N.V. Gogol saw Petersburg not only as a flourishing capital, whose life is full of magnificent balls, not only a city where best achievements art of Russia and Europe. The writer saw in him a concentrate of depravity, poverty and cowardice. The collection “Petersburg Tales” was devoted to the designation of the problems of the society of northern Palmyra, and at the same time to the whole of Russia, and the search for ways of salvation. This cycle includes "Portrait", which will be discussed in our article.

The idea of ​​the story "Portrait" came from the writer in 1832. The first edition was published in the collection "Arabesques" in 1835. Later, after writing "Dead Souls" and a trip abroad, in 1841, Gogol subjected the book to significant changes. In the third issue of Sovremennik a new version saw the light. It changed epithets, dialogues, rhythm of presentation, and the surname of the leading character became "Chartkov" instead of "Chertkov", which was associated with the devil. Such is the history of the Portrait.

The motif of the image, which has a sinister power, was inspired by Gogol by Maturin's then fashionable novel Melmoth the Wanderer. In addition, the image of a greedy usurer also makes these works related. In the image of a greedy businessman, whose portrait turns the life of the protagonist, echoes of the myth of Ahasuerus, the "Eternal Jew", who cannot find peace, can be heard.

The meaning of the name

The ideological idea of ​​the work lies in its title - "Portrait". It is no coincidence that Gogol names his brainchild that way. It is the portrait that is cornerstone of the entire work, allows you to expand the genre range from a story to a detective story, and also completely changes the life of the protagonist. It is filled with special ideological content: it is he who is a symbol of greed, depravity. This work raises the question of art, its authenticity.

In addition, this title of the story makes the reader think about the problems that the writer reveals. What else could the title be? Suppose "The Death of the Artist" or "Greed", all this would not carry such symbolic meaning, and the ominous image would remain only a work of art. The name “Portrait” focuses the reader on this particular creation, makes him always keep in mind, and later, see in it more than the captured face.

Genre and direction

Direction fantastic realism, given by Gogol, is relatively little manifested in this work. There are no ghosts, animated noses or other humanized objects, but there is a certain mystical power a usurer whose money brings only grief to people; the picture, made at the end of his life, continues the terrible mission of the person depicted on it. But everyone terrifying Gogol gives a simple explanation to the phenomena that happened to Chartkov after acquiring the canvas: it was a dream. Therefore, the role of fantasy in the "Portrait" is not great.

The story in the second part receives elements detective story. The author gives an explanation of where the money could come from, the discovery of which at the beginning of the work seemed magical. In addition, the fate of the portrait itself has the features of a detective: it mysteriously disappears from the wall during the auction.

The depiction of the characters of Chartkov's capricious clients, his naive craving for tasteless pomp - all these are comic techniques embodied in the book. Therefore, the genre of the story correlates with satire.

Composition

The story "Portrait" consists of two parts, but each of them has its own compositional features. The first section has a classical structure:

1. exposition (life of a poor artist)
2. tie (purchase of a portrait)
3. climax (Chartkov's mental disorder)
4. denouement (painter's death)

The second part can be perceived as an epilogue or a kind of author's commentary on the above. The peculiarities of the composition of the "Portrait" is that Gogol uses the technique of a story within a story. The son of the artist who painted the sinister portrait shows up at the auction and claims his rights to the work. He talks about difficult fate his father, the life of a greedy usurer and the mystical properties of the portrait. His speech is framed by the bargaining of the auctioneers and the disappearance of the very subject of the dispute.

About what?

The action takes place in St. Petersburg. The young artist Chartkov is in dire need, but for the last pennies he buys a portrait of an old man in a shop in Shchukin's yard, whose eyes "stroke as if they were alive." Since then, unprecedented changes began to occur in his life. One night the young man dreamed that the old man came to life and put out a bag of gold. In the morning, gold coins were found in the frame of the picture. The hero has moved the best apartment, acquired all the things necessary for painting in the hope of devoting himself to art and developing his talent. But everything turned out quite differently. Chartkov became fashionable popular artist, and his main activity was the writing of custom portraits. One day he saw the work of his friend, which awakened in young man former interest in real creativity, but it was already too late: the hand does not obey, the brush performs only memorized strokes. Then he goes berserk: he buys the best canvases and brutally destroys them. Soon Chartkov dies. This is the essence of the piece: wealth destroy the creative nature in a person.

