Published by him in 1825. It is a satire on the society of aristocrats. It contrasts two radically different positions on the nobility: liberal and conservative. Famusov is a typical nobleman who perceives himself as a representative of the upper class; government official. The second side is represented by Chatsky - new type a nobleman, aimed at more humanistic views, obtaining an excellent level of education, and not at satisfying selfish needs and exploiting the labor of others.
Characters from “Woe from Wit”
We will present a brief description of the heroes of Griboyedov’s comedy in the table:
| Famus Society | Chatsky, Alexander Andreevich |
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A little bit more detailed descriptions heroes of the comedy “Woe from Wit” with speech characteristics Let's look at it further.
Woe from Wit: Brief Description of the Main Characters
Chatsky
Picturesque main character , who challenged the society that Famusov prefers. At the same time, he was brought up in this family, since Chatsky’s parents died, but were friends with Pavel Afanasyevich. Alexander Andreevich received a good education, traveled and became a member of the English Nobles' Club. He returned to his native land because he was in love with Sofya Famusova, but was disappointed by the morals of the local secular society and Pavel Afanasyevich in particular.
Eloquent, attracts attention. He is similar to Sophia in his level of education and wit, but if he does not strive to humiliate a person, but only to show him the truth about himself, then Sonya simply emphasizes his superiority over others. If at first she seems to Alexander to be open to everything new, lively and sensual, like him, then she later finds out the true state of affairs and is severely disappointed.
Chatsky is a contrast to each of the heroes described in Griboedov’s comedy. He is independent, impatient with human stupidity and therefore goes to open conflict with the characters surrounding Famusov, in each of whom Alexander sees flaws and exposes them.
Chatsky's views:
- About military service and bureaucratic service: “Of the young people, there will be an enemy of quest, // Without demanding either places or promotion to rank, // He will focus his mind on science, hungry for knowledge; // Or God himself will arouse the heat in his soul // To creative, high and beautiful arts...” (Griboedov).
- He advocates for the movement of the nobility forward, advocates its development and liberation from previous attitudes towards the ownership of serfs, hypocrisy towards each other.
- Calls for a patriotic attitude towards one's nation, and not for following the fashion of France and Germany. Disapproves of the desire to copy Western traditions and excessively worship everything foreign.
- Emphasizes that a person should be assessed not for his origin and belonging to a certain family, but only for his own actions, qualities, ideas.
Pavel Famusov
A controversial hero. Quite active for his age, he pesters the maid and, in principle, is not particularly delicate with the servants, but he treats his family and friends with respect. He is looking for a profitable match for Sophia. Conservative and grouch. Knows how to flatter to the right people, adapt, but in everyday life it’s tough.
Famusov's views, features:
Characteristics of Famusov based on quotes from “Woe from Wit”:
Sofia Famusova
She is 17, she is of noble blood, comprehensively developed and with a good dowry, an enviable bride. Sonya likes Molchalin until Chatsky arrives. She can dance and loves music.
Sophia is frank, but at the same time naive. Molchalin uses her feelings for himself for his own purposes, but she believes him, and not Chatsky, who is sincere with her to the end. Famusov’s daughter is simultaneously perceived as a romantic nature, creative, laughing at the vices of noble society, but also an example of immorality (her secret connection with Molchalin), narrow-mindedness and limited interests. Sonya is proud and selfish, does not notice her shortcomings.
Famusova is a flighty girl, fickle in choosing a groom. Which confirms quotation description Sophia:
...I may have acted very carelessly, / And I know, and I’m guilty; but where did it change?..
Sonya's father adds fuel to the fire when he convinces his daughter to think in her own terms when choosing a husband:
...Whoever is poor is not a match for you...
Molchalin
Cold, emotionless man who is only interested in his career. He is pedantic, strives to teach Chatsky, to guide him on the “right path.” He meets Sophia for personal gain; he himself is hardly capable of deep feelings.
- He is silent (as indicated by his speaking surname): “not rich in words,” “after all, nowadays they love the dumb.”
- Gives monosyllabic answers, constantly thinking about what to say depending on the situation and the person addressing him.
- Concerned material well-being and achieving high status.
- Restrained and moderate in everything.
- Absolutely no position on morality, love, civic duty, honor.
