The most vivid and versatile image of Prostakova is given in the comedy "Undergrowth". Prostakova is a type of rude landowner-serf. The despotic disposition of this heroine affects, first of all, in the family, at home. Her husband, a weak-willed, timid man, she brought almost to idiocy. He is so downtrodden that he is afraid to express his opinion even on minor issues, dutifully declaring to his wife: "In your eyes, mine do not see anything."

The character of Prostakova is even more pronounced in her attitude towards the serfs. This is the tormentor of serf servants and peasants. The life of the courtyards is especially difficult, they are forced to be in front of her eyes all the time. Servants are not human to her. When the courtyard woman Palashka falls ill, Prostakova shouts in fury: “Lies! As if noble ... ".

The image of Prostakova in the comedy "Undergrowth" is characterized by the fact that she treats the servants like unrequited animals. So she treats her faithful slave Eremeevna. When asked by Kuteikin what kind of gratitude she receives for her service from Prostakova, Eremeevna replies: “Five rubles a year, and five slaps a day.” The crackle of slaps is an everyday, common occurrence in Prostakova's house.

Naturally, the situation of the peasants in the estate of this "evil fury" was unbearable. We do not see these peasants on the stage, but the situation of the serf village is easy to imagine. Prostakova is an inveterate, convinced serf-owner. She is incorrigible. When Starodum forgives her, she rises from her knees and exclaims: “Well, now I’ll give dawn to the canals, my people!” This is the voice of her nature.

One of the reasons for Prostakova's wild ideas and rudeness is her ignorance. She does not even know how to read, she is indignant that “girls can read and write”, she calls geography “georgaphy”, etc. Her stories about the Skotinins and about her father, who threatened to curse any of the children who learned something, very expressively characterize the environment that formed the Prostakovs and Skotinins.

The moral cynicism of Prostakova draws attention. In relations with others, she is guided by one rough calculation. When it suits her, she prays for Starodum to die, and then she exclaims: “I’m dying, I want to see this respectable old man!” In front of the right person, she is ready to pretend, and to go to humiliation, and to lie: “I never quarreled with anyone, father,” she crumbles in front of Starodum.

Prostakova has only one warm feeling: love for her son Mitrofanushka. Mitrofanushka she forgives everything. For his sake, she is ready for both sacrifice and crime. She has one concern: to "bring to the people" Mitrofanushka. She even overcomes her inherited aversion to science and attempts to educate him. True, Mitrofanushka's education system is ugly. The results, as you might expect, are coming soon. The blind, animal love of Prostakova for her son does not make her image more attractive, but it well explains her actions in comedy.

The expressiveness of the image of Prostakova in the comedy "Undergrowth" is also facilitated by her language. He is bright and imaginative in his own way. Here is a sample of her speech: “Well ... you, the beast, were dumbfounded, you didn’t bite into your brother’s mug ...” A woman with sharp, sweeping gestures, disheveled, with a fury face and evil eyes, looms before us. Her language is full of curses and reveals all the rudeness and cruelty of her nature. However, when it suits her, Prostakova can also speak in a different language, pretendingly affectionate: “Sofyushka, my soul,” she turns to Sofya, and to Starodum: “Our priceless guest! .. Our benefactor!”

The character of this cruel, ignorant, deceitful woman is very well defined at the end of Milo's comedy: "Both the crime and repentance in her are worthy of contempt." Her character is a mixture of ignorance and arrogance, cowardice and malice, inhumanity towards serfs and tenderness towards her son. And the results of her work are perfectly described in the final words of the comedy: “Here are worthy fruits of evil-mindedness ...”

>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 in the middle of the 18th 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 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 the French language by the German Vralman, the exact sciences by the retired sergeant Tsyfirkin, who maracals a little bit of 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.

The main method of creating satirical characters in the play is 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 to exposing social vices and creating satirical characters. The author draws a number of positive characters Starodum, Pravdin, Sofya, Milon. These heroes openly express the views of 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 significance, it lives through the centuries, does not leave the stages of modern theaters.

