(the essay is divided into pages)
And N. V. Gogol’s comedy “The Inspector General”, and his famous poem“Dead Souls” are, first of all, social works. Their the main objective- to show the whole truth of Russian life, to bring out everything “that is before our eyes every minute and which indifferent eyes do not see.” Gogol more than once spoke about the artificiality of love intrigue in such works, which is why both in “The Inspector General” and in “Dead Souls” love line very weakly expressed. Consequently, the author needs female images not as heroines of novels, but as another way of expressing the main idea of the works. Korobochka, the wives of the landowners, the governor's daughter, the lady is simply pleasant and pleasant in all respects, the wives of officials in "Dead Souls", just like Anna Andreevna, Marya Antonovna and secondary female characters (the locksmith and the non-commissioned officer's wife) in "The Inspector General" , - cartoons female figures, carrying, in the words of the author himself, “the idea of emptiness.”
In the poem "Dead Souls" several groups of female images can be distinguished according to their place in figurative system. The only independent image is the image of Korobochka - a landowner, a Kolleias secretary. The box is thrifty, “scraping little money into colorful little bags,” lives secluded in its estate and, in accordance with its name, is surrounded by all kinds of drawers, boxes and chests of drawers, where all sorts of goods are stored, which, perhaps, will never be useful in the household . Narrow-mindedness, madness, and indecisiveness complete the character of the “club-headed” landowner, who is distrustful of everything new in life. “Is the abyss separating her [Korobochka] from her sister really that great?” - asks Gogol. This is where it turns out that both of them are empty and worthless. But the worst thing is that the image of Korobochka, like all the images in Gogol’s work, is typical, that sometimes “even a statesman” will in fact turn out to be a perfect Korobochka.
Another group of images in “Dead Souls” consists of the wives of landowners, who complement the images of their spouses. Lizanka Manilova is similar in appearance and character to her husband. She is also feignedly polite, and also does not do housework, since these are “kitchen items,” and she was brought up well, that is, in a boarding school, where “three main subjects form the basis of human virtues: “French language, playing the piano and actual economics.” part, that is, “knitting purses and other surprises.”
Sobakevich's wife, Feodulia Ivanovna, is contrasted to her husband in appearance, although her sedateness is somewhat akin to her husband's clumsiness.
The only female image among the landowners that carries some kind of positive principle is the image of Plyushkin’s deceased wife. During her lifetime, she was a “friendly and talkative” hostess and was famous for her hospitality. The housekeeping went well with her, “everything flowed briskly and was accomplished at a measured pace,” and Plyushkin was a pleasant person, in whose eyes “intelligence was visible.” But with her death, everything on the estate changed, the widower became stingy, launched his farm, and soon he himself turned into “some kind of hole in humanity.”
Images of female officials can be separated into a separate group. These images are typified, which is constantly emphasized; even the lady who is pleasant in all respects and the simply pleasant lady are not named (we learn their names only from their remarks). Speaking about the ladies of the city of NN, Gogol identifies a number of features that are characteristic of the entire fair half of the bureaucracy. They all strive to resemble the capital’s aristocrats, dress in fashion, although sometimes among the chic outfits some “unseen cap on earth” will flash. Every lady is confident in her irresistibility and strives to show the best that she has. Another important feature of the inhabitants of the city of NN is stubbornness: “if an inner conviction was felt,” then there was no possibility of inspiring the lady with anything else. The ideal of female society is a lady who is pleasant in all respects, since she makes “every movement” with taste, loves poetry and knows how to “dreamily” hold her head.
Images of peasants in the poem by N.V. Gogol" Dead Souls".
What is the real world of Dead Souls? This is a world whose typical representatives are Manilov, Nozdrev, Sobakevich, police chief, prosecutor and many others. Gogol describes them with evil irony, without mercy or pity. He shows them as funny and absurd, but it is laughter through tears. This is something terrible that has always been superfluous for Russia. The real world of Dead Souls is scary, disgusting, and insane. This is a world devoid of spiritual values, a world of immorality and human shortcomings. It is clear that this world is not a place for Gogol’s ideal, therefore his ideal in the first volume of Dead Souls is only in lyrical digressions and is removed from reality by a huge abyss.
Landowners, residents of the provincial town N, are not the only inhabitants real world. Peasants also live in it. But Gogol in no way distinguishes living peasants from the crowd of immoral Manilovites, Nozdryovites and prosecutors. Living peasants actually appear to the reader as drunkards and ignoramuses. Men arguing whether the wheel will reach Moscow; stupid Uncle Mityai and Uncle Minyai; the serf Manilov, asking to earn money, and himself going to drink - all of them do not evoke sympathy from either the readers or the author: he describes them with the same evil irony as the landowners.
But there are still exceptions. These are the main representatives of the people in the poem - Selifan and Petrushka. There is no longer any evil irony in their description. And although Selifan does not have any high spirituality or morality, he is often stupid and lazy, but still he is different from Uncle Mitya and Uncle Minay. Gogol often laughs at Selifan, but it is a good laugh, a laugh from the heart. The author’s thoughts about the soul are connected with the image of Selifan common people, an attempt to understand his psychology.
In “Dead Souls” the exponent of the ideal is folk Russia, described in lyrical digressions. Gogol presents his ideal from two perspectives: as a generalized image of the people in lyrical digressions, and as a concretization of this ideal in the images of dead peasants, “dead souls.” In the final lyrical digression Gogol notes that such a “three bird” flying across vast expanses “could only be born among a lively people.” Where Chichikov, copying the names of the dead peasants he had just bought, pictures in his imagination their earthly life, Gogol imagines how they lived, how their fate turned out, how they died.
