Each of the heroes of the poem - Manilov, Korobochka, Nozdrev, Sobakevich, Plyushkin, Chichikov - in itself does not represent anything of value. But Gogol managed to give them a generalized character and at the same time create a general picture of contemporary Russia. The title of the poem is symbolic and ambiguous. Dead souls are not only those who ended their earthly existence, not only the peasants who were bought by Chichikov, but also the landowners and provincial officials themselves, whom the reader meets on the pages of the poem. The words "dead souls" are used in the narrative in many shades and meanings. The prosperously living Sobakevich has a more dead soul than the serfs whom he sells to Chichikov and who exist only in memory and on paper, and Chichikov himself is a new type of hero, an entrepreneur in whom the features of the emerging bourgeoisie are embodied.
The chosen plot gave Gogol "complete freedom to travel all over Russia with the hero and bring out a multitude of the most diverse characters." The poem has a huge number of characters, all social strata of serf Russia are represented: the acquirer Chichikov, officials of the provincial city and the capital, representatives of the highest nobility, landowners and serfs. A significant place in the ideological and compositional structure of the work is occupied by lyrical digressions, in which the author touches on the most pressing social issues, and insert episodes, which is typical for the poem as a literary genre.
The composition of "Dead Souls" serves to reveal each of the characters, displayed in the overall picture. The author found an original and surprisingly simple compositional structure, which gave him the widest possibilities both for depicting life phenomena, and for connecting the narrative and lyrical principles, and for poetizing Russia.
The ratio of parts in "Dead Souls" is strictly thought out and subject to creative design. The first chapter of the poem can be defined as a kind of introduction. The action has not yet begun, and the author only outlines his characters in general terms. In the first chapter, the author introduces us to the peculiarities of the life of the provincial city, with city officials, landowners Manilov, Nozdrev and Sobakevich, as well as with the central character of the work - Chichikov, who begins to make profitable acquaintances and prepares for active actions, and his faithful companions - Petrushka and Selifan. In the same chapter, two peasants are described talking about the wheel of Chichikov's chaise, a young man dressed in a suit "with attempts on fashion", a fidgety tavern servant and other "petty people". And although the action has not yet begun, the reader begins to guess that Chichikov came to the provincial town with some secret intentions, which are revealed later.
The meaning of Chichikov's enterprise was as follows. Once every 10-15 years, the treasury conducted a census of the serf population. Between the censuses (“revision tales”), the landlords had a fixed number of serf (revision) souls (only men were indicated in the census). Naturally, the peasants died, but according to the documents, officially, they were considered alive until the next census. For serfs, the landowners paid tax annually, including for the dead. “Listen, mother,” Chichikov explains to Korobochka, “yes, you only judge well: after all, you are ruined. Pay for him (the deceased) as if he were alive.” Chichikov acquires dead peasants in order to pawn them, as if alive, in the Board of Trustees and receive a decent amount of money.
A few days after arriving in the provincial town, Chichikov goes on a journey: he visits the estates of Manilov, Korobochka, Nozdrev, Sobakevich, Plyushkin and acquires "dead souls" from them. Showing the criminal combinations of Chichikov, the author creates unforgettable images of the landowners: the empty dreamer Manilov, the stingy Korobochka, the incorrigible liar Nozdrev, the greedy Sobakevich and the degraded Plyushkin. The action takes an unexpected turn when, on his way to Sobakevich, Chichikov ends up at Korobochka.
The sequence of events makes a lot of sense and is dictated by the development of the plot: the writer sought to reveal in his heroes an increasing loss of human qualities, the death of their souls. As Gogol himself said: "My heroes follow one after the other, one more vulgar than the other." So, in Manilov, beginning a series of landowner characters, the human principle has not yet completely died, as evidenced by his "outbursts" for spiritual life, but his aspirations are gradually dying down. The thrifty Korobochka no longer has even a hint of a spiritual life, everything is subordinated to her desire to sell the products of her natural economy at a profit. Nozdrev completely lacks any moral and moral principles. There is very little human left in Sobakevich, and everything animal and cruel is clearly manifested. Plyushkin completes a series of expressive images of landlords - a person on the verge of mental decay. The images of landlords created by Gogol are typical people for their time and environment. They could have become decent individuals, but the fact that they are the owners of serf souls has deprived them of their humanity. For them, serfs are not people, but things.
The image of landlord Rus' replaces the image of the provincial city. The author introduces us to the world of officials involved in public administration. In the chapters devoted to the city, the picture of noble Russia expands and the impression of its deadness deepens. Depicting the world of officials, Gogol first shows their funny sides, and then makes the reader think about the laws that reign in this world. All officials passing before the reader's mind turn out to be people without the slightest idea of honor and duty, they are bound by mutual patronage and mutual responsibility. Their life, like the life of the landowners, is meaningless.
