The gallery of landowners in the poem “Dead Souls” opens with the image of Manilov. This is the first character to whom Chichikov turns with a request for dead souls. What determines Manilov’s “superiority”? Gogol’s famous statement is that his heroes are one more vulgar than the other. It turns out that Manilov in the poem represents the first, least, degree moral degradation. However, modern researchers interpret the order of appearance of landowners in “ Dead souls ah" in a different sense, putting in correspondence the first volume of Gogol's poem with the first part " Divine Comedy» Dante (“Hell”).
In addition, as Yu. Mann notes, Manilov’s primacy is also determined by the hero’s personal traits. Manilov's dreaminess and romanticism already at the very beginning of the poem create a sharp contrast to Chichikov's immoral adventure.
There is another reason here. According to I.P. Zolotussky, “every time Chichikov meets one of the landowners, he examines his ideals. Manilov is family life, woman, children...” This “part” of Chichikov’s ideal is precisely the best thing in the hero’s “roughly material” dream of contentment and comfort. Therefore, the story of Chichikov’s adventures begins with Manilov.
This image in the poem is static - no internal changes occur to the hero throughout the entire narrative. Manilov's main qualities are sentimentality, dreaminess, excessive complacency, courtesy and courtesy. This is what is visible, what lies on the surface. It is these features that are emphasized in the description of the hero’s appearance. Manilov “was a distinguished man, his facial features were not devoid of pleasantness, but this pleasantness seemed to have too much sugar in it; in his techniques and turns there was something ingratiating favor and acquaintance. He smiled enticingly, was blond, with blue eyes.”
However, Gogol then proceeds to describe Manilov’s inner world, and the reader’s first impression of the landowner’s “niceness” is removed. “In the first minute of a conversation with him, you can’t help but say: “What a pleasant and kind person“The next minute you won’t say anything, and the third you’ll say: “The devil knows what it is!” - and move away; If you don’t leave, you will feel mortal boredom. You won’t get any lively or even arrogant words from him, which you can hear from almost anyone if you touch an object that offends him.” With a bit of irony, the author lists the traditional “interests” of landowners: passion for greyhounds, music, gourmetism, career advancement. Manilov is not interested in anything in life, he has no “enthusiasm”. He says very little, he often thinks and reflects, but about what - “does God... know.” So several more characteristic properties of this landowner are clearly identified - uncertainty, indifference to everything, inertia and infantilism of life perception. “There is a kind of people,” writes Gogol, “known by the name: so-so people, neither this nor that, neither in the city of Bogdan, nor in the village of Selifan...” It is to this type of people that Manilov belongs.
The writer emphasizes the “lack of formality and vagueness” of the hero’s inner world with a characteristic landscape. Thus, the weather on the day when Chichikov came to Manilov was extremely uncertain: “The day was either clear or gloomy, but somehow light gray, which only happens on the old uniforms of garrison soldiers..."
In the description of the master's estate, new features of Manilov are revealed to us. Here we already see a person claiming to be “educated,” “cultured,” and “aristocratic,” but Gogol leaves readers no illusions on this score: all the hero’s attempts to seem like an educated and sophisticated aristocrat are vulgar and absurd. Thus, Manilov’s house stands “alone on the Jurassic, that is, on a hill open to all the winds,” but the mountain on which the estate stands is “clad with trimmed turf,” on it “are scattered, in English, two or three flower beds with lilac and yellow bushes.” acacias." Nearby you can see a gazebo “with wooden blue columns” and the inscription “Temple of Solitary Reflection.” And next to the “temple” there is an overgrown pond covered with greenery, along which, “picturesquely picking up their dresses and tucking in on all sides,” two women wander, dragging their tattered nonsense behind them. In these scenes one can discern Gogol's parody of sentimental stories and novels.
The same claims to “education” are discernible in the ancient Greek names that Manilov awarded his children - Alcides and Themistoclus. However, the superficial education of the landowner here turned into outright stupidity: even Chichikov, upon hearing these names, experienced some surprise, and it is easy to imagine the reaction of the local residents.
However ancient greek names here is not only a vivid characterization of Manilov. “Alcides” and “Themistoclus” set the theme of history in the poem, the motive of heroism, which is present throughout the entire narrative. Thus, the name “Femi-stoklus” reminds us of Themistocles, statesman and a commander from Athens who won brilliant victories in battles with the Persians. The life of the commander was very stormy, eventful, full of significant events (against the backdrop of this heroic theme Manilov’s inaction, passivity becomes even more noticeable).