During the auction, when his property is being sold, one gentleman claims the rights to the portrait of the old man, which was bought by Chartkov at Shchukin's yard. He tells the background and description of the portrait, and also admits that he himself is the son of the artist, the author of this work. But during the auction the canvas mysteriously disappears.

Main characters and their characteristics

We can say that each part of the story has its own main character: in the first it is Chartkov, and in the second the image of a usurer is vividly presented.

• The character of the young artist changes dramatically throughout the work. At the beginning of the "Portrait" Chartkov is a romantic image of the artist: he dreams of developing his talent, learning from the best craftsmen, if only there would be money for this. And here comes the money. The first impulse was quite noble: the young man bought everything necessary for painting, but the desire to become fashionable and famous in an easier way than through many hours of work prevailed. At the end of the first part, the artist is overwhelmed with greed, envy and annoyance, which makes him buy best paintings and destroy them, he becomes a "fierce avenger". Of course, Chartkov is a small person, unexpected wealth turned his head and eventually drove him crazy.
• But it can be assumed that the effect of gold coins on the main character is not due to his low social position, but with the mystical effect of the money of the usurer himself. The son of the author of the portrait of this Persian tells many stories about it. The usurer himself, wanting to save some of his strength, asks the artist to paint a portrait of him. The narrator's father took up the job, but was unable to complete it. In this painter, Gogol portrayed the true creator in the Christian sense: to undergo purification, pacify his spirit, and only then start work. He is opposed to Chartkov, the artist from the first part of the story.

Themes

This relatively small story touches on many topics relating to quite diverse areas of human life.

• The theme of creativity. Gogol introduces two artists to us. What should be a true creator? One seeks to study the works of the masters, but is not averse to gaining fame in an easier way. Another painter primarily works on himself, on his desires and passions. For him, art is part of his philosophy, his religion. This is his life, it cannot contradict it. He feels responsible for creativity and believes that a person must prove his right to engage in it.
• Good and evil. This theme is expressed through both art and wealth. On the one hand, feathered means are needed so that the creator can freely do his job and develop his talent. But on the example of Chartkov, we see that initially good intentions to invest in one’s own improvement can turn into death, first of all, death human soul. Is it only the mystical mila of the usurer's heritage that is to blame? Gogol shows that a person can overcome everything, if only he is strong. Main character he showed weakness of spirit, and therefore perished.
• Wealth- the main theme in the story "Portrait". Here it is presented as a way to find happiness. It would seem that here is a little money, and everything will be fine: there will be a happy marriage with the first beauty, creditors will leave the family alone, everything necessary for creativity will be acquired. But everything turns out differently. In addition to satisfying needs, money has flip side: a product of greed, envy and cowardice.

Issues

• The problem of art. In the story, Gogol offers the artist two ways: to paint portraits for the sake of money, or to engage in self-improvement without any pretense of prosperity. The painter faces a difficult choice: for development, he needs funds for paints, brushes, etc., but many hours of work and infamy will not bring any money. There's a way to get rich quick, but painting portraits doesn't involve raising your skill level. When deciding what to do, it is necessary to remember one thing: if the one who follows the path of the master monk makes a mistake, he can still be saved, but the one who follows the easy road will no longer get rid of the “hardened forms”.
• Vanity. Gogol shows in the story how the unexpectedly rich Chartkov gradually comes to vanity. At first he pretends not to recognize his teacher, then he agrees to endure the whims of clients for the sake of money and fame. The censure of the classics becomes an omen of trouble, and the result of this path was madness.
• Poverty. This problem is faced by most of the heroes of the "Portrait". Poverty does not allow Chartkov to freely engage in creativity, because of not himself high position one of the heroes of the second part cannot marry his beloved. But poverty here is not only a material problem, but also a spiritual one. Gold drives heroes crazy, makes them greedy and envious. According to the author, a cowardly person with a lot of money is not able to cope: they completely destroy him.

The meaning of the story

Always remember about your soul, and not chase after wealth - this is the main idea of ​​the story "Portrait". All the possibilities for achieving the goal, finding happiness in a person already exist - Gogol says this. Later, Chekhov would turn to this idea in his drama Three Sisters, where the girls would believe that the path to joy is Moscow. And Nikolai Vasilievich shows that it is possible to reach the goal, in this case, to comprehend art, without special material costs. The main thing is not in them, but in inner strength person.

