Sarcasm in dead souls examples. A satirical depiction of feudal Rus' in “Dead Souls” N
- Date: 07/24/2019
"...the brilliant accuracy of his satire was purely instinctive...
his satirical attitude towards Russian life is, without a doubt, explained... by the nature of his internal development"
N.K. Piksanov Piksanov N.K. Gogol N.V. /Article from "New encyclopedic dictionary Brockhaus and Efron", 1911 - 1916. //Source: Great Encyclopedia Cyril and Methodius. Multimedia on 2 CDs. M., 2007.
There is a famous saying relating to Gogol’s work: “laughter through tears.” Gogol's laughter. But Gogol’s laughter is mixed with more than just sadness. It contains anger, rage, and protest. All this, merging into a single whole under the brilliant pen of the master, creates an extraordinary flavor of Gogol’s satire.
The flourishing of realism in Russian prose is usually associated with Gogol and the “Gogolian direction” (a later term of Russian criticism, introduced by N.G. Chernyshevsky). It is characterized by special attention to social issues, depiction (often satirical) of the social vices of Nicholas Russia, careful reproduction of socially and culturally significant details in portraits, interiors, landscapes and other descriptions; addressing themes of St. Petersburg life, depicting the fate of a minor official. Belinsky believed that Gogol’s works reflected the spirit of the “ghostly” reality of Russia at that time. Belinsky emphasized that Gogol’s work cannot be reduced to social satire (as for Gogol himself, he never considered himself a satirist).
Gogol's satire is addressed to the contradictions of reality itself. The degrading classes of society are clearly outlined in different groups of characters: the district nobility, provincial bureaucrats and nobility, entrepreneurs of a new type, courtyards, servants, peasants, metropolitan bureaucrats and nobility. Gogol reveals brilliant artistic skill, finds witty techniques for exposing “anti-heroes”: telling details of the hero’s appearance, correlating him with a certain type of person.
The poem "Dead Souls" is a brilliant satire on feudal Rus'. http://www.kalitva.ru/2007/11/28/print:page,1,sochinenie-mertvye-dushi-n.v.-gogolja.html - #Satirically drawing landowner-bureaucratic Rus', Gogol fills the work with colossal universal human content. From the first chapter, the road motif appears, and then grows and intensifies. The road, first drawn in a reduced everyday sense, then acquires the meaning of an image-symbol - the path along which Rus' rushes towards its great, although unclear, future.
The poem includes pictures of the endless expanses of Russia, the endless steppes, in which there is room for the hero to roam. Satire in Gogol's work is combined with deep lyricism, because this work is not only about six landowners, about a dozen officials, about one acquirer, not even about the nobility, the people, the emerging class of businessmen - this is a work about Russia, about its past, present , the future, about its historical purpose.
Let's look at those landowners whom Chichikov visited.
The first such landowner was Manilov. Gogol conveys Chichikov’s impression of Manilov this way: “God alone could have said what kind of character Manilov has. There is a race of people known as so-so people, neither this nor that, neither in the city of Bogdan, nor in the village of Selifan, his facial features were not devoid of pleasantness, but this pleasantness seemed to be too much given over to sugar.” Manilov is tearfully complacent, devoid of living thoughts and real feelings.
Step by step, Gogol inexorably exposes the vulgarity of a vulgar person, irony is constantly replaced by satire: “There is Russian cabbage soup on the table, but from the heart,” the children, Alcides and Themistoclus, are named after ancient Greek commanders as a sign of the education of their parents.
Manilov selflessly dreams of “the well-being of a friendly life” and makes fantastic plans for future improvements. But this is an empty phrase; His words and actions do not jibe. And we see that in the description of the owners of the estates, their hobbies and interests, the author’s ability to show the lack of spirituality and pettiness of aspirations, the emptiness of the soul with a few details of the situation. From one chapter to another, Gogol's accusatory and satirical pathos increases.
The second estate visited by Chichikov was the Korobochka estate. The qualities inherent in Korobochka are typical not only among the provincial nobility. The hostess, as the author describes her, is an elderly woman, in some kind of sleeping cap, put on hastily, with a flannel around her neck, one of those mothers, small landowners who cry about crop failures, losses and keep their heads somewhat to one side, and meanwhile gain little by little money into colorful bags.... For a very long time our hero had to persuade Nastasya Petrovna to sell him dead souls. At first she was surprised when she heard about the item being purchased, but then she was even afraid to sell it on the price. Wow, what a clubhead! Chichikov concluded for himself...
Pavel Ivanovich also visited Nozdryov. Nozdryov, according to the author, was one of those people who were always talkers, revelers, and prominent people. With irony, Gogol calls him “in some respects a historical person, because wherever Nozdryov was, there were stories,” that is, without a scandal. In addition, this landowner lies and flatters on almost any occasion, question and on any topic, for example, even when playing cards or checkers, he cheats. Nozdrev's character makes it clear that he can promise something, but not do it.
The portrait of a dashing reveler is satirical and sarcastic at the same time. “He was of average height, a very well-built fellow with full rosy cheeks. Health seemed to be dripping from his face.” However, Chichikov notices that one of Nozdryov’s sideburns was smaller and not as thick as the other (the result of another fight).
Such was Nozdryov, a reckless nature, a gambler, a reveler. For Nozdryov, any deal is something like a game; there are no moral barriers for him, as, indeed, for all his life’s actions. For example, only the arrival of the police captain to Nozdryov saves Chichikov from physical harm.
The image of Sobakevich was created in Gogol’s favorite hyperbolic manner. Describing Sobakevich's appearance, Gogol resorts to zoological comparison. Sobakevich seemed to Chichikov to be very similar to a medium-sized bear. Nature didn’t play tricks on his face for long; she took an ax to his nose once, took another blow at his lips, picked out his eyes with a large drill and, without scraping them, released him into the light, saying he lives! The furniture in Sobakevich's house is as heavy as the owner. He is gluttonous and can eat a whole sturgeon or a side of lamb at one time. In his judgments about food, Sobakevich rises to a kind of “gastronomic” pathos: “When I have pork, put the whole pig on the table, lamb, bring the whole lamb, goose, the whole goose!” Although slow-witted, he will not miss his goal.
Finally, our hero came to Plyushkin.
Irony and sarcasm in the characterization of Manilov, Korobochka, Nozdryov and Sobakevich are replaced by a grotesque image of Plyushkin. He is, of course, the most deadened among the “dead souls,” since it was in this hero that Gogol showed the limit of spiritual emptiness. He even outwardly lost his human appearance. Chichikov could not understand what gender this figure was. Seeing some strange figure, Chichikov at first decided that it was the housekeeper, but it turned out to be the owner himself.
Chichikov “for a long time could not recognize what gender the figure was: a woman or a man. The dress she was wearing was completely indefinite, very similar to a woman’s hood, on her head was a cap worn by village courtyard women, only her voice seemed to him somewhat hoarse for a woman: “Oh woman! - he thought to himself and immediately added: “Oh no!” "Of course, woman!" It could never have occurred to Chichikov that he was a Russian gentleman, a landowner, the owner of serf souls.