Colonel Skalozub
Potential groom, considered by Famusov for Sonya. A wealthy officer, but a rather limited person in interests and views. Tough, follows certain rules in life, does not allow any deviations from what is planned. He leads a wild lifestyle and dreams only of advancement in the service. He honestly and regularly fulfills his military duty, has awards, and in society supports fashionable trends in clothing. However, he opposes the development of education and does not recognize books.
Characteristics of minor characters
There are many heroes in the comedy “Woe from Wit”, we will briefly highlight the remaining minor ones.
So, we got acquainted with the characters of the comedy “Woe from Wit” by Griboyedov. The author put several shortcomings into each of them, showing through them his attitude towards the former nobility and serfdom. The work contains farcical situations, but at the same time it is filled with the depth and severity of the experiences of the main characters.
Gorichi
Young lady Natalya Dmitrievna and her husband Platon Mikhailovich. Both are old acquaintances of Chatsky, which becomes known in scene 5 of the third act. Griboyedov portrays Gorichey, smiling ironically.
Chatsky
You are younger, fresher;
Fire, blush, laughter, play in all its features.
Natalya Dmitrievna
I'm married.
Chatsky
You should have said it a long time ago!
Tugoukhovskie
The Tugoukhovskys are among the first to arrive at Famusov’s ball. They are married, and came here mainly to find rich grooms for their daughters. Chatsky also comes into their sight, but since he is not rich, they quickly lose interest in Chatsky. Prince Tugoukhovsky, following the logic of his surname, is deaf. Almost all of his lines are interjections. He is henpecked and does not disobey his wife in anything. The princess is distinguished by her evil disposition and causticity.
Khryumins
Countesses Khryumina: grandmother and granddaughter. The granddaughter is an evil old maid. Chatsky responds to her caustic remarks no less sharply. He compares her to French milliners.
Zagoretsky
Repetilov and Zagoretsky occupy a special place in comedy. Critics classify them as minor characters, but they are not his ardent defenders, they clearly do not do anything bad to Chatsky, but it is their “ silent agreement" decides important questions in other people's lives. Zagoretsky is introduced by the author as a regular in living rooms and dining rooms, “a liar, a gambler and a thief.”
Tugoukhovskys, Khryumins, Zagoretsky - satire on Moscow society those times.
Repetilov
Repetilov appears in the comedy in the fourth act as a guest at Famusov's ball. Griboyedov in "Woe from Wit" gives speaking names many characters, so translated from French surname Repetilov means "to repeat." Thus, the author emphasizes that Repetilov is only able to repeat in words the lofty ideas of the Decembrists, without delving into their true meaning. He becomes the central figure fourth act. Guests departing from the ball, starting with Chatsky, stop near him, and from the conversations of the guests with Repetilov, gossip about madness reaches him.
Parsley
Servant in Famusov's house. Famusov addresses him with words that have become popular: “Read not like a sexton, but with feeling, with sense, with order.”
Platon Gorich is another character in “Woe from Wit” by A.S. Griboedova.
Also not at the time of the story, but during his life. A year before the events described in the play in Famusov’s house. During Gorich’s last meeting with Chatsky, which the latter mentions at the ball. That is, if the play takes place in November 1823, then the picture shows Gorich in November 1822.
What can we say about him from the words of the characters in the play? Not much is revealed, but also something that theater producers completely do not take into account.
In the action of the play, he appears before us as a pathetic henpecked man, obeying his young wife in everything and only sighing in response.
But it wasn’t always like this! Just a year ago, Chatsky saw him as a dashing officer, seasoned, dexterous and despising danger!
The people in the play are generally not at all stereotyped, which is why they are remarkable; with one exception - Molchalin.
And Gorich? Before us is a bright and ambiguous character, who suffers boredom only for the sake of the desire to fit into Moscow society family life. He's been tolerating her for six months now, or a little more. But... how will this patience end??
Platon Mikhailovich is strong both morally and physically. Even Griboedov’s name was chosen to speak: in Greek “plato” means shoulder, “platon” means broad-shouldered, broad-shouldered (I ask you not to quote Mayakovsky).
Gorich is ruder than Skalozub, even though he is deliberately rude. In terms of behavior, Gorich is sharper and more uncompromising than Chatsky himself. So, Platon Mikhailovich almost sends Zagoretsky away at the meeting last words and gives him an extremely unflattering description of him in front of his friend. He doesn’t accept gossip about Chatsky, throwing it in the crowd’s face: “Who divulged it first?” So Repetilov ultimately agreed with the “public opinion,” but Gorich remained with his “doubt.”