Manilov’s “incompleteness of nature” (nature seemed to stop at the hero’s “pleasant” appearance, without “reporting” his character, temperament, and love of life) is also reflected in the description of his home environment.
In everything Manilov does, there is incompleteness that creates disharmony. A number of interior details testify to the hero’s inclination towards luxury and sophistication, but in this very inclination there is still the same incompleteness, the impossibility of finishing the job. In Manilov’s living room there is “wonderful furniture covered in smart silk fabric,” which is “very expensive,” but there is not enough for two armchairs, and the armchairs are “simply upholstered in matting.” In the evening, a “dandy candlestick made of dark bronze with three antique graces” is served on the table, and next to it is placed “a simple copper invalid, lame, curled to one side and covered in fat...”. For two years now, the hero has been reading the same book, reaching only the fourteenth page.
All the landowner's activities are meaningless and absurd, just like his dreams. So, having seen Chichikov off, he dreams of a huge house “with such a high belvedere that you can even see Moscow from there.” But the culmination of Manilov’s image is “slides of ash knocked out of a pipe, arranged, not without effort, in very beautiful rows.” Like all “noble gentlemen,” Manilov smokes a pipe. Therefore, in his office there is a kind of “cult of tobacco”, which is poured into caps, and in a tabashka, and “just in a heap on the table.” Thus, Gogol emphasizes that Manilov’s “passing of time” is completely worthless and meaningless. Moreover, this meaninglessness is noticeable even when comparing the hero with the rest of the landowners. It is difficult for us to imagine Sobakevich or Korobochka doing such an activity (placing piles of ash in beautiful rows).
The hero’s speech, “delicate”, florid, fully corresponds to his inner appearance. Discussing the sale of dead souls with Chichikov, he wonders “whether this negotiation will not be in accordance with civil regulations and future views of Russia.” However, Pavel Ivanovich, who added two or three book turns to the conversation, manages to convince him of the complete legality of this transaction - Manilov gives Chichikov the dead peasants and even takes over the registration of the deed of sale.
Thus, the portrait of the hero, his speech, landscape, interior, surroundings, everyday details reveal the essence of Manilov’s character. Upon closer examination, the illusory nature of his “positive” qualities - sensitivity and sentimentality - becomes noticeable. “His feeling is surprisingly small and insignificant, and no matter how much he squanders it, it makes no one feel warm or cold. His courtesy is at the service of everyone, as is his goodwill, but not because he really has such loving soul, but because they cost him nothing - it’s just a manner... His feelings are not real, but only their fiction,” wrote a pre-revolutionary Gogol researcher.
Thus, Manilov does not evaluate people from the point of view of the criteria of good and evil. Those around you simply fall into a general atmosphere of complacency and dreaminess. In essence, Manilov is indifferent to life itself.
Poem by N.V. Gogol's "Dead Souls" was published in 1842. The title of the poem can be understood in two ways. Firstly, main character, Chichikov, buys dead peasants from landowners ( dead souls). Secondly, the landowners amaze with the callousness of their souls, each hero is endowed with negative qualities. If we compare dead peasants and living landowners, it turns out that it is the landowners who have “dead souls.” Since the image of a road runs throughout the entire narrative, the main character is traveling. One gets the impression that Chichikov is simply visiting old friends. Through the eyes of Chichikov we see landowners, their villages, houses and families, which plays an important role in revealing the images. Together with the main character, the reader goes through the path from Manilov to Plyushkin. Each landowner is painted in detail and thoroughly. Consider the image of Manilov.
The surname Manilov is a telling one, you can guess that it is formed from the verb to lure (to attract to oneself). In this man, Gogol exposes laziness, fruitless daydreaming, sentimentality, and inability to move forward. As they say about him in the poem, “a man is neither this nor that, neither in the city of Bogdan, nor in the village of Selifan.” Manilov is polite and courteous, the first impression of him is even pleasant, but when you look into the details and get to know the landowner better, your opinion about him changes. It gets boring with him.
Manilov has a large estate, but does not take care of his village at all, does not know how many peasants he has. He doesn't care about life and fate common people, “the economy somehow went on by itself.” Manilov’s mismanagement is revealed to us on the way to the estate: everything is lifeless, pitiful, petty. Manilov is impractical and stupid - he takes the bill of sale on himself and does not understand the benefits of selling dead souls. He allows the peasants to drink instead of work, his steward does not know his business and, like the landowner, does not know how and does not want to manage the farm.
