Gogol became a masterpiece of Russian literature. She reveals to the reader all the intricacies of life in Rus'. After reading Gogol’s work, we can highlight not only the role of the main character, but also the city where he comes. Let's take a closer look at the image of the city in the poem Dead Souls and let’s figure out why the author doesn’t give it a specific name.
The image of the city in Gogol's poem
So, Chichikov ends up in a certain city to buy back all the dead peasants from the landowners. How does the provincial city appear in the poem? This place at first seems lively, an idle life takes place here, and the local aristocracy spends time at dinners and lunches. The reader is presented with an image of an energetic city with its bustle and hassle. But later, the reader understands that the image of the city is like a shadow, haze or fog. In fact, soulless people live here who spiritually died a long time ago. At the same time, city life depends on officials who turned out to be as faceless as the city itself.
The author does not give them names, and this is not necessary. After all, for an official, only rank, titles and position are important. In general, the image of administrative power is represented by poorly educated officials who were so-so enlightened and were considered the arbiters of destinies in a certain provincial city. All problems were solved with the help of bribes, and any business led to embezzlement and theft of the population. The wives of officials are as soulless as their husbands. Every now and then they go around the points, gossip, and spread rumors.
Revealing the image of the city in Dead souls, we can say that all the houses were gray and of the same type. As everywhere else, cockroaches were running around the hotel, the signs were faded and invited people to drinking establishments. This only says one thing: people in the city loved to drink and have fun.
Why is the city called N
Reading Gogol's poem, everyone could notice one feature. The author does not name the city. This is just some city N, which is located near Moscow and St. Petersburg. But why doesn’t the writer give it a specific name? Maybe of this city simply didn’t exist, that’s why there’s no name? But that's not the reason. Gogol does not give the city a name because his image was collective, and it was similar to any of those that really existed in the 30-40s of the 19th century. This is a real picture of Gogol’s contemporary Russia, with all its vices. Without giving the city a name, the author emphasizes that no matter what city you go to next, you will still see a picture typical of those times. With the same Sobakevichs, Manilovs and Plyushkins.
(end) The contrast between fussy external activity and internal ossification is striking. The life of the city is dead and meaningless, like the whole life of this madman modern world. The illogical features in the image of the city are taken to the limit: the story begins with them. Let us remember the dull, meaningless conversation between the men about whether the wheel will roll to Moscow or to Kazan; the comical idiocy of the signs “And here is the establishment”, “Foreigner Ivan Fedorov”... Do you think Gogol composed this?
Nothing of the kind! In the wonderful collection of essays on the everyday life of the writer E. Ivanov, “Apt Moscow Word,” an entire chapter is devoted to the texts of signs. The following are cited: “Kebab master from young Karachay lamb with Kakhetian wine.
Solomon", "Professor of chansonnet art Andrei Zakharovich Serpoletti". But here are completely "Gogolian": "Hairdresser Monsieur Joris-Pankratov", "Parisian hairdresser Pierre Musatov from London. Haircut, breeches and perms." Where does poor "Foreigner Ivan Fedorov" care?
But E. Ivanov collected curiosities at the beginning of the 20th century - that is, more than 50 years have passed since the creation of “Dead Souls”!
Both the “Parisian hairdresser from London” and “Monsieur Zhoris Pankratov” are the spiritual heirs of Gogol’s heroes. In many ways, the image of the provincial city in “Dead Souls” resembles the image of the city in “The Government Inspector”. But let's pay attention! - the scale has been enlarged. Instead of a town lost in the wilderness, from where “even if you drive for three years, you won’t reach any state,” the central city is “not far from both capitals.” Instead of small fry mayor - governor. But life is the same - empty, meaningless, illogical - “dead life”.
The artistic space of the poem consists of two worlds, which can be conventionally designated as the “real” world and the “ideal” world. The author builds the “real” world by recreating contemporary reality Russian life. In this world live Plyushkin, Nozdrev, Sobakevich, the prosecutor, the police chief and other heroes, who are original caricatures of Gogol’s contemporaries. D. S. Likhachev emphasized that “all the types created by Gogol were strictly localized in the social space of Russia. With all the universal human traits of Sobakevich or Korobochka, they are all still at the same time representatives of certain groups of the Russian population of the first half of the 19th century century."
