Speech characteristics of the negative characters of the comedy are undersized. Speech characteristics of the heroes of the comedy "Minor"

Addressing this topic will allow us to consider many others raised in comedy.

During the conversation, you can repeat theoretical and literary concepts.

Name the features of drama as a type of literature.

How does drama differ from epic and lyric poetry?

What genres is drama divided into?

The play was staged in St. Petersburg in 1782, published in 1783, and went through four editions during the author’s lifetime.

“The Minor” is the pinnacle of Fonvizin’s creativity, the first Russian comedy created during the times of Russian classicism.

Name the features of classicism as a literary movement.

The educational orientation of literature (writers sought to influence the human mind in order to correct the vices of society), the doctrine of three “calms”, the telling names of the heroes, their division into positive and negative, the trinity of place, time and action - all these are the main features and rules of classicism.

In his comedy, Fonvizin largely deviates from these rules, although he builds it in accordance with the norms of classicism.

Fonvizin’s merit in creating a spoken language of comedy. Fonvizin's true innovation lay in the widespread use colloquial speech, in the principles of its selection, in the skill of individualization. All this is all the more important because in the second half of the 18th century a pan-Russian literary language was being formed, and Fonvizin himself was an active participant in this process.

The clear division of heroes into positive and negative among all comedians of that time entailed the need to differentiate the speech of the heroes. Language goodies, bearers of abstract virtues, is bookish and literary, rich in Slavic vocabulary, many periphrases, and complex syntactic constructions.

At first glance, the images of positive characters in Fonvizin’s comedy “The Minor” were created in the same traditions. The language of Sophia, Milon, and Pravdin is bookish, colloquial vocabulary is almost never used.

However, Fonvizin's comedy is sharply different from others.

In Fonvizin we not only see the actions of good heroes, but also get to know them moral ideal- honest service to the Fatherland, intolerant attitude towards vice and injustice. Fonvizin's educated, progressively thinking heroes express the innermost thoughts of the author, who was close to the noble opposition during the reign of Catherine II - this is the main ideological and artistic function of positive heroes. Consequently, the high syllable of their speech is psychologically motivated. And this distinguishes their speech from the speech of abstractly positive heroes of other comedies - wise fathers, honest, devoted friends, and so on.

The above should first of all be attributed to Starodum. This is the author’s favorite hero, his second self. The desire for realism, which characterizes Fonvizin’s comedy, was clearly reflected in the creation of Starodum’s speech characteristics.

Starodum's speech is, first of all, Speaker's speech. He, according to Fonvizin, must convey new ideas to the reader and interpret them. That's why His speech is figurative, aphoristic.

An ignoramus without a soul is a beast; It is much more honest to be treated without guilt than to be rewarded without merit; Have a heart, have a soul, and you will be a man at all times; Cash is not cash worth; The golden fool is still a fool; Enlightenment elevates one virtuous soul; Only those who are in rank not by money, and in the nobility not by rank, are worthy of spiritual respect.

In Starodum’s speech, Fonvizin consistently shows how the choice of word depends on the speech situation, which was typical for colloquial speech educated people second half of the XVIII century. Thus, when he has nothing to talk about with his interlocutor (for example, with the ignorant Prostakova), his remarks become monosyllabic, he is ironic, and often uses such colloquial words as To start, this is a master of interpretation, bah! I'm having tea; post-positive particles (think about it). He seems to adapt to the vocabulary of his interlocutor.

In addition, using the example of Starodum’s speech, Fonvizin showed for the first time that older generation educated nobles spoke more simply than young nobles, their speech was closer to popular speech. So, Starodum uses If(Milon - Will), Now, survived, will help, hang around in the hallway, just now, rich man, get out(“to leave”), Rublev.

Unlike other playwrights, Fonvizin creates individual speech characteristics of positive characters. Thus, Starodum’s speech is simpler, more specific, more figurative than the speech of Pravdin and Milon. Starodum plays a unique role as a translator, a mediator between the serf owners and his truth-loving friends. It is he who can explain himself to Skotinin, “laughing” to find with him mutual language, while Milon, regarding Skotinin’s remarks, is only able to exclaim:

What insolence... I can hardly resist... What a bestial comparison!

It is Starodum who knows how to understand the peculiar logic of Mitrofan, who reveals his “knowledge” in the field of grammar: “So that’s why you use the word fool as an adjective, because it is applied to a stupid person?” (To which Mitrofan replies: “And it is known.”) When Prostakova asks Pravdin and Starodum to explain to her what “heorgaphy” is, Pravdin gives an answer incomprehensible to Prostakova: “Description of the land,” and Starodum explains to her in such a way that she immediately understands ( and defines his attitude towards geography as follows): “Science is not a noble science.” Condemning Prostakova, Starodum, unlike Milon and Pravdin, does not philosophize, does not suppress her with abstractions, but simply says in response to her exclamation that she is a person, not an angel:

I know, I know that a person cannot be an angel. And you don’t have to be a devil.

In the first dialogue between Pravdin and Starodum, there is even some opposition between the speech manner of one and the way of expressing the other. Courtly phrases of Pravdin, not only noble, but also exquisite polite person, differ quite sharply from Starodum’s remarks with his “you” addresses and his habit of interrupting the interlocutor’s speech. It seems that a nobleman of Catherine’s era is talking with a close associate of Peter I, the nobility of the first is clothed in exquisite forms, the wisdom of the second is simple and artless, completely in the style of the great sovereign.

Pravdin. As soon as they got up from the table and I went to the window and saw your carriage, then, without telling anyone, I ran out to meet you and hug you with all my heart. My sincere respect to you...

Starodum. It is precious to me. Trust me.

Pravdin. Your friendship for me is all the more flattering because you cannot have it for others except such...

Starodum. What are you like? I speak without ranks. The ranks begin - they stop...

Pravdin. Your treatment...

Starodum. Many people laugh at him. I know it...

But such a contrast is only emerging. Starodum’s “Petrine” style is not maintained to the end, and in many scenes the difference between him and Pravdivny, Milon is erased. In the same dialogue, Starodum moves away from the style of simplicity and artlessness and speaks almost the same as Pravdin.

Starodum. I did not know how to guard against the first movements of my irritated curiosity. My ardor did not allow me to judge then that a truly inquisitive person is jealous of deeds, and not of rank...