The return of Chichikov to the city and the design of the bill of sale fortress is the culmination of the plot. Officials congratulate him on the acquisition of serfs. But Nozdryov and Korobochka reveal the tricks of the "most respectable Pavel Ivanovich", and general merriment gives way to confusion. The denouement is coming: Chichikov hurriedly leaves the city. The picture of Chichikov's exposure is drawn with humor, acquiring a pronounced revealing character. The author, with unconcealed irony, tells about the gossip and rumors that arose in the provincial town in connection with the exposure of the “millionaire”. Overwhelmed by anxiety and panic, officials unwittingly discover their dark illegal deeds.
A special place in the novel is occupied by The Tale of Captain Kopeikin. It is plot-related to the poem and is of great importance for revealing the ideological and artistic meaning of the work. “The Tale of Captain Kopeikin” gave Gogol the opportunity to take the reader to Petersburg, create an image of the city, introduce the theme of 1812 into the narrative and tell the story of the fate of the war hero, Captain Kopeikin, while exposing the bureaucratic arbitrariness and arbitrariness of the authorities, the injustice of the existing system. In The Tale of Captain Kopeikin, the author raises the question that luxury turns a person away from morality.
The place of the "Tale ..." is determined by the development of the plot. When ridiculous rumors about Chichikov began to spread around the city, officials, alarmed by the appointment of a new governor and the possibility of their exposure, gathered together to clarify the situation and protect themselves from the inevitable "scolds". The story about Captain Kopeikin is not accidentally conducted on behalf of the postmaster. As the head of the postal department, he probably read newspapers and magazines, and could draw a lot of information about the life of the capital. He liked to "show off" in front of the audience, to throw dust in the eyes of his education. The postmaster tells the story of Captain Kopeikin at the moment of the greatest commotion that engulfed the provincial town. "The Tale of Captain Kopeikin" is another confirmation that the feudal system is in decline, and new forces, albeit spontaneously, are already preparing to embark on the path of combating social evil and injustice. The story of Kopeikin, as it were, completes the picture of statehood and shows that arbitrariness reigns not only among officials, but also in the upper strata, up to the minister and the tsar.
In the eleventh chapter, which completes the work, the author shows how Chichikov's enterprise ended, talks about his origin, tells how his character was formed, views on life were developed. Penetrating into the spiritual recesses of his hero, Gogol presents to the reader everything that “eludes and hides from the light”, reveals “hidden thoughts that a person does not entrust to anyone”, and we are faced with a scoundrel who is rarely visited by human feelings.
On the first pages of the poem, the author himself describes him somehow vaguely: "...not handsome, but not bad-looking, neither too fat nor too thin." Provincial officials and landowners, whose characters are revealed in the following chapters of the poem, characterize Chichikov as "well-intentioned", "efficient", "scientist", "the most kind and courteous person." Based on this, one gets the impression that we are faced with the personification of the "ideal of a decent person."
The whole plot of the poem is built as an exposure of Chichikov, since the scam with the sale and purchase of "dead souls" is at the center of the story. In the system of images of the poem, Chichikov stands somewhat apart. He plays the role of a landowner, traveling according to his needs, and by origin he is, but he has very little connection with the lord's local life. Each time he appears before us in a new guise and always achieves his goal. In the world of such people, friendship and love are not valued. They are characterized by extraordinary perseverance, will, energy, perseverance, practical calculation and tireless activity, they hide a vile and terrible power.
Understanding the danger posed by people like Chichikov, Gogol openly ridicules his hero, reveals his insignificance. Gogol's satire becomes a kind of weapon with which the writer exposes Chichikov's "dead soul"; says that such people, despite their tenacious mind and adaptability, are doomed to death. And Gogol's laughter, which helps him expose the world of self-interest, evil and deceit, was suggested to him by the people. It was in the soul of the people that hatred for the oppressors, for the "masters of life" grew and strengthened over the course of many years. And only laughter helped him to survive in a monstrous world, not to lose optimism and love of life.
As for the composition of the work, it is extremely simple and expressive. It has three links.
First: five portrait chapters (2 - 6), which give all the types of landowners available at that time; the second - counties and officials (chapters 1, 7 - 10); the third is chapter 11, in which the background of the protagonist. In the first chapter - Chichikov's arrival in the city and his acquaintance with officials and the surrounding landowners.
Five portrait chapters dedicated to Manilov, Korobochka, Nozdrev, Sobakevich and Plyushkin describe Chichikov's visits to landowners' estates in order to buy "dead souls". In the next four chapters - the hassle of processing "purchases", the excitement and talk in the city about Chichikov and his enterprise, the death of the prosecutor, who was frightened by the rumors about Chichikov. The eleventh chapter completes the first volume.
In the second volume, which has come down to us incompletely, there is much more tragedy and dynamism. Chichikov continues to pay visits to the landowners. New characters are introduced. At the same time, events are taking place leading to the rebirth of the protagonist.
