Write a brief description of the characters of Sophia the Little One. Characteristics of Sophia in the comedy “Minor”

Fonvizin’s work “The Minor” was written during the reign of Catherine II, when issues of social relations, upbringing and education of youth were especially relevant. In the play, the author not only raises acute problems of his contemporary society, but also illustrates the ideological concept with vivid collective images. One of these characters in the comedy is Sophia. Fonvizin’s “Minor” is, first of all, a classic comedy that highlights the educational ideas of humanism. In the image of Sophia, the author portrayed a perfect example of a Russian woman of the Enlightenment era - educated, intelligent, concise, kind and modest. The girl respects her parents, treats older and more authoritative people with respect, and is open to receiving true moral guidelines.

According to the plot of the play, Sophia had a difficult fate. At a young age, the girl’s father died, and half a year before the events described in the work, her mother died. Since her uncle, Starodum, was in the service in Siberia, Sophia, by the will of fate, ends up in the care of the rude, cruel and stupid Prostakova. The landowner is going to marry the girl off to her brother Skotinin without her knowledge. However, the news about Sophia's inheritance radically changes Prostakova's plans - the woman decides to woo her underage son Mitrofan in order to receive her share of the inheritance. The climax of the marriage story is the kidnapping of Sophia on the orders of the landowner, while the issue of the girl’s marriage had already been decided - Starodum approved Sophia’s choice to marry the honest and kind Milon. However, the ending of the comedy is happy for the girl - she remains with her loved one.

Sophia and Mitrofan

In “The Minor” the central characters are Sophia and Mitrofan. In addition to the fact that they are both the youngest characters in the play, the heroes also appear as antipodes in the play. Sophia is an orphan who has to take care of herself, while Mitrofan is a spoiled mama's boy. The girl strives for knowledge, takes her future seriously, develops as a person with her own opinion, while the young man is weak-willed, stupid, obeys Prostakov in everything and is an infantile character.

In the play, the author pays special attention to the issue of upbringing each of the characters, pointing out that good, proper upbringing is the basis for the development of a strong independent personality. This becomes clear when analyzing the images of Sophia and Mitrofan within the framework of the storyline. The girl was raised in an enlightened noble family, where the most important values were respect and love for parents, good behavior, honesty, justice and mercy towards those in need, which formed the basis of Sophia’s virtuous nature. Mitrofan was raised by the despotic, cruel, deceitful Prostakova and the weak-willed Prostakov, having adopted all the negative traits from them. In the comedy, Sophia acts as a symbol of purity, modesty, inner beauty and virtue. She is exactly the kind of person that Starodum talks about in his instructions, and whom the author himself admires.

Sofia and Prostakova

The image of Sophia in “The Minor” is also contrasted with the second main female image of the play - Prostakova. The girl and the landowner personify two diametrically opposed views on the role of women in the family and society. Prostakova does not love or respect her husband, she can scold him or even hit him - the wedding itself for her was rather an opportunity to get a large farm in her possession. For Sophia, marriage is an important, thoughtful step, a union of two people who love and respect each other, fully accomplished and congenial individuals. The girl has long loved Milon, remains faithful to him while the young man serves his homeland, is honest and open to him. In marriage, what is important for Sophia is not material wealth, but warm relationships, well-being and understanding.

Prostakova acts as a bearer of the values and foundations of the long-outdated “Domostroy”, according to the norms of which a woman does not need to be educated, understand high matters and talk about serious things; instead, she should only deal with the housework and children, getting bogged down in the daily household routine. The image of Sophia is innovative for Russian literature, as it embodies new, educational views on the role of women in society. In the work, she acts as a bearer of true wisdom, kindness, honesty, cordiality and human warmth. What appears before the reader is not a peasant woman or a cook, but an educated girl with her own views and opinions. The comparative characterization of Sophia in “The Minor” makes it clear that in her image Fonvizin portrayed his own ideal of a renewed, enlightened, harmonious personality of enlightenment.

Sophia and Mitrofan

Sofia and Prostakova

Sophia is the central character of the play, around whom the main events of the play revolve: an unexpected inheritance, the appearance of the girl’s uncle, a kidnapping plan and three suitors fighting each other.

The heroine is well educated, she is left without parents early on and ends up in the house of the Prostakovs, who are trying to take possession of her small inheritance. Knowing that Sophia has a fiancé, Milon, Prostakova is trying to marry her off to her brother Skotinin in order to finally get her hands on the girl’s fortune.

