Minor characters in A. S. Griboedov’s comedy “Woe from Wit”

The comedy “Woe from Wit” by A. S. Griboyedov is a kind of “encyclopedia of Russian life” of the first half of the 19th century. Having significantly expanded the scope of the narrative due to many minor and off-stage characters, Griboedov depicts in it the magnificent human types of contemporary Moscow.

As O. Miller notes, almost all minor characters in comedy come down to three types: “Famusovs, candidates for Famusovs and Famusovs-losers.”

The first of them to appear in the play is Colonel Skalozub, a “fan” of Sophia. This is “Famusov in an army uniform,” but at the same time, Sergei Sergeich is “much more limited than Famusov.”

Skalozub has a characteristic appearance (“three fathoms daredevil”), gestures, manners, speech, in which there are many military terms (“division”, “brigadier general”, “sergeant major”, “distance”, “line”).

The character traits of the hero are just as typical. Griboyedov emphasizes rudeness, ignorance, mental and spiritual limitations in Skalozub. Rejecting his “potential suitor,” Sophia notes that he “has never uttered a smart word.” Being not very educated, Skalozub opposes science and education, against the “new rules.” “You can’t faint with your learning...” he confidently declares to Repetilov.

In addition, the author emphasizes another feature in Skalozub - careerism, “a crudely expressed passion for crosses” (N.K. Piksanov). Sergei Sergeich, with barely conscious cynicism, tells Famusov about the reasons for his promotion:

I am quite happy in my comrades,

The vacancies are just open;

Then the elders will turn off others,

The others, you see, have been killed.

In Famusov's house, Skalozub is a welcome guest: Pavel Afanasyevich considers him a suitable groom for Sophia. However, Sophia, like Chatsky, is far from delighted with the “merits” of Sergei Sergeich. Old woman Khlestova also supports her niece in her own way:

Wow! I definitely got rid of the noose;

After all, your father is crazy:

He was given three fathoms of daring, -

He introduces us without asking, is it pleasant for us, isn’t it?

Finally, Lisa very aptly characterizes Skalozub: “And the golden bag, and aims to become a general.”

The image of Skalozub has comic elements. The very name of the hero hints at this. Lisa talks about Skalozub’s jokes in the comedy.

And Skalozub, as he twirls his crest,

He will tell the story of fainting, add a hundred embellishments;

He’s also good at making jokes, because nowadays who doesn’t joke!

Sergei Sergeich’s speech is often comical. So, about Moscow, he notes: “Distances of enormous size,” about his relationship with Nastasya Nikolaevna - “We didn’t serve together,” about Molchalin’s fall from a horse - “Look at how he cracked - chest or sideways?”

N.K. Piksanov considered the image of Skalozub insufficiently developed and unfinished. It is not clear to the reader whether Skalozub is going to marry Sophia, and whether he guessed about her affair with Molchalin after seeing Sophia’s reaction to Molchalin’s fall from his horse. However, despite some incompleteness, the image of Skalozub very organically entered the circle of characters created by Griboedov.

Almost all the characters in the comedy are depicted just as vividly and vividly.

Prince and Princess Tugoukhovsky are among the first to come to Famusov. They hope to find rich suitors for their daughters at the ball. Chatsky suddenly comes into their sight, but, having learned that he is not rich, they leave him alone.

The Tugoukhovsky couple are depicted satirically by Griboyedov. Prince Tugoukhovsky (as indicated by the surname itself) hears almost nothing. His speech consists of separate exclamations: “Oh-hmm!”, “I-hmm!” He unquestioningly follows all his wife’s instructions. This hero embodies the aged Famusov. Princess Tugoukhovskaya is distinguished by a rather evil disposition and causticity. So, she sees the reason for the arrogant behavior of the countess-granddaughter in her “unfortunate fate”: “She’s evil, she’s been around girls for a whole century, God will forgive her.” Like all of Famusov’s guests, Princess Tugoukhovskaya does not see the benefit of education and believes that science poses a threat to society: “in St. Petersburg, the pedagogical institute, I think, is called that: there professors practice schism and unbelief!” The Tugoukhovskys quickly pick up the gossip about Chatsky’s madness and even try to convince Repetilov of this.

Among the guests are Famusova and Countess Khryumina with her granddaughter, who are also happy to believe in Chatsky’s madness. The countess-granddaughter tells the news to Zagoretsky. The Grandmother Countess, suffering from deafness, interprets everything she hears in her own way. She declares Alexander Andreevich a “damned Voltairian” and a “pusurman.”

Famusov’s guests are also joined by his sister-in-law, old woman Khlestova. S. A. Fomichev calls this heroine Famusov for the female half of society. Khlestova is a self-confident lady, intelligent, experienced, and insightful in her own way. Just look at the description given to her by Zagoretsky:

He's a liar, a gambler, a thief...

I left him and locked the doors;

Yes, the master will serve: me and sister Praskovya

I got two little blacks at the fair;

He bought tea, he says, and cheated at cards;

And a gift for me, God bless him!

She is also skeptical towards Skalozub and Repetilov. With all this, Khlestova shares the opinion of Famusov’s guests about science and education:

And you will really go crazy from these, from some

From boarding schools, schools, lyceums, you name it,

Yes from lancard mutual training.

Khlestova here has in mind the Lancastrian system of education, however, for her age and lifestyle, this confusion of concepts is quite forgivable and very realistic. In addition, it is worth noting that this statement does not contain the belligerence that is characteristic of Famusov and Skalozub’s speeches about enlightenment. Rather, here she is simply keeping the conversation going.

In Khlestova’s mind, the human dignity of those around her is inextricably fused with their social status, wealth and rank. So, she notes about Chatsky: “He was a sharp man, he had three hundred souls.” Her intonations in conversations with Molchalin are condescending and patronizing. However, Khlestova perfectly understands the “place” of Alexei Stepanych and does not stand on ceremony with him: “Molchalin, there’s your closet,” she declares, saying goodbye.

Like many of Famusov’s guests, Khlestova loves to gossip: “I don’t know other people’s estates!” She instantly picks up the rumor about Chatsky’s madness and even puts forward her version of events: “Tea, he drank beyond his years.”

