“A Million Torments” by Chatsky.
He will come out of the fire unharmed,
Who will have time to spend a day with you,
Breathe the air alone
And his sanity will survive.
A.S. Griboyedov.
According to V.G. Belinsky, “Woe from Wit” is the noblest creation of a brilliant man. A I.A. Goncharov in his article “A Million Torments” wrote: “Woe from Wit” is both a picture of morals and a gallery of living types, an ever-sharp, burning satire, and at the same time a comedy.” And, apparently, this is why Griboyedov’s comedy is still interesting to readers; it does not leave the stages of many theaters. This is truly an immortal work.
In the play, which depicts just one day in the house of a Moscow gentleman
Famusov, Griboyedov raised the most important issues: about upbringing and education, about service to the fatherland and civic duty, about serfdom and admiration for everything foreign. He showed the struggle of the “present century” with
“the past century”, Chatsky and Famusov society.
In Famusov's house, relationships between people are built on lies and hypocrisy.
Their main activities are “lunch, dinner and dance.” And into this house, where all the vices are covered up by ostentatious virtue, Chatsky bursts into a whirlwind. In the image of Chatsky, Griboyedov showed a man of a new mindset and soul, inspired by new ideas, looking for new, more modern forms life.
The play is based on love drama, under which social and ideological conflicts are hidden. It is in these conflicts that all of Chatsky’s torments and his tragedy are revealed. Chatsky comes to Famusov’s house to see the girl he loves, but this girl cheated on him. Chatsky suffers because
Sophia chose the narrow-minded and helpful Molchalin, who has only two talents: “moderation” and “accuracy.” For all her spiritual inclinations, she belongs entirely to Famus society. She cannot fall in love with Chatsky, because he is completely opposed to this society by the turn of his mind and soul. Sophia finds herself among the “tormentors” who insulted Chatsky’s bright mind and fiery feeling. Therefore personal drama
Chatsky’s story develops into a public one and determines his fate as a lonely dreamer in Famus’s world.
Chatsky is tormented by social problems, he understands the whole horror of serfdom, in which every independent thought, every sincere feeling is doomed to persecution, when “rejected children from mothers and fathers” are driven “to the serf ballet” in order to satisfy the desire of the master, when people are exchanged for "three greyhounds" Chatsky sees that people in power are not concerned about the problems of the people and the state, they only:
They found protection from court in friends, in kinship,
Magnificent building chambers,
Where they spill out in feasts and extravagance.
And, of course, in such a society it is not the Chatskys with their intelligence who are blissful, but the Molchalins, who know how to “pat a pug here at the right time, rub in a card there at the right time.” And a person like Chatsky, who “will focus his mind hungry for knowledge on science, or in his soul God himself will arouse a fervor for creative, high and beautiful arts,” will be forever expelled from such a society.
Chatsky is a man of the new world. He does not accept the laws of life of old Moscow. He has his own idea of serving the fatherland. In his opinion, one must serve honestly, “without demanding either places or promotion to rank.”
Chatsky opposes people who value only wealth and rank, who are afraid of truth and enlightenment. He connects the progress of society with the flourishing of personality, the development of science and education, which is alien to Famus society. A person who has received a good education and has a brilliant mind does not want to accept people like “Uncle Maxim Petrovich” as models, because he does not see any moral merits in them and can declare this publicly. Chatsky questions the moral authority of fathers, speaking about “the meanest features of the past life” and comparing new century with the past century, not at all in favor of the past. Chatsky is not only an exposer of lies, he is also a fighter. A fighter for the cause, for the idea, for the truth. To all of Famusov’s advice to stop acting out and follow the example of his fathers, he replies: “I would be glad to serve - it’s sickening to be served.”
In Famusov's society, Chatsky's ideas, his speeches and suffering remain incomprehensible. He wants to express everything that has accumulated in his soul. At the ball in Famusov’s house, he alienates everyone gathered, because his coexistence with the “Moscow people” is impossible. Society, sensing this, defeated him and ridiculed him. Chatsky was declared crazy for his dissent. His torment remained unresolved.