When the landowner finds out that Sophia is a rich heiress, she decides to marry her to Mitrofan. Previously, without ceremony in treating the orphan, Prostakova is now kind and courteous. Realizing that her plans are not destined to come true, the landowner plots the kidnapping of the heroine and forced marriage. However, Starodum, Milon and Pravdin manage to prevent this treachery.

The moral values of the heroine

Sophia in Greek means wisdom. The girl has wisdom of mind and sensitivity of heart. At the end of the play, she forgives Prostakova and rushes to her aid.

Despite the attacks of Prostakova and Skotinin, Sophia remains faithful to her fiancé. At the same time, she is ready to submit to her uncle’s will when he says that he has a suitable party in mind for her. The fact is that she trusts her uncle unlimitedly, asks for his advice and rules to follow.

Sophia talks a lot about life values. For her, conscience and heart are inextricably linked - the peace of one directly depends on the contentment of the other, and for this it is necessary to strictly observe the rules of virtue. She wants to receive respect from those whom she respects, and strives to prevent bad thoughts about herself. Also important to her is the concept of earning your fortune honestly and the belief that being born into a noble family does not make a person noble.

The author's ideal woman

In the image of Sophia, modest and well-mannered, D.I. Fonvizin outlined his feminine ideal. The main principle of family life for her is Starodum’s words and instructions that the head of the family should be a husband who obeys reason, and the wife must obey him in everything. Only then will the family be strong and happy.

Fonvizin strives to make the image of Sofia alive and moving. This is reflected in the heroine’s sophisticated language; she is no stranger to jokes and even manipulation of people - she can easily make her lover jealous.

Sophia and other heroes

Sophia, raised by Starodum, is directly opposed to Mitrofanushka, who was greatly influenced by Prostakova. Sophia's intelligence is inversely proportional to the stupidity of the undergrowth. The girl relies on her uncle for everything, is grateful to him for the advice he shared with her, and Mitrofan renounces his mother at the most difficult moment of her life. The heroine is kind and values the honesty and decency of those around her, but Mitrofan is cruel, only power and wealth attract his attention.

Sophia is also opposed to Prostakova. The landowner believes that a woman should not learn to read and write, that marriage for her is only a means to achieve a goal and her own well-being. She doesn’t care about her husband, she even beats him. And for Sophia, marriage is a union of loving hearts, based on respect and mutual understanding.

In Fonvizin's comedy "The Minor" there are many illustrative characters. Despite the diversity of characters, the play is led by two heroes - the undersized Mitrofan and his complete opposite Sophia.

Sophia is the only positive female character, which suggests that it is in her that the image of the ideal female upbringing that Fonvizin imagined is contained. In comparison with Mitrofan, Sophia’s qualities clearly stand out: thirst for knowledge, good manners, respect for elders, kindness, and modesty. These are the qualities, according to the author, that a well-behaved girl should have.

Sophia's fate brought her a lot of misfortunes. She grew up without a father, and as she grew up, she lost her mother. Since there was no news from her uncle Starodum, who was in Siberia, for a long time, she came under the care of the Prostakovs. The Prostakov family, led by the eccentric Mrs. Prostakova, gave Sophia a very difficult life. They forcibly stopped her communication with Milon, a young man for whom Sophia had sincere and mutual feelings. She was constantly watched, reproached with a piece of bread and restricted in everything. But despite such treatment, Sophia never complained and always treated the Prostakovs with respect.

Sophia is also characterized by fidelity. Despite the fact that she had not seen her chosen one for six months and had not received news from him, she did not change her feelings. All this time she continued to love him. When it turned out that Starodum was not only alive, but had also earned a large fortune in the North, of which he made Sonya the heir, everyone began to fuss around. They tried to force her to marry both Skotinin and Mitrofan, but she was not going to give up her feelings.

Sophia more than once plays the role of a very educated girl. Her speech is very respectful and competent, and she prefers to spend her free time reading instructive literature. Having met his niece for the first time in a long time, Starodum was pleased with both her upbringing and her disposition. He notes with pleasure that Sophia grew up exactly the way he wanted her to be, and even chose the chosen one whom he himself found for her.

Sophia is opposed to both Mitrofan and Mrs. Prostakova. She is the standard of female virtue, an example for noblewomen of that era. In it, Fonvizin included all the virtues that he considered important and key for girls.

Essay about Sophia in Fonvizin's story

Sophia is Starodum's only and beloved niece. Besides, when she lost her parents, he was also her guardian. During his departure from the city, the Prostakovs take the girl to their estate. But they do this not because of their kindness, but only because they want to take away everything that Sophia has. But their plan is too obvious and simple for her. Sophia immediately opens it and looks at it all with irony and a grin. Sophia is a smart and cunning girl, but besides this, she is also smart and reasonable.