Compositionally, the poem consists of three externally not closed, but internally interconnected circles - the landowners, the city, the hero's biography - united by the image of the road, plotted by Chichikov's scam.
“... Not jokingly, Gogol called his novel a “poem” and that he does not mean a comic poem by it. This was not told to us by the author, but by his book. We do not see anything comic and funny in it; we did not notice in a single word of the author the intention to make the reader laugh: everything is serious, calm, true and deep ... Do not forget that this book is only an exposition, an introduction to the poem, that the author promises two more such great books in which we will meet again with Chichikov and we will see new faces in which Russia will express itself from its other side ... ”(“ V. G. Belinsky about Gogol ”, OGIZ, State Publishing House of Fiction, Moscow, 1949).
V.V. Gippius writes that Gogol built his poem on two levels: psychological and historical.
The task of the first plan is to bring out as many characters as possible who are attached to the landowner's environment. “But the significance of Gogol's heroes outgrows their initial social characteristics. Manilovshchina, Nozdrevshchina, Chichikovshchina received ... the meanings of large typical generalizations. And this was not only a later historical rethinking; the generalized nature of the images is provided for in the author's intention. Gogol recalls this about almost every one of his heroes. (V.V. Gippius, "From Pushkin to Blok", publishing house "Nauka", Moscow-Leningrad, 1966, p. 127).
On the other hand, each Gogol's image is historical, because it is marked by the features of its era. Images that stay in time for a long time are supplemented by newly emerging ones (Chichikov). Images from "Dead Souls" have received a long historical significance.
The novel remains inevitably within the limits of the depiction of individual people and events. There is no place in the novel for the image of the people and the country.
The genre of the novel did not contain Gogol's tasks. “Based on these tasks (which did not cancel, but included an in-depth depiction of real life), it was necessary to create a special genre - a large epic form, wider than a novel. Gogol calls "Dead Souls" a poem - by no means in jest, as hostile criticism used to say; it is no coincidence that on the cover of Dead Souls, drawn by Gogol himself, the word poem is highlighted in especially large letters. (V. V. Gippius, “From Pushkin to Blok”, publishing house “Nauka”, Moscow-Leningrad, 1966).
There was innovative courage in what Gogol called "Dead Souls" a poem. Calling his work a poem, Gogol was guided by his following judgment: "a novel does not take the whole life, but a significant event in life." Gogol imagined the epic differently. It “embraces some features, but the whole era of time, among which the hero acted with the way of thinking, beliefs and even confessions that mankind made at that time ...” “... Such phenomena from time to time appeared among many peoples. Many of them, although written in prose, can nevertheless be considered poetic creations. (P. Antopolsky, article "Dead Souls", poem by N.V. Gogol, Gogol N.V., "Dead Souls", Moscow, Higher School, 1980, p. 6).
A poem is a work about significant events in a state or in life. It implies the historicity and heroism of the content, legend, pathos.
Gogol conceived Dead Souls as a historical poem. With great consistency, he attributed the time of the first volume at least twenty years ago, to the middle of the reign of Alexander the First, to the era after the Patriotic War of 1812.
Gogol bluntly states: "However, it must be remembered that all this happened shortly after the glorious expulsion of the French." That is why, in the views of officials and inhabitants of the provincial city, Napoleon is still alive (he died in 1821) and can threaten to land from St. Helena. That is why the story or the tale about the unfortunate one-armed and one-legged veteran - the captain of the victorious Russian army, who took Paris in 1814, has such a vivid effect on the postmaster's listeners. That is why one of the heroes of the second volume (on which Gogol ... worked much later), General Betrishchev, completely left the epic of the twelfth year and is full of memories of it. And if Chichikov invented some mythical story of the generals of the twelfth year for Tentetnikov, then this circumstance pours water on the historical mill of Gogol. (Introductory article by P. Antopolsky, "Dead Souls", Moscow, Higher School, 1980, p. 7). This is on the one hand.
On the other hand, Dead Souls could not be called anything other than a poem. Because the title itself betrays its lyrical-epic essence; soul is a poetic concept.
The genre of "Dead Souls" has become a peculiar form of raising everyday life material to the level of poetic generalization. The principles of artistic typification used by Gogol create an ideological and philosophical situation in which reality is perceived exclusively in the context of a global ethical doctrine. In this regard, the title of the poem plays a special role. After the appearance of "Dead Souls" fierce disputes broke out. The author was reproached for encroaching on sacred categories, for attacking the foundations of faith. The title of the poem is based on the reception of an oxymoron, the social characteristics of the characters correlate with their spiritual and biological state. A specific image is considered not only in the aspect of moral and ethical antinomies, but also within the dominant existential-philosophical concept (life-death). It is this thematic conflict that determines the specific perspective of the author's vision of the problems.