The image of Repetilov in the comedy is caricatured. This is exactly the type of “Famusov the loser”. This is an absurd, careless, stupid and superficial person, a visitor to the English Club, a lover of drinking and carousing, philosophizing in noisy companies. This character sets the theme of “ideological fashion” in the comedy, as if parodying Chatsky’s social line.

As O. Miller and A. Grigoriev note, “Repetilov... failed to achieve any real professional benefit from marrying the daughter of the influential von Klock, and so he fell into liberal rhetoric....”

Repetilov tries to captivate Chatsky with “free-thinking” and describes to him “secret meetings” in the English Club, where they talk “about Byron”, “about important mothers”. Repetilov tells Chatsky about “smart youth,” including the “true genius” Ippolit Udushev. This description sounds like frank satire:

Night robber, duelist,

He was exiled to Kamchatka, returned as an Aleut,

And the unclean hand is strong;

Yes, an intelligent person cannot help but be a rogue.

When he talks about high honesty,

Some kind of demon inspires:

My eyes are bloody, my face is burning,

He cries himself, and we all cry.

This is what Pushkin wrote about this image: “...What is Repetilov? it has 2, 3, 10 characters. Why make him ugly? It’s enough that he is flighty and stupid with such simplicity; It’s enough that he admits every minute to his stupidity, and not to his abominations. This humility is extremely new in the theater; has any of us ever felt embarrassed while listening to penitents like him?”

Repetilov in the comedy is a kind of parody of Chatsky; he is a double character who comically reduces the ideas of the main character. Repetilov’s literary “brothers” are Grushnitsky from Lermontov’s novel “Hero of Our Time”, Sitnikov from Turgenev’s novel “Fathers and Sons”, Lebezyatnikov from Dostoevsky’s novel “Crime and Punishment”.

Among Famusov’s guests is the “slick socialite” Anton Antonich Zagoretsky. This is also the “Famusov-loser” type. Having failed to obtain ranks and titles, he remains a petty swindler and ladies' man. Gorich gives him an exhaustive description:

Outspoken swindler, rogue: Anton Antonich Zagoretsky.

With it, beware: endure too much,

And don’t play cards, he’ll sell you.

Old woman Khlestova also joins Platon Mikhailovich: “He’s a liar, a gambler, a thief,” she says to Sophia. However, all of Zagoretsky’s “riot” is limited to the everyday sphere. In the “ideological” sense, he is completely “law-abiding”:

...What if, between us,

I was appointed as a densor,

I would lean on fables; Oh! fables are my death!

Eternal mockery of lions! over the eagles!

Whatever you say:

Although animals, still give.

As O. Miller and A. Grigoriev note, Zagoretsky is a candidate for Famusov, but his circumstances turned out differently, and he took on a different role - a universal servant, a pleaser. This is a kind of Molchalin, necessary for everyone.

Zagoretsky is a notorious talker and liar. Moreover, his lies in comedy are practically groundless. He, too, is happy to support the gossip about Chatsky, without even remembering who he is talking about: “His uncle, the rogue, put him in the madhouses... They grabbed him, put him in the yellow house, and put him on a chain.” However, he puts forward a different version to Countess Khryumina: “In the mountains he was wounded in the forehead, he went crazy from the wound.”

Visiting Famusov and the Gorich couple. Gorich is an old friend of Chatsky from his military service. Perhaps this is the only comedy character written by Griboyedov with a touch of sympathy. It seems that we cannot classify this hero as one of the types described earlier (Famusovs, candidates for Famusovs, Famusovs-losers). Gorich is a kind and decent person who has no illusions about the morals of secular society (remember the characterization that Gorich gives to Zagoretsky). This is the only hero who seriously doubts after hearing gossip about Chatsky’s madness. However, Platon Mikhailovich is too soft. He lacks Chatsky’s confidence and conviction, his temperament, and courage. Having obeyed his wife in everything, he became “weak in health,” “calm and lazy,” and out of boredom he amuses himself by playing the flute. “A boy-husband, a servant-husband, one of the wife’s pages” - it is this type that is represented in the image of Gorich.

Gorich's behavior illustrates in the comedy the theme of men's submission to their domineering wives. Prince Tugoukhovsky is also submissive and silent “before his wife, this efficient mother.” Molchalin is also timid, quiet and modest during his dates with Sophia.

So, Skalozub, Prince and Princess Tugoukhovsky, Countess Khryumina, old woman Khlestova, Repetilov and Zagoretsky, Gorichi... - “all these are types created by the hand of a true artist; and their speeches, words, address, manners, the way of thinking that breaks out from under them is a brilliant painting...” All these images are bright, memorable, original. Griboedov's heroes embody the leisurely “past century”, with its life traditions and moral rules. These people are afraid of new trends, they are not too fond of science and enlightenment, courage of thoughts and judgments. Thanks to these characters, as well as off-stage heroes, Griboyedov creates a wide panorama of Russian life. “The group of twenty faces reflected, like a ray of light in a drop of water, the whole of the former Moscow, its design, its spirit at that time, its historical moment and morals.”

Miller O., Grigoriev A. The environment depicted in the comedy “Grief”

from the mind." - In the book: Alexander Sergeevich Griboedov. His life and writings. Collection of historical and literary articles. Compiled by V. Pokrovsky. M., 1908. P. 51.

Miller O., Grigoriev A. The environment depicted in the comedy “Woe from Wit.” - In the book: Alexander Sergeevich Griboyedov. “His life and works.” Collection of historical and literary articles. Compiled by V. Pokrovsky. M., 1908. P. 52.

Pushkin A. S. Letter to A. A. Bestuzhev. - In the book: A. S. Griboedov in Russian criticism. M., 1958. P. 41.

Nezelenov. Women's society in the comedy "Woe from Wit". - In the book: Alexander Sergeevich Griboedov. His life and writings. Collection of historical and literary articles. Compiled by V. Pokrovsky. M., 1908. P. 7.

Belinsky V.G. Woe from Wit. - In the book: V. G. Belinsky. A look at Russian literature. M., 1987. P. 241.