The main character is one of the positive characters in this comedy, where there is a lot of irony and ridicule. In addition, she attracts other good characters to her, such as Starodum or Pravdin. The heroine is a bright image, endowed not only with sensitivity and understanding, but also with the ability to think wisely and sensibly.

Throughout the comedy, Sofyushka’s character remains unchanged: she is always faithful to Milon, honors her uncle Starodum and respects Pravdin. The girl immediately understands that the landowner Prostakova is affectionate with her for a reason, she first wanted to marry the girl to her brother Skotinin, but as soon as she found out that she received a rich inheritance from her uncle, she decided to marry her beloved son Mitrofanushka.

Consequently, three men applied for the girl’s hand at once: Skotinin, Mitrofan and Milon, but only the latter loved Sophia sincerely and wanted to marry her, and not her inheritance.

When Starodum wants to marry Sophia to a young man unknown to her, she is embarrassed and says that the choice of the groom also depends on her. Starodum agrees with the girl, and she immediately calms down, saying that she loves only Milon and plans to marry him.

Despite the fact that Sophia’s uncle hardly participated in her upbringing, these two heroes have many similar traits - honesty, nobility, sincerity, kindness and good manners, and they both had their own point of view on life. Starodum sees that Sophia is drawn to knowledge and is constantly trying to find moral directions in books that could then help her in later life.

Thus, we can conclude that Sophia, as a heroine, performs the main function - she helps to reveal the true character of Mrs. Prostakova, her negative sides, and also all the best qualities of a person are embodied in the image of Sophia - intelligence, honesty, sincerity, nobility, kindness and many others that the author valued so much.

Several interesting essays

Analysis of Turgenev's story Khor and Kalinich
The story “Khor and Kalinich” is part of the series of stories “Notes of a Hunter”, and is one of the most famous by I.S. Turgenev. It was with this story, published in 1847, that the entire cycle began.
The history of the creation of the novel Oblomov (Goncharov)
Ivan Goncharov’s novel “Oblomov”, together with the works “Ordinary History” and “Precipice”, forms a trilogy. The author created the work for more than ten years. The novel "Oblomov" has a long history of creation.
Why did Tolstoy call Leskov a writer of the future? (6th grade essay)
Tolstoy appreciated Leskov’s works and spoke positively about him. However, Nikolai Semenovich owes such assessments not to the fact that he became an imitator of the style of the author of War and Peace.
Analysis of the novel Vasilyeva was not included in the lists
It is difficult to talk about war as something useful and truly worthwhile. In my opinion, a person, if he is responsible for his own life, can develop in peaceful conditions and even better
Heroes of the story Son of Kataev's regiment