Gogol defines the genre of "Dead Souls" already in the title of the work, which is explained by the author's desire to anticipate the reader's perception with a hint of the lyrical epic of the artistic world. "Poem" indicates a special type of narration in which the lyrical element largely prevails over the epic dimension. The structure of Gogol's text is an organic synthesis of lyrical digressions and plot events. The image of the narrator plays a special role in the narrative. He is present in all scenes, comments, evaluates what is happening, expresses ardent indignation or sincere sympathy. (“The originality of the narrative manner in the poem “Dead Souls”, letter.ru).
Two worlds are artistically embodied in "Dead Souls": the "real" world and the "ideal" world. The “real” world is the world of Plyushkin, Nozdrev, Manilov, Korobochka, a world that reflects Russian reality contemporary to Gogol. According to the laws of the epic, Gogol creates a picture of life, most tightly covering reality. He shows as many characters as possible. In order to show Rus', the artist distances himself from ongoing events and is busy creating a reliable world.
This is a terrible, ugly world, a world of inverted values and ideals. In this world the soul may be dead. In this world, spiritual landmarks are turned upside down, its laws are immoral. This world is a picture of the modern world, in which there are caricature masks of contemporaries, and hyperbolic ones, and bringing what is happening to the point of absurdity ...
The “ideal” world is built in accordance with the criteria by which the author judges himself and life. This is the world of true spiritual values, high ideals. For this world, the human soul is immortal, for it is the embodiment of the Divine in man.
“The “ideal” world is the world of spirituality, the spiritual world of man. There is no Plyushkin and Sobakevich in it, there cannot be Nozdryov and Korobochka. It has souls - immortal human souls. He is perfect in every sense of the word. And therefore this world cannot be recreated epic. The spiritual world describes a different kind of literature - lyrics. That is why Gogol defines the genre of the work as lyrical-epic, calling "Dead Souls" a poem. (Monakhova O.P., Malkhazova M.V., Russian literature of the 19th century, part 1, Moscow, 1995, p. 155).
The whole composition of a huge work, the composition of all the volumes of "Dead Souls" was suggested to Gogol immortally by Dante's "Divine Comedy", where the first volume is hell and the kingdom of dead souls, the second volume is purgatory and the third is paradise.
In the composition of "Dead Souls" inserted short stories and lyrical digressions are of great importance. Particularly important is The Tale of Captain Kopeikin, which is, as it were, outside the plot, but shows the peak of the necrosis of the human soul.
The exposition of "Dead Souls" was moved to the end of the poem - to the eleventh chapter, which is almost the beginning of the poem, showing the main character - Chichikov.
“Chichikov is conceived as a hero who faces a coming revival. The way in which this possibility itself is motivated leads us to new ideas for the nineteenth century. aspects of Gogol's artistic thinking. The Villain in Enlightenment Literature of the 18th Century retained the right to our sympathies and our belief in his possible rebirth, since his personality was based on a kind, but perverted by society, Nature. The romantic villain expiated his guilt by the grandeur of his crimes, the greatness of his soul ensured him the sympathy of the reader. Ultimately, he could be a straying angel, or even a sword in the hands of heavenly justice. Gogol's hero has hope for rebirth because he has reached the limit of evil in its extreme - low, petty and ridiculous - manifestations. Comparison of Chichikov and the robber, Chichikov and Napoleon,
Chichikov and the Antichrist makes the former a comic figure, removes from him the halo of literary nobility (in parallel, there is a parodic theme of Chichikov's attachment to the "noble" service, "noble" treatment, etc.). Evil is given not only in its pure form, but also in its insignificant forms. This is the extreme and most hopeless, according to Gogol, evil. And it is precisely in its hopelessness that the possibility of an equally complete and absolute rebirth lurks. Such a concept is organically connected with Christianity and constitutes one of the foundations of the artistic world of Dead Souls. This makes Chichikov related to Dostoevsky's characters. (Yu.M. Lotman, “Pushkin and The Tale of Captain Kopeikin. On the History of the Design and Composition of Dead Souls”, gogol.ru).
“Gogol loves Rus', knows and guesses it with a creative feeling better than many: at every step we see it. The image of the very shortcomings of the people, if we take it even in moral and practical terms, leads him to deep reflections about the nature of the Russian person, about his abilities and especially education, on which all his happiness and power depend. Read Chichikov's reflections on dead and runaway souls (on pp. 261 - 264): having laughed, you will deeply think about how a Russian person grows, develops, is educated and lives in this world, standing on the lowest rung of social life.
