1. Passion for theater.
2. Becoming a writer.
3. Satire in "The Brigadier".
4. Contribution to the development of drama.
5. Public service.
D.I. Fonvizin became interested in theater during his high school years. At the university, he already tried to write plays himself and even participated in student performances. Of course, at that time there were still few who could discern in the young talent one of the founders new literature started XVIII century, the main purpose of which will be enlightenment.
In 1762, the first literary translations of the young writer appeared in print, which immediately attracted the attention of admirers of Russian literature. Denis Ivanovich approached the translation of the work “Moralizing Fables with Explanations by Mr. Golberg” quite creatively, so some details, Latin terminology and numerous feuds between various religious sects disappeared from the work. The result was an almost new work, very different from the original, with a witty and laconic presentation of the plot. It was translations that served Fonvizin as the basic step from which he confidently, with a certain literary experience, stepped into large independent literature.
In 1769, the writer’s first comedy, “The Brigadier,” was published. The creation of the work coincided with major events that took place in public life. Full speed ahead Preparations were being made for the opening and work of the Commission to draw up a new state bill - a code that affected the entire nobility. Perhaps it is no coincidence that the nobles became the main characters in the comedy; moreover, most of them were negative characters. Through an almost vaudeville form, where all such heroes flirt with each other, except for the Brigadier, the rather unattractive qualities of the “masters of life” suddenly appear. In the comedy, the merits of the nobility to their homeland are greatly questioned, while in bright colors shows the arbitrariness of the “noble class” in relation to the serfs. The stigma of shame here falls not on notorious robbers or criminals, but on seemingly decent citizens: a nobleman with the rank of military man, an official and a nobleman who is keen on all sorts of French nonsense.
When staging the comedy on stage, Fonvizin first of all took the advice of D. Diderot - “move the theater into the living room...”. The action took place in one of the rooms village house Advisor. The audience was amazed at how natural and believable the characters looked in such a setting. It seemed that this was not a theater, but real home, and the audience is not sitting in the hall, but all in the same room along with the main characters. The conversation flowed, apparently already begun before the curtain opened. The Brigadier paced from corner to corner, reasoning: “... so if God bless, then the wedding will be on the twenty-sixth.” The hostess treated her to tea young man, who sat at the tea table in a smart morning dress. The adviser's daughter Sophia was embroidering on a hoop. The satire in the comedy was aimed at three characters - Ivanushka, the Advisor and the Brigadier, since they, in the author’s opinion, were the most dangerous in social and everyday terms, therefore, from the first act, the trio is ridiculed by Fonvizin.
From the point of view literary genre the work was created according to the main traditions high comedy classicism. This is primarily evidenced by the following characteristic features this direction, such as static action and sketchy characters. However, the author still allowed himself to deviate from classical rules. That is why the Brigadier’s son Ivanushka, who, due to his underdeveloped nature, never pretends to have serious feelings, at the end of the play, when parting, showed something sincere. And what’s even more interesting is that he even saw for a moment: “The young man is like wax. If malheureusement and I had fallen into the hands of a Russian who loved his nation, I might not have been like that.” Denis Ivanovich used this digression solely to bring the scene closer to reality, more believable than classicism allows to reveal. Fonvizin is not limited to just listing and ridiculing the unpleasant aspects of the life of noble society, he tries to determine their prerequisites and identify social predetermination.
The author was keenly interested in the question: why do such people appear? The Brigadier himself partially answered it, regretting that he allowed his wife to spoil their son Ivanushka, and did not send him to a regiment where he would be taught wisdom. The rude and ignorant Brigadier realized late the harmfulness of a fashionable upbringing and spoiling. It dawned on him only when he felt them on himself to the fullest. Ivanushka’s attitude towards his own parents was clear from one of his statements: “So, you know that I am a very unhappy person. I’ve been living for twenty-five years and still have a father and a mother.” The older generation, represented by the Councilor and the Brigadier, was typical of the noble class of that time. In the 18th century, bribery of Russian government officials reached its apogee, so the empresses themselves had to fight it. Both Elizaveta Petrovna at the end of her reign, and Catherine II, who replaced her in power, resolutely opposed this negative phenomenon and government agencies. The adviser appeared in the comedy both as a bribe-taker-philosopher and as a bribe-taker-practitioner. He. not only extorted bribes from ordinary people for his services, but also provided an ideological basis for this.
