The main ideas of Fonvizin's creativity. To help a schoolchild
Denis Ivanovich Fonvizin
Denis Ivanovich Fonvizin was born in Moscow into a family of wealthy nobles. The father was involved in his son’s education from an early age. As soon as a university opened in Moscow in 1755, his father sent him to the gymnasium at this university. Fonvizin stood out among other students for his diligence and was repeatedly awarded for this. In 1758, the director of the university, I. I. Melissino, traveled to St. Petersburg to show the best students (including Fonvizin and his brother) to the founder of the university, I. I. Shuvalov. Fonvizin remembered this trip for the rest of his life. The theater made the greatest impression on him. From that time on, he dreams of meeting actors and wants to create his own comedy.
At court, he met a young man who considered him ignorant only because Fonvizin did not know French. When the writer returned to Moscow, he began to independently study French and German and soon succeeded in this. He translated foreign literary works. From 1762 he studied at Moscow University at the Faculty of Philosophy, but left his studies and went to serve in the College of Foreign Affairs as a translator. Moves to St. Petersburg. In 1763 - 1769 is listed in the Collegium and, thanks to the successful translation of Voltaire’s tragedy “Alzira”, which Catherine 2 liked, works as a secretary for the Cabinet Minister I.P. Elagin. In 1763 - 1769 satirical works “Message to My Servants...” and the fable “The Fox-Treasurer” appear, in which the selfish motives of people are exposed. In 1764 G. Hesse's drama "Sydney", remade by Fonvizin in the Russian style, is being staged into the comedy "Corion". It was positively received by both critics and the public. The comedy “The Brigadier” (1766 – 1769), which he wrote while in love with a married woman, enjoyed great success. In 1769 - 1782 Fonvizin as secretary to N.I. Panin, head of the College of Foreign Affairs and educator of the future Emperor Paul 1. Panin was in opposition to Catherine’s regime and the serfdom it supported. His views were shared by Fonvizin.
In 1774, Fonvizin litigated the inheritance case of the widow E.I. Khlopova, whom he later married. She gets sick and they, forced to change the climate, go through Germany to France to Montpellier. When Ekaterina Ivanovna felt better after treatment, they went to Paris. Fonvizin criticizes the manners and principles of the French and finds nothing that can and should be borrowed from them. The inspiration for the trip is reflected in the work “Notes of the First Traveler.” In 1778 he wrote the comedy “The Minor,” which was staged in 1782. and was such a stunning success that the audience threw their wallets with money onto the stage as a reward. It is this comedy that is considered Fonvizin’s highest dramatic work. In the same year, after Panin was removed from business, the playwright resigned. Since 1783, he has been published in the magazine “Interlocutor”, where he conducts open polemics with Catherine II. He publishes “The Experience of a Russian Estates Member”, “A Petition to the Russian Minevre from Russian Writers”, “Several Questions That Can Arouse Particular Attention in Smart and Honest People ", "narrative of an imaginary deaf and dumb man." After this, the magazine was closed. He also failed to print The Court Grammar. In 1784 – 1785 Fonvizin again traveled abroad - to Italy and Germany, where he suffered a stroke. And now he urgently needs treatment, but at this time the Fonvizins went bankrupt. His only support was his wife, who looked after him. In 1788, he was not allowed to publish the magazine “Starodum”, which Fonvizin planned to organize. He was generally prohibited from publishing in any publications. He never had time to finish the autobiography he started, “A sincere confession of my deeds and thoughts.” Fonvizin died in 1792 in St. Petersburg and was buried in the Alexander Nevsky Lavra.
Fonvizin Denis Ivanovich (1745 1792) - one of the most educated people of his era. He was a writer and playwright, publicist and translator. He is rightfully considered the creator of the national Russian everyday comedy, the most famous of which are “The Minor” and “The Brigadier”. Born on April 14, 1745 in Moscow, into a noble family of descendants of a knight of the Livonian Order. Even under Ivan the Terrible, one of the knights of the Von Wiesen Order was captured and remained in the service of the Russian Tsar. From him came the Fonvizin family (the prefix von was added in the Russian manner to the surname Wizen). Thanks to his father, he received his primary education at home. He was brought up in the patriarchal structure that reigned in the family. From 1755 he studied at the noble gymnasium at Moscow University, then at the Faculty of Philosophy of the same university.
