Chatsky's characterization in A. Griboedov's comedy "Woe from Wit"
Alexander Andreyevich Chatsky, the son of Famusov's late friend Andrey Ilyich Chatsky, was a relatively young nobleman. He was not rich, but still had 300-400 serfs, which allowed him to live comfortably and not work (Chatsky gave up his military career and traveled for his own pleasure).
Chatsky was highly educated, intelligent, eloquent and witty. He is independent, honest and direct (even too much) and is always ready to ridicule vulgarity, stupidity and narrow-mindedness.
... Ah, Chatsky! You love to dress up everyone in jesters ...
... and cheerful, and sharp ...
...What does he say! and speaks as he writes!..
... I'm strange; but who is not strange? The one who looks like all the fools...
... I would be glad to serve, it's sickening to serve ...
... And who are the judges? ..
Chatsky is freedom-loving and believes that the conservative Moscow society in vain restricts young nobles to military or public service. A person, in his opinion, should not have limits and be free (if he wants) to engage in science or the arts.
Of the young people, there is an enemy of quests,
Not demanding either places or promotions,
In the sciences, he will stick the mind, hungry for knowledge;
Or in his soul God himself will excite the heat
To creative, lofty and beautiful arts...
Moscow secular society does not like Chatsky because of his freethinking and liberal views:
... Mad you glorified me with all the chorus ...
...Houses are new, but prejudices are old...
Chatsky is well versed in politics, culture and social issues, but is absolutely blind in matters of love (he thought Sophia loved him).
Role in the plot of the play
Alexander Andreyevich Chatsky, after a three-year journey "through foreign countries", returns to Moscow for the sake of Sofia Famusova, with whom he grew up together and whom he loved. He comes to Pavel Famusov (her father), but, to his surprise, receives a cold reception from Sophia. She was offended by Chatsky because he left her for three years, and was about to marry secretary Molchalin.
Chatsky despises Molchalin, this gray person, this "pathetic creature." He does not understand how his Sophia could love him and, because of this, his feelings for her fade away (he understands that Sophia is a very superficial person).
In Famusov's house, Chatsky encounters typical representatives of the capital's "elite" and immediately enters into a "battle" with them, exposing them to ridicule.
Their ossified views, limited outlook and greed infuriate Chatsky and this makes him a very unpleasant person in the eyes of Famusov's guests. However, "society" explains the liberal views of Alexander Andreevich and his insolence by the madness of a young man (these rumors were started by an embittered Sophia).
At the end of the play, Chatsky, disillusioned by the local elite, decides to leave Moscow.
...Get out of Moscow! I don't come here anymore.
I’m running, I won’t look back, I’ll go looking around the world ...
The title of the play best describes Chatsky's place in the world of the Famusovs.
Alexander Chatsky is the main character of the comedy "Woe from Wit", written by the famous writer A. Griboyedov in poetic form. The author of this most interesting work has for many years been considered in Russian literature as a harbinger of a new socio-psychological type, which has been given the name "extra person".
In contact with
The comedy was written during the years of the revolutionary secret organizations of the Decembrists. The author touched upon in it the struggle of progressive-minded people with the society of nobles and serfs, in other words, the struggle between the new and the old worldview. In A. A. Chatsky, the writer embodied many qualities of an advanced person of the era in which he himself lived. According to his beliefs the hero he created is close to the Decembrists.
Brief description of Chatsky
The character of Chatsky in comedy can be defined as follows:
- in the variety of emotional and at the same time simple portrait;
- the positivity of the hero, who is a born maximalist;
- in all his feelings and actions.
