380:'If no progress can be seen in trifles, I should look for it in vain in what is more important. When an actor wrapped from head to foot in stage traditions and conventions tries to recite a simple ordinary speech, "To be or not to be," not simply, but invariably with the accompaniment of hissing and convulsive movements all over his body, or when he tries to convince me at all costs that Tchatsky, who talks so much with fools and is so fond of folly, is a very clever man, and that "Woe from Wit" is not a dull play, the stage gives me the same feeling of conventionality which bored me so much forty years ago when I was regaled with the classical howling and beating on the breast.'
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79:, was not passed by the censors for the stage, and only portions of it were allowed to appear in an almanac for 1825. But it was read out by the author to "all Moscow" and to "all Petersburg" and circulated in innumerable copies, so it was as good as published in 1825; it was not, however, actually published until 1833, after the author's death, with significant cuts, and was not published in full until 1861. The play was a compulsory work in
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by the poet. Despite the fetters of the metrical form, Griboyedov's dialogue has the natural rhythm of conversation and is more easily colloquial than any prose. It is full of wit, variety, and character, and is a veritable encyclopedia of the best spoken
Russian of the period. Almost every other line of the comedy has become part of the language and proverbs from Griboyedov are as numerous as proverbs from Krylov. For
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210:, an original and controversial Russian writer and philosopher, with whom Griboyedov was acquainted. It is significant that, in spite of all his apparent lack of clear-cut personality, his part is the traditional touchstone for a Russian actor. Great Chatskys are as rare and as highly valued in Russia as are great
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Griboyedov seemed to multiply his difficulties on purpose. He was, for instance, alone of his time to use unexpected, sonorous, punning rhymes. There is just enough toughness and angularity in his verse to constantly remind the reader of the pains undergone and the difficulties triumphantly overcome
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Theatre Record - Volume 12, Issues 17-26 - Page 1122 1992 - His most famous play, Wit's End, is a satire of Moscow society which contains two of the great roles of the
Russian repertory: Chatsky, the cynical outsider, and Famusov, the conservative patriarch who was one of Stanislavsky's successes.
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before him and like the founders of the
Russian realistic tradition after him, Griboyedov lays far greater stress on the characters and their dialogue than on his plot. The comedy is loosely constructed but in the dialogue and in the character drawing Griboyedov is supreme and unique.
180:, his daughter, the heroine neither idealized nor caricatured, with a strange, drily romantic flavour. With her fixity of purpose, her ready wit, and her deep, but reticent, passionateness, she is the principal active force in the play and the plot is advanced mainly by her actions.
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186:, Sofia's maid, the headstrong and powerless maid. She boldly speaks her mind as she is unable to take action given her gender and station. She is a vehicle through which multiple characters expose their baser desires and reveal truths fiercely protected in public.
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Theatre Record - Volume 13, Issues 1-9 - Page 298 1993 At least that obstacle has been swept away by its belated and well-titled arrival on the
English stage - first as Wit's End (at New End last September), and now as Chatsky, or The Importance of ...
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Given its enduring popularity in its homeland, I have always wondered why the play has not been snapped up by the
British theatre. Here, in a resourceful production by Jake Lushington at Hampstead's New End Theatre, is the answer. .
202:, the protagonist. Sometimes irrelevantly eloquent, he leads a generous, if vague, revolt against the vegetable-like selfish world of Famusovs and Molchalins. His exhilarating, youthful idealism, his go, his élan is of the family of
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Griboyedov's characters, while typical of the period, are moulded from the really common clay of humanity. They all, down to the most episodic characters, have the same perfection of finish and clearness of outline.
292:, the Anglomaniac orator of the coffee room and of the club, burning for freedom and stinking of liquor, the witless admirer of wit, and the bosom friend of all his acquaintances;
138:. Griboyedov's dialogue is a continuous tour de force. It always attempts and achieves the impossible: the squeezing of everyday conversation into a rebellious metrical form.
174:, the father, the head of an important department, the natural conservative, the cynical and placid philosopher of good digestion, the pillar of stable society;
338:"Chatsky", in addition to its reference to a contemporary figure, is also considered a bilingual reference, both to the English "chat" and the Russian
574:, Burgin, Diana & O’Connor, Katherine Tiernan transl; Proffer, Ellendea & Arbor, Ann, annotations and afterword, New York: Vintage
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schools, and is still considered a golden classic in modern Russia and other minority
Russian-speaking countries.
