Life principles, ideals, morality of Famusov. Essay on the topic: Life ideals of the Famusov society in the comedy Woe from Wit Griboyedov
How does Molchalin reveal himself during a dialogue with Chatsky? How does he behave and what gives him the right to behave this way?
Molchalin is cynical and frank with Chatsky regarding his life views. He talks, from his point of view, with a loser (“Were you not given ranks, have you had no success in your service?”), gives advice to go to Tatyana Yuryevna, is sincerely surprised by Chatsky’s harsh reviews about her and Foma Fomich, who “was the head of the department under three ministers.” " His condescending, even instructive tone, as well as the story about his father’s will, are explained by the fact that he does not depend on Chatsky, that Chatsky, for all his talents, does not enjoy the support of Famus society, because their views are sharply different. And, of course, Molchalin’s success with Sophia gives him considerable right to behave this way in a conversation with Chatsky. The principles of Molchalin’s life may seem only ridiculous (“to please all people without exception”, to have two talents - “moderation and accuracy”, “after all, you have to depend on others”), but the well-known dilemma “Is Molchalin funny or scary?” in this scene it is decided - scary. Molchalin spoke and expressed his views.
What are the moral and life ideals of Famus society?
Analyzing the monologues and dialogues of the heroes in the second act, we have already touched on the ideals of Famus society. Some principles are expressed aphoristically: “And win awards and have fun,” “I just wish I could become a general!” The ideals of Famusov's guests are expressed in the scenes of their arrival at the ball. Here Princess Khlestova, knowing well the value of Zagoretsky (“He’s a liar, a gambler, a thief / I even locked the door from him ...”), accepts him because he is “a master at pleasing” and got her a blackaa girl as a gift. Wives subjugate their husbands to their will (Natalya Dmitrievna, a young lady), the husband-boy, the husband-servant becomes the ideal of society, therefore, Molchalin also has good prospects for entering this category of husbands and making a career. They all strive for kinship with the rich and noble. Human qualities are not valued in this society. Gallomania became the true evil of noble Moscow.
Why did gossip about Chatsky’s madness arise and spread? Why do Famusov’s guests so willingly support this gossip?
The emergence and spread of gossip about Chatsky's madness is a very interesting series of phenomena from a dramatic point of view. Gossip appears at first glance by chance. G.N., sensing Sophia’s mood, asks her how she found Chatsky. "He has a screw loose". What did Sophia mean when she was impressed by the conversation with the hero that had just ended? It’s unlikely that she put any direct meaning into her words. But the interlocutor understood exactly that and asked again. And it’s here that an insidious plan arises in the head of Sophia, offended for Molchalin. Of great importance for the explanation of this scene are the remarks to Sophia’s further remarks: “after a pause, she looks at him intently, to the side.” Her further remarks are already aimed at consciously introducing this thought into the heads of secular gossips. She no longer doubts that the rumor started will be picked up and expanded into details.
He is ready to believe!
Ah, Chatsky! you love to dress everyone up as jesters,
Would you like to try it on yourself?
Rumors of madness spread with astonishing speed. A series of “little comedies” begins, when everyone puts their own meaning into this news and tries to give their own explanation. Someone speaks with hostility about Chatsky, someone sympathizes with him, but everyone believes because his behavior and his views are inadequate to the norms accepted in this society. These comedic scenes brilliantly reveal the characters that make up Famus’s circle. Zagoretsky supplements the news on the fly with an invented lie that his rogue uncle put Chatsky in the yellow house. The countess-granddaughter also believes; Chatsky’s judgments seemed crazy to her. The dialogue about Chatsky between the countess-grandmother and Prince Tugoukhovsky is ridiculous, who, due to their deafness, add a lot to the rumor started by Sophia: “damned Voltairian”, “overstepped the law”, “he is in the Pusurmans”, etc. Then the comic miniatures are replaced by a mass scene (act three, scene XXI), where almost everyone recognizes Chatsky as a madman.
Explain the meaning and determine the significance of Chatsky’s monologue about the Frenchman from Bordeaux.