If he falls in love, then to such an extent that “the whole world seems to him dust and vanity”, he is the owner of unbearable honesty and an extraordinary mind, constantly thirsting for additional knowledge. Thanks to his knowledge, he soberly sees the problems of politics, the infringed state of Russian culture, pride and honor in people, but at the same time he is completely blind in love affairs. Chatsky is a strong personality, a fighter by nature, and he is eager to fight with everyone at once, but often instead of winning he gets disappointed.
young nobleman, son of Famusov's late friend, returns to his beloved, Famusova Sofya, whom he has not seen for three long years; Chatsky had known her since childhood. When they grew up, they fell in love, but the unpredictable Chatsky suddenly went abroad, from where he never wrote a word. Sophia was offended for being left abandoned, and when her lover arrived, she met him "coldly". Chatsky himself says that “he wanted to travel around the whole world, but did not travel even a hundredth of it,” while the military service was the main reason for his departure, after which, according to his plan, he wanted to meet Sophia.
His love for this girl is a sincere feeling. He wants to believe in reciprocity, so he cannot believe that she is in love with Molchalin. But he realizes that he is mistaken when he witnesses his explanation with Lisa. After that, Chatsky suffers and calls his love crazy. In response to his words, Sophia says that she "reluctantly drove me crazy." It was this statement that started development of gossip about the madness of the hero, and also, according to many, a person who is dangerous in his convictions.
Chatsky's personal drama not only gives movement to the whole plot, but also complicates and deepens the drama of society, which is confirmed in the comedy by the increase in his sharp attacks against noble Moscow. And in such a criticism of the views and customs of the Famus society, one can clearly see what Chatsky is against and what his views are.
In reality, the hero of the picture does not do anything for which he is declared crazy. He speaks his mind but the old world fights with his word using slander. And the problem is that Chatsky's objectionable views lose in this struggle, because the former world turns out to be so strong that the hero sees no point in arguing and flees from Famusov's house to another city. But this flight cannot be perceived as a defeat, because the intransigence of opinions puts the hero in a tragic situation.
Description of Chatsky
Chatsky is a direct, proud and noble person who boldly expresses his opinion. He does not want to live in the past and sees the truth of the future, does not accept the cruelty of the landowners, opposes serfdom, careerism, servility, ignorance and the wrong attitude of society towards the slave morality and ideals of the past century. Due to the fact that he is a fighter for justice and dreams of benefiting society, it is difficult for him to be in an immoral society, because he cannot find a place among deceitful and vile people.
In his opinion society has remained exactly the same as it was three years ago. It proclaims respect and humanity for the common man and service to the cause, and not for persons who are against freedom of thought and speech; affirms progressive ideas of existing life and modernity, the flourishing of art and science, as well as respect for national culture.
Chatsky writes well, translates, seeks knowledge while traveling and serves in the Ministry. At the same time, he does not bow to foreigners and boldly advocates for domestic education.
His beliefs are revealed in disputes and monologues with representatives of the Famus society. He confirms his rejection of serfdom in his memoirs about the theater "Nest tore of noble scoundrels", in which he emphasizes the exchange of faithful servants for greyhounds.
Contradictions in the character of the hero
- when he comes to Sophia and begins a conversation with words in which he uses sarcasm and a caustic tone: “Did your uncle jump back his eyelid?”;
- at the same time, he does not set himself the goal of pricking his interlocutors and Sophia, therefore he asks her in surprise: “... Are my words all ... inclined to harm?”.
The image of Chatsky in the play is a quick-tempered and, in some words, tactless nobleman, for which his beloved reproaches him. And yet this harsh tone can be justified by sincere indignation at the existing immorality of the society in which he is forced to be. And to fight him is a matter of his honor.
This behavior of the hero is due to the fact that all the issues that affect him do not find a response in the soul of this opposing person, because he is smart and able to analyze and predict a new future, without serfdom and swagger. That is why he cannot cope with his own emotions and indignation. His mind is out of tune with his heart, which means that he squanders his eloquence, including on those who are completely unprepared to accept his convictions and arguments.
The unique worldview of the hero
Chatsky in comedy reveals the author's own worldview. He, like Griboedov, cannot understand and accept the slavish admiration of the Russian people for foreigners. The play ridicules several times the tradition that it is customary to hire teachers from abroad for the upbringing of children; the author emphasizes: "... they are busy recruiting teachers ... in a larger number ... cheaper."