In general, such reasoning is not characteristic of Chichikov. One gets the impression that Gogol himself is arguing this. The images of dead peasants in the poem are ideal. Gogol endows them with such qualities as heroism and strength. Bogatyr-carpenter Stepan Cork. This is what Sobakevich said about him: “What kind of power she was! If he had served in the guard, God knows what they would have given him, three arshins and an inch in height!” And what hardworking, skillful people are these shoemaker Maxim Telyatnikov and carriage maker Mikheev. It’s hard not to notice with what delight the author writes about these men! He feels sorry for them, sympathizes with their hard life. Gogol contrasts this dead people, but with a living soul, with the living people of the poem, whose soul is dead.
In “Dead Souls” Gogol shows us not only the strange reality of Russian life, but at the same time, in merical digressions, Gogol paints us his ideal future Russia and the Russian people, who are very far from modern life. It is likely that in the second, burned volume Gogol planned to transfer this perfect image into real life, to bring it into reality. After all, Gogol fervently believed that Russia would someday come out of this terrible world that she will be reborn, and this moment will definitely come. But, unfortunately, Gogol was never able to find the ideal heroes of reality. This is the tragedy of his whole life, the tragedy of Russia.
Tasks and tests on the topic "Images of peasants in N.V. Gogol's poem Dead Souls."
- Spelling - Important Topics to repeat the Unified State Exam in Russian
Lessons: 5 Tasks: 7
- SPP with adverbial adverbs (adverbial comparisons, manner of action, measure and degree) - Complex sentence 9th grade
Lessons: 3 Assignments: 7 Tests: 1
Creativity N.V. Gogol occupies a special place in Russian literature. No one else could describe the broad panorama of Russian life in such a lively and humorous manner. Of course, first of all, the artist is interested in shortcomings; he does not feel sorry for his homeland, but shows all its injuries, all the bad things that exist in everyday life. The satirist's pen serves to expose officials and landowners, and evilly ridicules their vices.
In his works, Gogol does not pay special attention to female images. The writer does not consider it necessary to depict separately the shortcomings of men and women; he only gives a general picture of the desolation that reigns in the cities and villages of Russia. However, on the other hand, they prompt the reader to think more deeply about the causes of desolation, adding color to the description and dynamics to the actions.
One of the most famous creations Gogol's play "The Inspector General". This work seems to be a kind of prologue to the monumental poem “Dead Souls,” the writer’s life’s work. In "The Inspector General" the sting of satire is directed against the life and morals of a remote town, against the greed and arbitrariness of district officials.
"Dead Souls" is a work of a much larger scale. In it, all of Russia appeared before the reader's court. Gogol does not feel sorry for her, but caustically mocks her shortcomings, believing that this treatment will be beneficial, that in the future the homeland will definitely get rid of dirt and vulgarity. The concept of “Dead Souls” is a continuation of “The Inspector General”. It doesn’t just show the life and morals of officials county town. Now Gogol exposes both landowners and officials; he castigates glaring shortcomings on a much larger scale. The “dead” souls of all Russia pass before the eyes of readers.
One of the main functions performed by female characters in both works is the formation of ideas about certain social and socio-psychological types. The most striking example of this is the image of the landowner Korobochka. She is described by Gogol as a terrible person with her stinginess and stupidity, who is more like a machine than a person. Its characteristic feature is the desire to get as much as possible more money, and she is not interested in whether the buyer needs the product or not. Korobochka is stingy and thrifty; nothing goes to waste in her household, which, in general, is commendable. But main feature Her character is hidden in her “talking” surname: she is an impenetrable, limited and stupid old woman. If some idea comes to her mind, then it is impossible to convince her; all reasonable arguments “bounce off her like a rubber ball from a wall.” Even the imperturbable Chichikov becomes furious, trying to prove to her the undoubted benefit of selling the peasants. But she firmly took it into her head that Chichikov wanted to deceive her, and cracking this nut, this box, was extremely difficult even for the hardened businessman Chichikov. In Korobochka, Gogol embodied all the limited thinking of Russian landowners; it became a symbol of the abyss in which the Russian landed nobility finds itself, having completely lost the ability to think sensibly.
In order to show the picture of life and the depth of the decline of morals in the provincial city of N., the author introduces images of city gossips. Their exaggerated and fictitious stories about Chichikov's adventures, mixed with discussions about fashion, do not evoke anything in the reader except a feeling of disgust. Vivid images of a simply pleasant lady and a lady pleasant in all respects characterize the city and province from a very unfavorable side, emphasizing the flatness of their thinking.
Because of the gossip started by these ladies, the shortcomings of dishonest officials were revealed. And this is not the only example of how female images help Gogol to show a real picture of life, a real situation.
Outwardly, there is nothing interesting about Anna Andreevna, the mayor’s wife in “The Inspector General”: she is a fussy, curious chatterbox, the reader immediately gets the impression that she has the wind in her head. However, it is worth taking a closer look at it. After all, the author in his “Notes for Gentlemen Actors” characterizes her as a woman who is smart in her own way and even has some power over her husband. This is an interesting representative of provincial society. Thanks to her, the image of the mayor becomes more prominent, acquires additional meaning, and the reader gets a clear idea of the lifestyle and problems of the county ladies.
Marya Antonovna is not very different from mother. She is very similar to her, but much less active; she is not a double of the energetic official, but only her shadow. Marya Antonovna tries with all her might to seem significant, but her behavior betrays her: outfits occupy the most space in a girl’s heart; she pays attention primarily to Khlestakov’s “suit,” and not to its owner. The image of Marya Antonovna characterizes the city from the bad side, because if young people are busy only with themselves and “suits,” then society has no future.
