One of the main characters of Fonvizin's comedy "The Minor" is Prostakov Mitrofan Terentyevich, the noble son of the Prostakovs. The name Mitrofan means “like”, like a mother. Maybe with this name Mrs. Prostakova wanted to show that her son is a reflection ...

Prostakova is a rude and unbridled nature. She is insolent if she does not meet resistance, and at the same time she is cowardly when she encounters strength. Merciless to those who are in her power, she humiliates herself, is ready to wallow at her feet, begging for a petition ...

DI Fonvizin was destined to live in a rather gloomy era of the reign of Catherine II, when the inhuman forms of exploitation of serfs reached the limit, which could only be followed by a peasant revolt. This frightened the Russian autocrat ...

The comedy "Minor" has absorbed all the experience accumulated by Fonvizin earlier, and in terms of the depth of ideological problems, in the boldness and originality of the artistic solutions found, it remains an unsurpassed masterpiece of Russian drama of the 18th century ...

The play was conceived by D.I. Fonvizin as a comedy on one of the main themes of the Age of Enlightenment - as a comedy about education. But later the writer's plan changed. The comedy "The Minor" is the first Russian socio-political comedy, and the theme of education is connected ...

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   In the very year when the fate of Panin's party was decided, when Panin himself lost power, Fonvizin opened a battle in literature and fought to the end. The central moment of this battle was "The Minor", written somewhat earlier, around 1781, but staged in 1782 ...

Denis Fonvizin's comedy "The Minor" is one of the brightest works of Russian classicism. The questions, on which the author focuses attention in the play, excite the minds of viewers and readers even in our time - more than three centuries after its writing. It is difficult to compare the work created by Fonvizin with traditional classicist comedies, because the ironic farce, ridicule of the vices of society, topical themes in the play look just as funny as tragic. Using the techniques of contrast, ridicule, irony, the playwright brings the reader to the deep meaning and essence of "The Minor".

The ideological meaning of the comedy "Minor"

At first glance, the work is an ordinary everyday play - the central plot of "The Little Growth" is linear and tied around Sophia's marriage. The girl lost her parents at an early age and now lives in the care of the landowner's family Prostakov. Prostakova, wanting to get rid of her “extra mouth,” decides to marry Sophia without her consent to her brother, Skotinin. However, the news that the girl became the heiress of a huge fortune, and her uncle arrives from day to day, changes Prostakova's plans. The woman refuses Skotinin, offering her son Mitrofan as a new groom. Fortunately, Starodum, Sophia's uncle, turns out to be a reasonable person, who exposes the interests of Skotinin and Prostakova, supporting the girl's desire to marry her beloved Milon.

Even by short description It becomes clear that the plot of the play fits into the canons of classic comedies. However, the work is complemented by a secondary storyline associated with Mitrofan - a stupid, spoiled, lazy, greedy and cruel young man, the son of the Prostakovs. Despite such a negative characterization, he is the most comical character in the play - the funniest scenes of the work are associated precisely with his training. In general, there are only two funny characters in "Ignorant" - Mitrofan and Skotinin. They amuse with their stupidity, misunderstanding when it is better to be silent, instead of saying absurd things.

The "undersized" can rightfully be called a play of education - since family ties in the work determine the character and inclinations of a person. However, if Skotinin and Mitrofan are similar even in their love for pigs, which also causes laughter, then I don't want to laugh at Prostakova. Despotic, cruel and rude to her peasants and relatives, the woman finds no consolation either in her “hopeless fool” - her husband, or in her son, whom she blindly loves. Even her statements about how to count correctly (the scene of Tsyfirkin's lesson) are funny, but they rather ridicule the mores of the old nobility than she herself. In terms of activity and influence in the play, she can be compared with Pravdin, but if a man defends humanistic, highly moral ideals, then Prostakova is the bearer of “his” landlord morality, which prescribes the greatest value of money and ranks before the life of her serfs, an honest name, education and virtue.

The main meaning of "The Little Growth" consists precisely in this opposition of two radially opposite views - new, humane, educational and outdated, landowner. Fonvizin focuses not only on the negative beginning of the latter, but also on the need to change the views of the old nobility, otherwise the "fruits of evil" will be inevitable. The author emphasizes that the origins of this malice are in the very upbringing - Prostakova and Skotinin adopted their views from their parents and passed them on to Mitrofan, just as the foundations of humanism were laid in Sophia by her parents.

The essence of the comedy "Minor"

The essence of the "Minor" follows from ideological meaning comedy - education must be correct and inculcate high ideals. According to the traditions of classicism, the names of the heroes in many ways complement the characterization of the characters and additionally reveal the author's idea. It was not for nothing that Fonvizin gave Skotinin such a surname. In addition, we recall that Prostakova only received a surname from her husband to a friend, she is also Skotinina. Mitrofan is the son of Skotinina. And the characters really resemble animals - they are illiterate, stupid, accustomed to looking only for their own benefit, for which they are ready for anything (that is, they completely lack such a trait as adherence to principles and their own dignity). It is also noteworthy that Mitrofan is taught by people of the lower classes, in fact, servants. In the village of Prostakova, servants take care of the cattle, thus, from childhood, a young man is raised not as a worthy nobleman, but, at best, as a servant.

Fonvizin not only exposes the ignorance of the Skotinins, contrasting them with the bearers of high human ideals - Pravdin, Starodum, Sophia, Milon, but also focuses on the failure of traditional upbringing and education, emphasizing the need for personal development. This is the essence of the work. Fonvizin believed that as soon as each "Mitrofan" receives the right upbringing and decent education, Russian society will change and become better. Nowadays the comedy "The Minor" is a reminder to every reader of the highest human ideals and the need to improve every day so as not to become like "Mitrofan".