Griboyedov's comedy talks about a person's grief stemming from his mind.
It is Chatsky’s mind that puts him outside Famusov’s circle. The best human qualities make him an “eccentric” to those around him, “ strange man", and then
- just crazy. Chatsky strives for a “free life”, “to pursue science and art” and demands “service to the cause, not to individuals.” The tragedy of Chatsky is the tragedy of “a mind hungry for knowledge.” Comedy gives Chatsky only “a million torments.” He is among people who do not live, but play their role.
Chatsky is amazed that he does not find anything human in them. He cannot and does not want to remain among them any longer and leaves. Such a game is unnatural and unacceptable for him:
Get out of Moscow! I don't go here anymore.
I’m running, I won’t look back, I’ll go looking around the world,
Where there is a corner for the insulted feeling.
Carriage for me, carriage!
According to I.A. Goncharova, “Chatsky is broken by the amount of old power, inflicting it in turn death blow the quality of fresh strength...Chatsky begins a new century - and this is his whole meaning and his whole mind.”
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A. S. Griboedov entered Russian literature as the author of one work - the comedy “Woe from Wit.” This play by Griboyedov is still modern and will excite society until careerism, veneration, and gossip disappear from our lives, while the thirst for profit and the desire to live at the expense of others, and not at the expense of one’s own, will prevail. -real labor, as long as there will be hunters to please and serve.
All this eternal imperfection of people and the world is superbly described in Griboedov’s immortal comedy “Woe from Wit.” The author creates a whole gallery of negative images: these are Famusov, Molchalin, Repetilov, Skalozub, etc.
The plot of the play is based on a conflict that is both personal and social. At the same time, one thing turns out to be closely connected with the other, the social problems of comedy directly follow from the personal ones. In “Woe from Wit,” the hero’s unrequited love, and even more so, the insoluble contradiction between the smart and honest hero and the crazy society in which he lives, turns out to be essential for the development of the action. Griboedov wrote in a letter to Katenin: “... a girl, who is not stupid herself, prefers a fool to an intelligent man (not because our sinners had an ordinary mind, no! and in my comedy there are 25 fools for one smart person), and this person, of course, is in contradiction with the society around him, no one understands him, no one wants to forgive him, why is he a little higher than others..."
The main character of the comedy, Alexander Andreevich Chatsky, confronts the foolish heroes alone. He came to Moscow, “returning from distant wanderings,” only for the sake of Sofia, his beloved. But, returning to his once dear and beloved home, he discovers big changes: Sofia is cold, arrogant, irritable, she no longer loves Chatsky.
Trying to find an answer to his feeling, the main character appeals to his former love, which was mutual before his departure, but all in vain. All his attempts to return the old Sofia fail. To all Chatsky’s passionate speeches and memories, Sofia replies: “Childishness!”
This is where the hero’s personal drama begins, which ceases to be narrowly personal, but develops into a clash between a man in love and the entire Famus society. Chatsky alone stands against the army of old “warriors”, starting an endless struggle for new life and for your love.
He argues with Famusov himself about the image and purpose of life. The owner of the house considers the life of his uncle to be a model of correctness:
Maxim Petrovich: he’s not on silver,
Ate on gold; one hundred people at your service.
It is absolutely clear that he himself would not refuse this, hence the misunderstanding of Chatsky, who requires “service to the cause, not to persons.” loving and social conflicts converge as one. For the hero, the personal drama depends on the attitude of society towards him, and the public drama is complicated by personal relationships. This exhausts Chatsky, and as a result, “a million torments” await him, in the apt expression of I. Goncharov.