According to the laws of the epic, Gogol recreates a picture of life in the poem, striving for maximum breadth of coverage. It is no coincidence that he himself admitted that he wanted to show “at least from one side, but all of Russia.” Having painted a picture of the modern world, creating caricatured masks of his contemporaries, in which the weaknesses, shortcomings and vices characteristic of the era are exaggerated, brought to the point of absurdity - and therefore at the same time disgusting and funny - Gogol achieves the desired effect: the reader saw how immoral his world is. And only then does the author reveal the mechanism of this distortion of life. The chapter “The Knight of the Penny,” placed at the end of the first volume, compositionally becomes an “inserted short story.” Why don't people see how vile their lives are?
But how can they understand this if the only and main instruction the boy received from his father, the spiritual covenant, is expressed in two words: “save a penny?” “The comic is hidden everywhere,” said N.V. Gogol.
Living among it, we do not see it: but if the artist transfers it into art, onto the stage, then we will laugh at ourselves." This principle artistic creativity he embodied in “Dead Souls”. After letting readers see how scary and comical their lives are, the author explains, why people They don’t feel it themselves; at best, they don’t feel it acutely enough. The author’s epic abstraction from what is happening in the “real” world is due to the scale of the task facing him to “show all of Rus'”, to let the reader see for himself, without the author’s instructions, what the world around him is like. The “ideal” world is built in strict accordance with true spiritual values, with that high ideal to which the human soul strives.
The author himself sees the “real” world so comprehensively precisely because he exists in a “different coordinate system”, lives according to the laws of the “ideal” world, judges himself and life according to higher criteria - by aspiration towards the Ideal, by proximity to it. The title of the poem contains the deepest philosophical meaning. Dead souls are nonsense, the combination of the incongruous is an oxymoron, for the soul is immortal. For the “ideal” world, the soul is immortal, for it is the embodiment of the Divine principle in man.
And in the “real” world there may well be a “dead soul”, because in this world the soul is only what distinguishes a living person from a dead person. In the episode of the prosecutor’s death, those around him realized that he “had a real soul” only when he became “only a soulless body.” This world is crazy - it has forgotten about the soul, and lack of spirituality is the cause of decay, the true and only one. Only with an understanding of this reason can the revival of Rus' begin, the return of lost ideals, spirituality, the soul in its true, highest meaning. The “ideal” world is the world of spirituality, the spiritual world of man.
There is no Plyushkin and Sobakevich in it, there cannot be Nozdryov and Korobochka. It contains souls - immortal human souls. It is ideal in every sense of the word, and therefore this world cannot be recreated epically. Spiritual world describes a different kind of literature - lyrics. That is why Gogol defines the genre of the work as lyrical-epic, calling “Dead Souls” a poem Let us remember that the poem begins with a meaningless conversation between two men: will the wheel reach Moscow; with a description of the dusty, gray, endlessly dreary streets of the provincial city; from all sorts of manifestations of human stupidity and vulgarity. The first volume of the poem ends with the image of Chichikov’s chaise, ideally transformed in the last lyrical digression into a symbol of the ever-living soul of the Russian people - the wonderful “bird-three”. The immortality of the soul is the only thing that instills in the author faith in the obligatory revival of his heroes - and of all life, therefore, of all Rus'.
Based on materials: Monakhova O. P.
Malkhazova M. V. Russian literature XIX century.
N.V. Gogol’s work “Dead Souls,” according to Herzen, is “an amazing book, a bitter reproach to modern Rus', but not hopeless.” Being a poem, it was intended to glorify Rus' in its deep folk foundations. But satirical accusatory pictures still prevail in it contemporary author reality.
As in the comedy “The Inspector General,” in “Dead Souls” Gogol uses the technique of typification. The action of the poem takes place in the provincial town of NN. which is a collective image. The author notes that “it was in no way inferior to other provincial cities.” This makes it possible to reproduce a complete picture of the morals of the entire country. The main character of the poem, Chichikov, draws attention to the typical “houses of one, two and one and a half floors, with an eternal mezzanine,” to “signs almost washed away by the rain,” to the inscription “Drinking House” that appears most often.
