At first glance, the very idea that the mind can cause trouble (especially grief) may seem absurd. After all, an intelligent person knows a lot and can achieve a lot. His intelligence and education will help him get a good education, make a career, and be respected in society. It is no coincidence that in the Russian language there are sayings that praise the mind: “To talk with a smart person is like drinking honey,” “They meet you by their clothes, they see you off by their mind.”

But if an intelligent person is often in the company of mediocre or even downright stupid people, he will almost certainly be in the position of a “black sheep.” His intelligence can cause hostility and envy of others, and serve as a subject of ridicule. This happens both at school and at work. For example, less intelligent people are often teased or even bullied, and a highly qualified specialist may become the target of attacks from less capable colleagues. It is very difficult to bear this, especially for vulnerable, impressionable people.

An intelligent person is often distinguished by an independent, freedom-loving disposition and therefore speaks the truth, even if it is unpleasant and displeasing to others. Therefore, he is often considered a troublemaker, reputed to be quarrelsome and scandalous, although in most cases this is not at all the case. And this leads to problems and conflicts when communicating with other people.

Finally, smart people often irritate others because they do not want or simply cannot be like everyone else. Their words and behavior may not fit into the usual framework. For some, this causes instinctive hostility and rejection: “Does he need special treatment?”

What happened to the main character of Griboedov's play

The main character of the play “Woe from Wit” is A.A. Chatsky is far from an ideal person. Nevertheless, compared to other heroes - the tyrant and opportunist Famusov, the stupid martinet Skalozub, the worthless talker Repetilov and many others, he may seem like a model of perfection. Chatsky caustically (perhaps even too much) ridicules the accepted order, exposes the vices of society and the state, says things that seem to Famusov and his circle almost revolutionary propaganda. As a result, people believed the gossip about his mental illness started by Famusov's daughter Sophia, with whom Chatsky was hopelessly in love. Truly - “woe from mind”!

Griboyedov's comedy "Woe from Wit" is a work that does not require special efforts to revive it and make it modern. On the one hand, his characters can often be found in everyday life, and on the other, their experiences are sometimes present in the reality of many readers.

What is unique about the work "Woe from Wit"? The meaning of this comedy has not been killed by time! And this is one of the unique cases of its kind in the history of not only Russian, but also world literature. The years have no power over this creation. Over the past two hundred years, several generations succeeding each other have been able to discover a new meaning for the comedy "Woe from Wit."

A unique creation by Alexander Sergeevich

The very name of the comedy touches on those life circumstances that almost every reader has to experience from time to time. The contrast between intelligence and stupidity is very important for any person. After all, at every stage of their growing up, people constantly gain experience, become wiser, and develop. What is the meaning of the name? “Woe from Wit” is based precisely on those events that happen to any person in reality.

This opposition is one of the most important dramatic conflicts that exists in world literature. And the idea that the mind is a dangerous property of the human body is touched upon by many authors in their works. But only Griboedov conveys the meaning of the work “Woe from Wit” in a comedic form.

Theatrical art during the time of Alexander Sergeevich

Comedy during the time of this outstanding writer was a fairly important part of life, since the entertainment of most nobles was centered around theatrical art. In Moscow at that time there were more than twenty home temples of Melpomene.

They didn’t sell tickets there, and only close friends and relatives came. And along with balls and holidays, such home performances formed an important part of the everyday life of all educated people in Russia.

The combination of funny and serious is a technique that helps reveal the meaning of the work “Woe from Wit” in a completely special light. Firstly, Alexander Sergeevich wanted to create a work that was supposed to diversify the leisure and free time of the people of his society, and secondly, he wanted to show what worried everyone individually.

Bitterness mixed with fun. Laughter filled with tears. It is this paradoxical combination that not only gives rise to a moment of insight, but also conveys the meaning of the comedy “Woe from Wit.” This happens when the main character realizes that many around him perceive his intelligence as madness.

The bullshit language used in the book

How did the readers and contemporaries of Alexander Sergeevich perceive the meaning of the title - "Woe from Wit"? To imagine this, you need to take into account historical factors and the very style of writing this creation.