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lines of variable length, a meter that was introduced into Russia by the fabulists as the equivalent of
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349:, to be silent, and he is a character of few words. Tugoukhovsky's name comes from the compound word
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A number of the characters have names that go a long way toward describing their personality.
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146:, repartee, terse and concise wit, Griboyedov has no rivals in Russian.
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Russian
Subjects: Empire, Nation, and the Culture of the Golden Age
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and that had reached a high degree of perfection in the hands of
360:, a mocker or jokester (literally, "one who bares teeth a lot").
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192:, Famusov's secretary living in his house, the sneak who plays
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649:– full text of English translation by Nicholas Benardaky, 1857
64:'s comedy in verse, satirizing the society of post-Napoleonic
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353:, a slang equivalent of the English phrase "hard of hearing".
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624:– full text in Russian at Alexei Komarov's Internet Library
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54:, also translated as "The Woes of Wit", "Wit Works Woe",
655:– full text of English translation by A. Vagapov, 1993
206:. Tradition tells that the character is modeled after
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612:– full text with illustrations in Russian at Stixiya
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The play, written in 1823 in the countryside and in
530:Monika Greenleaf and Stephen Moeller-Sally (eds.),
68:, or, as a high official in the play styled it, "a
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356:Skalozub's name is an inversion of the Russian
375:A Dreary Story from the notebook of an old man
320:stands for "small" as in unremarkable and his
106:The play belongs to the classical school of
511:"Griboyedov, Alexander Sergueevich"
464:Learn how and when to remove this message
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427:This article includes a list of general
312:Famusov's surname is derived from Latin
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661:– Alan Shaw's translator's introduction
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534:(Northwestern University Press, 1998:
404:Maria Sergeyevna Durnovo (Griboyedova)
16:Alexander Griboyedov's comedy in verse
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345:Molchalin's name comes from the verb
335:("wise"), alluding to her pragmatism.
25:Title page of Griboyedov's manuscript
590:This article incorporates text from
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122:The dialogue is in rhymed verse, in
218:Colonel Sergei Sergeyevich Skalozub
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331:His daughter's given name is
298:and several speaking footmen;
247:, his wife, and six daughters
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690:Works published posthumously
200:Alexandr Andreyevich Chatsky
190:Alexey Stepanovich Molchalin
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640:public domain audiobook at
570:Bulgakov, Mikhail (1996) ,
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268:Anton Antonovich Zagoretsky
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572:The Master & Margarita
172:Pavel Afanasyevich Famusov
276:, Famusov's sister-in-law
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391:The Master and Margarita
517:Encyclopædia Britannica
448:more precise citations.
178:Sofia Pavlovna Famusova
647:Gore ot ouma: A Comedy
618:– full text in Russian
553:"Index of /files/1883"
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62:Alexander Griboyedov
262:, the granddaughter
232:Platon Mikhailovich
226:Natalia Dmitriyevna
60:, and so forth) is
365:Mentions elsewhere
304:Famusov's waiters.
260:Countess Khryumina
254:Countess Khryumina
240:Count Tugoukhovsky
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81:Russian literature
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557:www.gutenberg.org
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622:Горе от ума
616:Горе от ума
610:Горе от ума
592:D.S. Mirsky
454:August 2020
446:introducing
394:Chapter 5.
214:in Britain.
136:Ivan Krylov
128:La Fontaine
83:lessons in
51:Gore ot uma
675:1823 plays
669:Categories
542:), p. 406.
429:references
410:References
322:patronymic
274:Khlyostova
272:Old woman
150:Characters
132:vers libre
70:pasquinade
351:tugoukhiy
296:Petrushka
290:Repetilov
57:Wit's End
45:romanized
642:LibriVox
398:See also
358:zuboskal
347:molchat'
318:his name
245:Countess
102:Language
442:improve
326:Afanasy
212:Hamlets
144:epigram
114:. Like
112:Molière
94:in the
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36:Russian
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431:, but
340:чадить
285:Mr. D.
280:Mr. N.
124:iambic
108:comedy
85:Soviet
77:Tiflis
66:Moscow
384:From
369:From
333:Sofia
204:Romeo
194:whist
536:ISBN
388:'s
314:fama
184:Liza
160:Kiev
373:'s
130:'s
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