Sophia is Starodum's niece (his sister's daughter); S.’s mother is Prostakov’s matchmaker and in-law (like S.) of Prostakova. Sophia means “wisdom” in Greek. However, the name of the heroine receives a special connotation in the comedy: S.’s wisdom is not rational, not the wisdom, so to speak, of the mind, but the wisdom of the soul, heart, feelings, the wisdom of virtue. The image of S. is at the center of the plot. On the one hand, S. is an orphan, and the Prostakovs took advantage of this in the absence of her guardian Starodum (“We, seeing that she was left alone, took her to our village and looked after her estate as if it were our own” - d. 1, yavl. V). The news of Starodum's arrival in Moscow causes real panic in Prostakova's house, who understands that she will now have to part with the income from S.'s estate. On the other hand, S. is a girl of marriageable age, and she has a lover (Milon), to whom she promised her hand in marriage and heart, however, Prostakova reads her brother Skotinin as her husband. From Starodum's letter, Prostakova and Skotinin learn that S. is the heiress of her uncle's 10,000 rubles; and now Mitrofan is also wooing her, encouraged to marry by his mother, Prostakova. Skotinin and Mitrofan do not like S., and S. does not like them, openly despising and laughing at both. Positive characters group around S. and actively contribute to her release from Prostakova’s petty and selfish tutelage. As the action progresses, the barriers to S.'s marriage to Milon crumble, and Prostakova's estate, as a result of this whole story, falls under the guardianship of the authorities. Throughout the comedy, S.'s character remains unchanged: she is faithful to Milon, has sincere respect for Starodum and respects Pravdin. S. is smart, she immediately notices that Prostakova “has become affectionate to the very baseness” and that she “reads” her “and the bride to her son” (D. 2, App. II), is mocking (she makes fun of those who are jealous of her Skotinin and Mitrofan Milon), sensitive and kind (with ardor she expresses her joy when Starodum agrees to her marriage with Milon; in a moment of happiness, she forgives Prostakova for the harm caused and pities the “despicable fury”). S. comes from honest nobles who gave her an education (she reads Fenelon’s essay on the education of girls in French). Her simple feelings are humane: honor and wealth, she believes, should be achieved through hard work (D. 2, Rev. V), meekness and obedience to elders are appropriate for a girl, but she can and should defend her love. When Starodum, not yet knowing Milon, wants to marry S. to a certain young man, S. is “embarrassed” and believes that the choice of the groom also depends on her heart. Starodum confirms S’s opinion, and she immediately calms down, declaring her “obedience.” Fonvizin made a lot of efforts to give S. lively features. To this end, he used the techniques of Western melodrama, combining dramatic moments with sensitive ones. However, he was more interested in raising an honest man worthy of the title of nobleman. Due to her youth, his heroine needed an experienced leader-mentor. She was entering a new, perhaps the most responsible phase of life, and the playwright did not pass by this. S.'s natural virtue had to receive a mental facet. On the threshold of the wedding, Starodum gives S. advice, from the content of which it becomes clear how he (and the author of “The Minor”) understands the correct upbringing of girls and women. Most of all, Starodum is afraid of the influence of “light”, which with its temptations can corrupt an innocent, pure and virtuous soul. Therefore, in the “world,” says Starodum, the first step is important, the ability to establish yourself and recommend yourself. The general rule is: friendship should be made with those who are worthy of it, that is, choose friends. S. is inexperienced and asks for clarification whether the preference of some will incur the anger of others. Starodum teaches her that there is no need to expect evil from people who despise you; evil comes from those who themselves are worthy of contempt, but are jealous of the virtues of their neighbor. S. considers such people pathetic, because such people are unhappy. Starodum warns: pity should not stop before evil, and virtue should follow its own path. There is no need to waste time on educating the “evil”, whom S. calls “unfortunate”, since every person, if he has a conscience, is obliged to awaken virtuous feelings in himself. Having learned the lesson, S. concludes that it is necessary to clearly and firmly show the evil person the baseness of his soul. Starodum adds: the mind of such a person is not a direct mind, that is, crafty, cunning, dishonest. True happiness comes from virtue and straight reason. Like Pravdin, S. understands happiness in the spirit of ordinary ideas: nobility, wealth. However, Starodum explains to her that nobility and wealth are not just titles and money, but “signs” of a person’s state and civil status, imposing moral obligations on him. Starodum teaches S. to distinguish between the real and the imaginary, external splendor and internal dignity; he is the opponent of egoistic happiness. And S. learns his lessons. She is also sure that a person does not live alone, that everyone is obliged to each other. But if this is so, then why, thinks S, won’t reason explain such a simple truth. Starodum responds with a wonderful phrase: “Good behavior gives direct value to the mind.” It is the soul, the “intelligent heart,” that makes an honest person “completely honest.” This way, the most important educational concepts are clarified for S. (intelligence, honor, service to the fatherland, the position of an honest person, good behavior, etc.). The seeds of Starodum fall on fertile soil, because the “inner feeling” of the initially virtuous S. tells her the same thing. From general concepts about the nobleman and his positions, Starodum turns the conversation to the person, to the personal side of his life, to the family hearth. Having turned away from the path of virtue, the husband and wife stop loving each other, feeling mutual friendly affection and turn their life together into hell, forgetting about home and children. Starodum reminds S again and again: “virtue replaces everything, and nothing can replace virtue”; At the same time, he does not forget about the intimate side of marriage: “Just, perhaps, don’t have love for your husband, which would be like friendship. Have a friendship for him that would be like love.” Ultimately, a husband needs strength of mind (“prudence”), a wife needs virtue, a husband obeys reason, a wife obeys her husband. Old norms acquire new content, and the basis of family harmony again becomes the soul and the “good behavior” emanating from it. Therefore, raising an honest person - man or woman - consists of enlightening the soul.

Write a brief description of the characters of Sophia the Little One. Characteristics of Sophia in the comedy “Minor”

Sophia and Mitrofan

Sofia and Prostakova

Sophia and Mitrofan

Sofia and Prostakova

The moral values ​​of the heroine

The author's ideal woman

Sophia and other heroes

Essay about Sophia in Fonvizin's story

Several interesting essays

The moral values of the heroine