At the time of writing Griboyedov's comedy, farce or fair performances were very popular, where the boundary between the stage of the theater and the auditorium in which the audience was located became arbitrary. And the actor on stage often performed improvised actions.

It was in this language of street performances that Alexander Sergeevich tried to convey the meaning of the work “Woe from Wit”. Behind each character in his creation, the reader could recognize the person he met in life. Several guesses and legends about the prototypes of heroes are connected with this.

Legends about the creation of a unique creation

There is a legend that the author began to write his work after he encountered an audience in one of the salons of secular society. And Chatsky’s monologues are, in essence, his own speeches when he came into conflict with others.

Another version says that the source is the story of Chaadaev, who was declared crazy. And many more speculations have a right to exist. The thing is that in a comedy the plot is structured in such a way that any projection on existing life will find confirmation in real facts.

On stage, everyone can find out what happens to him or his friends in everyday life, and even draw parallels with some characters. This is the strength of the comedy "Woe from Wit".

The point of the story about Famusov’s life is to show a typical representative of the nobility of his time. He submits to public opinion rather than expressing his own point of view.

Chatsky, on the contrary, constantly tries to fight the surrounding morals. Many other characters also often resemble people around them. This constant possibility of transition from stage circumstances to real ones is an integral property of the comedy of Alexander Sergeevich Griboyedov.

History of the comedy

Not only the meaning of the title is important - “Woe from Wit” - but also the main task of the work, which is to reveal the causes of human stupidity through laughter. Alexander Sergeevich's goal is not to depict characters, but to directly express the feelings that his stage characters carry with them.

Griboedov's comedy has been remade countless times. This was done so that the work could be read by one person, depicting all the characters in person. This form of the play remained until 1833, that is, until the comedy was staged on the theater stage.

Contents "Woe from Wit" (short). The meaning of the work

Why did censorship fight comedy so stubbornly for several decades, not allowing it to be staged not only in the Imperial Theater, but also as a home performance? The editors saw too much seditious and reprehensible in Chatsky’s ridicule and did not allow Alexander Sergeevich’s work to be published. The characters very easily judged what was happening in the country at that time.

In this regard, a rather paradoxical situation has arisen. The comedy was banned from full print publication by censors. Therefore, today there are a huge number of handwritten copies.

Almost every noble family had the text of this work, copied by hand. It was used for home performances or simple reading. And the censorship was well aware of this state of affairs. But comedy still continued to be banned.

At first glance, the content of the work is quite simple. The whole action takes place in Famusov’s house, where the main character Chatsky appears, having been absent from the city for a long time. His visit immediately caused a lot of negative emotions, both from his longtime friend Sophia and her father.

As new comedy characters appear, the reader not only sees their diverse characters, but also constantly hears the sharp judgments of the young Chatsky in relation to each of the guests of Famusov’s home. Visitors to this house try to extol the owner of the estate and the morals reigning around.

The young man is full of modern views and is not only trying to defend his own point of view, but also to reach out to the rest of the characters in the comedy. Unfortunately, he remains misunderstood, and all his judgments are perceived by Famusov’s society very categorically, which leads to a huge scandal at the end of the play.

The main character of the work of Alexander Sergeevich

In order to understand not only the meaning of the title - "Woe from Wit" - but also its entire storyline, it is enough to pay attention to the monologues of the main character - Chatsky - and evaluate them. It is in them that those plastic images that Alexander Sergeevich wanted to convey are present. He expresses those feelings and views that interest his generation.

All phrases in Griboyedov’s comedy are structured in such a way that they create the appearance of a dialogue between the actor and the viewer. And the main meaning comes not from what the character says, but how exactly he does it. This is of great importance for understanding any dramatic plot. In any dialogue or monologue of "Woe from Wit" you can find both signs of the character's intelligence and signs of stupidity. And even that greatness of mind that is characteristic of sages.