In a conversation with his only daughter, he declares that solving the problem for just a salary is contrary to his nature, his “human nature.” Moreover, his desire to get rich is so strong that for the sake of the Brigadier’s favorite villages, he is ready to sacrifice Sophia, marrying her to the fool Ivanushka. Fonvizin showed innovation in his play, revealing the images of the characters with the help of information from their past life. This played a big role in identifying the causes and conditions that shaped these characters.
Revealing the images of the Brigadier, Brigadier and Advisor, Fonvizin no longer fit into the boundaries of traditional classicism. Here he carried out a serious analysis of existing mores, creating a national typical character. Fonvizin's contemporaries clearly separated two concepts - character and disposition. If the first implied certain innate impulses for any action, then character personified the skills instilled by upbringing. In the writer's play, according to the famous critic P. N. Berkov, morals significantly dominate the characters. Fonvizin's innovation in the comedy "Brigadier" also consisted in the masterful use of colloquial and witty language. This made the characters more alive and believable. Moreover, each character had his own well-recognized vocabulary that characterized the hero. The adviser deliberately often used Church Slavonic expressions in his speech, which once again confirmed the hypocrisy of this man: “... and before advising in Moscow, I was blind in the collegium. The only consolation that remains is that God blessed me with wealth, which I acquired by virtue of decrees.” Due to their ignorance, the speech of the Brigadier and Brigadier was replete with vernacular.
Threats kept flying from the man’s lips: “you know, I’ll snatch two ribs from you at once,” “I’ll hit you in the back with two hundred Russian sticks,” “I’ll make him without a belly for this tomorrow.” Ivanushka and Sovetnitsa used in their vocabulary jargon close to colloquial speech dandies from the pages of satirical magazines: “So, my soul: I myself share the same sentiments with you; I see that you have powder on your head, but if there’s anything in your head, I can’t tell, damn it.” Even when talking about themselves, these people used their typical language. So, the Advisor talked about the Brigadier: “A treasure, not a woman! What honey-drinking lips she has! Just listen to her, and you will become a slave of sin: you cannot help but be seduced.” Thus, in Fonvizin’s play a new artistic technique- realistic typification.
Of course, the writer’s comedy could not but influence the further development of this genre as a whole. It provided too many new opportunities for authors to reveal the images and characters of their characters for them to ignore it.
“The Brigadier” laid down the basic principles of a new direction in dramaturgy. The achievements of Denis Ivanovich were picked up and further developed by other playwrights. This was most clearly manifested in the work of A.P. Sumarokov, in particular in the comedy “Cuckold by Imagination.” Here the author, like Fonvizin, brought provincial landowner life onto the stage.
The comedy “Brigadier” was such a great success with the audience that N. I. Panin, director, drew attention to the young author foreign policy Russian state, a skilled diplomat and a highly educated person. Soon Fonvizin received the position of secretary of the Foreign Collegium, but did not abandon his literary studies, combining them with public service. During these years, Denis Ivanovich collaborated with N. I. Novikov’s magazine “Pustomelya”, where he published his “Message to the Servants”, as well as with the magazine “Painter”, in which “A Word for Recovery... by Pavel Petrovich” was published.
The artistic originality of D. I. Fonvizin’s play “The Brigadier”
1. Fonvizin’s first comedy. 2. The author’s innovation in “The Brigadier”. 3. The significance of the play for the development of Russian comedy.
Denis Ivanovich Fonvizin, who acquired a “taste for verbal science” while still at the university, was one of the founders of the new literature of the early 18th century, characterized primarily by educational aesthetics. In 1762, the writer presented his first translations to readers, which immediately won the hearts of lovers of Russian literature. “Moral fables with explanations by Mr. Goldberg” by Fonvizin differed significantly from the original, since the writer discarded unnecessary details, Latin terms and information revealing unfavorable relations between religious sects, and wittily and succinctly stated the essence of the work. In his work on translations and short plays he accumulated literary experience Denis Ivanovich.
In 1769, Fonvizin’s first comedy, “The Brigadier,” was completed. This work was to some extent dedicated to well-known events unfolding in the public life of that period. Active preparations were underway for the opening and work of the Commission for drawing up a new code, which worried all the nobility. The main characters of the comedy are nobles; moreover, almost all of them belong to the category negative characters. In his work, Fonvizin seems to refute those invaluable services to the fatherland of the “noble class” with which the landowners covered up their uncontrolled ownership of serfs. Thus, at pillory in the comedy, a military man, an official and a nobleman, stuffed with all sorts of French nonsense, turned out to be in an unsightly form.
