When analyzing the comedy “Woe from Wit,” the genre of the work and its definition raises many difficulties. Being innovative, the comedy “Woe from Wit” by A.S. Griboyedova destroyed and rejected many principles of classicism. Like a traditional classic play, “Woe from Wit” is based on a love affair. However, in parallel with it, a social conflict develops. Issues of bribery, veneration for rank, hypocrisy, contempt for intelligence and education, and careerism are raised here. Therefore, it is not possible to clearly define the type of comedy “Woe from Wit”. It intertwines features of character comedy, everyday comedy, and social satire.

There are often even debates about whether “Woe from Wit” is a comedy. How does the creator define the genre of the play “Woe from Wit”? Griboyedov called his creation a comedy in verse. But her main character is by no means comical. Nevertheless, "Woe from Wit" has all the hallmarks of a comedy: there are comic characters and comic situations in which they find themselves. For example, Sophia, caught by her father in the room with Molchalin, says that Famusov’s secretary ended up there by accident: “I went into the room, ended up in another.”

Skalozub’s stupid jokes demonstrate his inner limitations, despite his outward solidity: “She and I didn’t serve together.” What's comical is the discrepancy between the characters' opinions about themselves and what they really are. For example, already in the first act, Sophia calls Skalozub stupid and declares that in a conversation he cannot connect two words. Skalozub himself says this about himself: “Yes, in order to gain rank, there are many channels, and as a true philosopher I judge them.”

Contemporaries called the play “Woe from Wit” a high comedy because it raised serious moral and social problems.

However, the traditional possibilities of this genre were not able to fully solve the writer’s creative intent. Therefore, Griboyedov makes significant adjustments to the traditional understanding of comedy.

Firstly, Griboyedov violates the unity of action. In his play, for the first time, two equal conflicts appear: love and social. In addition, in classicism, in the denouement, vice must be defeated by virtue. This does not happen in the play "Woe from Wit". Chatsky, if not defeated, is forced to retreat, since he is in the minority and has no chance of victory.

Secondly, the approach to comedy characters is also changing. Griboyedov makes them more realistic, abandoning the traditional division into positive and negative heroes. Each character here, as in life, is endowed with both positive and negative qualities.

We can also talk about the presence of elements of the dramatic genre in the play. Chatsky is not only not funny, he is also experiencing a spiritual drama. While he was abroad for three years, he dreamed of meeting Sophia and built a happy future with her in his dreams. But Sophia coldly greets her former lover. She is passionate about Molchalin. Not only did Chatsky’s hopes in love not come true, he also feels superfluous in Famus’s society, where only money and rank are valued. Now he is forced to realize that he is forever cut off from the people among whom he was raised, from the house in which he grew up.

Sophia is also experiencing a personal drama. She was sincerely in love with Molchalin, zealously defended him in front of Chatsky, found positive traits in him, but turned out to be cruelly betrayed by her lovers. Molchalin was with her only out of respect for her father.

Thus, the genre uniqueness of “Woe from Wit” lies in the fact that the play is a mixture of several genres, the leading of which is the genre of social comedy.

Work test

Griboedov's comedy "Woe from Wit" has been known to us since childhood, as it has long been included in the school curriculum. In this article we will talk in more detail about the genre of the work, its main themes and idea, consider the plot, images of the main characters, and also give some of the most popular aphorisms.

About the product

We’ll look at the genre (“Woe from Wit”) below, but for now let’s talk about the history of its creation. It is known that Griboedov began writing the play in 1821. During these years, the writer served in Tiflis, but nevertheless found time to work. In 1823, Griboyedov returned to Moscow, where he completed work on the comedy. Here he read the work for the first time among friends.

Genre

It is quite difficult to determine what its genre is. “Woe from Wit” is an innovative work and violates many canonical principles of classicism. Like any traditional play, “Woe from Wit” is based on a love affair, but the main thing is a social conflict that develops in parallel. In addition, the play combines everyday comedy, comedy of characters and social satire, which is unacceptable for classicism.