May readers not think that we recognize Gogol's talent as one-sided, capable of contemplating only the negative half of human and Russian life: oh! of course, we do not think so, and everything that has been said before would contradict such a statement. If in this first volume of his poem comic humor prevailed, and we see Russian life and Russian people for the most part as their negative side, then it does not follow that Gogol's fantasy could not rise to the full extent of all aspects of Russian life. He himself promises to present to us all the incalculable wealth of the Russian spirit (page 430), and we are sure, in advance, that he will gloriously keep his word. In addition, in this part, where the content itself, the characters and the subject of the action carried him into laughter and irony, he felt the need to make up for the lack of the other half of life, and therefore, in frequent digressions, in vivid remarks thrown sporadically, he gave us a premonition of another side of Russian life, which over time will reveal in its entirety. Who does not remember the episodes about the apt word of a Russian person and the nickname he gives, about the endless Russian song rushing from sea to sea, about the wide expanse of our land, and, finally, about the Ukhar troika, about this troika bird, which he could invent only a Russian person and who inspired Gogol with a hot page and a wonderful image for the rapid flight of our glorious Russia? All these lyrical episodes, especially the last one, seem to present us with glances thrown forward, or a premonition of the future, which should develop enormously in the work and depict the fullness of our spirit and our life. (Stepan Shevyrev, "The Adventures of Chichikov or Dead Souls", a poem by N.V. Gogol).
Stepan Shevyrev also writes that a full answer to the question of why Gogol called his work a poem can be given if the work is completed.
“Now the meaning of the word: a poem seems to us twofold: if we look at the work from the side of the fantasy that participates in it, then we can accept it in a real poetic, even high sense; - but if you look at the comic humor that prevails in the content of the first part, then involuntarily because of the word: a poem - a deep, significant irony will look out, and you will say inwardly: “should we add to the title:“ A poem of our time ”?” (Stepan Shevyrev, "The Adventures of Chichikov or Dead Souls", a poem by N.V. Gogol).
The soul does not have to be dead. And the resurrection of the soul is from the realm of the poetic. Therefore, the conceived work in three volumes of Gogol's "Dead Souls" is a poem; This is not a joke or irony. Another thing is that the idea was not carried through to the end: the reader did not see either purgatory or paradise, but only the hell of Russian reality.
The genre originality of "Dead Souls" is still controversial. What is it - a poem, a novel, a moralistic story? In any case, this is a great work about the significant.
N.V. Gogol, while writing Dead Souls, for a very long time could not decide what it was: a novel or a poem. Nevertheless, the author concluded that "Dead Souls" is a lyrical epic poem, because lyrical digressions and inserted episodes occupy a significant place in it, which is typical for this literary genre. Consequently, in "Dead Souls" the lyrical and epic beginnings are equal in rights.
The task of the epic part is to show "although from one side Rus'", and lyrical digressions add poetry to the work. For example, at the end of the first volume, the author introduces the image of a troika bird, which rushes along the road and personifies all of Rus'. What pride and love for the Fatherland sounds in this episode. In my opinion, the introduction of lyrical digressions into the epic plot is a specific feature of the compositional integrity of this poem.
The originality of "Dead Souls" lies in a special construction. So, in the first chapter, the author gives a general description of the provincial town and casually introduces the reader to the main character. In the next five chapters, Chichikov visits the landowners and buys dead souls from them. Moreover, the author describes the serf-owners in the order of degradation: one is worse than the other. For example, Manilov, as an independent image, cannot be perceived positively (he does not read, does not develop, does not do housework, has feigned politeness), but in comparison with Nozdryov, a fighter and a liar, the first landowner looks spiritually much higher. And if we compare Korobochka and Plyushkin, then Nastasya Petrovna also wins with some character traits: although she does not develop, like Plyushkin, the landowner is a model of housekeeping.
It is no coincidence that the writer builds each chapter according to a certain scheme: a description of the village, the estate, the interior of the house, the meeting of the owner, the dinner scene, the reaction of the serf owner to Chichikov's proposal. And so throughout all five chapters he uses the same methods of typing.
An interesting feature is that the reader learns the biography of the protagonist not at the beginning of the work, but only at the end of the first volume. We have already learned about what Chichikov did, what were the consequences of his journey, but the reasons that prompted Pavel Ivanovich to start these "adventures" are not yet known to us. It turns out that the engine of this idea is the covenant given to Pavlusha in childhood by his father: “save a penny, she will never give out ...”
Thus, the peculiarity of the composition of the poem "Dead Souls" is the unusual location of the chapters of the entire work, the existence of lyrical digressions, ways of typing the images of landlords, built according to the same method.
N.V. Gogol's poem "Dead Souls" has certain compositional features that are very different from many other works.
The poem contains only eleven chapters. The poem begins in the same place where it ends. From this we can say that it has a circular composition.
Each chapter is a complete piece of text.
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The author describes all the meetings of Chichikov with different landowners in a very similar way. First, he describes the place where they live, then proceeds to reveal the character of the landowner, and then the conclusion of the actual deal for the purchase of dead souls.
There are also a lot of lyrical digressions in the text. In them, Gogol reveals his personal attitude to the characters, to what is happening. And the story of Captain Kopeikin is also extremely important. Although it is not directly related to the poem, it further reveals the theme of the necrosis of the human soul, transferring all this to Russia itself.
Through the unusual composition, Gogol manages to very clearly describe the position of Rus' at that time. And you can once again be convinced of the splendor of N.V. Gogol.