He is silent only in front of his Muscovite wife, being whose husband in Moscow he remains his own. But with such a character, he won’t last long. Oh, not enough!!
Platon Gorich several older than Alexander Chatsky, although this circumstance does not prevent them from being bosom friends. Gorich is retired, which does not surprise anyone, apparently due to his length of service, unlike the same Chatsky. Platon Mikhailovich is considered a candidate for commandant of Moscow (!), and this circumstance will also be a prerequisite for seeing him not as a boy, but as a husband.
Most likely, he is not 23-25 years old, but slightly over 30, i.e. he is, in fact, the same age as Sergei Skalozub.
But who are the Goriches? What kind of family?
We can claim that Griboyedov could not help but hear this name during military service in the Caucasus.
Because Gorichi is a branch of the princely family of Ossetian-Digorians Begidovs, who lived in Balkaria for a long time, but since half a century ago moved to Dagestan, to Kizlyar. Where they were baptized into Orthodoxy, and being “mountain princes”, they received a new surname.
About them http://kumukia.ru/article-9207.html and http://reftrend.ru/296897.html
In which troops did the guy from Kizlyar with Alan-Slavic-Balkar roots serve? In the Cossacks - the most likely. Chatsky mentions their common “noisy camp” five years ago, i.e. in 1818. And we may well be talking not about a regimental camp, but about a divisional, or even an all-army, where nothing interfered with the communication of the Cossacks with the lancers.
Colonel Skalozub began his service in 1809, which means that Gorich devoted himself to the army at about the same time. And it is unlikely that a Cossack from Kizlyar would not participate in the Persian (1804-1813) or Turkish (1806-1812) wars. Therefore on St. George's ribbon he has an award of 1810, a cross for the capture of the Bazardzhik fortress (now regional center Dobrich in Bulgaria).
On the left, under the baldric of the frog, is the Kulm Cross, a Prussian award from the Napoleonic campaigns for the Battle of Kulm in 1813.
The picture shows Platon Mikhailovich in the uniform of a chief officer of the Ataman Cossack Regiment. The uniform is blue with blue piping and stripes. Shoulder straps, sash, sewing on cuffs and collar - white.
Powder flask made of elk horn - according to Polish tradition. 
Below, the family sign - an open palm - is copied from the pennant on the Gorich-Begidov family coat of arms. 
On the head is a berk - a Balkar everyday hat. With the beginning Caucasian War elements of mountain fashion appeared in the Russian army slowly but surely. And its first guides were locals or half-breeds. Secondly, the month of November is still cool. Thirdly, the meeting with Chatsky most likely took place in the Caucasus. As we know from the play, Alexander Andreevich had recently been on the waters there, and Platon Mikhailovich could either have been on a business trip or be stationed at a regiment. Fourthly, it is necessary to somehow emphasize the daring, which it was no coincidence that Chatsky spoke about. The Burke on Gorich’s head is quite appropriate, although he looks more like a Cossack from the Civil War. But, nevertheless, - Burke!
Caucasian saber, one of the first in the Russian army. On a sword belt, blade up. The scabbard does not reach the crosshairs, but the apple. Black handle made of violet wood (logwood, “bloody” in Spanish). When processed in the open air, its bright red wood turns purple and then turns black. It smells like violet.))
Gorich greets his old friend with a bottle of aged Chateau Lafite Rothschild. This one, dear one: 
Original taken from
The comedy by A. S. Griboyedov “Woe from Wit” is a kind of “encyclopedia of Russian life” of the first half of the 19th century century. Having significantly expanded the scope of the narrative due to many minor and off-stage characters, Griboyedov outlines magnificent human types contemporary Moscow.
As O. Miller notes, almost all minor persons comedies come down to three types: “Famusovs, candidates for Famusovs and Famusovs-losers.”
The first of them to appear in the play is Colonel Skalozub, a “fan” of Sophia. This is “Famusov in an army uniform,” but at the same time, Sergei Sergeich is “much more limited than Famusov.”
Skalozub has characteristic appearance(“three fathoms daredevil”), gestures, manners, speech, in which there are many military terms (“division”, “brigadier general”, “sergeant major”, “distance”, “line”).