Doubts also arise as to whether the work can be called a comedy, as the author described it. After all, the main character is completely atypical and does not cause laughter. On the other hand, all the signs of the declared genre are present - satirical characters and situations.

As a result, modern critics called the work a high comedy, since Griboyedov raises serious social and moral problems in it. And the changes made to the genre by the author are due to the fact that the implementation of the plan required more opportunities than the classical tradition allowed.

What's new?

The genre (“Woe from Wit”) is not for nothing considered innovative. Let's start with the fact that the author violated the unity of action in the work. That is, instead of one conflict, as was customary in classicism, Griboyedov depicts two - social and love. Also, in classical comedy, vice is inevitably defeated by virtue, but here this does not happen either. Chatsky finds himself outnumbered and forced to flee.

He also portrays Griboedov’s characters differently. They are not divided into negative and positive, and are endowed with more realistic features: they have both impartial and positive qualities. For example, Sophia is going through a personal drama, despite the fact that she can hardly be called a negative character. The girl was sincerely in love with Molchalin.

From all of the above, we can conclude that the originality of the work lies in the fact that it includes several genres, of which the leading one is social comedy.

Meaning of the name

When analyzing the play, it is impossible not to reveal the meaning of the title. “Woe from Wit” is a title that helps the reader understand the main theme that the author wanted to reveal. Namely, he focused specifically on the category of mind. Let's start with the fact that the name refers us to a Russian folk proverb, which describes a clash between the smart and the stupid, ending in the victory of the latter. Thus, even before reading the text, we can already predict the outcome.

This conflict between stupidity and intelligence has always been important to classicism. But Griboyedov rethought it. It is not for nothing that contemporaries immediately asked the question: who is smart in comedy? Critics agree that only two people are endowed with this quality - Molchalin and Chatsky. However, it helps the first to live, and destroys the second. The fact is that we have two types of minds. Molchalin’s is moderate, worldly, while Chatsky’s is ardent and unadapted to reality. Thus, the meaning of the title (“Woe from Wit”) takes on a slightly different meaning. We see that it is not just the mind that brings misfortune, but a certain type of mind.

The main character of the work is Alexander Andreevich Chatsky, a nobleman who, after a three-year journey, returns to his beloved Sophia. Thus, at first we see the usual love plot.

“Woe from Wit” begins with the awakening of Lizonka, who did not get enough sleep due to the nightly meetings of Sophia and Molchalin, because she had to keep the meeting a secret. On the same day, the girl remembers her long-time passion for Chatsky, calling him an intelligent and extraordinary person. However, this was all just a childish hobby, and besides, he offended her with his unexpected departure. At this moment they report the return of Chatsky.

The young man is glad to meet him and intends to marry Sophia, but she greets him very coldly. Famusov also does not want to give his daughter to a nobleman without a high rank. A dispute breaks out about “old” and “new” people.

Gradually, Chatsky begins to suspect that Sophia has another lover. He becomes cold, for which the girl accuses him of insensitivity.

Left alone with Lisa, Molchalin flirts with her.

Third and fourth acts: climax and denouement

Griboyedov's comedy "Woe from Wit" does not give the reader an ideal hero: even Chatsky is portrayed as an imperfect person with his own shortcomings.

So, the main character cannot understand who is dear to Sophia. He cannot consider Molchalin a candidate, since he is a “most pitiful creature”, incapable of passionate feelings and selflessness. When it turns out that it was he who became Sophia’s chosen one, Chatsky becomes disappointed in his beloved.

The main character delivers an accusatory monologue about modern society. At the same time, a rumor started by Sophia spreads in the world that Chatsky is mad. As a result, the hero is forced to flee Moscow.

"Woe from Wit": characters

First, let's list the main characters of the comedy.

