The famous comedy by D. I. Fonvizin, “The Undergrowth,” was written during the period of the literary fashion of classicism. An interesting feature of this work was, so to speak, “talking” surnames. The main character, for example, is called Mitrofan - "like a mother."
An essay on the work “Undergrowth” can begin with the fact that the very name of the comedy already contains the issue of false and true education. It is not in vain that the outdated word “undergrowth” is translated into Russian as “under-education”.
Fonvizin's composition “The Undergrowth”
Indeed, Mitrofan at the age of sixteen could not do anything good and useful, although his mother, Prostakova, constantly hired different teachers for him, but not because she wanted to make her son literate, but because Tsar Peter ordered him to do so I. She said so to her Mirofanushka, they say, at least for the sake of learning, so that the king can understand how you try.
But there are positive characters in this comedy, such as Pravdin and Starodum, who said that with a soul and a heart, you become a person. They openly spoke out that they despise unjust, cowardly and dishonorable people. Starodum believed that a child does not have to leave a large inheritance and money, the main thing is to cultivate human dignity in him and instill morality.
The essay on the work “Undergrowth” should touch on the formation of the character of the child in the family. And now you can imagine in what environment Mitrofanushka grew up - greedy, cruel, rude and ignorant.
Parents have always been and remain for children the main role model. Ms. Prostakova in front of her son could be rude, rude and humiliate others and serfs. Of course, she, as a mother, loved her son very much, but she was very pampered and spoiled.
Woe-educators
Mother’s influence, constant pleasing and serf slaves running after them made the lazy guy an ignoramus and a dropout. Teachers Mitrofan - Kuteikin and Tsifirkin, were also the same dropouts. But Prostakova herself gave preference to Vralman, a former German coachman who never really bothered her son, or even let go of classes. Mitrofan, each time, not having time to start a new business, quickly threw him and took up another. And then he said at all: “I do not want to study, I want to get married.”
The result is obvious
In the end, Mitrofan, because of his heartlessness and indifference, brings his own mother to a fainting state. Starodum very accurately at that moment will notice: "Here are the evil deserving fruits." It is clear that this kind of education will necessarily lead to irreparable results. So Mitrofanushka became a model of ignorance, rudeness and stupidity.
The essay on the work “Undergrowth” can be continued by the fact that this play sank a very serious topic of the era of enlightenment - education. In any case, at first this was exactly what Fonvizin intended to write her. But then she found the colors of socio-political comedy, where the topic of education was very closely linked to the sore problems of Russia of the 17th century. These are topics of serfdom and dissatisfaction with the autocratic regime of Catherine II.
Images: Fonvizin's Undergrowth and Its Main Characters
The love affair with Sophia is also subject to a socio-political conflict, but the main problem here is the struggle of enlightened nobles (Pravdin and Starodum) with feudal landlords (Prostakov and Skotinin), hungry for wealth and who have no idea of honor and dignity.
In these main images the whole irony of the author over the political system and the life of people of that time is presented.
If we talk about the image of the mistress of the house - Prostakova, then she is illiterate, since studying in her family was considered a crime, and then she is a "despicable fury" who constantly scolded and fought, on which her house rested. In the image of Skotinin, those negative traits of a person are shown for whom “all fault is to blame”. He is a cruel serf, in whom pigs live better than people.
The image of Starodum carries family morality and represents an honest person who has not exchanged conscience for money. An essay on the work “Undergrowth” can be ended by the fact that it was this moral hero that became the “brain” of the play. In his monologues, the modern ideas of enlightenment, which the author himself professed, receive special expression.