The details of Prostakova's biography are very curious. We learn that her father was a governor for fifteen years. And although "he did not know how to read and write, but he knew how to earn enough and save." From this it is clear that he was an embezzler and a bribe taker, an extremely stingy man: "lying on a chest with money, he died, so to speak, of hunger." Her mother's surname - Priplodina - speaks for itself.

Prostakova is presented as an imperious, uneducated Russian woman. She is very greedy and in order to grab more of someone else's often, she flatters and “puts on” a mask of nobility, but an animal grin constantly peeps out from under the mask, which looks ridiculous and ridiculous. Prostakova - a tyrant, despotic and at the same time cowardly, greedy and vile, being the brightest type of Russian landowner, at the same time revealed as an individual character - the cunning and cruel sister of Skotinina, a power-hungry, prudent wife who tyrannizes her husband, a mother who loves without a mind his Mitrofanushka.

“This is “a wicked fury, to which the infernal temper makes the misfortunes of their whole house.” However, the temper of this “fury” is fully revealed in the treatment of serfs.

Prostakova is the sovereign mistress of her villages and in her house She is selfish, but her selfishness is stupid, mismanagement, inhuman: having taken everything from the peasants, she deprives them of their means of subsistence, but she herself suffers a loss - it is impossible to take dues from the peasants, there is nothing. Moreover, I feel the full support of the supreme power, she considers the situation natural, hence her confidence, arrogance, assertiveness. Prostakova is deeply convinced of her right to offend, rob and punish the peasants, whom she looks at as creatures of a different, lower breed. Sovereignty has corrupted her: she is angry, wayward, quarrelsome and pugnacious - she distributes slaps in the face without hesitation. Prostakova dominates the world subject to her, dominates arrogantly, arbitrarily, with complete confidence in her impunity. They see the advantages of the "noble" class in the ability to insult and rob people dependent on them. The primitive nature of Prostakova is clearly revealed in sharp transitions from arrogance to cowardice, from complacency to servility. Prostakova is a product of the environment in which she grew up. Neither father nor mother gave her any education, did not instill any moral rules. But the conditions of serfdom affected her even more strongly. She is not held back by any moral principles. She feels her boundless power and impunity. With servants and hired people, she treats with rude contempt, insulting. No one dares to oppose her power: "Am I not powerful in my people?" The welfare of Prostakova rests on the shameless robbery of the serfs. “Since then,” she complains to Skotinin, “like everything that the peasants had, we have taken away, nothing can already be torn off. Order in the house is brought about by abuse and beatings. I hang my tongue, I don’t rest my hands: either I scold, or I fight.

In his house, Prostakova is a wild, imperious despot. Everything is in her unbridled power. She calls her timid, weak-willed husband “dead”, “freak” and pushes him around in every possible way. Teachers are not paid salaries for a year. Faithful to her and Mitrofan, Eremeevna receives "five rubles a year and five slaps a day." To her brother Skotinin, she is ready to "grab" the mug, "pull the snout up to the ears."

Prostakova manifests herself not only as a despot, but also as a mother who loves her son with animal love. Even the excessive gluttony of her son causes her first tenderness, and only then concern for her son's health. Her love for her son is undeniable: it is she who drives her, all her thoughts are directed to his well-being. She lives by this, this is the main thing for her. She is hostile to education. But the wild and ignorant Prostakova realized that after the reforms of Peter the Great, a nobleman without education should enter public service impossible. She was not taught, but she teaches her son as best she can: another century, another time. She cares about Mitrofan’s education, not because she understands the benefits of education, but in order to keep up with fashion: “Roby, without learning, go to the same St. Petersburg; they say stupid. There are a lot of smart people now."

Prostakov's figure is colorful. Yet it is not for nothing that she is Prostakova: all outward, her cunning is ingenuous, her actions are transparent, she declares her goals openly. A simpleton's wife and a simpleton herself. If we highlight the main thing in Prostakova, then there are two balanced factors: an autocratic mistress in the family and estate; educator and leader younger generation nobles - Mitrofan.

Even love for her son - Prostakova's strongest passion - is not able to ennoble her feelings, because it manifests itself in base, animal forms. Her motherly love is deprived human beauty and spirituality. And such an image helped the writer from a new angle to expose the criminality of slavery, which corrupts human nature and serfs and masters. And this individual characteristic allows us to show all the terrible, disfiguring power of serfdom. All the great, human, holy feelings and relationships of Prostakova are distorted, slandered.