The action takes place in the estate of the Prostakovs. The unrestricted hostess is Mrs. Prostakova. It is curious to note that in the list of characters only she was given the title of “Madam”, the rest of the characters are named only by their last names or first names. 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, and 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 the first, “robenka” instead of a child, “goloushka” instead of a 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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Mrs. Prostakova is the main character of the comedy "Undergrowth" by Fonvizin. The author endowed this image with exclusively negative qualities. The ignorance, lack of education and bad manners of Prostakova can make everyone around her miserable, including her beloved Prostakova Mitrofanushka.

Personality characteristic

Mrs. Prostakova comes from an old noble family. Apparently, her family was neither rich enough nor respected enough among other aristocrats - Prostakova was not an educated woman, and her thirst for power caused her many complexes. It is likely that Prostakova does not even know how to read - she asks Sophia to play the role of her reader. The fact of her lack of education is also confirmed by the woman's indignant comment that neither her nor her brother's (Taras Skotinin's) parents ever taught anything, while now it is necessary to teach Mitrofanushka completely useless sciences.

In general, we can say that Mrs. Prostakova's parents were not the best - their inattention to children and negligence caused the death of some of them - “We, the children, were eighteen of them; yes, except for me and my brother, everyone, by the power of the Lord, tried on. Others were dragged out of the bath of the dead. Three, having sipped milk from a copper pot, died. Two of the Holy Week fell from the bell tower; and the rest did not stand by themselves.

The Prostakova family actually lives in communicative isolation - except for Uncle Skotinin, there is no communication with any of the nobles.

The very same Mrs. Prostakova has a complex character. She is very demanding of others, but her exactingness is selective.

She is ready to find fault with the peasants because of trifles, but at the same time not to take into account even the most significant mistakes in the behavior and development of her son Mitrofan.
In parallel with this quality, another thing is manifested - the lack of a sense of proportion.

Prostakova essentially does not have a single positive quality - she is cruel and ruthless. Prostakova does not know how and does not even try to look at the world and others positively. In any situation, Prostakova tries to see only the negative.

Prostakova's speech denounces her bad manners and lack of education. She often twists her words. In her vocabulary, the word “first” is missing, instead she uses “first”, “looking for” - in the role of more, girl - instead of a girl and “georgaphy” - instead of geography.

In Prostakova's speech, one can rarely find book and literary turns. For the first time they appear in appeals to Starodub - in this way the landowner tries to create a kind of courtesy: “Our priceless guest! Would it really be necessary to meet our own father, on whom we have all hope, who we have alone, like gunpowder in the eye.

Along with the assertive nature of Prostakova, she is endowed with cowardice. Realizing that Starodub will not silently observe her actions, but intends to resist her, moreover, that this opposition will not be just an appearance, Prostakova throws herself at Starodub’s feet with forgiveness.

Prostakova is guided by a sense of personal gain, for which she is ready to take any action, even criminal. So, for example, she tries to force Sophia to marry Mitrofan, in order to get the girl's money.

Attitude towards others

The ability to find a common language with others and be on good terms with them is a great talent that Mrs. Prostakova, unfortunately, does not possess.
Her negative perception of reality does not allow her to establish a communicative process with anyone.

The attitude of the landlords towards the peasants has always been complex - despite the absence of an official division into social castes, the formal distribution into estates in Russia at that time was a common occurrence and, naturally, serfs were not in this hierarchy in a place of honor.

Many nobles treated their serfs worse than animals - Mrs. Prostakova was one of these landowners.

We bring to your attention which was written by Denis Fonvizin.

She had already taken everything that could be taken away from the peasants for a long time, and constantly kept the serfs in fear - according to Prostakova herself, she was not used to indulging the peasants, and therefore severely punishes them even for the smallest offenses.

