In this regard, the comedic form that Sumarokov gave to his literary pamphlets is completely optional: with the same success, Sumarokov could achieve his extraneous goals in journalism, satire or parody. But the reason for the controversy - Trediakovsky’s extremely harsh review of the tragedy “Khorev” - from the very beginning parodically projected Sumarokov’s comedy onto the aesthetics and poetics of the tragic genre.
Starting with the comedy “Tresotinius”, in which a caricature of Trediakovsky’s literary personality is given - a criticism of the tragedy “Khorev”, tragedy forms the constant literary background of Sumarokov’s comedy. In “Monsters,” for example, one of Trediakovsky’s attacks against Sumarokov’s use of words is parodied:
Have you seen the Russian tragedy?
Criticiondius
I saw for my sins. ‹…› They handed Kiy a chair, God knows what, as if he was in such a state that he couldn’t even stand. ‹…› The chair is called a seat, as if it were impossible to call it a chair (V;263).
What is meant here is the following critical passage by Trediakovsky: “The cue asks, having become extremely indignant, that a seat be given to him ‹…›. The Author knows that this word is Slavic, and is used in the psalms for the chair: but he does not know that the Slavic Russian language ‹…› has now connected with this word a vile idea, namely what in our scripture is called aphedrone. Therefore, whatever Kiy asks to be given to him, let Kiy himself, like a tragic person introduced from the Author, smell.”
A kind of rhyme to this exchange of pleasantries regarding the tragedy “Khorev” in Sumarokov’s late comedy is a self-parody of the same tragedy, put into the mouth of the main comic character, the landowner Khavronya in the comedy “Cuckold by Imagination” (1772):
Sow
‹…› then someone came out, and some woman was brought to him on a chain ‹…› they gave him a gilded cup, ‹…› he sent this cup to her, and everything was fine; then someone else came, talked a little, and something came over him; when he, daddy, screamed, his hat flew off, and he began to rush around like a mad cat, and when he took out the knife, he sprayed himself, and I froze (VI; 9).
Thus, the shadow of his first tragedy fell over all of Sumarokov’s comedic work, from the caricature of the critic “Khorev” in “Tresotinius” to the self-parody in “Cuckold by Imagination.” One of Kiy’s most famous lines in the tragedy “Khorev”, clearly articulating the political nature of the conflict in Russian tragedy: “In all the sunflowers the monarch’s passion thunders, // And the strict power turns into tyranny” (Sh; 47) gives rise to the incredible productivity of the phrase “in all the sunflowers” in the mouths of comedic characters who use this high style cliche in a distinctly everyday, humorous context. Here is just one example from the comedy “The Guardian”: “Stranger. In all the sunflowers there is nothing more useful than the sun and money” (V;23). On the other hand, the ability of parody not only to repeat what has already been said, but also to predict what is yet to be heard, gives rise in the finales of Sumarokov’s comedies to the motif of hellish torment of sinful souls, which is to be cast in the equally famous replica of the tragedy “Dimitri the Pretender”: “Go to hell, soul, and be forever captured!” (IV;26). Before finding its clear verse embodiment in tragedy, this final line will be heard repeatedly in comedic endings, for example, in the same comedy “Guardian”: “Nisa. Where is the soul? to hell? “Stranger. I'm dying! I'm going to hell!" (V; 13.48).
Pun word and the function of double concepts in comedic conflict
The constant parodic correlation of Sumarokov’s tragic and comedic texts, in addition to giving rise to the additional laughter effect of the comedy, has important genre-forming consequences. Along with this parodic two-dimensionality of the comedic text, one of the leading techniques for achieving purely linguistic comedy in Sumarokov is the pun: a context in which a word appears in two meanings at once - literal and figurative, objective and metaphorical:
"Tresotinius":
I ‹…› prefer the firmly alarming to the one-legged firm. If this one's leg breaks, then throw him away; and even if two of this one's legs break, the third one will still remain.
Bobembius.
Mine is solid with three legs, and for this reason it stands firmly, ergo it is solid; but yours is not solid, ergo it is not solid (V;305-306).
This parodic-comic dispute about the graphics of the letter “t”, in which its Slavic name “firmly” and the direct, material meaning of this word collide, a dispute meaning Latin (“t” - “firmly one-legged”) and Slavic (“t ” - “firmly tripod”), the ways of writing it and aiming at Trediakovsky’s grammatical studies, opens up a genuine parade of puns in Sumarokov’s comedies. Almost none of his comedies can do without word play. Here are just a few examples:
"Guardian"
Alien grabber. And the children of an honest man came to beg for alms, whose father traveled to the Chinese kingdom and was in the Kamchatka state ‹…›, and his daughters have krashenin bostroks, ‹…› and for this reason they call them krasheninkini (V; 12).
"Cuckold by Imagination"
Graph. What horns? I don’t even have them in my head. In and to at l. Yes, I have them on my head (VI;40).
Thus, the pun word initially bifurcates the entire verbal plan of comedy into objective and figurative meanings the same word, thing, concept. These meanings are found in one word, and each object and concept can be interpreted in two meanings - material and ideal. The attributive-spatial organization of the comedic world image is also connected with the punning nature of the word. The environment in which the comedy takes place is completely identical to the environment of tragedy, intangible and conventional. A scene in a comedy is also a conventional place, roughly designated as someone’s house, without any material detail. But at the level of the comedic word, the action of the comedy is significantly transformed due to the expansion of the array of words with the meaning of the thing in speech characteristics characters, and these words gravitate towards the three semantic centers of the satirical world image that are already familiar to us: the motifs of food, clothing and money come to life as the main plots of the dialogues.