Chichikov thought if he met Plyushkin on the porch, then... he would give him a copper penny..., although this landowner had more than a thousand peasant souls. His greed is immeasurable. He had accumulated huge reserves, such reserves would be enough for many years of a carefree life, but he, not content with this, walked around his village every day and dragged everything he came across to his home.
Nozdryov’s arrogance and rudeness, his desire to harm his neighbor still did not prevent him from appearing in society and communicating with people. Plyushkin completely isolated himself in his selfish loneliness, cutting himself off from the whole world. He is indifferent to the fate of his children, much less the fate of the peasants dying of hunger. All normal human feelings are completely displaced from Plyushkin’s soul by a passion for hoarding. But if Korobochka and Sobakevich collected the money to strengthen the economy and spent it meaningfully, then Plyushkin’s senile stinginess crossed all limits and turned into its opposite. Busy collecting all sorts of rubbish, such as shards and old soles, he does not notice that his farm is being destroyed.
Thus ended our traveler’s trip to the estates of landowners. Manilov, Korobochka, Nozdrev, Sobakevich, despite the fact that the characters of all of them are far from ideal, each of them has at least something positive. The only exception is, perhaps, Plyushkin, whose image evokes not only laughter and irony, but also disgust. Gogol, thanks to his writing professionalism and skill, as we see from the above, talks about all this in a very interesting satirical form.
Gogol's laughter can be kind and crafty - then extraordinary comparisons and stylistic turns are born, which constitute one of the characteristic features of Gogol's poem. Describing the ball and the governor, Gogol talks about the division of officials into fat and thin, and the thin officials, standing around the ladies in black tailcoats, looked like flies that had sat on refined sugar. It is impossible not to mention very small comparisons, which, like sparkling diamonds, are scattered throughout the poem and create its unique flavor. So, for example, the face of the governor’s daughter looked like a “just laid egg”; The head of Feoduliya Ivanovna Sobakevich looked like a cucumber, and Sobakevich himself looked more like a pumpkin, from which balalaikas are made in Rus'. When meeting Chichikov, Manilov’s facial expression was like that of a cat whose ears were lightly scratched. Gogol also uses hyperbole, for example, when talking about the Plyushkin toothpick, which was used to pick teeth even before the French invasion. The appearance of the landowners described by Gogol also evokes laughter.
Plyushkin’s appearance, which struck the wicked and hypocrite Chichikov himself (he couldn’t figure out for a long time whether the housekeeper was in front of him or the housekeeper), the “fisherman-beggar” habits that blossomed in Plyushkin’s soul - all this is surprisingly witty and funny, but Plyushkin, it turns out , is capable of causing not only laughter, but also disgust, indignation and protest. This degraded personality, who cannot even be called a personality, ceases to be funny. Is a person who has lost everything human: appearance, soul, heart really funny? Before us is a spider, for which the main thing is to swallow its prey as quickly as possible.
Gogol's laughter is not only angry, satirical, accusatory, there is cheerful and affectionate laughter. It is with a feeling of joyful pride, so to speak, that the writer speaks about the Russian people. This is how the image of a man appears who, like a tireless ant, carries a thick log.
Gogol's laughter seems good-natured, but he spares no one, every phrase has a deep, hidden meaning, subtext. But along with satirical negation, Gogol introduces a glorifying, creative element - the image of Russia. Associated with this image is the “high lyrical movement”, which in the poem at times replaces the comic narrative.
With the publication of Gogol's satirical works, the critical direction in Russian realistic literature is strengthened.
The name of N.V. Gogol belongs to the greatest names of Russian literature. In his work he appears both as a lyricist, and as a science fiction writer, and as a storyteller, and as a caustic satirist. Gogol is at the same time a writer creating the world of his “sunny” ideal, and a writer revealing the “vulgarity of a vulgar person” and the “abominations” of the Russian order.
The most significant work, the work on which Gogol considered as his life’s work, was the poem " Dead Souls"where he revealed life Russian Federation from all sides. The author’s main desire was to show that the existing serfdom and human trafficking not only bring with them lawlessness, darkness, impoverishment of the people and the decomposition of the landowner economy itself, they disfigure, destroy, dehumanize the human soul itself.
The author achieves even greater plausibility of the picture of spiritual impoverishment and mortification by depicting the provincial city and its officials. Here, unlike life on the estates of the landowners, there is a flurry of activity and movement. However, all this activity is only external, “mechanical”, revealing true spiritual emptiness. Gogol creates dazzling, a grotesque image of a city “revolted” by rumors about Chichikov’s strange actions. "...Everything was in a state of unrest, and if only someone could understand anything... There was talk and talk, and the whole city started talking about dead souls and the governor's daughter, about Chichikov and dead souls, about the governor's daughter and Chichikov , and everything that was rose up. Like a whirlwind, the hitherto dormant city was thrown up like a whirlwind!” At the same time, a heavy expectation of retribution hung over everyone. In the midst of the general turmoil, the postmaster shares with others the “witty” discovery that Chichikov is Captain Kopeikin, and tells the story of the latter.
Creating an image of a gradually degrading Russian Federation, Gogol does not miss a single little detail. On the contrary, he draws the reader’s attention to them, since he is sure that it is from the little things that the essence of the entire surrounding reality consists; It is they who conceal within themselves the source of evil, and therefore acquire a formidable symbolic meaning in the poem.
In his work N.V. Gogol the best way achieved the goal, which he formulated as follows: “...I thought that the lyrical power that I had in reserve would help me portray... virtues that a Russian person would be kindled with love for them, and the power of laughter, which I also have there was a reserve that would help me portray my shortcomings so vehemently that the reader would hate them even if he found them in himself.”
The meaning of the name "Dead Souls"
The title “Dead Souls” contains a much more important and deeper meaning than that expressed by the author in the first volume of the work. It has been said for a long time that Gogol originally planned to write this poem by analogy with Dante’s famous and immortal “Divine Comedy”, and as you know, it consisted of three parts - “Hell”, “Purgatory” and “Paradise”. It was to them that the three volumes of Gogol’s poem should have corresponded.
In the first volume of his most famous poem, the author intended to show the hell of Russian reality, the terrifying and truly terrifying truth about life of that time, and in the second and third volumes - the rise of spiritual culture and life in Russia. To some extent, the title of the work is a symbol of life in the district town of N., and the city itself is a symbol of the whole of Russia, and thus the author indicates that his native country is in a terrible state, and the saddest and most terrible thing is that that this happens due to the fact that the souls of people gradually grow cold, become callous and die.
The history of the creation of Dead Souls
Nikolai Gogol began writing the poem “Dead Souls” in 1835 and continued to work on it until the end of his life. At the very beginning, the writer most likely singled out for himself the funny side of the novel and created the plot of Dead Souls, as for a long work. There is an opinion that Gogol borrowed the main idea of the poem from A.S. Pushkin, since it was this poet who was first heard real story about “dead souls” in the city of Bendery. Gogol worked on the novel not only in his homeland, but also in Switzerland, Italy and France. The first volume of “Dead Souls” was completed in 1842, and in May it was already published under the title “The Adventures of Chichikov or Dead Souls.”