The character traits of the hero are just as typical. Griboyedov emphasizes rudeness, ignorance, mental and spiritual limitations in Skalozub. Rejecting his “potential suitor,” Sophia notes that he “hasn’t uttered a smart word in his life.” Being not very educated, Skalozub opposes science and education, against the “new rules.” “You can’t faint with your learning...” he confidently declares to Repetilov.
In addition, the author emphasizes another feature in Skalozub - careerism, “a crudely expressed passion for crosses” (N.K. Piksanov). Sergei Sergeich, with barely conscious cynicism, tells Famusov about the reasons for his promotion:
I am quite happy in my comrades,
The vacancies are just open;
Then the elders will turn off others,
The others, you see, have been killed.
In Famusov’s house, Skalozub is a welcome guest: Pavel Afanasyevich considers him a suitable groom for Sophia. However, Sophia, like Chatsky, is far from delighted with the “merits” of Sergei Sergeich. Old woman Khlestova also supports her niece in her own way:
Wow! I definitely got rid of the noose;
After all, your father is crazy:
He was given three fathoms of daring, -
He introduces us without asking, is it pleasant for us, isn’t it?
Finally, Lisa very aptly characterizes Skalozub: “And the golden bag, and aims to become a general.”
The image of Skalozub has comic elements. The very name of the hero hints at this. Lisa talks about Skalozub’s jokes in the comedy.
And Skalozub, as he twirls his crest,
He will tell the story of fainting, add a hundred embellishments;
He’s also good at making jokes, because nowadays who doesn’t joke!
Sergei Sergeich’s speech is often comical. So, about Moscow he notes: “Distances of enormous size,” about his relationship with Nastasya Nikolaevna - “We didn’t serve together,” about Molchalin’s fall from a horse - “Look at how he cracked - chest or sideways?”
N.K. Piksanov considered the image of Skalozub insufficiently developed and unfinished. It is not clear to the reader whether Skalozub is going to marry Sophia, and whether he guessed about her affair with Molchalin after seeing Sophia’s reaction to Molchalin’s fall from his horse. However, despite some incompleteness, the image of Skalozub very organically entered the circle characters, created by Griboyedov.
Almost all the characters in the comedy are depicted just as vividly and vividly.
Prince and Princess Tugoukhovsky are among the first to come to Famusov. They hope to find rich suitors for their daughters at the ball. Chatsky suddenly comes into their sight, but, having learned that he is not rich, they leave him alone.
The Tugoukhovsky couple are depicted satirically by Griboyedov. Prince Tugoukhovsky (as indicated by the surname itself) hears almost nothing. His speech consists of separate exclamations: “Oh-hmm!”, “I-hmm!” He unquestioningly follows all his wife’s instructions. This hero embodies the aged Famusov. Princess Tugoukhovskaya is distinguished by a rather evil disposition and causticity. So, she sees the reason for the arrogant behavior of the countess-granddaughter in her “unfortunate fate”: “She’s evil, she’s been around girls for a whole century, God will forgive her.” Like all of Famusov’s guests, Princess Tugoukhovskaya does not see the benefit of education and believes that science poses a threat to society: “in St. Petersburg, the pedagogical institute, I think, is called that: there professors practice schism and unbelief!” The Tugoukhovskys quickly pick up the gossip about Chatsky’s madness and even try to convince Repetilov of this.
Among the guests are Famusova and Countess Khryumina with her granddaughter, who are also happy to believe in Chatsky’s madness. The countess-granddaughter tells the news to Zagoretsky. The Grandmother Countess, suffering from deafness, interprets everything she hears in her own way. She declares Alexander Andreevich a “damned Voltairian” and a “pusurman.”
Famusov’s guests are also joined by his sister-in-law, old woman Khlestova. S. A. Fomichev calls this heroine Famusov for the female half of society. Khlestova is a self-confident lady, intelligent, experienced, and insightful in her own way. Just look at the description given to her by Zagoretsky:
He's a liar, a gambler, a thief...
I left him and locked the doors;
Yes, the master will serve: me and sister Praskovya
I got two little blacks at the fair;
He bought tea, he says, and cheated at cards;
And a gift for me, God bless him!