Fluctuations of the comedic word on the verge of objective and figurative meanings cause a doubling of the comedic world image at the next level - a fundamentally important level of the concept, which, just like in tragedy, is a conflict-generating category in Sumarokov’s comedy. The entire comedic conflict, just like the conflict of tragedy, is built not so much on a clash of characters, but on a clash of concepts. Perhaps the most expressive example is the incredible productivity of the concept of honor, which is genetically tragic, in Sumarokov’s comedies. All the characters in the comedy are preoccupied with honor and dishonor: this word does not leave their lips in ordinary phraseological units: honestly, honest name, I honestly swear, I have the honor, and also becomes a subject of discussion, forming the moral position of vice (false honor) and virtue (true honor) in the conflict. At the same time, the concept of honor is also a pun in Sumarokov’s comedies, since the false interpretation of this concept has a distinct material-objective character, and the true one has a spiritual-ideal character in those contexts that are created around the word “honor”.
So, before us pass: a pedant-scientist (in “Tresotinius” there are three of them: Tresotinius himself, Xaxoximenius, Bobembius; in “Monsters” - this is Criticiondius); this is "doctor" Italian comedy; behind him comes a boastful warrior, lying about his unheard-of exploits, but in fact a coward (in “Tresotinius” Bramarbas); this is the “captain” of Italian comedy, going back to the “boastful soldier” Pyrgopolynics Plautus. Next are the clever servants Kimar in “Tresotinius” and “Empty Quarrel”, Harlequin in “Monsters”; this is "Harlequin" commedia dell'arte; finally - ideal lovers - Clarice and Dorant in Tresotinius, Infimena and Valere in Monsters. Characteristic of Sumarokov’s conventionally grotesque manner are the very names of the heroes of his first comedies, not Russian, but conventionally theatrical.
Lecture: Sumarokov's comedies. “guardian”, “cuckold by imagination”.
Mother - Daughter's Companion", "Crazy Woman" and "Cuckold by Imagination". The last of them was influenced by Fonvizin’s play “The Brigadier”.
In “The Cuckold,” two types of nobles are contrasted with each other: the educated, endowed with subtle feelings, Florisa and Count Cassander, and the ignorant, rude, primitive landowner Vikul and his wife Khavronya. This couple eats a lot, sleeps a lot, and plays cards out of boredom.
One of the scenes picturesquely conveys the features of the life of these landowners. On the occasion of the arrival of Count Cassandra, Khavronya orders a festive dinner from the butler.
Attention
This is done with passion, inspiration, and knowledge of the matter. An extensive list of dishes colorfully characterizes the uterine interests of village gourmets.
Tragedies of Sumarokov. their political and educational orientation
His clerk in “Tresotinius” (only the intended image), in “Monsters” the sneaker Khabzey and the judges Dodon and Finist are included in the general line of his struggle with the bureaucracy; his petitmeters, Frenchmaniacs, society dandies - Dulizh in “Monsters” and Dulizh in “An Empty Quarrel” - are included in the line of his struggle against the court “nobility”, against gallomania, for Russian culture, for native language. Sumarokov's comedies, even the first three of them, are peppered with literary and polemical attacks, allusions to Sumarokov himself and his enemies.
This especially applies to Tresotinius, the main thing is character which, which gave the comedy its name, is a pamphlet against Trediakovsky, unusually caricatured, but unambiguous. This is characteristic of Sumarokov’s entire comic style of this period; his comic masks do not rise to a broad social typology.
/ dusk
Sumarokov's entire manner in these plays is conventionally grotesque. In "Monsters" a comic court hearing takes place on stage, and the judges are dressed like foreign judges - in large wigs, but in general they are not judges at all, and the trial itself takes place in a private house, and all this is a complete farce, and behind the ridiculousness of the scene It’s impossible to figure out how to understand it seriously.
Sumarokov loves farcical comedy - fights on stage, funny skirmishes between the characters. All this grotesque ridiculousness in his work largely depends on the tradition of the Italian comedy of masks.
The very composition of the comic characters of the first Sumarokov comedies is determined mainly by the composition of the stable masks of Italian folk comedy. These are traditional masks, the centuries-old tradition of which most often dates back to Roman comedy.
Sumarokov Alexander Petrovich
The best play in Sumarokov’s comedy TV, “Cuckold by Imagination” (3 acts), appeared after Fonvizin’s “The Brigadier” and anticipated the appearance of “The Minor” (commonality of situations, characters). The focus is on the life of the provincial poor landowners, Vikul and Khavronya.
Info
Limited interests, ignorance, narrow-mindedness characterize them. The characters are not one-sided. Making fun of the savagery, the absurdity of these people, cat.
they only talk about “sowing (no, not our Megasow, but it’s a pity, it would be interesting))), about reaping, about threshing, about chickens,” in the cat. peasants walk around the world (Havronya forces all the peasants to work, puts money aside for a rainy day), Sumarokov shows traits, a challenge. sympathy for them. Vikul and Khavronya touch with their affection, they are kind to their pupil, the poor girl in the yard. clan Florise. The absurdity of Vikula and Khavronya’s life is emphasized by the plot of the comedy.
