Denis Fonvizin

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Denis Fonvizin DENIS FONVIZIN "THE BOLD MASTER OP SATIRE" by ALAN HARWOOD CAMERON B. A., University of Calgary, 1968 A' THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF . THE. REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS in the Department of SLAVONIC STUDIES We accept this thesis as conforming to the required standard THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA April, 1970 In presenting this thesis in partial fulfilment of the requirements for an advanced degree at the University of British Columbia, I agree that the Library shall make it freely available for reference and study. I further agree tha permission for extensive copying of this thesis for scholarly purposes may be granted by the Head of my Department or by his representatives. It is understood that copying or publication of this thesis for financial gain shall not be allowed without my jwr i t ten. pe rm i ss i on. Department of Slavonic Studies The University of British Columbia Vancouver 8, Canada Date April \0r 1970 ABSTRACT Heretofore in the western world there has been no intensive literary study of the noted Russian author of the eighteenth cen• tury, Denis Ivanovich Fonvizin. Many western scholars assert that Ponvizin's works are valuable only as historical documents and that they possess little literary merit. Nevertheless, a close acquaintance with Ponvizin's works and a careful scrutiny of the information about them, help to put his works in a proper perspective. To perform this task I have consulted many Soviet and pre-revolutionary sources and shall report their findings along with mine. The method of approach has been to analyze the works and the available critical literature. Chapter One is devoted to a general study of the author and his career. Chapters Two and Three deal with Ponvizin's most important literary legacies Brlgadir and Nedorosl' respectively, and provide analyses of sources, struct• ure, characterization, style, language, humour and influences. I have commented in particular on the characters as manifestations of their class in Russian society of the time and attempted to pro• vide an insight into the plays' social meaning and use of humor• ous devices. The Epilogue consists of a brief summary in an attempt at formulating a conclusion about Ponvizin's place in the liter• ary history of Russia. iii TABLE OP CONTENTS Chapter Page I. D. I. PONVIZIN--LIFE AND WORKS 1 II. BRIGADIR 2k III. NEDOROSL' 53 EPILOGUE.... 87 FOOTNOTES Introduction.... 89 Chapter 1 90 Chapter II 9k Chapter III • 97 Epilogue 101 APPENDIX A—CHRONOLOGY 102 APPENDIX. B--BIBLIOGRAPHY. 10l| iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I should like to express my sincere appreciation to my adviser Dr. Z. Polejewski, to Dr. M. Putrell and Professor P. Beardow for their interest and assistance in the preparation of this study. V INTRODUCTION Eighteenth-Century Russian literature was studded with dramatists: Sumarokov, Kolichev, Plavil'shchikov, Catherine the Great, Krylov, Lornonosov, Matinsky, Lukin, Ablesimov, Kapnist, Knyazhnin and Ponvizin are prominent. Many of the works of these writers were not original; principally they imitated the classics of Seventeenth-Century Prance: Corneille, Racine and Moliere . Russian theatre attempted to follow the principles formulated by these greats. The classical tradition of the unities of time, place and action were introduced into the Russian drama. Moreover, the classics believed in the idea that the play reflect society, that it present things the way they are.^* According to them, drama should present a tableau of good and evil characters re- • presentative of society in a conflict of ideas. * Finally, the play should be a complete work of art providing a unified theme. However, unlike Jean Racine who. turned to antiquity (e.g. Phedr.e. Britannicus, Andromaque) , or Pierre Corneille, also concerned with ancient themes (e.g. Polyeucte, Horace) , many Russian dramatists set their plays in an eighteenth-cent• ury milieu with "Russians" as the main characters. But often they retained the themes of the classics which resulted at times in drama that seetned artificial to the Russian audience. Mostly the plays were mere adaptations of the French and conse• quently did not at all fit the Russian milieu. In the' main the fledgling Russian dramatists followed classical rhyme and rhythm,and since these forms were inappropriate to the linguistic patterns vi of the Russian language, the plays were frequently stilted and artificial. Because Russian satire flourished in the 1700's, it was natural that it extend to drama. Once again, satirical drama was at first highly imitative of the French models, Moliere.in particular. However, unlike Racine or Corneille, he set his plays in contemporary times. He ridiculed human foibles such as miser• liness (L1Avare), hypocrisy (Le