Denis Fonvizin's play "The Minor" is a satirical, very deep work that has not lost its relevance today. The names of the heroes - Mitrofanushka, Prostakova, Starodum - became common nouns, and many phrases became winged.
The comedy had a tremendous impact on the author's contemporaries, and quotes from it two centuries later are still in vogue. The most famous of them are how firmly they have entered into everyday life due to their capacity and topicality, which are perceived by many as folk.
“I don’t want to study - I want to get married” is probably the very famous phrase from the comedy, which is often used to describe careless young people striving for pleasure, instead of studying and working.
"And then you get married" - about a profitable marriage as an excellent way to get settled in life: having entered into such a marriage union, you no longer need to worry about your future.
"The cabman knows where to take" - the expression describes a smug ignoramus who believes that it is not worthwhile to strain yourself: there are "specially trained people" for this. It is also appropriate to mention another aphorism: "God gave me a pupil, a boyar son" - no matter how much you teach him, everything is useless.
“Cash is not cash dignity”, “The golden fool is all fool”, “Without noble deeds, a noble state is nothing” - the meaning of the phrases is that wealth does not help a person “automatically” become good.
“Do not do business, do not run away from business” is a very topical aphorism about a formal attitude to the work that is being “done”, but only to the public, not trying to get the desired result.
“It's a sin to blame for your luck”, “Learning is nonsense”, “There are very small souls in the big world” - all these are quotes from the famous comedy “The Minor”.
Some quotes from the play by Denis Fonvizin are used less often, but this does not become less accurate and poignant: “It is better to lead life at home than in someone else’s hallway”, “I was not among the first and did not want to be among the last”, “… and virtue also has its envious people "," it is illegal to oppress others like them with slavery."
The famous opinion of Mitrofanushka that the word "door" is an adjective, since "it is not hung and attached to its place" can be called a kind of aphorism, an illustration of absurd conclusions in the absence of knowledge.
The peculiarity of the play is the widespread use of folklore by the author, as well as well-known aphorisms that can be perceived as folk. These expressions in the minds of many generations of readers are tightly connected with the text of "Minor", although Denis Fonvizin is not their author: "Live forever, learn forever", "The dog barks - the wind carries", "The sword does not cut the guilty head" guilty”,“You can't go round your betrothed with a horse”,“Remember what your name was”,“Sleep in hand”,“Ends in the water”,“With a merry feast, but for a wedding.”