Goncharov I. A. A million torments.

Ladies of the world (based on the comedy by A. S. Griboedov "Woe from Wit")

In the system of characters in A. S. Griboedov’s play “Woe from Wit,” female images occupy an important place. The central image is Sophia, the daughter of Famusov, a Moscow gentleman who manages a government office. Her image is difficult to define unambiguously. Pushkin noted in his critical article: “Sophia is drawn unclearly.”

French books, which Famusov complains about (“French books keep her from sleeping”), piano, poetry, French and dancing - these were what were considered necessary in the upbringing of a young lady of that time. On the one hand, the seventeen-year-old girl is worldly wise (after all, she is the daughter of her father), reasonable, on the other hand, she is blind in her love for Molchalin. After all, she loves not him, but the ideal that she gleaned from sentimental French novels. But this ideal actually turns out to be far from perfect. She is sincere in her desire to patronize the “rootless” Molchalin, in the future hoping to make him a “husband-boy, husband-servant.” After all, Sophia is a girl of her class and time. And in society, the omnipotence of women reigns, so “a husband-boy, a husband-servant from the wife’s pages” is Sophia’s conscious or unconscious dream.

It was Sophia who was to blame for the fact that Chatsky was declared crazy. It was she who branded him, saying: “I reluctantly drove him crazy.” Of course, the heroine with her worldly wisdom is closer to Molchalin, who takes on “the appearance of a lover to please the daughter of such a man,” and with Chatsky she would have to drink her cup of suffering, endure her “millions of torments.” In this case, she is guided by common sense from the point of view of Famus society, she acts as the law of this society dictates.

Images of women in comedy are also represented by secondary and episodic characters. This is the witty maid in Famusov’s house, Lisa, who is the second reasoner in the comedy and plays the role of a soubrette, giving apt characteristics to the characters; and Natalya Dmitrievna Gorich, holding her husband under her thumb, treating him like a child; and Princess Tugoukhovskaya, an ardent opponent of enlightenment, speaking indignantly about the Pedagogical Institute in St. Petersburg, where professors “practice in schism and lack of faith”; and her six daughters, who cannot be married off, thinking only about fashionable “folds” and “styles”. This also includes the Countess-grandmother and Countess-granddaughter of Khryumina, who are forced to travel to balls and guests in search of a groom for their elderly granddaughter. The old woman Khlestova, an ardent serf-owner who condemns education in “boarding schools, schools, lyceums,” has particular weight in this society.

I. A. Goncharov, in his critical sketch “A Million Torments,” wrote about the string of images of guests in Famusov’s house: “The influx of these faces is so abundant, their portraits are so relief that the viewer grows cold to the intrigue, not having time to catch these quick sketches of new faces and listen closely into their original speech." All of them, of course, belong to Famus society, being its typical representatives.

Griboyedov showed in his work not only the stage characters of the Famusov society, but also off-stage characters, who also embody the features of the “past century”. These are Arina Vlasevna, Lukerya Aleksevna, Tatyana Yuryevna, Pulkheria Andreevna, Praskovya Fedorovna. Catherine II is also mentioned, at whose court Famusov’s uncle Maxim Petrovich served, who “bent over” when he “had to curry favor.” We also learn about the “rider” Princess Vlasova, who fell from her horse and is now looking for a husband “for support.” Tatyana Yuryevna also has considerable weight in Famusov’s society, for whom “officials and officials are all her friends and all her relatives.” It is to her that Molchalin advises Chatsky to go for patronage and receive a rank. Famusov also mentions Chatsky’s late mother, according to whom she “went crazy eight times.” All of Famusov’s Moscow is kept in fear by Princess Marya Aleksevna, whose name the venerable gentleman pronounces in fear: “What will Princess Marya Aleksevna say?” The female society is also complemented by such an off-stage character as Madame Rosier, to whom Famusov entrusted the upbringing of his daughter. Sophia’s “second mother” was smart, “a quiet character, rare rules,” but, according to Famusov, she made the only mistake -

For an extra five hundred rubles a year

She allowed herself to be lured by others.

Thus, the comedy “Woe from Wit” presents a whole gallery of female images, typical representatives of the “past century”. All of them are the product of Moscow life in the first quarter of the 19th century and the embodiment of its most typical features, while each of the images, be it a stage or off-stage character, has its own individuality. It is women who complement the picture of life in patriarchal Russian society, which does not accept any changes and so ardently defends its life principles, which allow them to live comfortably at the expense of the autocratic serfdom system. That is why society is so frightened by the spread of new, progressive ideas of advanced noble youth, seeing in them the danger of changes in their lives.