• Let's start, of course, with Alexander Chatsky. He knew Sophia from childhood and was in love with her. But 3 years before the start of the comedy, he went traveling. It is with his return that the beginning of the play and the beginning of all conflicts are connected. Chatsky opposes himself to society with all the ardor of his youth. But in the end he is defeated and has to flee the house he has known since childhood.
• Sofya Famusova is a 17-year-old girl who grew up without a mother and was raised by her father. She is selflessly in love with Molchalin and is ready to defend him to the last. Sophia is not stupid; Griboyedov also endowed her with courage and the ability to resist the opinions of others.
• Alexey Molchalin - serves as Famusov’s secretary and lives in his house. He is very careful and prudent, remembering his low origins. Molchalin knows that Sophia loves him. He does not reciprocate and is ready to pretend for the sake of a good relationship with his employer.
• And finally, Pavel Afanasyevich Famusov is Sophia’s father, who serves as a manager in a state-owned house. Two things are important to him - rank and the opinion of the world. He is very afraid of enlightenment and educated people.

Minor characters

There are other characters in the play "Woe from Wit". The supporting characters can be said to be divided into two groups - these are representatives of the local society and servants. The first are a reflection of social trends. From them one can judge what is going on in the minds of representatives of high society. Griboyedov portrays them as narrow-minded, ossified, stupid conservatives. These include Skalozub, Tugoukhovsky, Khryumin, Gorichi, as well as Famusov, the head of the house. The genre (“Woe from Wit”) presupposes the presence of a comic element, which is embodied in this society.

Servants do not occupy such a significant place. They, as is customary in Russian literature, reflect the character of the people. Among this group, two stand out - Lizonka, Sophia’s maid, who helps her secretly see Molchalin, and Petrushka, who plays the role of a mocker.

Themes of the work

There is far more than one theme in the play. “Woe from Wit” has a wide range of issues. Griboedov managed to touch upon almost all the problems of his time. That is why the play was banned by censorship for a long time. So, let's list the main themes of the comedy: the education and upbringing of the nobles, the cruelty of landowners, serfdom, senseless bureaucracy, the pursuit of rank, the struggle between the “old” and the “new,” Arakcheevism, Frenchmania, liberalism, love for everything foreign. The writer also addresses such eternal topics as love, marriage, family, relationships between women and men, etc.

Aphorisms from "Woe from Wit"

Quotes from the play have long been loved by readers and “gone to the people.” Now we can’t always even understand that these are words from Griboedov’s work, we are so accustomed to these expressions.

Here are the most famous ones:

• “And the smoke of the Fatherland is sweet and pleasant to us!”
• “You don’t watch happy hours.”
• “It’s barely light on my feet! And I am at your feet."
• “A carriage for me, a carriage!”

The aphorisms from “Woe from Wit” are so popular due to their accuracy and amazing topicality, which has survived to this day.

Features of the comedy genre "Woe from Wit"

A.S. Griboyedov initially defined his work as:

• "stage poem"
• then as a “dramatic picture”
• and only then as a comedy .

"Woe from Wit" is a satirical comedy. The main thing in it is the discrepancy between external and internal, thoughts and behavior. So, Molchalin, well-behaved in words, is a cynic in relation to people, but in words and in behavior he is kind and helpful.

The characters’ statements about Skalozub are also contradictory:

“And a golden bag, and aims to become a general” - “... I haven’t uttered a smart word in my life.”

The high position of the characters does not correspond to their behavior or thoughts.

Skalozub says:

“...to get ranks, there are many channels.”

Famusov occupies a fairly large post - a manager in a government place, but he formally and lazily approaches his duties:

“My custom is this: it’s signed, off your shoulders.”

The morality of this society is opposed to universal human morality:

“Sin is not a problem, rumor is not good.”

Sometimes Chatsky’s speeches are not understood by other characters or misunderstood.