The play fully implements Diderot's advice - “to transfer the living room to the theater.” All the characters are so natural that it seems as if they have just been torn out of everyday life. Before this, not a single Russian play could boast of such a beginning. After the curtain rose, the viewer seemed to be present at the continuation of the conversation that had begun even before the curtain opened. The action took place in the room of the Councilor's village house. The foreman walked casually from corner to corner, the hostess treated the young guest to tea, who, breaking down, sat at the tea table. The advisor's daughter was embroidering on a hoop. The play is subject to the basic rules of high comedy classicism.
Here, such features of classicism as static action and schematic characters are clearly visible, but there are also obvious deviations from traditional canons. For example, the Brigadier’s son Ivanushka, who by nature of his character is incapable of serious feelings, at the end of the work suddenly shows something sincere when parting. So Fonvizin is trying to bring the scene closer to real life and show reality more plausibly and widely than classicism allows. At the same time, the author tried not only to ridicule the vulgar, disgusting and absurd aspects of the life of the nobility of his time, but also to reveal their reasons, to make public their social predetermination.
Why do people like this appear? The Brigadier himself answers this question, complaining that he allowed his wife to spoil their son Ivanushka, and did not enroll him in the regiment, where he would be taught wisdom. Despite his rudeness and ignorance, the Brigadier realizes the harmful results of fashionable “upbringing” and spoiling, since he fully experienced them himself. Ivanushka’s attitude towards his own parents is fully manifested in his words: “So, you know that I am a very unhappy person. I’ve been living for twenty-five years and still have a father and a mother.” The Advisor and the Brigadier are typical representatives of the “noble class” of that time. In the middle of the century, according to Sumarokov, extortion was so ingrained in the Russian bureaucratic and judicial apparatus that the empresses themselves had to speak out against it. Both Elizaveta Petrovna at the end of her reign, and Catherine II, who then came to power, drew attention to the widespread bribery in government structures.
In his play, the author reveals the character of the Advisor both as a bribe-taker-philosopher and as a bribe-taker-practitioner. In a conversation with Sophia, he says that solving a case for just a salary is contrary to his nature, his “human nature...” For the sake of the Brigadier’s favorite villages, the Advisor is ready to give up his only daughter Sophia for the “fool” Ivanushka. For the first time in a classic comedy, the images of the characters are revealed with the help of information from the past lives of the heroes. This helps to understand the essence even deeper artistic image, as well as identify the causes and conditions that shape character.
In revealing the images of the Brigadier, the Brigadier and the Advisor, the author goes far beyond traditional classicism, since he carries out a thorough analysis of existing morals and creates a national typical character. According to Fonvizin’s contemporaries, character and disposition are two different concepts. If character presupposes some innate impulses for a certain action, then character is skills instilled by upbringing. Famous critic P. N. Berkov believed that in “The Brigadier” morals significantly dominate over characters. Fonvizin's innovation in the play "The Brigadier" was also manifested in the masterful use of natural and witty language. Each character has a clearly recognizable vocabulary, which perfectly characterizes from one side or another. So, for example, the Advisor deliberately uses Church Slavonic phrases in his speech, which only emphasizes the hypocrisy of this person. The Brigadier and the Brigadier, due to their ignorance, are distinguished by their vernacular. Ivanushka and Sovetnitsa use macaroni, close to the colloquial speech of dandies from the pages of satirical magazines. What is also surprising is that even “to themselves” these people speak in their own language. In Fonvizin's play the new method literature - realistic typification.
Fonvizin's play played a huge role in further development Russian comedy, since it was in it that the basic principles of a new direction in drama and literature were first laid down. Subsequently, other authors successfully used the writer’s discoveries when creating their works. For example, Sumarokov in his comedy “Cuckold by Imagination” also brings provincial landowner life to the stage. The play was such a success with the audience that N.I. Panin, the head of the foreign policy of the Russian state, a skilled diplomat and a highly educated person, invited the author to the position of secretary at the Foreign Collegium.
And the analysis) in its structure and details resembles Golberg’s comedy: “Jean de France”. Golberg's play also features two old men who decide to marry their children. The daughter of one, an ideal girl, does not want to marry a frivolous dandy who has just arrived from Paris, a young man who has lived for fifteen weeks in the “capital of the world”, who tries to constantly speak French (his favorite expression: “je m"en moque” constantly Fonvizin’s Ivanushka also repeats).