Chatsky and Molchalin are young people of approximately the same age, the same time, living in the same country, city. But how different they are! Chatsky is eloquence itself, truthfulness, intelligence... “He is an exposer of lies and everything that has become obsolete, that drowns out new life. He demands a place for his age,” writes I. Goncharov in the article “A Million Torments.” Molchalin is a hypocrite, a sycophantic chameleon from head to toe. In everything, always and everywhere, the opinions and actions of Chatsky and Molchalin are different, almost opposite. Sofia understands this too. For Sofia, who fell in love with Molchalin, his vices are an ideal, and Chatsky’s virtues are shortcomings: “Your gaiety is not modest, you are immediately ready for wit... A menacing look, and a harsh tone, and there are an abyss of these features in you, and above you a thunderstorm is far from useless.” Molchalin: “He served under his father for three years, he often gets angry to no avail, and he disarms him with silence... He could have looked for fun; not at all: from the old people he won’t step outside the threshold; we frolic, we laugh, he sits with them all day long, he’s not happy, he plays... Of course, he doesn’t have this mind in him, which is a genius for some, but for others a plague, which is quick, brilliant and quick The one who scolds the world on the spot is disgusted, so that the world would say anything about him, but will such a mind make the family happy?
It seems that Sofia feels that Molchalin is stupid, silent, without his own opinion, but “he is finally of the most wonderful quality: compliant, modest, quiet. There is not a shadow of anxiety in his face, and there are no wrongdoings in his soul, he doesn’t cut strangers at random - that’s why I love him.” And Sofia prefers him to Chatsky. Maybe she is frightened by the last “peculiarities of the bottomless”, maybe it’s resentment. After all, having left, Chatsky left the girl alone in this faceless, gray and insignificant world.
The fact that Chatsky is a “new century” and Molchalin is a pet of Famusov’s Moscow is evidenced by their ideals. Chatsky demands “service to the cause, not to persons,” not to mix “fun or tomfoolery with business,” he languishes among the crowd of “tormentors, sinister old women, quarrelsome old men,” refusing to bow to their authority. He “would be glad to serve, but being served is sickening.”
Molchalin’s commandments: “First, to please all people without exception... In my years, one should not dare to have one’s own judgment.” His talent is moderation and accuracy. And all this: passion for rank, servility, emptiness - inseparably connects Molchalin with the “past century.”
Chatsky is a warrior. He fights against the ideals, goals, and aspirations of old Moscow, stigmatizing extravagance, thoughtless luxury and disgusting morals of “spillage in feasts and extravagance.” The image of Chatsky is the idea, the moral of the play, and Molchalin is one of the embodiments of the power of the old world. There cannot be the slightest similarity between them. Even in the feeling of love, Chatsky “rushes” like a live, immediate and deep element of life.” In Molchalin’s love for Sofia there is virtually nothing but self-interest.
The state of uncertainty in life drives Chatsky into a frenzy. If at the beginning of the action he is calm and confident:
No, the world is not like that these days...
Everyone breathes more freely
And he’s in no hurry to fit into the regiment of jesters.
The patrons yawn at the ceiling,
Show up to be quiet, shuffle around, have lunch,
Bring a chair, bring a handkerchief, - then in a monologue at a ball in Famusov’s house, the imbalance of his soul and mind was revealed. He makes himself a laughing stock, from which everyone shies away. But at the same time, his image is very tragic: his monologue is a consequence of unhappy love and society’s rejection of those thoughts and feelings, those beliefs that Chatsky defends throughout the comedy.
Under the weight of “a million torments,” he is broken and begins to contradict common logic. All this entails absolutely incredible rumors that seem unfounded, but the whole world is talking about them:
Crazy!..
It seems to her... here it is!
No wonder?
So... why would she even think so?
But Chatsky not only does not refute the rumors, but with all his might, without knowing it, he confirms them, arranging a scene at the ball, then a scene of farewell to Sofia and the exposure of Molchalin:
You are right: he will come out of the fire unharmed,
Whoever has time to spend a day with you will breatheair alone,
And his sanity will survive...
Get out of Moscow!
I don't go here anymore
I’m running, I won’t look back, I’ll go looking around the world
Where is there a corner for an offended feeling!
In a fit of passion, our hero more than once sins against logic, but there is always truth in his words - the truth about his attitude towards Famus society. He is not afraid to say everything to everyone’s face and rightly accuse representatives of Famusov’s Moscow of lies, bigotry, and hypocrisy. The hero himself is clear proof that the obsolete and sick closes the way to the young and healthy.