If Starodum’s speech sometimes shows a sense of humor, then Pravdin and Milon speak completely seriously, not allowing or understanding jokes. This is how it should be: their word is inflexible, unambiguous, it expresses a thought, but does not convey shades of meaning. For example, the jokes of Sophia, who supposedly talks sympathetically about Mitrofan, “torment” Milon, arouse jealousy in him, and even when he finally realized that she was joking, he still reproaches her: how can you joke with such a passionate, serious and virtuous a person?

All this, in Fonvizin’s understanding, does not at all contradict his plan to present Pravdin and Milon as positive heroes of the comedy. Their speech should appeal to the rigor and classical beauty of abstractions that make up the harmonious edifice of the educational program. Abstractions are perceived and experienced emotionally by positive characters: such, for example, a word as Virtue, causes them ecstasy and excitement.

Starodum. ...I caress that my ardor does not deceive me, that virtue...

Sophia. You filled all my feelings with it. (Rushing to kiss his hands.) Where is she?

Starodum (kissing her hands). She's in your soul...

This is the end of the conversation that it is not love, but reason and good morals that should be the basis of marriage. The bride not only agrees with her uncle - for her this rule was an exciting revelation and a source of intense joy.

In general, the speech of the positive characters is not yet so bright, and this is primarily due to the fact that they practically do not use colloquial, colloquial phrases. The bookish speech of educated people of that time was characterized by a lack of emotion. Clarity, correctness, uniformity - here distinctive features speech characteristics of positive characters. You understand the meaning of what they say from the immediate meaning of the words. For the rest of the characters, the meaning and essence can be grasped in the very dynamics of the conversation. The speech of positive characters is used by the author to express his thoughts.

Creating images negative characters, Fonvizin reproduces a lively, relaxed

For negative heroes typical use folk proverbs, saying, phraseological units, which gives the landowner a national flavor.

Ms. Prostakova (behind the scenes). Rogues! The thieves! Fraudsters! Everyone Nail I command To death!

Forgive me! Ah, father... Well! Now I'll give you the dawn channel to your people...

(Kneeling). Ah, my fathers, A fault confessed is half redressed. My sin! Don't ruin me. (To Sophia.) You are my dear mother, forgive me. Have mercy on me (pointing to my husband and son) and on the poor orphans.

There are few vernacular words in comedy, and these are mostly words widely used in everyday speech. Fonvizin carefully selects “reduced” vocabulary; we will not find words from him that are rarely used and therefore attract attention as a foreign inclusion in the fabric of the narrative.

He uses colloquial and “reduced” vocabulary to create vivid speech characteristics.

As an example, let's look at speech Prostakova. The impression of Prostakova’s ignorance is created primarily by the inclusion in her vocabulary of words that are colloquial, but expressively neutral: He, de, ba, to the article, tired, where, nowhere, looking for("more"), I tea, indulge, maybe, intimidate, now, bye, sweat, look, if only, little. It is this vocabulary, devoid of expressive load, designed to emphasize the word in speech, to highlight it - this vocabulary creates a “common” background of speech characteristics. Sounding against this background Swear words (snout, swindler, thief, thieving mug, cattle, fool, beast, freak, weakling, scoundrel, mug, witch, countless fool) Prostakova’s rudeness, unbridledness, and cruelty are conveyed more sharply.

Ms. Prostakova (behind the scenes). Rogues! The thieves! Fraudsters! I'll order everyone to be beaten to death!

Oh me Dog's daughter! What have I done!

Insatiable soul! Kuteikin! What is this for?

Note, however, that in the dictionaries of the second half of the 18th century, not all of these words are classified as stylistically reduced. For example, words like Chatterbox, fool, game, mug, mug, kill, stagger, gape, stylistically not limited. Were completely common in colloquial speech and form Where, nowhere, enough, baby. The colloquial nature of these words is indicated by their absence in official letters and business documents; in Fonvizin (except for “The Minor”) they are found in the comedy “Brigadier”, in translations of fables, in letters to relatives.

Prostakova's speech reflects Dialect features: dialect conjunctions; use of the postpositive term.

Mrs. Prostakova. Forgive me! Ah, father!.. Well! Now- That I will give the dawn to my people. Now- That I'll take them all one by one. Now- That I’ll find out who let her out of his hands. No, scammers! No, thieves! I will not forgive a century, I will not forgive this ridicule.

Not free! A nobleman is not free to flog his servants when he wants; Yes, what have we been given instructions for? From about the freedom of the nobility?

And with debts - That get rid of things?.. Teachers are underpaid...

Prostakova uses bookish expressions in her speech (“a fair amount of fiction”, “amorous writing”).

Most playwrights, reproducing the speech of servants, peasants, and local nobles, created a certain conventional language, distinguished from living everyday speech by a deliberate concentration of vernacular elements.

Unlike most of his contemporaries, Fonvizin creates the language of comic heroes by means literary language, very accurately using elements of vernacular. In this way he achieves complete verisimilitude in the speech of Prostakova and other “low” characters in the comedy. The reader gets the impression that the speech of these characters reflects real speech practice provincial nobility, servants and so on.

Obviously, it was precisely this way of creating speech characteristics of everyday, comic comedy characters that was fruitful - the use of the speech practice of the writer himself, the wide inclusion of colloquial vocabulary and phraseology used among educated people. Other comedians, contemporaries of Fonvizin, set themselves a similar task, but it was brilliantly resolved only by Fonvizin, who carried it out more fully and decisively.

The speech of Mitrofan and Skotinin is also replete with proverbs, sayings, jokes, and funny puns: I have... all sorts of guilt; you can’t beat your betrothed with a horse; live happily; a merry feast and for the wedding(Skotinin); Guilty without guilt(Prostakov); Henbane ate too much, shoot them, remember their names, stuck with a knife to the throat(Mitrofan).

Prostakov. ...After all, we can’t move Sofyushkin’s real estate estate to our place.

Skotinin. And although the movable has been put forward, I am not a petitioner.

Mitrofanushka even rhymes some words. Worried after a tough conversation with Skotinin, he tells his mother that he is not able to read the book of hours with Kuteikin.

- Yes! just look at what the uncle is doing; and there from his fists and for the book of hours.

