Woe from the mind - famous comedy A. S. Griboyedov, in which the nobles living in the early 19th century appear. During this period, the ideas of Decembrism and conservative views began to provoke disagreements. The basis of the theme is the confrontation between modern times and the past century, ideals were replaced by new ones, which had a deplorable effect on people. Wherein most of representatives of comedy belong to the supporters of the bygone century, this category includes both individuals who have weight in society, and those who are trying to please. And Molchanov belongs to those who serve against their will.
Characteristics of the hero
Molchalin Alexei Stepanovich is a man, he is young and works as Famusov's secretary. Among his main features there is stupidity, meanness combined with cunning, his goal is to extract advantages for himself. To do this, he adjusts to the opinions of others and meets not with the woman he loves, but with Sofia Famusova.
Among positive qualities can be distinguished:
- modesty. As can be seen from his reaction to drunken behavior, humiliation and affectation, the hero can withstand any whims;
- tact. Aleksey hides emotions and does not show incorrect actions towards the owner's daughter;
- the ability to remain silent;
- politeness. Knows how to correctly formulate phrases, correctly put himself;
- the ability to make friends;
- calm perception. Even in the most unpleasant situations does not flaunt emotions.
Negative qualities also have:
- shyness is only a mask, in fact the hero is two-faced, he behaves depending on the environment;
- pleases and fawns for the sake of profit. Novels are also built for the purpose of profit, even the smart enough Sofia is ready to be with him, but Molchalin is only pretending;
- has no opinion, more silent.
The psychological mindset of Mochalin defines a whole category of people, they are ready for anything for the sake of promotion and forget about their opinion for the sake of it. Alexey gradually lost the ability to judge logically and simply agreed with the public, reaching the maximum in his flattery.
The image of the hero in the work
Alexey is not rich and is a nobleman from Tver, lives in the owner's house and secretly has love relationship with his daughter. Molchalin cannot reach the status of a son-in-law, because he does not have ranks and stars, society likes him because he is professionally helpful. He fully answers the image of a young nobleman, because he tries to please everyone who can somehow influence his career. He himself believes that small ranks do not make it possible to have his own judgment.
Role in society
In public, the true face of Molchalin is hidden, but when talking with Lisa, he shows himself, because the bright contrast between the modest and quiet with the rake is simply impossible not to notice. This person is dangerous because he is two-faced. He has no love and even respect for Sophia, he is afraid to open relationships, while building real performance. He believes that the gossips worse than a gun, but Sophia, on the contrary, does not worry about the opinions of others. Molchalin lives the way his father advised him - he pleases everyone.
Alexey is proud of his success, the presence of important connections, and even gives advice to behave like Chatsky, because he believes that his behavior is correct. Although the views of the hero and the conservative noble nobility are the same, he is harmful to society. Having deceived Famusov's daughter and being her lover more as a position than out of feelings, he spoils the girl's life. Molchalin has an exact match with the ideals of the past century, he easily adapts to the situation and values only wealth and titles.
What does Molchalin show?
The basis of the character's character is duplicity and cunning, such can be blissful, and reach known degrees, because people like such silence. The relevance of the affected features of the hero remains, his image has survived to this day, promotion, enrichment for many is much more important than such eternal concepts as dignity, honesty or love for the motherland. Molchalin clearly divides people by status and treats them accordingly.
In the comedy, Molchalin is not too important for the development of the storyline, he personifies the general spirit of the people of that time, showing their humiliation in front of the higher ranks. Also, the image allows you to show Chatsky more vividly, because he is opposite in character, and stands out strong soul, pride and confidence.
Griboyedov, in his comedy "Woe from Wit" created many characteristic characters. These images remain relevant today. One of these heroes is Molchalin. He is the brightest representative people who live in our time. Let's take a closer look at his character.
Molchalin is a poor young man from Tver, whom Famusov took into his service and gave the rank of collegiate assessor.
We can assume that Molchalin is a rootless person, probably from a family of burghers. Famusov says the same about him: "He warmed up the bezrodny and introduced him into my family."