The images of the mayor's wife and daughter brilliantly reveal the author's intention and illustrate his idea: the bureaucracy and society of the district town are rotten through and through. Female images help to reveal the author's intention in Dead Souls. Mortification is manifested in Korobochka, who is always painstakingly collecting a penny and is afraid of making a mistake when making a deal, and in the wives of the landowners.
In addition, the wives of Manilov and Sobakevich help the author reveal men's images more fully and in detail, to emphasize any character features. Each of them is, as it were, a copy of her spouse. For example, Sobakevich’s wife, upon entering the room, sat down and did not even think about starting a conversation, which confirms the rudeness and ignorance of the owner. Manilova is more interesting. Her manners and habits exactly repeat the manners and habits of her husband, we recognize in the expression of her face the same cloying, she, like Manilov himself, has not yet left the world of dreams. But at the same time, there are hints of her independence; Gogol recalls studying at the boarding school and her playing the piano. Thus, Manilova separates from her husband, acquires her own characteristics, the author hints that her fate could have turned out differently if she had not met Manilova. However, the images of the landowners' wives are not independent; they only enrich the images of the landowners themselves.
The image of the governor’s daughter is extremely important in this aspect. Although she does not utter a word throughout the entire poem, with her help the reader discovers the amazing character traits of Chichikov. A meeting with a charming girl awakens tender feelings in Chichikov’s soul; this rogue suddenly begins to think about love and marriage, about the future of youth. Despite the fact that this obsession will soon subside like a haze, this moment is very important; here the reader encounters a vague hint of the possible spiritual rebirth of the hero. Compared to the image of the mayor's daughter in The Inspector General, the image of the governor's daughter carries a fundamentally different semantic load.
In principle, the female images of The Inspector General do not play an important role in understanding the main idea of the work. But their significance is also great. After all, women are not officials, which means Gogol’s satire is not aimed directly at them, their function is to emphasize the general degradation of the county town. Anna Andreevna and Marya Antonovna highlight the shortcomings of officials. Their stupidity and overly high self-esteem bring out under the blinding light of satire the same shortcomings of officials, hidden under the mask of integrity and diligence.
In “Dead Souls,” the female characters, on the contrary, are versatile. They are much more complex, more developed than in The Inspector General. None of them can be clearly characterized. But one thing is certain: female characters allow the reader to understand the work more deeply; their presence enlivens the story and often makes the reader smile.
In general, Gogol’s female images, although not the main ones, characterize in detail and accurately the morals of the bureaucracy. They show the life of landowners in an interesting and varied way, revealing more fully and deeply the most important image in the writer’s work - the image of the homeland, Russia. Through the description of such women, Gogol leads the reader to think about her fate, about the fate of his compatriots, and proves that Russia’s shortcomings are not her fault, but a misfortune. And behind all this lies the author’s enormous love, hope for her moral revival.
The poem “Dead Souls” by Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol is one of the most brilliant works of Russian literature. Its innovation lies primarily in the fact that individual aspects of Russian life, so sharply outlined by Gogol earlier, are now combined by him into a huge realistic canvas, which captures the appearance of the entire Nicholas Russia, from the provincial landowner backwater and the provincial city to St. Petersburg, where the evil of life appears in a unique change of paintings and images, closely interconnected by unity artistic design.
In Gogol's poem there are so many problems that deeply worried progressive Russian people, so much indignation and admiration, contempt and lyrical emotion, warming humor and laughter, often striking to death, that it is not surprising that it turned out to be one of the most significant works of critical realism literature first half of the 19th century and the totality of the material, tonality, sublimity and nobility of purpose, faith in the future with enormous power influenced the public consciousness of Russia.
But Gogol’s work, as a phenomenon of great art, is still relevant today. Its enduring significance in mental and moral life humanity is defined by the fact that it makes you think not only about the life that is depicted in it, about that terrible world that is called serfdom noble Russia, but also over the meaning of life in general, over the purpose of man.
Gogol himself wrote to V. A. Zhukovsky: “What a huge, what an original plot! What a varied bunch! All of Rus' will appear in it,” he himself determined the scope of his work - all of Rus'.
Gogol’s plan was grandiose: like Dante Alighieri, to depict Chichikov’s path first in “hell” - Volume I of Dead Souls, then in “purgatory” - Volume II and in “paradise” - Volume III. But this plan was not fully realized. Only the first volume reached the reader in full, which tells about the adventures of the “acquirer” Chichikov, who buys souls that are actually dead, but legally alive, that is, not crossed out from the audit lists.
Showing the heroes in close connection with the disclosure of the theme of Russia and the people, Gogol paid great attention to the embodiment of that specific, social and everyday situation that gave birth to them and from which they are, in essence, inseparable. The depiction of the environment has acquired general significance because the writer in “Dead Souls” concerns not only the destinies of the heroes, but also the destinies of the social structure.
Social environment is revealed in the poem as a diverse and complex phenomenon. This included the prevailing views that influence people, and established norms of behavior, forms of education, but with particular clarity in “Dead Souls” the significance of the living conditions in which people find themselves is revealed. For Gogol, the relationship between man and the social environment was the starting point in showing the psychology and behavior of the characters. Their vices do not come from the inner nature of a person, but are an expression of specific life conditions and circumstances.
When considering the methods of depicting the characters in “Dead Souls,” the role of portrait sketches and everyday details is usually noted, which are depicted here in an exceptionally masterful manner. There is no doubt that Gogol paid great attention to the everyday environment, carefully describing the material environment, the material world in which his five heroes live; Manilov, Korobochka, Nozdrev, Sobakevich and Plyushkin.
Principles for revealing the characters of landowners
The plot of Dead Souls serves, first of all, as a means of revealing characters. The author reproduces such life situations, in which his heroes, entering into relationships with each other, fighting among themselves, manifest themselves in actions, in feelings, in experiences.