She is also skeptical towards Skalozub and Repetilov. With all this, Khlestova shares the opinion of Famusov’s guests about science and education:
And you will really go crazy from these, from some
From boarding schools, schools, lyceums, whatever you call them,
Yes from lancard mutual training.
Khlestova here has in mind the Lancastrian system of education, however, for her age and lifestyle, this confusion of concepts is quite forgivable and very realistic. In addition, it is worth noting that this statement does not contain the belligerence that is characteristic of Famusov and Skalozub’s speeches about enlightenment. Rather, here she is simply keeping the conversation going.
In Khlestova's mind human dignity those around them are inextricably fused with their social status, wealth and rank. So, she notes about Chatsky: “He was a sharp man, he had three hundred souls.” Her intonations in conversations with Molchalin are condescending and patronizing. However, Khlestova perfectly understands the “place” of Alexei Stepanych and does not stand on ceremony with him: “Molchalin, there’s your closet,” she declares, saying goodbye.
Like many of Famusov’s guests, Khlestova loves to gossip: “I don’t know other people’s estates!” She instantly picks up the rumor about Chatsky’s madness and even puts forward her version of events: “Tea, he drank beyond his years.”
The image of Repetilov in the comedy is caricatured. This is exactly the type of “Famusov the loser”. This is an absurd, careless, stupid and superficial person, a visitor to the English Club, a lover of drinking and carousing, philosophizing in noisy companies. This character sets the theme of “ideological fashion” in the comedy, as if parodying Chatsky’s social line.
As O. Miller and A. Grigoriev note, “Repetilov... failed to achieve any real professional benefit from marrying the daughter of the influential von Klock, and so he fell into liberal rhetoric....”
Repetilov tries to captivate Chatsky with “free-thinking” and describes to him “secret meetings” in the English Club, where they talk “about Beiron”, “about important mothers”. Repetilov tells Chatsky about “smart youth,” including the “true genius” Ippolit Udushev. This description sounds like frank satire:
Night robber, duelist,
He was exiled to Kamchatka, returned as an Aleut,
And the unclean hand is strong;
Yes clever man can't help but be a rogue.
When he talks about high honesty,
Some kind of demon inspires:
My eyes are bloody, my face is burning,
He cries himself, and we all cry.
This is what Pushkin wrote about this image: “...What is Repetilov? it has 2, 3, 10 characters. Why make him ugly? It’s enough that he is flighty and stupid with such simplicity; It’s enough that he admits every minute to his stupidity, and not to his abominations. This humility is extremely new in the theater; has any of us ever felt embarrassed while listening to penitents like him?”
Repetilov in the comedy is a kind of parody of Chatsky; he is a double character who comically reduces the ideas of the main character. Repetilov’s literary “brothers” are Grushnitsky from Lermontov’s novel “A Hero of Our Time,” Sitnikov from Turgenev’s novel “Fathers and Sons,” Lebezyatnikov from Dostoevsky’s novel “Crime and Punishment.”
Among Famusov’s guests is the “dexterous socialite» Anton Antonich Zagoretsky. This is also the “Famusov-loser” type. Having failed to obtain ranks and titles, he remains a petty swindler and ladies' man. Gorich gives him an exhaustive description:
A notorious swindler, rogue:
Anton Antonich Zagoretsky.
With it, beware: endure too much,
And don’t play cards, he’ll sell you.
Old woman Khlestova also joins Platon Mikhailovich: “He’s a liar, a gambler, a thief,” she says to Sophia. However, all of Zagoretsky’s “riot” is limited to the everyday sphere. In the “ideological” sense, he is completely “law-abiding”:
What if, between us,
I was appointed censor
I would lean on fables; Oh! fables are my death!
Eternal mockery of lions! over the eagles!
Whatever you say:
Although they are animals, they are still kings.
As O. Miller and A. Grigoriev note, Zagoretsky is a candidate for Famusov, but his circumstances turned out differently, and he took on a different role - a universal servant, a pleaser. This is a kind of Molchalin, necessary for everyone.
Zagoretsky is a notorious talker and liar. Moreover, his lies in comedy are practically groundless. He is also happy to support the gossip about Chatsky, without even remembering who we're talking about: “His uncle, the rogue, hid him in the madhouses... They grabbed him, took him to the yellow house, and put him on a chain.” However, he puts forward a different version to Countess Khryumina: “In the mountains he was wounded in the forehead, he went crazy from the wound.”