The monologue “The Frenchman from Bordeaux” is an important scene in the development of the conflict between Chatsky and Famus society. After the hero had separate conversations with Molchalin, Sofia, Famusov, and his guests, in which a sharp opposition of views was revealed, here he pronounces a monologue in front of the entire society gathered at the ball in the hall. Everyone has already believed the rumor about his madness and therefore expects clearly delusional speeches and strange, perhaps aggressive, actions from him. It is in this spirit that Chatsky’s speeches are perceived by the guests, condemning the cosmopolitanism of noble society. It is paradoxical that the hero expresses sound, patriotic thoughts (“slavish blind imitation”, “our smart, cheerful people”; by the way, condemnation of gallomania is sometimes heard in Famusov’s speeches), they take him for a madman and leave him, stop listening, diligently spin in a waltz , old people scatter around the card tables.
The comedy "Woe from Wit" was enthusiastically received by revolutionary-minded nobles. It reflected the life of Russia, the spirit of the era, exposed the state of Russian society. Griboyedov’s comedy was based on the clash of views of the Decembrists with the reactionary mass of the nobility. In his work, Griboyedov raised a number of the most important problems: the problem of serfdom and the relationship between noble landowners and the serf peasantry, the problem of public service, education and culture, false and true patriotism. 5ga problematics gave the comedy an acute political character.
“A crowd of freaks of society, each of whom has caricatured some opinion, rule, thought, perverting their legitimate meaning in his own way...” (Gogol).
Griboyedov, a realist, brought onto the stage a whole crowd of inhabitants of noble Moscow. These are the “aces,” as they proudly call themselves, rich and noble nobles. They are famous not only for their merits in the official field, not for their excellent performance of civic duty, not for orders and wounds received on the battlefields. No! We know that a certain Tatyana Yuryevna is respected here because she
The balls he gives couldn't be richer
From Christmas to Lent
And in the summer there are holidays at the dacha.
Drawing to himself the ideals of a person from whom one should learn to live, Famusov says:
It's not on silver
I ate on gold, a hundred people at my service,
All in medals, he always traveled in a train.
Wealth is the main thing for them
Be bad, but if you get enough
Souls of a thousand and two generations
He's the groom.
They treated people poorer than themselves with contempt. They can “allow” a poor man to come to them if they need him, but they will never miss an opportunity to arrogantly reproach him:
“I warmed up Bezrodny and brought him into my family.
Gave him the rank of assessor and took him to secretary
Transferred to Moscow through my assistance,
And if it weren’t for me, you would be smoking in Tver” -
reminds Famusov of Molchalin.
The Moscow nobility is a circle of closely related acquaintances. Connections help them get things done, get new ranks and positions. Here they help out, but only a “relative”; here they go to visit Tatyana Yuryevna, but more because
Officials and officials -
All her friends and all her relatives.
They are promoted here only in order to
And take the award and have fun.
With delight, Famusov tells young people about the nobleman Maxim Petrovich, who served under Catherine. This is the ideal of the entire noble society. Maxim Petrovich, seeking a place at court, did not show any business merits or talents, but only, as Chatsky wittily notes, “bravely sacrificed the back of his head,” that is, he fell to please the empress, and became famous for the fact that his neck often “bent” in bows.
And many visitors to Famusov’s house create honor and wealth for themselves in the same way as this old nobleman.
“Whoever needs it, then arrogance in the dust,
And for those who are higher, flattery was woven like lace.”
For example, Repetilov, in order to take his place in society, also used workarounds:
“Baron von Clas was aiming for minister,
And I -
I went straight to him as a son-in-law.”
And Skalozub? From his story we learn that in August 1813 he “sat down in a trench,” i.e. Apparently, he was holed up in a shelter. After such a “brilliant” military feat, Skalozub not only received an order “on his neck”, but is about to be promoted to general. And here he hopes not for his own merits, but for completely different reasons:
“Vacancies are just open,
Then the elders will turn off others,
The others, you look, are interrupted.”
The Moscow higher nobility lives a monotonous and uninteresting life. Let's go to Famusov's house. Guests gather here every day. What are they doing? Dinner, playing cards, talking about money and clothes, gossip. Here everyone knows about others: they envy their successes and gloatingly celebrate their failures. Chatsky has not yet appeared, and here they are already slandering his failures in the service. Princess Tugoukhovskaya is jealous of Princess Khryumina, and Countess Khryumina is “angry with the whole world.” Khlesgova starts a quarrel with Famusov and Skalozub.