The comparison can be continued by analyzing every gesture or response of the characters. But even from a few examples it is clear that the comedy itself is a struggle of opposites: Chatsky with the “past century” - the Famusovs, the rock-teeth, the silent ones. He is a victim, but a winner. The Famus society uses everything in the fight against Chatsky: gossip, rumors, false accusations, and these are not the weapons of the strong. And therefore Chatsky wins a moral victory over them, finds himself above all the dullness and mediocrity surrounding him.
The image of Chatsky in Griboyedov’s comedy, which A. A. Blok called “the most brilliant Russian drama,” remains unfinished. The framework of the play does not allow us to fully reveal the full depth and complexity of this character’s nature. But we can say with confidence: Chatsky has strengthened in his faith and will find his way in a new life. And the more Chatskys like these there are on the path of the Famusovs, silent and repetitious, the weaker and quieter their voices will sound.
A. S. Griboedov entered Russian literature as the author of one work. His comedy “Woe from Wit” cannot be put on a par with the immortal creation of A. S. Pushkin “Eugene Onegin”, since “Eugene Onegin” has already become history for us, an encyclopedia of the life of the Russian nobility early XIX centuries, Griboyedov’s play was, is and will be a modern and vital work until careerism, veneration, and gossip disappear from our lives, until our society is dominated by the thirst for profit, living at the expense of others, and not at the expense of one’s own labor, as long as the hunters to please and serve are alive.
All this eternal imperfection of people and the world is superbly described in Griboyedov’s immortal comedy “Woe from Wit” Griboyedov creates a whole gallery negative images: Famusov, Molchalin, Repetilov, Skalozub, etc. They seem to have absorbed all the negative features of the development of their contemporary society.
But all these heroes are opposed alone by the main character of the comedy, Alexander Andreevich Chatsky. He came to Moscow, “returning from distant wanderings,” only for the sake of Sophia, his beloved. But, returning to his once dear and beloved home, he discovers very strong changes: Sophia is cold, arrogant, irritable, she no longer loves Chatsky.
Trying to find an answer to his feeling, the main character appeals to his former love, which was mutual before his departure, but all in vain. All his attempts to bring back the old Sophia are a complete fiasco. To all Chatsky’s passionate speeches and memories, Sophia replies: “Childishness!” This is where the young man’s personal drama begins, which ceases to be narrowly personal, but develops into a clash between a man in love and the entire Famus society. Main character one stands against the army of old “warriors”, starting an endless struggle for a new life and for his love.
He encounters Famusov himself and argues with him about the way and path of life. The owner of the house recognizes the correctness of his uncle’s life: Maxim Petrovich: he didn’t eat silver, he ate gold, a hundred people are at his service.
It is absolutely clear that he himself would not refuse such a life, which is why he does not understand Chatsky, who demands “service to the cause, not to persons.” Love and social conflicts are combined, becoming a single whole. For the hero, personal drama depends on society’s attitude towards him, and public drama is complicated by personal relationships.
This exhausts Chatsky and, as a result, he experiences “a million torments,” as Goncharov aptly puts it.
The state of uncertainty in life drives him into a frenzy. If at the beginning of the action he is calm and self-confident: No, today the world is not like that... Everyone breathes more freely And is not in a hurry to fit into the regiment of jesters, The patrons yawn at the ceiling. Show up to be silent, shuffle around, have lunch, offer a chair, bring a handkerchief.
Then in the monologue at the ball in Famusov’s house, all the imbalance of the soul and mind is visible. He makes himself a laughing stock, from which everyone shies away. But, at the same time, his image is very tragic: his entire monologue is a consequence of unhappy love and society’s rejection of those thoughts and feelings, those beliefs that Chatsky defends throughout the comedy.