Medecin malgre lui, Dom Juan), or falsity (Les Femmes Savantes, Le Misanthrope). Moliere advoc• ated correcting evils through their vivid portrayal in a vibrant array of characters. Although Moliere's themes were, more _. propos; to the Russian scene, his settings and personages were not. Once again, the direct imitation' by the Russians resulted in artific• iality sice they did little to modify characters, style or settin to make them more in line with Russian society. The Russian drama tists also attempted to employ the ideas of Denis Diderot who .had suggested that strong characters and a believable plot were essen tial.3. But creativity in eighteenth-century Russian dramatic sat ire arrived in a man who moulded his play around -the classical pri nciples but used a distinctive Russian milieu, characterization and above all vibrant Russian dialogue. His creations had great impact on Russian society. His name was Denis Ivanovich Fonvizin. CHAPTER I ...D. I..FONVIZIN - - LIFE AND WORKS - "He 3a6yflb -?OH—BH3HH& nHcaTb, _?OHBH3HH. ^TO OH ea HexpHCTB .? OH -pyccKHS, H3 nepepyccKHx pyccKHH." Denis Fonvizin was born on the third of April 171+5 (ac• cording to the old style calendar) in Moscow.2» His father Ivan was of an old noble family descended from a Livonian knight taken prisoner in the sixteenth century. During the early part of the l600's his descendants had made an honourable name for themselves on the battle-field fighting loyally for Russia. Ivan Andreyevich Fonvizin, though only a minor official in the service of the tsar, was quite an extraordinary man: unlike most of the contemporary government officials he was exceedingly honest in the execution of his duties. " He (Denis' father) had an innate horror of lies; if someone were to lie in front of him, he would blush in shame for the' liar."-^' There is no doubt that this astute honesty of Denis' father played a large role in the formation of the young man's own ' sincere charac- terx. li• When Denis began school he proved to be a remarkable stu• dent. It was reported that at the age of only eight years, he knew more than most boys at twelve.-3* However, his teachers at the Moscow Gymnasium were no paragons of pedantry: his mathemat• ics teacher was an alcoholic and his Latin teacher often derelict in his duties. Fonvizin gives us a humorous anecdote in his memoirs concerning the conduct of this much esteemed Latin pedagogue: "On the eve of the examination our Latin teacher came in after an absence of several months, wearing a kaftan with five large brass buttons and a waistcoat with four. A little surprised at his strange costume, I asked him why he was dressed so strangely. 'My buttons may seem ridiculous to you he said, 'but they will prove your salvation and save my re• putation; for the-buttons of the kaftan represent the five declensions and those on the waistcoat the four conjugations. 'So', he continued, striking the table with his hand, 'listen to what I have to say. When they ask you what declension any noun is, notice which of my coat buttons I touch. If, for example, it is the second from the top, ansx^er boldly the second declension. And if they bother you about verbs, look sharp at my waistcoat and you will make no mistakes 1' This was the type of examination we hadl"°* Perhaps even more illuminating was the geography exam• ination that the young Ponvizin passed in rather unorthodox fashion. The examiner asked the class into which sea flowed the Volga. After many wrong answers had been proffered:: from various pupils it became Denis' turn to reply. He answered very candidly''He 3Haio." v{±3 outspoken confession of ignor- ,ance pleased the examiners so much that young Denis was award ed the gold medal.?* At the tender age of thirteen Ponvizin was elected to study at the university in St. Petersburg. He was impressed with the quality of scholarship there^* and studied hard for the next two years. The young man had great success partic• ularly in the Russian and German languages, for in 1760 the director of the university named him one of the best pupils in St. Petersburg. It was there that Denis made the acquain• tance of the great Mikhail Lomonosov and saw his first thea• trical performance. His first experience at seeing a live performance of a play on stage had a tremendous effect on the boy?1 3 "It is impossible to describe the effect that the per• formance had on me. The play was rather stupid I thought but I regarded it as a work of the highest form of art, and the actors - great people to know I thought, and it would be of my great well-being to become acquainted with them. I nearly went mad with joy when I learned that some of the actors vis• ited my uncle's house where I was to live."9. Here Ponvizin also became friendly with Volkov, Dmitryevsky, Shumsky and other noted actors of the time; he himself became an actor of no small notoriety.
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