With what pleasure did these bored gossips seize on Sophia's invention about Chatsky's madness. The rumor instantly spreads through the rooms, the gossip is picked up and inflated by people who don’t even know, who haven’t seen Chatsky.
These are their petty thoughts and ridiculous inventions. It turns out he went crazy because
I followed my mother, Anna Alekseevna,
The deceased woman went crazy 8 times.
He allegedly drank champagne in “glasses,” “bottles,” and large ones, and “forties barrels.” And what knowledge of other people’s affairs these bored loafers show! The lively conversation turns into an argument - but about what? Yes, of course, about Chatsky’s wealth. How many serf souls does he have? The enraged Khlestova rumbles out:
“No, three hundred - I don’t know other people’s estates!”
Is there any other information in their heads other than other people's wealth? No, none of them read newspapers, and if they come across a printed word, then how many evil thoughts will it evoke!
Enlightenment for them is a plague, a danger that threatens the usual way of life. Famusov speaks with hatred:
“Learning is the plague, learning is the reason,
What is worse now than before,
There are crazy people, deeds and opinions,” -
and ends his thought with a categorical demand:
"...No! if you don’t stop:
We would like to collect all the books and burn them!”
Moscow nobles are arrogant and arrogant. He looks down on people poorer than himself. But contempt is especially heard in remarks addressed to the serfs. They are “filks”, “crowbars”, “churbans”, “lazy grouse”. One conversation with them
“Get to work! You’re welcome!”
The nobles do not see people like themselves in their servants. This is especially true for people of a different race. Talking about her purchase, Khlesgova forgets that she bought not an animal, but a person:
“What kind of arapka do I have for services:
Curly! The hump of the shoulder blade!
Angry! All cat tricks!
After all, God created such a tribe!
Damn it."
And in the monologue “Who are the judges?” Chatsky indignantly tells how the nobles, “overflowing in feasts and extravagance,” control the lives of their serfs. Here is a portrait of a serf owner:
“That Nestor of noble scoundrels,
Surrounded by a crowd of servants
Zealous, they are in the hours of wine and fights
And honor and life saved him, suddenly
He exchanged three greyhounds for them!!!”
Moscow nobles boast of their patriotism, their love for their hometown, for their country, Famusov enthusiastically tells Skalozub about the “special imprint on all Moscow people.” But we notice that there is little Russian, simple and natural in them. On the contrary, everything about them, starting from their semi-Russian language, outfits “with taffeta, marigold and haze” and their attitude towards their people, is deeply alien to the Russians. Girls sing French romances, read French books, Russian names with a foreign twist in Moscow.
“The door is open for the invited and the uninvited,
Especially from foreign ones.”
In close formation, the Famusites oppose everything new and advanced. Skalozub talks with irritation about his cousin, who
“I’ve firmly picked up some new rules,
The rank followed him, he suddenly left the service,
I started reading books in the village.”
This behavior is “not correct” according to Famusov and Skalozub. They themselves can be liberal, but they are afraid of fundamental changes:
“It’s not that new things were introduced - never,
God save us! No".
And when Chatsky dared to “openly” announce five or six “sound” thoughts, how frightened the old master Famusov was! He called Chatsky a “dangerous person” and his thoughts “delusional ideas.” For him, brought up in the spirit of the Maksimov Petrovichs in the past 18th century, the 19th century seems to be a dangerous time. In every person similar to him, Famusov sees a “carbonara”, a “pharmazon”, a “Voltairian”.
There are many members of the Famus society, each of them has their own personal traits, but they are all united in one camp by the ideals “And take awards and live happily,” “And a golden bag and aspires to be a general!”, conservatism, inertia, fear of the new, fear in front of leading people.
The comedy "Woe from Wit" reflects the brewing split in noble society. The change from one century to another, the end of the War of 1812, required landowners to reassess values and change their outlook on public life. In this regard, nobles appear who want to improve the position of Russia by increasing the value of the human personality and civic consciousness. The struggle between two groups of nobles is designated in the play as a clash of the “present century” with the “past century.” In the comedy "Woe from Wit" Chatsky and Famusov are the main opponents.
