Comedy by A. S. Griboyedov "Woe from Wit": characters and their characteristics

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

The events depicted in the play take place in the post-war years (after the war of 1812), when the Decembrist movement begins to unfold. Two opposing camps appear. These are advanced nobles and conservatives. In the play, the advanced nobles are represented by Chatsky, and the conservatives are represented by the entire Famus society.

Conflict

An epochal conflict reflected in a private conflict. But the public would not have become so significant if it had not been associated with specific individuals, albeit fictitious ones. Smart and honest, an open young man is struggling with the vicious age of the past.

There are two storylines in the work: love and social. The comedy begins with a love story. Chatsky, who had been absent for three years, arrives at Famusov's house, he is met by the owner's daughter Sophia. "Woe from Wit" is a love story. Chatsky is in love and expects reciprocity from the girl. Further, the love line is intertwined with the public one.

Chatsky and Famusov embodied two opposing camps in society. Alexander Andreevich's conflict with the past century becomes inevitable as soon as Chatsky crosses the threshold of Famusov's house. He, with his honest views and ideas, comes acrossviciousness, mustiness and servility.

Speech of heroes and speaking names

If we talk about the speech of the comedy characters, it quite clearly characterizes their features. For example, Skalozub often uses military vocabulary, which speaks of his profession. Khlestova uses a rich, rich vocabulary. The protagonist Chatsky masterfully speaks Russian, which is worth only his monologues, filled with such liveliness and beauty (“Who are the judges?”). Chatsky is not only a young man in love, he is first of all an ardent exposer of the vices of the Famus society. Only with words and nothing more does the truth-seeker Chatsky stigmatize those around him. Many phrases put into the mouth of the protagonist have become winged. Chatsky's speech, on the one hand, was close to the language of Radishchev, on the other hand, it was very peculiar. A. S. Griboedov fundamentally refused to comedy in the monologues of the main character from bookish speech and foreign words.

The names of the characters can be safely called speaking. Molchalin in the comedy "Woe from Wit" (from the word "silent") is a laconic, quiet young man. This list can be supplemented with such surnames as Tugoukhovsky, Repetilov, Skalozub.

puffer

The writer considered the main task of the comedy to depict the images of the Famus society. There are no superfluous characters in the story. All images are important for characterizing both the main characters and their entire environment.

Puller is a rude dork with characteristic mannerisms and appearance. Ignorance, stupidity and spirituality are manifested in speech.impoverishment of this man. This typical representative of the Famus society opposes the sciences and education as such. Naturally, Sergey Sergeyevich Skalozub is a welcome guest of the Famusov family and others like him. In addition, it is in the image of Skalozub that Griboedov shows the type of careerist who does not disdain any means when moving up the career ladder.

Prince and Princess Tugoukhovsky, Khlestova

The Tugoukhovskys are shown in a satirical vein. Prince Tugoukhovsky is a typical henpecked wife. He practically hears nothing and only unquestioningly obeys the princess. The prince represents Famusov in the future. His wife is an ordinary representative of the surrounding society: stupid, ignorant, negative about education. In addition, both are gossips, as they are the first to spread rumors that Chatsky has gone crazy. No wonder the critics divided all the secondary characters into three groups: Famusov, a candidate for the Famusovs, Famusov the loser.

Khlestova is represented by an intelligent lady, however, she is also subject to general opinion. In her opinion, honesty, human intelligence directly depend on social status and we alth.

Repetilov and Zagoretsky

Repetilov is the type of Famusov-loser in the comedy "Woe from Wit". A character with absolutely no positive traits. He is quite stupid, careless, likes to drink. He is a superficial philosopher, a kind of parody of Chatsky's line. From Repetilov, the author made a parody double of the main character. He also promotespublic ideas, but this is just following fashion and nothing more.

