The image of Korobochka in the poem “Dead Souls. Abstract: The image of the landowner Korobochka in the poem by N.V. Gogol's "Dead Souls" Dead Souls description of the landowner box

N.V. poem " Dead Souls"Wrote for almost 17 years. Its plot was suggested to the writer A.S. He began working on this work in the fall of 1835, and finished writing it only in the spring of 1842. That same year, Dead Souls was published. The publication of this work caused fierce controversy in literary circles. Some in this poem saw slander against Russia of that time and argued that N.V. reflected in it only “ special world scoundrels,” others admired the poem.

After the publication of “Dead Souls” in May 1842, he immediately began creating the second part of the poem, and then planned to write the third part. However, the writer worked on the continuation until the end of his life; he wrote only the second part, but it was also burned. The poet planned that the first part would reflect the life of contemporary Russia with all its shortcomings and problems, such as the bureaucratic system, serfdom, illusory nature, loss of spirituality and much more. And in the second and third parts, he wanted to show the paths along which the country could be revived and the social and economic situation in it would change. The work of N.V. Gogol’s entire life was supposed to be an artistic search for the image of the person who in the future could become the master of a renewed Russia.

When starting work on the poem “Dead Souls,” N.V. set his main goal to reflect the situation that had developed in Russian society of that time - the author wanted to depict “albeit from one side all of Rus'.” The writer based the plot of the work on the adventures of Chichikov. This construction of the storyline allowed the author to talk about several landowners - typical representatives of society of that time. A separate chapter is devoted to each of the characters, and, according to Gogol, the heroes of his poem are “one more vulgar than the other.” One of these characters is the landowner Korobochka.

The very name of this heroine of the poem metaphorically expresses the entire calloused essence of her nature - distrustful, feeble-minded, fearful, stubborn, superstitious, thrifty, rather a stingy landowner. Korobochka is “one of those mothers, small landowners who cry about crop failures, losses and keep their heads somewhat to one side, and meanwhile they gradually collect little money into colorful bags... In one... rubles, in another fifty rubles, in the third quarters.” Her chest of drawers, in which bags of money lie among linen, skeins of thread and a torn cloak, resembles Korobochka’s very soul, her very nature. The landowner's animal narrow-mindedness, her pettiness life values and interests is outlined only by Korobochka’s concern for her own household and is emphasized by her bird and animal surroundings. These are neighbors - landowners Svinin and Bobrov, and “there were no numbers of turkeys and chickens.” The entire home furnishings, all the things in the landowner’s home, on the one hand, clearly show how naive and even primitive Korobochka’s idea of ​​comfort and beauty is, on the other hand, they reveal her amazing stinginess. “The room was hung with old striped wallpaper; paintings 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.”

In the image of the landowner Korobochka, N.V. embodied the most vicious human passions, the main of which in this person, as the writer put it, was her “club-headedness” and greed. The very stupid Korobochka is very afraid of selling the “dead souls” too cheap; she fears that Chichikov will deceive her. The landowner wants to wait, to protect herself, so as not to “somehow incur a loss.” Thinking too slowly, Korobochka at first believes that Chichikov is going to dig up the dead from the ground. Not paying attention special attention In response to her assumptions, out of habit, she is going to slip Chichikov honey and hemp instead of “dead souls,” the prices of which she knows well. And in relation to the “dead souls” Korobochka declares: “It’s better for me to wait a little, maybe the merchants will come, but I’ll apply it to the prices.” Then the landowner nevertheless decides to sell her “souls” out of superstition and fear, because Chichikov almost cursed her and promised her the devil himself - “get lost and be gone with your whole village!”

The image of one of the heroines of the poem “Dead Souls”, the landowner Korobochka, contains a rather typical for that time special type of “club-headed” stubborn person who is ossified in his limitations: “someone is both respectable and even a statesman, but in reality he turns out to be a perfect Korobochka. Once you’ve got something in your head, you can’t overpower it with anything.” Portraying all the narrow-mindedness, stupidity and greed of the landowner, N.V. tries to draw the attention of society to how badly it is affected by vices and to the fact that these vices should be gotten rid of as quickly as possible, trying to find the most painless and effective ways for this.

We meet Korobochka in the 3rd chapter of Gogol’s novel-poem “Dead Souls”. She is the second person Chichikov pays a visit to. In fact, Chichikov stopped by her estate by accident - the coachman got drunk, “played around,” as the author himself characterizes this event, and lost his way. Therefore, instead of Sobakevich main character meets the landowner Korobochka.

Let's look at the image of the Box in detail

She is a woman of respectable years, a widow, and a former “college secretary.” She lives alone on her estate and is completely absorbed in running the household. Most likely, she does not have her own children, since Gogol, in his description of the character, mentions that all her “trash” accumulated during her life will go to some great-niece.

It looks old-fashioned and a little ridiculous, “wearing a cap,” “flannel,” “something tied around the neck.”

Korobochka, unlike Manilov, successfully runs the farm herself. Through the eyes of Chichikov we see that the houses in her village are strong, the serf men are “hefty” (strong), there are many guard dogs, which indicates that this is a “decent village”. The yard is full of poultry, and behind the fence there are vegetable gardens - cabbage, beets, onions, potatoes. There are also fruit trees, carefully covered with nets from voracious magpies and sparrows. Stuffed animals were also installed for the same purpose. Gogol ironically notes that one of the stuffed animals was wearing the cap of the owner herself.

The peasants' houses were maintained and updated - Chichikov saw new planks on the roofs, gates stood straight everywhere, and there were carts in some courtyards. That is, the owner's care is visible everywhere. In total, Korobochka has 80 serfs, 18 died, which the owner greatly laments - they were good workers.