In a letter to P.A. Katenin, Griboyedov writes about Chatsky: “Someone out of anger invented that he was crazy, no one believed it, and everyone repeats...” Indeed, in the development of the comedy “Woe from Wit” the invention of Chatsky's madness. But why did such a scandal arise from one word? To understand this, we need to consider the life and morality of Famus society.
In his comedy "Woe from Wit" Griboyedov depicted only one day in the life of Moscow secular society. However, how many people did they manage to discuss during this time in Famusov’s house! These are all Sophia’s relatives, and Molchalin, and Zagoretsky, and Skalozub, and Kuzma Petrovich, and the deceased Uncle Maxim Petrovich, and, of course, Chatsky himself. Since the very morning, Sophia and Lisa have been discussing him, while Sophia says that he “knows how to make everyone laugh.” From this alone it is clear how important outside assessment is for the people of this society. Molchalin speaks directly about this: “Ah! evil tongues are worse than a pistol.”
Therefore, rumor is the main weapon of these people; with its help, they can expel unwanted people from their circle, as they did with Chatsky. Rumor also replaces their memory of the past, the memory of a person, of his deeds. People live only so that “everyone will remember them sadly.”
However, word of mouth is not only their memory and weapon, but simply their main occupation. After all, what the people of Famus society do is mostly chat (Repetilov: “They talk all night, they don’t get bored.”). They know everything about others: their means, life history, gossip about their relatives, and so on (Khlestova: “Shouldn’t I know other people’s estates?”), but despite these efforts they cannot know everything about others and simply do not have time to find out and understand themselves, understand why they live, and they can only live for the sake of rumor, because otherwise the rumor will turn against them.
The people of Famus society find themselves in a cycle: each of them is at the same time the creator of rumor and its slave, since everything he does, he does for the sake of rumor, otherwise the rumor will punish him. Everyone and everything bows to rumors. Rumor is their king and god. For her sake, even friendship is forgotten. Repetilov, who knows for sure that Chatsky is not crazy, first tries to fight off the rumors, calling them “chimeras” and “game,” but when he finds out that “it’s so public,” he falls silent.
Everyone in this society works on word of mouth. Everyone adds their own to the word they hear.
Kh l e s t o v a. He drank glasses of champagne.
N atalya Dmitrievna. Bottles, sir, and big ones.
Zagoretsky. No, sir, forty barrels.
And so the rumor grows like a snowball, and with this lump it knocks down not only Chatsky, but also Sophia, Molchalin, Famusov, etc.
So, rumor reigns in Famus society, and since women still love to chat and gossip more than men, they have more privileges, and it is they who turn out to be the closest minions of rumor. Therefore, the kingdom of rumor can also be called the female kingdom.
Indeed, the role of women in the development of intrigue predominates. The initiative for the invention comes from a woman (Sophya), and its complete acceptance and confirmation also comes from a woman (Princess: “The whole world knows about this!”). Women rule over men not only in words, they completely command them: “My angel, for God’s sake, move further away from the door!” And not even so affectionately: “The Countess deigns to be angry.”
The apotheosis of these two problems, the problem of rumors and the problem of the female kingdom, is embodied precisely in the quote included in the title of the topic. Famusov is not concerned about his daughter’s actions, but only about “what Princess Marya Aleksevna will say.” It is the rumor that worries him, the rumor coming from a woman. In my opinion, the comedy “Woe from Wit” could also be called “Woe from Rumor,” because rumor brought grief to the heroes of the comedy no less than wit, and, perhaps, even more, since not only Chatsky suffered from the rumor, but also all the other characters. “Princess Marya Aleksevna will begin to talk about all of them.”

Here is the story of the very successful career of the “rootless” Molchalin:

I warmed up the rootless one and brought him into my family,
He gave the rank of assessor and took him on as secretary;
Transferred to Moscow through my assistance;
And if it weren’t for me, you would be smoking in Tver.

Is assessor good or not so good? The rank of collegiate assessor (VIII class of the Table of Ranks) gave the right to hereditary nobility, that is, at a minimum, it equated Molchalin with Chatsky, and corresponded to the military rank of major The collegiate assessor Kovalev, the hero of Gogol’s “The Nose,” liked to call himself a major: “Kovalev was a Caucasian collegiate assessor. He had only been in this rank for two years and therefore could not forget it for a minute; and in order to give himself more nobility and weight, he never called himself a collegiate assessor, but always a major.”. Griboyedov himself, when he wrote “Woe from Wit,” was a titular adviser (IX class).

Alexander Yuzhin as Famusov in the play “Woe from Wit.” Maly Theatre, Moscow, 1915

What is the secret of Molchalin’s success? It can be assumed that partly because he was born in Tver, and, for example, not in Tula or Kaluga. Tver is located on the road connecting Moscow and St. Petersburg; the manager at the government place, Famusov, probably passed through Tver more than once, and, perhaps, some efficient local fellow (was it the son of the station superintendent?) was able to successfully provide him with some kind of service. And then, taking advantage of the patronage of Famusov and Tatyana Yuryevna, Molchalin quickly and very successfully began to move up the career ladder.

Socially, Molchalin begins his journey precisely as a “little man” who does not reconcile himself with his position, but strives with all his might to become one of the people. “This is a man who, in swaddling clothes, has known the onslaught of fate and is therefore ready to give himself into slavery to anyone and anywhere, ready to worship both the true God and an empty idol, having neither the ability nor the skill to penetrate into the essence of things.<…>Everything in the activities of these people is imprinted with lack of understanding and a firm determination to retain for themselves the miserable piece that fate threw out to them,” Saltykov-Shchedrin wrote about Molchalin.

2. The secret of Sophia's dream

Alexander Yuzhin as Famusov and Vera Pashennaya as Sophia in the play “Woe from Wit.” Maly Theatre, Moscow, 1915 Billy Rose Theater Collection / New York Public Library

Here Sophia tells Famusov a dream that she clearly invented:

Then the doors opened with thunder
Some are not people or animals,
We were separated - and they tortured the one sitting with me.
It’s like he’s dearer to me than all the treasures,
I want to go to him - you bring with you:
We are accompanied by moans, roars, laughter, and whistling monsters!
He shouts after him!..

What does all this even mean? Sophia invented her dream for a reason, but based on literature, namely a romantic ballad: the heroine finds herself in an otherworldly world inhabited by villains and monsters.

The object of parody for Griboedov here is, first of all, Zhukovsky and his free translations of the ballad of the German poet Bürger “Lenora” - “Lud-mila” (1808) and “Svetlana” (1811), in which dead suitors appear to the heroines and are carried away to the afterlife world. It’s unlikely that Famusov has read Zhukovsky, but Griboyedov puts into his mouth a caustic maxim, very similar to the ending of the ballad “Svetlana”: “Everything is there, if there is no deception: / And devils and love, and fears and flowers.” And here is “Svetlana”:

Smile, my beauty,
To my ballad;
There are great miracles in it,
Very little stock.

In Sophia’s dream, ballad cliches thicken: the innocent heroine and her lover are separated by a tormentor - a character from the afterlife (it is no coincidence that in the dream Famusov appears from under the opening floor). In the first edition, Famusov was completely described as an infernal hero: “Death on the cheeks, and hair standing on end.”

However, not only Sophia’s dream, but also her relationship with Molchalin resembles a ballad plot. Their love affair is modeled after Zhukovsky’s ballad “Eolian Harp” (1814). Minvana, the daughter of a noble feudal lord, rejects the claims of eminent knights and gives her heart to the poor singer Arminius:

Young and beautiful
Like a fresh rose is the joy of the valleys,
Sweet singer...
But not a noble, not a prince’s son by birth:
Minwana forgot
About your rank
And loved with my heart,
Innocent, innocent heart in him.