The conversations of the positive characters are inaccessible to the understanding of Prostakovs and Skotinin, but they often pick up one or another word familiar to them, expressing an abstract concept in the language of Pravdin and Milon, and, interpreting this word in their own way, return it to its original concrete meaning. For example:

Pravdin. When only your cattle can be happy, then your wife will suffer from them and from you. Peace.

Skotinin. Poor peace! Bah! bah! bah! Don't I have enough light rooms? I’ll give her a coal stove and a bed for her alone.

It is clear that Pravdin means peace - “ state of mind”, and Skotinin, understanding it differently, speaks of a room, a room (chamber).

From the very first scene, when Mrs. Prostakova scolds her husband, to whom the narrow caftan, in her opinion, seemed baggy (“You yourself are baggy, clever mind"), and up to last words In comedy, negative characters, as they say, do not mince words.

But all the techniques of expressiveness that enliven the speech of Prostakov and Skotinin in Fonvizin’s poetics are not techniques for creating any attractive image. The reader or viewer, turning to “The Minor,” judges his negative characters together with the author of the comedy, completely condemning them, despite the objectively valuable features of their language.

What, after all, are the unattractive features in the language of the Fonvizin serf-owners that compromise them in accordance with the author’s intentions? First of all this An abundance of vulgarisms, harsh and rude words. This is especially visible in the Prostakovs’ treatment of servants and teachers, in comparisons of negative characters with animals - dogs, pigs.

“I want to have my own piglets” (Skotinin wants to have children); “Have you ever heard of a bitch giving away her puppies?” (Prostakova explains her intercession for Mitrofan).

Similar parallels and all kinds of vulgarisms serve Satirical debunking of heroes- in Fonvizin’s comedy they play exactly this role.

Fonvizin’s individualization of speech reaches high perfection: each comic character differs in the nature of its sayings.

Let's say About the language of teachers and servants. The features of their speech are determined social status these characters, the nature of past and present occupations, professions, nationality (Vralman) and so on. First of all, this applies to teachers - Church Slavonic sayings, book words Kuteikina.

Kuteikin. The call came and went; Are you willing to let go? Yes, first let’s be disappointed... We’ve been put to shame, damned one.

Vladyka, meal, consistory, battle - soldiers’ words and “arithmeticisms” of Tsyfirkin.

Tsyfirkin (to Pravdin). What will the order be, your honor?

So: with those ten rubles I wore out my boots in two years. We're even.

My pleasure. I served the sovereign for more than twenty years. I took money for service, I didn’t take it in vain, and I won’t take it.

Why, your honor, are you complaining?

AND! Your Honor. I'm a soldier.

Vralman's affectionate speech with the owners is impudently arrogant with the servants.

Vralman (to Pravdin). Fasche fisoko-i-plakhorotie. They fooled me to ask for it?..

(Having recognized Starodum). Ay! ah! ah! ah! ah! It's you, my gracious master! (Kissing the floor of Starodum.) Are you going to cheat the old lady, my dear fellow?

Hey, no, my daddy! Shiuchi with great hospotam, it concerned me that I was with horses.

The speech of the characters in the play is a derivative of social and everyday realities, this important tool creating comic, as well as psychological characteristics heroes.

Thus, the author manages to overcome the contradiction: on the one hand, his comedy is associated with the traditions of classicism, therefore all the characters wear speech masks; on the other hand, in the speech characteristics of the characters he manages to achieve their individualization, which gives “The Minor” features of realism.

For independent work Students can be asked to write an essay “ Speech characteristics Mitrofan and Eremeevna."

Speech characteristics in the comedy "Minor"

The first thing you notice modern reader comedy “Minor” - these are the names characters. “Talking” surnames immediately establish the reader’s (viewer’s) attitude towards their owners. He ceases to be a more or less objective witness to the unfolding action; he psychologically already becomes a participant in it. The opportunity to evaluate the heroes and their actions was taken away from him. From the very beginning, from the names of the characters, the reader was told where the negative characters were and where the positive ones were. And the reader’s role comes down to seeing and remembering the ideal to which one must strive.

The characters can be divided into three groups: negative (Prostakovs, Mitrofan, Skotinin), positive (Pravdin, Milon, Sophia, Starodum), the third group includes all the other characters, these are mainly servants and teachers. Negative characters and their servants are characterized by common people colloquial. The Skotinins' vocabulary consists mainly of words used in the barnyard. This is well shown by the speech of Skotinin - Uncle Mitrofan. It is all filled with words: pig, piglets, barn. The idea of ​​life also begins and ends with the barnyard. He compares his life with the life of his pigs. For example: “I want to have my own piglets,” “if I have... a special barn for each pig, then I’ll find a little one for my wife.” And he’s proud of it: “Well, I’ll be a son of a pig if...”

Lexicon his sister Mrs. Prostakova is a little more varied, due to the fact that her husband is a “countless fool”, and she has to do everything herself. But Skotinin’s roots are also evident in her speech.

Favorite curse word- “cattle”. To show that Prostakova is not far behind her brother in development. Fonvizin sometimes denies her basic logic. For example, such phrases: “Since we took away everything that the peasants had, we can’t tear off anything anymore,” “Is it really necessary to be a tailor in order to be able to sew a caftan well?” And, drawing a conclusion from what has been said, Prostakova finishes the phrase: “What a bestial reasoning.”

All that can be said about her husband is that he is a man of few words and does not open his mouth without his wife’s instructions. But this characterizes him as a “countless fool,” a weak-willed husband who fell under the heel of his wife. Mitrofanushka is also a man of few words, although, unlike his father, he has freedom of speech. Skotinin's roots are manifested in his ingenuity of curses; “old khrychovka”, “garrison rat”.

Servants and teachers have in their speech characteristic features classes and parts of society to which they belong. Eremeevna’s speech is constant excuses and desires to please. Teachers: Tsyfirkin - retired sergeant, Kuteikin - sexton from Pokrov. And with their speech they show their belonging: one to the military, the other to church ministers.

Greetings:

Kuteikin: “Peace to the Lord’s house and many summers to the children and household.”

Tsyfirkin: “We wish your honor to live a hundred years, yes twenty...”

Saying goodbye:

Yauteigsy: “Will you command us to go home?”

Tsyfirkin: “Where should we go, your honor?”

