One of the greatest works of the first half of the 19th century is the comedy “Woe from Wit” by A. S. Griboedov. In the comedy, the author posed a number of the most important problems of his time, which continue to concern humanity to this day.
The main character of the comedy, Chatsky, is seen both in his relationships with representatives of Famus society and with Sophia, whom he loves. That is why Sophia plays an important role in the comedy and her attitude not only to Chatsky, but also to Molchalin.
The image of Sofia Pavlovna is complex. By nature she is endowed with good qualities: a strong mind and an independent character. She is capable of deeply experiencing and sincerely loving. For a girl of the noble circle, she received a good education and upbringing. The heroine enjoys reading French literature. Famusov, Sophia's father, says:
French books make her sleepless, but Russian books make it painful for me to sleep.
But, unfortunately, all these positive character traits of Sophia could not be developed in Famus society. Here is how I. A. Goncharov wrote about this in his critical sketch “A Million Torments”: “It is difficult to be unsympathetic to Sofya Pavlovna: she has strong inclinations of a remarkable nature, a lively mind, passion and feminine softness. It is ruined in the stuffiness, where not a single ray of light, not a single stream of fresh air penetrates.” At the same time, Sophia is a child of her society. She drew her ideas about people and life from French sentimental novels, and it was this sentimental literature that developed Sophia's dreaminess and sensitivity. She says about Molchalin:
He will take your hand and press it to your heart,
He will sigh from the depths of his soul,
Not a free word, and so the whole night passes,
Hand in hand, and doesn’t take his eyes off me.
Therefore, it was no coincidence that she paid attention to Molchalin, who, with his features and behavior, reminded her of her favorite heroes. However, it cannot be said that the heroine is blinded: she is able to evaluate her chosen one sensibly and critically:
Of course, he doesn’t have this mind,
What a genius is to some, and a plague to others,
Which is fast, brilliant and will soon disgust...
Sophia loves Molchalin, but hides it from her father, who, of course, would not recognize him as a son-in-law, knowing that he is poor. The heroine sees a lot of good in her father’s secretary:
Compliant, modest, quiet,
Not a shadow of worry in his face,
And there are no wrongdoings in my soul,
He doesn’t cut strangers at random, -
That's why I love him.
Sophia also fell in love with Molchalin because she, a girl with character, needed a person in her life whom she could control. “The desire to patronize a loved one, poor, modest, who does not dare raise his eyes to her, to elevate him to himself, to his circle, to give him family rights” - this is her goal, according to I. A. Goncharov.
Therefore, Chatsky, returning to Moscow and seeing how Sophia has changed under the influence of her environment, is very worried. It hurt him to see her like this after his three-year absence; it was hard to realize that his beloved had chosen Molchalin. Sophia is also very worried, but because of something else. She involuntarily hears Molchalin’s conversation with Liza and suddenly sees her chosen one in a different light. She realized that in fact Molchalin took on the appearance of a lover only “to please the daughter of such a man.” He needed Sophia only in order to take advantage of her influence at the right moment. His goal was also to get a higher rank, so he, according to the behests of his father, pleased “all people without exception.” Perhaps someday Sophia would have learned about Molchalin’s true intentions and she would not have been so hurt. But now she has lost a man who was very suitable for the role of a boy-husband, a servant-husband. It seems that she will be able to find such a person and repeat the fate of Natalya Dmitrievna Gorich and Princess Tugoukhovskaya. She didn’t need a person like Chatsky, but it was he who opened her eyes to everything that was happening. And if Sophia had grown up in a different environment, she might have chosen Chatsky. But she chooses the person who suits her best, since she cannot imagine any other hero. And in the end, according to Goncharov’s remark, “heavier than anyone, even Chatsky,” it is Sophia.
Griboyedov introduced us to the heroine of the comedy as a dramatic person. This is the only character who is conceived and executed as close to Chatsky. But in the finale, when Sophia becomes an involuntary witness of Molchalin’s “courtship” of Liza, she is struck to the very heart, she is destroyed. And this is one of the most dramatic moments of the entire play.
So, in his comedy A. S. Griboedov managed to show not only the time in which he lived, but also created unforgettable images that are interesting to the modern reader and viewer. Therefore, as Goncharov says, “Woe from Wit” stands apart in literature and differs from other works of the word in its youthfulness, freshness and stronger vitality.
God be with you, I am left again with my riddle.
A. Griboyedov
The comedy “Woe from Wit” occupies an exceptional place in Russian literature. The intense plot, the poetic form and the poems themselves, which instantly scattered into catchphrases - all this makes Griboedov’s comedy a most interesting work. Created almost 180 years ago, it still continues to amaze us with its “eternal” characters - be it the fierce opponent of education Famusov, the insignificant opportunist Molchalin or the fiery denouncer of morals Chatsky.