Subsequently, working on the novel, Gogol's original plan expanded significantly, it was then that the analogy with the three parts of the “Divine Comedy” appeared. Gogol intended that his heroes go through peculiar circles of hell and purgatory, so that at the end of the poem they would rise spiritually and be reborn. The author never managed to realize his idea; only the first part of the poem was written in full. It is known that Gogol began work on the second volume of the poem in 1840, and by 1845 he already had several options for continuing the poem ready. Unfortunately, it was this year that the author independently destroyed the second volume of the work, he irrevocably burned the second part of “Dead Souls”", being dissatisfied with what was written. The exact reason for this act of the writer is still unknown. There are draft manuscripts of four chapters of the second volume, which were discovered after Gogol's papers were opened.
Thus, it becomes clear that the central category and at the same time the main idea of Gogol’s poem is the soul, the presence of which makes a person complete and real. This is precisely the main theme of the work, and Gogol tries to point out the value of the soul through the example of soulless and callous heroes who represent a special social stratum of Russia. In his immortal and brilliant work, Gogol simultaneously raises the topic of the crisis in Russia and shows what this is directly related to. The author talks about the fact that the soul is the nature of man, without which there is no meaning in life, without which life becomes dead, and that it is thanks to it that salvation can be found.
Topics and problems
According to Gogol's plan the theme of the poem was to be all of contemporary Russia. Here he poses a whole series of problems, social, moral, and philosophical. Social and public issues are connected with Gogol’s depiction of Russia at that time. The question arises: where is the country going? " Dead Souls" can be called an encyclopedic study of all the pressing problems of that time: the state of landowners' farms, the moral character of the landowners and bureaucratic nobility, their relationships with the people, the fate of the people and the homeland. Moral issues are revealed in the depiction of landowners and officials, spiritually “dead” people. Finally, the writer raises philosophical questions in “Dead Souls”: what is a person, what is the meaning and purpose of human life.
Genre originality of the poem Dead Souls
The concept of the work was extremely complex. It did not fit into the framework of generally accepted genres in the literature of that time and required a rethinking of views on life, on Rus', on people. It was necessary to find new ways to express the idea artistically. The usual framework of genres for the embodiment of the author’s thoughts was cramped, because N.V. Gogol was looking for new forms for plotting and developing the plot.
At the beginning of work on the work in letters to N.V. Gogol often uses the word “novel”. In 1836, Gogol writes: “... the thing that I am sitting and working on now, and which I have been thinking about for a long time, and which I will think about for a long time, is not like either a story or a novel, it is long, long...” And yet, subsequently the idea of his new work N.V. Gogol decided to embody it in the genre of poems. The writer's contemporaries were perplexed by his decision, since at that time, in XIX literature centuries, the poem enjoyed great success, written in poetic form. The main attention in it was focused on a strong and proud personality, which in conditions modern society a tragic fate awaited.
Gogol's decision had a deeper meaning. Having conceived of creating a collective image of his homeland, he was able to highlight the properties inherent in different genres and harmoniously combine them under one definition of “poem”. “Dead Souls” contains features of a picaresque novel, a lyric poem, a socio-psychological novel, a story, and a satirical work. At first impression, “Dead Souls” is more of a novel. This is evidenced by the system of vividly and detailed characters. But Lev Tolstoy , having familiarized himself with the work, said: “Take Gogol’s Dead Souls. What is this? Neither a novel nor a story. Something completely original."
The poem is based on a narrative about Russian life, in the center of attention is the personality of Russia, covered from all sides. Chichikov, hero of "Dead Souls" an unremarkable face, and it was precisely such a person, according to Gogol, who was the hero of his time, an acquirer who managed to vulgarize everything, even the very idea of evil. Chichikov's travels around Rus' turned out to be the most convenient form for the design of artistic material. This form is original and interesting mainly because it is not only Chichikov who travels in the work, whose adventures are the connecting element of the plot. The author travels around Russia with his hero. He meets with representatives of various social strata and, combining them into one whole, creates a rich gallery of character portraits.
Sketches of road landscapes, travel scenes, various historical, geographical and other information help Gogol present to the reader full picture Russian life of those years. Taking Chichikov along Russian roads, the author shows the reader a huge range of Russian life in all its manifestations: landowners, officials, peasants, estates, taverns, nature and much more. Exploring the particular, Gogol draws conclusions about the whole, paints a terrible picture of the morals of contemporary Russia and, most importantly, explores the soul of the people.
The life of Russia at that time, the reality familiar to the writer, is depicted in the poem from the “satirical side,” which was new and unusual for Russian literature of the 19th century. Therefore, having started from the genre of traditional adventure novel , N.V. Gogol, following an increasingly expanding plan, goes beyond the scope of the novel, both a traditional story and a poem, and as a result creates a large-scale lyric-epic work. Epic start it presents the adventures of Chichikov and is connected with the plot. Lyrical beginning, whose presence becomes more and more significant as events unfold, expressed in lyrical author's digressions.
The method is realism. Thus, “Dead Souls” combined elements of various genres: a picaresque novel, a lyric poem, a socio-psychological novel, a story, and a satirical work.
The satirical nature of the poem manifests itself in the very sequence of presentation of the landowners, starting with Manilov and ending with Plyushkin, who has already “turned into a hole in humanity.” Behind the close-up portraits of landowners, The poem follows a satirical depiction of the life of provincial officials. Gogol shows terrible degradation human soul, the spiritual and moral fall of man.
Lyrical in the poem.“Dead Souls” is a lyric-epic work - a prose poem that combines two beginnings: epic and lyrical. First principle embodied in the author’s plan to paint “all of Rus'”, and second- V lyrical digressions the author, related to his plan, constituting an integral part of the work.
The epic narrative in “Dead Souls” is continually interrupted by the author’s lyrical monologues, assessing the behavior of a character or reflecting on life, art, Russia and its people, as well as touching on topics such as youth and old age, the purpose of the writer, which help to learn more about spiritual world writer, about his ideals.
Of greatest importance are lyrical digressions about Russia and the Russian people. Throughout the poem, the author's idea is affirmed about the positive image of the Russian people, which merges with the glorification and celebration of the homeland, which expresses the author’s civil-patriotic position.
So, in the fifth chapter the writer praises the “living and lively Russian mind”, his extraordinary ability for verbal expressiveness, that “if he rewards him with a slanted word, then it will go to his family and posterity, he will drag it with him into service, and into retirement, and to St. Petersburg, and to the ends of the world.” Chichikov was led to such reasoning by his conversation with the peasants., who called Plyushkin “patched” and knew him only because he did not feed his peasants well.
Gogol felt the living soul of the Russian people, their daring, courage, hard work and love for a free life. In this regard, they are of profound importance the author's reasoning, put into Chichikov's mouth, about serfs in the seventh chapter. What appears here is not a generalized image of Russian men, and specific people with real traits, written out in detail. This is the carpenter Stepan Cork - “a hero who would be fit for the guard,” who, according to Chichikov, walked all over Rus' with an ax in his belt and boots on his shoulders. This and shoemaker Maxim Telyatnikov , who studied with a German and decided to get rich instantly by making boots from rotten leather, which fell apart in two weeks. At this point, he abandoned his work, started drinking, blaming everything on the Germans, who did not allow Russian people to live.