The basis of the plot of the poem - the purchase and sale of dead souls - is the key to the manifestation of characters, for each of the landowners and officials reacts in their own way to Chichikov’s fraudulent offer. This reaction reveals to the greatest extent the originality of a particular character. The talk in “Dead Souls” is not so much about Chichikov, but about the people he encounters on the way to implementing the plan. The characters described by Gogol with exhaustive completeness became household names. The artist creates them using the method of “typing” and the method of “microscopic analysis”. With amazing skill, Gogol embodies both the structure of statements and the peculiarities of vocabulary.
All researchers point to essential component Gogol's image is an external portrait of the “hero”. Gogol describes complexion, eyes, hair, clothes, demeanor, gait, gestures, facial expressions, distributing light and shadows with great art, connecting everything into an organic whole.
It is no coincidence that Gogol opens his gallery of portraits of local rulers with the image of Manilov, who, at first glance, seems to have considerable attractive features. He himself is sincerely convinced of his high spiritual organization, and that he lives in the sphere of high human interests. At the first meeting, Manilov seems to be a distinguished person, “his facial features were not devoid of pleasantness, but this pleasantness seemed to be too much of a sugar,” in his techniques and turns there was something ingratiating favor and acquaintance.
Having outlined the appearance of the hero, his “remarkable” features, the writer, in the course of the narrative, highlights and emphasizes some of the features. This also applies to Manilov’s smile, which never leaves his face.
The impression that Manilov creates at first, as we become more closely acquainted with him and closely “peer” at him, continuously changes:
“In the first minute of conversation with him you can’t say anything: how pleasant and a kind person! The next minute you won’t say anything, and the third you’ll say: the devil knows what it is! And you will move away; if you don’t leave, you will feel mortal boredom.”
Being aloof from the real processes of life, Manilov creates his own illusory world; completely incapable of any practical action; does not tolerate calling things by their proper names; his sentimental sophistication is also reflected in the vocabulary of his speech.
The highlighting of certain dominant features not only did not limit the completeness and specificity of the depiction of the characters, but it precisely allowed Gogol to achieve a holistic, vivid disclosure of the “fragmented” characters. By uniting all other aspects of the image around the leading features, the writer achieved its exceptional expressiveness and relief. Gogol deliberately avoided depicting images that were unclear, foggy in their outlines, or amorphous in their artistic sculpting. The desire for concreteness in life was determined by the great social tasks that the writer set for himself.
Portraying daily life, everyday feelings, desires, aspirations, Gogol widely developed a method of characterizing heroes and social structure through portrait and everyday details. Revealing the images of the characters in close connection and their dependence on general conditions life, Gogol strives for maximum expressiveness of the various elements of the narrative. None of the artistic details that are used by the writer when depicting the characters exist on their own; they always attract attention in inextricable connection with the image, and are a means of characterizing one or another of its aspects.
An important element in depicting the hero in “Dead Souls” is his portrait. Trying to clearly depict the characters in the poem and make them memorable, Gogol skillfully recreates the external features of the hero, his gestures, and manner of behavior. Each hero has his own special, unique appearance, which will never allow him to be mixed with any other character. Without expanding the diversity of the hero’s individual characteristics, the writer identifies the main, characteristic features in the portrait. Artistic portrait in the poem it is distinguished by sculptural clarity, a clearly expressed emphasis on the leading features. Genius power portrait images created by Gogol is that the portrait for him is the key to the inner world of the heroes.
Based on the principle of highlighting characteristic, memorable details, “Dead Souls” describes various aspects of the heroes’ way of life. There was always something missing in Manilov's house: in the living room there was beautiful furniture, covered in smart silk fabric, which was probably very expensive; but there wasn’t enough for two chairs, and the chairs were simply upholstered in matting; however, for several years the owner always warned his guest with the words: “Don’t sit on these chairs, they are not ready yet”...
Every time Chichikov arrives at a new estate, he finds himself in his own little world. Object - everyday details, accurately and subtly described by Gogol, help the main character of the poem get acquainted with the laws of this world. It is important for Chichikov to understand what kind of person he meets; he pays attention to the smallest details of the life of each new acquaintance, his appearance. The picture seen by Chichikov is supplemented by the author's comments and descriptions. The author penetrates into the depths of each phenomenon, trying to generalize the particulars. Gogol shows how the individuality of the heroes is manifested in every thing.
Details of Korobochka’s life introduce us to her before she has time to tell about herself:
The room was hung with old wallpaper; pictures with some birds; between the windows there are old small mirrors with dark frames in the shape of curled leaves; Behind every mirror there was either a letter, or an old deck of cards, or a stocking; wall clock with painted flowers on the dial..."
It is clear to the reader that this room may belong to a zealous housewife, one of those landowners who knows how to count their money and their serfs, lives secluded in her estate, as if in a box, and her homeliness over time develops into hoarding.
If Manilov’s vulgarity was somehow dressed up in patterned clothes of pomp, then in the image of Korobochka the shallowness of man, the spiritual poverty of the “masters of life” appear in their natural state. Unlike Manilov, Korobochka is characterized by the absence of any pretensions to higher culture, some kind of peculiar, very unpretentious “simplicity”. The lack of “showiness” is emphasized by Gogol already in the external portrait of Korobochka, capturing her unattractive appearance: “... The hostess, an elderly woman, in some kind of greasy cap, put on hastily, with a flannel around her neck...”
And already at breakfast “she was dressed better than yesterday - in a dark dress and no longer in a greasy cap, but there was still something tied around her neck.”
