Comedy "Woe from Wit", written by A.S. Griboyedov in 1824, denounces the morals of the nobles of the early 19th century. The play presents a situation when, after the war of 1812, at a turning point for Russia, people with progressive views on the structure of society began to appear in the noble society. The main theme of the work is the struggle between the "past century" and the "present century", the old against the new. The camp of the "age of the past" is represented in the play by many people of different types. Of great importance for understanding the problems of the work is the characterization of Skalozub in the comedy "Woe from Wit".
This hero is highly respected among the Famus society. From the first pages of the book, we learn that Famusov considers him the most desirable contender for the hand of his daughter Sophia. In the play “Woe from Wit”, Skalozub fully corresponds to the ideals of the Moscow noble society: “And a golden bag, and aims for generals.” Sophia, as a sane girl, does not at all want to marry Skalozub. She considers him very stupid: “He won’t utter a smart word from time to time - I don’t care what for him, what’s in the water.”
If Chatsky is not suitable for the role of Sophia's husband, because he "does not serve, that is, he does not find any benefit in that," then Skalozub is a colonel. A high rank is the main thing that is valued in Moscow. The image of this hero is a satire on the Russian army of the Arakcheev period, when any free thought was persecuted, and thoughtless submission was required. In this regard, many young nobles retired. Dumb military drill then reigned in the army. That is why in the Famus society they are so wary of Chatsky, who “would be glad to serve”, but does not want to “serve”, because this indicates his dissent. Skalozub is “with stars and ranks”, which means that everything is in order with him. In the Famus society, even rudeness is forgiven him, which is not forgiven to Chatsky.
As a typical representative of the “past century”, Skalozub serves to enrich himself, gain a solid weight in society, and not to take care of the security of his homeland. In the comedy Woe from Wit, the army rank of Skalozub is very attractive to Famus Moscow. In this regard, Chatsky gives an apt description of Skalozub: "A constellation of maneuvers and mazurkas."
Ways to achieve high ranks and awards for people like Skalozub do not matter. Most often, promotion in the nobility of that time was achieved through connections. Skalozub's character helps him skillfully use these connections: "... To get ranks, there are many channels ... I just want to get into the generals."
Even Skalozub received his order not for military merit, but on the occasion of military celebrations.
In the comedy Woe from Wit, the characterization of Skalozub would be incomplete if the work did not contrast this hero with other representatives of the military class - progressive-minded nobles who respect the human personality. It was these people who retired at that time. Such is Skalozub's cousin, who, despite the fact that "the rank followed him", left military service and went to live in the village, where "he began to read books." Refusing another rank is unthinkable for Skalozub. Skalozub speaks of his brother with disdain also because he is also an opponent of learning and education. It is from the lips of this hero at the ball at Famusov that information comes about the reform of educational institutions according to the barracks type: “They will only teach in our way: one or two; and the books will be kept - like this: for big occasions.
Skalozub has served in the army since 1809 (in his own words), but he doesn’t even mention the Patriotic War of 1812, except for his words about the fire of Moscow, which, in his judgment, “contributed to her a lot to decorate.” He "distinguished himself" in the thirteenth year, and on August 3, when he "sat down in the trench", he received the order. Professor Nechkina, in his book about Griboyedov and the Decembrists, says that at that time there were no hostilities, so Skalozub received his orders and awards not for military exploits, but due to the ability to use various "channels". Skalozub has the rank of colonel (“Colonels for a long time, but you serve recently,” Famusov notes with approval) and strives to become a general.
Puffer
Yes, in order to get ranks, there are many channels;
About them as a true philosopher I judge:
I just would get the axis in the generals, -
he himself admits, and it is clear that he does not neglect any of these
"channels". He, by his own admission, is lucky in the service:
I'm pretty happy in my comrades
Vacancies are just open:
Then the elders will be turned off by others,
Others, you see, are killed.
In his naivety and stupidity, he does not even understand what immoral things he says: after all, he sees his happiness in the fact that his comrades are killed, as this gives him the opportunity to advance in the service. In his striving for the ranks, Skalozub is similar to Famusov.
He is unanimous with Famusov in his views on education. At a ball at Famusov's, he announces:
I will make you happy: the general rumor,
That there is a project about lyceums, schools, gymnasiums;
There they will only teach in our way: one, two;
And the books will be kept like this: for big occasions.
When Repetilov calls him to go to a meeting of the smartest, in his opinion, people, Skalozub replies:
Deliver. Don't fool me with learning
Call others, and if you want,
I am Prince Gregory and you
Sergeant major in Voltaire ladies,
He will build you in three lines,
And squeal, it will instantly calm you down.