They swear:

Kuteikin: “Even now I’m going to be splintered, if only I’m sinning by piercing my neck!.. A parable of the town!”

Tsyfirkin: “I would let myself have my ear taken, if only I could train this parasite like a soldier!.. What a brat!”

All characters, except the positive ones, have very colorful and emotionally charged speech. You may not understand the meaning of words, but the meaning of what is said is always clear.

For example:

I'll get you there.

I have my own holds too sharp.

The speech of the positive heroes is not so bright. All four of them lack colloquial, colloquial phrases in their speech. This is bookish speech, the speech of educated people of that time, which practically does not express emotions. You understand the meaning of what is said from the direct meaning of the words. For the rest of the characters, the meaning can be grasped in the very dynamics of speech.

Milon's speech is almost impossible to distinguish from Pravdin's speech. It is also very difficult to tell anything about Sophia based on her speech. An educated, well-behaved young lady, as Starodum would call her, sensitive to the advice and instructions of her beloved uncle. Starodum’s speech is completely determined by the fact that the author put his moral program into the mouth of this hero: rules, principles, moral laws, by which a “curious person” should live. Starodum's monologues are structured in this way: Starodum first tells a story from his life, and then draws a moral. This is, for example, the conversation between Starodum and Pravdin. And Starodum’s conversation with Sophia is a set of rules, and “...every word will be engraved into the heart.”

As a result, it turns out that the speech of the negative hero characterizes himself, and the speech of the positive hero is used by the author to express his thoughts. A person is depicted three-dimensionally, the ideal is depicted in a plane.


and where are the positive ones. And the reader’s role comes down to seeing and remembering the ideal to which one must strive. The characters can be divided into three groups: negative (Prostakovs, Mitrofan, Skotinin), positive (Pravdin, Milon, Sophia, Starodum), the third group includes all the other characters - these are mainly servants and teachers. Negative characters and their servants have...

She is a “countless fool” and she has to do everything herself. But Skotinin’s roots are also evident in her speech. Favorite curse word: "cattle". To show that Prostakova is not far behind her brother in development, Fonvizin sometimes denies her basic logic. For example, such phrases: “Since we took away everything that the peasants had, we can’t rip off anything anymore,” “Is it really necessary...

It was possible to fall behind,” that “the stupider the husband, the better for the wife.” Summing up the conversation about the topics, issues and genre composition of Novikov’s magazines, as well as the result of the study of aspects comic image female images, we can conclude that they greatest variety. The pages of Novikov’s satirical magazines touch on such topics as the arbitrariness and tyranny of landowners, ...

Which Fonvizin composed after his decision to move to social important topics. Comedy took a polemical position in relation to sensitive comedies. At the same time, “The Brigadier” goes past the general thematic line of Fonvizin’s dramatic work. The play is directed against bribery of judges, against abuses in legal proceedings, against gallomania. Fonvizin in his play...

As was customary in classicism, the heroes of the comedy “The Minor” are clearly divided into negative and positive. However, the most memorable and striking are the negative characters, despite their despotism and ignorance: Mrs. Prostakova, her brother Taras Skotinin and Mitrofan himself. They are interesting and ambiguous. It is with them that comic situations are associated, full of humor, and bright liveliness of dialogues.

Positive characters do not evoke such vivid emotions, although they are sounding boards that reflect author's position. Educated, endowed only positive features, they are ideal - they cannot commit lawlessness, lies and cruelty are alien to them.

Let us describe each of the characters in more detail:

Heroes Characteristic Character Speech
Negative characters
Mrs. Prostakova The central negative character, a representative of the serf nobility. She is depicted as an uneducated, ignorant and evil woman, who holds all the power in the family: “I scold, then I fight, and that’s how the house holds together.” She is convinced that education is unnecessary and even harmful: “People live and have lived without science.” A two-faced person: she communicates haughtily, rudely, even aggressively with serfs, teachers, husband, brother, and tries to flatter the people on whom her position depends. Confirmation of the same thought is the change in attitude towards Sophia. Pravdin calls her “a despicable woman whose hellish disposition brings misfortune to the whole house.” The only person who inspires her with good feelings is her son Mitrofanushka, “dear friend”, “darling”. That’s why in the finale it’s even a pity for her, because he also turns away from her. Trishke - “cattle”, “swindler”, “thief’s mug”, “blockhead”; To Eremeevna - “beast”, “rascal”, “dog’s daughter”. To Starodum - “benefactor.” “Whatever the peasants had, we took it away, we won’t be able to rip anything off.” “Rogues, thieves, swindlers! I’ll order everyone to be beaten to death.”
Skotinin Another sharply negative character, the owner of a bestial surname, narcissistic and cruel. The only passion- pigs and everything connected with them give his image a certain semblance of an animal. “I haven’t read anything since I was born... God saved me from this boredom.” “I love pigs...” “Are there pigs in your villages?” “I want to have my own piglets.” “... I’ll break the devil... if I were a pig’s son... “Eco happiness has fallen.” “I would have… by the legs, but on the corner,” “Oh, you damn pig!” - Mitrofan. “Look how she screamed” - about her sister.
Mitrofan A minor of sixteen years old, the son of provincial landowners. His name is “speaking”, because Mitrofan translated from Greek means “like a mother.” The same two-faced: a tyrant towards his family, humiliatingly asks for forgiveness from Starodum in the finale. He has undeniable cunning. For example, a dream where “mother beats father.” Education depends on life, environment, and the conditions of a person’s formation. Mitrofan, who grew up in an ignorant family, is himself ignorant, stupid and lazy. Mitrofanushka is not only a complete ignoramus who has an aversion to learning, but also an egoist; for him there is nothing significant except own interests. “An ignoramus without a soul is a beast,” according to Starodum. Rude and cruel towards serfs, teachers, nanny, father. “Although he is sixteen years old, he has already reached the last degree of his perfection and will not go further,” Sophia says about him. “The damned pig,” as his uncle calls him, is the final result of the degradation of the nobility under a soul-crippling upbringing. Historically, a young nobleman who did not receive a written certificate of training from his teacher was considered a “minor.” He was not accepted into the service and was not allowed to marry. Thanks to comedy, the image of a “minor” has become a household word: this is usually what they say about stupid and ignorant people. Eremeevne - “old Khrychovka”; uncle - “Get out, uncle; get lost"; “garrison rat” - to teacher Tsyfirkin.. “Take them and Eremeevna too” - about teachers. “I don’t want to study, I want to get married.” “To hell with everything!”
Prostakov The person is weak-willed and weak. It’s definitely impossible to say about him that he is the “head of the family.” Submits to his wife in everything and fears her. He prefers not to have his own opinion - the scene with sewing a caftan: “Before your eyes, mine see nothing.” Illiterate “spineless henpecked”, in essence, he is not that bad person. He loves Mitrofan, “as a parent should.” “He is humble,” Pravdin says about him.
Positive characters
Pravdin A government official sent to check the situation on the Prostakov estate. Arbitrariness, in his opinion, is an unforgivable vice. Tyranny deserves punishment. Therefore, the truth will prevail and the estate of the cruel and despotic Prostakova will be taken away in favor of the state. “From the struggle of my heart, I do not fail to notice the malicious ignoramuses who, having power over their people, use it inhumanly for evil.” “So that there is no shortage of worthy people, special efforts are made to educate.”
Sophia Starodum's niece. Decent, kind, a smart girl. Translated from greek name her "wisdom". Honest and educated. “God has given you all the pleasures of your sex,... heart honest man“,” Starodum tells her. “How can the heart not be content when the conscience is calm... It is impossible not to love the rules of virtue... They are ways of happiness.” “I will use all my efforts to earn the good opinion of worthy people.”
Starodum Sophia's uncle and guardian. Acts as a sounding board, expressing the author’s thoughts. His name says that he was raised in the era of Peter and adheres to its ideals, when they served at court faithfully and honestly, without fawning over " strongmen of the world this." And he honestly earned his fortune and position: he was on military service, also served at court. Has straightforwardness and impatience for injustice. A person endowed with power, in his opinion, should not in any way violate the rights of other people. “Enlightenment elevates one virtuous soul.” “Cash money is not cash dignity.” “Ranks begin, sincerity ceases.” “Have a heart, have a soul, and you will be a man at all times.” “The dignity of the heart is indivisible.” “The main goal of all knowledge.” human - good behavior."
Milo A handsome officer, Sophia's fiancé. Despite his youth, he already took part in hostilities, where he showed himself heroically. Modest. “A young man of great merit”, “the whole public considers him honest and worthy person", according to Starodum. "I'm in love and I have the happiness of being loved.”“I believe true fearlessness is in the soul, not in the heart...”
Minor characters
Tsyfirkin In the past he was a soldier, so he values ​​the concepts of duty and honor: “I took money for service, but I didn’t take it in vain and I won’t take it.” Rough, but straightforward and honest. “I don’t like to live idly,” he says. "Direct kind person"named Starodum. “Here gentlemen are good commanders!” “Here there is rapid fire every day for three hours in a row.” “Hello for a hundred years, yes twenty, and another fifteen, countless years.”
Kuteikin A half-educated seminarian with a “speaking” surname: kutia is a ritual porridge, an obligatory Christmas and funeral dish. The man is undoubtedly cunning, as evidenced by the choice of text when teaching Mitrofan: “I am a worm, and not a man, a reproach of men,” “that is, an animal, a cattle.” Greedy for money, tries not to miss what he has. Church Slavonic vocabulary: “utter darkness”, “woe is me a sinner”, “the call was”, “I came”, “fearing the abyss of wisdom”.
Vralman German Adam Adamovich is Starodum's former coachman. The man is a rogue, as his last name suggests, posing as a scientist who can teach “French and all the sciences,” but he himself interferes with other teachers. The owner of a lackey's soul, tries to please Prostakova, praising Mitrofan. He himself is ignorant and uncultured. “They want to kill the turnip!” “Shiuchi with the wild hospots, as far as I’m concerned, I’m all with the little horses.”
Eremeevna Mitrofan's nanny. She sincerely serves in the Prostakovs’ house, loves her pupil Mitrofan, but is rewarded for her service like this: “Five rubles a year, up to five slaps a day.” “... I would have broken down with him... I wouldn’t even take care of my fangs.” ... you don’t know how to serve anymore... I would be glad if nothing else... you don’t regret your belly... but everything is not to your liking."
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  • Speech characteristics in the comedy “Minor”

    The first thing a modern reader of the comedy “Minor” pays attention to is the names of the characters. “Talking” surnames immediately establish the reader’s (viewer’s) attitude towards their owners. He ceases to be a more or less objective witness to the unfolding action; he psychologically already becomes a participant in it. The opportunity to evaluate the heroes and their actions was taken away from him. From the very beginning, from the names of the characters, the reader was told where the negative characters were and where the positive ones were. And the reader’s role comes down to seeing and remembering the ideal to which one must strive.

    The characters can be divided into three groups: negative (Prostakovs, Mitrofan, Skotinin), positive (Pravdin, Milon, Sophia, Starodum), the third group includes all the other characters - these are mainly servants and teachers. Negative characters and their servants have a common vernacular language. The Skotinins' vocabulary consists mainly of words used in the barnyard. This is well shown by the speech of Skotinin - Uncle Mitrofan. It is all filled with words: pig, piglets, barn. The idea of ​​life also begins and ends with the barnyard. He compares his life with the life of his pigs. For example: “I want to have my own piglets,” “if I have... a special barn for each pig, then I’ll find a little one for my wife.” And he’s proud of it: “Well, I’ll be a son of a pig if...”

    The vocabulary of his sister Mrs. Prostakova is a little more diverse due to the fact that her husband is “a fool beyond counting” and she has to do everything herself. But the Sko-Tinin roots also appear in her speech. Favorite curse word: “cattle.” To show that Prostakova is not far behind her brother in development, Fonvizin sometimes denies her basic logic. For example, such phrases: “Since we took away everything that the peasants had, we can’t tear off anything anymore,” “So is it necessary to be like a tailor in order to be able to sew a caftan well?” And, drawing conclusions from what has been said, Prostakova ends the phrase: “What a bestial reasoning.”

    All that can be said about her husband is that he is a man of few words and does not open his mouth without his wife’s instructions. But this characterizes him as a “countless fool,” a weak-willed husband who fell under the heel of his wife. Mitrofanushka is also a man of few words, although unlike his father he has freedom of speech. Skotinin’s roots are manifested in his inventiveness of curse words: “old bastard”, “garrison rat”.