Eremeevna, Mitrofanushka's nanny, especially gets it. The landowner often calls her names and scolds her for everything, including the fact that she burst into tears, unable to withstand reproaches. Prostakova point-blank does not notice Yeremeevna's attempts to please and generously rewards the woman for quality work with curses like "old witch" and "dog daughter".

Analyzing the conflict situations that arose between Prostakova and her serfs, we can conclude that in relation to the servants Prostakova acts as a tyrant - she always thinks that the serfs behave inappropriately. The landowner considers bickering and swearing to be the only effective lever of housekeeping. She proudly tells her husband about how zealously she quarreled with the servants all day: “From morning to evening, as if hanging by the tongue, I don’t lay my hands on: I scold, then I fight; That's how the house is kept, my father.

In relation to Sonya, the woman does not behave much better. As long as Prostakova thinks that Sonya is a poor girl - the landowner behaves rudely, she rarely even observes the rules of decency in relation to the girl. However, after Starodum made the girl a rich heiress, the situation changes dramatically - courtesy wakes up in Prostakova. Now Sonya, in her eyes, is not a poor relative who requires a roof over her head, but a promising bride, and therefore she no longer addresses her sarcastically (“madam”, “mother”), but shows good breeding and tenderness (“Congratulations, Sofyushka! Congratulations, soul my!")

Prostakova’s relationship with her husband is also not ideal - the landowner does not perceive her husband as a person worthy of her attention and tenderness - she constantly insults him, including in the presence of other people. Prostakova never takes into account the opinion of her husband and always operates exclusively with personal opinion.

Since Prostakova has a low opinion of the role of education and does not see the point in it, then, accordingly, she does not appreciate the work of Mitrofan's teachers. For about a year she does not pay them a salary and considers this acceptable.

The problem of education

The problem of education is inherently connected with the image of Mrs. Prostakova. Mitrofan was the only and long-awaited child in the family. And therefore spoiled. Prostakova is ready to forgive Mitrofan for any misconduct. She constantly pampers him and does not put forward any demands on him.

Prostakova hires teachers Mitrofanushka, because by the decree of Peter I, all nobles are required to be educated, otherwise they will not be allowed to serve. Prostakova does not understand the role of education and accepts science as a senseless torment. Willy-nilly, she instills the same thought in her son - Mitforan does not realize the importance of education and therefore does not even try to learn anything.

The comedy "Undergrowth" is a brilliant work by Fonvizin, in which the playwright portrayed bright, memorable characters whose names in modern literature and the era have become household names. One of the main images of the play is the mother of the undergrowth Mitrofanushka - Mrs. Prostakova. According to the plot of the work, the heroine belongs to negative characters. A rude, uneducated, cruel and mercenary woman from the first scene evokes a negative attitude, and in some places even ridicule from readers. However, the image itself is subtly psychological and requires detailed analysis.

The fate of Prostakova

In the play, upbringing and heredity almost completely determine the future character and inclinations of the individual. And the image of Prostakova in the comedy "Undergrowth" is no exception. The woman was brought up in a family of uneducated landowners, whose main value was material wealth - her father even died on a chest with money. Disrespect for others, cruelty towards the peasants and the willingness to do anything for the sake of profit Prostakov adopted from her parents. And the fact that there were eighteen children in the family and only two of them survived - the rest died due to oversight - is a real horror.

Perhaps if Prostakova married an educated and more active man, the shortcomings of her upbringing became less and less noticeable over time. However, she got a passive, stupid Prostakov as her husband, who finds it easier to hide behind the skirt of an active wife than to solve household issues on his own. The need to manage the whole village herself and the old landowner's upbringing made the woman even more cruel, despotic and rude, reinforcing all the negative qualities of her character.

Considering the life story of the heroine, the ambiguous characterization of Prostakova in "Undergrowth" is clarified before the reader. Mitrofan is the son of a woman, her only consolation and joy. However, neither he nor her husband appreciates Prostakova's efforts to manage the village. It is enough to recall the well-known scene when, at the end of the play, Mitrofan leaves his mother, and the husband can only reproach his son - Prostakov also stays away from her grief, not trying to console the woman. Even with all the grumpy character, Prostakov is sorry, because the closest people leave her.