Griboyedov parodies the picture of ideal love created by Zhukovsky. The poor singer Arminius seems to be replaced by the scoundrel Molchalin; the tragic expulsion of Arminius by Minvana’s father is the finale of the comedy, when Sophia overhears Molchalin’s conversation with Liza and expels the unlucky lover.

This parody is not accidental. In the literary controversy between archaists and Archaists and innovators— supporters of opposite concepts of the development of Russian literature in the 1810s. The controversy between two literary societies - "Conversation of Lovers of the Russian Word" and "Arzamas" - revolved around the system of genres, language and style of literary behavior. Griboyedov adhered to the position of the younger archaists, who were very skeptical of Zhukovsky, and ridiculed the then fashionable daydreaming: “God be with them, with dreams,” he wrote in an analysis of the translations of the Burger ballad “Lenora” in 1816, “now in any book.” look, no matter what you read, a song or a message, dreams are everywhere, but not a hair’s breadth of nature.” Molchalin is a parody of the sublime and quiet hero of sentimental stories and ballads.

3. The secret of Aunt Sophia and Chatsky’s humor

Making fun of Moscow, Chatsky sarcastically asks Sophia:

At conventions, at big ones, on parish holidays?
A confusion of languages ​​still prevails:
French with Nizhny Novgorod?

Why is the French language mixed with the Nizhny Novgorod dialect? The fact is that during the War of 1812 this became a reality: Moscow nobles were evacuated to Nizhny Novgorod Vasily Lvovich Pushkin (the poet’s uncle and the poet himself), addressing the Nizhny Novgorod residents, wrote: “Take us under your protection, / Pets of the Volga banks.”. At the same time, in a patriotic upsurge, the nobles tried to abandon French speech and speak Russian (Leo Tolstoy described this in “War and Peace”), which led to a comic effect - a mixture of French pronunciation with Nizhny Novgorod Okanye.

No less funny were the lexical incidents (and not only those from Nizhny Novgorod!). Thus, the Smolensk landowner Svistunova in one of her letters asked to buy her “English lace in the style of drums.” (Brabantian), "little cla-netka (lorgnette), since I am close with my eyes" (myopic), "serogi" (earrings) pisa-gram (filigree) works, fragrant alambre perfumes, and for decorating the rooms - paintings from Talyan (Italian) in the manner of Rykhvaleeva (Rafaeleva) works on canvas and a tray with cups, if you can get them, with peony flowers.”

In addition, it is possible that Chatsky is simply quoting the famous journalistic text from the time of the Napoleonic Wars, written by Ivan Muravyov-Apostol, the father of three future Decembrists. It is called “Letters from Moscow to Nizhny Novgorod”, and it contains a famous fragment about how the French language is mercilessly treated in the Moscow Assembly of Nobility:

“I stood in the middle of the hall; waves of people rustled around me, but alas!.. The noise was all in French. Rarely, rarely did a Russian word pop up.<…>Out of a hundred people among us (and this is the most moderate proportion) one speaks a fair amount of French, and ninety-nine speaks Gascon; no less, everyone babbles in some barbaric dialect, which they consider French only because we call it speak in Frenchtsuzski. Ask them: why is this? - because, they will say, it was introduced this way. - My God! - When will this come out?<…>Enter any society; A most amusing mixture of languages! Here you will hear Norman, Gascon, Roussillon, Provencal, Genevan dialects; sometimes Russian is half and half with the above. “Ears are withering!”

4. Mystery of August 3

Boasting of his successes, Skalozub mentions the battle for which he was awarded the order:

For the third of August; We settled into a trench:
Given to him with a bow, around my neck The lower orders, that is, the III and IV degrees, were worn in a buttonhole, with the order ribbon tied in a bow, the orders of the highest degrees - around the neck. Skalozub emphasizes that he received a higher level award than his cousin, and that by that time he already had the rank of staff officer..

The exact date was named for a reason. Among Griboyedov's contemporaries, who well remembered the Patriotic War of 1812 and the events that followed it, this phrase could not help but cause laughter. The fact is that no battle took place that day.

Sergei Golovin as Skalozub in the play “Woe from Wit”. Maly Theatre, Moscow, 1915 Billy Rose Theater Collection/New York Public Library

On June 4, 1813, the Pleswitz Truce was declared, which lasted until mid-August, and on August 3, a meeting between Russian Emperor Alexander I and Franz II, Emperor of Austria, took place in Prague. Franz II- Holy Roman Emperor (1792-1806), who ruled as Austrian Emperor under the name of Franz I., which received many awards. Skalozub had no need to “sit in the trench.”

The static nature of Skalozub (“Wherever you order, just to sit down”) sharply contradicts the dynamism of Chatsky (“The wind, the storm swept by more than seven hundred miles; / And he was all confused, and fell so many times...”). However, in the conditions of military service in the last years of the reign of Alexander I, it was Skalozub’s life strategy that turned out to be in demand. The fact is that promotion to the next rank was carried out when there were vacancies; if Skalozub’s more active comrades died in battles or were “turned off” for political reasons, then he calmly and systematically moved towards the rank of general:

I am quite happy in my comrades,
The vacancies are just open;
Then the elders will turn off others,
The others, you see, have been killed.

5. The Mystery of the Broken Rib

Scene from the play "Woe from Wit". Maly Theatre, Moscow, 1915 Billy Rose Theater Collection/New York Public Library

Here Skalozub tells an anecdote about Countess Lasova:

Let me tell you the news:
There is some kind of Princess Lasova here,
Rider, widow, but there are no examples,
So that many gentlemen travel with her.
The other day I was completely bruised;
Joke didn’t support it; he thought there were flies. -
And without that she is, as you can hear, clumsy,
Now the rib is missing
So she is looking for a husband for support.