Further Chichikov reflects on the fate of many peasants, purchased from Plyushkin, Sobakevich, Manilov and Korobochka. But here idea of "revelry" folk life” so did not coincide with the image of Chichikov, what takes the word the author himself continues the story on his own behalf, a story about how Abakum Fyrov walks on the grain pier with barge haulers and merchants, having worked out “to one song, like Rus'.” The image of Abakum Fyrov indicates the love of the Russian people for a free, wild life, festivities and fun, despite the hard life of serfdom, the oppression of landowners and officials.
The tragic fate of the enslaved people appears in lyrical digressions, downtrodden and socially humiliated, which is reflected in the images Uncle Mitya and Uncle Minya, Pelageya’s girls, who did not know how to distinguish between right and left, Plyushkin’s Proshkas and the Moors. Behind these images and pictures of folk life lies the deep and broad soul of the Russian people.
The love for the Russian people, for the homeland, the patriotic and sublime feelings of the writer were expressed in the image of the troika created by Gogol, rushing forward, personifying the mighty and inexhaustible forces of Russia. Here the author thinks about the future of the country: “Rus, where are you rushing?” He looks into the future and does not see it, but as a true patriot he believes that in the future there will be no Manilovs, Sobakeviches, Nozdrevs, Plyushkins, that Russia will rise to greatness and glory.
The image of the road in lyrical digressions is symbolic. This is the road from the past to the future, the road along which the development of each person and Russia as a whole takes place.
The work ends with a hymn to the Russian people: “Eh! troika! Bird-three, who invented you? You could have been born to a lively people...” Here lyrical digressions perform a generalizing function: serve to expand the artistic space and to create a holistic image of Rus'. They reveal a positive ideal the author - people's Russia, which is opposed to landowner-bureaucratic Rus'.
But, in addition to lyrical digressions praising Russia and its people, the poem also contains reflections of the lyrical hero on philosophical topics, for example, about youth and old age, the vocation and purpose of a true writer, about his fate, which are somehow connected with the image of the road in the work. So, in the sixth chapter Gogol exclaims: “Take it with you on the journey, coming out of the soft teenage years into stern, embittering courage, take with you all human movements, do not leave them on the road, you will not pick them up later!..” Thus, the author wanted to say that all the best things in life are connected precisely with youth and one should not forget about it, like this did the landowners described in the novel, becoming “ dead souls" They do not live, but exist. Gogol calls for preserving a living soul, freshness and fullness of feelings and remaining like that for as long as possible.
To recreate the completeness of the author’s image, it is necessary to talk about lyrical digressions in which Gogol talks about two types of writers. One of them “never once changed the sublime structure of his lyre, did not descend from its top to his poor, insignificant brothers, and the other dared to call out everything that is every minute before the eyes and which indifferent eyes do not see.” The lot of a real writer, who dared to truthfully recreate a reality hidden from the eyes of the people, is such that, unlike a romantic writer, absorbed in his unearthly and sublime images, he is not destined to achieve fame and experience the joyful feelings of being recognized and sung. Gogol comes to the conclusion that unrecognized realist writer, satirist writer will remain without participation that “his field is harsh, and he feels his loneliness bitterly.”
So, lyrical digressions occupy a significant place in Gogol’s poem “Dead Souls”. They are remarkable from a poetic point of view. In them one can discern the beginnings of a new literary style, which would later acquire bright life in the prose of Turgenev and especially in the works of Chekhov.
Images (mostly here – a satirical depiction of landowners, a technique of satire)
Landowners. Gogol's characters are not just landowners with dead souls. These are universal human types. The uniqueness of the construction of these characters lies in the fact that vices, habits, specific lifestyle and even appearance is depicted grotesquely. Creating images Manilov, Korobochki, Nozdrev, Sobakevich, Plyushkin, Gogol uses not only the method typification(that is, it highlights the most typical traits of a particular character ), but also microscopic analysis method. This explains the writer’s constant interest in the objective world surrounding the heroes: he describes in detail the estate, the furnishings of the house, things. One of the most important components of the description is the portrait. Gogol describes in detail the color of his eyes, hair, clothes, manners, gait, gestures, and facial expressions. A characteristic feature of a particular landowner ( Manilov's courtesy, Sobakevich's clumsiness, Nozdryov's shamelessness) the writer shows from different angles, inventing more and more new situations and details. It was the combination of typification methods and microscopic analysis that breathed soul into Gogol’s characters, which is why these characters became household names.
In the image of Manilov the type of idle dreamer, the “romantic” slacker is captured. The landowner's economy is in complete decline. The housekeeper steals, “stupidly and uselessly cooks in the kitchen,” “the pantry is empty,” “the servants are unclean and drunkards.” Gogol shows that Manilov is vulgar and empty, he has no real spiritual interests . “In his office there was always some kind of book, bookmarked on page fourteen, which he had been constantly reading for two years." vulgarity family life, the sugary sweetness of speech (“May Day”, “Name Day of the Heart”) confirm the insightfulness of the character’s portrait characteristics. “In the first minute of a conversation with him, you can’t help but say: “What a pleasant and kind person!” In the next minute of the conversation you won’t say anything, and in the third you’ll say: “The devil knows what this is!” - and move away; If you don’t leave, you will feel mortal boredom.” Gogol with amazing artistic power shows the deadness of Manilov, the worthlessness of his life. Behind the external attractiveness lies a spiritual emptiness.
Image storage boxes is already deprived of those “attractive” features that distinguish Manilov. And again we have the type - “ one of those mothers, small landowners who collect little money in colorful bags placed in dresser drawers" Korobochka's interests are entirely concentrated on farming. “Strong-browed” and “club-headed” Nastasya Petrovna he is afraid to sell himself cheap by selling “dead souls” to Chichikov. The “silent scene” that appears in this chapter is curious. We find similar scenes in almost all chapters showing the conclusion of Chichikov’s deal with another landowner. This allows us to show with particular clarity the spiritual emptiness of Pavel Ivanovich and his interlocutors. At the end of the third chapter, Gogol talks about the typicality of the image of Korobochka, the insignificant difference between her and another aristocratic lady.
The gallery of “dead souls” continues in the poem Nozdryov. Like other landowners, he does not develop internally and does not change depending on age. " Nozdryov at thirty-five was exactly the same as he was at eighteen and twenty: a lover of a walk.” The portrait of a dashing reveler is satirical and sarcastic at the same time. “He was of average height, a very well built fellow with full rosy cheeks. Health seemed to be dripping from his face.” However, Chichikov notices that one of Nozdryov’s sideburns was smaller and not as thick as the other (the result of another fight). The passion for lying and playing cards largely explains the fact that not a single meeting where Nozdryov was present was complete without a story. The life of a landowner is absolutely soulless. In the office “there were no visible traces of what happens in offices, that is, books or paper; only a saber and two guns were hanging.” Of course, Nozdryov’s farm was ruined. Even lunch consists of dishes that are burnt, or, on the contrary, not cooked. Chichikov's attempt to buy dead souls from Nozdryov is a fatal mistake. It is Nozdryov who spills the secret at the governor’s ball. The arrival of Korobochka in the city, who wanted to find out “how much dead souls walk for,” confirms the words of the dashing “talker.” The image of Nozdryov is no less typical than the image of Manilov or Korobochka. Gogol writes: “Nozdryov will not leave the world for a long time. He is everywhere between us and, perhaps, only wears a different caftan; but people are frivolously undiscerning, and a person in a different caftan seems to them a different person.”