The narrator in the second part narrates about the fatal impact of the usurer's money, but is it fair to attribute all the troubles to mysticism? A person who puts money at the forefront is vulnerable to envy and depravity. That is why in happy wife woke up wild jealousy, and in Chartkow - despair and revenge. This is where philosophical meaning story "Portrait".

personality, strong in spirit, is not subject to such low qualities, she is able to cope with them and get rid of them from herself. This illustrates life path artist, author of a portrait of a usurer.

What does it teach?

The story "Portrait" warns of the dangers of glorifying money. The conclusion is simple: wealth cannot be set as the goal of life: this leads to the death of the soul. It is important to note that for the image little man not only material poverty, but also spiritual poverty. This can explain the troubles of Chartkov and the usurer's borrowers. But Gogol does not give a single positive example when money would be useful. The author's position is clearly expressed: the writer sees the only correct way in spiritual perfection, in renunciation of secular temptations. The protagonist realizes this too late: he did not heed the warnings of his teacher, for which he was severely punished.

In this story, Gogol is closest to Hoffmann in style and method of correlating the fantastic and the real. Here every unusual thing can be explained rationally characters as close as possible to the society of St. Petersburg. Such persuasiveness alarmed the reader of the story and made the "Portrait" current work both for Gogol's contemporaries and for his heirs.

Criticism

Literary criticism of the author's contemporaries was varied. Belinsky disapproved of this story, especially the second part, he considered it an appendage, in which the writer himself was not visible. Shevyrev also adhered to a similar position, accusing Gogol of a weak manifestation of the fantastic in the Portrait. But the contribution of Nikolai Vasilyevich to the development of Russian classical prose it is difficult to overestimate, and "Portrait" also contributes here. Chernyshevsky speaks about this in his articles.

Considering the assessments of critics, it is important to keep in mind that the final edition of the "Portrait" was in the late, critical period of Gogol's work. At this time, the writer is looking for a way to save Russia, mired in bribery, greed and philistinism. In letters to friends, he admits that he sees an opportunity to correct the situation in teaching, and not in the introduction of any newfangled ideas. From these positions, the validity of the criticism of Belinsky and Shevyrev should be considered.

Interesting? Save it on your wall!

Nikolai Vasilyevich liked to dream up in his stories, to create a mystical plot, as can be seen from his famous stories"Viy", "Evenings on a farm near Dikanka". But if here the reader has to plunge into fictional world folklore character, Gogol's "Portrait" shows that the author wanted to transfer science fiction to social phenomena. In this, Nikolai Vasilyevich reminds many foreign writers, in whom the "supernatural" captures the world. In our case, money is evil.

Internal confrontation between wealth and talent

At the beginning of the story, the reader is presented with a young, serving big hopes artist Chartkov. He is poor, therefore he envies the fate of the painters, who should paint a few pictures in order to bathe in luxury. The young man grumbles at his fate, because he has to live in obscurity and poverty. And here Gogol creates an atypical and completely fantastic situation. An analysis of the work "Portrait" shows the gradual transformation of Chartkov from a talented artist into an envious and greedy person who ruined his talent.

In a shop in Shchukin's yard, the artist finds a mysterious portrait, which, as a result, becomes a source of his enrichment. The picture contains a particle of the diabolical soul of the usurer Petromichaly. At first, Chartkov buys engravings and mannequins with the money received in order to seriously engage in art, but then he succumbs to temptation, acquiring completely useless and unnecessary things for him. It gets to the point where the young man buys talented paintings other painters and destroys them at home.

An analysis of Gogol's "Portrait" shows that the desire to have everything at once can kill talent. Chartkov drew beautifully, but even his teacher noticed that he was impatient and was looking closely at fashion trends. The teacher instructs the young artist not to waste his talent on painting portraits for money. But Chartkov wants instant fame and money. An analysis of Gogol's work "Portrait" shows that you have to pay for everything, the painter received wealth, but his brush became colorless, he lost his gift.

Atonement for sins and service to art

N.V. Gogol "Portrait" wrote to contrast completely different tempers people and their views on art. The father of the narrator was the author of the diabolical portrait. This man, as soon as he realized what power the picture had, and what a sin he had committed, immediately went to the monastery to atone for his sins. The writer does not see anything wrong with the fact that evil is depicted with the help of art, but a person must repent of this and not ruin his talent.

Analysis of Gogol's work "Portrait" shows that the icon painter, who spent more than one year in prayer, was able to paint a picture of the birth of Jesus in such a way that all its heroes seem to be alive. Even the abbot was struck by the sanctity of the figures, saying that the painter's brush drove high power. Nikolai Vasilievich, using the example of two people, showed his attitude towards art. Chartkov went from talent to death, and the icon painter - from committing sin to good.