Guardian
The comedy is built primarily on showing two characters - Vikul and Khavronya; the rest of the faces are traditional and abstract, although in the role of the dowry Florisa there is a psychological picture that is very unique. But Vikul and especially Khavronya are everyday figures who are important in the history of Russian comedy.
True, in both of these roles, and especially in the role of Khavronya, the influence of “The Brigadier” and, above all, the image of the foreman is noticeable. But Sumarokov managed to learn the lessons of his young rival in such a way that he was then able to give him something for his future great comedy.
“Cuckold by Imagination” has notes of “Undergrown.” First of all, the very circle of what is depicted is the same life of the poor and wild landowner province; this is the same rough and colorful language of non-metropolitan landowners. Floriza is in the family of Vikul and Khavronya, like Sophia with the Prostakovs, although Floriza is not offended; in general, these two roles are correlated.
Khorev
Vikul was jealous of Khavronya (60 l) of the brilliant Count Cassander, a rich neighbor, cat. I loved Floriza. The dialogues are full of comedy, cat. Vikul reproaches Khavronya for infidelity, believing that she cuckolded him.
The speech characteristics of the characters help to recreate the appearance and morals of the provincial nobles. Their language is rich and expressive. This is not the smooth, correct speech of noble salons, but rough, colorful, sprinkled with proverbs and sayings, akin to the common language provincial nobility.
Valid persons: Vikul - a nobleman, Khavronya - his wife, Floriza - a poor noblewoman, Kasander - Count, Butler, Nisa - Khavronya's maid, Count Cassandra's huntsman. The Count is going to come to them for lunch, Khavronya is giving instructions, she knows Cassandra - they were sitting next to each other in the theater in Moscow. Vikula is jealous. The count marries Floriza, Khavronya gives way to Nisa.
Sumarokov comedy guardian summary
Sumarokov moves on to the type of so-called comedy of characters. In each play, the center of his attention is one image, and everything else is needed either to shade the central image, or to fictionalize the plot, which is still insignificant.
Thus, “The Guardian” is a play about a nobleman-usurer, a swindler and a hypocrite, the Stranger. This same image is the only one in “The Covetous Man” under the name of Kashchei, and it is the same one in “Dowry by Deception” under the name of Salidar.
“Poisonous” is a comedy about the slanderer Herostratus. “Narcissus” is a comedy about a narcissistic dandy; his name is Narcissus. In addition to those indicated central images, and there are all three of them - there are no characters in all of Sumarokov’s comedies of 1764-1768; all other characters are goodies, barely animated copybooks. On the contrary, the central characters are drawn carefully, especially the triple image of the Stranger - Kashchei - Salidar.
A brave warrior, a virtuous monarch, Sinav, having learned about the love of Ilmena and Truvor, is unable to suppress the feeling of jealousy that gripped him. He forgets about his duty to govern his subjects for their good and becomes responsible for the deaths of Ilmena and Truvor. Realizing his involuntary “tyranny”, Sinav wants to commit suicide, but Gostomysl and the soldiers snatch the sword from his hands. Based on his ideal of a class monarchy, Sumarokov, with his characteristic passion and insolence, attacked those social phenomena and social forces, which he regarded negatively.
In his latest tragedies, tyrant-fighting motives intensify. A monarch who is unable to establish order in the state and be the father of his subjects is worthy of contempt; he is an “enemy of the people” who must be overthrown from the throne.
(“Dimitri the Pretender”). Sumarokov's tragedies had enormous educational significance.
This can even be said about the role of Fatyuya, the village landowner (“An Empty Quarrel”), the most Russian and in everyday life so full-bodied that one can guess in it some features of the future Mitrofan Prostakov. Finally, Sumarokov’s early comedies are enlivened by their language, lively, sharp, cheeky in its unvarnishedness, very little subjected to sublime vivisection French classicism. Sumarokov's six comedies of 1764-1768 are noticeably different from the first three, although much of them is the same; the method of conventional depiction, the absence of life on stage, even most often conventional names remains the same: Sostrata, Nysa, Pasquin, Palemon, Dorant, Leander, Herostratus, Demiphon, Menedemos, Orontes, etc.; only in one comedy do the Tigrovs, their father, mother and daughter Olga, the three Radugina brothers, Yaroslav, Svyatoslav and Izyaslav (“Three Brothers Together”) appear. Meanwhile, the very structure of the plays has changed.
Sumarokov only conditionally maintains even unity. The time and place of action fit into the norm, but there is no unity of action, especially in the first plays. Needless to say about the nobility of the tone of the French classic comedy; there is no trace of it in Sumarokov’s rough, semi-farcical plays. In Sumarokov’s first comedies, in fact, there is not even any real connecting plot. We will find in them, of course, the rudiment of a plot in the form of a couple in love, who at the end are married; but this rudiment of a love theme has no influence on the course of the action; or rather, there is, in fact, no action in comedy. Comedy is a series of more or less mechanical related scenes; one after another, comic masks enter the theater; the characters representing the ridiculed vices, in a dialogue that does not move the action, show the public each their own vice.
When the catalog of vices and comic dialogues is exhausted, the play ends. The struggle for the heroine's hand does not unite even a small fraction of the themes and dialogues.