The Problem of the Mind in Comedy
A.S. Griboedov wrote about his work: “In my comedy there are 25 fools for one sane person.” By “sensible person” Griboyedov means the main character of the comedy - Alexander Andreevich Chatsky. But in the process of analyzing the work, it becomes clear that Famusov cannot be called a fool. Since Griboedov put his own thoughts and ideals into the image of Chatsky, the author finds himself completely on the side of the protagonist. However, both Chatsky and Famusov have their own truth, which each of the heroes defends. And each of them has their own mind, it’s just that Chatsky’s mind and Famusov’s mind differ in quality.
The mind of a nobleman, adhering to conservative views and ideals, is aimed at protecting his comfort, his warm place from everything new. The new is hostile to the old way of life of the feudal landowners, because it threatens its existence. Famusov adheres to these views.
Chatsky, on the other hand, is the owner of an effective, flexible mind, aimed at building a new world in which the main values will be the honor and dignity of a person, his personality, and not money and position in society.
Values and ideals of Chatsky and Famusov
The views of Chatsky and Famusov differ sharply on all issues related to the nobleman’s way of life. Chatsky is a supporter of education, enlightenment, he himself is “sharp, smart, eloquent,” “writes and translates well.” Famusov and his society, on the contrary, consider excessive “learning” harmful to society and are very afraid of the appearance of people like Chatsky in their midst. The Chatskys threaten Famusov’s Moscow with the loss of its usual comfort and the opportunity to spend life “in feasts and in extravagance.”
The dispute between Chatsky and Famusov also flares up around the attitude of the nobles to the service. Chatsky “does not serve, that is, he does not find any benefit in that.” The main character of the comedy explains it this way: “I would be glad to serve, but being served is sickening.” But conservative noble society is structured in such a way that without “serving” it is impossible to achieve anything. Chatsky wants to serve “the cause, not individuals.”
But Famusov and his supporters have a completely different view on the issue of service.
Famusov’s ideal is his late uncle Maxim Petrovich. He earned the respect of the empress herself because he once behaved like a buffoon at a reception. Having stumbled and fallen, he decided to turn this awkward situation to his advantage: he fell several more times on purpose to make the audience and Empress Catherine laugh. This ability to “curse the favor” brought Maxim Petrovich enormous wealth and weight in society.
Chatsky does not accept such ideals; for him this is humiliation. He calls this time an age of “submission and fear” that clamps down on human freedom. The hero’s comparison of the “present century” and the “past century” does not turn out to be in favor of the latter, because now “everyone breathes more freely and is in no hurry to fit into the regiment of jesters.”
Family values of Chatsky and Famusov
The clash between Famusov and Chatsky also occurs over the divergence of their views on family values. Famusov believes that when creating a family, the presence of love is not at all important. “Whoever is poor is not a match for you,” he tells his daughter. Both in society and in the family, money is at the forefront. Wealth for Famus society is the same as happiness. Personal qualities do not matter either in the world or in the family: “Be bad, but if there are two thousand family souls, that’s the groom.”
Chatsky is a supporter of living feelings, which is why he is terrible for Famusov’s Moscow. This hero puts love above money, education above position in society. Therefore, the conflict between Chatsky and Famusov flares up.
conclusions
A comparative description of Chatsky and Famusov reveals all the meanness and immorality of Famusov and his supporters. But Chatsky’s time in the society described in the comedy “Woe from Wit” has not yet come. The main character is expelled from this environment, declaring him crazy. Chatsky is forced to retreat due to the numerical superiority of the “past century.” But he leaves Moscow not a loser, but a winner. Secular Moscow was frightened by his speeches. His truth is scary for them, it threatens their personal comfort. His truth will prevail, so the replacement of the old with the new is historically natural.
The clash between Famusov and Chatsky is a dispute between two generations, two different worlds. The arguments and causes of the conflict described in this article can be used by 9th grade students when writing an essay on the topic “Characterization of Chatsky and Famusov in the comedy “Woe from Wit””
Work test