I believe that Molchalin can be described as a cowardly and low person. The most noticeable feature of his character is his taciturnity - which is immediately evident from his last name. (“He is silent when he is scolded”, “Not a free word, and so the whole night passes”) He never expresses his own opinion, in communication prefers short fragmentary phrases. “At my age, one should not dare to have one’s own judgment,” Molchalin claims. He seems to be afraid not to please his interlocutor with his remark.
Molchalin lives according to the principle bequeathed to him by his father: "to please all people without exception." His helpfulness goes beyond the limits allowed by morality. We see a sharp contrast to this method of communication in the dialogue between Molchalin and Lisa. He takes her for "his", so he is not afraid to frankly express his opinion, to say what he thinks. He tells her about his frivolous intentions in relations with Sophia, claims that he loves her only "by position". He admits that he uses Sophia for his own benefit. This describes him as a vicious, cowardly person who, trying to break into people, makes his way through silent lies and servility. We learn about most of the qualities of Molchalin from the replicas of other heroes. At first, Sophia describes him as a wonderful spiritual organization of a person: “Molchalin is ready to forget himself for others”, “The enemy of insolence is always shy, timidly ...”. From her words it is perfectly clear how much she loves him. Chatsky, on the contrary, treats Molchalin with the deepest contempt. He openly doubts his abilities and does not believe that he can achieve anything. Chatsky considers Molchalin a fool, "the most miserable creature" incapable of any conscious action. But after Chatsky realizes that this is just a mask of Molchalin, that in fact he is a cunning and unprincipled person who knows how to achieve his goals. Chatsky says that Molchalin "will reach the known levels, because now they love the dumb." Molchalin also has a different attitude towards other heroes of the comedy. With people above him in rank, he is helpful, he does not dare to say an extra word. With Chatsky, he allows himself not only to express his opinion, but also to give him advice. After all, Chatsky is not only the same age as Molchalin, but also has no ranks. Therefore, Molchalin sees no reason for his usual helpfulness in the presence of Chatsky. The attitude of other heroes to Molchalin and his attitude towards them characterizes him as an immoral person who sees in others only ranks and titles, not taking into account the human soul.
Thus, Griboyedov created a negative, but interesting to study image in his comedy. Such silent liars exist in modern society. And the duty of every person is to eradicate in himself all those qualities that are in him, to develop in himself all the kindest, brightest, and not vile and false. Everyone should try not to be Molchalin.
Updated: 2017-02-08
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Alexei Stepanovich Molchalin is one of the main characters in A.S. Griboyedov "Woe from Wit".
Molchalin serves as Famusov's secretary and enjoys his trust in official affairs. He sees the purpose of his life in rank, wealth and career. His highest happiness is "to take rewards and live happily." To achieve his goals, Molchalin makes connections with influential people, assuming that this The best way climb up career ladder. Trembling before Famusov, he always speaks, politely adding “s” (with papers, s). He plays cards with the influential Khlestakova, admiring her dog:
Your Spitz is a lovely Spitz, nothing more than a thimble.
I stroked all of it - like silk wool.
He achieves his goal, Khlestakova calls him "my friend" and "my dear."
Molchalin has a speaking surname.
“Here he is on tiptoe and not rich in words,” Chatsky says about him. Molchalin does not express his opinion:
In my summers must not dare
Have your own opinion.
He is laconic, phrases are fragmentary, especially in dealing with people of a higher rank than him. And even with his girlfriend, Sophia, who loves him, he is silent:
Breathe from the depths of your soul
Not a free word, and so the whole night passes.
Despite this, Molchalin speaks freely with Lisa, confessing his feelings to her, tells Chatsky about his base position. Therefore, we can say that taciturnity is not so much a character trait of Molchalin, but another way to achieve goals. It was not in vain that Chatsky said that Molchalin would reach "known degrees, because now they love the dumb."
In addition, Molchalin sacredly honors his father's instruction: "to please all people without flaw"
Thus, we can say that Chatsky was not mistaken when he said: "The silent ones are blissful in the world."