The typification techniques listed above are also used by Gogol to describe image of Sobakevich. The village and the landowner's economy indicate a certain prosperity. “The yard was surrounded by a strong and excessively thick wooden lattice. The landowner seemed to be concerned a lot about strength. The village huts of the peasants were also cut down marvelously, everything was fitted tightly and properly.” Describing Sobakevich’s appearance, Gogol resorts to zoological assimilation(comparing a landowner with a bear). However, Sobakevich (in this he differs from Plyushkin and most other landowners) has a certain economic streak. He does not ruin his own serfs, achieves a certain order in the economy, is profitable sells dead souls to Chichikov, is well aware of the business and human qualities of his peasants.
The extreme degree of human degradation is captured by Gogol in the image of the richest landowner in the province (more than a thousand serfs) Plyushkina. The character's biography allows us to trace the path from a "thrifty" owner to a half-crazy miser. “But there was a time when he was married and a family man, and a neighbor stopped by for lunch, two pretty daughters came out to meet him, and his son ran out. The owner himself came to the table in a frock coat. But the good housewife died, some of the keys, and with them small worries passed to him. Plyushkin became more restless and, like all widowers, more suspicious and stingy.” Soon the family completely fell apart, and unprecedented pettiness and suspicion developed in Plyushkin: “... he himself finally turned into some kind of hole in humanity.” So, it was not social conditions that led the landowner to the last point of moral decline. The tragedy of loneliness is playing out before us, developing into a nightmarish picture of lonely old age.
Thus, the landowners in “Dead Souls” are united by common features: inhumanity, idleness, vulgarity, spiritual emptiness.
Chichikov - central character poem “Dead Souls”, the entire action of the poem is tied to it, all its characters are connected to it. Gogol himself wrote: “For, no matter what you say, if this thought (about buying dead souls) had not entered Chichikov’s head, this poem would not have been born.”
Unlike the images of landowners and officials, the image of Chichikov is given in development: we know about the origin and upbringing of the hero, the beginning of his activities and the subsequent events of his life. Chichikov is a person who, with many of his features, different from the landed nobility . He is a nobleman by birth, but the estate is not the source of his existence. “The origins of our hero are dark and modest,” writes Gogol and gives a picture of his childhood and teaching. Chichikov remembered his father’s advice for the rest of his life. Most of all, save and save a penny. “You will do everything and ruin everything in the world with a penny,” his father told him.
Chichikov set the goal of his life to acquire. He is overwhelmed by the desire to become the owner of capital that will bring with it “life in all pleasures.” The hero patiently and persistently overcomes career barriers. Cunning and cheating become its characteristic features. Having become a member of the “commission for the construction of some government-owned, but very capital building,” he acquires a good cook and an excellent pair of horses, and wears thin, Dutch linen shirts. The unexpected revelation of a scam involving the construction of a government building disrupts the flow of this pleasant life. But Chichikov finds an even more profitable service at customs . Money floats into his hands. “God knows, to what enormous figure the blessed sums would have grown, if some difficult beast had not run across everything.” Once again exposed and expelled, Chichikov becomes an attorney, and here the thought of searching for dead souls.
The writer reveals the image of Chichikov gradually, as he talks about his adventures. In each chapter we learn something new about him. He comes to the provincial city to conduct reconnaissance and ensure the success of the planned enterprise. In the city he is extremely careful and strictly calculating. Ability to interact with people and communicate skillfully - Chichikov’s proven remedy in all fraudulent transactions. He knows how to talk to whom. With Manilov he conducts a conversation in a sweetly polite tone, with Plyushkin he is respectfully polite. Meetings with landowners show Chichikov’s exceptional persistence in achieving his goal, ease of transformation, extraordinary resourcefulness and energy, which hide the prudence of a predatory nature behind external softness and grace.
In the finale, Gogol concludes: “... our hero is all there. What he is! At first glance, there is something indefinite about him, he is “a gentleman, not handsome, but not of bad appearance, neither too fat nor too thin; I can’t say that I’m old, but I can’t say that I’m too young.” This is a sedate, courteous, well-dressed man, but how this pleasant appearance contradicts his inner world! Gogol masterfully, in one phrase, gives him a complete description: “It is most fair to call him the owner-acquirer,” and then the author speaks about him simply and sharply: “Scoundrel.”
A character like Chichikov’s could only arise in the conditions of the formation of capitalist relations, when entrepreneurs put everything on the line for profit and enrichment. Chichikov is a type of bourgeois businessman-acquirer who does not disdain any means to enrich himself.
People. Throughout the entire poem, Gogol, parallel to the plot lines of landowners, officials and Chichikov, continuously draws another one - connected with the image of the people. Throughout the poem, the affirmation of the people as positive hero merges with the glorification of the homeland, with the author’s expression of his patriotic and civic opinions. These judgments are scattered throughout the work in the form of heartfelt lyrical digressions. For example, in the fifth chapter, Gogol praises the “lively and lively Russian mind”, its extraordinary ability for verbal expressiveness. And the last, eleventh, ends with an enthusiastic hymn to Rus' and its wonderful future.
The world of “dead souls” is contrasted in the work with faith in the “mysterious” Russian people, in their inexhaustible moral potential. At the end of the poem, the image of an endless road and a trio of birds rushing forward appears. In this indomitable movement one can feel the writer’s confidence in the great destiny of Russia, in the possibility of the spiritual resurrection of humanity.
Essay on the topic “Humor and Satire in the poem “Dead Souls””
“Dead Souls” is a poem-caricature of society during feudal Russia. In this work, N.V. Gogol managed, with the help of humor and satire - the most complex, subtle literary techniques, to show all the hopelessness of his modern society, while at the same time ridiculing it.
Satire is the hidden ridicule of human shortcomings.
The work features many funny and, at times, even comical characters. In their characters, the writer ridiculed many human vices characteristic of that time. For example, stinginess, unfoundedness, lies and gluttony.
The characters in the poem are both funny and tragic. “Dead Souls” is one of the few works that makes you think and laugh at the same time.
The poem is easy to understand. The universal here intersects with the funny. For example, the case when at the ball Manilov and Chichikov could not enter the hall for a long time, because out of politeness they let each other through. In fact, there is little humor in this situation, but nevertheless it causes laughter. the main problem This scene is politeness, which is shown to people not because of a good attitude, but because of the desire to present oneself in the best light.
Another no less funny scene is when a village girl shows the way to the coachman and cannot distinguish “right” from “left”. The lack of education of the people is also an important problem during the times of feudal Russia.
One of the most satirical characters in the poem is the landowner Nozdryov. He constantly gets involved in funny stories, for example, as soon as he learns about “dead souls”, he immediately starts bargaining or obsessively offers to exchange them for horses or a wolf cub. He even plays cards for dead souls without understanding what they are. This hero is funny due to his lack of education and stupidity, and his words “Something is burnt, something is overcooked” make you smile.
Officials in the poem are the most important subject of satire. The writer ridicules their stinginess, bribery and dishonesty. These vices are eternal and relevant even today.