This construction of the play comes close to the construction of folk “square” sideshow games or nativity scenes, satirical scenes, and especially parsley comedy. It is characteristic that, in contrast to Sumarokov’s tragedies, in his first comedies, despite their small volume, there are a lot of characters; Thus, in “Tresotinius,” a comedy in one act, there are ten of them, in “Monsters” there are eleven.
If there is no single action taking place on the stage of Sumarokov’s early comedies, then there is no genuine everyday life in them. Like the conventional interlude scene, the stage area of “Tresotinius” or “Monsters” or “The Empty Quarrel” represents a conventional abstract place in which no one lives, but characters only appear to demonstrate their conventionally depicted shortcomings.
Sumarokov also had his say in the comedy genre. By exposing human vices in a funny way, exposing them, comedy should thereby contribute to liberation from them. Comedy must be separated from tragedy, on the one hand, and from farcical games, on the other. Sumarokov nevertheless turned to the practice of people. theater They are small in volume (1-3 acts), written in prose, and often lack a plot basis. (Let’s pray to Santa Nikolaus once again - how good it is that he will no longer be there J), characterized by farcical comedy, characters - clerk, judge, etc., note. Sumarokov in Russian. life. Trying to imitate the French. The comedies of Moliere and Sumarokov are far from the comedies of Western classicism (5 acts, in verse, compositional rigor, completeness, etc.). Imitation of the French comedy was reflected in the borrowing of character names: Erast, Isabella, etc.
Wrote 12 books, according to ideological significance and art. values are lower than tragic. First com. – 1750 – “An Empty Quarrel” and others. In the 60s. – “Guardian” and others. In 1772 – “Cuckold by Imagination” and others. Com. served as a means of polemics - the pamphlet character of most of them. Unlike tr. over the room worked for a short time. In the first com. – each action the face showed the public its vice, the scenes were mechanically connected. In a small room. - a lot of actions. persons (10-11). Their portraiture made it possible for contemporaries to find out who in reality served as the prototype. Real persons, everyday details, negative phenomena Russian. life - gave the room, despite the conventionality of the image, a connection with reality. Bright, expressive language, often colored with the features of a lively dialect - the desire to individualize the speech of characters. Early com. directed against enemies in lit. field. The images had a conventional character and were far from typical generalizations.
Second group com. – com. characters are distinguished by greater depth and conditionality of the depiction of the main characters. All attention is focused on the main character, other actions. faces - to reveal character traits ch. hero, I suppose. characters, performance reasoners. The most successful images are denied. heroes, in the character of a cat. a lot of satire. and everyday features.
One of the best com. this period - "Guardian"(com in 1 action), com. about the nobleman-usurer, swindler and hypocrite Stranger, fleecing orphans, cat. came under his care. The “original” of the Stranger is Sumarokov’s relative Buturlin. Sumarokov does not show the bearer of one vice, but draws a complex one. character Before us is a miser who does not know. no conscience, no pity, a bigot, an ignoramus, a libertine. Sumarokov creates a generalized conditional satyr. Russian image vicious nobleman. The disclosure of character is facilitated by speech character (speech is full of proverbs and sayings, in addressing God - Church Slavonicisms) and everyday life. details. Valery - put it down. the hero is a reasoner, devoid of vitality. Figurative names will be denied. characters (Stranger) – moralizing goals characteristic of classicism. Valid persons: Stranger (70 l) - nobleman, Sostrata - courtyard. daughter, Valery - lover of Sostrata, Nisa (17 years old) - noblewoman and servant of the Stranger, Pasquin - servant of the Stranger, Palemon - friend of Valery's late father, secretary, soldiers. The action takes place in St. Petersburg. One of his own stole a cross with his name from Pasquin. Sostrata admits to the theft. Pasquin – present name Valerian, brother of Valery, which turns out later. Pasquin loves Nysa, Stranger wants to marry her. The stranger prevents the marriage of Valery and Sostrata, because he does not follow either past or current fashion, he is smart, and it is difficult to deceive him. The stranger is afraid of God's judgment, repents, wants to go to Kyiv to atone for his sins. As a result, all the atrocities of the Stranger are revealed (he used to be a hypocrite so that they would not interfere with his getting rich), he is taken to trial, his estate goes to Valerian (Pasquin), everyone gets married, the power of the rulers is exposed, cat. they don't deserve her. “Lawlessness disappear, virtue flourish!” Lots of talk about the soul. The main thing: money solves everything. The stranger is a slacker and the servants are the same.
Con. 60's - 70's – the growth of opposition sentiments towards enlightened absolutism among the progressive nobility and the various intelligentsia. The peasant question and the relationship between landowners and peasants are raised. Attention to everyday life and surroundings. man, the desire for more complexity. psychologist. disclosure of characters in definition. social conditions. The best play in Sumarokov’s comedy TV "Cuckold by Imagination"(3 acts) appeared after Fonvizin’s “Brigadier” and anticipated the appearance of “Undergrowth” (commonality of situations, characters).
The focus is on the life of the provincial poor landowners, Vikul and Khavronya. Limited interests, ignorance, narrow-mindedness characterize them. The characters are not one-sided. Making fun of the savagery, the absurdity of these people, cat. they only talk about sowing (no, not our Megaseva, but it’s a pity, it would be interesting))), about reaping, about threshing, about chickens,” from the cat. peasants walk around the world (Havronya forces all the peasants to work, puts money aside for a rainy day), Sumarokov shows traits, a challenge. sympathy for them. Vikul and Khavronya touch with their affection, they are kind to their pupil, the poor girl in the yard. clan Florise. The absurdity of Vikula and Khavronya’s life is emphasized by the plot of the comedy. Vikul was jealous of Khavronya (60 l) of the brilliant Count Cassander, a rich neighbor, cat. I loved Floriza. The dialogues are full of comedy, cat. Vikul reproaches Khavronya for infidelity, believing that she cuckolded him.
