Denis Fonvizin’s play “The Undergrowth” is a satirical, very profound work that has not lost its relevance today. The names of the heroes - Mitrofanushka, Prostakova, Starodum - became common nouns, and many phrases became winged.
Comedy had a tremendous impact on the contemporaries of the author, and quotes from it after two centuries are still in use. The most famous of them are so firmly established in everyday life due to their capacity and topicality that many perceive as folk.
“I don’t want to study - I want to get married” - probably the famous phrase from the comedy itself, which is often used to describe careless young people seeking pleasure, instead of learning and working.
“And there you will marry” - about a profitable marriage as a great way to settle in life: having entered into such a marriage, you no longer need to worry about your future.
“The cabman knows where to carry” - the expression describes a self-righteous ignoramus who believes that you shouldn’t strain yourself: there are “specially trained people” for this. It is also appropriate to mention another aphorism here: “God gave me a disciple, a boyar’s son” - how many do not teach him, all to no avail.
“Cash is not cash virtues”, “Golden boob is all boob”, “Without noble deeds, noble fortune is nothing” - the meaning of the phrases is that wealth does not help a person “automatically” become good.
“Don’t do things, don’t run away from things” - a very relevant aphorism about the formal attitude to the work that is “done”, but only to the public, not trying to get the desired result.
“It’s a sin to blame for your own happiness, ” “Learning is nonsense, ” “Great souls are found in the great light” - all these are quotes from the famous comedy “Undergrowth”.
Some quotes from Denis Fonvizin’s play are used less frequently, but this does not make them less precise and sharp: “It’s better to lead a life at home than in someone else’s front, ” “I was not among the first and did not want to be among the last, ”
.and the virtue also has its own envious people, "" oppressing the slavery of their own kind is lawless."
Mitrofanushka’s famous opinion that the word “door” is an adjective is a kind of aphorism, an illustration of the absurd conclusions in the absence of knowledge, because “it is not hung and attached to its place.”
The peculiarity of the play is the widespread use by the author of folklore, as well as well-known aphorisms, which can be perceived as folk. These expressions in the minds of many generations of readers are tightly connected with the text "The Undergrowth", although Denis Fonvizin is not their author: "Live a century, learn a century", "A dog barks - a wind wears", "A sword cannot be blamed for its head, " "Any fault to blame ", " You can’t go round your betrothed horse ", " Remember your name ", " Sleep in the hand ", " Ends in the water ", " A merry feast, but for the wedding."