Manilov constantly has his head in the clouds, not wanting to notice what is happening around him: “how good it would be if suddenly an underground passage was built from the house or a stone bridge was built across the pond.” It is clear that dreams remain just dreams, some are replaced by others, and this will always be the case. Manilov lives in a world of fantasies and “projects”, real world alien and incomprehensible to him, “all these projects ended only in words.” This person quickly gets boring, since he does not have his own opinion, and can only smile cloyingly and say banal phrases. Manilov considers himself well-mannered, educated, noble. However, in his office for two years there has been a book with a bookmark on page 14, covered with dust, which suggests that new information Manilov is not interested, he only creates the appearance educated person. Manilov’s delicacy and warmth are expressed in absurd forms: “cabbage soup, but from the bottom of my heart,” “May day, name day of the heart”; officials, according to Manilov, are entirely “most respectable” and “most amiable” people. The speech characterizes this character as a person who always flatters; it is not clear whether he really thinks so or simply creates an appearance to flatter others, so that useful people will be nearby at the right time.
Manilov tries to keep up with fashion. He tries to adhere to the European way of life. The wife studies French at a boarding school, plays the piano, and the children have strange and difficult to pronounce names - Themistoclus and Alcides. They receive home education, which is typical for wealthy people of that time. But the things surrounding Manilov testify to his inability, isolation from life, and indifference to reality: the house is open to all winds, the pond is completely overgrown with duckweed, the gazebo in the garden is called “Temple of Solitary Reflection.” The stamp of dullness, scarcity, uncertainty lies on everything that surrounds Manilov. The setting clearly characterizes the hero himself. Gogol emphasizes the emptiness and insignificance of Manilov. There is nothing negative in it, but there is nothing positive either. Therefore, this hero cannot count on transformation and rebirth: there is nothing to be reborn in him. Manilov's world is a world of false idyll, the path to death. It is not for nothing that Chichikov’s path to the lost Manilovka is depicted as a path to nowhere. There are no living desires in him, that force of life that moves a person and forces him to do some things. In this sense, Manilov is a “dead soul.” The image of Manilov personifies a universal human phenomenon - “Manilovism,” that is, the tendency to create chimeras and pseudo-philosophizing.
Manilov is the first of the landowners to be visited by Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov, the main character of Gogol’s novel-poem “Dead Souls”. The order of visits in this work is not accidental - the descriptions of the landowners are arranged according to the degree of their degradation, from least to highest. Therefore, in the image of Manilov we will see some positive features.
The landowner's surname is also symbolic. It is formed from the word “to attract.” His sweet speeches, attractive appearance and demeanor attract people and create a pleasant environment for communication. It’s like a bright wrapper on a piece of candy that, however, has nothing inside. Gogol himself notes this: “... the person is so-so, neither this nor that, neither in the city of Bogdan, nor in the village of Selifan.”
Analyzing the image
The owner of Manilovka was distinguished by his pleasant appearance and amazing kindness towards other people, be it his children’s teacher or a serf. He found good and pleasant words for everyone, tried to please and please everyone. It was not his style to criticize anyone.
Unlike Sobakevich, he did not consider the local governor a robber with high road, but believed that he was “the most kindly person.” The policeman, in Manilov’s understanding, is not a swindler at all, but a very pleasant person. He didn't say anything about anyone bad word. As we see, the superficiality of this character’s judgments does not allow him to objectively perceive other people.
Manilov served in the army, where his army comrades described him as a most delicate and educated officer.
After eight years of marriage, he continued to have tender feelings for his wife, affectionately called her Lizanka, and all the time tried to pamper her with something. He had two sons with more than strange names- Themistoclus and Alcides. It’s as if Manilov wants to stand out with these pretentious names, to declare his exclusivity.
Most of the time, the owner of two hundred peasant households was in dreams and daydreams. For this “important” activity, there was a special gazebo on the estate with the pompous name “Temple of Solitary Reflection.” Manilov’s rich imagination “boldly” transformed the surrounding reality. A bridge was mentally built across the pond, on which merchants briskly traded all kinds of goods, or a belvedere was erected over the owner's house so high that one could see Moscow, or an underground passage was dug (however, our dreamer does not specify the purpose of the underground passage).