Fonvizin. Brigadier. Audiobook (1 act)
Thus, we have to admit that in Fonvizin’s first comedy the main characters, the dandy Ivanushka and the dandy councilor, are borrowed types, but, obviously, familiar to Russian reality. Beginning with Cantemir, who sketched the type of dandy Medor, almost all of our 18th-century satirists, drawing Russian life, came across this annoying image - the degeneracy of our young civilization.
Satirical magazines of Catherine's era (most of all " Painter"Novikov) tinkered with him a lot, making fun of the appearance of the dandies, their broken manners, language and, most importantly, their worldview, imbued with light, superficial skepticism. Free from moral obligations to women, parents, fatherland and friends, these petits-maîtres, frivolous pupils of the Parisian boulevards, having picked up the very tops of liberation philosophy, vulgarized in the crowd, brought home a foreign costume, strange, incomprehensible speeches and manners, contempt for homeland... For everyone European literatures they walked around - and everywhere with their ugliness they aroused laughter, aroused national identity, the desire to throw off the “husk” of an alien civilization...
Like all of them, our Ivanushka from France is in admiration: “my body (he says) was born in Russia, it’s true, but my spirit belongs to the French crown!” Having learned that his father is in love with his adviser, he, according to fashionable etiquette, challenges his father to a duel. “I am a nobleman like you, monsieur!” - he says and further explains that “when a puppy is not obliged to respect [respect] that dog that was his father,” then he does not consider himself connected with the parent in the slightest “respect.” He does not want to “menage” his father and is generally “indifferent [indifferent] in everything that concerns his parents.” The Advisor’s words regarding marriage: “God unites, man does not separate,” Ivanushka ridicules with an ironic remark: “Does God get involved in such matters in Russia? At least, my sirs, in France he left it to people’s will - to love, cheat, marry and divorce.”
The adviser is a match for Ivanushka: a frivolous woman who freely cheats on her husband, she also has a “French” soul. For her, the simple Russian people, the servants, are “brutes.” Like Ivanushka, she speaks a special jargon of “dandies”; for example: “I am willing to divorce you,” etc.
The Brigadier, a retired military man, and the Counselor, a retired judicial official, are outlined paler: the author needed them only for intrigue. But Ivanushka’s mother, Brigadier Akulina Timofeevna, is vividly and vividly represented. The author wanted to ridicule her for her stinginess, stupidity and talkativeness - but he turned out to have her prettier than all the others characters: she is kind, loving wife, good man, alien to selfishness... Having endured a lot of grief herself, she sympathizes with all people suffering. She often turns out to have more sense in her head than her husband, and more kindness than the ideal Sophia. Thus, of all the characters, her image is the most vitally drawn, obviously snatched from Russian reality, with all its funny and cute features. Dostoevsky staged "The Brigadier" in morally, even taller than Sophia; Fonvizin's contemporaries saw in the Brigadier the type of truly Russian woman. N.I. Panin told the writer: “Your brigadier is relatives to everyone; no one can say that they don’t have such Akulina Timofeevna - either a grandmother or an aunt!”
The positive faces of the comedy, Sophia and Dobrolyubov, are briefly outlined - they were needed for shading negative traits other actors.
It is also valuable that Fonvizin managed to find a special characteristic language for each character: The brigadier speaks rudely, as befits an old military servant. The Counselor’s speeches recall the rhetoric of the seminary and the treasury chamber. The brigadier speaks in the beautiful Russian speech of “Moscow prosviren.”
"Minor" is one of greatest works Russian literature of the 18th century. Its author is the writer Denis Ivanovich Fonvizin. "Minor", the analysis of which is presented in this article, is a work included in the required school curriculum according to literature.
History of the creation of the work
Fonvizin worked on “Minor” for a long time. The first edition of the comedy dates back to the 60s. It contains socio-political motives, the theme of serfdom is still absent and only a picture of the upbringing of the landowner’s son Ivanushka is given (that’s what the hero of the comedy was called in the first edition). The adult ignorant Ivanushka, who is already “shaving his beard,” is contrasted in the first edition by Milovid, a young educated officer, the son of the cultured metropolitan nobleman Dobromyslov (Milovid and Dobromyslov are the future Milon and Starodum). The images of Skotinin, Sophia, Pravdin and some others are still missing in the first version.