Skalozub puts the drill, the team, the front, the barracks, the shagistik, the ranks above all else, shows an exact knowledge of the difference between all the regiments in terms of piping, shoulder straps, buttonholes on uniforms (in a conversation with Khlestova), becomes animated and becomes talkative when the conversation comes up about this. He is not interested in anything else and cannot connect about anything.
talk, with the exception of secular gossip, which he willingly retells, adding "a hundred embellishments." So, with sincere pleasure, he tells gossip about the princess. Skalozub pours out military terms: distance, line, sergeant major, etc., and here the comic is achieved by the fact that Skalozub speaks about things that have nothing to do with military life in just such a language. When Famusov asks him how he gets Nastasya Nikolaevna, Skalozub replies:
I don't know, it's my fault
We did not serve together.
When it comes to Moscow and Muscovites, and Famusov utters a laudatory speech, and Chatsky a diatribe, Skalozub has only three words in praise of Moscow: "Distances of enormous size." He strives to be polite with Famusov, but in front of people with whom he does not stand on ceremony, he says ponderously and rudely: “Look how he cracked - in the chest or in the side?”. If Skalozub is similar to Famusov in his views on service, rank, education, then mentally he is much lower than Famusov, who is not stupid, and eloquent, and observant. Sofya says about Skalozub: “He didn’t utter a word of wisdom from his life,” and Lisa agrees with her, she only expresses it in her own way: “it’s not painfully cunning.” In conclusion, let us recall the reviews of Skalozub by two ideological enemies, representatives of opposite camps, Famusov and Chatsky.
Famous person, respectable,
And he picked up the darkness of differences;
Out of years, and an enviable rank,
Not today, tomorrow General, -
this is how Famusov respectfully evaluates Skalozub. Chatsky, on the other hand, gives him a brief pigrammatic description:
hoarse, strangled, bassoon,
A constellation of maneuvers and mazurkas!
"And the golden bag, and aims at the generals," - in these well-aimed words
Lisa is the whole Skalozub.
It was precisely such people - narcissistic, stupid, ignorant, unreasoning, admirers, shagists, barracks education, cane drill, enemies of free thought - who succeeded in the time of Arakcheev in the army. Real people, educated and thinking, in protest against the Arakcheevshchina resigned, as Skalozub's cousin, a participant in the Patriotic War of 1812, did.
Puffer.
Colonel Skalozub - a type of careerist officer from the time of Arakcheev. Mentally, he is a narrow-minded person. “He didn’t utter a smart word,” Sophia notes. Lisa also agrees with this characterization of Skalozub: “Yes, sir, so to speak, he is eloquent, but not painfully cunning.” Among the officers of that era were enlightened, highly educated people. Some of them were associated with the Decembrist movement.
The puffer is not one of them. On the contrary, it is the faithful guardian of the autocratic-feudal system, the enemy of enlightenment.
A serviceman who was brought up in the barracks, Skalozub speaks with particular eagerness about what he is familiar with, and then his speech is full of such words as edging, shoulder straps, buttonholes, corps, division, distance, in line, sergeant major, etc. The tone of his speech is resolute, categorical: what a miserable rider! The distance is huge; sometimes his words sound like a command: There they will only teach in our way: one, two. He is polite to Famusov: I'm ashamed... Wherever you order... I don't know, sir, it's my fault. But in the presence of such persons as Chatsky or Repetilov, he is not shy and speaks rudely in the barracks: “Has our old man made a mistake?” “Look how he cracked, chest or side?”, “Deliver me”, “You won’t fool me with learning.”
Rocktooth's speech perfectly characterizes this "constellation of maneuvers and mazurkas."
Updated: 2011-05-07
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"No less bright than the figure of Famusov. “A constellation of maneuvers and mazurkas,” says Chatsky about Skalozub. In the person of this hero, Griboedov caricatured the type of military who pay attention mainly to the external part of military service, are interested in the form that distinguishes one regiment from another, are engaged in drill, “stepping”, as they said then, and are deprived of that real military spirit, which created the prowess of the Russian army. Skalozub embodies all the vulgarity, all the limitations of this kind of officers. His name testifies to the fact that he constantly "grins", jokes, tries to be witty; but his witticisms are not funny, but vulgar. Typical is his story about Princess Lasova, who, having fallen from a horse,
“... the other day I hurt myself in fluff:
The jockey did not support - he thought it was visible, flies.