That well-known everyday spontaneity that attracts attention during the transition from the image of Manilov to the image of Korobochka is revealed, first of all, as an expression of rough prosaism and everyday life, prudent and tenacious practicality. All of Korobochka’s thoughts and desires were concentrated around the economic consolidation of her estate, around incessant accumulation. Local isolation from the world immediately merges with the thirst for enrichment. Korobochka, unlike Manilov, is not an inactive dreamer, but a sober buyer, always poking around his home. Chichikov saw traces of skillful management on her estate, tangible results of her constant worries about increasing wealth.
But Korobochka’s “thriftiness” precisely reveals her inner insignificance. Acquisitive impulses and aspirations fill Korobochka’s entire consciousness, leaving no room for any other feelings. She strives to benefit from everything, from household details to the profitable sale of serfs. Korobochka sells them when it seems necessary to her, with the same usual efficiency and prudence with which she sells hemp, lard and bird feathers to passing buyers. For her, serfs are, first of all, her property, which she has the right to dispose of as she pleases. The difference between “animate” property and inanimate property is not at all significant or decisive for Korobochka.
A thrifty old woman does not like to part with any of her things without using them to the end, without any residue. Chichikov’s offer to give up dead souls to him opens up a tempting prospect for Korobochka to benefit from the dead serfs. Korobochka is not so much surprised by the unusualness of Chichikov’s appeal as he is frightened by the prospect of missing out on something, not taking what he can get for dead souls.
No wonder Chichikov calls Korobochka “club-headed.” This epithet very aptly characterizes the being of the local owner. Being aloof from the wide flow of life, Korobochka cannot, however, not experience its influence; she tries to adapt to life. But this adaptation occurs within the framework of a poor perception of reality.
The pursuit of profit gives rise to the cunning and resourcefulness of Korobochka. But this cunning bears the stamp of callous primitiveness. Knowing how to painstakingly accumulate money, Korobochka is not able to understand the somewhat complex phenomena of life, to understand them, and is not able to correctly evaluate the people she encounters. She measures everything that comes into her field of vision with familiar, long-established microscopic standards. Reality in the perception of the Box is devoid of any movement; there really is no development for her.
Just as when switching the narrative from Manilov to Korobochka, the internal comparison of these images is clearly felt, so when moving to the image of Nozdryov, the contrast between Korobochka and this new character is clearly revealed:
“Nozdryov’s face is probably already somewhat familiar to the reader. Everyone has met many such people. They are called broken fellows, they are reputed even in childhood and at school for being good comrades... They soon get to know each other, and before you have time to look back, they already say to you: you... They are always talkers, revelers, reckless drivers, prominent people.” Thus, the writer clearly emphasizes that what he depicts actor represents not some unique, sad exception, but an ordinary, widespread character. This is the character with which “our earthly, sometimes bitter and boring road teems.”
Emphasizing the typicality of his hero, the writer portrays him as a representative of a whole category of people. Hence the comparison of the hero with a vast group of people encountered in life - a comparison that is usually a kind of introduction to the inner world of the image.
In contrast to the motionless landowner, busy putting aside rubles and fifty rubles, Nozdryov is distinguished by his violent prowess, the “broad” scope of his nature. He is extremely active, mobile, and perky. Without hesitation for a moment, Nozdryov is ready to do any business, everything that comes to his mind for one reason or another:
“At that very moment he invited you to go anywhere, even to the ends of the world, to enter into any enterprise you want, to exchange everything you have for everything you want.”
Nozdrev's activity is devoid of any guiding idea or goal. This is the activity of a person who is free from any responsibilities to create or achieve anything. real results of its activities. With equal ease, Nozdryov begins any of his enterprises and abandons them, immediately forgetting about what attracted his attention some time ago. Nozdryov's passion for various activities changes very quickly, never leading to any positive consequences. Everything he starts ends either in trifles or various kinds“stories” of which Nozdryov is a great master.
The scenes with Nozdryov are stingy in details reflecting serf life, but the entire characterization of Nozdryov is given in such a way that it actually leaves no ambiguities regarding this side of life. Nowhere and about anything Nozdryov does not recognize any restrictions or restraining principles. For him, there are only his own desires and motives, which he places above all else. Everything that belongs to Nozdryov should serve to satisfy these desires. Deprived of human dignity, he is not able to even in the slightest degree take into account the dignity of other people, especially serfs. Depicting the details of Nozdryov’s life, Gogol ironically highlights his extreme affection for animals, which were the subject of his special concerns.
And because Nozdryov does not contain anything humanly significant, his violent life manifestation takes on a specific character. Everywhere Nozdryov appeared, chaos, confusion, and squabbling began.
At the same time, to Nozdryov himself, his life seems rich to the brim, full and meaningful. Here Nozdryov is somewhat similar to Manilov, but Nozdryov’s stormy “activity” is significantly different from Manilov’s contemplative reverie. Nozdryov, who loves grandeur in everything, creates an infinitely exaggerated idea of his existence, his activities, his capabilities and successes.
In the freedom with which Nozdryov writes, there is not only swagger, but also arrogance, stemming from the fundamental features of his character. Having no firm criteria for evaluating people and not seeing the actual need for such criteria, Nozdryov quickly and easily gets along with any person who meets on his life path. He is familiar with all his acquaintances, keeps on friendly terms with them, immediately switching to intimate forms of address. Nozdryov considers everyone who was in company with him, with whom he barely had time to chat, to be his friend and friend. But just as in everything else, he never remains true to either his words or his relationships with people. Nozdryov belongs to the category of those people who “make friends, it seems, forever, but it almost always happens that the person who has become friends will fight with him that same evening at a friendly party.” The transformation from friend to foe, and vice versa, occurs with lightning speed. Nozdryov's bosom friend in a minute can become worthless trash, just as someone who is branded with the name of a scoundrel most often turns back into a beloved friend. Moreover, at the same time the same person can be called both a scoundrel and a friend. This absence of any stable moral criteria in Nozdryov is shaded by Gogol.