The speech characteristics of the characters help to recreate the appearance and morals of the provincial nobles.
Their language is rich and expressive. This is not the smooth, correct speech of noble salons, but rough, colorful, peppered with proverbs and sayings, akin to the common language of the provincial nobility.
Valid persons: Vikul - a nobleman, Khavronya - his wife, Floriza - a poor noblewoman, Kasander - Count, Butler, Nisa - Khavronya's maid, Count Cassandra's huntsman. The Count is going to come to them for lunch, Khavronya is giving instructions, she knows Cassandra - they were sitting next to each other in the theater in Moscow. Vikula is jealous. The count marries Floriza, Khavronya gives way to Nisa. The Count is ready to share everything with them.
Comedies by Sumarokov. Household comedy. “Guardian,” “Cuckold by Imagination” Who does the title refer to? (imagined that his wife was cheating on him)
In comedies S. A strong feature is elements of everyday life and spoken language. Individualization of the characters' speech appeared. S. treated comedies lightly; in them he denounced the ignorant nobility, criticized clerks, and portrayed the negative traits of people. He wrote short comedies: 8 of 1 act, 4 of 4 acts. Sumarokov’s comedies “The Guardian” (1765), “The Dashing Man” (1768) and others were directed against the class arrogance and ignorance of the provincial nobility. In “Epistole on Poetry,” S. says that the property of comedy is “to rule the temper with mockery,” which should be separated from tragedy on the one hand and from farcical games on the other. S. deviated from tradition. forms class. five-act comedy. 12 comedies. According to thin values lower than tragedies. Most often, comedies served as a means of polemics for S., hence the pamphlet genre of most of them.
In his first comedies in the 50s (“Tresotinius”, “Monsters”, “A Simple Quarrel”), each of the actions. the persons appearing on stage showed their vice to the public, and the scenes were mechanically connected. A small comedy has many characters.
In the comedies of the second group (60s) - (“Guardian”, “Poisonous”, “The Dashing”, “Narcissus”, “Three Brothers Together”), the portrayal of the main characters is deep and conditional. They also had a conventional character and were far from typical generalizations. Other actions faces serve to reveal the features of the main character. “Guardian” - a comedy about a nobleman - a moneylender, a swindler and a hypocrite, Stranger, who fleeces orphans, a cat. came under his care. “Poisonous” is about a slanderer. Ost. persons are reasoners.
In the 70s, three more books were written (“Cuckold by Imagination”, “Mother Companion to Daughter”, “Crazy Woman”).
The "everyday" comedies date back to 1772: "Mother - Daughter's Companion", "Crazy Woman" and "Cuckold by Imagination". The last of them was influenced by Fonvizin’s play “The Brigadier”.
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"RpoV."
The writer focuses on the life of the provincial poor landowners Vikul and Khavronya. Tied to others. Close-minded, but not one-sided. Kind to Florise, the pupil of the yard. kind. V. was jealous of H.’s rich neighbor, Cassandra. fell in love with F. Rough vernacular. The pinnacle of satyr. TV-va S.
In “The Cuckold,” two types of nobles are contrasted with each other: the educated, endowed with subtle feelings, Florisa and Count Cassander, and the ignorant, rude, primitive landowner Vikul and his wife Khavronya. This couple eats a lot, sleeps a lot, and plays cards out of boredom. Khavronya’s story about her visit to the St. Petersburg theater, where she watched Sumarokov’s tragedy “Khorev” is funny. She took everything she saw on stage for a real incident and after Khorev’s suicide she decided to leave the theater as soon as possible. “Cuckold by Imagination” is a step forward in Sumarokov’s dramaturgy. Unlike previous plays, the writer here avoids too straightforward condemnation of the characters. In essence, Vikul and Khavronya are not bad people. They are good-natured, hospitable, touchingly attached to each other. Their trouble is that they did not receive proper upbringing and education.
On "R. “Imaginingly” influenced “Brigadier” by Fonvizin, and “R...” influenced “Undergrown”. This comedy is more irony than accusation.
Plot: The main characters in it are a couple of provincial small-scale nobles with characteristic names - Vikul and Khavronya. Vikul's unfounded suspicions towards his wife, a lady immersed in household chores, somewhat reminiscent of Fonvizin's Brigadier, form the basis of numerous comic episodes. Scenes of jealousy arise as the melodramatic plot develops - the love of a rich count for a poor girl brought up by these kind but ignorant homebodies. The main artistic interest of the play lies in its rich depiction of morals. The speech individualization of the images of Vikul and Khavronya grew out of the simple way of life with his everyday village worries and hospitality. These people are characterized by spontaneity in expressing their feelings, their language is a vivid example of lively colloquial Russian speech, rich folk proverbs and sayings (“For a dear friend and an earring from an ear”, “A hut is not red in its corners, it is red in its pies”, “Sometimes an old woman has a leak”, “You can’t hide an awl in a bag”, etc.). And the whole comedy ends with a proverb that Vikul utters, reconciling with his wife, who was unwittingly offended by him: “Kiss me, Khavronyushka: and whoever remembers the old will be out of sight.” In terms of the brightness and folkloric coloring of the style, Sumarokov’s latest comedies generally stand out against the background of his earlier plays.