At first glance, it seems that the atmosphere of city life is somewhat different from the sleepy, serene and frozen spirit of landowner life. Constant balls, dinners, breakfasts, snacks and even trips to public places create an image full of energy and passion, vanity and trouble. But a closer look reveals that all this is illusory, meaningless, unnecessary, that the representatives of the top of urban society are faceless, spiritually dead, and their existence is aimless. “ Business card” of the city, the vulgar dandy who met Chichikov at the entrance to the city becomes: “... I met a young man in white rosin trousers, very narrow and short, in a tailcoat with attempts at fashion, from under which a shirtfront was visible, fastened with a Tula pin with a bronze pistol." This random character is the personification of tastes provincial society.
The life of the city depends entirely on numerous officials. The author paints an expressive portrait of administrative power in Russia. As if emphasizing the uselessness and facelessness of city officials, he gives them very brief characteristics. It is said about the governor that he “was neither fat nor thin, had Anna around his neck...; however, he was a great good-natured man and even embroidered on tulle himself.” It is known about the prosecutor that he had “very black thick eyebrows and a somewhat winking left eye.” It was noted about the postmaster that he was a “short” man, but “a wit and a philosopher.”
All officials have a low level of education. Gogol ironically calls them “more or less enlightened people,” because “some have read Karamzin, some have read Moskovskie Vedomosti, some have not even read anything at all...” Such are the provincial landowners. Both are almost related to each other. The author shows in his reflection on “thick and thin” how gradually state people, “having earned universal respect, leave the service... and become glorious landowners, glorious Russian bars, hospitable people, and live and live well.” This digression is an evil satire on robber officials and on the “hospitable” Russian bar, leading an idle existence, aimlessly smoking the sky.
Officials are a kind of arbiters of the destinies of the inhabitants of the provincial city. The solution to any, even small, issue depends on them. Not a single case was considered without bribes. Bribery, embezzlement and robbery of the population are constant and widespread phenomena. The police chief had only to blink, passing by the fish row, as “beluga, sturgeon, salmon, pressed caviar, freshly salted caviar, herrings, stellate sturgeon, cheeses, smoked tongues and balyks appeared on his table - this was all from the side of the fish row.”
The “servants of the people” are truly unanimous in their desire to live widely at the expense of the sums of their “tenderly beloved Fatherland.” They are equally irresponsible in their direct responsibilities. This is especially clearly shown when Chichikov executed deeds of sale for serfs. Sobakevich proposes to invite as witnesses the prosecutor, who “is probably sitting at home, since the lawyer Zolotukha, the greatest grabber in the world, does everything for him,” and the inspector of the medical board, as well as Trukhachevsky and Belushkin. According to Sobakevich’s apt remark, “they are all burdening the earth for nothing!” In addition, the author’s remark is characteristic that the chairman, at Chichikov’s request, “could extend and shorten ... his presence, like the ancient Zeus.”
The central place in the characterization of the bureaucratic world is occupied by the episode of the death of the prosecutor. In just a few lines, Gogol managed to express the entire emptiness of the lives of these people. No one knows why the prosecutor lived and why he died, since he does not understand why he himself lives, what his purpose is.
When describing the life of the provincial city, the author special attention devotes itself to the women's party. First of all, these are the wives of officials. They are just as impersonal as their husbands. Chichikov notices not people at the ball, but huge amount luxurious dresses, ribbons, feathers. The author pays tribute to the taste of the provincial ladies: “This is not a province, this is the capital, this is Paris itself!”, but at the same time he exposes their imitative essence, noticing in places “a cap never seen on earth” or “almost a peacock feather.” “But it’s impossible without this, this is the property of a provincial city: somewhere it will certainly end.” A noble feature of provincial ladies is their ability to express themselves with “extraordinary caution and decency.” Their speech is elegant and ornate. As Gogol notes, “in order to further refine the Russian language, almost half of the words were completely thrown out of the conversation.”