And without that, she, as you can hear, is clumsy,
Now the rib is missing
So she is looking for a husband to support.
Typical is his answer to Famusov's question, what kind of relationship with him is Nastasya Nikolaevna:
“I don’t know, sir, it’s my fault:
We didn't serve together."
With this witticism Skalozub wants to show that he is not interested in anything outside of military service. What is it that occupies him? “In uniforms, edging, shoulder straps, buttonholes ...”, - a comparison of the guard with the army, in which the officers “everything is so fitted and the waist is so narrow” ...
Woe from the mind. Performance by the Maly Theatre, 1977
Skalozub strives only for ranks, awards, promotions. He himself is a colonel, but he is already "aiming for the generals." It is interesting to know how he reached the high rank; he himself quite frankly says that he received a promotion not for personal merit, but for a happy coincidence of circumstances:
“I am quite happy in my comrades, -
Vacancies are just open:
Then the elders will be turned off by others,
Others, you see, are killed.
The frankness with which Puffer speaks of his promotion testifies to his extreme stupidity:
"Speechy, but painfully not cunning",
- characterizes his maid Lisa. Just like Famusov, he is convinced of the dangers of science and wishes that in all lyceums and gymnasiums children would be taught to march.
I will make you happy: the general rumor,
That there is a project about lyceums, schools, gymnasiums;
There they will only teach in our way: one, two;
And the books will be kept like this: for big occasions.
That's what kind of son-in-law Famusov would like to have! But his daughter Sofya Skalozub is disgusted - and not only because she loves Molchalin. Sophia understands the emptiness and stupidity of Skalozub. When Chatsky, trying to find out Sophia's attitude towards a possible groom, mentions:
Here, for example, Colonel Skalozub:
And the golden bag, and marks the generals,
she answers:
Where is cute! and fun me fear
Hear about the front and rows;
He did not utter a clever word from birth, -
I don't care what's for him, what's in the water.
In the role of Skalozub
Colonel Sergei Sergeevich Skalozub- one of the characters in the comedy A. S. Griboyedov "Woe from Wit".
It should be noted that he entered the service only in 1809, but at the same time he was not satisfied that he was “led behind the regiment for two years”; Moreover, he is already aiming for the generals: I have been serving since eight hundred and nine; // Yes, in order to get ranks, there are many channels; // About them as a true philosopher, I judge: // I just got to be a general. It is important that he did not receive his order for military merit - on the aforementioned day, August 3 (15), there were no hostilities, the parties sat down at the negotiating table. In honor of this event, many soldiers were given medals. Phrase He was given with a bow, around my neck gives reason to assume that Skalozub's brother received the Order of St. Vladimir IV wall "with a bow", and he himself, probably, the Order of St. Vladimir 3rd degree or the Order of St. Anna II degree "on the neck".
He is boastful, he advances in the service at the expense of his comrades: I'm pretty happy in my comrades, / Vacancies are just open; // Then others will turn off the elders, // Others, you see, are killed. The puffer is straightforward in a military way, which, however, does not harm him in society. So, for example, when in the third act Princess Tugoukhovskaya complains to him that her nephew Fyodor, who studied at the Pedagogical Institute, officials don't want to know, the colonel with frank joy informs his interlocutors: I will make you happy: the general rumor, // What is the project about lyceums, schools, gymnasiums; // There they will only teach in our own way: one, two; // And the books will be saved like this: for big occasions. Famusov is even more intolerant of freethinking: Sergey Sergeyevich, no! If evil is to be stopped: // Take away all the books and burn them .
Plot
For the first time, Skalozub is mentioned already in the first act, where the maid Liza hints at him to Sophia as a profitable party: Here, for example, is Colonel Skalozub: // And the golden bag, and aims for generals. In this respect, in the eyes of Famusov, he compares favorably with Molchalin and Chatsky. And in the second act, Famusov very frankly hints at his marriage after Skalozub receives a general ( And judge nicely, God bless you // And the rank of general; and there // Why put it off further // Talk about a general?), to which he directly answers with consent ( Marry? I don't mind at all) .
In contrast to Famusov, his sister-in-law Khlestova treats Skalozub very coldly and tells Sophia about him: Wow! I definitely got rid of the noose; // After all, your half-witted father: // A daring man was given to him three fathoms, - // Introduces, without asking, is it nice for us, isn't it?
But Chatsky is also partly jealous of Sophia for Skalozub; so in act III, after talking about Molchalin, he asks her: But Skalozub? here is a feast for the eyes; // A mountain stands behind the army, // And with the straightness of the camp, // A hero in face and voice... to which she replies: Not my novel Further, the conversation is interrupted, and Chatsky remains "with my own mystery".