Manilov's dreams took him to such distances that real life was in the background. The entire household was entrusted to the clerk, but Manilov did not delve into anything, but only indulged in fantasies, smoked a pipe all the time and was idle. Even the book in his office was bookmarked on the same 14th page for two years. The peasants, like the master, also became lazy, the pond was overgrown with greenery, the housekeeper was stealing, the clerk grew fat and did not get up before 9 o'clock in the morning. But nothing could disturb the measured flow of the comfortable and idle life of the good-natured landowner.
Manilov turned out to be such an impressionable person that in response to Chichikov’s request to sell dead souls, he dropped the pipe and froze in amazement with his mouth open. But in the end, he came to his senses and demonstrated a friendly disposition and selflessness - he gave away the dead souls completely free of charge, which completely touched Chichikov. In a conversation with a friend, Manilov demonstrated complete detachment from economic affairs - he could not even name the number of dead peasants, not to mention their names.
Manilovschina
The term “Manilovism” arose precisely on the basis of the traits of this hero of the novel “Dead Souls”. This is a way of life characterized by separation from reality, idleness, frivolity, “having your head in the clouds,” and inaction. People like Manilov spend their time in empty dreams that they are in no hurry to put into practice. They are grotesquely sweet, have no opinions of their own, strive to please everyone, think superficially and unrealistically.
They care more about the impression they make than about real development soul and character. Such individuals are pleasant to talk to and good-natured, but otherwise completely useless to society. Many literary scholars believe that Gogol tried to portray Nicholas I in the image of Manilov.
Let’s generalize the image by grouping Manilov’s positive and negative traits
Positive qualities
Benevolent and courteous
Hospitable
Polite
Educated
Positive
Selfless
Treats everyone on an equal footing, not arrogant
Sincerely loves his family - wife and children
Perceives life poetically
Negative qualities
Tendency to ignore problems
Idleness
Carelessness
Inner emptiness
Mismanagement
Lack of own opinion
Idle talk and florid syllable
Tendency to empty fantasies
spinelessness
Indifference to other people's problems (the mortality rate of peasants is high on his estate)
Inaction
Excessive need for approval (desire to please everyone)
Sycophancy
Insincerity
Superficiality of judgment
Excessive sweetness, sweetness in communication
Excessive gullibility
Infantilism
Lack of leadership qualities and inner core
Lack of understanding of the purpose and meaning of your life
The landowner Manilov is a bright hero in the gallery of characters in Gogol's poem. A direct characterization of Manilov from “Dead Souls” takes the author only one paragraph, but the house, furnishings and dialogues of the hero with Chichikov draw every line of the landowner’s character and nature with unsurpassed skill.
Manilov's appearance
When describing Manilov, the author uses a number of proverbs and skillfully veiled irony. He talks very delicately about the hero’s appearance, hinting that the character is “nothing” both externally and internally – “neither fish nor fowl.” His facial features are pleasant, he himself is a “distinguished” person: blond, blue-eyed, smiling. Manilov is dressed well, creates an impression noble man with pleasant facial features. Hospitality that turns into mania is another of the qualities that is characteristic of the owner. Gogol honestly says that at the beginning of meeting such a person, one gets the impression that he is “extremely pleasant”, later the sweetness of speeches and excessive desire to please takes over, after some time the interlocutor thinks “the devil knows what” and tries to escape, so as not to die of boredom.
The character of the landowner
We learn about the character’s nature from the first lines “God alone could tell what Manilov’s character was.” This man could not find himself in anything (and he did not look for it). The author does not give Manilov a name, unlike other characters, making it clear that his image is typical, general and completely impersonal. If someone had a penchant for arguing, was passionate about card games, hunting or something else, then Manilov did not know how to do anything well, and had no inclination towards anything at all.
The landowner could not formulate a single topic on which he liked to have conversations, only something sublime, abstract, which cannot be expressed and denoted in words. The author's manner of characterizing the character through his speech very harmoniously reveals inner world Manilov, excessive manners and sweetness of expressions recede into the background. Laziness, a monotonous lifestyle, and morbid daydreaming turned him into an empty, inactive type who could compete in the ability to waste his life with any tavern reveler. The result is the same: the chairs will sit for years and wait for new upholstery, the pond will turn into a swamp, and the gazebo for reflection will be overgrown with thistles. The inability to create, manage, and make decisions led to the fact that Manilov, a kind and enlightened owner, is robbed by his employees every day. The men lie to the landowner, get drunk and laugh at him. Household and yard workers steal in broad daylight, sleep until noon, and engage in work to the same extent as their master.
