre definition of comedy has been controversial among critics. The playwright himself called his comedy social. V. G. Belinsky, noting genre originality of this work, gave it a clear definition - “satire of genres.” The critic argued: “Undergrowth” is not piece of art, but a satire on morals, and a masterful satire. Her characters- fools and smart people: the fools are all very nice, and the smart ones are all very vulgar; the first are caricatures written with great talent; the latter are reasoners who bore you with their maxims.” He also noted that Fonvizin’s comedies “will never cease to excite laughter and, gradually losing readers in the highest educational circles of society, all the more will they win them in the lower ones and become popular reading.”
The historian V. O. Klyuchevsky, disputing the definition given by Belinsky, argued that “Nedorosl” is a sitcom: “In Nedorosl” bad people of the old school are placed directly against new ideas, embodied in the pale virtuous figures of Starodum, Pravdin and others, who came to tell those people that times have changed, that they need to educate themselves, think and act differently from the way they are used to doing it.”
Based modern definition genres, consider artistic and genre features socio-political comedy "Minor". Comedy is based on traditional motif matchmaking and the struggle of suitors for the heroine. The events that the comedy narrates have the following background. At Sophia's main character comedy, mother dies. Distant relative Prostakova takes the girl to the village and decides to marry Sophia to her brother Skotinin. At this time, Sophia receives a letter from her uncle Starodum, from which everyone learns that she is a rich heiress. This radically changes the behavior strategy of Prostakova, who decides to “place” her idiot son Mitrofanushka. He happily accepts his mother’s decision, because he has long been tired of studying: “The hour of my will has long come. I don’t want to study, I want to get married.”
However, in the arena of the struggle for a rich bride, Milon, whom Sophia loves, upsets Prostakova’s plans. This is love line plays. However, she was not the only one in the focus of the playwright’s attention.
The action in the comedy unites all the characters and at the same time divides them into “evil” and “virtuous”. The former are concentrated around Prostakova, the latter - around Starodum. The dialogues of the characters of the second group, in fact, represent a presentation of the positive program of Fonvizin himself. In them we're talking about about an enlightened monarch, about the appointment of a nobleman, about marriage and family, about the education of young nobles and that “it is unlawful to oppress one’s own kind through slavery.” This is especially evident in edifying, didactic speech Starodum addressed to Sophia. Starodum reflects on wealth (“according to my calculations, it is not the rich man who counts out money in order to hide it in a chest, but the one who counts out his excess in order to help those who do not have what he needs”), nobility (“without noble affairs noble fortune is nothing"). His conclusions reflect the system of views and principles of Catherine’s era: “ To an honest man There is no way to forgive if he lacks some quality of heart... Fair man must be a completely honest person.”
The characters of the first group are depicted in the comedy satirically and caricaturedly. What is Fonvizin against? Against the ignorance of the nobles, “those malicious ignoramuses who, having their full power over people, use it inhumanly for evil.” Against the consumer attitude to life, which is determined by the entire atmosphere of manor life. Against the heartlessness and despotism of the masters, their reluctance to recognize the rights of serfs to equality with the “nobles”. Thus, this comedy has a strong socio-political orientation. According to V.G. Belinsky, Fonvizin’s comedies, including “The Minor,” are not comedies in artistic significance, but they - " wonderful works fiction, precious chronicles of the public of that time."