The degradation of society is one of the eternal topics of jokes and discussions. This theme is also reflected in N.V. Gogol’s poem “Dead Souls.” Using the example of ordinary peasants, landowners and officials, the writer showed how bad life is in his country. His greatest mastery of satire helped him portray his heroes in such a way that even today they seem funny and hopeless. From their example, as from the example of any accusatory joke, there is much to learn in our century.
/V.G. Belinsky. The Adventures of Chichikov, or Dead Souls. Poem by N. Gogol. Moscow. At the university printing house. 1842. In the 8th day. 475 pages/
We see an equally important step forward on the part of Gogol’s talent in the fact that in “Dead Souls” he completely abandoned the Little Russian element and became a Russian national poet in the entire space of this word. With every word of his poem the reader can say:
There is a Russian spirit here, it smells like Russia! 8
This Russian spirit is felt in humor, and in irony, and in the expression of the author, and in the sweeping power of feelings, and in the lyricism of digressions, and in the pathos of the entire poem, and in the characters of the characters, from Chichikov to Selifan and the “dappled scoundrel” inclusive , - in Petrushka, who carried his special air with him, and in the watchman, who, in the lantern light, while asleep, executed an animal on his fingernail and fell asleep again. We know that the prim feeling of many readers will be offended in print by what is so subjectively characteristic of them in life, and will call pranks like an animal executed on a fingernail greasy; but this means not understanding the poem, based on the pathos of reality, as it is.<...>
"Dead Souls" will be read by everyone, but, of course, not everyone will like it. Among the many reasons is that “Dead Souls” does not correspond to the crowd’s concept of a novel as a fairy tale, where characters fell in love, separated, and then got married and became rich and happy. Gogol’s poem can be fully enjoyed only by those who have access to the thought and artistic execution of the creation, to whom the content is important, and not the “plot”; only places and particulars remain for the admiration of all others. Moreover, like any deep work, “Dead Souls” is not fully revealed from the first reading, even for thinking people: reading it for the second time, it’s as if you are reading a new, never-before-seen work.
"Dead Souls" requires study. Moreover, it must be repeated that humor is accessible only to a deep and highly developed spirit. The crowd does not understand and does not like him. Every scribbler here gawks at drawing wild passions and strong characters, copying them, of course, from himself and his friends. He considers it a humiliation for himself to stoop to the comic and hates it out of instinct, like a mouse hates a cat. Most of us understand “comic” and “humor” as buffoonery, as a caricature, and we are sure that many, not jokingly, with a sly and satisfied smile from their insight, will say and write that Gogol jokingly called his novel a poem. .. Exactly! After all, Gogol is a great wit and joker and what a cheerful person, my God! He laughs incessantly and makes others laugh!.. That’s right, you guessed it, smart people...
As for us, not considering ourselves the right to speak in print about the personal character of a living writer, we will only say that Gogol did not jokingly call his novel a “poem” and that he does not mean a comic poem by it. It was not the author who told us this, but his book. We do not see anything humorous or funny in it; In not a single word of the author did we notice an 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 large books in which we we will meet Chichikov again and see new faces in which Rus' will express itself from its other side... It is impossible to look at “Dead Souls” more erroneously and understand them more crudely, as seeing satire in them. But we will talk about this and much more in more detail in its place; now let him say something himself
<...>And what Russian doesn’t like driving fast? Is it his soul that strives to spin, go on a spree, and sometimes say: “Damn it all!”, is it his soul not to love her? Isn’t it possible to love her when you hear something enthusiastically wonderful in her? It seems that an unknown force has taken you on its wing - and you yourself are flying, and everything is flying: miles are flying, merchants are flying towards you on the beams of their wagons, a forest is flying on both sides with dark formations of spruces and pines, with a clumsy knock and the cry of a crow, it flies the whole road goes who knows where into the disappearing distance - and something terrible is contained in this quick flickering, where the disappearing object does not have time to appear; only the sky above your head, the light clouds, and the rushing month alone seem motionless. Eh, three! bird three! who invented you? You know, you could only have been born among a lively people, in that land that does not like to joke, but has spread out smoothly across half the world, and go ahead and count the miles until it hits your eyes. And not a cunning, it seems, road projectile, not grabbed by an iron screw, but hastily, alive, with only an ax and a chisel, the efficient Yaroslavl man equipped you and assembled you. The driver is not wearing German boots: he has a beard and mittens, and sits on God knows what; but he stood up, swung, and began to sing - the horses were like a whirlwind, the spokes in the wheels mixed into one smooth circle, only the road trembled, and the stopped pedestrian screamed in fright! And there it rushed, rushed, rushed! .. And now you can see in the distance how something is gathering dust and boring into the air...
Is it not so for you, Rus', that you are rushing along like a brisk, unstoppable troika? The road beneath you smokes, the bridges rattle, everything falls behind and remains behind. The contemplator stopped, amazed by God's miracle: was this lightning thrown from the sky? What does this terrifying movement mean? And what kind of unknown power is contained in these horses, unknown to the light? Oh, horses, horses, what kind of horses! Are there whirlwinds in your manes? Is there a sensitive ear burning in every vein of yours? They heard a familiar song from above, together and at once they strained their copper chests and, almost without touching the ground with their hooves, they turned into just elongated lines flying through the air - and all inspired by God they rush!.. Rus', where are you rushing, give me the answer? Doesn't give an answer! The bell rings with a wonderful ringing; The air, torn into pieces, thunders and becomes the wind; everything that is on earth flies past, and other peoples and states move aside and give way to it.<...>
It’s sad to think that this lofty lyrical pathos, these thundering, singing praises 9 of a blissful national self-consciousness, worthy of a great Russian poet, will not be accessible to everyone, that good-natured ignorance will laugh heartily because it makes the hairs on someone else’s head stand up when sacred awe... And yet this is so, and it cannot be otherwise. For most, a lofty, inspired poem will be considered a “delightful thing.” There will also be patriots, about whom Gogol speaks on page 468 of his poem and who, with their characteristic insight, will see in “Dead Souls” an evil satire, a consequence of coldness and dislike for the native, for the domestic - they are so warm in the houses and little houses they have slowly acquired, and perhaps even villages - the fruits of well-intentioned and diligent service... Perhaps they will also shout about personalities... However, this is good on the one hand: this will be the best critical assessment of the poem...
As for us, we, on the contrary, would rather reproach the author for an excess of feelings that are not subdued to calm and reasonable contemplation, in places too youthfully carried away, than for a lack of love and ardor for the native and domestic... We are talking about some, fortunately, a few, although, unfortunately, harsh ones - places where the author too easily judges the nationality of alien tribes and not too modestly indulges in dreams of the superiority of the Slavic tribe over them.<...>We think that it is better to leave everyone to their own and, conscious of their own dignity, be able to respect the dignity of others... Much can be said about this, as well as about many other things, which we will do soon in our own time and place.
