Fonvizin is a Russian satirist and the founder of Russian comedy. Denis Ivanovich Fonvizin - creator of Russian social comedy
He pushed him to the right and walked in the other direction.
However, the prince's efforts were in vain. The piece of wood, which he tied to his leg to complete the suit, prevented him from moving quickly; he walked the entire corridor to the end, asked the footmen if anyone had seen a mask in gray suit Cendrillons, returned to the direction where he had left Opolchinin, but could not even find him. Sonyushka was nowhere to be found, and no one had seen her.
- Finally, you, Oblique! - the son of Alexei Petrovich Bestuzhev, a young man, stopped him by the hand.
He was dressed as a Huguenot. Prince Ivan recognized him because they came to the masquerade together.
“Father is calling you, he needs you,” said young Bestuzhev and, without allowing Kosoy to come to his senses, he led him almost by force.
V
After the interlude, the empress drank tea in the foyer, where a table decorated with flowers was prepared, laden with a gold tea set, vases of fruit, sweets and cookies.
The Empress was sitting in a chair, with a cup in her hands, surrounded by her closest people; There were also ladies invited to tea by the Empress, most of them in disguise. Elisaveta Petrovna was talking with Alexei Petrovich Bestuzhev when his son brought Prince Kosoy here in his old soldier costume.
Prince Ivan entered and stopped, amazed. He could not have expected that he would be brought here, to this brilliant, light-filled hall, full of people. But all this people, the groups of ladies sparkling with diamonds standing on both sides of the hall, the table illuminated by candelabra with livery footmen stretched out in a string next to it, and the semicircle of courtiers glittering with gold embroidery and diamond stars - everything merged for him, and he immediately saw only one, the empress sitting in the center of this semicircle, in her white silk robe with an open neck and a blue St. Andrew's ribbon over her shoulder.
She glanced at him. Bestuzhev, who was standing by her chair, made a barely noticeable sign with his head for Kosoy to approach.
Prince Ivan, in his poor beggar's attire, limping on a piece of wood, took a few steps along the carpet. He felt that everyone was looking at him, because the Empress was looking.
Here, in this hall, next to her, everything, as it seemed to him, was not the same as always. And the candles burned brighter, and the air, saturated with incense and the smell of perfume, was as if hotter, as if it was warming and burning, along with the gazes of the crowd fixed on him, who suspended their restrained conversation at his appearance.
He attracted everyone's attention. By the extraordinary nature of his appearance here, everyone saw that he was called for something, that something very entertaining and interesting was about to happen. But no one, least of all Prince Kosoy himself, knew what exactly.
The Empress smiled at him when he approached and still stopped at some distance in front of her.
“Here, Your Majesty, is the beggar about whom I reported to you,” Alexey Petrovich said clearly, respectfully and somewhat louder, apparently encouraging this mainly to Kosoy himself.
The Empress nodded her head and, looking at Bestuzhev, asked:
-Where is the other one?
Bestuzhev looked around, looked around and made a sign with his head to the Capuchin who was already standing at the door. He stepped forward with large, decisive steps. He was without a mask, just like Prince Ivan, to whom young Bestuzhev suggested that he take it off at the entrance to the hall, and Kosoy, under the Capuchin hood, recognized Opolchinin’s pale, concentrated face.
The Empress examined them again. They both understood now what was going on. Now, depending on what they answer and say here, their fate will have to be decided.
The romantic, not entirely ordinary circumstances in which they had to take part as actors could not have been more suitable for the atmosphere of the masquerade, and Elisaveta Petrovna promised Bestuzhev herself to sort out this matter, which was confusing for everyone who had heard about it. She was also interested in which of the two young people was rightfully worthy of the award. She herself could not recognize the one who protected her in the forest - she did not remember his face, or even his figure due to the haste with which everything happened then and the darkness.
Now she began with the fact that one of them must say frankly that he did not at all want to seriously take advantage of the merits of the other, but got involved in this story out of frivolity and only for the sake of the fun of the intrigue. She said that she would not hold him accountable and would look at it only as an excusable prank in his youth.