Mitrofan's ingratitude: who is to blame?

As mentioned above, Mitrofan was Prostakova's only consolation. Excessive love of a woman raised a "mama's boy" out of him. Mitrofan is just as rude, cruel, stupid and greedy. At sixteen, he still resembles a small child who is naughty and runs around chasing pigeons instead of studying. On the one hand, excessive care and protection of the son from any worries of the real world may be associated with the tragic history of the family of Prostakova herself - one child is not eighteen. However, on the other hand, it was simply convenient for Prostakova that Mitrofan remained a big imbecile child.

As it becomes clear from the stage of the lesson in arithmetic, when a woman solves the tasks proposed by Tsyfirkin in her own way, the "own", landowner's wisdom of the owner is the main one for her. Without any education, Prostakova resolves any situation in search of personal gain. Obedient Mitrofan, who obeyed his mother in everything, should also have been a profitable investment. Prostakova does not even spend money on his education - after all, firstly, she herself lived perfectly without burdensome knowledge, and, secondly, she knows better what her son needs. Even marrying Sophia, first of all, would replenish the chests of the Prostakovs' village (recall that the young man does not even fully understand the essence of marriage - he is simply mentally and morally not mature enough yet).

The fact that in the final scene Mitrofan refuses his mother is undoubtedly the fault of Prostakova herself. The young man took over from her disrespect for relatives and the fact that you need to stick to someone who has money and power. That is why Mitrofan, without hesitation, agrees to serve with the new owner of the village of Pravdina. However, the main reason still lies in the general "malice" of the entire Skotinin family, as well as the stupidity and passivity of Prostakov, who could not become a worthy authority for his son.

Prostakova as a bearer of obsolete morality

In The Undergrowth, Mrs. Prostakova is contrasted with two characters - Starodum and Pravdin. Both men are carriers of humane educational ideas, contrasting with the outdated, landowner's foundations.

Starodum and Prostakova, according to the plot of the play, are the parents of young people, but their approach to education is completely different. A woman, as mentioned earlier, pampers her son and treats him like a child. She does not try to teach him something, on the contrary, even during the lesson she says that he will not need knowledge. Starodum, on the other hand, communicates with Sophia on an equal footing, shares his own experience with her, transfers his own knowledge and, most importantly, respects her personality.

Prostakova and Pravdin are contrasted as landowners, owners of large estates. The woman believes that beating her peasants, taking their last money from them, treating them like animals is quite normal. For her, the inability to punish the servants is as terrible as the fact that she lost her village. Pravdin is guided by new, enlightening ideas. He came to the village specifically to stop Prostakova's cruelty and let people work in peace. Through a comparison of two ideological directions, Fonvizin wanted to show how important and necessary reforms in the education of Russian society of that era were.

Fonvizin's innovation in the image of Prostakova

In "Undergrowth" Prostakov acts as an ambiguous character. On the one hand, she appears as a cruel, stupid, mercenary representative of the old nobility and landowner customs. On the other hand, we have before us a woman with a difficult fate, who at one moment loses everything that was valuable to her.

According to the canons of classic works, the exposure and punishment of negative characters in the final scene of the play should be fair and not cause sympathy. However, when at the end the woman loses absolutely everything, the reader feels sorry for her. The image of Prostakova in "Undergrowth" does not fit into the patterns and frames of classic heroes. The psychologism and non-standard depiction of an image that is essentially a composite (Prostakova is a reflection of the whole social layer of serf Russia in the 18th century) makes it innovative and interesting even for modern readers.

The above description of Prostakova will help students in grades 8 and 9 to reveal the image of Mitrofan's mother in their essay on the topic “Characteristics of Prostakova in the comedy “Undergrowth” by Fonvizin”

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