Visiting Famusov and the Gorich couple. Gorich is an old friend of Chatsky from his military service. Perhaps this is the only comedy character written by Griboyedov with a touch of sympathy. It seems that we cannot classify this hero as one of the types described earlier (Famusovs, candidates for Famusovs, Famusovs-losers). Gorich - kind and honest man, who has no illusions about the morals of secular society (remember the characterization that Gorich gives to Zagoretsky). This is the only hero who seriously doubts after hearing gossip about Chatsky’s madness. However, Platon Mikhailovich is too soft. He lacks Chatsky’s confidence and conviction, his temperament, and courage. Having obeyed his wife in everything, he became “weak in health,” “calm and lazy,” and out of boredom he amuses himself by playing the flute. “A boy-husband, a servant-husband, one of the wife’s pages”—it is this type that is represented in the image of Gorich.
Gorich's behavior illustrates in the comedy the theme of men's submission to their domineering wives. Prince Tugoukhovsky is also submissive and silent “before his wife, this efficient mother.” Molchalin is also timid, quiet and modest during his dates with Sophia.
So, Skalozub, Prince and Princess Tugoukhovsky, Countess Khryumina. old woman Khlestova, Repetilov and Zagoretsky, Gorichi... - “all these are types created by the hand of a true artist; and their speeches, words, address, manners, the way of thinking that breaks out from under them is a brilliant painting...” All these images are bright, memorable, original. Griboedov's heroes embody the leisurely “past century”, with its life traditions and moral rules. These people are afraid of new trends, they are not too fond of science and enlightenment, courage of thoughts and judgments. Thanks to these characters, as well as off-stage heroes, Griboyedov creates a wide panorama of Russian life. “The group of twenty faces reflected, like a ray of light in a drop of water, the whole of the former Moscow, its design, its spirit at that time, its historical moment and morals.”
One of the characters in the play fulfills its artistic function. Episodic characters highlight and complement the features of the main characters. The off-stage characters, although they do not act directly, play an important role: they indicate that Chatsky is opposed by a powerful and effective reactionary force. All the heroes, taken together, create a bright, full-blooded picture of Moscow noble society. At Famusov's ball, people who make up the elite of noble Moscow gather. They have many faces, but they all have common features: serfdom views, ignorance, veneration, greed. Episodic characters appear in comedy, replacing each other. Let's look at them in the order in which they are depicted in the comedy.
The first of the guests to appear at the ball are the Gorich couple. This is a typical Moscow married couple. Chatsky knew Platon Mikhailovich before the latter’s marriage. He was a cheerful, lively person, but after his marriage to Natalya Dmitrievna, he changed a lot: he fell under the heel of his wife, became “a boy-husband, a servant-husband.” Natalya Dmitrievna does not even allow her husband to “open his mouth”: she answers Chatsky’s questions for him, talks to him in an orderly tone: “Listen once, dear, fasten your buttons.” Gorich understands his situation very well and has already come to terms with it.
He bitterly says to Chatsky: “Now, brother, I’m not the same.” In general, the motive of the husband’s subordination to his wife runs through the entire work. Griboedov draws a parallel between Platon Mikhailovich and Silent Others. Natalya Dmitrievna’s husband says: “There is still something to do: / On the flute I repeat a duet / A-prayer.” With this phrase, the author refers the reader to the beginning of the comedy, when Molchalin and Sophia play a duet on the piano and flute behind the stage. Sophia gives preference to Molchalin, although she could choose Skalozub or Chatsky. Molchalin earned her love because he is “the enemy of insolence.” Sophia was brought up in the Famus spirit, and she needs a husband like Gorich - a “husband-boy”, “husband-servant”.
Lackey Petrusha hardly speaks in the comedy; he is ordered by Famusov, who orders him: “Go,” “Go, hurry.” And he obeys. However, Lizanka says about him: “How can you not fall in love with the bartender Petrusha?” Petrusha knows how to obey, and that’s what he likes too: Lizanka fell in love with him.