Kosoy listened, rejoicing at the wisdom of the empress’s merciful words, which gave Opolchinin the opportunity to get out of his situation, if not with full dignity, then, in any case, without much dishonor. He thought that at least at that moment he would come to his senses and have enough valor to reveal the truth. He watched Opolchinin without turning to him, and from the corner of his eyes he saw the expression on his face. It was still pale, but Opolchinin looked boldly and even defiantly forward, looked as if he was absolutely right and the empress’s words could not apply to him.
“Will he really remain silent, won’t he have the courage to confess?” - thought Kosoy, feeling his breath taken away and his heart beating stronger and stronger.
Opolchinin was silent.
The Empress waited and slowly turned her gaze from Opolchinin to Prince Ivan. It was hard for Kosoy to withstand this gaze. A burning pain of resentment rose within him to stand next to a person who could commit such impudence to outright deception, and at the same time be suspected of this deception himself. He wanted to loudly tell Opolchinin that he was lying with his silence and had no right to remain silent. He almost forgot himself at that moment, almost said something he shouldn’t have... But, fortunately, Bestuzhev’s stern, expressive gaze stopped him in time.
“If you both remain silent,” said the Empress, “then we’ll sort out the matter.” “I know well,” she turned to Kosoy, “that ensign Opolchinin, under the guise of an old beggar, carried papers and reports from Grunstein to my palace on Tsaritsyn Meadow, while you say that you did the same?
She stopped, and Kosoy saw that she was demanding an answer from him.
“I only once brought a copy of a letter to Count Dinard, Your Majesty,” he replied.
- And also under the guise of a beggar? Kosoy pointed at himself.
- In this suit that I’m wearing now. Elisaveta turned to Bestuzhev. He showed her the chamberlain standing next to him.
This chamberlain is Shuvalov, as Bestuzhev learned, who prepared for today, as far as possible, the whole matter was the same person who accepted from Kosoy the copy he had taken from the letter to Dinar.
Satirist and playwright Fonvizin (Fon-Vizin) Denis Ivanovich born 3(14).IV.1744 or 1745 Moscow V noble family, died 1(12).XII.1792 St. Petersburg. Buried at Lazarevskoye Cemetery Alexander Nevsky Lavra.
He received his initial education at home under the guidance of his father.
From 1755 he studied at the gymnasium for nobles at the then newly opened Moscow University.
In 1762, upon completion of the gymnasium course, he was promoted to student, but in the same year he left the university and decided to serve in the College of Foreign Affairs as a translator.
In 1763 he moved to the office of Cabinet Minister I.P. Elagin, who was in charge of “receiving petitions” and managing theaters. At this time, Denis Ivanovich entered into close communication with theatrical environment and in particular is friends with the outstanding actor I. A. Dmitrievsky.
From 1769 he took the position of secretary under the head of the Collegium of Foreign Affairs, Count N.I. Panin, and for many years he was his most trusted confidant in matters of foreign policy.
In 1777-78 he traveled to France, where he met the writers Marmontel and Thomas, the encyclopedist D'Alembert, the American politician and scientist B. Franklin, and witnessed the “triumph” organized on the occasion of Voltaire’s arrival in Paris.
In 1782 he retired due to deteriorating health.
In 1784-85 he went abroad for treatment - to Italy, and in 1786-87 to Austria, but these trips did not bring him any benefit. The trip to the Baltic states undertaken by Denis Ivanovich three years before his death was equally unsuccessful.
Fonvizin’s interest in literature and theater arose during his student years. The earliest that has come down to us literary experiments writer is a translation of “Moral Fables” by the Danish satirist L. Golberg (the translation was made not from the original, but from German text; during the life of the satirist he was published three times separate publication- in 1761, 1765 and 1787).