The life of bureaucratic wives is idle, but they themselves are active, so gossip throughout the city spreads with amazing speed and takes on a terrifying appearance. Because of the ladies' gossip, Chichikov was recognized as a millionaire. But as soon as he stopped paying attention to the female society, absorbed in the sight of the governor’s daughter, the hero was credited with the idea of stealing the object of contemplation and many other terrible crimes.
The ladies of the city have enormous influence on their official husbands and not only make them believe incredible gossip, but are also able to turn them against each other. “Duels, of course, did not occur between them, because they were all civil officials, but one tried to harm the other wherever possible...”
All Gogol's heroes dream of achieving a certain ideal of life, which for most representatives of provincial society is seen in the image of the capital, brilliant St. Petersburg. Creating collective image Russian city of the 30-40s of the 19th century, the author combines the features of the province and characteristic features metropolitan life. Thus, mention of St. Petersburg occurs in every chapter of the poem. This image was outlined very clearly, without embellishment, in “The Tale of Captain Kopeikin.” Gogol notes with amazing frankness that it is absolutely impossible to live in this city, decorous, prim, drowning in luxury. little man, such as Captain Kopeikin. The writer speaks in “The Tale...” about the cold indifference of the powers that be to the troubles of an unfortunate disabled person, a participant in the Patriotic War of 1812. This is how the theme of contrasting state interests and the interests of the common man arises in the poem.
Gogol is sincerely indignant against the reigning social injustice, putting his indignation into satirical forms. In the poem he uses a “situation of delusion.” This helps him reveal certain aspects of the life of the provincial city. The author confronts all officials with one fact and reveals all the “sins” and crimes of each: arbitrariness in the service, lawlessness of the police, idle pastime and much more. All this is organically woven into general characteristics cities NN. and also emphasizes his collectivity. After all, all these vices were characteristic of modern Gogol's Russia. In “Dead Souls” the writer recreated real picture Russian life of the 30-40s XIX century, and this is his greatest merit.
1 The role of Pushkin in the creation of the poem.
2 Description of the city.
3 Officials of the provincial city of NN.
Description of the morals of the provincial town of NN. It is known that A. S. Pushkin was highly valued by N. V. Gogol. Moreover, the writer often perceived the poet as an adviser or even a teacher. It is to Pushkin that lovers of Russian literature owe a lot for the appearance of such immortal works of the writer as “The Inspector General” and “Dead Souls”.
In the first case, the poet simply suggested a simple plot to the satirist, but in the second he made him seriously think about how to imagine in small work an entire era. Alexander Sergeevich was confident that his younger friend would certainly cope with the task: “He always told me that not a single writer has ever had this gift to expose the vulgarity of life so clearly, to outline the vulgarity of a vulgar person with such force, so that all that trifle, which escapes the eye, would flash large in the eyes of everyone.” As a result, the satirist managed not to disappoint the great poet. Gogol quickly determined the concept of his new work, “Dead Souls,” using as a basis a fairly common type of fraud in the purchase of serfs. This action was filled with a more significant meaning, being one of the main characteristics of the entire social system of Russia under the reign of Nicholas.
The writer thought for a long time about what his work was. Quite soon he came to the conclusion that “Dead Souls” is an epic poem, since it “embraces not some features, but the entire era of time, among which the hero acted with the way of thoughts, beliefs and even knowledge that humanity had made at that time " The concept of the poetic is not limited in the work only to lyricism and author’s digressions. Nikolai Vasilyevich aimed at more: the volume and breadth of the plan as a whole, its universality. The action of the poem takes place approximately in the middle of the reign of Alexander I, after the victory in Patriotic War 1812. That is, the writer returns to the events of twenty years ago, which gives the poem the status of a historical work.