The character of Molchalin is revealed gradually, in relations with other people.
So, with Famusov, he is a helpful and quiet young man. He depends on Famusov, so he is very modest. In communication with Lisa, he is much more emotional: “You are a merry creature! Alive!"). He frankly confesses his love to Lisa, while insulting Sophia. He cynically calls her: "our deplorable thief." At the same time, while communicating with Sofia, Molchalin is respectful, he pretends to be in love with a girl and courts her for promotion.
In the comedy, Molchalin is opposed to Chatsky, who is truly in love with Sophia. And we see how the dramatic knot between Molchalin, Sofia and Chatsky is slowly untied. Molchalin is also the main figure in the struggle between Sophia and Chatsky. After all, Chatsky, calling Molchalin stupid, offended Sophia's beloved. And she took revenge by exposing Chatsky as crazy. We also cannot fail to notice that Molchalin is one of the main persons in last scene where everything fell into place. Sophia found out about the true intentions of Molchalin, but he began to humiliately crawl on his knees, not because he felt guilty before Sophia, but because he was afraid for his career. When Chatsky appeared, he completely fled. Here, all the cowardice and meanness of Molchalin was fully revealed.
As a result, we can say that Molchalin will always find a place in the Famus society.
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Updated: 2017-10-04
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A. Griboyedov's comedy "Woe from Wit" was created in 1824. Due to the accusatory content of the work, it was published only in 1833, and even then selectively. Only in 1862 a full-fledged comedy was released. In his work, the author wished to speak out about what had hurt him for so many years of contemplating the hypocrisy and sycophancy of the people around him. The comedy "Woe from Wit" is a confrontation between a smart, thinking person with an active lifestyle, open and an honest man with vile, vile, immoral little people who care only about wealth and ranks.
General characteristics of Molchalin A.S.
Famusov's faithful dog, Sophia's heartfelt friend, sycophant, hypocrite, rootless official, Chatsky's main antagonist - that's who Alexei Stepanych Molchalin is. Characteristic central character comedy shows typical representative on which serf-bureaucratic morality had its corrupting influence. From childhood, Molchalin was taught to servility, to please everyone around: the boss, the owner, the butler, the janitor's dog, in the end, to be affectionate.
The character of the character is fully revealed by the surname that speaks for itself. Basically Alexei Stepanych is silent, endures humiliation, shouting, even unfair reproaches. He understands perfectly well that a rootless official cannot live in this callous and cynical society without the support of those in power, and therefore pleases everyone around, trying not to quarrel with anyone, to be good for everyone, and he does it excellently. The author of the comedy is sad that society is teeming with such heroes who can, where necessary, be silent, stroke the dog of an influential lady, give a compliment, raise a headscarf and receive formal awards and ranks for all this, in reality remaining servants.
Quotation characteristic of Molchalin
Secretary Famusov is characterized by different comedy characters: Chatsky, Sofia, Famusov, Liza. Someone speaks of him as a modest, handsome, quiet and timid person, ready to endure all humiliations and reproaches. Some heroes of the work guess about his low soul, and only a few see the true face of Molchalin.
Sofya sees in Aleksey Stepanych a fictional image: “I’m ready to forget myself for others”, “an enemy of insolence, always shyly, timidly.” The girl thinks that Molchalin behaves shyly, because he is modest by nature, not suspecting that this is just one of his masks. “He has been serving under the father for three years, he often gets angry to no avail, but he will disarm him with his silence, forgive him out of the kindness of his soul,” Alexei’s slavish humility speaks of his certain life position suggesting to remain silent, to endure, but not to get involved in a scandal.
Molchalin reveals his true face in front of Lisa: “Why are you and the young lady modest, but the maid is a rake?” Only her secretary tells about his true feelings for Sophia. Chatsky also guesses about the duplicity and pettiness of Alexei: “He will reach the known levels, because now they love the dumb”, “Who else will settle everything so peacefully! There he will stroke the pug in time, then he will wipe the card at the right time ... " a brief description of Molchalin shows that his silence is not at all a manifestation of stupidity. This is a well-thought-out plan for obtaining benefits.