A number of his minor translations from German and French were published in the university magazines “Useful Amusement” (1761) and “Collection best essays to the dissemination of knowledge and to the enjoyment" (1762). He continued to translate after leaving the university. Translated by:
“Heroic Virtue, or the Life of Seth, King of Egypt” political and moral novel by Terrason (1-4 hours, 1762 -1768),
“The Love of Carita and Polydor” novel by Barthelemy (1763),
“The trading nobility, as opposed to the military nobility”
Quayer's reasoning (1766),
"Sidney and Scilly, or Beneficence and Gratitude" sentimental story Arno (1769),
"Joseph" prose poem by Bitobe (1769),
"Alzira" Voltaire's tragedy remained in manuscript,
Ovid's Metamorphoses has not been published
The treatise “On Governments” by the German jurist Justine has not been published.
Simultaneously with the work on translations, the original creativity Denis Ivanovich “Very early, a penchant for satire appeared in me,” the satirist wrote, recalling his student years. - My sharp words rushed around Moscow... They soon began to fear me, then to hate me; and instead of attracting people to me, I drove them away from me with words and pen. My writings were sharp curses: there was a lot of satirical salt in them...” (“ Sincere confession in my deeds and thoughts").
Fonvizin continued to write poetic satires even after arriving from Moscow to serve in St. Petersburg. In “The Experience of a Historical Dictionary of Russian Writers” (1772), Novikov noted that Denis Ivanovich “wrote many sharp and very good poems" Of these, only excerpts from two epistles (“To Yamshchikov” and “To My Mind”), one epigram and the now famous satire in verse “Message to my servants Shumilov, Vanka and Petrushka” (published in 1769) are known. Addressed to real persons, it is essentially not a message, but a dramatized conversation between a satirist and his servants on the topic of the meaning of existence. He achieved great skill in depicting servants, whose answers to the question asked of him reveal individual characteristics the nature of each of them. The anti-clerical tirades uttered by Vanka and the kind of “Voltairianism” of Petrushka were not invented by the satirist, but at the same time in a certain way echo the thoughts and moods of the playwright himself. This makes his “Message to the Servants”, first of all, the most colorful monument of Russian philosophical free-thinking of the 18th century. However philosophical theme posed in this work develops into a social theme, revealing the ability to satirically reflect typical phenomena of reality. Since the 60s. XVIII century The development of capitalist relations in Russia was accompanied by a further strengthening of serfdom. It is therefore deeply characteristic that Fonvizin, along with the sharp satirical image Russian serfdom, with great poignancy shows in his “Message to the Servants” the power of money as the main factor determining human relationships. The vitality and revealing focus of this work subsequently earned high praise Belinsky, who claimed that the “funny” and “evil” message of the satirist “will outlive all the thick poems of that time” (Poln, collected works, vol. V, M., 1954, p. 537; vol. VII, M., 1955 , p. 119).
How playwright Denis Ivanovich first performed with verse comedy"Corion", staged on the court stage in 1764. In this play, he tried to solve the same problem as other contemporary playwrights ( V. I. Lukin, I.P. Elagin, B.E. Elchaninov) - the task of creating a Russian national-everyday comedy by “inclining our rights,” i.e., altering works of the Western European theatrical repertoire. The model for “Korion” was the comedy French poet Gresse "Sydney". In general, the play is devoid of any organic connection with Russian life. The only noteworthy thing about it is that Denis Ivanovich brought to the stage one character who was absent from the French text - a serf peasant lamenting his bitter fate.
The playwright's great success was his second comedy, “The Brigadier” (written between 1766 and 1769, published in 1792-1795). According to the fair expression of a contemporary who heard the play read by the author himself, it was “the first comedy in our morals.” In “The Brigadier,” Fonvizin cruelly ridiculed ignorance, bribery, bigotry and blind servility to foreigners, so characteristic of the local bureaucratic circles of Russian society. The life-like credibility of such satirical comedy characters as the Brigadier, the Advisor, the Counselor and Ivanushka was achieved by the playwright without violating the principles of character depiction inherent in classicism. But in the Brigadier, the realistic tendencies of Denis Ivanovich’s work manifested themselves with great force. Main artistic merit the plays had aptly individualized language characters: the military vocabulary of the Brigadier, the combination of clerical orders and Church Slavonic expressions in the speech of the Advisor, the salon Russian-French jargon of Ivanushka and the Advisor, the popular vernacular of the Brigadier. In contrast to negative characters positive images comedies (Dobrolyubov, Sophia) are pale and sketchy.