Comic features and transformations in the play "Woe from Wit"

There are also comic inconsistencies in Chatsky’s character. Pushkin, for example, denied Chatsky intelligence. The fact is that this smart man finds himself in an absurd situation and still throws pearls before swine. No one listens to him (3rd act) or hears him.

The love triangle is comically transformed into a comedy.

Chatsky loves Sophia, who loves Mochalin, while Molchalin confesses his love to the maid Liza, who in turn dreams of the bartender Petrusha.

The characters' language is comical. Contemporaries already noted that many lines of the comedy became aphorisms

(“Well, how can you not please your loved one”, “I went into a room and ended up in another”, “A carriage for me, a carriage”, “Kuznetsky Most and the eternal French” and many others).

So, the poet Griboyedov defined the genre of his text as comedy. However, everything is not so simple: the comic circumstances in which the main character finds himself, the constant various inconsistencies, the contradictions between the comic and the tragic - all this helps him to most fully reveal the tragic conflict between

"past century" and "present century". Perhaps the genre “Woe from Wit” should be called a tragicomedy. The predominance of socio-political conflict over love is what makes the play a tragicomedy. Gogol called “Woe from Wit” a “social comedy.”

What is important here is that the best satirical writer and playwright of the 19th century calls this text a comedy, thus confirming Griboyedov’s definition.

At the same time, the fact that experts are still arguing about the genre uniqueness of the play “Woe from Wit” suggests that this wonderful thing still remains a mystery for critics, literary scholars, readers and viewers.

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Griboyedov wrote the play for two years (1822-1824). Since Alexander Sergeevich served as a diplomat and was considered an influential person, he hoped that his creation would easily pass censorship and would soon become a full-fledged performance. However, he soon realized: there is no skipping comedy. It was possible to publish only fragments (in 1825 in the almanac “Russian Waist”). The entire text of the play was published much later, in 1862. The first theatrical production took place in 1831. However, in handwritten copies (samizdat of that time) the book spread rapidly and became very popular among the reading public.

Comedy feature

Theater is the most conservative form of art, therefore, while romanticism and realism were developing in literature, classicism still dominated on the stage. Griboyedov’s play combines features of all three directions: “Woe from Wit” is a classic work in form, but realistic dialogues and issues related to the realities of Russia in the 19th century bring it closer to realism, and the romantic hero (Chatsky) and the conflict of this hero with society - a characteristic opposition for romanticism. How are the classicist canon, romantic motifs and a general realistic attitude towards vitality combined in “Woe from Wit”? The author managed to harmoniously weave contradictory components together due to the fact that he was brilliantly educated by the standards of his time, often traveled around the world and read in other languages, and therefore absorbed new literary trends before other playwrights. He did not move among writers, he served in a diplomatic mission, and therefore his mind was free from many stereotypes that prevented authors from experimenting.

Drama genre "Woe from Wit". Comedy or drama?

Griboyedov believed that “Woe from Wit” is a comedy, but since tragic and dramatic elements are very developed in it, the play cannot be attributed exclusively to the comedy genre. First of all, we need to pay attention to the ending of the work: it is tragic. Today it is customary to define “Woe from Wit” as a drama, but in the 19th century there was no such division, so it was called “high comedy” by analogy with Lomonosov’s high and low calms. This formulation contains a contradiction: only tragedy can be “high”, and comedy is by default “low” calm. The play was not unambiguous and typical, it broke out of existing theatrical and literary clichés, which is why it was so highly appreciated by both contemporaries and the current generation of readers.

Conflict. Composition. Issues

The play traditionally highlights two types of conflict: private (love drama) and public (contrasting old and new times, “Famus society” and Chatsky). Since this work partially relates to romanticism, we can argue that in the play there is a romantic conflict between the individual (Chatsky) and society (Famusovsky society).