Already on the first pages of the book, the reader meets the main character - Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov, who, on personal business, stopped by the provincial town of NN, which is no different from other similar cities. The guest noticed that “the yellow paint on the stone houses was very striking and the gray paint on the wooden ones was modestly dark. The houses were one, two and one and a half floors with an eternal mezzanine, very beautiful, according to the provincial architects. In some places these houses seemed lost among the streets as wide as a field and endless wooden fences; in some places they huddled together, and here there was more noticeable movement of people and liveliness.” All the time emphasizing the ordinariness of this place and its similarity with many other provincial cities, the author hinted that the life of these settlements was probably also not much different. This means that the city began to acquire a completely general character. And so, in the imagination of readers, Chichikov no longer ends up in a specific place, but in some collective image of the cities of the Nicholas era: “In some places, there were tables with nuts, soap and gingerbreads that looked like soap on the street... Most often, darkened two-headed state eagles, which have now been replaced by a laconic inscription: “Drinking house.” The pavement was pretty bad everywhere.”
Even in the description of the city, the author emphasizes the hypocrisy and deceit of the inhabitants of the city, or rather, its managers. So, Chichikov looks into the city garden, consisting of thin trees that have taken root poorly, but the newspapers said that “our city has been decorated, thanks to the care of the civil ruler, with a garden consisting of shady, wide-branched trees that provide coolness on a hot day.”
Governor of the city of NN. like Chichikov, he was “neither fat nor thin, had Anna on his neck, and it was even rumored that he was introduced to a star, however, he was a great good-natured person and sometimes even embroidered on tulle.” On the very first day of his stay in the city, Pavel Ivanovich visited all secular society, and everywhere he managed to find common language with new friends. Of course, Chichikov’s ability to flatter and the narrow-mindedness of local officials played no small role in this: “They will somehow casually hint to the governor that you are entering his province as if you are entering paradise, the roads are velvet everywhere... He said something very flattering to the police chief about the city guards; and in conversations with the vice-governor and the chairman of the chamber, who were still only state councilors, he even said twice in error: “Your Excellency,” which they liked very much.” This was quite enough for everyone to recognize the newcomer as a completely pleasant and decent person and invite him to the governor’s party, where the “cream” of local society gathered.
The writer ironically compared the guests of this event to squadrons of flies that fly around on white refined sugar in the midst of the July summer. Chichikov did not lose face here either, but behaved in such a way that soon all officials and landowners recognized him as a decent and most pleasant person. Moreover, this opinion was dictated not by any good deeds of the guest, but solely by his ability to flatter everyone. Already this fact eloquently testified to the development and morals of the inhabitants of the city of NN. Describing the ball, the author divided the men into two categories: “... some thin, who all hovered around the ladies; some of them were of such a kind that it was difficult to distinguish them from St. Petersburg... The other kind of men were fat or the same as Chichikov... These, on the contrary, looked sideways and backed away and looked only around... These were honorary officials in the city " The writer immediately concluded: “...fat people know how to manage their affairs in this world better than thin ones.”
Moreover, many representatives of high society were not without education. So, the chairman of the chamber recited “Lyudmila” by V. A. Zhukovsky by heart, the police chief was a wit, others also read N. M. Karamzin, some “Moskovskie Vedomosti”. In other words, the good level of education of officials was questionable. However, this did not at all prevent them from managing the city and, if necessary, jointly protecting their interests. That is, a special class was formed in a class society. Supposedly freed from prejudice, officials distorted the laws in their own way. In the city of NN. as in other similar cities, they enjoyed unlimited power. The police chief only had to blink when passing a fish row, and the ingredients for preparing a sumptuous dinner would be brought to his home. It was the customs and not too strict morals of this place that allowed Pavel Ivanovich to achieve his goals so quickly. Very soon main character became the owner of four hundred dead souls. The landowners, without thinking and caring about their own benefit, willingly gave up their goods to him, and at the lowest price: dead serfs peasants are in no way needed on the farm. Chichikov didn’t even need to make any effort to make deals with them. The officials also did not ignore the most pleasant guest and even offered him their help for the safe delivery of the peasants to their place. Pavel Ivanovich made only one serious miscalculation, which led to trouble; he outraged the local ladies with his indifference to their persons and increased attention to the young beauty. However, this does not change the opinion of local officials about the guest. Only when Nozdryov blabbed in front of the governor that the new person was trying to buy dead souls from him, did high society think about it. But even here it was not common sense that guided, but gossip, growing like a snowball. That is why Chichikov began to be credited with the kidnapping of the governor’s daughter, and the organization of a peasant revolt, and the production of counterfeit coins. Only now have officials begun to feel so concerned about Pavel Ivanovich that many of them have even lost weight. As a result, society generally comes to an absurd conclusion: Chichikov is Napoleon in disguise. The inhabitants of the city wanted to arrest the main character, but they were very afraid of him. This dilemma led to the prosecutor's death. All this unrest is unfolding behind the guest’s back, since he is sick and does not leave the house for three days. And it doesn’t occur to any of his new friends to just talk to Chichikov. Having learned about the current situation, the main character ordered to pack his things and left the city. In his poem, Gogol showed as completely and vividly as possible the vulgarity and baseness of the morals of the provincial cities of that time. Ignorant people in power in such places set the tone for the entire local society. Instead of managing the province well, they held balls and parties, solving their personal problems at public expense.