Korobochka does not allow the serfs to be lazy - Chichikov’s feather bed was expertly fluffed, in the morning, when he returns to the living room where he spent the night, everything is already tidied up; the table is full of baked goods.

The fact that the landowner has order all around and everything is under her personal control, we see from the dialogue about the purchase of dead souls - she remembers all the dead peasants by first and last names, she doesn’t even keep any records.

Despite the fact that Korobochka loves to complain about how bad things are, her estate also had surpluses that were sold to merchants and resellers. From the dialogue with Chichikov, we learn that the landowner sells honey, hemp, feathers, meat, flour, cereals, and lard. She knows how to bargain, sells a pound of honey at a very high price, as much as 12 rubles, which Chichikov is very surprised by.

Nastasya Petrovna is thrifty and even a little stingy. Despite the fact that things are going well at the estate, the furnishings in the house are very modest, the wallpaper is old, the clock is creaky. Despite polite treatment and hospitality, Korobochka did not offer the guest dinner, citing the late hour. And in the morning he offers Chichikov only tea, albeit with fruit infusion. Only after feeling the benefit - when Chichikov promised to buy “household products” from her - Korobochka decided to appease him and ordered him to bake a pie and pancakes. She also set the table with various pastries.

Gogol writes that her “dress will not burn and will not fray on its own.” Complaining about poverty and crop failures, she nevertheless puts money in “motley bags”, which she stuffs into dresser drawers. All coins are carefully sorted - “rules, fifty rubles, devils” are laid out separately in bags. The old landowner tries to find benefits in everything - noticing Chichikov’s stamped paper, she asks him to “give him a piece of paper.”

The box is pious and superstitious. During a thunderstorm, he puts a candle in front of the icon and prays; gets scared when Chichikov mentions the devil in conversation.

She is not very smart and a little suspicious, she is very afraid of making a mistake and selling herself short. She doubts the deal with Chichikov and does not want to sell him dead souls, even though she has to pay for them as if they were alive. He naively thinks that other merchants can come and offer a better price. This deal completely exhausted Chichikov, and during the negotiations he calls Korobochka mentally and out loud “strong-headed”, “club-headed”, “mongrel in the manger” and “damned old woman”.

The image of Korobochka is interesting because it is a fairly common type in Russia during the time of Gogol. Its main features - stubbornness, stupidity and narrow-mindedness, were also inherent in real individuals - some officials and civil servants. The author writes about such people that you seem to see a respectable and statesmanlike person, but in reality it turns out to be a “perfect Korobochka.” Arguments and reasons bounce off them like a rubber ball.

The description of the landowner ends with a reflection on the topic: is it possible to believe that Korobochka stands at the very bottom of the “ladder of human improvement”? Gogol compares her to an aristocratic sister living in a rich and elegant house, who reads books, attends social events, and her thoughts are occupied by “fashionable Catholicism” and political upheavals in France, and not by economic affairs. The author does not give a specific answer to this question; the reader must answer it himself.

Let us summarize the main characteristics of the image of the Box

Economic

Has business acumen

Practical

Lean

Petty

Hypocritical

Suspicious

Limited

Only cares about his own benefit

Obsessed with hoarding

Religious, but without real spirituality

Superstitious

The symbolism of the landowner's surname

Symbolism is an important artistic tool in the hands of a writer. In Gogol's poem "Dead Souls" all the names of the landowners are symbolic. Our heroine is no exception. Korobochka is a diminutive derivative of the word “box”, that is, inanimate object. Likewise, in the image of Korobochka there are few living features, she is turned to the past, there is no real life, no development - personal, spiritual. A real "dead soul".

People store various things in the box - and Korobochka is absorbed in hoarding solely for the sake of money itself, she does not have any global goal on what this money can be spent on. She just puts them in bags.

Well, the walls of the box are solid, just like Korobochka’s mind. She is stupid and limited.

As for the diminutive suffix, the author may have wanted to show the character’s harmlessness and some comedy.

The poem “Dead Souls” by N.V. Gogol invites its readers to plunge into a huge variety of completely different and dissimilar heroes. One of the most striking and important characters is the landowner Korobochka; her image is revealed in the third chapter of the work.

The first meeting of the main character of the poem, Chichikov, and Korobochka occurs completely by accident, when Pavel Ivanovich loses his way to Sobakevich due to bad weather. Chichikov arrives at Korobochka’s estate, in a village off the main road, and stays with her overnight, which is how they meet.

She was an elderly woman, in shabby clothes, who completely devotes her life to farming, which she runs on her estate. Despite the fact that she has only 80 peasant souls at her disposal, her estate can boast of good condition: strong and well-kept houses, strong and healthy men.

Korobochka lives by selling products produced on her estate, such as honey and hemp. She earns quite a lot from this, she tries to make a profit from everything, she has enough for a comfortable life, nevertheless, the landowner likes to complain about life, become poor and underestimate her income. The box is selfish, greedy, stingy, since it did not feed the guest on the road, distrustful and shows excessive suspicion of people. Nevertheless, Korobochka, in her prosperous household, shows hospitality when she gives Chichikov clean clothes, washes dirty ones, and sends a girl to scratch his heel and fluff his pillow.

The landowner Korobochka collects and stores rubbish, her whole life is one of continuous hoarding, and mustiness reigns in her estate. Also, the interior of her house seems quite old-fashioned to Chichikov, as if he was frozen somewhere in time. Nastasya Petrovna believes in both God and the devil, and sometimes tells fortunes with cards. When Chichikov wakes up, he sees a lot of flies, which once again emphasizes old age. Little is known about Korobochka’s family; she is a widow and has no children. In the process of communicating with the landowner, Chichikov begins to lose his temper; he wants to leave her estate as quickly as possible in order to get rid of her.

Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol calls the landowner an oakhead, because after selling dead souls to Pavel Ivanovich, she goes to the city to find out the true price in order to find out whether she was deceived.

Overall, representing one of the most bright images, Nastasya Petrovna is an ordinary and simple landowner.

Option 2

The poem is presented in the form of a trip by the main character around Russia, where she is shown with all her hardships and problems. The author showed native land with all its hardships, revealed the reason for the difficult situation of the Russian people and, with the help of satire, exposed the flaws of the existing system. We see how Chichikov, traveling through the southern provinces, wants to inexpensively buy up dead serfs in order to fraudulently get rich and not have to work.

He visits various landowners, among whom Korobochka especially stands out, who is a wealthy landowner, ready to trade with everything her heart desires, including deceased peasants.

Clueless Nastasya Petrovna thinks that she will need to dig up the dead from their graves, and this does not stop her. She intends to do everything just to get a reward. Chichikov, from the first minute, understanding the woman’s character, immediately began to talk with her more freely than with Manilov. He even shouted at her when Korobochka listened to him distractedly. After all, one thing was spinning in her thoughts, just not to give away the dead cheaply, and the rest did not bother her at all.

Korobochka is a powerful lady, she lives by subsistence farming, and at the same time understands how money is obtained. The intelligence of her development wants to leave the best. She can tell you how to protect trees with ripe fruits from birds, but she cannot explain why this had to be done. Her whole appearance suggests that she is not only stupid, but also sloppy. Moreover, it is full of superstitions. The box believes in fortune telling and all sorts of evil spirits that may appear in the house after midnight. And in her speech, various words slip through, characteristic of a religious person.

Her whole house looks like a box containing a lot of antiques. When you look at her, you are surprised at how greedy Nastasya Petrovna is. She does not have her own children, and there are no relatives to whom all affairs and property can be transferred, and who needed to be introduced to society. And still, she wants more and more capital.

Korobochka's useless hoarding is almost sinister. She saves money for its own sake, and is not afraid to even sell dead people, just so as not to make a mistake. All her coins are put into different colorful bags, which she takes out and counts every day. Her range of interests is also small. Basically, she communicates only with those people with whom she consults on trading issues.

Little by little, Gogol will lead us to how the desire to get rich, the creation of capital by any means, the endless exploitation of the peasants kills the soul of the landowners. They lose their human appearance. In the image of Korobochka he showed new features of capitalist society.

Essay about landowner Korobochka

Gogol's poem can be read at the most different levels, the author put many different layers of meaning into his creation. If we look at Korobochka superficially, then we have a satire on stupidity and patriarchal way of life, a parody of limited personality and excessive practicality, a heroine who surprises with her simplicity.

Gogol emphasizes the simplicity of Korobochka in her speech, which is full of simple and even primitive expressions and, as it were, naively naked. Only children or poorly educated people can speak like this without any embarrassment. The landowner is not distinguished by an exalted mind, but she has quite valuable practical knowledge, these details are also noted, for example, the nets that preserve fruit trees.

Thus, Gogol describes the figure of the down-to-earth people, common people without romanticization. These people, in reality, can be absurd and rude, sit and argue where the wheel will roll, know how to buy and sell more profitably. These people have no idea of ​​anything other than their own little world and are not going to get out of there, mired in the swamp of a banal and primitive existence.

If you look at Korobochka in the context of the symbolic series that the author offers, then this heroine appears as a kind of mystical figure who personifies such mystical heroes as Baba Yaga. For Chichikov, the trip to Korobochka is associated with images of death and afterlife experience. Before arriving, he falls into the ground (an image of a burial), when he wakes up, there are flies sitting on his face (like on a corpse), and if you follow the text, Gogol gives similar hints in almost every phrase.

Korobochka, like the magical old woman from Russian fairy tales, lives in the outskirts and is connected with otherworldly forces. In this reading, lamentations, signs in which she believes (making fortunes on cards, for example) and interior details (for example, fortune telling cards) receive a completely new reading and become unique attributes of the sorceress.

One of the main characters of the work is the best friend of the key character, Dmitry Nekhlyudov.

Our world is great, and the behavior of people in it is even greater and more diverse. It has so happened for thousands of years that we are born beautiful and ugly - both in body and soul.

Introduction

§1. The principle of constructing images of landowners in the poem

§2. Image of the Box

§3. Artistic detail as a means

character characteristics

§4. Korobochka and Chichikov.

Conclusion

List of used literature

Introduction

The poem “Dead Souls” was created by N.V. Gogol for about 17 years. Its plot was suggested by A.S. Pushkin. Gogol began working on the poem in the fall of 1835, and on May 21, 1842, “Dead Souls” appeared in print. The publication of Gogol's poem caused fierce controversy: some admired it, others saw in it slander against modern Russia and the “special world of scoundrels.” Gogol worked on the continuation of the poem until the end of his life, writing the second volume (which was later burned) and planning to create a third volume.

According to the writer’s plan, the poem should have depicted not only contemporary Russia with all its problems and shortcomings (serfdom, bureaucratic system, loss of spirituality, illusory nature, etc.), but also the basis on which the country could be reborn in a new social -economic situation. The poem “Dead Souls” was supposed to be an artistic search for a “living soul” - the type of person who could become the owner new Russia.