Chatsky has a special relationship with the service. For Sophia's father, Chatsky's opponent, in this work, Famusov's attitude towards him is precisely defined in the following words: "does not serve ... and in that ... does not find any benefit." Chatsky's response to such a statement also clearly reflects his position: "I would be glad to serve, it's sickening to serve."
Therefore, he speaks with such anger about the habits of society, which revolts him, namely, in a contemptuous attitude towards disadvantaged people and the ability to curry favor in the eyes of influential people. If Maxim Petrovich, Famusov's uncle, for the pleasure of the empress at her reception, deliberately sets a role model and tries to serve her, then for Chatsky he is nothing more than a jester, and he does not see those who could set a worthy example in the circle of the conservative nobility . In the eyes of the hero of the play, these aristocrats - opponents of free life prone to idleness and wastefulness, they are "passionate for ranks", and they do not care about justice.
The protagonist is also annoyed by the desire of the nobles everywhere to cling to useful acquaintances. He believes that they attend balls precisely for this purpose, and does not agree with this, because, in his opinion, business should not be confused with fun, because everything should have its time and place.
In one of Chatsky's monologues, the author emphasizes his dissatisfaction with the fact that as soon as a person appears in society who wants to devote himself to art or science, and not to a thirst for rank, everyone begins to fear him. He is sure that such people are afraid, because they threaten the comfort and well-being of the nobles, because they introduce new ideas into the structure of an established society, and the aristocrats do not want to part with their old way of life. That is why gossip about his madness turns out to be very useful, because this allows you to disarm the enemy in views that are objectionable to the nobles.
Brief quotation of Chatsky
All the traits of Chatsky's character and his manner of communication will never be accepted by a society that would like to live in peace and not change anything. But the main character cannot agree with this. He is smart enough to understand meanness, selfishness and ignorance aristocrats, and vehemently expresses his opinion, trying to open his eyes to the truth. However, the established principles of old Moscow life do not need the truth, which the hero of the play is unable to resist. Based on the inappropriate, but at the same time clever arguments of Chatsky, he is called crazy, which once again proves the reason for "woe from the mind."
Here are some examples of the protagonist's statements:
- After listening to what Famusov said about Maxim Petrovich, Chatsky says: “He despises people ... he yawns at the ceiling ...”;
- He contemptuously stigmatizes the past century: "The age of obedience was straight" and approves of young people who have no greedy desire to fit into the regiment of aristocrats and "jesters";
- He has a critical attitude towards the settlement of foreigners in Russia: “Will we be resurrected ... from the foreign power of fashion? So that ... the people ... do not consider us as Germans ... ".
A. A. Chatsky, in essence, does a good deed, because with such statements he protects human rights and freedom of choice, for example, occupations: live in the countryside, travel, “put your mind” into science, or devote your life “ arts ... lofty and beautiful.
The desire of the hero not to “serve”, but “serve the cause, not the persons” is a hint of progressive behavior. minded youth change society in an educational and peaceful way.
In his statements, he does not shy away from such popular words as "nowadays", "tea", "more"; he uses sayings, proverbs and the following popular expressions in his speech: “it’s full of nonsense to grind”, “not a single hair of love” and easily quotes the classics: “and the smoke of the Fatherland is ... pleasant to us.” In addition, he confirms his mind and knowledge using foreign words, but only if they have no analogues in Russian.
He is lyrical in stories about love for Sophia, ironic, sometimes makes fun of Famusov, a little eater, because he does not accept criticism, which, in his opinion, is criticism of the "last century".
Chatsky is a difficult character. Speaking in witty phrases, he aims immediately at the eye and “scatters” the characteristics he has deduced with beads. The protagonist of this complex comedy is sincere, and this is the most important thing, despite the fact that his emotions are considered unacceptable. But at the same time, they can be considered the inner wealth of the hero, because thanks to them you can determine his real state.