Since 1762 he has been in the public service, first working as a translator, then, from 1763, in the Collegium of Foreign Affairs as secretary of the cabinet minister Elagin. After working here for about six years, in 1769 he became the personal secretary of Count Panin. From 1777 to 1778 travels abroad, spending a lot of time in France. In 1779 he returned to Russia and entered service as an adviser to the chancellery of the Secret Expedition. In 1783, his patron Count Panin passed away and he immediately resigned with the rank of state councilor and 3,000 rubles. annual pension. He devoted his free time to travel.
Since 1783, Denis Ivanovich visited Western Europe, Germany, Austria, and spent a lot of time in Italy. In 1785, the writer suffered his first stroke, due to which he had to return to Russia in 1787. Despite the paralysis that tormented him, he continued to engage in literary work.
Denis Ivanovich Fonvizin passed away on December 1 (12), 1792. The writer was buried in St. Petersburg at the Lazarevskoye cemetery of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra.
Creative path
The creation of the first works dates back to the 1760s. Being by nature a lively and witty person who loved to laugh and joke, he created his early works in the genre of satire. This was facilitated by his gift of irony, which did not leave him until the end of his life. During these years, intensive work has been going on in the literary field. In 1760, in “Literary Heritage” he published his so-called “early “Minor””. At the same time, in the period from 1761 to 1762, he was engaged in translations of Holberg's fables, works of Rousseau, Ovid, Gresse, Terrason and Voltaire.
In 1766, his first well-known satirical comedy, “The Brigadier,” was completed. The play became an event in literary circles, the author himself read it masterfully and Fonvizin, then still little known, was invited to Peterhof to read his work to Empress Catherine II herself. It was a huge success. The play was staged on the theater stage in 1770, but was published only after the death of the author. The comedy has not left the theater stage to this day. A legend has reached us that after the premiere, Prince Potemkin said to Fonvizin: “Die, Denis! But you can’t write better!” In the same year, a translation of the treatise “The Trading Nobility, Contrasted with the Military Nobility” was published, which presented evidence of the need for the nobility to engage in trade.
Mature creativity
Among the journalistic works, “Discourse on the Indispensable Laws of State,” created in 1783, is considered one of the best. In the autumn of the same 1783, the premiere of the main play in Fonvizin’s work, the comedy “The Minor,” took place. Despite the extensive literary heritage left by Fonvizin, for most of us his name is associated with this comedy. The first production of the play was not easy. The censors were embarrassed by the satirical orientation of the play and the boldness of the remarks of some of the comedy characters. Finally, on September 24, 1782, the production was carried out on the stage of the Free Russian Theater. The success was colossal. As one of the authors of the “Dramatic Dictionary” testified: “The theater was incomparably filled and the audience applauded the play by throwing purses.” The next production took place in Moscow on May 14, 1783 at the Medox Theater. Since that time, for more than 250 years, the play has been performed with constant success in all theaters in Russia. With the birth of cinema, the first film adaptation of the comedy appeared. In 1926, based on “The Minor,” Grigory Roshal made the film “The Skotinins’ Gentlemen.”
It is difficult to overestimate the influence of Fonvizin’s “Minor” on subsequent generations of writers. His works were read and studied by all subsequent generations of writers from Pushkin, Lermontov, Gogol, Belinsky to the present day. However, in the life of the writer himself, she played a fatal role. Catherine the Second perfectly understood the freedom-loving orientation of comedy as an attempt on existing social and state foundations. After 1783, when a number of the writer's satirical works were published, she personally prohibited further publication of his works in print. And this continued until the death of the writer.