Where do such wild customs and habits come from? From Prostakova's remark, we learn about early childhood her and Skotinin. They grew up in darkness and ignorance. Under these conditions, their brothers and sisters die, resentment and pain are transferred to two living children. Children in the family were not taught anything. “Old people, my father! This was not the age. We weren't taught anything. It used to happen that kind people would come to the priest, appease, appease, so that they could at least send their brother to school. By the way, the dead man is light and hands and feet, the kingdom of heaven to him! Sometimes, he deigns to scream: I’ll curse a robe who learns something from the infidels, and if it wasn’t for that Skotinin, who would want to learn something.

In this environment, the formation of the character of Prostakova and Skotinin began. Having become the sovereign mistress in her husband's house, Prostakova received even greater opportunities for the development of all negative traits of his character. Even feeling maternal love took on Prostakova's ugly forms.

Mrs. Prostakova received "an enviable upbringing, trained in good manners", lies, flattery and hypocrisy are not alien to her. Throughout the comedy, the Skotinins and Prostakovs emphasize that they are unusually smart, especially Mitrofanushka. In fact, Prostakova, her husband and her brother cannot even read. She is even proud of the fact that she cannot read, she is indignant that girls are taught to read and write (Sofia), because. I am sure that much can be achieved without education. “From our own family of Prostakovs ..., lying on their side, they fly to their ranks.” And if she had to receive a letter, she would not read it, but would give it to someone else. Moreover, they are deeply convinced of the futility and uselessness of knowledge. "Without science, people live and lived," Prostakova confidently declares. “Whoever is smarter than that, their own noble brothers will immediately choose another position.” Equally wild are their social representations. But at the same time, she is not at all worried about raising her son. It is not surprising that Mitrofanushka grew up so spoiled and uncouth.

The illiterate Prostakova understood that there were decrees by which she could oppress the peasants. Pravdin threw a remark in the direction of the heroine: “No, madam, no one is free to tyrannize,” and received the answer: “Not free! The nobleman, when he wants to, and whip the servants, is not free. But why was the decree given to us about the freedom of the nobility? When Pravdin announces the decision to put Prostakov on trial for inhuman treatment of the peasants, she humiliatedly wallows at his feet. But, having begged for forgiveness, he immediately hurries to deal with the sluggish servants who missed Sophia: "Forgive me! Ah, father! Well! Now I'll give the dawn to my people. Now I'll go through everyone one by one." Prostakova wants her, her family, her peasants to live according to her practical reason and will, and not according to some kind of laws and rules of education: “What I want, I will put on my own.” For her despotism, cruelty and greed, Prostakova was severely punished. She is not only deprived of uncontrolled landlord power, but also of her son: “You alone remained with me, my heart friend, Mitrofanushka! But he hears the rude answer of his idol: “Yes, get rid of it, mother, how it was imposed ...”. At this tragic moment, in the brutalized tyrant who raised the soulless villain, the truly human features of the unfortunate mother are visible. A Russian proverb says: “Whoever you mess with, that’s what you get from.”

D. Fonvizin's comedy "Undergrowth" tells about the events that took place in the Prostakovs' house. Their main participants are Mitrofan, the son of the owner of the house, his mother, Mrs. Prostakova, and Starodum with his niece.

Mrs. Prostakova madly loves her son, cares too much and panders to him, indulging all his whims and whims, which is why Mitrofan grows up as an absolutely dependent person, whose level of development does not at all correspond to his age. But Mrs. Prostakova blindly follows his wishes. She sees her future in her son, repeating all the time: “Here is my son - my only consolation!”. And at the same time, she does nothing to ensure that something traveling grows out of her son. Mitrofan's literacy is taught by bad teachers, and he himself does not want to learn. However, the mother considers her son the best and most educated, although this lazy person does not smell of intelligence or knowledge.

With her husband, Mrs. Prostakova behaves as if she does not hold him for a person at all, let alone the head of the family. She herself decides all issues, ignoring his opinion and neglecting it, if it concerns Mitrofan.

Mrs. Prostakova is a cruel and unfair mistress in relation to her servants and peasants. She can severely punish the tailor because he sewed the suit wrong, does not pay attention if one of the servants is ill. Mrs. Prostakova reprimands Eremeevna for every "oversight". For example, if Mitrofanushka overate buns at dinner, and Eremeevna showed concern about this, she says: “Do you feel sorry for the sixth bun, you beast? What zeal." It never occurred to her that overeating would not do her son good. Prostakova considers all serfs her property, practically a thing, therefore she allows herself to mindlessly dispose of their lives and rip them off like sticky, simply on a whim.

