The main characters of “Minor”, characteristics of the positive and negative characters of Fonvizin’s comedy

The comedy “The Minor” was created by D. I. Fonvizin in 1781. The central problem of the work is the condemnation of the noble education of those times. The play contains signs of a classical style. A typical literary device is the use of telling first and last names that clearly reflect the character of the character. The title of the play reflects the essence of the decree of Peter I, which stipulated the impossibility of nobles without education to serve and marry. The relevance of the work's problems is often used when writing essays or creative works.

Main characters

Mitrofanushka	In the image of Mitrofan, the author ridicules the rudeness, ignorance and stagnation of the Russian nobility. The main character is sixteen years old, he lives with his parents. Mitrofan is the only child in the family. He is completely uneducated. Everyone only praises Mitrofanushka for his lack of desire to study. The character appears to the reader as a spoiled young man who does not respect others. He does not respect his own father, flatters and takes advantage of his mother.
Starodum	In “The Minor,” the hero Starodum is Sophia’s uncle and guardian. His name indicates a generation of courtiers who carried out their service honestly and without currying favor with the “powers of this world.” He speaks in the words of the author. The character is characterized by sincere straightforwardness and denial of all injustice. A person with authority and power should not neglect the rights of other people - this is the main moral principle of the hero. A positive hero who acts as an exponent of the author's intention.
Prostakova	Nodal negative hero. Shown as an uneducated and ignorant woman. She concentrates power in the family in her hands. The only person she has good feelings for is her son. The main characteristic of her image is an insane, even animalistic feeling of love for her son. She is sure that everything that is good for Mitrofan is beneficial, and the rest is bad. In her opinion, the way in which the desired is achieved is not particularly important, the main thing is the result.
Pravdin	A civil servant who was sent to check the true state of affairs in the Prostakov estate. A decent and honest person. He notes all the signs of arbitrariness and tyranny. The Prostakovs’ case concerns him not only as a matter of national importance. The hero wants to stop the landowner's tyranny. The truth will prevail and the estate will be confiscated from the cruel and oppressive wife.

Author: D. I. Fonvizin
Work: Minor
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As was customary in classicism, the heroes of the comedy “The Minor” are clearly divided into negative and positive. However, the most memorable and striking are the negative characters, despite their despotism and ignorance: Mrs. Prostakova, her brother Taras Skotinin and Mitrofan himself. They are interesting and ambiguous. It is with them that comic situations are associated, full of humor, and bright liveliness of dialogues.

Positive characters do not evoke such vivid emotions, although they are sounding boards that reflect the author’s position. Educated, endowed with only positive traits, they are ideal - they cannot commit lawlessness, lies and cruelty are alien to them.

Let us describe each of the characters in more detail:

Heroes	Characteristic	Character Speech
Negative characters
Mrs. Prostakova	The central negative character, a representative of the serf nobility. She is depicted as an uneducated, ignorant and evil woman, who holds all the power in the family: “I scold, then I fight, and that’s how the house holds together.” She is convinced that education is unnecessary and even harmful: “People live and have lived without science.” A two-faced person: she communicates haughtily, rudely, even aggressively with serfs, teachers, husband, brother, and tries to flatter the people on whom her position depends. Confirmation of the same thought is the change in attitude towards Sophia. Pravdin calls her “a despicable woman whose hellish disposition brings misfortune to the whole house.” The only person who inspires her with good feelings is her son Mitrofanushka, “her dear friend,” “darling.” That’s why in the finale it’s even a pity for her, because he also turns away from her.	Trishke - “cattle”, “swindler”, “thief’s mug”, “blockhead”; To Eremeevna - “beast”, “rascal”, “dog’s daughter”. To Starodum - “benefactor.” “Whatever the peasants had, we took it away, we won’t be able to rip anything off.” “Rogues, thieves, swindlers! I’ll order everyone to be beaten to death.”
Skotinin	Another sharply negative character, the owner of a bestial surname, narcissistic and cruel. His only passion is pigs and everything connected with them gives his image a certain semblance of an animal.	“I haven’t read anything since I was born... God saved me from this boredom.” “I love pigs...” “Are there pigs in your villages?” “I want to have my own piglets.” “... I’ll break the devil... if I were a pig’s son... “Eco happiness has fallen.” “I would have… by the legs, but on the corner,” “Oh, you damn pig!” - Mitrofan. “Look how she screamed” - about her sister.
Mitrofan	A minor of sixteen years old, the son of provincial landowners. His name is “speaking”, because Mitrofan translated from Greek means “like a mother.” The same two-faced: a tyrant towards his family, humiliatingly asks for forgiveness from Starodum in the finale. He has undeniable cunning. For example, a dream where “mother beats father.” Education depends on life, environment, and the conditions of a person’s formation. Mitrofan, who grew up in an ignorant family, is himself ignorant, stupid and lazy. Mitrofanushka is not only a complete ignoramus who has an aversion to learning, but also an egoist; for him there is nothing significant except his own interests. “An ignoramus without a soul is a beast,” according to Starodum. Rude and cruel towards serfs, teachers, nanny, father. “Although he is sixteen years old, he has already reached the last degree of his perfection and will not go further,” Sophia says about him. “The damned pig,” as his uncle calls him, is the final result of the degradation of the nobility under a soul-crippling upbringing. Historically, a young nobleman who did not receive a written certificate of training from his teacher was considered a “minor.” He was not accepted into the service and was not allowed to marry. Thanks to comedy, the image of a “minor” has become a household word: this is usually what they say about stupid and ignorant people.	Eremeevne - “old Khrychovka”; uncle - “Get out, uncle; get lost"; “garrison rat” - to teacher Tsyfirkin.. “Take them and Eremeevna too” - about teachers. “I don’t want to study, I want to get married.” “To hell with everything!”
Prostakov	The person is weak-willed and weak. It’s definitely impossible to say about him that he is the “head of the family.” Submits to his wife in everything and fears her. He prefers not to have his own opinion - the scene with sewing a caftan: “Before your eyes, mine see nothing.” An illiterate “spineless henpecked” man, in essence, he is not such a bad person. He loves Mitrofan, “as a parent should.” “He is humble,” Pravdin says about him.
Positive characters
Pravdin	A government official sent to check the situation on the Prostakov estate. Arbitrariness, in his opinion, is an unforgivable vice. Tyranny deserves punishment. Therefore, the truth will prevail and the estate of the cruel and despotic Prostakova will be taken away in favor of the state.	“From the struggle of my heart, I do not fail to notice the malicious ignoramuses who, having power over their people, use it inhumanly for evil.” “So that there is no shortage of worthy people, special efforts are made to educate.”
Sophia	Starodum's niece. A decent, kind, smart girl. Translated from Greek, her name is “wisdom”. Honest and educated. “God gave you all the pleasantness of your sex,... the heart of an honest man,” Starodum tells her.	“How can the heart not be content when the conscience is calm... It is impossible not to love the rules of virtue... They are ways of happiness.” “I will use all my efforts to earn the good opinion of worthy people.”
Starodum	Sophia's uncle and guardian. Acts as a sounding board, expressing the author’s thoughts. His name says that he was raised in the era of Peter and adheres to its ideals, when they served at court faithfully and honestly, without fawning before the “powers of this world.” And he honestly earned his fortune and position: he was in military service, and served at court. Has straightforwardness and impatience for injustice. A person endowed with power, in his opinion, should not in any way violate the rights of other people.	“Enlightenment elevates one virtuous soul.” “Cash money is not cash dignity.” “Ranks begin, sincerity ceases.” “Have a heart, have a soul, and you will be a man at all times.” “The dignity of the heart is indivisible.” “The main goal of all knowledge.” human - good behavior."
Milo	A handsome officer, Sophia's fiancé. Despite his youth, he already took part in hostilities, where he showed himself heroically. Modest. “A young man of great merit,” “the entire public considers him an honest and worthy person,” according to Starodum.	“I am in love, and I have the happiness of being loved.” “I believe true fearlessness is in the soul, and not in the heart...”
Minor characters
Tsyfirkin	In the past he was a soldier, so he values the concepts of duty and honor: “I took money for service, but I didn’t take it in vain and I won’t take it.” Rough, but straightforward and honest. “I don’t like to live idly,” he says. Starodum is called a “straightforward, kind person.”	“Here gentlemen are good commanders!”, “here there is rapid fire every day for three hours in a row.” “Hello for a hundred years, yes twenty, and another fifteen, countless years.”
Kuteikin	A half-educated seminarian with a “speaking” surname: kutia is a ritual porridge, an obligatory Christmas and funeral dish. The man is undoubtedly cunning, as evidenced by the choice of text when teaching Mitrofan: “I am a worm, and not a man, a reproach of men,” “that is, an animal, a cattle.” Greedy for money, tries not to miss what he has.	Church Slavonic vocabulary: “utter darkness”, “woe is me a sinner”, “the call was”, “I came”, “fearing the abyss of wisdom”.
Vralman	German Adam Adamovich is Starodum's former coachman. The man is a rogue, as his name suggests, posing as a scientist who can teach “French and all sciences,” while he himself interferes with other teachers. The owner of a lackey's soul, tries to please Prostakova, praising Mitrofan. He himself is ignorant and uncultured.	“They want to kill the turnip!” “Shiuchi with the wild hospots, as far as I’m concerned, I’m all with the little horses.”
Eremeevna	Mitrofan's nanny. She sincerely serves in the Prostakovs’ house, loves her pupil Mitrofan, but is rewarded for her service like this: “Five rubles a year, up to five slaps a day.”	“... I would have broken down with him... I wouldn’t even take care of my fangs.” “... how to serve anymore, you don’t know... I would be glad for nothing else... you don’t regret your stomach... but you don’t want everything.”

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Minor characters

Nyanya Eremeevna	The image of Eremeevna, Mitrofan's nanny, personifies the harmful influence of serfdom on courtyard servants. Eremeevna has served Prostakov and Skotinin for forty years. She is selflessly devoted to her owners, tied to their home like a slave. The nanny has an extremely developed sense of duty. She worries about Mitrofan, although she suffers a lot from him.
Skotinin	The second extremely negative character from the list of images. The name and only passion - pigs speak for themselves. These features give the image some resemblance to an animal. He grew up in a family that was alien to education and moral values. The character is characterized by some retardation, although he is naturally intelligent.

The comedy can be considered a collection of anecdotal situations and stories of that time, which reflect the level of ignorance of the noble class. The list of heroes is presented as a contrast between light and dark. Analysis of positive characters does not give vivid emotions, but expresses the author’s position. The main conflicts reflect the struggle between common sense and ignorance. The list of characteristics of the characters in the play has not lost its relevance today. The problems of a work are often used when writing essays or creative works. The peculiarity of the work is that thanks to the collective image of the hero, the reader can imagine the tragedy and comedy of the situation.

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