One of the strict canons of classicism is the unity of action, which presupposes a cause-and-effect relationship between events and episodes. In “Woe from Wit” this connection has already been significantly weakened; it seems to the viewer and reader that nothing significant is happening: the characters walk here and there, talk, that is, the external action is rather monotonous. However, the dynamics and drama are inherent precisely in the dialogues of the characters; you must first listen to the play in order to grasp the tension of what is happening and the meaning of the production.

The peculiarity of the composition is that it is built according to the canons of classicism, the number of acts does not coincide with it.

If the comedies of writers of the late 18th and early 19th centuries exposed individual vices, then Griboyedov’s satire attacked the entire conservative way of life, saturated with these vices. Ignorance, careerism, martinetism, cruelty and bureaucratic inertia - all these are the realities of the Russian Empire. The Moscow nobility with its ostentatious puritanical morality and unscrupulousness in business is represented by Famusov, stupid military careerism and blinkered consciousness is represented by Skalozub, servility and hypocrisy of the bureaucracy is represented by Molchalin. Thanks to episodic characters, the viewer and reader get acquainted with all the types of “Famus society” and see that their cohesion is the result of the solidarity of vicious people. The many-sided and motley clique has absorbed all the vulgarity, lies and stupidity that society is accustomed to worship and yield to. Characters not only on stage, but also behind the scenes, mentioned in the remarks of the characters (the moral lawmaker Princess Marya Aleksevna, the author of “exemplary nonsense” Foma Fomich, the influential and all-powerful Tatyana Yuryevna and others).

The significance and innovation of the play "Woe from Wit"

In the play, which the author himself considered a comedy, oddly enough, the most pressing problems of that period were highlighted: the injustice of serfdom, an imperfect state apparatus, ignorance, the problem of education, etc. Griboedov also included, it would seem, vital debates about boarding schools, jury trials, censorship and institutions in his entertaining work.

Moral aspects, which are no less important for the playwright, give rise to the humanistic pathos of the work. The author shows how under the pressure of “Famus society” the best qualities in a person perish. For example, Molchalin is not devoid of positive qualities, but is forced to live by the laws of Famusov and others like him, otherwise he will never achieve success. That is why “Woe from Wit” occupies a special place in Russian drama: it reflects real conflicts and non-fictional life circumstances.

The composition of the drama is in a classic style: adherence to three unities, the presence of large monologues, telling names of the characters, etc. The content is realistic, which is why the performance is still sold out in many theaters in Russia. The heroes do not personify one vice or one virtue, as was customary in classicism; they are diversified by the author, their characters are not devoid of both negative and positive qualities. For example, critics often call Chatsky a fool or an overly impulsive hero. It is not Sophia’s fault that during his long absence she fell in love with someone who was nearby, but Chatsky immediately becomes offended, jealous and hysterically denounces everything around him only because his beloved has forgotten him. A hot-tempered and quarrelsome character does not suit the main character.

It is worth noting the spoken language of the play, where each character has his own speech patterns. This idea was complicated by the fact that the work was written in verse (in iambic meter), but Griboyedov managed to recreate the effect of a casual conversation. Already in 1825, the writer V.F. Odoevsky stated: “Almost all the verses of Griboedov’s comedy became proverbs, and I often heard in society whose entire conversations were mostly composed of verses from “Woe from Wit.”

Worth noting speaking names in "Woe from Wit": for example, “Molchalin” means the hidden and hypocritical nature of the hero, “Skalozub” is an inverted word for “teething,” meaning boorish behavior in society.

Why is Griboyedov’s comedy “Woe from Wit” readable now?

Nowadays, people often use Griboedov's quotes without knowing it. Phraseologisms “the legend is fresh, but hard to believe”, “happy people do not watch the clock”, “and the smoke of the fatherland is sweet and pleasant to us” - all these catchphrases are familiar to everyone. The play is still relevant due to Griboyedov’s light, aphoristic author’s style. He was one of the first to write a drama in real Russian, which people still speak and think in. The ponderous and pompous vocabulary of his time was not remembered by his contemporaries in any way, but Griboyedov’s innovative style found its place in the linguistic memory of the Russian people. Can the play “Woe from Wit” be called relevant in the 21st century? Yes, if only because we use quotes from him in everyday life.