Mrs. Prostakova treats Sofya like an evil hostess. She is always rude and cold. But as soon as she finds out that Starodum, Sophia's uncle, left a large inheritance to her niece, she changes her behavior, becomes hypocritically kind and affectionate, calls her "dear friend." Now Prostakova wants to marry her son to Sophia in order to receive all her money as a dowry, refusing this to her brother, although she had previously agreed to this marriage. Upon learning that Sophia was engaged to an officer of Milan and that Starodum agreed to this, Prostakova wants to force and deceive her son to marry a girl. However, her plan failed. According to the law, the village was taken away from her, depriving her of power.

Mrs. Prostakova was a cruel, headstrong woman who did not take into account the interests and feelings of other people, which is why she lost everything. In the image of Prostakova, Fonvizin reveals the negative features of a narrow-minded, unscrupulous person with power, who by his actions brings disaster to himself and his loved ones. The author shows that it is possible to obtain wealth without losing honor and human face. And people like Prostakova, in the end, pay for all the harm done.

>Characteristics of the heroes Undergrowth

Characteristics of the hero Prostakov

Prostakova is one of the main characters and the moving face in D. I. Fonvizin's play "Undergrowth". She is the mother of Mitrofanushka and the sister of Taras Skotinin. Prostakova participates in almost all the events of the play, since the action takes place in the house where she is the mistress. By position, she is a noblewoman, has serfs and is a typical example of a Russian landowner mid-eighteenth century. It is distinguished by unscrupulousness, ignorance, illiteracy and the desire to control everything. The heroine's husband does not dare to argue with her. Such concepts as conscience and honor are alien to her. To achieve her goals, she is ready to go any tricks, including meanness and deceit. All that interests her is her personal well-being and the well-being of her son. For the sake of Mitrofanushka, she is ready to do anything. So, for example, having learned about the rich dowry of Sophia's pupil, she immediately decides to marry her son to her, despite the fact that it was originally decided to marry her off to the brother of the landowner Taras Skotinin and, despite the protests of Sophia herself. Even when her plans fall apart, she still tries to secretly marry the young.

The play shows Prostakova's boundless and stupid love for her son, who is her only joy. Being illiterate herself, she tries to give him a decent education so as not to look worse than other landowners. To do this, she hires a German teacher. However, this is not done for the sake of the son being scientific, but for the sake of the capital's fashion. Also, in an attempt to eliminate her brother from the path of Mitrofanushka, she simply clings to his throat. The author clearly shows the reasons for this behavior of Prostakova. First of all, this is due to her inner ignorance and lack of education. The second reason has a social connotation and lies in the decree of Catherine II "On the Liberty of the Nobles". Thanks to this decree, the nobles of that time received full power over the serfs and were free to do whatever they wanted. Having shown the collapse of Prostakova and her plans at the end of the play, the author also emphasizes the collapse of the entire system.

Composition

In the comedy Undergrowth, Fonvizin portrays the vices of contemporary society. His heroes are representatives of different social strata: statesmen, nobles, servants, self-proclaimed teachers. This is the first socio-political comedy in the history of Russian dramaturgy.

The central heroine of the play is Mrs. Prostakova. She manages the household, beats her husband, keeps the courtyards in horror, and brings up her son Mitrofan. Now I scold, now I fight, and that is how the house is kept. No one dares to oppose her power: Am I not powerful in my people. But in the image of Prostakova there are also tragic elements. This ignorant and greedy overripe fury loves and cares deeply for her son. At the end of the play, rejected by Mitrofan, she becomes humiliated and pitiful:

You are the only one left with me.

Let go…

I don't have a son...

The main way to create the character of Prostakova is a speech characteristic. The heroine's language changes depending on who she is addressing. Mrs. Prostakova calls the servants thieves, rascals, a beast, a dog's daughter. He turns to Mitrofan: my friend, my dear, my dear. Guests are met with respect: I recommend you a dear guest, you are welcome.

The image of Mitrofan in the play is connected with the idea of ​​education, which is very important for educational literature. Mitrofan is ignorant, idler, mother's favorite. From the parent, he inherited arrogance and rudeness. To Yeremeevna, who is sacredly devoted to him, he addresses: an old grunt. Mitrofan's upbringing and education corresponded to the fashion of that time and the understanding of his parents. He is taught French by the German Vralman, the exact sciences by the retired sergeant Tsyfirkin, who dabbles in a little arithmetic, and grammar by the seminarian Kuteikin, who was dismissed from all teaching. Mitrofanushka's knowledge of grammar, his desire not to study, but to get married are ridiculous. But his attitude towards Eremeevna, his readiness to take on people, his mother's betrayal evokes different feelings. Mitrofanushka becomes an ignorant and cruel despot.