Babkina Lyudmila, Ponomareva Elizaveta
Presentation "The role of irony in N. V. Gogol's poem "Dead Souls""
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Research work The role of irony in the poem by N.V. Gogol’s “Dead Souls” Authors: students of grade 9 “a” Babkina Lyudmila, Ponomareva Elizaveta, Scientific supervisor: teacher of Russian language and literature Sideltseva Svetlana Petrovna GBOU “Gymnasium No. 11”, St. Petersburg, 2016
Justification for the relevance of the topic The relevance of our research work is obvious: the vices that N.V. exposed have not yet been eliminated. Gogol in the poem “Dead Souls”. Therefore, the author of the poem resorts to using various satirical techniques, among which we have identified and explored irony and sarcasm. Gogol's poem is quite difficult to understand, but it is irony and sarcasm that help us understand the author's point of view and somehow visualize the images. THE PRACTICAL SIGNIFICANCE of our research work is determined by the possibility of teachers using its results in their activities, as well as students when studying Gogol’s works.
Fundamental question In our research work, we tried to answer the question posed in its title: What is the role of irony in the poem by N.V. Gogol's "Dead Souls"? ?
Research hypothesis Irony helps N.V. Gogol “depicts the shortcomings so vehemently that the reader will hate them” in the poem “Dead Souls.” By scourging evil, the writer makes the reader feel his positive ideal and awakens a craving for it. Is it so?
Goals and objectives of the study The goal is to study the role of irony in the poem by N.V. Gogol "Dead Souls". Objectives: 1. Analysis and systematization of literary studies and methodological literature, periodicals. 2. Mastering basic theoretical and literary concepts (satire, irony, sarcasm). 3. A selection of examples illustrating the role of irony in the poem “Dead Souls.” 4. Formulation of conclusions based on the analysis. 5. Design of the work, preparation of abstracts for its defense, presentation and materials (tables, diagrams, etc.).
Research methods To solve the assigned problems, the following research methods were used: · study, analysis and systematization of literary and methodological literature, periodicals; · systematization and generalization of the obtained results and conclusions.
Stages of research and practical work The first stage is reading and discussing Gogol’s work “Dead Souls” with a teacher, studying literature on the research problem, determining the initial theoretical positions, formulating the problem (hypothesis), the goals and objectives of the study; The second stage is the collection and analysis of information necessary to conduct the research; The third stage is summarizing the research materials, formulating conclusions, designing the work, preparing tables and diagrams.
Description of the work structure. PLAN This research work consists of an introduction, main part, conclusion, list of literature sources and Internet resources. The introduction substantiates the relevance of the choice of topic, defines the purpose, objectives, methods and materials of the study. The main part of the work is devoted to studying the role of irony in the poem by N.V. Gogol "Dead Souls". In conclusion, conclusions and generalizations are made. The work is completed by a list of used literature sources and Internet resources. Diagrams and illustrations are provided as an appendix.
N.V. Gogol is a great satirist. Laughter is a weapon, sharp, combative, with the help of which the writer fought all his life against the “abominations of Russian reality.” In the poem “Dead Souls” by N.V. Gogol uses very expressive satirical techniques, such as irony and its highest manifestation - sarcasm. With their help, the author can express his position in relation to what is happening. And the reader, in turn, can understand his attitude towards the main characters.
Vocabulary work. Satire, irony, sarcasm Satire (from Latin satira - mixture, mishmash) is a type of comic that consists in destructive ridicule of phenomena that seem vicious to the author. Irony (from the Greek eironeia - pretense) is a subtle, hidden mockery. The comic effect is achieved by saying the exact opposite of what is meant. Let's give examples: “a quiet room with cockroaches”, comparing them with prunes (what kind of peace is there?); a tray on which the cups “sit” like birds on the seashore (the romantic comparison makes you laugh). The sublimity of the description enhances the author's irony. Sarcasm (from the Greek sarkadzo - to tear, torment) - special kind comic, caustic mockery, the highest degree of irony.
Irony in the poem “Dead Souls” by N.V. Gogol in his poem “Dead Souls” called on writers, in the words of Nekrasov, to “preach love with the hostile word of denial.” Irony permeates the entire poem, intertwined with reflections, memories, and accusations. She helps to tear off the masks of integrity and decency from noble society. Irony occurs in the poem not only as a type of comic pathos, but also as an artistic device, a trope. Gogol knew how to see life through “laughter visible to the world” and invisible tears unknown to him. That is, Gogol’s irony is ultimately twofold: what is said with a serious look causes laughter, which actually exposes the negative phenomena of life, on the basis of which the satirical pathos of the work is formed.
MANILOV SOBAKEVICH NOZDREV PLYUSHKIN “My heroes follow one after another, one more vulgar than the other” N.V. GOGOL BOX
Manilov’s generalization is “neither this nor that” (examples of irony: “the economy went somehow by itself”, “neither in the city of Bogdan nor in the village of Selifan”, “could not lure”, “Temple of Solitary Reflection”). The box is “club-headed” Nozdryov is a “historical man” (a lover of “fouling one’s neighbor”, “throwing bullets”, a “jack of all trades” person, “starting with a smooth surface and ending with a vile”). Sobakevich – “man-fist” (“a medium-sized bear”) Plyushkin – “a hole in humanity” (“Such a miser that is difficult to imagine”)
Irony in creating images of landowners The main method used by Gogol when depicting landowners is irony. Each phrase has a subtext, a hidden, deep meaning. Moreover, irony is present not only in the speech of the author himself, but also in the speech of the characters. Gogol begins the story about the landowners with Manilov and the image of the village of Manilovka, which is capable of “luring” few people with its location. The author describes with irony the master's courtyard, created as an imitation of an English garden with a pond, bushes and the inscription “Temple of Solitary Reflection.”
Korobochka Here the landowner Korobochka appears before us, whose only concern is money, and “so as not to incur a loss somehow.” The author depicts Korobochka’s thriftiness as almost absurd: among the many useful and necessary items, each of which lies in its place, there are strings that “are no longer needed anywhere.”
Nozdrev and Sobakevich According to the ironic remark of Nikolai Vasilyevich, Nozdrev is a man, as they say, “of all trades,” who among dogs is “just like a father among a family.” Nozdryov, as the author aptly notes, is able to “start with satin stitch and end with reptile.” Gogol’s irony in the image of Sobakevich, whom we meet in the fifth chapter, takes on a more accusatory character. This is a “landowner-kulak”, a “perfect bear”, in whose body there is no soul at all or it is “...closed in such a thick shell...”.
The image of Plyushkin The name of this hero has become a household word, denoting moral degradation and stinginess. If Gogol used irony in describing the images of other landowners, then Plyushkin’s characterization is full of sarcasm. “ Such a miser that it’s hard to imagine. In prison, convicts live better than he: he starved all the people to death...” Sobakevich says about him. “And a person could condescend to such insignificance, pettiness, disgusting!” Gogol exclaims and calls Plyushkin “a hole in humanity.”
All Gogol's landowners– characters are bright, individual, memorable. But with all their external diversity, the essence remains unchanged: while possessing living souls, they themselves have long ago turned into “dead souls.” Conclusion
Provincial society Irony is also found in the descriptions of officials, whose hypocritical integrity Gogol ridicules. The author’s irony gives way to sarcasm when describing the house of public places: “A large three-story stone house, all white as chalk, probably to depict the purity of the souls of the positions housed in it; the other buildings on the square did not match the enormity of the stone house... From the windows of the second and third floors the incorruptible heads of the priests of Themis poked out and at the same moment hid again..." Gogol skillfully displays the individual qualities of the governor, prosecutor and others and at the same time creates a collective image of the bureaucracy: " the swindler sits on the swindler, drives the swindler."