Gogol based the composition of the poem on the architectonics of Dante’s “Divine Comedy” - the hero’s journey, accompanied by a guide (the poet Virgil), first through the circles of hell, then, through purgatory, through the spheres of heaven. On this journey, the lyrical hero of the poem met the souls of people burdened with sins (in the circles of hell) and marked with grace (in paradise). Dante's poem was a gallery of types of people embodied in artistic images famous characters mythology and history. Gogol also wanted to create a large-scale work that would reflect not only the present of Russia, but also its future. “...How huge, original story... All of Rus' will appear in it!..” - wrote Gogol to Zhukovsky. But for the writer it was important to depict not the external side of Russian life, but its “soul” - the internal state of human spirituality. Following Dante, he created a gallery of types of people from different segments of the population and classes (landowners, officials, peasants, metropolitan society), in which psychological, class, and spiritual traits were reflected in a generalized form. Each of the characters in the poem is both a typical and a clearly individualized character - with his own characteristics of behavior and speech, attitude to the world and moral values. Gogol's skill was manifested in the fact that his poem “Dead Souls” is not just a gallery of types of people, it is a collection of “souls”, among which the author is looking for a living one, capable of further development.

Gogol was going to write a work consisting of three volumes (in accordance with the architectonics of Dante’s “Divine Comedy”): “hell” of Russia, “purgatory” and “paradise” (future). When the first volume was published, the controversy that flared up around the work, especially negative assessments, shocked the writer, he went abroad and began work on the second volume. But the work was very difficult: Gogol’s views on life, art, and religion changed; he experienced a spiritual crisis; friendly ties with Belinsky were severed, who harshly criticized ideological position writer, expressed in “Selected Passages from Correspondence with Friends.” The second volume, practically written, was burned in a moment of mental crisis, then restored, and nine days before his death, the writer again set fire to the white manuscript of the poem. The third volume remained only in the form of an idea.

For Gogol - a deeply religious man and an original writer - the most important thing was the spirituality of man, his moral basis, and not just the external social circumstances in which contemporary Russia was located. He perceived both Rus' and its fate like a son, deeply experiencing everything that he observed in reality. Gogol saw Russia’s way out of the spiritual crisis not in economic and social transformations, but in the revival of morality, the cultivation true values, including Christian ones, in the souls of people. Therefore, the assessment that the work received in democratically minded criticism and which for a long time determined the perception of the first volume of the novel - a critical image of Russian reality, the “hell” of feudal Russia - does not exhaust the concept, plot, or poetics of the poem. Thus, the problem of the philosophical and spiritual content of the work and the definition of the main philosophical conflict in the images of “Dead Souls” arises.

The purpose of our work is to analyze one of the images of the poem from the point of view of the main philosophical conflict of the poem - the landowner Korobochka.

The main research method is literary analysis episode of Chichikov's meeting with Korobochka. and analysis and interpretation of artistic details.

§1. The principle of constructing images of landowners in the poem

Home philosophical problem The poem “Dead Souls” is the problem of life and death in the human soul. This is indicated by the name itself - “dead souls”, which reflects not only the meaning of Chichikov’s adventure - the purchase of “dead”, i.e. peasants existing only on paper, in revision tales, but also, in a broader, generalized sense, the degree of deadness of the soul of each of the characters in the poem. The main conflict - life and death - is localized in the internal area, spiritual plan. And then the composition of the first volume of the poem is divided into three parts, which form a ring composition: Chichikov’s arrival in the district town and communication with officials - a journey from landowner to landowner “according to his own need” - return to the city, scandal and departure from the city. Thus, the central motif that organizes the entire work is the motif of travel. wanderings. Wandering as the plot basis of the work is characteristic of Russian literature and reflects the idea of ​​searching for high meaning and truth, continuing the tradition of “walking” of Old Russian literature.

Chichikov travels through the Russian outback, through provincial towns and estates in search of “dead” souls, and the author accompanying the hero is in search of a “living” soul. Therefore, the gallery of landowners appearing before the reader in the first volume is a natural sequence human types, among whom the author is looking for someone who is capable of becoming the real master of the new Russia and reviving it economically, without destroying morality and spirituality. The sequence in which the landowners appear before us is built on two foundations: on the one hand, the degree of deadness of the soul (in other words, is the human soul alive) and sinfulness (let’s not forget about the “circles of hell”, where souls are arranged according to the severity of their sins) ; on the other hand, the opportunity to be reborn, to gain vitality, which Gogol understands as spirituality.

In the sequence of images of landowners, these two lines combine and create a double structure: each subsequent character is in a lower “circle”, the degree of his sin is heavier, death in his soul increasingly replaces life, and at the same time, each subsequent character is closer to rebirth, because According to Christian philosophy, the lower a person has fallen, the heavier his sin, the greater his suffering, the closer he is to salvation. The correctness of this interpretation is confirmed by the fact that, firstly, each subsequent landowner has more and more detailed history previous life (and if a person has a past, then a future is possible), secondly, in excerpts from the burned second volume and sketches for the third, it is known that Gogol was preparing a revival for two characters - the scoundrel Chichikov and the “hole in humanity” Plyushkin, those. to those who are in the first volume at the very bottom of spiritual “hell”.

Therefore, we will consider the image of the landowner Korobochka from several positions:

How do life and death compare in the character’s soul?

What is Korobochka’s “sin”, and why is she between Manilov and Nozdryov?

How close is she to revival?

§2. Image of the Box

Nastasya Petrovna Korobochka is a landowner, the widow of a college secretary, a very thrifty and thrifty elderly woman. Her village is small, but everything in it is in good order, the farm is flourishing and, apparently, brings in a good income. Korobochka compares favorably with Manilov: she knows all her peasants (“... she didn’t keep any notes or lists, but knew almost all of them by heart”), speaks of them as good workers (“all are nice people, all workers”), she herself works housekeeping - “she fixed her eyes on the housekeeper,” “little by little she moved into economic life.” Judging by the fact that, when asking Chichikov who he is, she lists those people with whom she constantly communicates: assessor, merchants, archpriest, her social circle is small and is associated mainly with economic affairs - trade and payment of state taxes.