And it is quite obvious that Chatsky is not a mouthpiece of the author’s idea, but an independent hero. And Alexander Sergeevich Griboyedov is the person who imbued him with thoughts and feelings. The author and the character are not a unity. Therefore, the meaning of comedy will be different for each reader, depending on his perception of the surrounding reality.

The collapse of hopes and illusions

What is the meaning of the ending? "Woe from Wit" consists of unexpected discoveries of the main characters. For some, this is drama in personal relationships, and for others, it is the collapse of their own illusions and ideals. For example, for Chatsky, who tried to enter into a fight with the outside world, the tragic discovery was the conservatism of a society that was not going to accept the character’s new political and social views.

And, despite the fact that Chatsky was expelled from this circle, which did not want to change anything in its usual way of life, this man, with his innovative ideas, was still able to make a significant hole in the consciousness of society. But, unfortunately, like all pioneers, he was misunderstood, rejected and expelled.

The most remarkable work that Alexander Griboedov created is “Woe from Wit.” The meaning of this comedy is to describe to the reader living and real types of people with their real problems, conflicts, not only personal, but also social. Thanks to this, the comedy not only became popular among the author’s contemporaries, but also continues to remain relevant for many generations.

Although not a professional writer, A. S. Griboedov remained in the history of our culture as the author of one brilliant work, which had a huge influence on all Russian literature.

“Woe from Wit” (1824) appeared at a happy moment - a few months before the Decembrists’ speech. In the comedy, the playwright realistically and convincingly showed the tense situation in noble society, depicting the main conflict of his time - the clash of conservative nobles with new forces in the person of Chatsky. In terms of the richness of its content and artistic design, “Woe from Wit” was an exceptional comedy, unprecedented for that time in Russian and European literature. Its significance is extremely great.

Of course, the play is very important from a cognitive point of view. The comedy presents a broad picture of the life of Moscow nobles after the Patriotic War of 1812. In his play, A.S. Griboyedov showed what issues (political, economic, moral) worried Russian society at that time (10-20s of the 19th century). The heroes argue fiercely and defend their point of view on issues of attitude towards serfdom, about service, about education, about noble education, about the right to “have your own opinion” or not to have it. Disputes about jury trials, parliament, boarding schools and institutes, mutual education, censorship and much more were reflected.

Inert nobles feel anxiety for their well-being, revealing a vicious hatred of freethinking. The rich gallery of images masterfully presents the world of officials, nobility, feudal landowners, dull-witted military officers, progressive people similar in views to the Decembrists. As material for his comedy, the playwright took the true life of Moscow nobles and showed it realistically, depicting the conflict between the Decembrist-minded Chatsky and the defenders of the “past century.” And S. Griboedov showed in the play “the process of separating the advanced part of the nobility from the inert environment and the struggle against it.” He was able to see a new advanced hero in life itself. It was not for nothing that many believed that Chatsky’s prototype was the author’s outstanding contemporary P. Ya. Chaadaev.

And yet, the image of Chatsky is a collective image of the Decembrist era, a kind of “hero of the time.” Alexander Andreevich Chatsky is a new type of personality of the hero. This is the first image in Russian literature of a nobleman-intellectual who “breaks out” from his class environment (like A. S. Griboedov himself), the image of a “thinking friend of humanity...”. A.I. Herzen wrote: “Chatsky is a Decembrist.” And the hero is in many ways close to the Decembrists. In his monologues, he not only rejects outdated standards of life, but also promotes a new ideology, the spirit of freethinking (“He wants to preach freedom,” as Pavel Afanasyevich Famusov says about him), honest service “to the cause, not to persons” (“To serve I'm glad, it's sickening to be waited on"). Chatsky in comedy is Griboedov’s second “I”; the author put his thoughts and ideas about life into his mouth. Thus, the playwright gave his hero the opportunity to express the most relevant at that time - the freedom-loving tendency of Russian society (Chatsky’s “word” is his “deed”).