Life position
Like anyone limited person, Manilov finds himself in a complete stupor when he encounters something new. Interest in “business” is limited to the fact that he cares about the legality of any transactions. This happened when Pavel Ivanovich offered him a deal. The landowner does not think about how profitable it is; this is too base a topic for such an exalted, subtle nature like him. Our character happily gives the dead souls to Chichikov, literally believes the guest about the legality of such an operation, and rejoices because he has given pleasure to his interlocutor.
The attitude of the owner of the estate towards others is so monotonous that the ability to understand people is out of the question. The entire elite who govern the city along with their relatives, wives and children, in his opinion, are “the nicest people.” About whom do not ask: “most noble”, “most worthy”, “most decent”. Manilov is sincerely happy because he knows such wonderful people, admires their education, intelligence and talents.
In fact, provincial officials are thieves, swindlers, drunkards and revelers, but the illusory world in which our hero exists does not allow such concepts. The landowner does not see beyond his own nose; he lives by other people’s beliefs and opinions. The main problem of “Manilovism” is that the happiness of such people is unshakable, they are not interested in or upset by anything, they exist in a separate reality and are quite happy with such a spiritually impoverished life.
Our article briefly describes and analyzes the image of the landowner Manilov with quotes. This material will be useful in preparing for lessons, writing essays, and test papers.
Work test
To work on his main work - the poem “Dead Souls” - N.V. Gogol began in 1835 and did not stop until his death. He set himself the task of showing backward, feudal Russia with all its vices and shortcomings. A big role in this was played by the author’s masterfully created images of representatives of the nobility, who made up the main social class in the country. The description of the villages of Manilov, Korobochka, Sobakevich, Nozdryov, Plyushkin allows us to understand how different, but at the same time typical, spiritually poor were the people who were the main support of power. This is despite the fact that each of the presented landowners considered himself the best among the rest.
The role of the interior
Gogol builds the five chapters of the first volume, dedicated to landowners, according to one principle. He characterizes each owner through a description of his appearance, his manner of behavior with the guest - Chichikov - and relatives. The author talks about how life was organized on the estate, which is manifested through the attitude towards the peasants, the entire estate and own home. As a result, a generalized picture emerges of how the “best” representatives of serf Russia lived in the first half of the 19th century.
The first is a description of the village of Manilov - a very sweet and friendly landowner, at first glance.
Long road
The path to the estate leaves a not very pleasant impression. When meeting in the city, the landowner who invited Chichikov to visit noted that he lived about fifteen miles from here. However, all sixteen and even more had already passed, and the road seemed to have no end. Two men who met indicated that after a mile there would be a turn, and there would be Manilovka. But this didn’t resemble the truth either, and Chichikov concluded for himself that the owner, as was often the case, had reduced the distance by half in the conversation. Perhaps in order to lure - let's remember the landowner's name.
Finally, an estate appeared ahead.
Unusual location
The first thing that caught my eye was the two-story manor house, which was built on a hill - “on the Jurassic,” as the author points out. It is with him that we should begin the description of the village of Manilov in the poem “Dead Souls”.
It seemed that the lonely house was being blown from all sides by the winds that only happened in these places. The hillside on which the building stood was covered with trimmed turf.
The incongruous location of the house was complemented by flower beds with bushes and lilacs, laid out in the English style. Stunted birch trees grew nearby - no more than five or six - and there was a gazebo with the funny name for these places, “Temple of Solitary Reflection.” The unattractive picture was completed by a small pond, which, however, was not uncommon on the estates of landowners who were fond of the English style.
Absurdity and impracticality - this is the first impression of the landowner's farm.
Description of the village of Manilova
“Dead Souls” continues the story about a series of wretched, gray peasant huts- Chichikov counted at least two hundred of them. They were located lengthwise and crosswise at the foot of the hill and consisted of only logs. Between the huts the guest did not see any trees or other greenery, which made the village not at all attractive. In the distance it was somehow dullly dark. This is the description of the village of Manilov.