Apparently, she rarely goes to the city and does not communicate with her neighbors, because when asked about Manilov, he replies that there is no such landowner and names ancient noble families, which are more appropriate in the classic comedy of the 18th century - Bobrov, Kanapatiev, Pleshakov, Kharpakin. In the same row is the surname Svinin, which draws a direct parallel with Fonvizin’s comedy “The Minor” (Mitrofanushka’s mother and uncle are Svinin).

Korobochka’s behavior, her address to the guest “father”, the desire to serve (Chichikov called himself a nobleman), to treat him, to arrange for an overnight stay as best as possible - all this characteristic features images provincial landowners in works of the 18th century. Mrs. Prostakova behaves the same way when she finds out that Starodum is a nobleman and has been accepted at court.

Korobochka, it would seem, is devout; in her speeches there are constantly sayings and expressions characteristic of a believer: “The power of the cross is with us!”, “Apparently, God sent him as a punishment,” but there is no special faith in her. When Chichikov persuades her to sell the dead peasants, promising profit, she agrees and begins to “calculate” the profit. Korobochka's confidant is the son of the archpriest, who serves in the city.

The landowner's only entertainment when she is not busy with her household is fortune-telling on cards - “I decided to make fortunes on cards at night after prayer...”. And she spends her evenings with the maid.

Korobochka's portrait is not as detailed as the portraits of other landowners and seems to be stretched out: first Chichikov hears the “hoarse woman's voice” of the old servant; then “again some woman, younger than before, but very similar to her”; when he was shown into the rooms and he had time to look around, a lady came in - “an elderly woman, in some kind of sleeping cap, put on hastily, with a flannel around her neck, ....” The author emphasizes Korobochka’s old age, then Chichikov directly calls her an old woman to himself. The appearance of the housewife in the morning does not change much - only the sleeping cap disappears: “She was dressed better than yesterday - in a dark dress ( widow!) and no longer in a sleeping cap ( but apparently there was still a cap on his head - a day cap), but there was still something tied around the neck" ( end fashion XVIII century – fishyu, i.e. a small scarf that partially covered the neckline and the ends of which were tucked into the neckline of the dress).

The author's description, which follows the portrait of the hostess, on the one hand emphasizes the typicality of the character, on the other hand, gives a comprehensive description: “one of those mothers, small landowners who cry when the harvest fails ( it is with words about crop failure and bad times that the business conversation between Korobochka and Chichikov begins), losses and keep your head somewhat to one side, and meanwhile they collect a little money in colorful bags placed on the drawers of the chest of drawers. All the rubles are taken into one bag, fifty rubles into another, quarters into the third, although from the outside it seems as if there is nothing in the chest of drawers except linen, night blouses, skeins of thread, and a torn cloak, which can then turn into a dress if the old one will somehow burn out while baking holiday cakes with all sorts of yarn, or it will wear out on its own. But the dress will not burn or fray on its own; thrifty old lady..." This is exactly what Korobochka is, so Chichikov immediately does not stand on ceremony and gets down to business.

An important role in understanding the image of the landowner is played by the description of the estate and the decoration of the rooms in the house. This is one of the characterization techniques that Gogol uses in “Dead Souls”: the image of all landowners consists of the same set of descriptions and artistic details - the estate, rooms, interior details or significant objects, an indispensable feast (in one form or another - from a full dinner , like Sobakevich, before Plyushkin’s offer of Easter cake and wine), the owner’s manners and behavior during business negotiations and after them, attitude towards an unusual transaction, etc.

Korobochka's estate is distinguished by its strength and contentment; it is immediately clear that she is a good housewife. The courtyard into which the room's windows overlook is filled with birds and “all kinds of domestic creatures”; further on you can see vegetable gardens with “household vegetables”; fruit trees are covered with bird nets, and stuffed animals on poles are also visible - “one of them was wearing the owner’s cap.” Peasant huts also show the wealth of their inhabitants. In a word, Korobochka’s farm is clearly thriving and generating sufficient profit. And the village itself is not small - eighty souls.

The description of the estate is divided into two parts - at night, in the rain, and during the day. The first description is scanty, motivated by the fact that Chichikov drives up in the dark, during heavy rain. But in this part of the text there is also an artistic detail, which, in our opinion, is essential for the further narrative - a mention of the external villa of the house: “stopped<бричка>in front of a small house, which was difficult to see in the darkness. Only one half of it was illuminated by the light coming from the windows; a puddle was still visible in front of the house, which was directly hit by the same light.” Chichikov is also greeted by the barking of dogs, which indicates that “the village was decent.” The windows of a house are a kind of eyes, and eyes, as we know, are the mirror of the soul. Therefore, the fact that Chichikov drives up to the house in the dark, only one window is illuminated and the light from it falls into a puddle, speaks, most likely, about the poverty of inner life, about the focus on one side of it, about the mundane aspirations of the owners of this house.

The “daytime” description, as mentioned earlier, emphasizes precisely this one-sidedness of Korobochka’s inner life - the focus only on economic activity, thrift and thrift.

IN brief description The rooms are primarily noted for the antiquity of their decoration: “the room was hung with old striped wallpaper; paintings 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...". In this description, two features clearly stand out - linguistic and artistic. Firstly, the synonyms “old”, “vintage” and “old” are used; secondly, the set of objects that catch Chichikov’s eye during a brief examination also indicates that the people living in such rooms are more drawn to the past than to the present. What is important is that flowers are mentioned several times (on the watch dial, leaves on the mirror frames) and birds. If we recall the history of the interior, we can find out that such a “design” is typical for the Rococo era, i.e. for the second half of the 18th century.