The play by A.S. Griboyedov has enduring historical significance. The author, using contemporary material, depicted not only the hero of his time, but also the social conflict between the “old” forces and the “new” ones, in which the playwright’s “specific historicism” was manifested. He “transferred” into comedy the characteristic features of social and everyday phenomena of that time. The historical optimism of the play is associated with the image of the main character, Chatsky. Yes, Chatsky is alone on stage, but he has like-minded friends (“I’m especially happy with friends”), he has followers (Skalozub’s cousin, who “suddenly left his service and began reading books in the village,” Princess Tugoukhovskaya’s nephew, Prince Fyodor) .

Many Decembrists foresaw their death, but “stood firmly in the position of historical optimism,” seeing their duty as “awakening an entire generation through their speech.” The new always wins, so Chatsky is “inevitable with every change from one century to another.” The very situation of Chatsky’s struggle with inertia, a clash with lordly Moscow, is typical and eternal, like the world. This is the immortality of "Woe from Wit".

Comedy by A.S. Griboyedov is distinguished by his dramatic and artistic skill. So, the author created a magnificent gallery of images in which all the characters are written vividly and impressively. The playwright managed to avoid schematism in the depiction of the characters and perfectly conveyed the complexity of the characters’ psychology and the internal logic of their feelings. As a brilliant realist, A. S. Griboyedov showed a person at the same time as an individual personality and as a typical person, therefore his heroes represent typical generalizations of enormous power. By creating his characters, the author solved the important problem for the playwright of the linguistic characterization of the characters.

In comedy, everyone speaks their natural, conversational Russian language. As the TSA predicted, many comedy poems have entered our speech. In addition, the deep meaning of the comedy is that the play shows how, under conditions of serfdom and despotism, every independent thought and sincere feelings are doomed to persecution. Thus, Chatsky’s personal drama grows into the social drama of an entire generation of progressive people of the Decembrist era. It’s not for nothing that A. Bestuzhev prophesied: “The future will appreciate this comedy and put it among the first creations.”

That Moscow is not accurately characterized in the comedy and that, because of this, the reasoner’s speeches miss the mark, he refused the reasoner’s sympathy. The draft autograph of Vyazemsky’s article “Notes on the comedy “Woe from Wit”” published below (the location of the belovik, if it existed at all, is unknown to us) not only does not contradict the assessments of Griboyedov’s comedy that Vyazemsky expressed in the press and which...

Beaumarchais. The change of inventions, their growth ends with a remark from the old princess: I think he’s just a Jacobin, your Chatsky!!! Fiction turns into denunciation. /.../ The end of Act III completely changed the interpretation of the comedy in general and the main character in it in particular. Chatsky’s hot satirical monologue about the “Frenchman from Bordeaux” is one of the ideological centers of the play. This monologue ends as follows: And in...

Since then there have been disputes between different researchers; even Griboyedov’s contemporaries understood him differently. If we take into account the time of writing "Woe from Wit", then we can assume that Griboyedov uses the clashes of reason, public duty and feelings. But, of course, the conflict in Griboyedov’s comedy is much deeper and has a multi-layered structure. Chatsky is an eternal type. He's trying to bring harmony...

In the words of Famusov: Teaching is the plague, learning is the reason, That today is more intense than ever, Crazy people, deeds, and opinions have multiplied. Thus, Chatsky is well acquainted with the spirit of the “past century,” marked by servility, hatred of enlightenment, and the emptiness of life. All this early aroused boredom and disgust in our hero. Despite his friendship with sweet Sophia, Chatsky leaves the house of his relatives...

Alexander Sergeevich Griboyedov became famous thanks to one work, about which Pushkin said: “His handwritten comedy “Woe from Wit” produced an indescribable effect and suddenly placed him alongside our first poets.” Contemporaries claimed...

In A.S. Griboyedov’s comedy “Woe from Wit” there is not a single pale, weak image. On the contrary, all the characters are sharply defined, each hero, even the most minor, has his own unforgettable appearance. Famusov and Molchalin occupy one of the central characters among the characters...

“The silent ones are blissful in the world,” Chatsky will say bitterly, whom “everyone persecutes, everyone curses.” Griboyedov's comedy is structured in such a way that you want to compare Chatsky and Molchalin. Alexander Andreevich Chatsky has not yet appeared in the comedy, but they are already talking about him:...