The meaning of this anecdote is an allusion to the biblical legend about the origin of Eve from the rib of Adam, that is, the secondary nature of woman in relation to man. In the Moscow world, everything happens exactly the opposite: the primacy here always and in everything belongs to women. In Griboyedov's Moscow, mat-ri-ar-hat reigns, the feminine principle is consistently replacing the masculine. Sophia teaches Molchalin to music (“You can hear a flute, then it’s like a piano”); Natalya Dmitrievna surrounds the completely healthy Platon Mikhailovich with petty care; Tugoukhovsky, like a puppet, moves according to his wife’s commands: “Prince, prince, here,” “Prince, prince!” Back!" The feminine principle also predominates behind the scenes. Tatyana Yurievna turns out to be Molchalin’s high patroness Her prototype was Praskovya Yuryevna Kologrivova, whose husband, according to the recollections of the Decembrist Zavalishin, “asked at a ball by a high person who he was, was so confused that he said that he was Praskovya Yuryevna’s husband, probably believing that this title is more important than all his titles.”. Famusov tries to influence Skalozub through Nastasya Nikolaevna and recalls some unknown to the reader, but important to him, Irina Vlasyevna, Lukerya Aleksevna and Pulcheria Andrevna; The final verdict on what happened in the Famusovs’ house must be passed by Princess Marya Aleksevna.

“This female regime, to which the characters in Woe from Wit are subject, clarifies a lot,” writes Yuri Tynyanov. — Autocracy was female for many years. Even Alexander I still took into account the power of his mother. Griboyedov knew, as a diplomat, what influence a woman had at the Persian court.” “Women’s power” and “male decline” become signs of the times: Griboyedov describes that turning point in Russian life, in which the courageous life of 1812 becomes a thing of the past, and gossip turns out to be more important than actions. In this situation, slander against Chatsky arises.

6. The Mystery of the Yellow House

Mikhail Lenin as Chatsky in the play "Woe from Wit". Moscow Art Theatre, Moscow, 1911 Billy Rose Theater Collection/New York Public Library

Towards the end of the play, almost all the guests at the Famusovs’ ball are sure that Chatsky has gone crazy:

His uncle, the rogue, put him away in the madhouses;
They grabbed me, took me to the yellow house, and put me on a chain.

Why is this so scary? The fact is that the gossip about the hero’s madness, acquiring more and more new details Gossip about Chatsky's madness develops like an avalanche. He himself is the first to pronounce the words about madness (“I can beware of madness...”), meaning his unhappy love; in the same sense, Sophia picks them up (“I reluctantly drove you crazy!”), and only on the third turn, infuriated by Chatsky’s attacks on Molchalin, Sophia out of revenge says: “He’s out of his mind” - giving opportunity for Mr. N. to interpret these words in the literal sense. Further, the slander is spread anonymously through Messrs. N. and D., then acquires fantastic details in the remarks of Zagoretsky, who in fact does not know Chatsky (“Which Chatsky is here? - A famous family. / With some Chatsky I once knew each other"). Griboedov knew very well about the practice of spreading gossip and its influence on the fate of people from his diplomatic activities., essentially turns into a political denunciation. It is reported about Chatsky that he is a “farmazon” (that is, a freemason Freemasons- free masons; members of a secret religious charitable society that spread throughout Europe from the 18th century. In 1822, by the highest order, all Masonic lodges in Russia were closed, Freemasonry became synonymous with freethinking.), “damned Voltairian”, “in the Pusurmans”, taken to prison, given up as a soldier, “changed the law”.

Accusation of insanity as a way to deal with a rival, an objectionable person or a political opponent was a well-known technique. So, in January 1817, rumors spread about Byron's madness, and his wife and her relatives started them. Slander and noise around the poet’s personal life spread almost throughout Europe. Rumors of madness also circulated around Griboyedov himself. According to the testimony of his biographer Mikhail Semevsky, on one of Griboyedov’s letters to Bulgarin there is a note from the latter: “Griboyedov in a moment of madness.”

Twelve years after the creation of “Woe from Wit,” one of Chatsky’s prototypes, Pyotr Yakovlevich Chaadaev, will be accused of insanity. After the publication of his first “Letter” in the Telescope magazine, it was closed, and the Moscow police chief announced to Chaadaev that now, by order of the government, he was crazy. A doctor came to see him every day for an examination; Chaadaev was considered to be under house arrest and could only go for a walk once a day. A year later, the doctor’s supervision of the “patient” was removed - but only on the condition that he would no longer write anything.

7. The secret of Ippolit Markelych

Vasily Luzhsky as Repetilov in the play “Woe from Wit.” Moscow Art Theatre, Moscow, 1906 Billy Rose Theater Collection/New York Public Library

Repetilov tells Chatsky about a secret society reminiscent of the Decembrist one:

But if you order a genius to be named:
Udushiev Ippolit Markelych!!!
You are writing it
Have you read anything? Even a little thing?
Read, brother, but he doesn’t write anything;
These are the kind of people who should be flogged
And say: write, write, write;
However, you can find in magazines
His excerpt, look and something.
What are you talking about? something? - about everything;
He knows everything, we are herding him for a rainy day.

And how does Chatsky himself feel about participants in secret societies? The idea that the main character of the play is a Decembrist (if not by formal membership in a secret society, then by his spirit) was first expressed by Herzen, and then became a common place in school studies of “Woe from Wit”.

In fact, Griboyedov’s attitude towards the Decembrists was very skeptical, and he ridiculed the very mystery of the societies. Repetilov immediately tells the first person he meets about the place and time of the meetings (“We have a society and secret meetings / On Thursdays. The most secret union ...”), and then lists all its members: Prince Grigory, Evdokim Vorkulov, Levon and Borinka (“Wonderful guys! You don’t know what to say about them”) - and, finally, their head - the “genius” Ippolit Markelych.

The surname Udushev, given to the leader of the secret meeting, clearly shows that Griboyedov hardly had any illusions about the Decembrist programs. Among Udushev's prototypes were the head of the Southern Society Pavel Pestel, the Decembrist Alexander Yakubovich and even the poet Pyotr Vyazemsky The hero, bearing the surname Udushev, also appears in the novel by Griboedov’s friend Dmitry Begichev “The Kholmsky Family” (1832). It is interesting that his prototype there is Fyodor Tolstoy the American, an unnamed off-stage character in “Woe from Wit,” about whom Repetilov also talks: “A night robber, a duelist, / Was exiled to Kamchatka, returned as an Aleut, / And firmly unclean in his hand; / Yes, an intelligent person cannot help but be a rogue.”. In a word, the only member of the secret society among the heroes of “Woe from Wit” turns out to be Repetilov - and not Chatsky.

