Locke, Voltaire, Rousseau: Philosophical Genesis of Griboedov's Comedy “Woe from Wit”

This article significantly expands the his torical and philosophical perspective on Griboedov's views regarding the nature of human intellect. It delineates and substan tiates the differences between the positions of the author of the comedy “Woe from Wit” and its protagonist Chatsky concerning toler ance for differing opinions as a criterion of human intellect. Sources of hidden quotations within Griboedov's text are identified through a method of “slow reading” of philosophical and literary works from the 17th and 18th centuries, such as John Locke's treatise “An Essay Concerning Human Understanding,” Voltaire's “Philosophical Letters,” and Jean Jacques Rousseau's novel “Julie, or the New Eloise.” By employing an intertextual ap proach, the article clarifies Griboedov's ideo logical premises as the author of “Woe from Wit” within the broader context of European literature and philosophy from the 17th cen tury to the early 19th century, as well as the socio-political climate in Russia on the eve of the December uprising. The authors con clude that Griboedov critiques, through ar tistic means, the Rousseau-inspired mindset of Chatsky, characterized by subjective limita tions, ignorance of real people and life circum stances, aggressiveness detrimental to society (the “woe” experienced at the end of the com edy is not solely that of Chatsky), and a form of youthful maximalism — essentially, intol erance for opposing viewpoints. It is asserted that the catastrophic resolution of the comedy reflects the playwright's pessimistic outlook on the intellectual development of the Russian educated society.

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