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"Guardian". Characters: Stranger (nobleman), Sostrata (nobleman's daughter), Valery (her lover), Nisa (noblewoman and servant Ch.), Pasquin (servant Ch.), Palemon (friend of V.'s late father), secretary, soldiers. Action in St. Petersburg.
Plot: a nobleman took orphans under his guardianship and mercilessly robbed them. He is greedy, hypocritical, depraved, and does not understand how a girl can refuse him if he is rich. By the way, he doesn’t have 1 trait (and usually S. has 1 character with 1 trait)
The Stranger believes that “what is taken is holy” and loves the Feast of All Saints.
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During the period of writing these comedies, Sumarokov had been living in Moscow for several years. He is all about creating a new theater in Moscow. The aging playwright does not give up thinking about new plays, although he is aware that his strength is running out. ABOUT state of mind Sumarokov's letters to Empress Catherine II speak eloquently during this period. In one of them, dated April 30, 1772, he shares his plans with the monarch: “And I think that my comedies can make no less adjustments than bring amusement and laughter, and comedies in Moscow and for the sake of driving away ignorance to your wise reign They should certainly be pleasing to be, and they will certainly bring a lot of fruit to Russia. And if the time of my fading life and my weakening strength are strengthened by your royal mercy, then I hope to work for the theater for another four years, and especially with comedies, I hope to serve, for I have to write prose comedies. “, having both theory and practice, and seeing the everyday stupidity and delusions of the ignorant, it is very easy” (Letters of Russian writers of the 18th century. L., 1980, p. 153.). And in his latest comedies, Sumarokov never ceases to recognize himself first and foremost as a satirist. Although the content of these plays cannot be said to be bombastic, their accusatory pathos is undeniable. And the main object of denunciation remains the vices of the representatives of the ruling class, and above all the spiritual limitations and class arrogance of the nobles. The methods of satirical ridicule of gentlemen who disgrace their rank are varied. Sometimes these are invectives, incidentally interspersed in the speeches of neutral characters, such as the remark of the maid Nisa addressed to ignorant landowners who boast of their noble origins: “There is nothing more intolerable than that creature who is called a mere shadow of a noble name and who, sitting near the kneading bowl, is surrounded by servants in bast shoes and sashes ... the boyars are elevated to the title" ("Cuckold by Imagination"). Much more often, the main characters of comedies themselves turn out to be the direct object of satirical denunciation. Such, for example, is the aging coquette and fashionista Minodora, who is courting her daughter’s fiancé. And in the image of the wild and capricious landowner Burda (the comedy “The Foolish Woman”), some of the character traits of Fonvizin’s Mrs. Prostakova are anticipated in their own way.
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Interest in this genre Russia XVIII century is confirmed by the abundance of translations and adaptations of European comedies and the extraordinary intensity of development of the genre by Russian authors. Sumarokov was also at the origins of this process. The popularity of comedy in Russia was historically determined. She rested on tradition laughter culture, which were formed on Russian soil back in the 17th century and which were especially vividly embodied in democratic satire this century. And in Sumarokov’s system of theoretical views, the subject and function of comedy are conceived inseparably from the satirical task:
The ability of comedy to correct one's temper by mockery:
Mix and use its direct charter.
Imagine a soulless clerk in an order,
The judge, who will not understand what is written in the decree,
Imagine me a dandy who lifts his nose,
What a whole century has been thinking about the beauty of hair.<...>
Imagine a Latin scholar at his debate,
Who won't lie without ergo...
This is what Sumarokov writes about the purpose and meaning of the comedy genre in his “Epistole on Poetry.” Accordingly, in developing the structural properties of comedy, Sumarokov proceeds primarily from the fulfillment of the main task - ridicule of the vice exposed on stage. This is clearly manifested already in the construction of his earliest comedies, created in 1750: “Tresotiniouos”, “Monsters” ( original title comedies were "Arbitration Court") and "Empty Quarrel" (the original title was "Quarrel between Husband and Wife"). The first two plays were then presented in St. Petersburg along with the tragedies.
The plot basis of the action in Sumarokov's early comedies is unusually simple: the parents choose a groom for their daughter, whose hand is sought by several suitors. And since the desires of the daughter herself usually do not coincide with the plans of the parents, the action of the comedy comes down to discrediting the suitors and destroying the parental intentions. This was influenced by the traditions of the Italian comedy of masks, the repertoire of which Sumarokov could become quite familiar with when the Italian troupe toured St. Petersburg on the court stage. True, in Italian comedy an important role was given to intrigue, built on the cunning tricks of the omnipresent Brighella and Harlequin. In Sumarokov's comedies there is usually only one servant and intrigue as the organizing principle of comic action is also practically absent.