The comedy “Woe from Wit” has two storylines: the protagonist’s conflict with the “past century” and Chatsky’s personal story, the collapse of his love. Among the comedy characters, Chatsky is, of course, the most attractive. He is witty and eloquent, kind and gentle, proud and sincere, he “writes and translates well,” his love for Sophia is deep and constant. But why did Sophia choose Molchalin over him, this, according to Chatsky, “the most pitiful creature”?
The image of Sophia is quite contradictory. She is endowed with both positive traits that attracted such an extraordinary person as Chatsky, and negative ones that pushed her to Molchalin. What made Sophia stand out in the world of the Famusovs? First of all, independence, independence. Having fallen in love with Molchalin, that is, a man outside her circle, she acted against the rules. And it’s not Sophia’s fault that Molchalin is not at all the way she sees him. Sophia is smart in her own way, she reads a lot. But he reads mostly sentimental novels, far from real life. Under their influence, she develops the impression of some ideal hero whom she would like to love. She sees Molchalin as such an ideal hero.
And this is her fault - her spiritual blindness. During her separation from Chatsky, Sophia did not grow spiritually. Moreover, she was so influenced by Famus’s environment that she was unable to critically comprehend what was happening. Chatsky cannot believe that such an intelligent, extraordinary girl like Sophia fell in love with the flatterer and sycophant Molchalin. He still thinks that Sophia is the same as she was in childhood, when they laughed together at people like Molchalin. But, unfortunately, Sophia takes Molchalin very seriously. Chatsky’s independent, mocking and sharp mind frightens Sophia: “Will such a mind make the family happy?” - she directly declares to Chatsky. Let's not forget that Sophia is Famusova. She rejects Chatsky for the same reasons as her father along with “Princess Marya Aleksevna.” Chatsky is a stranger, “not one of us,” he is incomprehensible, and therefore dangerous. It is Sophia who deals the strongest blow to Chatsky - she announces his madness. Material from the site
Sophia elevates Molchalin's hypocrisy, sycophancy and servility almost to the level of his virtues. What's strange here? In the society in which she lives, everyone survives as best they can. You will be considered crazy if you stand out from the crowd. Sophia is quite selfish, she wants the world to revolve around her, so she mistakes the servility and pretense of Molchalin, who is ready to become a “servant husband,” for love. At the end of the comedy, Sophia comes to sobering up, but it’s not for nothing that Chatsky says that for her this is not a disaster yet, that “after mature reflection” she will make peace with Molchalin, because he will please her in everything, he is “a high ideal of a wife’s pages.” all Moscow men."
One can only be amazed at Griboyedov’s perspicacity, his ability to foresee the behavior of people connected not by sincere love, but by selfish aspirations.
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On this page there is material on the following topics:
- Molchalin Sophia and Chatsky
- why did Sophia fall in love with Molchalin
- why did sophia choose molchalin
- Chatsky's relationship with Sofia Molchalina
- essay woe from mind meaning of comedy title
The story of Chatsky’s love for Sophia occupies not the main, but certainly important place in A. S. Griboyedov’s comedy “Woe from Wit”. This story introduces the reader to the world of the heartfelt experiences and feelings of the characters, it gives a special liveliness to the development of the action and explains a lot, since the history of Chatsky’s conflict with the Moscow nobility and the story of his unhappy love are closely intertwined and combined into a single storyline.
Chatsky grew up in Famusov’s house; from childhood he was raised and studied together with his daughter, Sophia. He considers Sophia his like-minded person and is used to believing that she shares his views. This faith was not shaken in him by “neither distance,” “neither entertainment, nor a change of place” (we know that Chatsky was in military service and spent three years abroad). His feeling is so sincere and ardent that, having returned to Moscow, he hurries to meet his beloved girl, and on the first date he declares his love to her.
But Sophia has changed a lot. She is cold with Chatsky. She is confused by his “quick questions and curious gaze”; she considers the general memories of her youth to be childish. What previously attracted and amused now no longer finds a response in her soul. In Chatsky, Sophia sees a man who is “happy to humiliate and stab” anyone, “envious, proud and angry”, who “abuses the world on the spot” with only one goal, “so that the world will say at least something about him...”. “Your gaiety is not modest, ... you are ready to pour out bile on everyone ...,” she accuses Chatsky. It is not surprising that, possessing such qualities, he becomes the cause of “... a terrible disorder” for Sophia.