The pinnacle of Fonvizin’s creativity and all Russian drama of the 18th century was the comedy “The Minor” (1782, staged the same year, published in 1783). Thanks to the sharpness of the artistic and satirical generalization, the denunciation of the “evil morality” of the feudal landowners contained in this play reveals with unprecedented expressiveness social essence serfdom. In “The Minor” Denis Ivanovich “for the first time brought to light and onto the stage the corrupting significance of serfdom and its influence on the nobility, spiritually ruined, degenerated and corrupted precisely by the slavery of the peasantry” (M. Gorky, History of Russian Literature, M., 1939, p. 22). In my own way public importance the comedy turned out to be immeasurably broader than the subjective noble-educational goal pursued by the author, who called for the legislative curbing of serfdom. “The Minor” is a socio-political comedy, since the subtext contained in it is directed against the activities carried out in these years Catherine II policy of strengthening serfdom. Much attention The playwright in the comedy devoted the traditional problem of education in educational literature. However, compared to how this problem was resolved before Fonvizin, it deepens significantly and receives social understanding in “Nedorosl”. Mitrofanushka’s bad upbringing is perceived as a natural result of the entire serfdom system. The essence of social evil, against which the playwright takes up arms, is revealed not only through declarative maxims uttered positive characters, but also in living, memorable images. Some of them are sharpened to the point of grotesque, to the point of caricature (Skotinin, Vralman, Kuteikin), others are distinguished by greater internal complexity. The image of Prostakova shows not only the features of a tyrannical landowner, but also of a loving mother. This love is clothed in her almost animal, primitive and reckless form. Such love cannot give rise to anything other than ignorance, laziness and rudeness in Mitrofanushka, and the education he receives must inevitably turn him into a tyrant-serf-owner, like his mother. Negative characters, according to the laws of the dramaturgy of classicism, the positive ones are opposed (Starodum, Pravdin, Milon). In their depiction, Denis Ivanovich sought to avoid impersonality and schematism. What was also new was that they reflected the real features of Fonvizin’s contemporaries. However, their inherent didactic-moralistic tendency deprives them of that vital concreteness with which negative characters are filled. No wonder the names of Mitrofanushka, Prostakova, Skotinin, Vralman, Kuteikin became household names.
If the language of the characters in “The Brigadier” served to characterize their social and everyday life, then the language of the characters in “The Minor” simultaneously meets the objectives psychological characteristics. Again, the speech of the satirical characters is individualized with special skill, perfectly conveying the speech characteristics of the average noble environment.
“The Minor” was created within the framework of the dramatic rules of classicism. However, the impact aesthetic principles bourgeois dramaturgy (abundance of didactic-moralistic elements, the motive of sympathy for “suffering humanity”) and realistic tendencies led to overcoming the conventions of classical comedy genre. As a result, thanks to its ideological essence and close connection with the folk speech tradition, “The Minor” fully justifies the name of “folk comedy” given to it by Pushkin in “Message to the Censor.”
Both comedies - “The Brigadier” and especially “The Minor” - had an exceptional big influence on further development Russian drama. According to Belinsky, “Russian comedy began long before Fonvizin, but it began only with Fonvizin” (Poln. sobr. soch., vol. III, M., 1953, p. 470).
Gogol put “Undergrown” next to “Woe from Wit” Griboyedov and, calling them “truly social comedies”, in which “the wounds and illnesses of our society, severe internal abuses... are exposed in stunning evidence” (Poln. sobr. soch., vol. VIII, 1952, pp. 396, 400) .