The very desire to bring chaos, confusion, the desire to cause mischief everywhere expressively characterizes Nozdryov’s moral character. But this is accompanied by other features that reveal his complete immorality. The fact that Nozdryov is dishonest is widely known among his acquaintances; he has sufficiently proven himself in this regard. When it comes to cheating, Nozdryov is not an amateur, but a person with experience who is constantly improving his “art.”
The variety of types of insignificant, vulgar people depicted in “Dead Souls” shows how deeply Gogol illuminated feudal reality, mercilessly ridiculing the “masters of life.” The exposure seemed to be not only their inactivity, their isolation from reality, to which the content of the images of landowners is often reduced; Gogol's satire spent more than wide circle phenomena and aspects of life.
Sobakevich cannot be classified as one of the people who have their head in the clouds and indulge themselves in illusions. On the contrary, he has both feet on the ground and assesses people and life very soberly. When necessary, Sobakevich knows how to act and achieves what he wants. Characterizing Sobakevich’s everyday way of life, Gogol emphasizes the fact that here everything “was stubborn, without shaking, in some kind of strong and clumsy order.” Thoroughness and fundamentality are the distinctive features of both Sobakevich himself and the everyday environment that surrounds him.
At the same time, his entire way of life, starting with the details of everyday life, bears the stamp of clumsiness and ugliness. The furniture in Sobakevich’s house “had some strange resemblance to the owner of the house himself; in the corner of the living room stood a pot-bellied walnut bureau on the most absurd four legs, a perfect bear. The table, armchairs, chairs - everything was of the heaviest and most restless quality, in a word, every object, every chair seemed to say: “And I, too, Sobakevich!” or: “And I also look very much like Sobakevich!”
Small details, details constantly introduced by the author and drawn by him with extraordinary skill, help the reader not only to be transported into the world into which the author introduces, but also to understand the hero’s soul - rough, clumsy.
Physical strength and ugly clumsiness appear in the appearance of Sobakevich himself:
“When Chichikov glanced sideways at Sobakevich, this time he looked very much like a medium-sized bear. To complete the similarity, the tailcoat he was wearing was completely bear-colored, his sleeves were long, his trousers were long, he walked with his feet at random and constantly stepped on other people’s feet. The complexion had a red-hot, hot complexion, like what happens on a copper coin.” And here appearance The hero reveals to the reader certain aspects of his spiritual makeup - rudeness and stubbornness, the predominance of the animal nature.
Sobakevich's clumsy movements are emphasized. Highlighting special features adds remarkable expressiveness to the portrait of Sobakevich - a cunning and cunning businessman.
The comparison with the bear is not only external; it leads to its revelation psychological characteristics. The animal nature dominates the nature of Sobakevich, who does not think about any high spiritual needs. He is far from philosophy, dreams and impulses. According to his firm conviction, the only thing in life can be taking care of his own existence, which he is also not inclined to complicate.
Saturation of the stomach is in the foreground here and is what the most important moment, which, in essence, determines the content and meaning of his life.
Rejecting unnecessary philosophizing, Sobakevich adheres to firm and prudent practicality. Unlike Korobochka, Sobakevich understands the environment well and knows people. This is a cunning and arrogant businessman.
Striving to achieve the desired results, Sobakevich does not want to be embarrassed by anyone or anything. The deep hypocrisy of an experienced businessman is characteristic of him to the same extent as the frankness of a cynic.
The various people he meets, according to Sobakevich, are not at all different from each other, they are all equally swindlers and swindlers. Here the peculiar nihilism of the trader, the nihilism of the owner - the acquirer, is manifested. Even his imagination does not suggest to him any images of noble people, nor honest, direct relationships between them. He has the ability to take active action, he knows how to get settled in life, but it was in this image that the artist exposed base feelings and aspirations with particular force.
Like Korobochka and Sobakevich, Plyushkin is absorbed in worries about accumulating wealth; like them, he is at the mercy of egoistic feelings and desires. But these egoistic feelings and desires acquire in Plyushkin the character of an all-encompassing passion, avarice that dominates everything. The accumulation of things, material values becomes for him the only goal in life, outside of which absolutely nothing exists. The insatiable greed of the collector leads to the fact that he loses the sense of the significance of things, ceases to distinguish the important from the trifle, the useful from the insignificant. With such an internal depreciation of the objective world, the insignificant, insignificant, insignificant inevitably acquires special attractiveness; Plyushkin focuses his attention on him. In an effort to strengthen his well-being, Plyushkin turns into a devoted, tireless slave of things, a slave of his passion. The thirst for accumulation pushes him onto the path of all sorts of restrictions in relation to himself. Fearing ruin, Plyushkin imposes severe “economy” in his own life. He does not allow himself the slightest excess and, moreover, is ready to eat from hand to mouth, dress in all sorts of rags, and limit all other expenses to the limit.
Plyushkin himself did not experience any particular unpleasant sensations from these restrictive measures that he voluntarily imposed on himself. The passion for expanding wealth captured him so much that he did not want to notice what seemed to be his personal. To an outsider, Plyushkin appears to be an extremely amorphous and indefinite creature:
“While he (Chichikov) was looking at all the strange decorations, a side door opened and the same housekeeper whom he had met in the yard came in. But then he saw that it was more likely a housekeeper than a housekeeper: the housekeeper, at least, does not shave his beard, but this one, on the contrary, shaved, and, it seemed, quite rarely, because his entire chin with the lower part of his cheek resembled on a comb made of iron wire, which is used to clean horses in a stable.” Despite the amorphous appearance of Plyushkin, his overall portrait shows some sharp features. This combination of general formlessness with sharply prominent features is the whole of Plyushkin.