However, despite publication bans, Denis Ivanovich continues to write. During this period, the comedy “The Governor’s Choice” and the feuilleton “Conversation with Princess Khaldina” were written. Just before his departure, Fonvizin wanted to publish a five-volume set of his works, but was refused by the empress. Of course, it was published, but much later after the master left.
The famous writer of Catherine's era D.I. Fonvizin was born on April 3 (14), 1745 in Moscow, into a wealthy noble family. He came from a Livonian knightly family that had become completely Russified (until the mid-19th century, the surname was spelled Von-Wiesen). He received his primary education under the guidance of his father, Ivan Andreevich. In 1755-1760, Fonvizin studied at the newly opened gymnasium at Moscow University; in 1760 he was “promoted to student” at the Faculty of Philosophy, but stayed at the university for only 2 years.
A special place in the dramaturgy of this time is occupied by the work of Denis Ivanovich Fonvizin (1745-1792), which was the pinnacle of theatrical culture of the 18th century. Inheriting the traditions of classicist comedy, Fonvizin goes far ahead, essentially being the founder of critical realism in Russian drama. A. S. Pushkin called the great playwright “a brave ruler of satire,” “a friend of freedom.” M. Gorky argued that Fonvizin began the most magnificent and, perhaps, the most socially fruitful line of Russian literature - the accusatory-realist line. Fonvizin's work had a tremendous influence on contemporary and subsequent writers and playwrights. D.I. Fonvizin joined the theater early. Theatrical impressions were the strongest in his youth: “... nothing in St. Petersburg delighted me so much as the theater, which I saw for the first time when I was a child. The effect the theater produced in me is almost impossible to describe.” While still a student, Fonvizin took part in the life of the Moscow University Theater. In the future, Denis Ivanovich maintains connections with the largest figures of the Russian theater - playwrights and actors: A. P. Sumarokov, I. A. Dmitrevsky and others, and appears with theatrical articles in satirical magazines. These magazines had a great influence on Fonvizin's work. From them he sometimes drew motives for his comedies. Fonvizin's dramatic activity began in the 60s. At first, he translates foreign plays and “transposes” them into the Russian style. But this was only a test of the pen. Fonvizin dreamed of creating a national comedy. "Brigadier" is Fonvizin's first original play. It was written in the late 60s. The simplicity of the plot did not prevent Fonvizin from creating a sharply satirical work, showing the morals and character of his narrow-minded heroes. Contemporaries called the play “The Brigadier” “a comedy about our morals.” This comedy was written under the influence of advanced satirical magazines and satirical comedies of Russian classicism and imbued with the author’s concern for the education of youth. “The Brigadier” is the first dramatic work in Russia, endowed with all the features of national originality, and in no way reminiscent of comedies created according to foreign standards. The language of comedy contains many popular expressions, aphorisms, and apt comparisons. This dignity of the “Brigadier” was immediately noticed by contemporaries, and the best of Fonvizin’s verbal expressions passed into everyday life and became proverbs. The comedy “The Brigadier” was staged in 1780 at the St. Petersburg Theater on Tsaritsyn Meadow. The second comedy “The Minor” was written by D. I. Fonvizin in 1782. It brought the author long-lasting fame and placed him in the forefront of the fight against serfdom. The play explores the most important issues of the era. It talks about the education of underage noble sons and the morals of court society. But the problem of serfdom, evil and unpunished cruelty of landowners is posed more acutely than others. “The Minor” was created by the hand of a mature master, who managed to populate the play with living characters and build the action according to the signs of not only external, but also internal dynamics. The comedy “The Minor” absolutely did not meet the requirements of Catherine II, who ordered the writers to “only occasionally touch upon vices” and to conduct criticism without fail “in a smiling spirit.” On September 24, 1782, “The Minor” was staged by Fonvizin and Dmitrevsky at the theater on Tsaritsyn Meadow. The performance was a great success among the general public. On May 14, 1783, the premiere of “The Minor” took place on the stage of the Petrovsky Theater in Moscow. The premiere and subsequent performances were a huge success. “The Tutor's Choice”, a comedy written by Fonvizin in 1790, was dedicated to the burning topic of educating young people in aristocratic noble houses. The pathos of the comedy is directed against foreign adventurers-pseudo-teachers in favor of enlightened Russian nobles.