Almost simultaneously with the end of “The Minor,” Denis Ivanovich wrote a political treatise, remarkable in content and form, “Discourse on the Indispensable state laws" Intended for the heir to the Russian throne, this treatise was supposed to instill in the future monarch the consciousness of the strictest responsibility in the face of the law. Showing what autocratic tyranny leads to, the playwright turns his treatise into a sharp pamphlet, castigating Catherine II and the system of favoritism that flourished under her. Much in this “Discourse” directly resonates with the ideological orientation of “Minor.” Subsequently, shortened and revised to suit the conditions social struggle late 10's - 1st half. 20s XIX century, the text of the “Discourses” was used for propaganda purposes by the Decembrists.
IN last decade his creative activity Denis Ivanovich wrote a large number of prose works, varied in form, but satirical at its core. These are:
“The Experience of a Russian Dictionary” (at this time he was interested in language issues and compiled for Russian Academy project " Explanatory dictionary Slavic-Russian language"),
“Petition to the Russian Minerva from Russian writers»,
“The teaching given on Spiritual Day by Priest Vasily in the village of P.”, “The Narrative of the Imaginary Deaf and Mute” (all published in 1783),
"Callisthenes" Greek story (1786).
“Several questions that can arouse special attention in intelligent and honest people” (1783), which contained direct attacks against domestic policy Catherine II and caused extreme irritation on her part and accusation of the author of “free speech”.
In 1788 Denis Ivanovich prepared for publication the first part of the magazine, compiled entirely from his own works, - "Friend honest people, or Starodum,” but the publication was prohibited by the Deanery Board. The first part of the magazine was supposed to include one of the most brilliant examples of political satire not only in the work of Fonvizin, but in all of Russian satirical literature. prose XVIII century - “General Court Grammar”. Materials intended for the “Friend of Honest People” appeared in print only in the first thirds of the XIX century.
The playwright’s enormous contribution to the development of Russian prose is evidenced not only by his satirical works, but also letters - a wonderful monument of the epistolary style, as well as his autobiographical notes “A sincere confession of my deeds and thoughts” (published in 1830).
The only satire in verse, written, apparently, in the last period of creativity, is the fable “The Fox the Executor” (published in 1787), brilliantly parodying the style of official panegyrics to monarchs and mercilessly exposing their authors. Along with the “General Court Grammar”, it shows that Fonvizin’s talent as a satirist reached its highest socio-political intensity at this time.
The creative heritage of Denis Ivanovich had a profound impact on the further formation critical realism in Russian Literature. Batyushkov associated “the education of prose” with Fonvizin.
In judgments A. Bestuzhev A, Pushkin a, Gogol, Herzen and the originality and nationality of his talent were emphasized. The continuity of the connection between advanced Russian drama, at the origins of which stands Fonvizin, and the theater Ostrovsky noted Goncharov.
The vitality of the playwright's satirical characters in new historical conditions showed in a number of his works Shchedrin(“Letters to Auntie”, “Gentlemen of Tashkent”, “All Year Round”).
According to M. Gorky’s definition, Denis Ivanovich laid the foundation for “the most magnificent and, perhaps, the most socially fruitful line of Russian literature - the accusatory-realistic line” (“History of Russian Literature,” p. 25).
“The Minor” is the only Russian play of the 18th century that has taken a strong place in the repertoire Soviet theater. This fact serves as clear evidence of the enduring significance of the work of the playwright and satirist.
Denis Ivanovich Fonvizin (1744-1792) - writer, dramatist, educator, who went down in the history of Russian literature as the creator of Russian social comedy. “Satire is a brave ruler” - that’s what Pushkin called him. Already in his first original comedy “The Brigadier” (1769), Fonvizin showed his bright satirical gift, ridiculing ignorance, bribery, bigotry and passion for everything French, so characteristic of the Russian nobility of the second half of the XVIII century. But true and lasting fame came to Fonvizin when he created the comedy “Ungrown” (1782). Gogol put it on a par with “Woe from Wit”
A.S. Griboyedov and called truly " social comedy" "Un-adult" is satirical comedy, in which, according to N.V. Gogol, the writer revealed “the wounds and illnesses of our society, severe internal abuses, which are exposed in stunning obviousness by the merciless power of irony.”