THE IMAGE OF THE CITY IN N.V. GOGOL'S POEM. Compositionally, the poem “Dead Souls” consists of three externally closed, but internally interconnected circles - landowners, the city, Chichikov’s biography, united by the image of the road, plot-related by the main character’s scam.
But the middle link - the life of the city - itself consists, as it were, of narrowing circles gravitating towards the center; this is a graphic representation of the provincial hierarchy. It is interesting that in this hierarchical pyramid the governor, embroidering on tulle, looks like a puppet figure. True life is in full swing in the civil chamber, in the “temple of Themis.” And this is natural for administrative-bureaucratic Russia. Therefore, the episode of Chichikov’s visit to the chamber becomes central, the most significant in the theme of the city.
The description of presence is the apotheosis of Gogol's irony. The author recreates the true sanctuary Russian Empire in all its funny, ugly form, reveals all the power and at the same time the weakness of the bureaucratic machine. Gogol’s mockery is merciless: before us is a temple of bribery, his only “living nerve.”
In this supposed temple, in this citadel of depravity, the image of Hell is being revived - albeit vulgarized, comical - but truly Russian Hell. A peculiar Virgil also appears - he turns out to be a “petty demon” - a chamber official who “served our friend, as Virgil once served Dante, and led them into the presence room, where there were only wide armchairs and in them in front of the table, behind a mirror and two The chairman sat alone, like the sun, with thick books. In this place Virgil felt such reverence that he did not dare to put his foot there...” How brilliant is Gogol’s irony! How incomparable is the chairman - the “sun” of the civil chamber! How inimitably comical is this wretched Paradise, before which the college registrar is seized with sacred awe! And the funniest thing is as well as the most tragic and terrible! - that the newly-minted Virgil truly honors the chairman as the sun, his office as Paradise, his guests as holy Angels...
How diminished, how exhausted souls are in such a world! How pitiful and insignificant are their ideas about the concepts fundamental to a Christian - Heaven, Hell, soul!
What is considered a soul is best shown in the episode of the death of the prosecutor: after all, those around him guessed that “the dead man definitely had a soul” only when he died and became “only a soulless body.” For them, the soul is a physiological concept! And this is a spiritual catastrophe.
In contrast to the quiet, measured life of a landowner, where time seems to stand still, the life of the city is in full swing and bubbling. But this life is illusory, it is not activity, but empty vanity. What stirred up the city, made everything in it move? Gossip about Chichikov. All this is funny and terrible at the same time. Idle talk that develops into spiritual emptiness - here main idea Gogol's city.
The contrast between bustling external activity and internal ossification is striking. The life of the city is dead and meaningless, like all the life of this crazy world. The illogical features in the image of the city are taken to the limit: the story begins with them. Remember the stupid, meaningless conversation of the men, the wheel will roll to Moscow or Kazan; the comical idiocy of the signs “And here is the establishment”, “Foreigner Ivan Fedorov”...
In many ways, the image of the provincial city in “Dead Souls” resembles the image of the city in “The Inspector General”. But the scale has been enlarged: instead of a town lost in the wilderness, from where “even if you drive for three years, you won’t reach any state,” the central city is “not far from both capitals.” Instead of the small fry of the mayor, there is a governor. But life - empty, illogical, meaningless - is the same: “dead life”.