Updated: 2017-06-19
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The plot and composition of "Dead Souls" are determined by the subject of the image - Gogol's desire to comprehend Russian life, the character of a Russian person, the fate of Russia. We are talking about a fundamental change in the subject of the image in comparison with the literature of the 20-30s: the artist's attention is transferred from the image of an individual to a portrait of society. In other words, the romantic aspect of the genre content (the depiction of a person's private life) is replaced by a moralistic one (a portrait of society at a non-heroic moment of its development). Therefore, Gogol is looking for
A plot that would enable the widest possible coverage of reality.
Such an opportunity was opened up by the plot of the journey: “Pushkin found that the plot of Dead Souls was good for me because,” Gogol said, “it gives me complete freedom to travel all over Russia with the hero and bring out a multitude of the most diverse characters.” Therefore, the motif of movement, road, path turns out to be the leitmotif of the poem.
This motif acquires a completely different meaning in the famous lyrical digression of the eleventh chapter: the road with the rushing chaise turns into the path along which Rus' flies, “and, squinting, step aside
And other peoples and states give way to it.” This leitmotif contains the unknown paths of Russian national development:
“Rus, where are you going, give me an answer? Does not give an answer”, offering an antithesis to the ways of other peoples: “What twisted, deaf, narrow, impassable, drifting roads mankind has chosen…”
The way of life of the hero is embodied in the image of the road (“but for all that, his road was difficult ...”), and the creative path of the author: “And for a long time it was determined by my wonderful power to go hand in hand with my strange heroes ...”
The plot of the journey gives Gogol the opportunity to create a gallery of images of landowners. At the same time, the composition looks very rational: the exposition of the plot of the journey is given in the first chapter (Chichikov meets officials and some landowners, receives invitations from them), then five chapters follow, in which the landowners “sit”, and Chichikov travels from chapter to chapter, buying dead souls.
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- “The Tale of Captain Kopeikin” (Analysis of a fragment of N.V. Gogol’s poem “Dead Souls”) The theme of exposing bureaucracy runs through all of Gogol’s work: it stands out both in the collection Mirgorod and in the comedy The Inspector General. In the poem "Dead Souls" it is intertwined with the theme of serfdom. In addition, Gogol, wherever possible, ridicules officials and the inertia of statesmen. A special place in […]
- Why did Gogol call his work Dead Souls, written in 1842, a poem? The definition of the genre became clear to the writer only at the last moment, since, while still working on the poem, Gogol calls it either a poem or a novel. The work - named at the first edition for censorship reasons "The Adventures of Chichikov, or Dead Souls", of course, was not an easy adventurous novel, [...] ...
- “Dead Souls” is an oxymoron title that reflects the complex, multifaceted problems of the poem. It should also be taken into account that its idea changed, and at the same time, all new facets of meaning were included in the title of the work. First, “dead soul” is a bureaucratic jargon for a dead peasant. Around the scam with serfs, who, despite the fact of death, continue to be listed in [...] ...
- 1. "Dead Souls" - the history of creation and design. 2. The main idea of the work. 3. Souls "dead" and "alive" in the poem. 4. The meaning of composition in understanding the work. 5. Russia is a country of “living” souls. N.V. Gogol's desire to write a large epic work dedicated to the fate of Russia, which had been ripening for several decades, led the writer to the idea of the poem "Dead Souls". Started […]
- Rus', where are you going? Give an answer. Doesn't give an answer. NV Gogol Looking at the gallery of characters, bred by Gogol in the first volume of "Dead Souls", one involuntarily asks the question: which of them is the main character? Of course, it is absurd to look for him among the landowners. Neither the cloyingly sweet, stupid Manilov, nor the “club-headed” Korobochka, nor the “hysterical man” Nozdryov, a petty dirty trick and [...] ...
- “Dead Souls” by N. V. Gogol was a great, major contribution to the literary life of the country. Neither Pushkin, who gave Gogol the plot for the poem, nor Gogol himself thought of the significance of this work. The plot of "Dead Souls" consists of three externally closed, but internally very interconnected links: landowners, city officials and Chichikov's biography. Each of these […]...
- N. V. Gogol's poem "Dead Souls" was created in the 40s of the XIX century. Gogol did not work on any of his works, including The Inspector General, with such enthusiasm, with such faith in his vocation as a citizen writer, with which he created Dead Souls. He did not devote as much deep creative thought, hard work and time to any other work as to his [...] ...
- In the “Author's Confession”, Gogol spoke about the participation of Pushkin in his work: “He has long been inclining me to take on a larger essay ... he told me: “How can one not take on a large essay with this ability to guess a person and a few features. It's just a sin!" Pushkin gave Gogol his own plot, from which he wanted to make [...] ...