The entertainment value of comic action is understood by Sumarokov in the spirit of the tradition of sideshows, that is, as a stage portrait of vices. Therefore, the plot acts in his early comedies as just a kind of framework for the consistent self-identification of the exposed characters, personifying some kind of vice. This is the pedant Tresotinius, together with his colleagues Bobembius and Xaxoximenius, this is the boastful captain Bramarbas from the same comedy; clerk Khabzey (“Monsters”); the gallomaniac dandy Dulizh, the village urchin Fatyu, the coquette Delamida (“An Empty Quarrel”). In depicting individual types, Sumarokov followed the traditions of famous European playwrights. Thus, certain character traits of the main character in the first comedy, along with his name, were borrowed from Moliere’s comedy “Learned Women”. The image of the boastful officer Bramarbas is suggested German translation comedy by L. Golberg "The Boastful Soldier". At the same time, in a number of farcical scenes of fights, brawls, deceptions, disguises, and cartoonish scientific debates, Sumarokov combines the comedic principles of Molière’s theater with the traditions of folk sideshow.
Characteristic feature The content of Sumarokov's comedies, especially the early ones, is their bombast. All researchers of Sumarokov’s work pointed to this feature. He uses comedy as a means of dealing with his opponents. In two early comedies, the object of Sumarokov’s attacks was his literary opponent V.K. Trediakovsky, depicted in the first play in the image of the learned pedant Tresotinius, and in the second under the name of the pedant Criticiondius. Later, Sumarokov would expand the circle of people he ridiculed, presenting on stage in caricature form the famous novelist F. Emin, and his relative A. I. Buturlin, and others.
Speaking about Sumarokov's early comedies, one cannot help but note a specific tendency in the playwright's approach to depicting the environment in which the plays take place. Unlike tragedies, which, as we remember, were based on the material of legendary events ancient Russian history, in Sumarokov’s comedies the action is almost devoid of national coloring. Marriage contracts are signed on stage, the servants behave rather cheekily with their masters, deceiving and lecturing them. From play to play in Sumarokov's early comedies, the names of comedy characters traditional for European theater pass from play to play: Orontes, Valer, Dorant, Clarice, Dorimena, Delamida, servants Pasquin and Arlikin. In a word, the action is performed in some conditional forms, far from the Russian way of life. True, when introducing his literary opponents or outlining the characters of the undergrown Fatyuya, the absurd noblewoman Gidima (“Monsters”), Sumarokov quite successfully conveys living types generated by national living conditions. But these are rather exceptions to the rule. What is the reason for this situation?
Sumarokov stood at the origins of the creation of a new type of Russian comedy. He realized the importance of his efforts to enrich national repertoire correct plays, as indicated, by the way, by a significant remark in his “Epistle on Poetry” concerning the purpose of the comedy genre:
For knowledgeable people don't write games,
To make people laugh without reason is a gift from a vile soul.
In these verses, Sumarokov actually repeated the thoughts of Boileau, who in his treatise “Poetic Art” warned authors against transferring into comedy the traditions of a common public farce. On Russian soil, the bearer of the stage laughter tradition, from which the theorist of French classicism warned his compatriots, were, in the eyes of Sumarokov, of course, sideshows, those “thrown games” that migrated from school dramas on the stage of farcical theaters that catered to the common people. And when Sumarokov, in his first comedies, brought Orontes, Dorants, Clarices and Pasquivs to the stage, this was dictated by his desire to establish a new type of comic performances on the Russian stage. At the first stage of the genre’s formation, the task was precisely to delimitate itself from the traditions of grassroots theater, which is what Sumarokov accomplished in his early comedies.
However, with all his emphasized rejection of the spirit of the common folk stage, Sumarokov remained dependent on it in developing the structural properties of the comedy genre. There was no impassable line between the traditions of farce, adopted by Sumarokov from the European theater, and the traditions of the farce of school sideshows. Therefore, the observation of G. A. Gukovsky, who noted at one time that “the first comedies-farces of Sumarokov are more like the sideshows of those that were presented on the stage of the people's theater under Peter the Great, than the correct comedy of Molière and Regnard” (Gukovsky G . A. Russian poetry of the 18th century. L., 1927, p.
In the 1760s, the method of Sumarokov the comedian underwent changes. There is a reorientation in the choice of sources of plot schemes. The comedies of this period are marked by the clear influence of the traditions of the “tearful” bourgeois drama - a genre that arose in Europe as a reflection of the interests of the bourgeois spectator. The play “Dowry by Deception” (1756) is transitional in this regard. Its plot still retains traces of the Italian comedy of masks, for the main character is the servant Pasquin, who deceives his master, the stingy Salidar. Pasquin's antics form the basis of the play's intrigue. The heiress of Salidar, in whose interests a clever servant acts, is called upon to embody virtue, suffering under the yoke of vice. A similar motive was typical for a “tearful” drama, and despite all of Sumarokov’s sharply negative attitude towards such plays, “Dowry by Deception” meant a rapprochement with this genre.
Sumarokov's comedies of the 1760s ("Guardian", "Rakhoimets", "Poisonous") mark new level in the evolution of his comedic satire. The action in these plays is freed from farcical comedy. Sumarokov resorts to the grotesque, focusing on the exposure central characters, embodying vicious passions. This is the insidious Stranger, the main character of the comedy "The Guardian", who claims the inheritance of orphans and illegally turns them into a servant. young nobleman. This is the moneylender Kashchei, who reaches the point of fanaticism (the comedy "The Covetous Man"), who, due to stinginess, keeps his servants from hand to mouth and forces them to steal firewood. This is, finally, the godless hypocrite and evil-tongued Herostratus (the comedy “Poisonous”), blackmailing his daughter and father, who have become dependent on him.