Temptation in the story of N.V. Gogol "Portrait"

1.1 The history of the creation of the story "Portrait" by N.V. Gogol

The story of N.V. Gogol's "Portrait" was first published in the collection "Arabesques" in 1835. After the success of Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka, N.V. Gogol collected articles on art (“Painting, sculpture and music”, “A few words about Pushkin”, “On the architecture of the present time”), lectures and articles on history and reflections on historical figures and published them together with the story “Portrait”, writing in the preface: “I confess that I might not have admitted some plays to this collection at all if I had published it a year earlier, when I was more strict with my old works. But, instead of sternly judging the past, it is much better to be inexorable to your current pursuits. To destroy what we have written before seems to be as unfair as to forget days gone by of his youth. Moreover, if an essay contains two or three truths that have not yet been said, then the author has no right to hide it from the reader, and for two or three correct thoughts one can forgive the imperfection of the whole.

Probably, Gogol's mentoring tone, his desire to teach and careful attention to his own personality are already caught in the preface. However, the success of the “Queen of Spades” by A.S. Pushkin, perhaps, prompted Gogol to tell a story about a man who was ruined by a thirst for gold. After all, the "Portrait" was written precisely in 1834, when Pushkin's stories were widely discussed. Gogol considers life contemporary artist against the backdrop of history and art. This feature of the story "Portrait" is very important in order to understand how the writer shares vanity and eternity, how he seeks the true meaning human life and defines the true meaning and purpose of art.

After the release of "Arabesques" one of the most significant critics of that time, 30-40s of the nineteenth century, V.G. Belinsky disapproved of the story "Portrait": "There is a portrait unsuccessful attempt Mr. Gogol in a fantastic way. Here his talent falls, but even in the fall he remains a talent. The first part of this story is impossible to read without enthusiasm; even, in fact, there is something terrible, fatal, fantastic in this mysterious portrait, there is some kind of invincible charm that makes you forcefully look at it, although you are afraid of it. Add to this a multitude of humorous pictures and essays in the style of Mr. Gogol; remember the quarter warden, talking about painting; then this mother, who brought her daughter to Chertkovo in order to take a portrait of her, and who scolds balls and admires nature - and you will not deny the dignity of this story. But the second part of it is absolutely worthless; Mr. Gogol is not at all visible in it. This is an obvious attachment in which the mind worked, and fantasy did not take any part. [V.G. Belinsky. A look at Russian literature. M., Sovremennik, 1988].

After the scandal connected with the premiere of The Inspector General, Gogol leaves Russia for Italy. He lives in Rome, surrounded by great works of art from different times and contemporary Russian artists who, having graduated from the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts with a medal, lived and worked here. In the circle of Russian artists, Gogol was especially attracted by Alexander Ivanov, who painted the painting "The Appearance of Christ to the People."

Criticism of V.G. Belinsky and the painstaking work of A. Ivanov prompted Gogol to reconsider his attitude to the story "Portrait" and remake it. By 1841, work on correcting the story was completed. The surname of the protagonist has changed: earlier his name was Chertkov, which too openly emphasized the connection with evil spirit. Gogol excluded scenes of mystical, inexplicable appearances of the portrait and its customers from the story. The syllable of the story was clarified, the characteristics were expanded and described in more detail. secondary characters: Nikita, professor, owner of the house, quarterly, ladies-customers of portraits. In the first edition, the appearance of the usurer at the end of the story disappeared from the canvas. In the second edition, the portrait disappears, which again went to wander the world.

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/ / / Two artists in Gogol's story "Portrait"

The main problem that Gogol raises in the story "" is the problem of choosing imaginary or true art. The writer tried to find a solution to this problem in the images of the two artists described on the pages of the work.

At the beginning of the story, Gogol introduces us to the young artist Chartkov, who is hanging around the art shop. His attention is drawn to a very old portrait. To Chartkov, this work seems unfinished, but the look of the old man depicted in the picture seemed to bewitch the artist and he buys the portrait for the last money.

It is worth noting that Chartkov was really talented artist. He put a piece of his soul into his work. The young artist tried to depict every detail as realistically as possible. He admired the work of the great masters. Despite his talent, Chartkov was very poor and lived in poverty. He did not understand how other artists, drawing mediocre paintings, earn big money.