- Plot and compositional features. In accordance with the problems and ideological and thematic originality of the novel, its plot and composition are organized. In the center of it is the image of Bazarov, which unites the entire artistic canvas of the work. Its significance is obvious: of the 28 chapters of the novel, he does not appear in only two. The plot, limited by a fairly narrow time frame, develops clearly and dynamically. With the arrival of Arkady and his [...] ...
- One of the remarkable features of Pushkin's genius is the harmony of his works from the point of view of their plot and compositional construction. Clarity, certainty, harmony and proportion are the main compositional properties of Pushkin's creations. Belinsky noted that in Pushkin's works "the end is in harmony with the beginning." Indeed, one of the poet's favorite tricks was the ring composition, when the action in the finale returns to the place where [...] ...
- In accordance with the problems and ideological and thematic originality of the novel, its plot and composition are organized. In the center of it is the image of Bazarov, which unites the entire artistic canvas of the work. Its significance is obvious: of the 28 chapters of the novel, he does not appear in only two. The plot, limited by a fairly narrow time frame, develops clearly and dynamically. With the arrival of Arkady and his friend in [...] ...
- Works on Literature: Composition of N. V. Gogol's poem "Dead Souls" According to the idea of N. V. Gogol, the theme of the poem was to be all of contemporary Russia. By the conflict of the first volume of Dead Souls, the writer took two types of contradictions inherent in Russian society in the first half of the 19th century: between the imaginary content and the actual insignificance of the ruling strata of society and between the spiritual forces of the people […]...
- The preface of the work is ideological content, a retreat-thinking about poets is built as an appeal to the elements of explaining an educated man to a simple one. In fact, the construction of the work can be perceived ambivalently: as an inserted short story about a thief or a frame about a journey (the motive of the journey, common in world literature). The parable of the work is revealed in the last rhetorical question, a kind of philosophical pointe - what would be done with a thief [...] ...
- Gogol did not finish his poem "Dead Souls", because he realized that the situation in Russia could not be corrected for a long time, although in the first volume it still gives some hope for a brighter future. Gogol wrote Dead Souls at a time when serfdom still existed in Russia. Therefore, many landowners treated the peasants terribly: they beat them, humiliated them, sold them, [...] ...
- Gogol carefully and lovingly studies the Russian Folk language, he brings into his "Notebooks" a variety of colloquial words and expressions, draws them from there for his works in handfuls. Many folk words and expressions, overheard by Gogol in life and introduced into the poem, give it not only even greater realistic authenticity, but also undoubted nationality. This is complemented by [...]
- 1. The life path of Chichikov. 2. The purpose and means of the hero. 3. Vital tenacity of a businessman. From the works of the righteous do not make stone chambers. Russian folk proverb Traditionally, the image of Chichikov, the main character of N.V. Gogol's poem "Dead Souls", is usually considered as unambiguously negative. However, is the hero so straightforward and simple as to rank him among the host of textbook villains? Can […]
- N. V. Gogol is an outstanding writer of critical realism, continuing the traditions of A. S. Pushkin and deepening his critical attitude to modern reality. “Dead Souls” were conceived in such a way that all of Rus' would “appear” in the work. Naturally, such a colossal idea did not fit into the existing genre framework; the compositional structure also had to become something special. It is still controversial [...]
- Nikolai Vasilievich spent a long time thinking about what the meaning of the novel would be. As a result, I came to the conclusion that it is necessary to show the whole of Rus', the people with all the shortcomings, negative traits, and contradictory characters. Gogol wanted to hurt a person, to show him what is happening in the world, what is worth fearing. He wanted readers to read his [...]
- According to Gogol's plan, the composition of the poem "Dead Souls" was supposed to consist of three volumes, like Dante's "Divine Poem", but only the first volume was realized, according to the author - "the porch to the house." This is a kind of "Hell" of Russian reality. In volume 2, similar to "Purgatory", new positive characters were to appear and, using the example of Chichikov, it was supposed to show the path of purification and resurrection [...] ...
- The plot of the poem was suggested to Gogol by Pushkin. The collegiate adviser Chichikov came to the city to buy the peasants who were on the lists before the new revision tale. Then they can be pawned in the treasury and make capital on this, and their former masters will gladly give up the dead so that taxes from them are not so great. Here Pavel Ivanovich gets acquainted with [...] ...
- The name of this work by Gogol is primarily associated with the main character Chichikov, who bought up dead peasants. To start doing your own thing. But in fact, he wanted to sell these dead souls and get rich. But not only this is the meaning of the title of this work, the author wanted to show the true souls of society, that they have long been hardened and [...] ...
- 1. Gogol's original idea. 2. Two compositional bases. 3. The satirical plan of the poem. Chichikov's place is in it. 4. The preaching plan of the poem. 5. Place of copyright digressions. The features of the compositional construction of N. V. Gogol's poem “Dead Souls” are due, first of all, to the creative task that the author set himself. The original author's idea included three books, united by a common idea - […]...