The second edition of the comedy was created in the late 70s and early 80s, i.e. in the period after the Pugachev uprising. At this time, the leading part of the nobility was forced to think more and more about the causes of the peasant uprisings. In addition, during these years the reactionary Potemkin regime, which relied on irreconcilable serf owners, clearly strengthened. Thus, the situation in the 70s and 80s brought the issue of serfdom to the forefront of comedy. Among the characters in the second edition of the comedy, sharply defined images of the serf-owners Prostakova and Skotinin appear. Ideological content Comedy has become more complicated.
"Brigadier" and Minor": similarities and differences
The comedy “The Minor” is Fonvizin’s main work, and both in the seriousness of the concept and in the artistry of execution it far surpasses his first comedy. As in “The Brigadier,” in the new comedy Fonvizin raised the issue of education, but here he touched on this issue much deeper. Having brought out in “The Brigadier” the Frenchmaniac Ivanushka - the fruit of the upbringing of French tutors and French salons, he touched on a phenomenon that, in the end, is more comical than disastrous, and which had its own and good points. This outward adoption of the customs and fashions of foreigners undermined the prejudice of fear of everything foreign and opened up the possibility of a more serious rapprochement with the civilized world.
In “Nedorosl” we are dealing with just the opposite phenomenon. Mitrofanushka is brought up in a rude and uncultured environment, imbued with an instinctive fear of any teaching. Here we are faced not with people who have slightly grasped the heights of education, as in “The Brigadier,” but with people who are not at all affected by the general movement towards enlightenment, completely alien to the new influences of the century and from the new only firmly assimilated the “decree on the freedom of the nobility.” By bringing out this side of life, Fonvizin undoubtedly touched upon a more serious and more widespread ulcer of society.
The problem of serfdom
In “The Minor” (1782), Fonvizin contrasts the rude, ignorant, selfish feudal landowners with enlightened and humane people. Serfdom, of which Skotinin and Prostakova are representatives, is shown truthfully and vividly; a holistic picture emerges from the actions and statements of the characters local life, feudal tyranny and violence.
Fonvizin clearly shows the economic enslavement of the peasants. The writer notes the complete oppression of their personality. Prostakova calls the faithful servant Eremeevna “a dog’s daughter”, “an old witch”; He not only scolds his servants, but also brutally beats him. “I don’t lay down my hands,” she declares, “I scold, then I fight; This is how the house holds together, my father.” It is not for nothing that teacher Kuteikin compares the life of serfs among landowners with a combat situation, with “battles,” and retired soldier Tsyfirkin strengthens this comparison: “I myself saw rapid fire here for three hours a day.” The Skotinins do not consider the peasant to be a person at all. “She lies there as if she were noble,” Prostakova is sincerely indignant at the illness of her maid.
The interests of the serf owners are base. Skotinin, who feels better among pigs than in the company of people, thinks of marrying Sophia only in order to get rich. Prostakova also pursues exclusively selfish goals, trying to marry her Mitrofanushka to Sophia. This is the circle of people against whom Fonvizin directs the edge of his satire.
The importance of education and upbringing
The comedy strongly emphasizes the importance of education and upbringing for solving national problems. The author believes that proper upbringing is the “guarantee of the state’s well-being.” The playwright makes demands on the king himself. He holds the idea that subjects are not created for the king, but the king is for his subjects, and demands that the monarch be responsible in matters of government. In accordance with the idea of enlightened and humane officials, the play shows Pravdin, who “calms down” the evil serf owners - the Prostakovs and Skotinins.
" And aoid ḗ “song”) is a type of drama in which characteristic situations are presented in funny, comic forms; here exposing human vices and revealing the negative sides of life.
Satire – (from lat. satura- “mixture, mishmash, all sorts of things”) type of comic: a way of manifesting the comic in art, which consists in destructive ridicule of phenomena that seem vicious to the author. Satire is the most acute form of exposing reality. If humor is ridicule of the “private”, then satire is ridicule of the “general”, denunciation of social and moral vices and shortcomings. Satirical beginning can be present in works of any genre: comedies, farces, short stories, novellas, etc.
Aesopian language (named after the ancient Greek fabulist Aesop) - speech, a manner of presentation based on allegory, hints and other similar techniques that deliberately disguise the thought, idea of the author.