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“Woe from Wit” by A. S. Griboedov can truly be considered an innovative work. There is still controversy over the genre of this play.

It is customary to define the genre of a work as a comedy. Indeed, in the play one can observe comic situations in which comic characters find themselves. For example, the image of Skalozub personifies lack of education and narrow-mindedness; in all scenes he is funny. Yes, even Chatsky himself, according to A.S. Pushkin, looks funny when he tries to “throw pearls” in front of uneducated people. The language of the play is also comical, it is light, witty, and easy to remember. It’s not for nothing that the speech is so aphoristic.

But it is impossible to precisely define the type of comedy. There are features of character comedy, domestic comedy, and social satire here.

Griboedov himself initially defines the work as a stage poem, then calls it a dramatic picture, and subsequently designates the play as a comedy in verse. Even here we see the impossibility of clearly defining the genre uniqueness of Griboyedov’s work. The writer's contemporaries called the play a high comedy, since in it the author raises quite serious problems of his contemporary society.

However, there are critics who argue over whether the play Woe from Wit is a comedy. An important argument is that the main character, Chatsky, is far from comical. In the play there is a confrontation between an educated person and a society that does not understand him. And this conflict between the “past century” and the “present century” is tragic. In this we note the features of a tragedy.

Chatsky even experiences a spiritual drama, finding himself in confrontation with the entire society. Sophia, who is disappointed in her lover, is also experiencing a drama, but of a personal nature. Therefore, the features of the dramatic genre appear here.

Thus, the author's intention was so great that it could not fit into the framework of one genre. One can note the features of drama and tragedy, although the leading genre, of course, is comedy, the principle of which is “laughter through tears.”

Option 2

The work is not one of the classical literary genres, since it refers to the innovative creation of the writer, who initially defined the play in the form of a stage poem, then called it a dramatic picture, and subsequently classified it as a comedy work.

The author deliberately departs from the traditional principles of the works of classicism, introducing several conflicts into the storyline of the play, in which, in addition to the love line, there is an acute socio-political orientation, which determines the main theme of the comedy in the form of a tragic confrontation between an intelligent person, exposing bribery, careerism, hypocrisy, and the narrow-minded people around her. to society.

To realize his creative plan, the writer makes significant adjustments to the classic canons of the traditional understanding of the comedic literary genre.

Secondly, the author, describing the characteristic features of the characters in the comedy, adds realistic, reliable qualities to them, endowing each of the heroes with both positive and negative character traits. The realism of the play is emphasized by the author’s disclosure of pressing problems that concern progressive representatives of modern society, which the writer expresses through the image of the main character of the work.

In addition, the comedy contains elements of a dramatic work, which are expressed in the emotional experiences of the main character, faced with unrequited love.

Using sharp satire in the narrative, the writer presents his work as a living demonstration of existing social life, mired in hypocrisy, servility, deceit, hypocrisy, and greed. The comic speech of the play's heroes is replete with the use of numerous picturesque, bright, expressive aphorisms that the author puts into the mouths of almost all the characters in the comedy.

A distinctive feature of the play is its poetic form, enclosed in an inevitable rhythm that does not allow pauses or stops, presenting the work in the form of a musical drama.

All of the above allows us to classify Griboyedov’s work as a literary creation that represents a genre combination, the main one being social comedy. The use of comic circumstances in the play with the use of various inconsistencies and contradictions between tragedy and comedy allows the author to demonstrate the true meaning of the dramatic conflict of the present century and the past century, revealing the genre essence of the work in the form of tragicomedy, expressed in the psychological realism of the events described.

The work created by the writer, replete with artistic and satirical elements, is a significant contribution to the development of Russian literature.

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