In act IV Skalozub accidentally meets his friend Repetilov. He calls him to another revelry to Prince Grigory: And we ask you to come with me, now without excuses: // Prince Gregory now has a crowd of people, // You'll see, there are forty of us, // Fu! how much, brother, there is mind! // They talk all night long, they won't get bored, // Firstly, they will give you champagne to drink, // And secondly, they will teach you such things, // Which, of course, we cannot invent with you., to which he replies with a sharp refusal: Deliver. You won’t fool me with learning, // Call on others, and if you want, // I’ll give you Prince Grigory and you // Sergeant major in Voltaire, // He will line you up in three lines, // And peep, so he will calm you down in an instant. He clearly condemns such a riotous lifestyle, preferring a military order. Skalozub uses flattery, servility, voluptuousness to achieve the highest ranks. He believes that it is important to be at the right time in the right place.
The image of Skalozub in literature
The fourth type is no less remarkable: the stupid front-line soldier Skalozub, who understood service solely in the ability to distinguish uniform distinctions, but for all that retained some kind of his own special philosophical-liberal view of ranks, frankly admitting that he considers them as necessary channels to ensure that get into the generals, and there at least the grass does not grow for him; all other worries are nothing to him, and the circumstances of time and age are not a puzzling science for him: he is sincerely sure that the whole world can be calmed down by giving him a sergeant-major in Voltaire.
Napoleon married his warriors in the same way that our landlords marry household people - not really caring about love and inclinations. He wanted to bring the nobility of gunpowder closer to the old nobility by marriages; he wanted to fool his Puffers with their wives. Accustomed to blind obedience, they married unquestioningly, but soon abandoned their wives, finding them too stiff for barracks and bivouac parties.
Herzen wrote in his Past and Thoughts that the English Club is least of all English. In it, the dogs are shouting against liberation, and their nostrils are roaring for the natural and inalienable rights of the nobles...
Role performers
- Bogolyubov, Nikolai I.
- Varlamov, Konstantin Alexandrovich - Alexandrinsky Theatre, 1885
- S. A. Golovin - Maly Theatre, 1915
- Grigoriev, Pyotr Ivanovich (the very first performer) - Alexandrinsky Theater, January 26, 1831
- Kiselevsky, Ivan Platonovich - Korsh Theater, 1886
- Ershov, Vladimir Lvovich - Moscow Art Theater, 1925
- Leonidov, Leonid Mironovich - Moscow Art Theater, 1906
- Malyutin, Yakov Osipovich - Alexandrinsky Theatre, 1921
- Michurin, Gennady Mikhailovich - Alexandrinsky Theatre, 1947
- Nemchinov, Ivan Ivanovich - Maly Theater
- Rybakov, Konstantin Nikolayevich - Maly Theatre, 1887
- Sagal, Daniil Lvovich - Meyerhold Theater (GosTIM), 1928
- Chekaevsky. Alexander - Alexandrinsky Theatre, 1941
Notes
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Synonyms:See what "Skalozub" is in other dictionaries:
Puffer … Spelling Dictionary
Soldier, scoff, merry fellow, joker, mocker Dictionary of Russian synonyms. Skalozub see martinet Dictionary of synonyms of the Russian language. Practical guide. M.: Russian language. Z. E. Alexandrova ... Synonym dictionary
The character of the comedy "Woe from Wit" (1824) by A. S. Griboyedov (1795 1829). Colonel Skalozub is an ignorant martinet careerist who dreams of instilling barracks morals in the entire public life of Russia. Russian analogue of the famous French expression (see ... Dictionary of winged words and expressions
SKALOZUB, puffer, husband. (colloquial obsolete). The same as the toothbrush. Explanatory Dictionary of Ushakov. D.N. Ushakov. 1935 1940 ... Explanatory Dictionary of Ushakov
The central character in A.S. Griboyedov’s comedy “Woe from Wit” (1824). If we look for classical, and through them, ancient prototypes in the characters of the play, then S. corresponds to the “boastful warrior”, a popular mask of Roman comedies, embodied in ... ... literary heroes
SKALOZUB- Ivan Skalozub, chorister of the Vilna Metropolitan. 15th century Arch. Sat. VI, 9. Skalozub, Zaporozhye hetman. OK. 1580. K. L. 4. Maksimko Skalozub, Don Cossack. 1683. Add. X,435... Biographical Dictionary