1. New!

   The comedy “Woe from Wit” reflected the opposition of new ideas to old ones. Griboyedov showed the clash of two ideologies: “the present century” and the “past century.” At Famusov's ball, people who make up the elite of noble Moscow gather. They have many faces, but...

The group of twenty faces reflected, like a ray of light in a drop of water, the entire former Moscow, its design, its spirit at that time, its historical moment and morals. And this with such artistic, objective completeness and certainty that only Pushkin was given in our country...

On the other hand, the author resorts to the plot scheme of a love triangle, traditional for “classical” comedy: two rivals, Molchalin and Chatsky, achieve the love of the heroine. At the same time, the first is indifferent to Sophia, sees in her only a means to break into Moscow...

1 Our modern society is built solely on consumption, advertising constantly and quietly brainwashes us, urging us to buy more and more useless goods. Women are the most stupid and gullible, which makes them excellent cash cows. Fortunately, there are people who perfectly understand how the surrounding reality works, and this is why they are noticeably different from those around them. Acquaintances and friends of such clever people usually do not understand, and they say about them - Woe from mind, which means you can read a little lower. On our website you can find many more interpretations of various tricky expressions and words that will make you think. Be sure to add our resource site to your bookmarks, since only here you can find the most complete transcripts of street slang, fashionistas' jargon, criminal argot, etc.
However, before I continue, I would like to point out a couple of our really popular publications on the topic of phraseological units. For example, what does C'est la vie mean? how to understand Burn Bridges; meaning of the expression I know that I know nothing; which means the Word is silver, silence is gold, etc.
So let's continue what does grief from mind mean?? This expression comes from the title of the work " Woe from mind", the great Russian writer Griboyedov, and since then it has become actively used among the people.

More popular phrases from the work Woe from Wit:

All familiar faces.

Well, where we do not.

Not at ease.

If we decide to carefully study Griboedov's play, we will find that the character Chatsky feels like " out of place"His intelligence and progressiveness were far ahead of his time. He does not like communicating with people who are busy with everyday meaningless worries and responsibilities. For such citizens, everything is built on pure materialism and financial well-being, and they reduce all their actions and actions to the base and animalistic .
Therefore, when a broad-minded, erudite and intelligent person appears in such a society, he immediately becomes a “black sheep” that everyone tries to poke their fat finger at. And what’s interesting is that no one is ashamed of their superficiality and illiteracy, dependence on the opinion of the majority and stereotyping. It follows that for a strong personality in this environment, all the positive qualities bring only grief and negativity, and people begin to consider him a stranger among their own.

In our time, the decoding of this phraseology has expanded slightly, and the explanation that it is difficult for a wise and intelligent person to be in the company of limited people, mired in philistinism, is only one of many. There are also other interpretations of this great phrase.

Woe from mind- an intelligent person, sometimes succumbing to an impulse, can go a little too far, and in a situation when he should decide with his heart, and show a bit of feelings and emotions, he does everything based on his cold mind

I want to say that he analyzes any incident, event, fleeting meeting, as if he were a cyborg, not a human. He lets any situation and other people’s views pass through him, trying to sort everything out with his cold and bright intellect. At the same time, he discards as unnecessary everything that does not lend itself to logical thinking and sober calculation.

And finally, being a very smart and informed person is great, but it doesn't work in all cases. Sometimes the truth that is revealed to this inquisitive citizen is so creepy and terrible that it can unsettle him for a long time, drive him crazy and even make him self-cut. As a result, this individual, with sadness and devastation in his heart, says to himself - " It would be better if I were a simple tradesman and vegetate in ignorance than to constantly think about it and worry greatly". As they say, great knowledge gives rise to great sorrows. I mean that a person who knows economics, mathematics, psychology well, having analyzed what an unfair world he lives in, falls into a stupor, while a simple layman will take in " store" "pivandria", and will go to the beach with his chicule, and will be completely happy at the same time.

After reading this short article, you learned what does grief from mind mean?, and now you can clearly explain this phraseological unit to your friends and acquaintances.