Under the weight of “a million torments,” he breaks down and begins to contradict common logic. All this entails absolutely incredible rumors that seem unfounded, but the whole world is talking about them: The sum has gone, it seems to her! No wonder? So... Why would she take it! But Chatsky not only does not refute the rumors, but with all his might, without knowing it, confirms them, arranging a scene at the ball, then a scene of farewell to Sophia and Molchalin’s exposure: You are right, he will come out of the fire unharmed, Whoever manages to stay with you for an hour, He will breathe the air alone, and his sanity will survive... Get out of Moscow! I don’t go here anymore, I run, I won’t look back, I’ll go looking around the world Where there is a corner for an offended feeling! In a fit of passion, our hero more than once sins against logic, but in all his words there is the truth of his attitude towards Famus society. He is not afraid to say everything to everyone’s face and rightly accuse representatives of Famusov’s Moscow of lies, hypocrisy, and hypocrisy. He himself is clear proof that what is outdated and sick closes the way to the young and healthy.
The image of Chatsky remains unfinished; the framework of the play does not allow us to fully reveal the full depth and complexity of this character’s nature. But we can say with confidence: Chatsky has strengthened in his faith and, in any case, will find his way in a new life. And the more such Chatskys there are on the path of the Famusovs, Molchalins and Repetilovs, the weaker and quieter their voices will sound.
References
To prepare this work, materials were used from the site http://sochinenia1.narod.ru/
According to many literary critics, the work of A. S. Griboedov “Woe from Wit” is a complex creation where all current problems humanity and are examined in great detail. Therefore, the play is deservedly considered the author’s immortal creation.
The action of the play takes place in the house of master Famusov, a Moscow gentleman, where the main character of the work, Chatsky, arrives. After a long stay abroad, he arrives in Moscow and immediately goes to his beloved, Sofya Famusova. He wants to know if her feelings for him are as strong as before. And after his arrival the main action begins.
The hero learns that the girl has cooled off towards him and fell in love with her father’s secretary, Molchalin. Finding himself in a world of hypocrisy and lies, Alexander Andreevich Chatsky immediately begins to defend his position, trying to find the truth and eradicate injustice. However, between it and the existing social standard lies an immeasurable gulf. Being at his core a principled and irreconcilable person, the hero constantly enters into heated disputes with Famusov, the head of the family, against the backdrop of which the reader begins to understand the rottenness of existing traditions and preferences of the “powers of this world” and social values in general.
Chatsky is tormented by all the existing problems of the state, in particular, the existence of serfdom, within the framework of which all “objectionable” views are doomed to a miserable existence only in a silent form and cannot be realized even verbally. He sees that the authorities are not ready to reform the state, because any changes in the situation can lead to the emergence of freedom-loving and free-thinking. Alignment with foreign countries is a striking problem that the hero raises repeatedly. “Who are the judges?” says the hero in his famous monologue, thereby asserting that none of the existing government “men” can correctly and honestly resolve the global issue.
Money and power, deep-rooted ideals and the existing ossified politics of profit-seeking rulers - these are the problems that so wound and torment the hero, and, in his person, the entire people. He tries to find people close to him in spirit and thinking who would support his ideas, but all his intentions fail. No one in Famusov’s house, and, accordingly, in the entire so-called civilized and privileged society, not only supports him, but simply does not understand him.
Persecuted by everyone and not accepted by anyone, Chatsky understands that he has no power here, in a society of stone ideals and unbreakable rules, because a progressive person, with new views and demands, simply has no place in the cesspool, where the roots go deep into antiquity, into the thinking of their ancestors.
His only hope - Sophia - turns out to be the same link in the existing strong chain of lies and admiration that cannot be broken. Having failed and fallen into despair, the hero leaves, unable to change the system.
Chatsky is a hero of new times, who always exist and always will be. The author put all his energy into his mouth. life position and tried to tell society about what had been silent for centuries: life requires changes that begin with the minds of each of us. “A Million Torments” is the disagreement of common sense with a social swamp, the laws of which are inviolable. By speaking out against the system, you can break it. But one man is not a warrior. The defeat, however, according to the author, is temporary. And in the future everything will fall into place, and the world of desires will find its realization in reality.