Basic creation technique satirical characters in the play zoologization. Having gathered to get married, Skotinin declares that he wants to have his own piglets. It seems to Vralman that, while living with the Prostakovs, he lived as a fairy with horses. Thus, the author emphasizes the idea of ​​the animal lowlands of the surrounding world.

Despite the fact that the genre of the play Undergrowth is a comedy, Fonvizin is not limited only to exposing social vices and creating satirical characters. The author draws a number of positive characters Starodum, Pravdin, Sofya, Milon. These characters openly express their views an honest man on noble morality, family relations and even civil order. This dramatic device truly means a revolution in Russian educational literature from. criticism of the negative aspects of reality to the search for ways to change the existing system.

Reflecting the problems relevant to his time, Fonvizin was a talented psychologist, thinker, and artist. His comedy has a universal meaning, it lives for centuries, does not leave the stage modern theaters.

The action takes place in the estate of the Prostakovs. The unrestricted hostess is Mrs. Prostakova. It is interesting to note that the list actors only she was given the title of "lady", the rest of the characters are named only by last name or first name. She really dominates the world subject to her, she rules arrogantly, despotic, with complete confidence in her impunity. Taking advantage of Sophia's orphanhood, Prostakova takes possession of her estate. Without asking the girl's consent, he decides to marry her off. However, the full nature of this "fury" is revealed in the treatment of serfs. Prostakova is deeply convinced of her right to offend, rob and punish the peasants, whom she looks at as beings of another, lower Breed.

The welfare of Prostakova rests on the shameless robbery of the serfs. “Since then, she complains to Skotinin, we have taken away everything that the peasants had, we can’t tear anything off.” Order in the house is brought about by abuse and beatings. “From morning to evening, Prostakova complains again, like she’s hanged by the tongue, I don’t rest my hands: either I scold, or I fight.” Eremeevna, when asked how much her salary is due, replies with tears: “Five rubles a year, up to five slaps in the face a day.”

The primitive nature of Prostakova is clearly revealed in sharp transitions from arrogance to cowardice, from complacency to servility. She is rude to Sophia while she feels her power over her, but upon learning of the return of Starodum, she instantly changes her tone and behavior. When Pravdin announces the decision to put Prostakov on trial for inhuman treatment of the peasants, she humiliatedly wallows at his feet. But, having begged for forgiveness, he immediately hurries to deal with the slow servants who missed Sophia: “Forgive me! Ah, father! Well! Now I will let the canals open to my people. Now I'll take them all one by one." Brother Prostakova Skotinin is related to her not only in blood, but also in spirit. He exactly repeats the serf practice of his sister. “If it wasn’t for me Taras Skotinin,” he declares, if I don’t have any fault to blame. In this, sister, I have the same custom with you ... and every loss ... I will tear off my own peasants, and the ends are in the water.

The presence of Skotinin in the play emphasizes the wide distribution of nobles like Prostakova, gives it a typical character. Not without reason, at the end of the play, Pravdin advises to warn the other Skotinins about what happened at the Prostakov estate. Many nobles are so low in mental and civic development that they can only be likened to animals. Cattle possessing people, this is the painful problem that D.I. Fonvizin posed with great courage.

He endowed the heroes with emphatically Russian names, surrounded them with familiar surroundings, and preserved Russian customs on the stage. Mrs. Prostakova, nee Skotinina, is always compared to a dog, Skotinin to pigs. They themselves persistently call themselves cattle, animals. “Have you heard that a bitch gave out her puppies,” asks Prostakova. "Ah, I am a dog's daughter!" she says elsewhere. The base spiritual appearance of Skotinin is revealed in his predilection for "pigs". “I love pigs ... he admits, but in our neighborhood there are such large pigs that there is not a single one of them that, standing on its back with a single leg, would not be taller than each of us with a whole head.” “No, sister,” he says to Prostakova, “I want to have my own piglets.” And Mitrofan, according to his mother, “was the same hunter from the age of pigs ... Sometimes, when he saw a pig, he would tremble with joy.” "I am cattle, Mitrofan reads according to the hour book, and not a man."

A real revolution was made by Fonvizin in the field of comedic language. The speech of many of his heroes is predetermined by spe -. cipher of the image. In "Undergrowth" the speeches of Prostakova, Skotinin, Eremeevna are especially colorful. Fonvizin retains all the incorrectness of the language of his ignorant heroes: “first” instead of first, “robenka” instead of a child, “goloushka” instead of little head, “which” instead of which. Successfully used proverbs and sayings. The rough, dissolute nature of Prostakova is well revealed by the vulgarisms she uses: “And you, the beast, were dumbfounded, and you didn’t bite into your brother’s mug, and you didn’t pull his snout up to his ears.” Swear words never leave Prostakova's tongue: cattle, mug, rascals, old witch. The news of the illness of the yard girl Palashka infuriates her: “Oh, she is a beast! Lies. As if noble!

