Aphorisms from the work "Woe from Wit" by Alexander Griboyedov

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

Today we will talk about the well-known tragicomedy in verse "Woe from Wit" by Alexander Griboyedov, popular expressions (aphorisms) from which everyone hears. Most people have no idea where the common phrases they use so often come from. It's time to find out why this piece is so special.

A few words about the work itself and the plot

It was the satirical play "Woe from Wit" that instantly made its author, A. O. Griboyedov, a classic of literature. Written in 1822-1824, first published in full in 1862, this comedy in verse proved that the spoken language has a place in high literature.

By the way, the playwright managed to break one more rule - the trinity of place, time and action. In Woe from Wit, only the first two (place and time) are observed, and the action is divided into two parts: Chatsky's feelings for Sophia and his confrontation with the Moscow high society.

The plot is simple. Alexander Chatsky, a young nobleman, grew up withSofia Famusova. They spent their whole childhood with each other and always loved each other. But then the young man leaves for 3 years and does not even write letters. Sophia is upset, but soon finds a replacement for the failed fiance.

When Alexander Chatsky returns to Moscow with the firm intention of marrying the love of his life, a surprise awaits him: Sofia is infatuated with Alexei Molchalin, her father's secretary. Chatsky despises Molchalin for servility and servility and does not understand how such a pitiful person could win Sophia's heart.

Because of the bold speeches of the former lover, Sophia, annoyed by the situation, gives rise to gossip that Chatsky is out of his mind. Annoyed at the end, the young man leaves Moscow with the intention of never returning.

It is the protest of a person free from conventions, who rebelled against the rotten Russian reality, that is the main idea of the tragicomedy.

When Alexander Pushkin suggested that "Woe from Wit" would shatter into quotes, he looked into the water. Very soon the play became the property of the people, and often we do not even suspect that we are speaking in the words of Griboyedov's characters. The phrase "woe from wit" came into use precisely because of this play.

"Woe from Wit": popular expressions of the action of the first

You can quote a work from the very first words. For example, the phrase of the maid Liza "bypass us more than all sorrows and master's anger, and master's love" is worth it.

The favorite saying of lovers (especially late ladies) also appears here for the first time. In a conversation with Lisa, Sofya says, looking out the window: “Happy hours are notwatching.”

In high society after the Napoleonic wars, the fashion for the French language reigned for a long time. But few people owned it at least averagely. This is what Chatsky makes fun of when he talks about mixing French with Nizhny Novgorod.

When Chatsky almost at the very beginning explains with his beloved, he tells her that his "mind and heart are out of tune."

Aphorisms from the work "Woe from Wit" include the common expression "it's good where we are not." This is how Sofia Chatsky answers when she asks him about travels.

When Mr. Famusov caught Molchalin near the door of his daughter's room, Sofya tries to find an excuse for her lover: since he lives in their house, he "went into the room, got into another." Who doesn't happen to…

Winged expressions from the second action

In this part of the work, a lot of amazing expressions belong to Chatsky. Who has never heard or used the expression "fresh legend, but hard to believe"?

“I would be glad to serve, it’s sickening to serve,” says the same Chatsky, who does not digest the servility in Mochalin’s behavior.

"Houses are new, but prejudices are old" - he states with bile and sadness.

Many aphorisms from the work "Woe from Wit" belong to Sophia's father - Mr. Famusov, who personifies the rotten Moscow society. "All Moscow ones have a special imprint," he says, and he's right about that.

The phrase “with me, employees of strangers are very rare; more and more of a sister, sister-in-law of a child,” said by this character, has not lost its relevance to this day.

Colonel Skalozub, talking about Moscow, characterizes the city with the phrase "huge distances". This catchphrase has taken root with a slight amendment, and now you can often hear in everyday life “a huge distance.”

Quotes from Act Three

"Woe from Wit", the popular expressions from which everyone does not want to come to an end, take up a lot of space in this action.

It is Chatsky who owns the expression "a million torments", as well as the sarcastic "one will not be greeted by such praises."

When Chatsky asks Mr. Famusov about the news, he replies that everything goes “day after day, tomorrow, like yesterday”, that is, everything is unchanged.

There are popular expressions about fashion in Woe from Wit. Arriving and seeing the invasion of fashion for everything French, Chatsky says that dressing inappropriately for the weather, “in spite of reason, contrary to the elements” is very imprudent, and ridicules this “slavish, blind imitation.”

Common expressions from the fourth act

Aphorisms from the work "Woe from Wit" are concentrated in the last action. For example, when Chatsky, in frustrated feelings, indignantly, decides to leave Moscow, poisoned by prejudice and gossip, forever. The young nobleman declares that he no longer travels to the capital, and shouts: "Carriage for me! Carriage!"

Aphorisms from the work“Woe from Wit” can be continued with such an expression as “What a word is a sentence!”, Which the author put into Famusov’s mouth. It is this character who also owns the final phrase, which conveys all the rot of high society: "What will Princess Marya Aleksevna say?" She entered the colloquial language as "What will Marya Aleksevna say?"

As you can see, aphorisms, catchphrases and expressions in the comedy "Woe from Wit" are found at every turn, more precisely - in almost every line. The list we have provided is far from complete. You can discover many new things by reading this short work.