    Servants and teachers have in their speech characteristic features of the classes and parts of society to which they belong. Eremeevna’s speech is constant excuses and desires to please. Teachers: Tsyfirkin - retired sergeant, Kuteikin - sexton from Pokrov. And with their speech they show their belonging: one to the military, the other to church ministers.

    Greetings:

    Kuteikin: “Peace to the Lord’s house and many summers to the children and household.”

    Tsyfirkin: “We wish your honor to live a hundred years, yes twenty...”

    Saying goodbye:

    Kuteikin: “Will you order us to go home?”

    Tsyfirkin: “Where should we go, your honor?”

    They swear:

    Kuteikin: “Even now they whisper to me, if only I’m sinning by stabbing me!”

    Tsyfirkin: “I would let myself have my ear taken, if only I could train this parasite like a soldier!.. What an idiot!”

    All characters, except the positive ones, have very colorful and emotionally charged speech. You may not understand the meaning of words, but the meaning of what is said is always clear.

    For example:

    I'll get you there.

    I have my own holds too sharp.

    The speech of the positive heroes is not so bright. All four of them lack colloquial, colloquial phrases in their speech. This is bookish speech, the speech of educated people of that time, which practically does not express emotions. You understand the meaning of what is said from the direct meaning of the words. For the rest of the characters, the meaning can be grasped in the very dynamics of speech.

    Milon's speech is almost impossible to distinguish from Pravdin's speech. It is also very difficult to tell anything about Sophia based on her speech. An educated, well-behaved young lady, as Starodum would call her, sensitive to the advice and instructions of her beloved uncle. The speech of Staro Duma is completely determined by the fact that the author put his moral program into the mouth of this hero: rules, principles, moral laws by which a “pious person” should live. Starodum's monologues are structured in this way: Starodum first tells a story from his life, and then draws a moral. This is, for example, the conversation between Starodum and Pravdivy. And Starodum’s conversation with Sophia is a set of rules, and “...every word will be engraved into the heart.”

    As a result, it turns out that the speech of the negative hero characterizes himself, and the speech of the positive hero is used by the author to express his thoughts. A person is depicted three-dimensionally, the ideal is depicted in a plane.

    Yulia KUVSHINOVA

    Yulia Sergeevna KUVSHINOVA (1982) - teacher of Russian language and literature. Lives in the Moscow region.

    Speech characteristics of the heroes of the comedy by D.I. Fonvizin "Minor"

    Addressing this topic will allow us to consider many others raised in comedy.

    During the conversation, you can repeat theoretical and literary concepts.

    Name the features of drama as a type of literature.

    How does drama differ from epic and lyric poetry?

    What genres is drama divided into?

    The play was staged in St. Petersburg in 1782, published in 1783, and went through four editions during the author’s lifetime.

    “The Minor” is the pinnacle of Fonvizin’s creativity, the first Russian comedy created during the times of Russian classicism.

    Name the features of classicism as a literary movement.

    The educational orientation of literature (writers sought to influence the human mind in order to correct the vices of society), the doctrine of three “calms”, the telling names of the heroes, their division into positive and negative, the trinity of place, time and action - all these are the main features and rules of classicism.

    In his comedy, Fonvizin largely deviates from these rules, although he builds it in accordance with the norms of classicism.

    Fonvizin’s merit in creating a spoken language of comedy. Fonvizin's true innovation lay in the widespread use of colloquial speech, the principles of its selection, and the skill of individualization. All this is all the more important because in the second half of the 18th century a pan-Russian literary language was being formed, and Fonvizin himself was an active participant in this process.

    The clear division of heroes into positive and negative among all comedians of that time entailed the need to differentiate the speech of the heroes. The language of positive heroes, bearers of abstract virtues, is bookish and literary, rich in Slavic vocabulary, many periphrases, and complex syntactic structures.

    At first glance, the images of positive characters in Fonvizin’s comedy “The Minor” were created in the same traditions. The language of Sophia, Milon, and Pravdin is bookish, colloquial vocabulary is almost never used.

    However, Fonvizin's comedy is sharply different from others.

    In Fonvizin we not only see the actions of positive heroes, but also learn their moral ideal - honest service to the Fatherland, intolerant attitude towards vice and injustice. Fonvizin's educated, progressively thinking heroes express the innermost thoughts of the author, who was close to the noble opposition during the reign of Catherine II - this is the main ideological and artistic function of positive heroes. Consequently, the high syllable of their speech is psychologically motivated. And this distinguishes their speech from the speech of abstractly positive heroes of other comedies - wise fathers, honest, devoted friends, and so on.

    The above should first of all be attributed to Starodum. This is the author’s favorite hero, his second self. The desire for realism, which characterizes Fonvizin’s comedy, was clearly reflected in the creation of Starodum’s speech characteristics.

    Starodum's speech is, first of all, speaker's speech. He, according to Fonvizin, must convey new ideas to the reader and interpret them. That's why his speech is figurative, aphoristic.

    An ignoramus without a soul is a beast; It is much more honest to be treated without guilt than to be rewarded without merit; Have a heart, have a soul, and you will be a man at all times; Cash is not cash worth; The golden fool is still a fool; Enlightenment elevates one virtuous soul; Only those who are in rank not by money, and in the nobility not by rank, are worthy of spiritual respect.

    In Starodum’s speech, Fonvizin consistently shows how the choice of words depends on the speech situation, which was typical for the colloquial speech of educated people in the second half of the 18th century. Thus, when he has nothing to talk about with his interlocutor (for example, with the ignorant Prostakova), his remarks become monosyllabic, he is ironic, and often uses such colloquial words as to start, this, a master of interpretation, bah! I'm having tea; post-positive particles (think about it). He seems to adapt to the vocabulary of his interlocutor.

    In addition, using the example of Starodum’s speech, Fonvizin showed for the first time that the older generation of educated nobles spoke more simply than the younger generation, his speech was closer to folk colloquialism. So, Starodum uses If(Milon - will), now, survived, help, stagger in the hall, just now, rich man, get out(“to leave”), rubles.