Throughout the comedy, the Skotinins and Prostakovs emphasize that they are unusually smart, especially Mitrofanushka. In fact, Prostakova, her husband and her brother cannot even read. Moreover, they are deeply convinced of the futility and uselessness of knowledge. “Without science, people live and lived,” Prostakova confidently declares. Equally wild are their social representations. High positions exist, according to their deep conviction, only for enrichment. According to Prostakova, her father "was a voivode for fifteen years ... he did not know how to read and write, but he knew how to make enough money." They see the advantages of the "noble" class in the ability to insult and rob people dependent on them. Bad mentors can also be the cause of “malice”. Mitrofan's education was entrusted to the half-educated seminarian Kuteikin, the retired soldier Tsyfirkin, and the former coachman, the German Vralman. Mitrofan is one of the main actors of the comedy. Using the techniques of speech characteristics, D. I. Fonvizin portrayed Mitrofan as the greatest lazy person. But it's not just the teachers, Mitrofan's character and behavior are the natural result of those living examples that he is surrounded by in his parents' house. It had the most devastating effect on Mitrofan Prostakov. After all, his name, translated from Greek, means “like a mother”, that is, “representing a mother.” From Prostakova, Mitrofan adopted rudeness, greed, contempt for work and knowledge. The education that a mother wanted to give her son, a bestial education, an education of animal needs.

Slavery corrupts the masters, the landowners, depriving them of their human traits. They turned their peasants into cattle, but they themselves became cattle, having lost their honor and conscience, forgetting about human and family affections. Fonvizin managed to create truly typical images that became household names and outlived their time. The names of Mitrofanushka, Skotinin, Prostakova became immortal.

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Characteristics of Mrs. Prostakova from the comedy "Undergrowth" by D. Fonvizin


D. Fonvizin's comedy "Undergrowth" tells about the events that took place in the Prostakovs' house. Their main participants are Mitrofan, the son of the owner of the house, his mother, Mrs. Prostakova, and Starodum with his niece.

Mrs. Prostakova madly loves her son, cares too much and panders to him, indulging all his whims and whims, which is why Mitrofan grows up as an absolutely dependent person, whose level of development does not at all correspond to his age. But Mrs. Prostakova blindly follows his wishes. She sees her future in her son, repeating all the time: “Here is my son - my only consolation!”. And at the same time, she does nothing to ensure that something traveling grows out of her son. Mitrofan's literacy is taught by bad teachers, and he himself does not want to learn. However, the mother considers her son the best and most educated, although this lazy person does not smell of intelligence or knowledge.

With her husband, Mrs. Prostakova behaves as if she does not hold him for a person at all, let alone the head of the family. She herself decides all issues, ignoring his opinion and neglecting it, if it concerns Mitrofan.

Mrs. Prostakova is a cruel and unfair mistress in relation to her servants and peasants. She can severely punish the tailor because he sewed the suit wrong, does not pay attention if one of the servants is ill. Mrs. Prostakova reprimands Eremeevna for every "oversight". For example, if Mitrofanushka overate buns at dinner, and Eremeevna showed concern about this, she says: “Do you feel sorry for the sixth bun, you beast? What zeal." It never occurred to her that overeating would not do her son good. Prostakova considers all serfs her property, practically a thing, therefore she allows herself to mindlessly dispose of their lives and rip them off like sticky, simply on a whim.

Mrs. Prostakova treats Sofya like an evil hostess. She is always rude and cold. But as soon as she finds out that Starodum, Sophia's uncle, left a large inheritance to her niece, she changes her behavior, becomes hypocritically kind and affectionate, calls her "dear friend." Now Prostakova wants to marry her son to Sophia in order to receive all her money as a dowry, refusing this to her brother, although she had previously agreed to this marriage. Upon learning that Sophia was engaged to an officer of Milan and that Starodum agreed to this, Prostakova wants to force and deceive her son to marry a girl. However, her plan failed. According to the law, the village was taken away from her, depriving her of power.

Mrs. Prostakova was a cruel, headstrong woman who did not take into account the interests and feelings of other people, which is why she lost everything. In the image of Prostakova, Fonvizin reveals the negative features of a narrow-minded, unscrupulous person with power, who by his actions brings disaster to himself and his loved ones. The author shows that it is possible to obtain wealth without losing honor and human face. And people like Prostakova, in the end, pay for all the harm done.