The creation of the image of Chatsky is the desire of the author to show the Russian people the brewing split of the formed noble environment. The role of this hero in the play is dramatic, since he is in the minority of those who are forced to retreat in this verbal struggle for justice and leave Moscow. But he does not leave his views even in such a situation.
Griboyedov did not have the task of showing the weakness of his hero, on the contrary, thanks to his image, he showed the absence of a strong society and the beginning of Chatsky's time. And therefore, it is no coincidence that such heroes are considered “superfluous people” in literature. But the conflict has been identified, which means that the change from the old to the new is inevitable in the end.
According to I. A. Goncharov, the role of Chatsky in this work is “passive” and at the same time he is both an “advanced warrior”, and a “skirmisher”, and a “victim”. “The hero is broken by the quantity of the strength of the old, but at the same time inflicts a mortal blow on it with the quality of the strength of the fresh,” the writer indicated.
A. S. Pushkin, after reading the play, noted that the first sign of an intelligent person is that at first glance you need to know who you are dealing with, and do not throw beads in front of the Repetilovs, but I. A. Goncharov, on the contrary, believed that Chatsky's speech "boils with wit."
Alexander Andreevich Chatsky is the main male and only positive character in the comedy Woe from Wit, Griboyedov. He was left an orphan quite early, and was brought up in the house of his father's friend Famusov. The patron gave him an excellent education, but could not instill in Chatsky his worldview. Growing up, Chatsky began to live separately. Subsequently, he quit military service, but did not serve as an official.
Famusov has a beautiful and smart daughter Sofya, over time, her friendship with Chatsky grew into love, he also sincerely admired her and wanted to marry her. But being an emotional, active and inquisitive person, he gets bored in Moscow, and he sets off to travel to see the world. He left for 3 years, without even warning Sophia about this and never writing to her. Upon his return, Chatsky realized that she no longer had love for him, besides, she had another lover - Molchalin. He is very worried about disappointment in his beloved and her betrayal, in his opinion.
Chatsky is a proud, direct and noble person who always expresses his opinion. He lives in the future, has a negative attitude towards the cruelty of the landowners and serfdom, he is a fighter for a just society and dreams of benefiting the people. Therefore, it is difficult for him to live in a famous, immoral society, and he understands that he has no place among people who live in lies and meanness. Society remains the same as it was 3 years ago. That same evening, he quarreled with everyone, and besides, Sophia, wanting to take revenge on him, spread the rumor that he was crazy. At the end of the comedy, he witnesses the scene where Sofya finds out that Molchalin does not love her, but simply wants to stay in Famusov's house. Laughing, Chatsky demands a carriage and leaves.
The comedy of Alexander Griboyedov brought huge success and celebrity to the author himself, and his main character, Chatsky, became a prominent representative of the revolutionary-minded youth of that time, who could no longer live the way the older generation lived, mired in bribes and servility. Many critics of that time noted that if there were no Chatsky in Griboedov's work, then it would be empty and meaningless, and few people could be interested in the content of such a work.
Alexander Andreevich does not appear in Griboyedov's story right away, but the author first introduces the reader to the Famusovs' house, where the rest of the important events of the comedy will unfold in the future. The first to remember him was a maid in the Famusovs' house, who only spoke well of him. She noted his qualities of character: smart, educated, cheerful, honest and sharp. When Chatsky, who spent a long time abroad, studying there and traveling, learning about the world, first appears in the Famusovs' house, a great commotion is caused. It turns out that they have a long acquaintance with Sofia Famusova, because they practically grew up together. While he traveled, he hoped that she was waiting for him and now he was even going to marry her.
But Chatsky is shown by the author as a brave and open person who has a negative attitude to any injustice, and, of course, to lies. He understands that with his mind and education, he can and should benefit his Fatherland, so prepare for a serious service, where all his knowledge will come in handy. But the Russian reality disappoints him, as secular society rejects him, and his knowledge turns out to be superfluous, and modern high society even frightens this.
