The Minor (; also translated as The Infant and The Young Hopeful), is a 1782 comedy play by Denis Fonvizin. It is usually regarded as the greatest pre-19th-century Russian play.
Commentary
On watching it, Prince Grigory Potemkin is purported to have said: "", a popular Russian phrase.As quoted in
The point of the satire in The Minor is directed against the brutish and selfish crudeness and barbarity of the uneducated country gentry. The central character, Mitrofanushka, is the accomplished type of vulgar and brutal selfishness, unredeemed by a single human feature—even his fondly doting mother gets nothing from him for her pains. The dialogue of these vicious characters (in contrast to the stilted language of the lovers and their virtuous uncles) is true to life and finely individualized; and they are all masterpieces of characterization—a worthy introduction to the great portrait gallery of Russian fiction.
As a measure of its popularity, several expressions from The Minor have been turned into proverbs, and many authors (among whom Alexander Pushkin) used to cite from this play, or at least hint to it by mentioning the characters' names.Alexander Pushkin, The Captain's Daughter, Chapter 1 and motto of Chapter III. Pushkin, The Tales of the Late Ivan Petrovich Belkin, motto Pushkin, A Novel in Letters, Chapter VIII
Faddei Bulgarin wrote a satirical fantasy novel (The Adventures of Mitrofanushka in the Moon) (1837).Похождения Митрофанушки в Луне, fantlab.ru
References
External links
English translation of the play by F. D. Reeve in the volume Nineteenth-century Russian Plays (New York, 1976), on the Internet Archive Full text of the play in Russian on the Russian Virtual Library (Rvb.ru)