The events depicted in the play take place in the postwar years (after the war of 1812), when the movement of the Decembrists begins to unfold . Two opposing camps appear. These are advanced nobles and conservatives. In the play of the advanced nobles, Chatsky represents, and the conservatives - the whole Famus society.
Conflict
In a private conflict reflected an epoch-making conflict. But the public would not have become so significant if it had not been associated with specific individuals, albeit fictitious. A smart and honest, open-minded young man struggles with a vicious age past.
The work has two storylines: love and public. Comedy with a love affair begins. Chatsky, who had been absent for three years, came to Famusovâs house, he was met by the ownerâs daughter Sophia. âWoe from Witâ presents a love story. Chatsky is in love and expects reciprocity from the girl. Further, the love line is intertwined with the public.
Chatsky and Famusov embodied two opposing camps in society. A conflict between Alexander Andreich and the past century becomes inevitable as soon as Chatsky crosses the threshold of Famusovâs house. With his honest views and ideas, he runs into depravity, musty and servility.
Speech of heroes and speaking surnames
If we talk about the speech of the characters of the comedy, it quite clearly characterizes their features. For example, Skalozub often uses a military vocabulary, which speaks of his profession. Khlestova uses rich, rich vocabulary. The main character Chatsky masterfully speaks Russian, which is worth only his monologues, filled with such liveliness and beauty ("And who are the judges?"). Chatsky is not only a young man in love, he is, first and foremost, an ardent accuser of vices of the Famus society. Only with words and nothing more does he brand the honest love of Chatsky surrounding. Many phrases embedded in the mouth of the protagonist became winged. Chatskyâs speech, on the one hand, was close to Radishchevâs language, on the other, it was very peculiar. A.S. Griboedov essentially refused comedy in the monologues of the main character from book speech and foreign words.
The names of the characters can safely be called talking. Molchalin in the comedy âWoe from Witâ (from the word âkeep silentâ) is a laconic, quiet young man. This list can be supplemented with such surnames as Tugoukhovsky, Repetilov, Skalozub.
Puffer
The writer considered the main task of the comedy to outline the images of the Famus society. There are no extra characters in the work. All images are important for characterizing both the main characters and their entire environment.
The puffer is a rude dork with characteristic manners and appearance. In speech, ignorance, stupidity and spiritual impoverishment of this person are manifested. This typical representative of the Famus society is opposed to science and education as such. Naturally, Sergey Sergeyevich Skalozub is a welcome guest of the Famusov family and others like him. In addition, it is in the image of Skalozub that Griboedov shows a type of careerist who does not disdain any means while moving up the career ladder.
Prince and Princess Tugoukhovsky, Khlestov
In a satirical manner, the Tugoukhovs are shown. Prince Tugoukhovsky is a typical henpecked wife. He practically does not hear anything and only obeys the princess unquestioningly. The prince represents Famusov in the future. His wife is an ordinary representative of the surrounding society: stupid, ignorant, negatively related to education. In addition, both gossip, as the first to spread rumors that Chatsky was crazy. No wonder the critics divided all the minor characters into three groups: Famusov, a candidate for Famusov, Famusov a loser.
Khlestova is represented by the intelligent lady, however, she is also subject to general opinion. In her opinion, honesty, human intelligence are directly dependent on social status and wealth.
Repetilov and Zagoretsky
Repetilov is the type of Famusov-loser in the comedy "Woe from Wit." A character who has absolutely no positive traits. He is stupid enough, careless, likes to drink. He is a superficial philosopher, a kind of parody of Chatskyâs line. From Repetilov, the author made a parody double of the main character. He also promotes social ideas, but this is only following fashion and nothing more.