The justification for this behavior of the society, which is ruled by Famusov and others like him, lies in the fact that Alexander Andreevich adheres to advanced ideas, he is against those traditions that have long been formed in the secular society of the nineteenth century. For example, he absolutely does not accept and speaks negatively about cringing, because, in his opinion, it is necessary to serve not individuals, but the common cause. Therefore, with great indignation, he speaks of the Famus society, which is simply mired in a multitude of vices. It is sickening for him to serve in front of people who do nothing for the development of their country, but only dream of moving up the career ladder and lining their pockets. Alexander Andreevich is not only young, but hot, and open, so he is ready to sacrifice everything to serve for the good of the country's development, and the Famus society, where he ends up after returning to his homeland and places familiar from childhood, he is called scoundrels, although noble .
Chatsky boldly and openly opposes the order that prevails in the country. For example, serfdom, which enslaves the people, makes you think that a person, even a poor one, can be mocked like that. The young hero Alexander Griboyedov is presented by the author as a true patriot of his Motherland, who is ready to fight for order and justice to finally reign in his country.
Therefore, he also comes into conflict with a society that does not want to accept his new advanced ideas, which frighten him. He also speaks against the tsar, who cannot in any way stop this lawlessness against the peasants. He has a conflict not only with high society, with Famusov, the father of his bride, Molchalin, who is slowly moving up the career ladder and is ready to humiliate himself and become vile for this. But it is striking that it is Sophia, Chatsky's bride, who also comes into conflict with him when she first starts a rumor about him that he is crazy.
Yes, Alexander Chatsky's speeches are too open, straightforward and bold. He is not afraid to tell the whole truth, and in this he is close to the Decembrists. Believe that he will not stumble from the work he has begun. He knows exactly the goal and will go to it. And he will definitely be the winner, because he is always a warrior, a righteous and angry denouncer of meanness and sycophancy.
Chatsky is not in Moscow for long, as he does not find support in anyone. Even Sofya, a young and educated girl, turned out to be weak and easily succumbed to the influence of a society in which the Famusovs and Molchalins thrive. But she also betrayed her friend and fiancé, chose Molchalin, who loves not her at all, but the state and position in society of her father.
Chatsky is depicted by the author as a real fighter, a warrior who has noble features, dignity and honor. All this was manifested not only in his passionate speeches, but also in actions in which he did not allow himself to become like Sophia's father and become one of them. It was people like the young and noble hero Alexander Griboyedov who made the life of the serfs change, and the common people finally became free.
/A.A. Grigoriev. About a new edition of an old thing. "Woe from Wit". SPb. 1862/
So I now turn to my second position - to the fact that Chatsky is still the only heroic face of our literature.<...>
Chatsky first of all - honest and active nature, moreover, the nature of a fighter, that is, a nature in the highest degree passionate.
They usually say that a secular person in a secular society, firstly, will not allow himself to say what Chatsky says, and secondly, he will not fight with windmills, preach to the Famusovs, the Silent and others.<...>
In Chatsky there is only a truthful nature, which will not let down any lies - that's all; and he will allow himself everything that his truthful nature will allow himself. And that there are and have been truthful natures, here is evidence for you: old Grinev 1 , old Bagrov 2 , old Dubrovsky 3 . Alexander Andreevich Chatsky must have inherited the same nature, if not from his father, then from his grandfather or great-grandfather.
Another question is whether Chatsky would talk to people he despises.
And you forget with this question that Famusov, on whom he pours out "all the bile and all the annoyance", for him is not just such and such a person, but a living memory of childhood, when he was taken "to bow" to the master, which the
He drove on many trucks From mothers, fathers of rejected children.<...>
<...>Chatsky believes less than you yourself in favor of his sermon, but bile boiled in him, his sense of truth was offended. And besides, he's in love...
Do you know how such people love?