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Minor - at the time of Fonvizin, the so-called noble children who did not receive a minimum education. Peter the Great tried to eradicate illiteracy in the "noble estate" by issuing a decree in 1714 ordering noble children to learn at least literacy, arithmetic and the law of God. Those who did not master this minimum were forbidden to marry and hold high government posts.

The modern ironic meaning of the word "ignoramus" appeared precisely thanks to the comedy of Denis Ivanovich. It was created in 1782, during the reign of Catherine II, who went down in history as a great enlightener. Despite the Peter's decree, the issue of education and upbringing of the nobility was still very acute in that era. It is to him that the work is mainly dedicated.

The author managed to vividly and ironically show the beginning of this historical process - the ennobling and domestication of the Russian nobility. In the person of the narrow-minded and cruel landowner Prostakova, her spineless husband and bored son, Fonvizin reflects an entire era when the main concerns of landowners were only money and thoughtless power.

The topic of upbringing and education, raised by the writer, remains relevant today. Nowadays, school education has become a generally accepted norm, and access to almost any information can be obtained from a mobile phone. But many teenagers are still not interested in learning about the world. With the abundance and availability of entertainment TV, games and social networks, the interest in real knowledge remains among the minority.

The problems of laziness and lack of curiosity can also be determined by upbringing. Just such a case shows us "Minor". Mitrofan does not have such an abundance of entertainment as modern adolescents, but he stubbornly avoids studying ...

Mrs. Prostakova acts, at first glance, inconsistently: she hires three teachers for her son, but for three years she does nothing for the boy to start studying. But teachers for her are just a matter of prestige, like purchased diplomas and certificates in modern world... She herself is illiterate, the woman now and then speaks with contempt of science and is sure that Mitrofanushka will live well without her. That's what it is real reason the fact that the young man did not learn to read during the years of study: he is convinced by his mother that it is boring and useless. The main thing that his mother teaches is selfishness: “Having found the money, do not share it with anyone. Take everything for yourself. " In the Mitrofan family, there is no example of even a respectful attitude towards people: Prostakov does not give a penny not only to serfs, but even to equals in origin: her husband and potential daughter-in-law Sophia. She is amiable only with those from whom she wants to benefit. Unfortunately, this behavior is shown today by people who have been given power over others, albeit small. In the boring life of a poorly educated person, humiliation of the weaker is one of the favorite pastimes.
And we see that Mitrofanushka has learned his lesson well, having learned to shamelessly curry favor with his "superiors": "you are so tired, beating the priest."

Excessive custody and indulgence of the whims of children leads all to the same results as two hundred years ago. Adolescents lose interest in life, while remaining unadapted to work and healthy, mutually beneficial relationships with other people. At the same time, the parents still want their offspring to be successful in life, but until the very end they hope that everything will be resolved by itself: “How is happiness written for whom, brother. From our surname, the Prostakovs, look, lying on their side, they fly to their ranks. What is worse than their Mitrofanushka? "

Money is another eternal theme in literature. It is the money question that makes the main intrigue comedy. The struggle between Prostakova and Skotinin for Sophia's dowry, which the girl does not suspect until the last moment, gives the reader several comic moments.

In his work, Fonvizin condemns a society that educates people with a low level of civic responsibility. When such individuals become part of the state system, the state cannot flourish. It is with regret that we have to admit that this very problem is still the most urgent in our country. Created
the impression that the majority of government posts are still held by the "Prostakovs", although they are more educated, but just as greedy and indifferent to people and the world.

Fonvizin wrote his comedy back in 1781. The premiere of this play took place in 1782 and left an ambiguous impression on the audience. For that time, it was a non-standard and unexpected setting, rarely who could so easily expose the pressing problems of mankind to the public, open people's eyes to their vices. The "undersized" is still gathering full halls, since the problems raised in it are relevant in our life as well.

The play was conceived by D.I.

Fonvizin, as a comedy on one of the main themes of the Enlightenment - the theme of education. But later the "Minor" grew into something more. In addition to the topic of upbringing, Fonvizin raised the acute problem in society of relations between nobles and serfs.

The comedy, written more than two centuries ago, has not lost its relevance today. One of the central problems in the work is the problem of education. A significant part of the work is devoted to ridiculing Mitrofanushka's upbringing. Mitrofan does not respect hired teachers, does not want to perceive anything, and his mother, Mrs. Prostakova, indulges him in everything. She doesn't care about her son's education, what matters to her is that she can boast that her son has many teachers and even a foreigner among them. She only cares about her own prestige. But even today there are such Mitrofans who do not want to study. Many schoolchildren go to school not for knowledge, but because they "have to".

Equally important was the problem of serfdom. In those years, peasants were treated like things: they could be sold, exchanged for something, and much more. Fonvizin tried to show people the inhumanity of some landowners in relation to serfs using the example of Mrs. Prostakova, who heartlessly mocked the peasants for no reason. The author sympathizes with the fate of ordinary people, such as Trishka and Eremeevna, tries to open people's eyes to the shortcomings of the society in which they live. And although serfdom does not exist in our time, some people still have cruelty and hatred towards others. Class hatred, wars, racial enmity, national conflicts - all this exists in our world. I believe that these problems need to be addressed. Fonvizin in his work very accurately showed that rude, evil and stupid people do not achieve anything good in this life.

The comedy "Minor" rightfully occupies an important place in classical literature... After all, many years later, the problems raised in it will be relevant, and if society finds a solution to these problems, the "Minor" will remind us of what they left, and why it is not worth returning to the previous way of life.