General characteristics of the comedy of classicism
Comedy as opposed to tragedy depicts daily life . Her attention was drawn at all times to negative phenomena of reality. Its heroes were people who were morally inferior. Their flawed nature, their contradiction with the norm, the ideal, was revealed in comedy with the help of laughter.
The purpose of comedies, according to classicism, is to educate, ridiculing shortcomings. Disadvantages are the psychological properties of a person in their everyday manifestation: eccentricity, extravagance, laziness, stupidity, etc. However, this does not lead to the conclusion that the comedy of classicism was devoid of social content, that it was directed against such shortcomings that had private character. Comedy was intended to affirm a high moral ideal, but it did this by ridiculing vices that reduced social significance human personality(panache, extravagance, stupidity, etc.).
Thus, Fonvizin, although he shows his heroes in everyday life, in family relationships, forces them to speak out on pressing issues of public life. Central theme Fonvizin's theme is education. Education is seen as a means of forming civic consciousness in the nobility. It should give “the direct value of learning,” awaken humane, philanthropic feelings, and contribute to the general improvement of morals.
Fonvizin makes the heroes of his comedies - “The Brigadier” and “The Minor” - representatives of all groups of the ruling class . Among them are representatives of the military nobility, local nobility, government officials, etc. It affects areas of their private and public life, raises questions family relations, relations between spouses, children and parents, makes the subject of conversations between the heroes the appointment and duties of the monarch, the difficult situation of Russia under Catherine, the politics of her court, and bribery of officials. In action it shows the arbitrariness of the serf owners and the lack of rights of the serfs.
Thus, the Russian comedy of classicism is framed as a social comedy in its artistic meaning and ideological orientation. Since comedy ridicules not private shortcomings, but those phenomena that posed a social danger, playwrights used the means not of harmless, “light” laughter, but of satire, which denounced these phenomena mercilessly and evilly. This gave her a dangerous character in the eyes of the government. Comedy action and features of its composition, The purpose of comedy in classicism is to make people laugh, to “rule the temper with mockery,” i.e. to educate individual representatives of the noble class with laughter.
Comedy "Brigadier"
The first dramatic experience of D.I. Fonvizin's comedy "The Brigadier" (1769).
It was also the most significant comedy of this time. This comedy is also based on the optimism of young Fonvizin, who believed in the empress, in her reforms and in herself, therefore main idea Comedy is the idea that one cannot put up with the spiritual decline of those who have power, the state of affairs must be changed. The authorities can and must influence them for the good of the state.
Problems and character system comedies reflect this. Parallels arise between a certain character and a problem - this is how an image of an entire class is created, which the author satirically denounces:
Hypocrisy and Lawlessness (Counselor);
Lawlessness and Cruelty (Brigadier);
Promiscuity (Counselor);
Gallomania (Ivan and the Advisor);
Cruelty, tyranny and ignorance (Foreman);
Virtuous enlightenment (Sofia and Dobrolyubov).
All characters can be divided into positive and negative. Traditionally, the plot ends with the punishment of negative characters: everything returns to its original position. The comedy uses traditional love story. Behind the comic effects of this funny love affair, in which all the characters are drawn, lie social problems.
The action of the play is based on matchmaking. The beginning of the comedy is the phrase: “There will be a wedding on the 26th”.
The brigadier with his wife and son, passing from St. Petersburg, stops at the estate of the Advisor, whose daughter, Sophia, he would like to marry his Ivanushka. But the bride loves someone else, and Ivanushka is infatuated with Sophia’s young stepmother. The rest of the characters also turn out to be in love.
What’s new in Fonvizin’s comedy is the inclusion in the composition everyday scenes. The comedy begins with a scene where guests and hosts, having freely settled down in a “room decorated in a rustic way,” finish drinking tea. The Advisor still pours tea at the request of individual guests, but the majority are already busy with other things: the Advisor “looks at the calendar,” the Brigadier “walks and smokes,” the Brigadier “sits at a distance and knits a stocking,” Sophia embroiders.
In the same relaxed, free manner there is a conversation between them, during which the wedding day is planned. The characters exchange opinions on a number of issues: upbringing and education, legal proceedings, national culture, native language. The heroes' judgments did not go beyond the usual range of their ideas.
The main question for Fonvizin Throughout his work, the question remained about what a true nobleman should be and whether Russian nobles correspond to their high position in the state. This question was not new to Russian literature. By forcing comic characters to speak out on individual and seemingly random issues, Fonvizin raised the topic of the private life of the “noble” class as a satirical topic. Ignorance characterizes both the old and the “new mannered” nobility. They are surprisingly unanimous on the issue of enlightenment.