Speech characteristics of Molchalin
Alexei Stepanych's manner of speaking very well characterizes his inner appearance. Subservience, humility, servility are the main characters, therefore, diminutive words, self-deprecating intonations, exaggerated courtesy, obsequious tone can be traced in his speech. To please people richer and higher in rank, the hero adds the prefix "s" to the words. Molchalin is mostly silent, trying not to enter into a conversation without unnecessary need. He shows his eloquence only in front of Lisa, in front of whom he can take off his mask and show his true face.
The attitude of the hero to Sophia
The ability to please helps in moving up the career ladder - this is exactly what Molchalin thinks. The characterization of the character suggests that he even started an affair with Sophia for the reason that she is the daughter of Famusov, and a close relative of the boss cannot be denied the fulfillment of whims. The girl herself invented a hero for herself and imposed her feelings on Alexei Stepanych, making him a platonic admirer. To please the lady, he is ready to abandon his native bourgeois dialect and communicate in the language of silent glances and gestures. Molchalin sits silently next to Sophia all night long, reading novels with her, only because he cannot refuse the boss's daughter. The hero himself not only does not love the girl, but also considers her a "deplorable thief."
Comparative characteristics of the images of Molchalin and Famusov
The problem of bureaucracy is one of the main issues addressed in the comedy Woe from Wit. Molchalin's characterization gives the reader an idea of a new type of officials early XIX century. He and Famusov belong to the world of bureaucrats, but still they do not look alike, because they belong to different centuries. Barin is an elderly rich man with an established opinion and a successful career. Aleksey Stepanych is still young, therefore he goes to petty officials and is only climbing the career ladder.
In the 19th century there appeared new type Russian bureaucrat who refused the commandments of the "fathers". This is precisely what the characteristic of Molchalin shows. "Woe from Wit" is a story about a socio-political conflict that expresses the position of society. Whatever it was, but Molchalin still belongs to Famusov's entourage, and just like his boss, he admires rank and wealth.
Molchalin and Chatsky
A comparative description of Molchalin and Chatsky shows how different they are. Molchalin - Famusov's secretary, does not have noble origin, but developed his own tactics, following which he builds a reliable and comfortable future for himself. Once again, you won’t get words out of him, but he knows how to run on tiptoe, work with papers and appear at the right time, and many people like it. Silent, helpful, spineless people were valued in the era of Nicholas I, so I was waiting for someone like Molchalin brilliant career, awards for services to the motherland. In appearance, this is a modest young man, he likes Sophia with his meekness and pliability, pleases Famusov with patience and silence, fawns over Khlestova and only shows his true face to the maid Lisa - vile, two-faced, cowardly.
Chatsky is the embodiment of the image of the Decembrists, a romantic nobleman, revealing the vices of serfdom. It is his antagonist that Molchalin is. The characterization of the hero shows that he embodies the features of an advanced thinking person beginning of the 19th century. Chatsky is convinced that he is right, therefore, without hesitation, he preaches new ideals, reveals the ignorance of the current rich, exposes their false patriotism, inhumanity, and hypocrisy. This is a freethinker who has fallen into a rotten society, and this is his misfortune.
Life principles of the hero
Griboyedov's hero Molchalin became a household name for servility and meanness. The characterization of the character shows that Alexei Stepanych from childhood programmed a plan in his head on how to break into people, make a career, achieve high rank. He went on his way without turning aside. This person is absolutely indifferent to the feelings of other people, he will not lend a helping hand to anyone if it is unprofitable.
The main theme of comedy
The theme of bureaucracy, which was raised by many writers in the 19th century, is stretched through the whole comedy "Woe from Wit". The bureaucracy of the state kept growing and turning into a serious machine that grinds all the rebels and works in a way that is beneficial to it. Griboyedov in his work showed real people, his contemporaries. He set himself the goal of ridiculing certain traits of a person, showing the whole tragedy of the society of that era, and the writer did it perfectly.