Sources

• Levchenko O. A. Griboedov and the Russian ballad of the 1820s (“Woe from Wit” and “Predators on Chegem”). Materials for the biography.
• Markovich V. M. Comedy in verse by A. S. Griboedov “Woe from Wit.”

  Analysis of a dramatic work. L., 1988.

• Tynyanov Yu. N. The plot of "Woe from Wit".
• Fomichev S. A Comedy by Griboyedov "Woe from Wit". A comment. Book for teachers.
• “The present century and the past century...”

  Comedy by A. S. Griboedov “Woe from Wit” in Russian criticism and literary criticism.:: St. Petersburg, 2002.

The comedy by A. S. Griboedov “Woe from Wit” is a kind of “encyclopedia of Russian life” of the first half of the 19th century. Having significantly expanded the scope of the narrative due to many minor and off-stage characters, Griboedov depicts in it the magnificent human types of contemporary Moscow.

As O. Miller notes, almost all minor characters in comedy come down to three types: “Famusovs, candidates for Famusovs and Famusovs-losers.”

The first of them to appear in the play is Colonel Skalozub, a “fan” of Sophia. This is “Famusov in an army uniform,” but at the same time, Sergei Sergeich is “much more limited than Famusov.”

Skalozub has a characteristic appearance (“three fathoms daredevil”), gestures, manners, speech, in which there are many military terms (“division”, “brigadier general”, “sergeant major”, “distance”, “line”).

The character traits of the hero are just as typical. Griboyedov emphasizes rudeness, ignorance, mental and spiritual limitations in Skalozub. Rejecting his “potential suitor,” Sophia notes that he “hasn’t uttered a smart word in his life.” Being not very educated, Skalozub opposes science and education, against the “new rules.” “You can’t faint with your learning...” he confidently declares to Repetilov.

In addition, the author emphasizes another feature in Skalozub - careerism, “a crudely expressed passion for crosses” (N.K. Piksanov). Sergei Sergeich, with barely conscious cynicism, tells Famusov about the reasons for his promotion:

I am quite happy in my comrades,

The vacancies are just open;

Then the elders will turn off others,

The others, you see, have been killed.

In Famusov’s house, Skalozub is a welcome guest: Pavel Afanasyevich considers him a suitable groom for Sophia. However, Sophia, like Chatsky, is far from delighted with the “merits” of Sergei Sergeich. Old woman Khlestova also supports her niece in her own way:

Wow! I definitely got rid of the noose;

After all, your father is crazy:

He was given three fathoms of daring, -

He introduces us without asking, is it pleasant for us, isn’t it?

Finally, Lisa very aptly characterizes Skalozub: “And the golden bag, and aims to become a general.”

The image of Skalozub has comic elements. The very name of the hero hints at this. Lisa talks about Skalozub’s jokes in the comedy.

And Skalozub, as he twirls his crest,

He will tell the story of fainting, add a hundred embellishments;

He’s also good at making jokes, because nowadays who doesn’t joke!

Sergei Sergeich’s speech is often comical. So, about Moscow he notes: “Distances of enormous size,” about his relationship with Nastasya Nikolaevna - “We didn’t serve together,” about Molchalin’s fall from a horse - “Look at how he cracked - chest or sideways?”

N.K. Piksanov considered the image of Skalozub insufficiently developed and unfinished. It is not clear to the reader whether Skalozub is going to marry Sophia, and whether he guessed about her affair with Molchalin after seeing Sophia’s reaction to Molchalin’s fall from his horse. However, despite some incompleteness, the image of Skalozub very organically entered the circle of characters created by Griboedov.

Almost all the characters in the comedy are depicted just as vividly and vividly.

Prince and Princess Tugoukhovsky are among the first to come to Famusov. They hope to find rich suitors for their daughters at the ball. Chatsky suddenly comes into their sight, but, having learned that he is not rich, they leave him alone.

The Tugoukhovsky couple are depicted satirically by Griboyedov. Prince Tugoukhovsky (as indicated by the surname itself) hears almost nothing. His speech consists of separate exclamations: “Oh-hmm!”, “I-hmm!” He unquestioningly follows all his wife’s instructions. This hero embodies the aged Famusov. Princess Tugoukhovskaya is distinguished by a rather evil disposition and causticity. So, she sees the reason for the arrogant behavior of the countess-granddaughter in her “unfortunate fate”: “She’s evil, she’s been around girls for a whole century, God will forgive her.” Like all of Famusov’s guests, Princess Tugoukhovskaya does not see the benefit of education and believes that science poses a threat to society: “in St. Petersburg, the pedagogical institute, I think, is called that: there professors practice schism and unbelief!” The Tugoukhovskys quickly pick up the gossip about Chatsky’s madness and even try to convince Repetilov of this.

Among the guests are Famusova and Countess Khryumina with her granddaughter, who are also happy to believe in Chatsky’s madness. The countess-granddaughter tells the news to Zagoretsky. The Grandmother Countess, suffering from deafness, interprets everything she hears in her own way. She declares Alexander Andreevich a “damned Voltairian” and a “pusurman.”

Famusov’s guests are also joined by his sister-in-law, old woman Khlestova. S. A. Fomichev calls this heroine Famusov for the female half of society. Khlestova is a self-confident lady, intelligent, experienced, and insightful in her own way. Just look at the description given to her by Zagoretsky:

He's a liar, a gambler, a thief...

I left him and locked the doors;

Yes, the master will serve: me and sister Praskovya

I got two little blacks at the fair;

He bought tea, he says, and cheated at cards;

And a gift for me, God bless him!

She is also skeptical towards Skalozub and Repetilov. With all this, Khlestova shares the opinion of Famusov’s guests about science and education:

And you will really go crazy from these, from some

From boarding schools, schools, lyceums, you name it,

Yes from lancard mutual training.