Buying a portrait of an old man changed the life of a young artist. At night, he had a dream in which he saw how the old man from the portrait came to life. He sat down on Chartkov's bed and began counting some bundles. On one of them, the artist noticed the inscription "1000 chervonny". This moment shows Chartkov's penchant for being tempted by wealth and fame. In the morning he did find a bundle of money. Part of the money the artist spends on canvases and paints, but, unable to resist the temptation, removes luxury apartment on Nevsky Prospekt and orders a laudatory article in the newspaper. After that, there was no release from customers. Chartkov still tries to paint portraits as accurately and naturally as possible, but the client does not like the work. Then he decides to write the way the customers want. By this Chartkov gives his talent and loses his purpose.

Once a poor artist becomes fashion artist. With his opinion begin to be considered, he is invited to evaluate the work of other masters. Chartkov is also changing internally. Now he is not afraid to criticize others, he considers artists who paint pictures for months mediocre.

One day he is invited to evaluate a painting by a young artist. Chartkov, looking at the work, understands how magnificent it is. Now he realizes that he sold his talent. Chartkov begins to buy up the works of great artists and destroy them. Ultimately, he goes insane and dies.

Next, we find ourselves at an auction where a portrait of an old man is exhibited. When the auction was in full swing, one artist claimed the rights to this painting. He told the audience a story about the person depicted in the portrait. This man was very rich, anyone could borrow money from him. But everyone who touched the old man's money ended their lives tragically. One day this old man asked the narrator's father to paint his portrait. The work was very tiring for the master. Ultimately, he abandoned her. And the life of the artist was filled with anger and envy. Then he decided to go to the monastery, where he painted the icon of the Birth of Jesus Christ. This icon made it possible to heal the soul of the artist. And he bequeathed to his son to find and destroy the portrait of the old man.

In the images of two artists, Gogol showed us how destructive the thirst for money and fame can be, and that art must be true.

"Portrait" is a story about the fate of the artist and the struggle between good and evil in the human soul. In this work we meet three painters: young Chartkov, an icon painter and his son.
Chartkov is described in the first part. He appears before us quite talented, but poor and murmuring about his fate. The young artist is offended by the fact that fashionable painters draw a few "pictures" and get big money, while he is forced to live in poverty and obscurity. And suddenly he finds himself in an unprecedented situation: he gets everything he dreams of through a mysterious portrait. He does not immediately succumb to temptation, but first decides to buy mannequins and prints and seriously engage in art. But 22 years and youth spoke in him. Inner voice and the desires of the artist oppose his reason. He rushes to buy unnecessary things, spends money on previously inaccessible pleasures. Why did money turn out to be stronger than the artist's talent? Here are the words of the teacher Chartkov: “You have a talent; it will be a sin if you destroy it. But you are impatient. painter... Your drawing is not strict, the line is not visible, you are already chasing fashionable lighting... Beware, the light is already beginning to pull you... It is tempting, you can start painting fashionable pictures, portraits for money. lost talent... The word "fashionable" occurs three times in his speech and sounds like a reproach. That is, Chartkov has a talent and a desire to learn, but another part of his soul longs for instant success and fame. And it is this part that overpowers the first. The reason for this was the devilish money that pushed Chartkov to fame, but for which he had to pay with his talent. As a result, a person morally falls. At the beginning of the story, Gogol spoke of Chartkov as "a young artist with talent", and at the end of the first part, this artist bought the best paintings and, bringing them home, rushed at them with the fury of a tiger, tore, tore, cut into pieces and trampled them under his feet .
The artist, the father of the narrator of the second part, committed a sin by painting a portrait of a usurer. He goes to a monastery and becomes a hermit. Here a person does not go from talent to death, but from committing sin to ascending to goodness. After spending long years in prayers and fasts, he finally takes up the brush and writes the birth of Jesus. It is not for nothing that the abbot, struck by the “extraordinary holiness of the figures” in the painting of the Nativity of Jesus, says to the artist: “No, a person cannot be with the help of one human art produce such a picture: the holy higher power led your brush and the blessing of heaven rested on your work. The icon painter instructs his twenty-year-old son, also an artist, who is going on a trip to Italy. This artist B. is as young as Chartkov, but as we see from the description of him at the auction, he was an unfashionably dressed young man who was alien to all social upheavals and who did not care about fashion. He, having received a request from his father to find and destroy the portrait, comes to the auction.
In the story of fate, three artists are united by a portrait of a usurer, who at the end mysteriously disappears from the auction.