Later in the episode, the description of the room is supplemented by one more detail, which confirms the “antiqueness” of Korobochka’s life: Chichikov discovers in the morning two portraits on the wall - Kutuzov and “some old man with red cuffs on his uniform, as they were sewn on under Pavel Petrovich

In the conversation about the purchase of “dead” souls, the whole essence and character of Korobochka is revealed. At first, she cannot understand what Chichikov wants from her - dead peasants have no economic value, and therefore cannot be sold. When she realizes that the deal can be profitable for her, then bewilderment gives way to another - the desire to get the maximum benefit from the sale: after all, if someone wants to buy the dead, therefore, they are worth something and are the subject of bargaining. That is, dead souls become for her on a par with hemp, honey, flour and lard. But she has already sold everything else (as we know, quite profitably), and this is a new and unknown business for her. The desire not to undercut the price is triggered: “I started to be very afraid that this buyer would somehow cheat her,” “I was afraid at first, so as not to somehow incur a loss. Maybe you, my father, are deceiving me, but they are... they are somehow worth more”, “I’ll wait a little, maybe merchants will come, and I’ll adjust the prices”, “somehow they’ll be needed on the farm in case they’re needed...”. With her stubbornness, she infuriates Chichikov, who was counting on easy consent. This is where the epithet arises, which expresses the essence not only of Korobochka, but of the entire type of similar people - “club-headed”. The author explains that neither rank nor position in society is the reason for this property; “club-headedness” is a very common phenomenon: “someone is both respectable and even a statesman. but in reality it turns out to be a perfect Box. Once you've hacked something into your head, you can't overpower him with anything; No matter how much you present him with arguments as clear as day, everything bounces off him, like a rubber ball bounces off a wall.”

Korobochka agrees when Chichikov offers her another deal that she understands - government contracts, that is, a state supply order that paid well and was beneficial for the landowner due to its stability.

The author ends the bidding episode with a generalized discussion about the prevalence of this type of people: “Is Korobochka really standing so low on the endless ladder of human improvement? Is the abyss really that great that separates her from her sister, inaccessibly fenced by the walls of an aristocratic house with fragrant cast-iron staircases, shining copper, mahogany and carpets, 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 expressed thoughts? thoughts that, according to the laws of fashion, occupy the city for a whole week, thoughts not about what is happening in her house and on her estates, confused and upset thanks to ignorance of economic affairs, but about what political revolution is being prepared in France, what direction fashionable Catholicism has taken " Comparison of an economical, thrifty and practical Box with a worthless one socialite makes you wonder what Korobochka’s “sin” is, is it just her “club-headedness”?

Thus, we have several grounds for determining the meaning of the image of Korobochka - an indication of her “club-headedness,” i.e. getting stuck on one thought, inability and inability to consider the situation from different sides, limited thinking; comparison with the habitually established life of a society lady; the clear dominance of the past in everything related to the cultural components of human life, embodied in fashion, interior design, speech and rules of etiquette in relation to other people.

Is it a coincidence that Chichikov ends up with Korobochka after wandering along a dirty and dark road, at night, during the rain? It can be suggested that these details metaphorically reflect the nature of the image - the lack of spirituality (darkness, rare reflections of light from the window) and the aimlessness - in spiritual and moral terms - of her existence (the confusing road, by the way, the girl who accompanies Chichikov to the main road confuses right and left). Then the logical answer to the question about the “sin” of the landowner will be the absence of the life of the soul, the existence of which has collapsed to one point - the distant past, when the deceased husband was still alive, who loved to have his heels scratched before going to bed. The clock that hardly strikes the appointed hour, the flies that wake up Chichikov in the morning, the confusion of the roads to the estate, the lack of external contacts with the world - all this confirms our point of view.

Thus, Korobochka embodies a state of mind in which life is reduced to a single point and remains somewhere far behind, in the past. Therefore, the author emphasizes that Korobochka is an old woman. And no future is possible for her, therefore, it is impossible to be reborn, i.e. It is not destined to unfold life to the fullness of being.

The reason for this lies in the initially unspiritual life of a woman in Russia, in her traditional position, but not socially, but psychologically. The comparison with a society lady and the details about how Korobochka spends her “free time” (fortune telling on cards, housework) reflect the absence of any intellectual, cultural, spiritual life. Later in the poem, the reader will encounter an explanation of the reasons for this state of a woman and her soul in Chichikov’s monologue after meeting a beautiful stranger, when the hero discusses what happens to a pure and simple girl and how “rubbish” turns out of her.

Korobochka also receives “club-headedness” exact value: This is not excessive practicality or commercialism, but a narrowness of mind, which is determined by a single thought or belief and is a consequence of the general limitations of life. And it is the “club-headed” Korobochka, who never gave up the thought of a possible deception on the part of Chichikov and comes to the city to inquire “how much are dead souls these days,” becomes one of the reasons for the collapse of the hero’s adventure and his rapid flight from the city.

Why does Chichikov get to Korobochka after Manilov and before meeting Nozdryov? As was said earlier, the sequence of images of landowners is built along two lines. The first is descending: the degree of “sin” in each subsequent case becomes more severe, responsibility for the state of the soul increasingly lies with the person himself. The second is ascending: how possible is it for a character to revive his life and “resurrect” his soul?

Manilov lives quite openly - he appears in the city, is present at evenings and meetings, communicates, but his life is like a sentimental novel, and therefore illusory: he is very reminiscent in appearance, and in his reasoning, and in his attitude towards people, of the hero of sentimental and romantic works, fashionable in early XIX century. You can guess about his past - a good education, short government service, retirement, marriage and life with his family on the estate. Manilov does not understand that his existence is not connected with reality, therefore he cannot realize that his life is not going as it should. If we draw a parallel with Dante's " Divine Comedy", then he is more reminiscent of sinners of the first circle, whose sin is that they are unbaptized infants or pagans. But the possibility of rebirth is closed to him for the same reason: his life is an illusion, and he does not realize it.