The history of the creation of comedy
Once a rumor spread around Moscow that Alexander Griboyedov, University Professor Thomas Evans, alarmed by this news, decided to visit the writer. In turn, Griboyedov told his interlocutor a story that happened to him at one of the balls. He was tired of the antics of society, praising some Frenchman, an ordinary talker who did nothing remarkable. Griboyedov could not restrain himself and told those around him everything he thought about them, and someone from the crowd shouted out that the writer was a little out of his mind. Alexander Sergeevich was offended and promised to create a comedy, the heroes of which would be those unlucky spiteful critics who called him crazy. And so the work "Woe from Wit" was born.
"Silents are blissful in the world." catchphrase lives today. Under changing conditions modern world The Molchalins are easy to recognize and meet.
The image and characterization of Molchalin in the comedy "Woe from Wit" will help to understand which features have not changed, who is hiding under the mask of a two-faced modest.
Molchalin and Famusov
Alexei Stepanovich Molchalin is the secretary of Famusov, the owner of the house in which the events of the comedy are developing. Famusov sheltered a poor nobleman from Tver, gave him the rank of assessor, officially arranged for him to serve in the Archives. Molchalin is not young, an adult man (" we are not guys...”) is satisfied with this situation. He is listed in the archival service, receives promotions, but does not leave Famusov's house. In Alexei, the owner saw the features business man. All other servants in the house are relatives. The ability to please becomes the basis of Molchalin's character. Simple in origin, probably coming from a family of philistines, having received the rank, Alexei acquired the right to hereditary nobility. For 3 years of service, he managed to receive 3 awards. Such career- an indicator of the patience and desire of a man to rise by any means as high and quickly as possible.Positive character traits
Griboyedov presents real characters Therefore, they have positive and negative qualities. Molchalin is no exception.Modesty. Not many can boast of the ability to communicate with people different ages and level of education. At Famusov's ball, Molchalin endures the quirks and humiliations of grumpy old women, the stupidity of drunken revelers, the affectation of young ladies.
Shyness and tact. Alexei, being next to the owner's daughter, does not show impudent or abrupt actions. He tactfully tolerates Sofia's attitude, skillfully hides his true feelings.
Taciturnity. The ability to remain silent is an unattainable quality for many. Tired of their chatter. Here the situation is different:
“He will reach the known levels, / After all, now they love the dumb ...”.
Education and courtesy. Molchalin behaves correctly in different situations. He easily apologizes, builds phrases so that there is no desire to scold him, scold him.
The ability to make friends.
“Look, he has gained the friendship of everyone in the house.”
Peacefully settles any problems and disputes, for others he is able to forget about himself.
Calm. Molchalin is difficult to piss off. He does not express nervousness, anxiety even in the most difficult situations: morning meeting with the owner, falling from the horse.
Negative personality traits
Among the representatives high society Aleksey Stepanovich is shy and timid, but this is only a disguise, a mask. Behind it are hidden features that do not paint a man:Helpfulness. Molchalin seeks to please everyone around him, hoping to produce pleasant impression, benefit. His father bequeathed to him to please all people, but the son went further. He grovels not only in front of people, but also in front of the animals of the owners. The purpose of such behavior is to achieve promotion at work and in personal relationships.
Duplicity. A man's behavior changes depending on the situation and environment. With whom he communicates by status, he behaves like that. With the Countess Khlestova he is kind, with the maid - he is cheeky.
Not the ability to love. Molchalin builds his relationship for the sake of profit. He loves according to his position. This feeling became very well known in modern era when they start romances for deceit and profit. The secretary skillfully plays the role of a lover, conquers a smart and educated girl. Sophia is ready for him to go against the rumors and opinions of her father, but the reciprocal feeling is deceptive.
Lack of own opinion. Molchalin never spoke. He has chosen a tactic of silence that others like. Gradually lost the opportunity to have their own judgments.
The image of Molchalin easily survived the centuries. For many, the value of money, position and position in society is higher than honesty, patriotism and human dignity. The more clearly the stratification of society in terms of prosperity becomes visible, the more “Molchalins” appear who are ready to sell their souls for money.