“What, matchmaker, grammar? – The Brigadier addresses the Advisor. – I lived without her until I was almost sixty years old, and I also had children. Now Ivanushka is well over twenty, and he – to speak at good times, to remain silent at worst – has never heard of grammar.” "Certainly, - The Brigadier echoes him, – no grammar needed. Before you begin to teach it, you still need to buy it. You’ll pay eight hryvnia for it, but whether you learn it or not, God knows.”
The Advisor is also sure that grammar is unnecessary: “Damn me if grammar is needed for anything, especially in the village. In the city, at least, I tore one into papillotes.”.
Ivan doesn’t disagree with everyone either: “I agree with you, what about grammar! I myself wrote a thousand bills(love notes) and it seems to me that “my light, my soul, adieu ma reine (farewell my queen) , one can say without looking at the grammar.”
Thus, the Brigadier advises “articles and military regulations”, the Advisor - “Code and decrees”; Brigadier - “go through the notebooks.” And the Advisor sees the benefit of reading only “kind novels.”
And yet, Ivanushki and the Advisors in Fonvizin’s depiction are much more dangerous and terrible than the Advisors and Brigadiers. The latter served the state all their lives, to the best of their abilities: one in the military, the other in civil service.
Their service would be more useful to the fatherland if they were educated people.
In the comedy, Fonvizin ridicules the martinet, rudeness and cruelty of one and the hypocrisy and bribery of the other. The internal appearance of these characters, according to Fonvizin, does not correspond to the ideal of a nobleman.
But children raised in different conditions did not become more educated than their fathers. Unlike their parents, they considered themselves free from fulfilling their duty and indulged in
enjoying life. Such behavior, from Fonvizin’s point of view, is generally unworthy of the title of nobleman, therefore the theme of Ivan with his consumerist attitude to life is revealed in the comedy in a sharply satirical way. All his concepts and ideas, which guide him in his life, are condemned: here is his attitude towards the Fatherland, education, national culture, language, national morals, family. His conversations with the Brigadier, Advisor, Brigadier, Dobrolyubov are imbued with the author’s deep irony, aimed at condemning a nobleman who has forgotten about his duties, bringing “dishonor” to his class . “It’s all about education”, says Dobrolyubov, and the Brigadier agrees. Fashionable French education combined with reading romance novels led to the formation of a young rake, for whom “lace and blondes” are the main thing in life.
True nobles in comedy are Dobrolyubov and Sophia. They are distinguished by intelligence, education, humanity, love for the Fatherland, respect for their native culture, language, high morality, and consciousness of their duty. In this regard they were close noble heroes high tragedy. They appeared before the audience not just as lovers and suffering from the evil of others, but as people concerned about the fate of their class. They understood the need for his recovery and were aware of the abnormality of the current situation in the state. “The greed of our covetous people has passed all limits. It seems that there are no prohibitions that could calm them down.”, says Dobrolyubov, characterizing the situation in the courts.
Fonvizin's "Brigadier" had a decisive influence on the subsequent development of the comedy genre.
Ivan's image
The image of Ivanushka is that of an ordinary gallomaniac who despises both his family and his homeland. Fonvizin writes about the danger of this process, since what began with lack of education, promiscuity, bad upbringing in the family ends with the nobleman forgetting his duty to the Fatherland, this is not a family problem, but a state problem. Father and son are close: Ivan is a continuation of his father, only more dangerous, unprincipled, he has no respect for anyone. Enlightenment ideology sees in Ivan a new animal, but not a human being, he is unreasonable, unenlightened, there is no spiritual qualities, however, he continues the philosophy of the generation of fathers who, with their behavior and service, disgraced the rank of nobleman. Both the Brigadier and the Advisor are immoral and unprincipled people, but both are successful, both consider themselves role models. Already contemporaries (Count Panin) noticed the innovation of comedy, calling it a “comedy of manners.”
Artistic Features
Fonvizin uses the techniques of self-exposure of characters and Aesopian language, socially oriented characterization of characters: “...life invades his (Fonvizin’s) stage” (G. Gukovsky).
Realistic tendencies were most clearly manifested in the image of the Brigadier. IN female image Timofeevna Akulina is not only a negative character, typical traits appear in him (we are talking about a mass phenomenon in people's life).