The box is too immersed in the material world. If Manilov is entirely in fantasy, then she is in the prose of life, and intellectual and spiritual life comes down to habitual prayers and the same habitual piety. The fixation on material things, on profit, the one-sidedness of her life is worse than Manilov’s fantasies.

Could Korobochka's life have turned out differently? Yes and no. The influence of the surrounding world, society, circumstances left their mark on her, made her inner world just the way he is. But there was still a way out - sincere faith in God. As we will see later, it is true Christian morality, from Gogol’s point of view, that is the saving force that keeps a person from spiritual fall and spiritual death. Therefore, the image of the Box cannot be considered satirical image- one-sidedness, “club-headedness” no longer causes her laughter, but sad reflections: “But why, among the thoughtless, cheerful, carefree minutes, will another wonderful stream suddenly rush by itself: laughter has not yet had time to completely escape from the face, but has already become different among those same people, and the face was illuminated with a different light..."

A further meeting with Nozdryov - a scoundrel, a brawler and a rogue - shows that worse than the one-sidedness of life can be dishonor, a willingness to do nasty things to one’s neighbor, sometimes for no reason at all, and excessive activity that has no purpose. In this respect, Nozdryov is a kind of antipode to Korobochka: instead of one-sidedness of life there is excessive scatteredness, instead of veneration for rank there is contempt for any conventions, even to the point of violating the elementary norms of human relations and behavior. Gogol himself said: “...My heroes follow one after another, one more vulgar than the other.” Vulgarity is a spiritual fall, and the degree of vulgarity in life is the degree of triumph of death over life in the human soul.

So, the image of Korobochka reflects a widespread, from the author’s point of view, type of people who limit their lives to only one sphere, who “rest their foreheads” on one thing and do not see, and most importantly - do not want to see - anything that exists apart from the subject of their attention. Gogol chooses the material sphere - taking care of the household. The box achieves a sufficient level in this area for a woman, a widow, who has to manage a decent-sized estate. But her life is so concentrated on this that she does not and cannot have any other interests. That's why real life it remains in the past, and the present, and especially the future, is not life. but only existence.

§3. Artistic detail as a means of characterizing a character

In addition to the artistic details mentioned above, the episode contains references to objects that are also important for understanding the image of the Box.

An important detail are the clocks: “... the wall clock began to feel like beating. The hissing was immediately followed by wheezing, and finally, straining with all their might, they struck two o’clock with a sound as if someone were beating a broken pot with a stick, after which the pendulum began to calmly click again to the right and left.” A watch is always a symbol of time and the future. The lethargy, again a certain oldness of the clocks (and therefore the time) in Korobochka’s house, emphasizes the same lethargy of life.

In addition to the clock, time is also represented in Korobochka’s speech. It does not use calendar terms to designate dates, but is guided by church and folk holidays (Christmas time, Philip Lent), characteristic of folk speech. This testifies not so much to the closeness of the landowner’s way of life to the folk one, but to her lack of education.

There are two interesting artistic details that relate to parts of Korobochka's toilet: the cap on the scarecrow and the stocking behind the mirror. if the first characterizes it from the point of view of only practical orientation and the likeness of a person (after all, a scarecrow should depict a person), then the role of the second detail is unclear. It can be assumed, judging by the row “letter” - “old deck of cards” - “stocking”, that this is some kind of entertainment or girlish fortune-telling, which also confirms that Korobochka’s life is in the past.

The description of the yard and the description of the room begin with the mention of birds (chickens and turkeys in the yard, “some” birds in the paintings, “indirect clouds” of magpies and sparrows), and also additionally characterizes the essence of the mistress of the estate - her soul is down to earth, practicality is the main measure of values .

In Korobochka’s speech there are not only colloquial and folk expressions, but also words characteristic of the past era - “avantageous”.

In general, we can say that the artistic detail in Gogol’s poem is a means of characterizing the character, adding nuances or implicitly indicating the essential features of the image.

§4. Korobochka and Chichikov

Gogol's poem "Dead Souls" is structured in such a way that upon careful, thoughtful reading you understand that the characters Chichikov meets - officials and landowners - are connected with the hero not only storyline. Firstly, the story of Chichikov himself is placed at the very end of the first volume, which means that he must also obey the laws of constructing the poem - ascending and descending lines. Secondly, Chichikov has the amazing property of immediately choosing exactly the manner of behavior and the motivation for the offer to sell “dead” souls that is most suitable for the interlocutor. Is this just a natural skill, a property of his character? As we see from Chichikov’s life story, this trait was inherent in him from the very beginning, almost from childhood - he always guessed a person’s weak point and the possibility of a “loophole into the soul.” In our opinion, this can be explained by: that the hero contains in concentrated form all these officials and landowners, whom he cleverly deceives, using them as a means of achieving personal goals. And this idea is most confirmed in the episode of the meeting with Korobochka.

Why exactly in this part of the poem, when agreement with the “club-headed” landowner is reached, does the author give detailed description Chichikov's travel box, and as if the reader is looking over his shoulder and seeing something hidden? After all, we meet with a description of the hero’s other things already in the first chapter.

If we imagine that this box is a kind of house (every character in the poem necessarily has a house, from which, in fact, the characterization begins), and Gogol’s house, its appearance and interior decoration symbolize the state of a person’s soul, his entire essence, then then Chichikov’s box characterizes him as a person with a double and even triple bottom.

The first tier is what everyone sees: an intelligent interlocutor, capable of supporting the desired topic, a respectable person, at the same time businesslike and able to have a varied and decent time. The same is in the box - in the top drawer, which can be removed, “in the very middle there is a soap dish, behind the soap dish there are six or seven narrow partitions for razors; then square nooks for a sandbox and an inkwell with a boat hollowed out between them for feathers, sealing wax and everything that is longer; then all sorts of partitions with lids and without lids for something shorter, filled with business cards, funeral tickets, theater tickets and others, which were folded up as souvenirs.”