The future writer was born into the family of a state councilor in 1745. The father himself taught his first-born to read in early childhood and sent Denis to the gymnasium. Denis Fonvizin embodied the image of his father in the positive hero of the comedy “Minor” Starodum. Like the hero of the comedy, Denis Fonvizin’s father was truthful.
Denis Fonvizin studied at a gymnasium opened at Moscow University from the age of 10 to 15. After graduating from high school, the young man studied for a year at the university’s Faculty of Philosophy, and then ended up in St. Petersburg. There, Denis Fonvizin received the position of translator at the College of Foreign Affairs and began to pursue a bureaucratic career (he rose to the rank of state councilor).
First literary experiments
While still in Moscow, Fonvizin translated from German the fable of the Danish enlightener Holberg, from French Voltaire’s tragedy “Alzira or the Americans”, from Latin “Metamorphoses” by Ovid. In St. Petersburg he met Lomonosov and Sumarokov. Soon Fonvizin became a member of the circle of freethinkers and educators. He writes the first original works that were satirical in nature.
The comedy "The Brigadier" was written in 1766-1767, staged in 1770, and published only after the death of the author. There is a legend that after the premiere of “The Brigadier,” Prince Potemkin said: “Die, Denis! You couldn’t write better.”
Comedy "Brigadier"
For “The Brigadier,” Fonvizin spent a long time looking for a plot based on Russian life. The comedy begins with two families of landowners deciding to marry their children: Ivan, an adherent of everything French, and Sophia. This is a comedy of characters, each character is a certain mask. The brigadier himself speaks only about military affairs, the adviser - only about legal issues. The foreman's wife is only interested in housekeeping, and the adviser's wife, Sophia's stepmother, is obsessed with romance novels.
The play takes place in a councilor's house, typical of that era, so the audience felt like they were the characters in the play.
Fonvizin's comedy is classicistic in form, educational in idea. The reason for the moral ugliness of the heroes is their upbringing. Ivan's first teacher was a French coachman, his mother spoiled him. The brigadier himself admits at the end that he should have sent his son to military service, then there would have been some sense. The positive heroes, Sophia and Dobrolyubov, who is in love with her, are such only because they are enlightened and moral.
Career
In 1777-1778 Fonvizin lived in France. The writer compares life in France and in his homeland in “Notes of the First Traveler.”
Reflection on improving public life resulted in the “Discourse on Indispensable State Laws,” written for the future Emperor Paul. Fonvizin believed that in public administration it was necessary to create “fundamental laws” that everyone, starting from the monarch, must strictly observe. Serfdom must be softened to avoid a new revolt.
In 1781, the comedy “The Minor” was written. This was a period of political reaction to the suppression of Pugachev's rebellion. The writer considered the root of all evil to be the situation in which one person can oppress another through slavery. Fonvizin sought a way out of the crisis in educational reforms.
In 1782, Fonvizin retired. His satirical works aroused the indignation of Catherine II, so they were not published. In recent years, the seriously ill writer has been composing an autobiographical story, “A Sincere Confession of My Deeds and Thoughts,” which remained unfinished. Denis Ivanovich Fonvizin died in 1792.
Comedy "Undergrown"
The premiere took place in 1782 in St. Petersburg and was a great success; in 1783 the comedy was played in Moscow.
The heroes of this comedy of educational classicism are masked images. Sophia and Milon are virtuous, Pravdin is straightforward and noble, Skotinin is ignorant. Starodum embodies an enlightened author, Mitrofan - an arrogant ignoramus, Prostakova - a blindly loving mother.
The heroes of “The Minor”, along with negative traits, are endowed with positive ones. Mitrofan is lazy but witty, Prostakova is stupid, but she doesn’t know how to love her son any other way, and in the end she is sincerely sorry.