Not with this love, which is not worthy of a man, which absorbs all existence into the thought of a beloved subject and sacrifices everything to this thought, even the idea of moral perfection: Chatsky loves passionately, madly and tells the truth to Sophia that
I breathed you, I lived, I was busy continuously ...
But this only means that the thought of her merged for him with every noble thought or deed of honor and goodness. He tells the truth, asking her about Molchalin:
But is there in him that passion, that feeling, that ardor, That, besides you, the whole world Seem to him as dust and vanity?
But under this truth lies the dream of his Sophia, as able to understand that the "whole world" is "dust and vanity" before the idea of truth and goodness, or, at least, able to appreciate this belief in the person she loves, able to love for it person. This is the only ideal Sophia he loves; he does not need another: he will reject the other and go with a broken heart
Search the world, Where there is a corner for the offended feeling.
See with what deep psychological fidelity the entire conversation between Chatsky and Sofya in Act III is visible. Chatsky is trying to find out what Silent him above and better; he even enters into a conversation with him, trying to find in him
A lively mind, a mature genius, -
and yet she cannot, unable to understand, that Sofya loves Molchalin precisely for the properties that are opposite to the properties of him, Chatsky, for petty and vulgar properties (she still does not see Molchalin's vile traits). Only after making sure of this, he leaves his dream, but leaves as a husband - irrevocably, he already sees the truth clearly and fearlessly. Then he says to her:
You will make peace with him after a mature reflection. Crush yourself! .. and for what? You can scold him, and swaddle, and send him on business.
And yet there is a reason why Chatsky passionately loved this apparently so insignificant and petty nature. What was it in it? Not only childhood memories, but more important reasons, at least physiological ones. Moreover, this fact is by no means the only one in that strange, ironic cycle which is called life. People like Chatsky often love such petty and insignificant women like Sophia. You can even say - for the most part they love it. This is not a paradox. They sometimes meet women who are completely honest, fully capable of understanding them, sharing their aspirations, and are not satisfied with them. Sophia - something fatal, inevitable in their life, so fatal and inevitable that for the sake of this they neglect honest and warm-hearted women...
<...>You, gentlemen, who consider Chatsky a Don Quixote, emphasize in particular the monologue with which the third act ends. But, firstly, the poet himself put his hero here in a comic position and, remaining true to the high psychological task, showed what a comic outcome untimely energy can take; and secondly, again, you must not have thought about how people love with the makings of even some kind of moral energy. Everything he says in this monologue, he says for Sophia; he gathers all the strength of his soul, he wants to reveal himself with all his nature, he wants to convey everything to her at once.<...>This is where Chatsky's last faith in Sophia's nature comes into play...; here for Chatsky is the question of the life or death of an entire half of his moral existence. That this personal question has merged with the public question is again true to the nature of the hero, who is the only type of moral and masculine struggle in the sphere of life that the poet has chosen.<...>
Yes, Chatsky is - I repeat again - our only hero, that is, the only one who positively fights in the environment where fate and passion have thrown him.<...>
Chatsky, in addition to his general heroic significance, also has the significance historical. He is a product of the first quarter of the Russian XIX century, the direct son and heir of the Novikovs 7 and Radishchevs 8 , a comrade of people
Eternal memory of the twelfth year,
powerful, still deeply believing in itself and therefore stubborn force, ready to perish in a collision with the environment, to perish if only because of leaving behind a "page in history" ... He does not care that the environment, with which he struggles, positively unable not only to understand him, but even to take him seriously.
But Griboyedov, as a great poet, cares about this. No wonder he called his drama a comedy.
Read also other critics' articles about the comedy "Woe from Wit":
A.A. Grigoriev. About a new edition of an old thing. "Woe from Wit"
- Griboedov's comedy "Woe from Wit" - a representation of secular life
- Characteristics of Chatsky
I.A. Goncharov
V. Belinsky. "Woe from Wit". Comedy in 4 acts, in verse. The composition of A.S. Griboyedov