The Tugoukhovsky family also comes to the ball. The princess is very concerned about finding suitors for her daughters. The reader understands this almost from her first words. As soon as she sees Chatsky and learns that he is not married, she sends her husband, the same “husband-boy”, “husband-servant”, to invite a potential groom to her place. But as soon as she finds out that Chatsky is not rich and has no high rank, she shouts “at the top of her lungs”: “Prince, prince! Back!" The figure of Princess Tugoukhovskaya helps to better understand Famusov’s character. Pavel Afanasyevich wants to marry his daughter to a rich, powerful, prominent person in society. Princess Tugoukhovskaya pursues the same selfish goals. Through the figure of Princess Griboedov, he emphasizes such traits in Famusov’s character as self-interest and veneration for rank. IN Famusov society For rich brides, grooms are chosen according to this principle:
* Be inferior, but if there are two thousand family souls,
* He is the groom, as well as “He who is poor is not a match for you.”
The Khryumina countesses appear at the ball. This is Khrymna, the granddaughter, embittered at the whole world around her, with her half-deaf grandmother. Khryumina's granddaughter cannot find a worthy groom and therefore is dissatisfied with everything that happens around her. As soon as she arrives at the ball, she regrets that she arrived too early. Leaving the ball, the countess-granddaughter speaks of it this way: “Well, the ball!.. And there is no one to talk to, and no one to dance with!” She is angry that at the ball she did not meet anyone she could marry. Khryumina’s granddaughter shows her admiration for everything foreign and discovers a passion for “fashionable shops.” She often uses French words, even says several entire phrases in French, which no one else does in comedy. In her person, Griboyedov ridicules another characteristic feature of the nobility of that time: admiration for everything foreign.
Chatsky in his monologue talks about a “Frenchman from Bordeaux” who feels like a “little king” in Russia, although he left his country “with fear and tears.” This Frenchman not only did not meet “barbarians” in Russia, but also heard his own native language, I saw that the ladies were wearing the same dresses as in France. Using the image of a “Frenchman from Bordeaux”, Griboyedov shows that noble society imitates French morals and customs so much that Russian nobles cannot be distinguished from the French - they have become “Frenchized”.
Zagoretsky is more “involved” in comedy than other episodic characters. This is perhaps the most vicious person present at Famusov’s ball. Everyone openly says about him: “He’s a notorious swindler, a rogue,” “He’s a liar, a gambler, a thief.” But, despite such a destructive characteristic, he is accepted in the light, the doors Famusovsky house they are open to him, even Khlestova said a kind word about him: “God bless him!” Zagoretsky pays off with his helpfulness; he tells Sophia that no one would have served her like that, that he “knocked everyone off their feet,” while getting tickets for the performance, he confesses that he “has already kidnapped him by force.”
This phrase reveals the baseness of Zagoretsky’s character. He will do anything to please to the right person at the right moment. When the old woman Khlestova wanted “from him even the door to be locked,” he served her by giving her a little arap, which he, apparently, got in some dishonest way, thereby winning her over. A characteristic feature of one of the main characters of the comedy - Molchalin - coincides with the main property of Gorodetsky’s character. Molchalin says: “My father bequeathed to me: First, to please all people without exception.” Chatsky expresses his opinion about Molchalin: “In him, Zagoretsky did not die.” Indeed, Griboedov shows Zagoretsky as a “notorious swindler”, “liar”, “cheat” in order to more clearly reveal the same baseness of soul in Molchalin - the future Zagoretsky.
The sixty-year-old lady Khlestova also comes to the ball. This is a serf woman, imperious and willful, according to Goncharov, “a remnant of Catherine’s century.” In the image of Khlestova, Griboyedov reveals the cruelty of serfdom, in which people are treated like dogs. Khlestova takes “a blackamoor girl and a dog” with her to the ball. For her, a serf is like a dog. She asks Sophia: “Tell them to feed them, my friend,” and immediately forgets about them. In the comedy there is invisibly another character who treats the people under his control like dogs. Chatsky talks about him, calling him “Nestor of noble scoundrels.” This man exchanged his faithful servants, who saved his life and honor, for hunting dogs. The image of “Nestor” also demonstrates how cruelly people in power treat those who are subordinate to them.
In a conversation with Sophia, Chatsky mentions several people with whom he knew before leaving abroad. He recalls a man who lives off his artists (“he himself is fat, his artists are skinny”) and only has fun. Chatsky says about him: “On his forehead it is written: “Theater and masquerade.” He remembered this “Theater and Masquerade” because at some ball he hid a person in the “secret room” so that he would “click the nightingale.” Then Chatsky tells
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