The comedy of A. Griboedov “Woe from Wit” was created in 1824. Due to the accusatory content of the work, it was published only in 1833, and even then selectively. Only in 1862 did a full-fledged comedy see the light of day. In his work, the author wished to speak out about how he had suffered over so many years of contemplating the hypocrisy and toadiness of those around him. The comedy “Woe from Wit” is a confrontation between a smart, thinking, with an active lifestyle, an open and honest person with vile, mean, immoral people who care only about wealth and ranks.
General characteristics of A. Molchalin
Faithful dog Famusova, hearty friend Sophia, sneaky, hypocrite, rootless official, Chatsky’s main antagonist - this is who Alexey Stepanych Molchalin is. The characterization of the central character of the comedy shows a typical representative of the
Famusian society, on which feudal bureaucratic morality exerted its corrupting influence. From childhood, Molchalin was taught to subserviently, to please everyone around: the boss, the owner, the butler, the janitor’s dog, in the end, to be affectionate.
The character's character is fully disclosed by a surname that speaks for itself. Basically, Alexei Stepanych is silent, suffers humiliation, screams, even unjust reproaches. He perfectly understands that a rootless official cannot live in this callousness and cynical society without the support of those in power, and therefore he pleases everyone around him, trying not to quarrel with anyone, to be good for everyone, and he does it perfectly. The comedy author is sad that society is teeming with such heroes who know where, where necessary, to shut up, stroke the dog of an influential lady, give a compliment, raise a handkerchief and receive formal awards and ranks for all this, in reality remaining servants.
Quotation characteristic of Molchalin
The secretary of Famusov is characterized by different characters in the comedy: Chatsky, Sofia, Famusov, Lisa. Someone speaks of him as a modest, handsome, quiet and timid man, ready to endure all humiliation and reproaches. Some heroes of the work are aware of his low soul, and only a few see the true face of Molchalin.
Sophia sees in Alexei Stepanych a fictional image: “I’m ready to forget myself for others”, “the enemy of insolence is always shy, timid”. The girl thinks that Molchalin shyly behaves, because he is modest by nature, not suspecting that this is only one of his masks. “He has been serving the priest for three years, he often gets angry to no avail, and he will disarm him with silence, forgive him for the goodness of his soul,” Alexey's slavish humility speaks of his certain life position, which suggests keeping silent, enduring, but not getting into a scandal.
Molchalin reveals the true face to Lisa: “Why are you modest with the young lady, and with the maid of the hang?” Only her secretary talks about her true feelings for Sophia. Chatsky also guesses Alexey’s duplicity and pettiness: “He will reach the degrees known, because now they love wordless ones”, “Who else will settle everything so peacefully!” There he strokes the pug on time, then at the time he will rub the card ... ”A brief description of Molchalin shows that his silence is not at all a manifestation of stupidity. This is a well-thought out profit plan.
The speech characteristic of Molchalin
The manner of conversation of Alexei Stepanych very successfully characterizes his inner appearance. Sneakiness, humility, servility are the main
character traits of the character, therefore diminutive words, self-derogatory intonations, exaggerated courtesy, obsequious tone are traced in his speech. To please people richer and higher in rank, the hero adds the prefix "c" to the words. Molchalin is generally silent, trying to avoid entering into conversation without unnecessary need. He shows his eloquence only under Lisa, in front of which he can take off his mask and show his true face.
The attitude of the hero to Sophia
The ability to cater to help in career advancement is exactly what Molchalin thinks. The characterization of the character suggests that he even started an affair with Sophia for the reason that she is the daughter of Famusov, and that a close relative of the boss cannot be denied whims. The girl herself invented a hero for herself and imposed her feelings on Alexei Stepanych, making him a platonic admirer. To please the lady, he is ready to abandon his native philistine dialect and communicate in the language of silent looks and gestures. Molchalin all night silently sits near Sophia, reading novels with her, only because he could not refuse the daughter of the boss. The hero himself not only does not like the girl, but also considers her a "deplorable krail."
Comparative characteristics of the images of Molchalin and Famusov
The problem of bureaucracy is one of the main issues addressed in the comedy "Woe from Wit." Molchalin's characterization gives the reader an idea of the new type of officials at the beginning of the 19th century. He and Famusov belong to the world of bureaucrats, but still they are not alike, because they belong to different centuries. Barin is an old rich man with an established opinion and a successful career. Alexey Stepanych is still young, so he walks in petty officials and only climbs the career ladder.
In the 19th century, a new type of Russian bureaucrat appeared, abandoning the commandments of the "fathers." This is exactly what Molchalin’s characteristic shows. “Woe from Wit” is a story about a socio-political conflict expressing the position of society. Whatever it was, but Molchalin still belongs to the Famusian circle, and just like his boss, he admires the ranks and wealth.
Molchalin and Chatsky
The comparative characteristics of Molchalin and Chatsky show how different they are. Molchalin, Famusov’s secretary, does not have a noble origin, but developed his own tactics, following which he builds himself a reliable and secure future. You won’t get the words out of him, but he can tiptoe, work with papers and appear at the right time, and many like it. Silent, helpful, spineless people were valued in the era of Nicholas I, therefore, such as Molchalin, a brilliant career awaited, awards for services to the motherland. In appearance, he is a modest young man, he is liked by his meekness and pliability Sophia, pleases Famusov with patience and silence, crouches in front of Khlestova and only shows the servant Liza a true face - mean, duplicitous, cowardly.
Chatsky is the embodiment of the image of the Decembrists, a romantic nobleman, revealing the vices of serfdom. His antagonist is Molchalin. The characterization of the hero shows that it embodies the features of an advanced thinking person of the early 19th century. Chatsky is convinced that he is right, therefore he preaches new ideals without hesitation, reveals the ignorance of the current rich, exposes their false patriotism, inhumanity, and hypocrisy. This is a freethinker who fell into a rotten society, and this is his trouble.
Life principles of the hero
The common name for servility and meanness was the Griboedovsky hero Molchalin. The characterization of the character shows that from childhood Alexei Stepanych programmed in his head a plan for how to break into people, build a career, achieve a high rank. He went along his road, not turning to the sides. This person is absolutely indifferent to the feelings of other people, he will not extend a helping hand to anyone if it is not profitable.
The main theme of the comedy
Throughout the comedy “Woe from Wit” the theme of bureaucracy is stretched, which many writers raised in the 19th century. The bureaucratic apparatus of the state grew and grew into a serious machine, grinding all the rebels and working in the way that was beneficial to it. Griboedov in his work showed real people, his contemporaries. He set himself the goal of ridiculing certain traits of a person, to show the whole tragedy of the society of that era, and the writer did it very well.
The story of the comedy
Once in Moscow, a rumor spread that Alexander Griboedov had
gone crazy. University professor Thomas Evans, alarmed by this news, decided to visit the writer. In turn, Griboedov told his interlocutor the story of what happened to him at one of the balls. He was tired of the tricks of society, praising a Frenchman, an ordinary talker, who did nothing remarkable. Griboedov could not restrain himself and expressed to the people around him what he thought of them, and someone from the crowd shouted out as if the writer was a little out of his mind. Alexander Sergeyevich was offended and promised to create a comedy, the heroes of which will be those unlucky spiteful critics who called him crazy. And so the work “Woe from Wit” was born.