The poster itself explains the characters. P. A. Vyazemsky about the comedy “The Minor” ... A truly social comedy. N.V. Gogop about the comedy “The Minor” The first appearance of the comedy “The Minor” on the theater stage in 1872 caused, according to the memoirs of contemporaries, “throwing wallets” - the audience threw wallets filled with ducats onto the stage, such was their admiration for what they saw. Before D.I. Fonvizin, the public knew almost no Russian comedy. In the first public theater, organized by Peter I, Moliere's plays were staged, and the emergence of Russian comedy is associated with the name of A.P. Sumarokov. “The property of comedy is to rule the temper with mockery” - Denis Ivanovich Fonvizin embodied these words of A.P. Sumarokov in his plays. What caused such a strong reaction from the viewer? The liveliness of the characters, especially the negative ones, their figurative speech, the author's humor, so close to the folk one, the theme of the play is a satire on the principles of life and education of the sons of landowners, denunciation of serfdom. Fonvizin departs from one of the golden rules of classical comedy: while observing the unity of place and time, he omits the unity of action. There is virtually no plot development in the play; it consists of negative conversations and positive characters. This is the influence contemporary author European comedy, here he goes further than Sumarokov. " French comedy absolutely good... There are great actors in comedy... when you look at them, you, of course, forget that they are playing a comedy, but it seems that you are seeing a straight story,” Fonvizin writes to his sister while traveling around France. But Fonvizin can in no way be called an imitator. His plays are filled with a truly Russian spirit, written in a truly Russian language. It was from “The Minor” that I. A. Krylov’s fable “Trishkin Kaftan” grew, it was from the speeches of the heroes of the play that the aphorisms “mother’s son”, “I don’t want to study, I want to get married”, “fearing the abyss of wisdom” came out... The main idea of the play is show the fruits of bad upbringing or even the absence of it, and it grows into a frightening picture of wild landowner evil. Contrasting “evil characters” taken from reality, presenting them in a funny way, Fonvizin puts the author’s comments into the mouths of positive heroes, unusually virtuous people. As if not hoping that the reader himself will figure out who is bad and why he is bad, the writer main role takes away goodies. “The truth is that Starodum, Milon, Pravdin, Sophia are not so much living faces as moralistic dummies; but their actual originals were no more alive than their dramatic photographs... They were walking, but still lifeless schemes of a new good morality... Time, intensification and experiments were needed to awaken organic life in these still dead cultural preparations,” - historian V. O. Klyuchevsky wrote about comedy. Negative characters appear completely alive before the viewer. And this is the main thing artistic merit plays, Fonvizin's luck. Like the positive heroes, the negative ones wear speaking names, and the surname “Skotinin” grows to a full-fledged one artistic image . In the very first act, Skotinin is naively surprised by his special love for pigs: “I love pigs, sister; and in our neighborhood we have such large pigs that there is not a single one of them that, standing on its hind legs, would not be taller than each of us by a whole head.” The author's ridicule is all the stronger because it is put into the mouth of the hero at whom we laugh. It turns out that love for pigs is a family trait. “Prostakov. It’s a strange thing, brother, how family can resemble family! Our Mitrofanushka is just like our uncle - and he is as big a hunter as you are. When I was still three years old, when I saw a pig, I used to tremble with joy. . Skotinin. This is truly a curiosity! Well, brother, let Mitrofan love pigs because he is my nephew. There is some similarity here: why am I so addicted to pigs? Prostakov. And there is some similarity here. That’s how I reason.” The author plays out the same motive in the remarks of other characters. In the fourth act, in response to Skotinin’s words that his family is “great and ancient,” Pravdin ironically remarks: “This way you will convince us that he is older than Adam.” Unsuspecting Skotinin falls into a trap, readily confirming this: “What do you think? At least a few...” and Starodum interrupts him: “That is, your ancestor was created even on the sixth day, but a little earlier than Adam.” Starodum directly refers to the Bible - on the sixth day, God created first animals, then humans. The comparison of caring for pigs with caring for a wife, coming from the same mouth of Skotinin, evokes Milon’s indignant remark: “What a bestial comparison!” Kuteikin, a cunning churchman, puts the author’s description into the mouth of Mitrofanushka himself, forcing him to read from the book of hours: “I am cattle, not man, a reproach of men.” The representatives of the Skotinin family themselves speak with comical simplicity about their “bestial” nature. “Prostakova. After all, I am the Skotinins’ father. The deceased father married the deceased mother; she was nicknamed Priplodin. They had eighteen of us children...” Skotinin speaks about his sister in the same terms as about his “cute pigs”: “To be honest, there is only one litter; Yes, look how she squealed..." Prostakova herself likens her love for her son to the affection of a dog for her puppies, and says about herself: “I, brother, won’t bark with you,” “Oh, I’m a dog’s daughter! What have I done!". Another special feature of the play “The Minor” is that each of the characters speaks their own language. This was appreciated by Fonvizin’s contemporaries: “everyone differs in their character with their sayings.” The speech of the retired soldier Tsyfirkin is filled with military terms, the speech of Kuteikin is built on Church Slavonic phrases, the speech of Vralman, a Russian German, obsequious with his masters and arrogant with his servants, is filled with aptly captured pronunciation features. The vivid typicality of the play's heroes - Prostakov, Mitrofanushka, Skotinin - goes far beyond its boundaries in time and space. And in A. S. Pushkin in “Eugene Onegin”, and in M. Yu. Lermontov in “Tambov Treasury”, and in M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin in “The Tashkent Gentlemen” we find references to them, still alive and carrying within themselves the essence of serf-owners, so talentedly revealed by Fonvizin.