Khlestova here has in mind the Lancastrian system of education, however, for her age and lifestyle, this confusion of concepts is quite forgivable and very realistic. In addition, it is worth noting that this statement does not contain the belligerence that is characteristic of Famusov and Skalozub’s speeches about enlightenment. Rather, here she is simply keeping the conversation going.

In Khlestova’s mind, the human dignity of those around her is inextricably fused with their social status, wealth and rank. So, she notes about Chatsky: “He was a sharp man, he had three hundred souls.” Her intonations in conversations with Molchalin are condescending and patronizing. However, Khlestova perfectly understands the “place” of Alexei Stepanych and does not stand on ceremony with him: “Molchalin, there’s your closet,” she declares, saying goodbye.

Like many of Famusov’s guests, Khlestova loves to gossip: “I don’t know other people’s estates!” She instantly picks up the rumor about Chatsky’s madness and even puts forward her version of events: “Tea, he drank beyond his years.”

The image of Repetilov in the comedy is caricatured. This is exactly the type of “Famusov the loser”. This is an absurd, careless, stupid and superficial person, a visitor to the English Club, a lover of drinking and carousing, philosophizing in noisy companies. This character sets the theme of “ideological fashion” in the comedy, as if parodying Chatsky’s social line.

As O. Miller and A. Grigoriev note, “Repetilov... failed to achieve any real professional benefit from marrying the daughter of the influential von Klock, and so he fell into liberal rhetoric....”

Repetilov tries to captivate Chatsky with “free-thinking” and describes to him “secret meetings” in the English Club, where they talk “about Beiron”, “about important mothers”. Repetilov tells Chatsky about “smart youth,” including the “true genius” Ippolit Udushev. This description sounds like frank satire:

Night robber, duelist,
He was exiled to Kamchatka, returned as an Aleut,
And the unclean hand is strong;
Yes, an intelligent person cannot help but be a rogue.
When he talks about high honesty,
Some kind of demon inspires:
My eyes are bloody, my face is burning,
He cries himself, and we all cry.

This is what Pushkin wrote about this image: “...What is Repetilov? it has 2, 3, 10 characters. Why make him ugly? It’s enough that he is flighty and stupid with such simplicity; It’s enough that he admits every minute to his stupidity, and not to his abominations. This humility is extremely new in the theater; has any of us ever felt embarrassed while listening to penitents like him?”

Repetilov in the comedy is a kind of parody of Chatsky; he is a double character who comically reduces the ideas of the main character. Repetilov’s literary “brothers” are Grushnitsky from Lermontov’s novel “A Hero of Our Time,” Sitnikov from Turgenev’s novel “Fathers and Sons,” Lebezyatnikov from Dostoevsky’s novel “Crime and Punishment.”

Among Famusov’s guests is the “slick socialite” Anton Antonich Zagoretsky. This is also the “Famusov-loser” type. Having failed to obtain ranks and titles, he remains a petty swindler and ladies' man. Gorich gives him an exhaustive description:

A notorious swindler, rogue:

Anton Antonich Zagoretsky.

With it, beware: endure too much,

And don’t play cards, he’ll sell you.

Old woman Khlestova also joins Platon Mikhailovich: “He’s a liar, a gambler, a thief,” she says to Sophia. However, all of Zagoretsky’s “riot” is limited to the everyday sphere. In the “ideological” sense, he is completely “law-abiding”:

What if, between us,
I was appointed censor
I would lean on fables; Oh! fables are my death!
Eternal mockery of lions! over the eagles!
Whatever you say:
Although they are animals, they are still kings.

As O. Miller and A. Grigoriev note, Zagoretsky is a candidate for Famusov, but his circumstances turned out differently, and he took on a different role - a universal servant, a pleaser. This is a kind of Molchalin, necessary for everyone.

Zagoretsky is a notorious talker and liar. Moreover, his lies in comedy are practically groundless. He, too, is happy to support the gossip about Chatsky, without even remembering who he is talking about: “His uncle, the rogue, put him in the madhouses... They grabbed him, put him in the yellow house, and put him on a chain.” However, he puts forward a different version to Countess Khryumina: “In the mountains he was wounded in the forehead, he went crazy from the wound.”

Visiting Famusov and the Gorich couple. Gorich is an old friend of Chatsky from his military service. Perhaps this is the only comedy character written by Griboyedov with a touch of sympathy. It seems that we cannot classify this hero as one of the types described earlier (Famusovs, candidates for Famusovs, Famusovs-losers). Gorich is a kind and decent person who has no illusions about the morals of secular society (remember the characterization that Gorich gives to Zagoretsky). This is the only hero who seriously doubts after hearing gossip about Chatsky’s madness. However, Platon Mikhailovich is too soft. He lacks Chatsky’s confidence and conviction, his temperament, and courage. Having obeyed his wife in everything, he became “weak in health,” “calm and lazy,” and out of boredom he amuses himself by playing the flute. “A boy-husband, a servant-husband, one of the wife’s pages”—it is this type that is represented in the image of Gorich.

Gorich's behavior illustrates in the comedy the theme of men's submission to their domineering wives. Prince Tugoukhovsky is also submissive and silent “before his wife, this efficient mother.” Molchalin is also timid, quiet and modest during his dates with Sophia.

So, Skalozub, Prince and Princess Tugoukhovsky, Countess Khryumina. old woman Khlestova, Repetilov and Zagoretsky, Gorichi... - “all these are types created by the hand of a true artist; and their speeches, words, address, manners, the way of thinking that breaks out from under them is a brilliant painting...” All these images are bright, memorable, original. Griboedov's heroes embody the leisurely “past century”, with its life traditions and moral rules. These people are afraid of new trends, they are not too fond of science and enlightenment, courage of thoughts and judgments. Thanks to these characters, as well as off-stage heroes, Griboyedov creates a wide panorama of Russian life. “The group of twenty faces reflected, like a ray of light in a drop of water, the whole of the former Moscow, its design, its spirit at that time, its historical moment and morals.”