SOURCE: Kantor, Marvin. “Fonvizin and Holberg: A Comparison of The Brigadier and Jean de France.” Canadian American Slavic Studies 7, no. 4 (1973): 475-84.

In the following essay, Kantor argues that the influence of Danish dramatist Ludvig Holberg's Jean de France on The Brigadier has been much exaggerated by critics. Holberg's play, Kantor maintains, is a satire with one theme, one hero, and one target, while Fonvizin's work has several themes, heroes, and targets, and is distinctly Russian in its situation, language, and concerns.

Among the foreign authors whose works enjoyed considerable popularity in Russia was the Danish playwright, Ludvig Holberg (1684-1754). A number of his works appeared in the 1759 edition of the journal, The Industrious Bee (Trudoliubivaia pchela), and his plays Don Ranudo de Colibrados (Gordost' i bednost'), Henrich and Pernille (Henrik og Pernille/Genrikh i Pernila), Plutus (Plutus, ili spor bednosti i bogatstva), Jeppe of the Hill (Jeppe paa...