Accordingly, in the comedies of the 1760s it develops new look plot stereotype: temporarily triumphant vice, personified in the ominous images of the Stranger, Kashchei and Herostratus, is opposed by suffering virtue. Loss of fortune, uncertainty of origin, imaginary death of relatives increase the burden of suffering that befalls virtuous characters. But vice inevitably awaits retribution. At the same time, the playwright uses traditional techniques for the genre of “tearful” drama. Here is the motive of recognition by the cross, and the appearance on the scene of eyewitnesses of the crime, and the sudden discovery of the noble origin of innocent sufferers, and an unexpectedly fair decision of the court. In the finale, vice is punished and virtue triumphs. The entire action of the comedies appears as a kind of moral lesson; Now plays are designed not so much to treat audiences with laughter, but to touch them with sensitivity.
The focus on sensitivity and the associated rejection of farcical comedy techniques meant a turn to serious moral comedy. Sumarokov is no longer satisfied with combining satire with entertainment, but puts denunciation at the center of his ideological plan. At the same time, pamphleteering still remains distinctive feature his comedies. A number of features in the character of Stranger or Kashchei give reason to believe that in them Sumarokov drew a caricature portrait of his son-in-law, A.I. Buturlin, known for his excessive stinginess, hypocrisy and cruel treatment of servants. One can most likely assume the pamphlet nature of the comedy "Poisonous", where in the image of the evil-tongued Herostratus one can simultaneously discern the personality traits of the writer F. Emin and the poet I. S. Barkov (The question of the prototypes of Sumarokov's pamphlet comedies is discussed in detail by P. N. Berkov in the book "History" Russian comedy of the 18th century" (L., 1977, pp. 86--90).). In ideological terms, such pamphleteering was complemented by broad generalizations, stemming from the playwright’s highly critical attitude towards certain phenomena of the reality of that time - usury, corruption in the courts, the tax farming system, the class arrogance of the nobles. If in tragedies mature period the focus on the modernity of the problematic was manifested in the strengthening of the allusive principle, then in comedies the actualization of the content was achieved by parodying the code of class morality, when in the mouths of vicious characters the very essence of moral concepts defining good and evil was distorted. Such, for example, are the tirades about “honor” that sound in the arguments of the Stranger or Kashchei.
A person thinks a lot about himself, taking everything to heart. If someone laughs behind their back, then the reason for the laughter can only be in him. And if someone kisses his wife’s hand, then we should talk about obvious betrayal, which most likely has already happened. And it doesn’t matter if the wife is over sixty. Is there enough agility in her? Twenty-year-old girls were not standing nearby. It is with this kind of imagination that the nobleman Vikul lives, regardless of anything: neither with the time in the yard, nor with a reasonable understanding of what is understood.
Taking over, Vikul does not pay attention to everyday life. Sumarokov did not show the man with strong convictions, presenting an amorphous character endowed with the ability to be jealous. Vikul does not know how to be proud and show no other feelings except doubts about his wife’s fidelity. What was happening could have been shown to the viewer without him, since the thoughts of the owner of the house are not so important, especially since he doesn’t really represent anything.
The main focus is on the impoverished noblewoman Florise and Vikul's wife's servant Nisa. They are of interest to Count Kasander and his huntsman, who live on the neighboring estate, respectively. There is no conflict of interest between them. Everyone understands the choice they face. No one interferes with mutual happiness. Weddings will be played easily, it’s worth announcing it. There is only one misunderstanding that does not affect anything. It's about Vikul's jealousy.
But nothing just happens. Relationships need to be born. It is enough to say about the intention, and the answer is most likely to be positive. Life can make adjustments, it’s worth wishing for the author of the work. If there were five acts in a comedy, then there would be room for something else. For three actions, it is enough to show interest, inform about it and eliminate a number of misunderstandings that have arisen, after which the curtain can be lowered.
Vikul's jealousy adds an additional feature to the events taking place on stage. He does not oppose and does not create intrigue, just expressing concern about what seems strange to him. After all, it’s not without reason that the wife undertook to put things in order at home, prepare festive dishes and look forward to the count’s arrival. In addition, it is known that the wife and the count previously met in Moscow, where they visited together theatrical performance. Moreover, my wife talks about the positive impression from that meeting. Such confessions will not calm you down. The wife’s assurances of the firmness of her former love will not help to find balance, as if she would not exchange her husband even for a prince.
By the third act, the viewer completely agrees with the opinion of the butler, who directly tells Vikul about his suspicions: “My ears are withering, my dear sir.” Just think, in his old age the nobleman decided to hit the authorities with his forehead. You never know to what insanity he lived in the pastoral surrounding him. Let the viewer not be sad - all misunderstandings will immediately end, as soon as Count Kasander announces certain intentions, and not regarding Vikul’s wife, but Floriza, to which the owner of the house will not object.
Sumarokov wanted to see a smile of peace among visitors to the play based on his comedy. Light plot without malicious intent - in order to show the importance of good neighborliness. Those that seem important should be taken more leniently. Decisive action will come later, when everything is finally clarified. In any other case, it is better to pretend as if nothing is happening. Just think: they are laughing behind your back, or someone kissed your wife’s hand. There can be a million reasons to explain this. Therefore, it is better to calm the imagination by directing it in another useful direction, such as writing edifying comedies. Sumarokov did just that.
Additional tags: Sumarokov is a cuckold in the imagination of a critic, analysis, reviews, review, book, Alexander Sumarokov, analysis, review, book, content
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