Nose special attention When describing Plyushkin’s portrait, the writer dwells on the hero’s costume:
“What was much more remarkable was his outfit: no amount of effort or effort could be used to find out what his robe was made of: the sleeves and upper flaps were so greasy and shiny that they looked like the kind of yuft that goes into boots; in the back, instead of two, there were four floors dangling, from which cotton paper came out in flakes. He also had something tied around his neck that could not be made out: a stocking, a garter, or a belly, but not a tie.”
This description vividly reveals the most important feature of Plyushkin - his all-consuming stinginess. In the image of Plyushkin, Gogol brilliantly showed both the power of destructive passion and its gradual increase.
One of the important ideas of the poem is the idea of a thing that enslaves a person. But Plyushkin was not always a greedy and rude miser; Once upon a time he was known as a thrifty owner and a good family man, distinguished by his experience and knowledge of the world. He became a stupid miser due to life circumstances and conditions. Unlike other local rulers, who are taken outside of their biographies, Plyushkin is depicted in the process of development; his biography reflected the deepest degradation to which a person can reach under certain conditions of his life.
Insatiable stinginess destroys all human connections, all communication between Plyushkin and people. Absorbed by the only concern of his life, Plyushkin does not feel any need for friendships or connections with the outside world. He treats everyone who visits his estate with obvious suspicion, seeing in any visitor his ill-wisher and even a potential enemy:
“I haven’t seen guests for a long time,” he said, and, to be honest, I see little use in them. They have established a very indecent custom of visiting each other, and there are some omissions in the household... and feed their horses with hay!”
Terrible stinginess created an impassable gap between Plyushkin and his children; in relation to them, he does not want to do even the most insignificant actions.
Having cut off ties with the outside world, Plyushkin remains alone in his acquisitiveness, closed in his cold selfishness. He is constantly overwhelmed with fear not even for his own fate, but for the safety of his things.
Portraying Plyushkin, Gogol clearly shows the plight of his peasants. We find a reflection of the life of serfs in different places in the chapter dedicated to Plyushkin. Essentially, this theme runs through the entire description of the details of his life, his psychological appearance and behavior. It is revealed not only in Plyushkin’s conversations with Chichikov, but also in scenes with Proshka, with Mavra, in the depiction of individual bright paintings and details.
Conclusion
Gogol's hero artistic poem
When reading “Dead Souls,” you sometimes want to cry out, like many of Gogol’s heroes: “The devil knows what this is!” - and put the book down. Amazing details curl like intricate patterns and captivate us. And only vague bewilderment, and a voice common sense do not allow the reader to completely succumb to the attractive absurdity and take it for granted. In fact, we involuntarily plunge into the world of details and only then suddenly realize that they are strange in the extreme.
Indeed, “Dead Souls” shows us all the variety of such “little things” - landscape details, portraits, interior details, detailed comparisons, again replete with details.
The detailing of the depicted phenomena became an important artistic technique for the writer, who decided to “bring out the whole huge, stunning picture of the little things that entangle our lives.” A bright, memorable detail makes the reader take a closer look at the hero, take a closer look at his inner world. All the characters in the poem are reflected in the objects around them.
It would seem that small and, at first glance, unimportant details are involved in creating a holistic system of images in the work. It is through the part that Gogol depicts the whole - the environment, the setting in which the characters' characters were formed and which is filled with the results of their life practice and social activities.
The images of landowners created by the writer are historically specific. They carry the most significant, typical signs of spiritual degeneration landed nobility. But, at the same time, they reflected universal human vices. That's why the characters from Dead Souls became household names.
We call an idle dreamer, a visionary who cannot and does not want to engage in useful work, Manilov; liar, braggart, rowdy - Nozdrev; greedy miser - Plyushkin; the clumsy hulk who steps on everyone’s toes - Sobakevich; mentally limited person- “club-headed.”
Thus, each hero represents a special side of Russian reality, recognizable by the reader just the little things. In addition, the details help to reveal the central problem of the poem - the problem of the death of a living soul. Gogol's heroes seem to be lost in the endless world of things, they themselves turn into something “objective”, non-spiritual.
Bibliography:
1. N.V. Gogol. Complete collection essays. Publishing house Fiction"; M., 1967.
2. V. G. Belinsky. Collected works. M., 1962.
3. Gogol N.V. Full composition of writings. In 8 volumes. Publishing house - "Fiction"; M., 1967.
4. Belinsky V. G. Complete works. In 13 volumes. M., 1955.
5. Peaks. The book about outstanding works Russian literature. Compilation and general editing by S. I. Mashinsky. M., 1978.
6. Zolotoussky I. P. Gogol. M., 1979. (series “Life wonderful people»)
7. Mann Yu. V. On the poetics of “Dead Souls” - In the collection: Russian classic literature. M., 1969.
8. Khrapchenko M. B. “Dead Souls” by N. V. Gogol. M., 1952.
9. Dokusov A. M., Kachurin M. G. N. V. Gogol’s poem “Dead Souls” in school study. M., “Enlightenment”; 1982.
In “Dead Souls” we will not find bright, poetic female characters like Pushkin’s Tatyana or Turgenev’s Liza Kalitina. Gogol's heroines, for the most part, contain elements of the comic and are objects of the author's satire, and not at all of the author's admiration.
The most significant female character in the poem is the landowner Korobochka. Gogol describes the heroine’s appearance in a very remarkable way. “A minute later the landlady entered, an elderly woman, in some kind of sleeping cap, put on hastily, with a flannel around her neck, one of those mothers, small landowners who cry about crop failures, losses and keep their heads somewhat to one side, and meanwhile they gain little by little. money in colorful bags placed in dresser drawers.”