A. S. Griboedov entered Russian literature as the author of one work. His comedy “Woe from Wit” cannot be put on a par with the immortal creation of A. S. Pushkin “Eugene Onegin”, since “Eugene Onegin” has already become history for us, an encyclopedia of the life of the Russian nobility
beginning of the 19th century, and Griboedov’s play was, is and will be a modern and vital work until careerism, veneration, and gossip disappear from our lives, while our society is dominated by the thirst for profit, living at the expense of others, and not at the expense of their own labor, as long as the hunters to please and serve are alive.
All this eternal imperfection of people and the world is superbly described in Griboedov’s immortal comedy “Woe from Wit.” Griboedov creates a whole gallery of negative images: Famusov, Molchalin, Repetilov, Skalozub, etc. They seem to have absorbed all the negative features of their contemporary society.
But all these heroes are opposed alone by the main character of the comedy, Alexander Andreevich Chatsky. He came to Moscow, “returning from distant wanderings,” only for the sake of Sophia, his beloved. But, returning to his once dear and beloved home, he discovers very strong changes: Sophia is cold, arrogant, irritable, she no longer loves Chatsky.
Trying to find an answer to his feeling, the main character appeals to his former love, which was mutual before his departure, but all in vain. All his attempts to bring back the old Sophia fail. To all Chatsky’s passionate speeches and memories, Sophia replies: “Childishness!”
This is where the young man’s personal drama begins, which ceases to be narrowly personal, but develops into a clash between him and the entire Famus society. The main character stands alone against the army of old “warriors”, starting an endless struggle for a new life and for his love.
He encounters Famusov himself and argues with him about the way and path of life. The owner of the house acknowledges the correctness of his uncle’s lifestyle:
Maxim Petrovich: he’s not on silver,
Ate on gold; one hundred people at your service.
It is absolutely clear that he himself would not refuse such a life, which is why he does not understand Chatsky, who demands “service to the cause, not to persons.” Love and social conflicts are combined, becoming a single whole. For the hero, personal drama depends on society’s attitude towards him, and public drama is complicated by personal relationships. This exhausts Chatsky, and as a result he experiences “a million torments,” as Goncharov aptly puts it.
The state of uncertainty in life drives him into a frenzy. If at the beginning of the action he is calm and confident:
No, the world is not like that these days...
Everyone breathes more freely
And he’s in no hurry to fit into the regiment of jesters...
The patrons yawn at the ceiling,
Show up to be quiet, shuffle around, have lunch,
Pull up a chair, lift up a scarf, -
then in the monologue at the ball in Famusov’s house, all the imbalance of his soul and mind is revealed. He exposes himself to ridicule, everyone shies away from him. But at the same time, his image is very tragic: his entire monologue is a consequence of unhappy love and society’s rejection of those thoughts and feelings, those beliefs that Chatsky defends throughout the comedy.
Under the weight of “a million torments,” he breaks down and begins to contradict common logic. All this entails absolutely incredible rumors that seem unfounded, but the whole world only says:
He's gone crazy, it seems to her, here he is!
No wonder? So... why would she even think so?
However, Chatsky not only does not refute the rumors, but with all his might, without knowing it, he confirms them, in the scene at the ball, then in the scene of farewell to Sophia and the exposure of Molchalin:
You are right: he will come out of the fire unharmed,
Who will have time to spend a day with you,
Breathe the air alone
And his sanity will survive.
Get out of Moscow! I don't go here anymore.
I’m running, I won’t look back, I’ll go looking around the world,
Where is there a corner for an offended feeling!
In a fit of passion, our hero more than once sins against logic, but in all his words there is truth - the truth of his attitude towards Famus society. He is not afraid to say everything to everyone’s face and rightly accuse representatives of Famusov’s Moscow of lies, hypocrisy, and hypocrisy. He himself is clear proof that the obsolete and sick closes the way to the young and healthy.
The image of Chatsky remains unfinished; the framework of the play does not allow us to fully reveal the full depth and complexity of this character’s nature. But we can say with confidence: Chatsky has strengthened his rejection of Famus society and in any case will find his way in a new life. And the more such Chatskys there are on the way of the Famusovs, the silent ones and the repetilovs, the weaker and quieter the voices of the latter will sound.