“Dead Souls” contains a subjective assessment of what Chichikov saw. With Manilov, everything seemed to him somehow gray and incomprehensible, even “the day was either clear or gloomy.” Only two swearing women dragging crayfish and roach across the pond, and a rooster with tattered wings crowing at the top of his lungs, somewhat enlivened the picture.
Meeting with the owner
A description of the village of Manilov from “Dead Souls” will be incomplete without meeting the owner himself. He stood on the porch and, recognizing the guest, immediately broke into the most cheerful smile. Even at their first meeting in the city, Manilov struck Chichikov with the fact that there seemed to be a lot of sugar in his appearance. Now the first impression has only intensified.
In fact, the landowner at first appeared to be a very kind and pleasant person, but after a minute this impression completely changed, and now the thought arose: “The devil knows what this is!” Manilov's further behavior, excessively ingratiating and built on the desire to please, fully confirms this. The owner kissed his guest as if they had been friends for a century. Then he invited him into the house, trying in every possible way to show respect for him by not wanting to enter the door before Chichikov.
Interior furnishings
The description of the village of Manilov from the poem “Dead Souls” evokes a feeling of absurdity in everything, including the decoration of the manor’s house. Let's start with the fact that next to the expensive and even elegant furniture that stood in the living room, there was a pair of armchairs, which at one time there was not enough fabric to cover. And for several years now, the owner has warned the guest every time that they are not ready yet. In another room there was no furniture at all for the eighth year - since Manilov’s marriage. In the same way, at dinner, they could put on the table next to a luxurious bronze candlestick, made in the antique style, and some kind of “disabled person” made of copper, all covered in fat. But no one at home is interested in this
The owner's office looked just as funny. It was, again, an incomprehensible gray-blue color - something similar to what the author had already mentioned when giving general description villages of Manilov at the beginning of the chapter. A book with a bookmark on the same page lay on the table for two years - no one had ever read it. But tobacco was spread throughout the room, and on the window sills there were rows of piles made from the ash that remained in the pipe. In general, dreaming and smoking were the main and, moreover, favorite pastimes of the landowner, who was not at all interested in his possessions.
Meet the family
Manilov's wife is similar to himself. Eight years of marriage changed little in the relationship between the spouses: they still treated each other with a piece of apple or interrupted their classes to capture a kiss. Manilova received a good upbringing, which taught her everything that was necessary to be happy: to speak French, play the piano and embroider some unusual case with beads to surprise her husband. And it didn’t matter that the cooking in the kitchen was poor, there was no stock in the pantries, the housekeeper stole a lot, and the servants slept more and more. The pride of the couple were their sons, who were called strange and promised to show great abilities in the future.
Description of the village of Manilova: the situation of the peasants
From all that has been said above, one conclusion already suggests itself: everything on the estate went somehow like this, in its own way and without any intervention from the owner. This idea is confirmed when Chichikov starts talking about peasants. It turns out that Manilov doesn’t even know how many souls he has died in lately. His clerk cannot give an answer either. He only notes that there is a lot, with which the landowner immediately agrees. However, the word “many” does not surprise the reader: the description of the village of Manilov and the conditions in which his serfs lived make it clear that for an estate in which the landowner does not care about the peasants at all, this is a common thing.
As a result, an unattractive image of the chapter's protagonist emerges. It never occurred to the uneconomical dreamer to go out into the fields, find out what the people who depended on him needed, or even simply count how many of them he had. Moreover, the author adds that the man could easily deceive Manilov. He allegedly asked for time off to work extra money, but he calmly went to drink, and no one cared about it. In addition, all the servants, including the clerk and the housekeeper, were dishonest, which did not bother either Manilov or his wife at all.
Conclusions
The description of the village of Manilova is completed by quotes: “there is a race of people... neither this nor that, neither in the city of Bogdan nor in the village of Selifan... Manilova should join them.” In a way that, at first glance, does no harm to anyone. He loves everyone - even the most inveterate swindler is an excellent person. Sometimes he dreams of how to set up shops for peasants, but these “projects” are very far from reality and will never be translated into reality. Hence the general understanding of “Manilovism” as social phenomenon- a tendency towards pseudo-philosophy, the absence of any benefit from existence. And this is where degradation begins, and then collapse human personality, which Gogol draws attention to when giving a description of the village of Manilov.
“Dead souls” thus become a verdict on society, in which the best representatives landed nobility similar to Manilov. After all, the rest will turn out to be even worse.