The comedian focuses on an entire class - the Russian nobility, not in itself, but in close connection with what the system of serfdom brings with it, which determines the life of the entire country. The theme of the comedy is landowner arbitrariness and its disastrous consequences, the system of noble education, legislation, social and family relations V Russia XVIII century.
According to the plot and title, “The Minor” is a play about how badly and incorrectly they taught young nobleman, having raised him “undersized.” But we're talking about not about learning, but about education in itself in a broad sense. On stage, Mitrofan is a minor character, but the story of his upbringing explains where he comes from scary world Skotinnykh and Prostakov, what should be changed so that the ideals of goodness, reason and justice reign in it.
Thus, the idea of comedy is the exposure and condemnation of the world of ignorant, cruel and self-loving landowners who want to subjugate all life to themselves, to arrogate to themselves the right of unlimited power over both serfs and noble people; affirmation of the ideals of humanity, progress, enlightenment, expressed through goodies(Sofia, Starodum, Milon, Pravdin).
Among the positive heroes of the play, Starodum stands out. This is the hero-reasoner, the second “I” of the author himself. Through his lips, Fonvizin pronounces a verdict on the world of tyranny and slavery, and he places his hopes on good beginnings human soul, on reasonable education, on the strength of conscience. “Have a heart, have a soul, and you will be a man at all times,” Starodum says to Sophia. This is the author's ideal. In many ways, it is associated with the educational illusions of Fonvizin, but the scale of satirical exposure in the comedy takes it beyond the narrow framework of the educational positions of classicism and allows us to talk about clearly expressed realistic principles.
Peculiarities artistic method Fonvizin are a combination of classicism features (the division of characters into positive and negative, schematism in their depiction, “three unities” in the composition, “speaking” names, features of reasoning in the image of Starodum, etc.) and realistic tendencies ( life-like authenticity of images, depictions of noble life and social relations in a fortress village). The playwright's innovation was reflected primarily in a more complex understanding of character. Although the heroes of the comedy are static, in the living tissue of the work their characters acquired a multi-meaning unusual for the dramaturgy of classicism. If the images of Skotinin, Vralman, Kuteikin are sharpened to the point of caricature, then the images of Prostakova and Eremeevna are distinguished by great internal complexity. Eremeevna is a “slave,” but she retains a clear awareness of her position, knows the characters of her masters very well, and the soul is alive in her. Prostakova, an evil, cruel serf-owner, turns out to be at the same time a loving, caring mother, who in the finale, rejected by her own son, looks truly unhappy and even evokes the sympathy of the audience.
The creation of realistic authenticity of images is largely facilitated by the language of comedy heroes, which becomes a means of their individualization and helps to reveal the socio-psychological essence of the character. Starodum, as befits a traditional hero-reasoner, speaks to the right, bookish language. But Fonvizin introduces other—individual—features into the hero’s speech: aphorism, saturation with archaisms. All individual and typical qualities of Prostakova are also reflected in her language. She addresses the serfs rudely, using abusive language (“dog’s daughter,” “nasty mug,” “beast”), and her mother’s affectionate, caring speech is addressed to her son Mitrofan (“darling,” “my dear friend”). . With the guests, Prostakova is a society lady (“I recommend you my dear guest”), and when she humbly laments, begging for forgiveness, folk expressions appear in her speech (“you are my dear mother, forgive me,” “the sword does not cut off a guilty head”) . Material from the site
All this makes Fonvizin’s comedy “The Minor,” formally created according to the rules of classicism, a truly innovative work that had a huge impact on the formation of realism in Russian literature. According to A.I. Herzen, “Fonvizin managed to stage his barnyard of wild landowners in advance, and Gogol published his cemetery.” Dead souls" The continuity of Fonvizin’s dramaturgy with Ostrovsky’s theater was noted by Goncharov, and Saltykov-Shchedrin brought out a number of Fonvizin’s characters in his works.