The second layer of Chichikov’s personality is a businessman, a prudent and clever buyer of “dead souls”. And in the box - “there was a space occupied by stacks of sheets of paper.”

And finally, what is hidden in the very depths and unknown to most people who have dealt with the hero is the main goal of the hero’s life, his dream about money and what this money gives in life - prosperity, honor, respect: “then followed the secret a drawer for money that pulled out discreetly from the side of the box. He always pulled out so hastily and was moved back at the same moment by the owner that it’s probably impossible to say how much money was there.” Here she is true essence hero - benefit, income on which his future depends.

The fact that this description is located precisely in the chapter dedicated to the Box is emphasized important idea: Chichikov is also a little Korobochka, as, indeed, are Manilov, and Nozdryov, and Sobakevich, and Plyushkin. That’s why he understands people so well, that’s why he knows how to adapt, to adapt to another person, because he himself is a little bit of that person.

Conclusion

The image of Korobochka is one of the gallery of human types presented in Gogol’s poem “Dead Souls”. The author uses various means of creating an image: direct characterization and generalization to a common type, artistic details included in the description of the estate, interior, appearance and demeanor of the character. An important characteristic is the character’s reaction to Chichikov’s proposal to sell “dead” souls. The character's behavior reveals the true human essence, because the opportunity to make a profit without spending practically anything is important for landowners.

Korobochka appears before the reader as a limited, stupid old woman, whose interests relate only to farming and making a profit. There is nothing in it that leaves signs of spiritual life: neither true faith, no interests, no aspirations. The only thing that worries her in a conversation with Chichikov is not to undercut the price, although the subject of the bargain is unusual and even at first frightens and bewilders her. But the reason for this is, for the most part, the education system itself and the position of women in society.

Thus, Korobochka is one of the types of landowners and human types that make up the image of Gogol’s contemporary Russia.

List of used literature

1. Gogol N.V. Collected works in eight volumes. – (Library “Ogonyok”: domestic classics) – T.5. "Dead Souls". Volume one. – M., 1984.

2. Kirsanova R.M. Russian costume artistic culture 18th - first half of the 20th centuries: Experience of an encyclopedia / Ed. T.G. Morozova, V.D. Sinyukova. – M., 1995. – P.115

3. Razumikhin A. “Dead Souls” Experience of modern reading // Literature (Appendix to “First of September”). - No. 13 (532). – April 1-7, 2004.

See Kirsanova R.M. Costume in Russian artistic culture of the 18th – first half of the 20th centuries: Experience of an encyclopedia / Ed. T.G. Morozova, V.D. Sinyukova. – M., 1995. – P.115

Pestryad - fabric made from the remnants of yarn of various kinds, homespun fabric (Kirsanova)

Salop - outerwear made of fur and rich fabrics, which had gone out of fashion by 1830; the name “salopnitsa” has an additional connotation of “old-fashioned” (Kirsanova). Apparently, for this purpose Gogol mentions the cloak as an indispensable attribute of such landowners.

Pryazhentsy - a filling that was laid out directly on a baked flatbread or pancake, in other words, baked.

Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov ends up with the landowner Korobochka at an inopportune hour, having lost his way, and even rolled out in the mud after falling from a chaise. The horses, driven by the not entirely sober coachman Selifan, literally crash into the fence of her house.

The image of Korobochka is very interesting. Nastasya Petrovna Korobochka gives shelter to belated travelers, since Chichikov introduces himself as a nobleman, which makes a favorable impression on the widow-landowner. Let's briefly look at Chichikov's visit to Korobochka and brief description Boxes.

Characteristics of the landowner Korobochka

Korobochka's strong and neat farm is located in a secluded place, far from public roads, so life on the estate looks frozen. Significant details that emphasize the frozen world of the heroine and the very image of Korobochka are huge amount flies and wall clocks hissing like snakes.

The landowner living in the wilderness is cordial, hospitable and caring. She, despite two o'clock in the morning, offers Chichikov food, rubbing his back after a fall, and even scratching his heels before bed, as was previously done to the late master.

But Chichikov, whose eyes are already sticking together from the desire to sleep, as if they had been doused with honey, gratefully refuses everything.

Nastasya Petrovna Korobochka’s caring nature is manifested in the fact that she gives the servants the task of cleaning and drying all the guest’s dirty clothes. After this, Chichikov literally falls into a huge, lush feather bed, and in the morning he wakes up from an invasion of flies, one of which even manages to get into his nose.

Chichikov amazes the landowner with his proposal to sell dead peasant souls. Nastasya Petrovna is lost and does not understand all the benefits of the offer made to her, because before this she had to trade only with honey, flour, hemp, bird feathers, but not with dead serfs.

Chichikov mentally calls her “strong-headed” and “club-headed” in his hearts.

Some more details of the image of landowner Korobochka

The image of Korobochka is also revealed in the fact that, after a fair amount of haggling, the widow of the college secretary finally agrees to the deal and treats Chichikov to all kinds of dishes: mushrooms, pies, pancakes. The pancakes are so delicious that Pavel Ivanovich eats three of them at once.

After such a warm welcome, Chichikov gets into his chaise and leaves with the thought that Korobochka is a born entrepreneur, trying with all his might to sell his products profitably to anyone and everyone and earn as much money as possible. more money. Then you can carefully put them in bags and hide them in the chest of drawers. This is the image of Korobochka.

Chichikov also visited other landowners of the city No., among them were such characters from Dead Souls as Nozdryov, Sobakevich and Manilov. Check out their characteristics to get a complete impression of