Another Famusov-loser is Zagoretsky A.A. In the characteristics given to him by the rest of the heroes, one can see several times the synonyms for the term âfraudsterâ. For example, Gorich says: "A notorious fraudster, a crook: Anton Antonovich Zagoretsky." However, all his fraud and lies remain within the boundaries of his everyday life, but otherwise he is a completely law-abiding citizen. In Zagoretsky even more from Molchalin than from Famusov. Everyone needs him, despite being a gossip and a liar. Not only picks up a rumor about Chatsky's madness, but also complements it with his fantasies.
Gorich
The character to whom Griboedov showed a little sympathy is Gorich. âWoe from Witâ brings to the stage a friend of Chatsky, who arrived at the ball to Famusov with his wife. He is a kind person, soberly assessing the surrounding reality. It is not included by the author in any group. Friend and ally of Chatsky before, now, having heard about his "illness", does not believe this. But he is not without flaws. Having a soft character, after marriage Gorich became a henpecked wife and forgot his beliefs. His image is that of a husband-servant.
In other words, in the comedy âWoe from Witâ, this character and a number of others personify the âpastâ century with its rules, ideals and habits. All these are individuals with limited development who are categorically against everything new, and most importantly, against open truth.
The difference between comedy and 18th century literature
The huge and fundamental difference between Griboedovâs comedy and the works of the 18th century is that in it almost all the characters are not just positive or negative types, they are shown multilaterally. In âWoe from Witâ, the character of Famus is depicted not only as a person who is in spiritual stagnation; Famusov is a good father of his family, a real master. Chatsky is very ardent and sensitive, at the same time witty and intelligent.
Chatsky leaves in the comedy âWoe from Witâ, disappointed in the subject of his love. To the question of who he is - the winner or the defeated, one can answer this way: Chatsky was broken by the amount of old power, but he defeated the past century by the quality of the new power.
This is how the social typification of characters is manifested. If here the author departs from classicism, then in a love affair, on the contrary, he tries to comply with the laws of this particular direction. There is a heroine and two lovers, an unsuspecting father and a maid covering her mistress. But otherwise, there is no resemblance to a classic comedy. Neither Chatsky nor Molchalin are suitable for the role of the first lover. In the comedy âWoe from Witâ there are no heroes from classicism: the first loses, the second is not a positive hero in all respects.
Cannot be called the perfect heroine and Sophia. âWoe from Witâ presents to our attention a stupid girl who is in love with a worthless Molchalin. He is comfortable with her. He is the one who can be pushed around his whole life. She does not want to listen to Chatsky and is the first to spread the word about his craziness.
Lisa is more resonant than subret. Among other things, the comedy traces the second, comic love line and the third, related to the relationship between Lisa, Molchalin, Petrusha and Famusov.
Off-stage characters
In addition to the main and secondary characters, with the skillful hand of the writer, off-stage characters were introduced into the work. They are needed in order to increase the scale of the conflict of two centuries. These characters embody both the past and the present.
Recall at least chamberlain Kuzma Petrovich, who is himself rich and married to a rich woman. These are Tatyana Yuryevna and Praskovya, the narrow-minded foreigners who came to Russia to earn money. These images and a number of others lead the reader to the idea of ââthe large-scale conflict presented vividly in the play âWoe from Witâ. The character who shows the reader that Chatsky is not alone, behind him there are those who will promote solidarity with his ideas, is also presented, and not in one way, but in several. For example, the comedy mentions Skalozub's cousin from the village, a relative of Princess Tugoukhovskaya.
The main task that the writer performed, portraying the heroes of the play, to show their views on society, and not to reveal their psychological characteristics. Griboedov is, first and foremost, a writer-educator, so in each image he clearly draws certain moral qualities or their absence. He typifies character traits and qualities and immediately individualizes them.
Chatsky overtook his century in everything. That is why he became a model of sincerity and nobility, and Famusov and Skalozub - a symbol of vulgarity and stagnation. So, on the example of 20 persons, the writer reflected the fate of an entire generation. Chatsky's views are the views of the entire forward movement of future Decembrists. Chatsky and Famusov are representatives of two generations, two centuries: the century of the enlightened and the age of the outdated.