    Unlike other playwrights, Fonvizin creates individual speech characteristics of positive characters. Thus, Starodum’s speech is simpler, more specific, more figurative than the speech of Pravdin and Milon. Starodum plays a unique role as a translator, a mediator between the serf owners and his truth-loving friends. It is he who can explain himself to Skotinin, “laughing” to find a common language with him, while Milon, regarding Skotinin’s remarks, is only able to exclaim:

    What insolence... I can hardly resist... What a bestial comparison!

    It is Starodum who knows how to understand the peculiar logic of Mitrofan, who reveals his “knowledge” in the field of grammar: “So that’s why you use the word fool as an adjective, because it is applied to a stupid person?” (To which Mitrofan replies: “And it is known.”) When Prostakova asks Pravdin and Starodum to explain to her what “heorgaphy” is, Pravdin gives an answer incomprehensible to Prostakova: “Description of the land,” and Starodum explains to her in such a way that she immediately understands ( and defines his attitude towards geography as follows): “Science is not a noble science.” Condemning Prostakova, Starodum, unlike Milon and Pravdin, does not philosophize, does not suppress her with abstractions, but simply says in response to her exclamation that she is a person, not an angel:

    I know, I know that a person cannot be an angel. And you don’t have to be a devil.

    In the first dialogue between Pravdin and Starodum, there is even some opposition between the speech manner of one and the way of expressing the other. The courtly phrases of Pravdin, not only a noble, but also an exquisitely polite person, differ quite sharply from Starodum’s remarks with his “you” addresses and his habit of interrupting the speech of his interlocutor. It seems that a nobleman of Catherine’s era is talking with a close associate of Peter I, the nobility of the first is clothed in exquisite forms, the wisdom of the second is simple and artless, completely in the style of the great sovereign.

    Pravdin. As soon as they got up from the table and I went to the window and saw your carriage, then, without telling anyone, I ran out to meet you and hug you with all my heart. My sincere respect to you...

    Starodum. It is precious to me. Trust me.

    Pravdin. Your friendship for me is all the more flattering because you cannot have it for others except such...

    Starodum. What are you like? I speak without ranks. The ranks begin - they stop...

    Pravdin. Your treatment...

    Starodum. Many people laugh at him. I know it...

    But such a contrast is only emerging. Starodum’s “Petrine” style is not maintained to the end, and in many scenes the difference between him and Pravdivny, Milon is erased. In the same dialogue, Starodum moves away from the style of simplicity and artlessness and speaks almost the same as Pravdin.

    Starodum. I did not know how to guard against the first movements of my irritated curiosity. My ardor did not allow me to judge then that a truly inquisitive person is jealous of deeds, and not of rank...

    If Starodum’s speech sometimes shows a sense of humor, then Pravdin and Milon speak completely seriously, not allowing or understanding jokes. This is how it should be: their word is inflexible, unambiguous, it expresses a thought, but does not convey shades of meaning. For example, the jokes of Sophia, who supposedly talks sympathetically about Mitrofan, “torment” Milon, arouse jealousy in him, and even when he finally realized that she was joking, he still reproaches her: how can you joke with such a passionate, serious and virtuous a person?

    All this, in Fonvizin’s understanding, does not at all contradict his plan to present Pravdin and Milon as positive heroes of the comedy. Their speech should appeal to the rigor and classical beauty of abstractions that make up the harmonious edifice of the educational program. Abstractions are perceived and experienced emotionally by positive characters: such, for example, a word as virtue, causes them ecstasy and excitement.

    Starodum. ...I caress that my ardor does not deceive me, that virtue...

    Sophia. You filled all my feelings with it. (Rushing to kiss his hands.) Where is she?

    Starodum (kissing her hands). She's in your soul...

    This is the end of the conversation that it is not love, but reason and good morals that should be the basis of marriage. The bride not only agrees with her uncle - for her this rule was an exciting revelation and a source of intense joy.

    In general, the speech of the positive characters is not yet so bright, and this is primarily due to the fact that they practically do not use colloquial, colloquial phrases. The bookish speech of educated people of that time was characterized by a lack of emotion. Clarity, correctness, monotony - these are the distinctive features of the speech characteristics of positive heroes. You understand the meaning of what they say from the immediate meaning of the words. For the rest of the characters, the meaning and essence can be grasped in the very dynamics of the conversation. The speech of positive characters is used by the author to express his thoughts.

    By creating images of negative characters, Fonvizin reproduces a lively, relaxed
    speech.

    Negative characters are characterized by the use of folk proverbs, sayings, and phraseological units, which gives the landowner a national flavor.

    Ms. Prostakova (behind the scenes). Rogues! The thieves! Fraudsters! Everyone nail I command to death!

    Forgive me! Ah, father... Well! Now I'll give it to you channel to your people...

    (Kneeling). Ah, my fathers, a fault confessed is half redressed. My sin! Don't ruin me. (To Sophia.) You are my dear mother, forgive me. Have mercy on me (pointing to my husband and son) and on the poor orphans.

    There are few vernacular words in comedy, and these are mostly words widely used in everyday speech. Fonvizin carefully selects “reduced” vocabulary; we will not find words from him that are rarely used and therefore attract attention as a foreign inclusion in the fabric of the narrative.

    He uses colloquial and “reduced” vocabulary to create vivid speech characteristics.

    As an example, let's look at speech Prostakova. The impression of Prostakova’s ignorance is created primarily by the inclusion in her vocabulary of words that are colloquial, but expressively neutral: he, de, ba, to the article, tired, where, nowhere, looking for("more"), I tea, indulge, perhaps, intimidate, now, bye, sweat, look, if only, little. It is this vocabulary, devoid of expressive load, designed to emphasize the word in speech, to highlight it - this vocabulary creates a “common” background of speech characteristics. Sounding against this background swear words (snout, swindler, thief, thieving mug, cattle, fool, beast, freak, weakling, scoundrel, mug, witch, countless fool) Prostakova’s rudeness, unbridledness, and cruelty are conveyed more sharply.

    Ms. Prostakova (behind the scenes). Rogues! The thieves! Fraudsters! I'll order everyone to be beaten to death!

    Oh me dog daughter! What have I done!

    Insatiable soul! Kuteikin! What is this for?