Enlightenment tendencies characteristic of Russian XVIII literature centuries, manifested themselves not only within the framework of classicism, which in the last quarter of the century was already clearly losing ground, but also in the works of a new trend for that time - sentimentalism. It was also based on the ideas of the Enlightenment, but in the first place it put a specific person with his feelings and experiences. Feelings and experiences in sentimentalism replace the dominance of reason in classicism, and representatives of the middle and lower classes become heroes. Although in Russian literature sentimentalism has not received such wide development as in Western Europe, in the works of N.M. Karamzin, poems by the young V.A. Zhukovsky, prose by A.N. Radishchev's sentimentalism is noticeable.
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Denis Ivanovich Fonvizin is the founder of Russian comedy, an accusatory realistic trend in Russian literature. In his works, satire is closely intertwined with educational journalism. An admirer of Voltaire, Rousseau, the writer was an enemy of autocratic despotism.
In 1762 Fonvizin moved to St. Petersburg and here he began intensive literary activity. He was a regular guest of Kozlovsky's circle. As a result of rapprochement with this circle, the satirist wrote “Message to my servants Shumilov, Vanka and Petrushka,” published for the first time in the monthly publication “Pustomel”, in 1770. Some of his poems and new translations date back to this period of Fonvizin’s life, of which special The translations of Bitobe’s poem “Joseph”, as well as Barthelemy’s story: “The Love of Karita and Polydor” were successful.
In 1764, F. made his first independent dramatic work, the comedy Corion. A few years after “Corion,” the social comedy “Brigadier” appears. In "The Brigadier" the features of Russian life are clearly expressed. The type of dandy, realized in the person of Ivanushka and the adviser, was familiar to the viewer from observations of metropolitan life, which is confirmed by articles in satirical magazines of that time. Even more original, having grown on Russian soil, are the types of adviser, foreman and foreman.
In 1782, the comedy “The Minor” was released. The play is imbued with accusatory pathos. In his comedy, the satirist responded to all the questions that worried advanced people that time. State and social order, civic duties of a member of society, serfdom, family, marriage, raising children - these are the range of problems posed in “Nedorosl”. The author's educational ideas are realized through the image of Starodum. Starodum is the enemy of Catherine’s corrupt nobles, who received ranks and estates for flattery and sycophancy. In his words one can hear a direct denial of serfdom. He is also the enemy of ignorant education. Being mainly a supporter of the French enlightenment, he does not, however, share their materialistic ideas.
In 1783, Fonvizin took part in the magazine “Interlocutor”, published in it “The Experience of a Russian Estatesman”, “A Petition to the Russian Minerva from Russian Writers”, “Questions to the Writer of Tales and Fables”, “A Teaching Spoken on Spiritual Day”. In the work “Questions to the author of “Facts and Fables”,” the writer sharply criticizes contemporary government orders and social vices: favoritism at court, the moral decline of the nobility, etc. Esin B.I. writes: “Catherine II hid under the pseudonym of the author of “Facts and Fables.” Fonvizin pretended that he did not know who this author was and addressed him as equal to equal. Using the empress’s ostentatious liberalism, Fonvizin risked publishing his 20 questions, but was forced to refuse to continue them.”
In 1788, Fonvizin decided to publish the magazine “Starodum”, received permission and began to prepare material, but by order of Catherine the magazine was banned.
Literary legacy last period Fonvizin’s activities consists of articles for the magazine (Vzyatkin’s Letter, Starodum’s Letter, General Court Grammar, etc.) and from dramatic works- the comedy “The Tutor’s Choice” and the dramatic feuilleton “Conversation with Princess Khaldina.” Besides last years During his life, the writer worked on his autobiography “Frank Confession”.
Thus, Fonvizin belonged to that circle of advanced Russian people of the 18th century who formed the camp of enlighteners, and his work was permeated with the pathos of affirming the ideals of justice and humanism. Satire and journalism became his main weapon against autocracy and feudal abuses.