V. Gippius notes in Korobochka the absence of “any appearance, any face: a flannel on the neck, a cap on the head.” By “depersonalizing” the landowner, Gogol emphasizes her typicality, the great prevalence of this type.
The main qualities of Korobochka are thriftiness, thriftiness, bordering on stinginess. Nothing goes missing in the landowner's household: neither night blouses, nor skeins of thread, nor a torn cloak. All this is destined to lie for a long time, and then go “according to a spiritual will to the niece of a grand-sister, along with all other rubbish.”
The box is simple and patriarchal, it lives in the old fashioned way. She calls Chichikov “my father,” “father,” and addresses him as “you.” The guest sleeps on huge feather beds from which feathers fly; there is an old wall clock in the house, the strange ringing of which reminds Chichikov of the hissing of snakes; Korobochka treats him to simple Russian dishes: pies, pancakes, shanezhki.
Simplicity and patriarchy coexist in the landowner with extraordinary stupidity, ignorance, timidity and timidity. Korobochka is extremely slow-witted, unlike Sobakevich; for a long time she cannot figure out what the essence of Chichikov’s request is, and even asks him if he is going to dig up the dead. “Cudgel-headed,” Pavel Ivanovich thinks about her, seeing that his “eloquence” is powerless here. With great difficulty, he manages to convince Nastasya Petrovna to sell him dead souls. However, Korobochka immediately tries to negotiate with Chichikov about contracts in order to sell him flour in the future, lard, bird feathers.
As we have already noted, Gogol constantly emphasizes the recognition of Korobochka and the wide prevalence of this type of people in life. “Is the abyss really that great separating her from her sister, inaccessibly fenced off by the walls of an aristocratic house, ... yawning over an unread book in anticipation of a witty social visit, where she will have the opportunity to show off her mind and express her thoughts ... not about what is happening in her estates, confused and upset, ... but about what political revolution is being prepared in France, what direction fashionable Catholicism has taken.”
In addition to Korobochka, Gogol introduces readers to the spouses of Manilov and Sobakevich, who are, as it were, a continuation of their husbands.
Manilova is a boarding school graduate. She is pretty, “dressed to suit”, and kind to others. She doesn’t do housework at all, although “there are many different requests that could be made”: “Why, for example, do you cook stupidly and uselessly in the kitchen? Why is the pantry pretty empty? Why is a housekeeper a thief? “But all these are low subjects, and Manilova was well brought up,” Gogol ironically remarks. Manilova is dreamy and sentimental, she is just as far from reality as her husband. The heroine has not a drop of common sense: she allows her husband to name the children ancient Greek names Themistoclus and Alcides, not realizing how comical these names are for Russian life.
Sobakevich’s wife is “a very tall lady, wearing a cap, with ribbons repainted home paint" Feodulia Ivanovna somewhat resembles her clumsy, phlegmatic husband: she is calm and calm, her movements resemble those of actresses “representing queens.” She stands straight, “like a palm tree.” Sobakevich's wife is not as elegant as Manilova, but she is economical and practical, neat and homely. Like Korobochka, Feodulia Ivanovna is not concerned with “high matters”; the Sobakevichs live in the old way, rarely going into the city.
“City ladies” are most clearly represented in Gogol in two collective images- a “pleasant” lady (Sofia Ivanovna) and a “pleasant in all respects” lady (Anna Grigorievna).
Anna Grigorievna’s manners are simply “amazing”: “every movement” comes out “with taste”, she loves poetry, sometimes she even knows how to “dreamily... hold her head.” And this turns out to be enough for society to conclude that she is “like a pleasant lady in all respects.” Sofya Ivanovna does not have such elegant manners and therefore receives the definition of “simply pleasant.”
The description of these heroines is thoroughly imbued with the author's satire. These ladies observe “secular etiquette” and are concerned about the “impeccability of their own reputation,” but their conversations are primitive and vulgar. They talk about fashions, dresses, materials, as if they were significant objects. As N.L. Stepanov notes, “the very exaggeration and expansiveness with which ladies talk about insignificant things ... produces a comic impression.” Both ladies love to gossip and slander. So, having discussed Chichikov’s purchase of dead peasants, Anna Grigorievna and Sofya Ivanovna come to the conclusion that, with the help of Nozdryov, he wants to take away the governor’s daughter. In a short time, these ladies set almost the entire city in motion, managing to “throw such a fog into everyone’s eyes that everyone, and especially the officials, remained stunned for some time.”
Gogol emphasizes the stupidity and absurdity of both heroines, the vulgarity of their activities and lifestyle, their affectation and hypocrisy. Anna Grigorievna and Sofya Ivanovna are happy to slander the governor’s daughter, condemning her “mannerness” and “immoral behavior.” The life of city ladies, in essence, is as meaningless and vulgar as the life of the landowners represented by Gogol.
I would especially like to dwell on the image of the governor’s daughter, who awakened Chichikov’s poetic dreams. This image is to some extent contrasted with all the other heroines of the poem. As E. A. Smirnova notes, this young girl was supposed to play her role in the spiritual revival of Chichikov. When Pavel Ivanovich meets her, he not only dreams about the future, but also “gets lost,” his usual insight betrays him (scene at the ball). The face of the governor’s daughter looks like an Easter egg; in this face there is light opposing the darkness of life. Chichikov looks at this light, and his soul “strives to remember the true good, a hint of which is contained in the harmonious beauty of the governor’s daughter, but his spiritual resources are too insignificant for this.”
Thus, there is not a single heroine in the poem who represents true virtue. The spirituality of the image of the governor's daughter was only outlined by Gogol. The rest of the heroines are described by the author satirically, with irony and sarcasm.