However, Sophia’s character, complex and contradictory, in some important ways matches Chatsky himself. At seventeen years old, she not only “bloomed charmingly,” but also shows an enviable independence, unthinkable for people like Molchalin or even her father. She is not used to hiding her feelings. “What do I care about anyone? before them? to the entire Universe? It's funny - let them joke; annoying? “Let them scold,” she says. Molchalin reproaches Sophia for being too frank, but she is proud, she cannot stand pretense, it is impossible for her to “be nice through tears.”
Sophia received a good education, by nature she is endowed with a strong character and a lively mind, the ability to deeply experience and sincerely love, but all of the listed positive traits of her character could not properly develop in Famus’s society. Sophia drew her ideas about people from sentimental French literature, which instilled in her dreaminess and sensitivity. And she paid attention to Molchalin only because he reminded her of her favorite heroes in some of his features.
Sophia's dream is very helpful in understanding the inconsistency of her character; it seems to contain the formula of her soul and a unique program of action. He also gives us an idea of the ideal of a young man suitable for the role of the chosen one of her heart, who should be “... both insinuating and smart, “and timid...”, since “he was born in poverty.” Molchalin is exactly like that. He is poor and rootless, “ready to forget himself for others, the enemy of insolence,” always shy and timid, from “the depths of his soul” he sighs, “not a free word...”.
“Why did you know him so briefly?” - asks Chatsky. And Sophia sincerely answers: “I didn’t try, God brought us together. Look, he has gained the friendship of everyone in the house...", "yielding, modest, quiet", "not a shadow of anxiety in his face", "and no offenses in his soul," she lists the "wonderful properties" of her chosen one - "that's why I I love". Sophia fell in love with Molchalin also because she, a girl with character, needed a person in her life whom she could control. So she chooses the one who is most suitable for this role.
However, it cannot be said that Sophia is blinded. She is able to evaluate the chosen one sensibly and critically, she sees perfectly well that “he does not have this mind, that a genius is for others, but for others a plague...”. But “...will such a mind make a family happy?” - she argues further. Yes, Chatsky is smart, educated, capable of passionate, sincere feelings, has his own opinion on any subject and does not hesitate to express it. But what could this cost in the world of the Famusovs and the Molchalins? What benefit can such a lover bring to Sophia?
Sophia, for all her good spiritual inclinations, still entirely belongs to Famus’s world, and she cannot fall in love with Chatsky, who opposes him with the whole tenor of his soul. But Molchalin, who loves Sophia “by position”, “takes on the appearance of... a lover” “... to please the daughter of such a man... who feeds and waters, and sometimes gives rank,” is accepted in this world as mine. In his person, Griboyedov created an extremely expressive generalized image of a scoundrel and a cynic, a “low-worshipper and a businessman,” still a petty scoundrel who, however, will be able to reach “known degrees,” diligently using his image of a sycophant who does not dare to “have his own judgment.”
Sophia is still so young, so inexperienced, but “the makings of a remarkable nature” are ruined “in the stuffiness, where not a single ray of light, not a single stream of fresh air penetrates.” Her upbringing and environment have already left their mark on her views and actions. I. A. Goncharov said very well about it: “This is a mixture of good instincts with lies, a lively mind with the absence of any hint of ideas and beliefs - confusion of concepts, mental blindness... all this does not have the character of personal vices, but is like the general features of her circle.” Molchalin fits into this circle in a remarkable way, and therefore, no matter how bitter it is to admit it, it was Molchalin who chose this “most pitiful creature” that Sophia chose over Chatsky.
In Griboyedov's comedy "Woe from Wit" Sofya Famusova preferred Molchalin, although she had previously been in love with Chatsky.
This happened for several reasons. Chatsky left Russia for three years. During all this time, he did not write a single letter to Sophia. Sophia was at that age when girls fall in love. Molchalin lived and worked in her house at that time. It was him that Sophia chose. She could easily meet with him secretly from her father. Sophia saw Molchalin as an ideal husband and father. She saw that his father was actively promoting him in his career, that Molchalin received a noble title. He does not argue with others, he knows how to find an approach to any person. He was able to fool Sophia's head so that she does not notice his shortcomings. She sees in him only the virtues that she herself has endowed him with. In Chatsky, she is irritated by his wit, his jokes, the barbs that he makes towards Molchalin. She, like her father, believes that in a marriage with Chatsky it will be impossible to go out into the world. After all, he says what he thinks, he doesn’t want to curry favor with anyone. There will be no peaceful life with him.
Sophia doesn't need such a husband. After all, it will be much more convenient for her to command Molchalin, and Chatsky will not tolerate such an attitude.