- Heroes are interesting primarily for their pronounced typing. In the fate of the writer, the poem played the role of an unbearable burden. N.V. Gogol was able to master only half of what was originally planned, and eternal doubts broke him halfway. It can be said that N.V. Gogol felt and understood more than he could express in a word, despite all the colorfulness of his language. He threw on […]
- You yourself understand that every phrase came to me By reflections, long considerations, that it is harder for me to part with it than for another writer, Who costs nothing in one minute to replace one with another. NV Gogol Few writers possessed such magic of the word as Gogol. He considered language to be one of the most important tasks of an artist. Gogol always […]
- FEATURES OF THE GENRE AND COMPOSITION OF THE POEM "DEAD SOULS" Defining the genre of his own work, NV Gogol called "Dead Souls" a poem. This genre definition was preserved at all stages of work, right up to the publication of the book. This is due, first of all, to the fact that in “Dead Souls”, which were originally conceived under the sign of “gaiety” and comedy, there is also a different, non-comic element - [...] ...
- ... The further continuation becomes clearer and cleaner in the head, more majestic, from which something colossal may eventually turn out. From a letter from N. V. Gogol to S. T. Aksakov. 1840 Let's read this epigraph. How do I understand it? It seems that everything is clear and understandable, except for one: "... something colossal." It seems that he planned all this in the first volume and “cunning” with [...] ...
- The personality of the writer. The World of Gogol's Word We begin the lesson by thinking about Gogol's personality. It seems to us that, in many respects, awareness of the depth of the creator's personality helps to realize the grandeur of the work he created. In the course of the mini-lecture, we dwell on the inconsistency of the writer's character, cite the statements of his contemporaries about him (along the way, inviting the students to think about the question: Why did Gogol's contemporaries often give him completely opposite [...] ...
- N.V. Gogol intended to create his own poem Dead Souls, taking as a model the Divine Comedy by the Italian Renaissance poet Dante Alighieri. Just as Dante divided his work into three honors ("Hell", "Purgatory" and "Paradise"), so Gogol's poem was to consist of three volumes. But this grandiose plan was not destined to be fully realized. Whole Gogol [...] ...
- Plot and compositional features. The originality of the ideological and thematic content of comedy determines the features of its construction. He said this very accurately in his critical study “A Million of Torments”; Goncharov: “Two comedies seem to be nested one into the other: one, so to speak, private, petty, domestic, between Chatsky, Sophia, Molchalin and Lisa: this is the intrigue of love, the everyday motive of all comedies. When the first is interrupted, in between is [...] ...
- According to Gogol, Pushkin best of all captured the originality of the writing style of the future author of Dead Souls: “Not a single writer had this gift to expose the vulgarity of life so vividly, to be able to outline the vulgarity of a vulgar person in such force that all that trifle that eludes eyes, would have flashed large in the eyes of everyone. Indeed, the main means of depicting Russian life [...] ...
- Chapter 1 A certain gentleman arrives in the provincial town of NN, staying at a hotel and "with extreme subtlety" began to question the servants about the local officials and landowners. The curious gentleman turns out to be a collegiate adviser, Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov. The next day, he visited many city officials, starting with the governor. In conversations with them, Chichikov was exceptionally amiable and modest every time [...] ...
- Starting work on the poem "Dead Souls", Gogol set himself the goal of "showing at least one side of all Rus'." The poem is built on the basis of a story about the adventures of Chichikov, an official who buys up “dead souls”. Such a composition allowed the author to talk about different landowners and their villages, which Chichikov visits in order to make his deal. The face of landowner Russia is represented [...]...
- In the poem "Dead Souls" Gogol's main theme continues, which runs through all his work: the belittling and decay of a person in the ghostly and absurd world of Russian reality. But now it is enriched with an idea of what the true, lofty spirit of Russian life consists of, what it can and should be. This idea permeates the main theme of the poem: the writer's reflection on Russia [...] ...
- In the story "Telegram" K. Paustovsky raises the theme of human indifference and loneliness. The plot is based on a simple story about how an elderly mother, forgotten by her daughter, busy with her work in the city, dies alone. Compositionally, the story is divided into three parts: the first tells about the life of Katerina Petrovna in the village of Zaborye. The second is dedicated to his daughter Nastya. The third part is […]
- Artistic features. According to Gogol, Pushkin best of all captured the originality of the writing style of the future author of Dead Souls;: “Not a single writer had this gift to expose the vulgarity of life so vividly, to be able to outline the vulgarity of a vulgar person in such force that all that trifle that eludes from the eyes, would have flashed large in the eyes of everyone”;. Indeed, the main means of depicting [...] ...
- The meaning of the title of the poem by N.V. Gogol's "Dead Souls" I. Introduction The title of the poem is symbolic (see Dictionary, Art. Symbol) and contains many meanings. II. Main part The phrase “dead souls” is paradoxical, because the soul is immortal. The simplest meaning: “dead souls” were called peasants who were listed as alive on paper, but in fact already dead. In this image, the deadness of the clerical [...] ...