Another Famusov-loser is Zagoretsky A. A. In the characteristics given to him by the rest of the heroes, you can see several times synonymous words for the term "swindler". For example, Gorich says: "A notorious swindler, a rogue: Anton Antonych Zagoretsky." However, all his fraud and lies remain within the limits of the surrounding life, otherwise he is a completely law-abiding citizen. In Zagoretsky, there is even more from Molchalin than from Famusov. Everyone needs him, despite the fact that he is a gossip and a liar. Not only picks up the rumor about Chatsky's madness, but also supplements it with his fantasies.

Goric

The character for whom Griboyedov showed a little sympathy is Gorich. "Woe from Wit" brings to the stage a friend of Chatsky, who arrived at the ball to Famusov with his wife. He is a kind person who soberly assesses the surrounding reality. It is not included by the author in any group. A friend and colleague of Chatsky earlier, now, having heard about his "illness", does not believe it. But he is not without flaws. Having a soft character, after marriage, Gorich became henpecked by his wife and forgot his beliefs. His image is that of a servant husband.

In other words, in the comedy "Woe from Wit" this character and a number of others personify the "past" century with its rules, ideals and habits. All these are individuals limited in their development, who are categorically against everything new, and most importantly, against open truth.

The difference between comedy and 18th century literature

Great and fundamentalThe difference between Griboyedov's comedy and the works of the 18th century is that almost all the characters in it are not just positive or negative types, they are shown in many ways. In Woe from Wit, the character of Famusov is depicted not only as a person who is in spiritual stagnation; Famusov is a good father of his family, a real gentleman. Chatsky is very passionate and sensitive, at the same time witty and intelligent.

Chatsky in the comedy "Woe from Wit" leaves, disappointed in the object of his love. The question of who he is - the winner or the vanquished, can be answered as follows: Chatsky was broken by the amount of the old strength, but defeated the past century with the quality of the new strength.

This is how the social typification of characters manifests itself. If here the author departs from classicism, then in a love affair, on the contrary, he tries to comply with the laws of this particular direction. There is a heroine and two lovers, an unsuspecting father and a maid covering for her mistress. But otherwise there is no resemblance to the classic comedy. Neither Chatsky nor Molchalin are suitable for the role of the first lover. In the comedy "Woe from Wit" there are no heroes-lovers from classicism: the first one loses, the second one is not a hero in all respects.

Cannot be called an ideal heroine and Sophia. "Woe from Wit" presents to our attention a girl who is not stupid, but in love with the worthless Molchalin. He is comfortable for her. He is someone who can be pushed around for the rest of his life. She does not want to listen to Chatsky and is the first to spread the rumor about his madness.

Lisa is more of a reasoner than a soubrette. Above allother things, the comedy traces the second, comic love line and the third, connected with the relationship between Lisa, Molchalin, Petrusha and Famusov.

Off-stage characters

In addition to the main and minor characters, off-stage characters were introduced into the work by the skillful hand of the writer. They are needed in order to increase the scale of the conflict of two centuries. These characters embody both the past century and the present.

Remember at least chamberlain Kuzma Petrovich, who is rich himself and was married to a rich woman. These are Tatyana Yurievna and Praskovya, narrow-minded foreigners who came to Russia to work. These images and a number of others lead the reader to the idea of the wide scale of the conflict, which is vividly presented in the play "Woe from Wit". The character who shows the reader that Chatsky is not alone, behind him there are those who will promote ideas of solidarity with him, is also represented, and not in one way, but in several. For example, the comedy mentions Skalozub's cousin from the village, a relative of Princess Tugoukhovskaya.

The main task that the writer performed, portraying the heroes of the play, was to show their views on society, and not to reveal their psychological characteristics. Griboyedov is primarily a writer and educator, therefore, in each image, he vividly draws certain moral qualities or their absence. He typifies character traits and qualities and immediately individualizes them.

Chatsky overtook his age in everything. That is why he became a model of sincerity and nobility, and Famusov and Skalozub became a symbolvulgarity and stagnation. So, using the example of 20 faces, the writer reflected the fate of a whole generation. The views of Chatsky are the views of the entire progressive movement of the future Decembrists. Chatsky and Famusov are representatives of two generations, two centuries: the age of the enlightened and the age of the obsolete.