    Note, however, that in the dictionaries of the second half of the 18th century, not all of these words are classified as stylistically reduced. For example, words like chatterbox, fool, game, mug, mug, kill, stagger, gape, stylistically not limited. Were completely common in colloquial speech and form where, nowhere, enough, baby. The colloquial nature of these words is indicated by their absence in official letters and business documents; in Fonvizin (except for “The Minor”) they are found in the comedy “Brigadier”, in translations of fables, in letters to relatives.

    Prostakova's speech reflects dialect features: dialect conjunctions; use of the postpositive term.

    Mrs. Prostakova. Forgive me! Ah, father!.. Well! Now- That I will give the dawn to my people. Now- That I'll take them all one by one. Now- That I’ll find out who let her out of his hands. No, scammers! No, thieves! I will not forgive a century, I will not forgive this ridicule.

    Not free! A nobleman is not free to flog his servants when he wants; Yes, what have we been given instructions for? from about the freedom of the nobility?

    And with debts - That get rid of things?.. Teachers are underpaid...

    Prostakova uses bookish expressions in her speech (“a fair amount of fiction”, “amorous writing”).

    Most playwrights, reproducing the speech of servants, peasants, and local nobles, created a kind of conventional language that differed from living everyday speech in its deliberate concentration of vernacular elements.

    Unlike most of his contemporaries, Fonvizin creates the language of comic characters using literary language, very accurately using elements of vernacular language. In this way he achieves complete verisimilitude in the speech of Prostakova and other “low” characters in the comedy. The reader gets the impression that the speech of these characters reflects the real speech practice of the provincial nobility, servants, and so on.

    Obviously, it was precisely this way of creating speech characteristics of everyday, comic comedy characters that was fruitful - the use of the speech practice of the writer himself, the wide inclusion of colloquial vocabulary and phraseology used among educated people. Other comedians, contemporaries of Fonvizin, set themselves a similar task, but it was brilliantly resolved only by Fonvizin, who carried it out more fully and decisively.

    The speech of Mitrofan and Skotinin is also replete with proverbs, sayings, jokes, and funny puns: I have...every guilt is to blame; you can’t beat your betrothed with a horse; live happily; a merry feast and for the wedding(Skotinin); guilty without guilt(Prostakov); he ate too much henbane, shoot them, remember their names, stuck with a knife to his throat(Mitrofan).

    Prostakov. ...After all, we can’t move Sofyushkin’s real estate estate to our place.

    Skotinin. And although the movable has been put forward, I am not a petitioner.

    Mitrofanushka even rhymes some words. Worried after a tough conversation with Skotinin, he tells his mother that he is not able to read the book of hours with Kuteikin.

    - Yes! just look at what the uncle is doing; and there from his fists and for the book of hours.

    The conversations of the positive characters are inaccessible to the understanding of Prostakovs and Skotinin, but they often pick up one or another word familiar to them, expressing an abstract concept in the language of Pravdin and Milon, and, interpreting this word in their own way, return it to its original concrete meaning. For example:

    Pravdin. When only your cattle can be happy, then your wife will suffer from them and from you. peace.

    Skotinin. Poor peace! Bah! bah! bah! Don't I have enough light rooms? I’ll give her a coal stove and a bed for her alone.

    It is clear that Pravdin means peace - a “state of mind”, and Skotinin, understanding it differently, speaks of a room, a room (chamber).

    From the very first scene, when Mrs. Prostakova scolds her husband, to whom the narrow, in her opinion, caftan seemed baggy (“you yourself are baggy, smart head”), and right up to the last words in the comedy, the negative characters, as they say, are behind the word They don't go into your pocket.

    But all the techniques of expressiveness that enliven the speech of Prostakov and Skotinin in Fonvizin’s poetics are not techniques for creating any attractive image. The reader or viewer, turning to “The Minor,” judges his negative characters together with the author of the comedy, completely condemning them, despite the objectively valuable features of their language.

    What, after all, are the unattractive features in the language of the Fonvizin serf-owners that compromise them in accordance with the author’s intentions? First of all this an abundance of vulgarisms, harsh and rude words. This is especially visible in the Prostakovs’ treatment of servants and teachers, in comparisons of negative characters with animals - dogs, pigs.

    “I want to have my own piglets” (Skotinin wants to have children); “Have you ever heard of a bitch giving away her puppies?” (Prostakova explains her intercession for Mitrofan).

    Similar parallels and all kinds of vulgarisms serve satirical debunking of heroes- in Fonvizin’s comedy they play exactly this role.

    Fonvizin's individualization of speech reaches high perfection: each comic character differs in the nature of his sayings.

    Let's say about the language of teachers and servants. The features of their speech are determined by the social status of these characters, the nature of past and present occupations, professions, nationality (Vralman) and so on. First of all, this applies to teachers - Church Slavonic sayings, book words of Kuteikin.

    Kuteikin. The call came and went; Are you willing to let go? Yes, first let’s be disappointed... We’ve been put to shame, damned one.

    Vladyka, meal, consistory, battle - soldiers’ words and “arithmeticisms” of Tsyfirkin.

    Tsyfirkin (to Pravdin). What will the order be, your honor?

    So: with those ten rubles I wore out my boots in two years. We're even.

    My pleasure. I served the sovereign for more than twenty years. I took money for service, I didn’t take it in vain, and I won’t take it.

    Why, your honor, are you complaining?

    AND! Your Honor. I'm a soldier.

    Vralman's affectionate speech with the owners is impudently arrogant with the servants.

    Vralman (to Pravdin). Fasche fisoko-i-plakhorotie. They fooled me to ask for it?..

    (Having recognized Starodum). Ay! ah! ah! ah! ah! It's you, my gracious master! (Kissing the floor of Starodum.) Are you going to cheat the old lady, my dear fellow?

    Hey, no, my daddy! Shiuchi with great hospotam, it concerned me that I was with horses.

    The speech of the characters in the play is a derivative of social and everyday realities; it is an important means of creating comic, as well as psychological characteristics of the characters.

    Thus, the author manages to overcome the contradiction: on the one hand, his comedy is associated with the traditions of classicism, therefore all the characters wear speech masks; on the other hand, in the speech characteristics of the characters he manages to achieve their individualization, which gives “The Minor” features of realism.

    For independent work Students can be asked to write an essay “Speech characteristics of Mitrofan and Eremeevna.”

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