Chichikov is the central character of the poem “Dead Souls”; the entire action of the poem is concentrated around him, all of its characters are connected with him. Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov
Delicate and dreamy like Manilov Capable of saving like Korobochka Chichikov correlates with landowners Can lie no worse than Nozdryov Stingy and businesslike like Sobakevich In thriftiness he will not yield to Plyushkin
Chichikov is also close to officials of the city of NN. He, like other government officials, is not in the least concerned about the interests of the country; he does not feel like a “citizen of his land.” However, “the owner, the acquirer,” as Gogol ironically calls Chichikov, does not strive for rank and career as such - service interests him only as a means of enrichment. Chichikov builds his well-being on other people's troubles, deception, and betrayal. He is obsessed with only one idea - to become a “millionaire”, to find peace and prosperity. In his lack of spirituality and thirst for profit, he is as “dead” as the district landowners and officials. Chichikov and officials
“Laughter through tears...” Gogol’s irony has its own uniqueness. Belinsky wrote that Gogol’s comedy is a consequence of “a sad outlook on life, that there is a lot of bitterness and sorrow in his laughter.” Portraying negative sides Russian life of that time, creating a number of comic and repulsive types, laughing at the “vulgarity of a vulgar man,” Gogol at the same time mentally mourned the moral decline to which his heroes had reached. Gogol's laughter is full of bitterness and deep regret for people who have lost their human appearance. That is why the poem by N.V. Gogol's “Dead Souls” is “at first funny, then sad.”
Based on the conducted research, we can say that our hypothesis is fully confirmed. In the poem by N.V. Gogol's "Dead Souls" irony plays a significant role. Ironic pathos, artistic and stylistic techniques that support it, create a unique flavor of the work. The main object of depicting irony in the poem is the deformation of morals and mores. Conclusion
The analysis allowed us to draw the following conclusions. Irony helps create the necessary emotional background in the poem “Dead Souls,” which allows one to reveal the most subtle features of the nature of each character, expose their shortcomings and form a negative attitude towards them in the reader. By scourging evil, the writer makes the reader feel his positive ideal and awakens a craving for it. Irony is actively used by Gogol in the poem as a way of: a) creating portrait sketches; b) descriptions of the situation; c) revealing the worldview of the heroes; d) speech characteristics of the characters. The writer set himself the goal of “laughing hard” at what is “worthy of universal ridicule,” because Gogol saw laughter as a powerful means of influencing society. Irony and its highest manifestation – sarcasm – fully helps him to realize this task in the poem “Dead Souls”. CONCLUSIONS
List of literature sources and Internet resources 1. V.G. Belinsky, Selected articles, M., 1975. 2. S.P. Belokurova. Dictionary literary terms. St. Petersburg, 2012. 3. Vinogradov I.A. Gogol Artist and Thinker: Christian foundations of worldview. M., 2000. 4. N.V. Gogol. Author's confession. M., 2012. 5. Gogol in Russian criticism. M., 1953. 6. N.V. Gogol. Spiritual prose (collection). M., 2012. 7. N.V. Gogol. Dead Souls. St. Petersburg, 2009. 8. A.M. Dokusov, M.G. Kachurin. Poem by N.V. Gogol's "Dead Souls" in school study. M., 1982.
List of literature sources and Internet resources 9. Study of the creativity of N.V. Gogol at school. Edited by G.V. Samoilenko. Kyiv, 1988. 10. Yu.V. Mann. Gogol's poetics. M., 1996. 11. Yu.V. Mann "Through the Laughter Visible to the World." Life of N.V. Gogol. 1809-1835. M., 1994. 12. Yu.V. Marantsman V.G. The reader's work. From perception literary work to analysis. M., 1986. 13. G.N. Pospelov. Creativity N.V. Gogol. Ministry of Education of the RSFSR. M., 1953. 14. N.L. Stepanov. N.V. Gogol. Creative path. M., 1959. 15. M.B. Khrapchenko. “Dead Souls” N.V. Gogol. Publishing house of the USSR Academy of Sciences. M., 1952. 16. http: // www.ngogol.ru/ 17. http://download9.proshkolu.ru/download/3129791/cce64c8c5e265b5f/39810846/b8dfe67b06ca9308. 18 . http://www.literaturus.ru (illustrations for the poem).
Satirical techniques for depicting landowners in N.V. Gogol’s poem “Dead Souls.” Test work on the works of Gogol N . V. in 9th grade.
“I was going to create something that no one had created before. “Dead Souls” will become the great work that Pushkin bequeathed to me to write. A work about people without souls and the death of human souls,” admitted N.V. Gogol.
“My heroes follow one after another, one more vulgar than the other,” wrote Gogol. In critical literature, it has been suggested that the writer arranged the chapters from the poem according to the principle of increasing negative traits heroes. From this point of view, Plyushkin is the completion of the gallery of “dead souls” depicted by Gogol.
Literary critic V. Zenkovsky wrote: “When reading the poem, you saw how through appearance, through things, objects of the surrounding world, Gogol characterizes his heroes, emphasizing their lack of spirituality, primitiveness of feelings and thoughts. But the writer wants to get to the image of the type of person - and on this path Gogol’s work approaches the highest creations of literature.”
1. Which of the characters in the poem correspond to the given characteristics?
a) “The landowner was not yet an old man at all, but had eyes as sweet as sugar.”
b) “They collect a little money into colorful bags placed on the drawers of the chest of drawers. All the tsarkovniks are taken into one bag, fifty dollars into another, and quarters into the third.”
c) “He was of average height, a very well-built fellow, with full rosy cheeks, teeth white as snow, and jet-black sideburns.”
d) “This time he seemed like a medium-sized bear... to complete the similarity, the tailcoat he was wearing was completely bear-colored, the sleeves were long, and the trousers were long. He walked with his feet in a crooked way and constantly stepped on other people’s feet.”
e) “For a long time he could not discern what gender the figure was. The dress she was wearing was completely indefinite, similar to a woman’s hood, and she had a cap on her head...”
2. Identify the landowner based on the interior details.
a) “The manor’s house stood alone on the south, open to all the winds. The slope of the mountain was covered with trimmed turf. Two or three flower beds were scattered on it. A gazebo with blue columns and the inscription: “Temple of Solitary Reflection” was visible.
b) “The room was hung with old striped wallpaper; paintings with some birds, mirrors with dark frames...behind every mirror there was either a letter, or an old deck of cards, or a stocking.”
c) “Ahead could be seen a wooden house with a mezzanine, a red roof... and wild walls - a house among those that we are building for military settlements and German colonists.”
d) “He stepped into the dark, wide walls, from which a cold air blew in, as if from a cellar. There was even a broken chair on one table, and next to it a clock with a stopped pendulum, to which the spider had already attached a web.”
e) “Only sabers and guns hung in the office.”
3. Which of the landowner heroes is characterized by:
a) Daydreaming, projectism, spinelessness, sentimentality.
b) Club-headedness, petty fussiness, ignorance.
c) Kulaks, misanthropy, obscurantism, rudeness.
d) Disorderliness, boasting, fairground heroism.
e) Unreasonable hoarding, callousness, miserliness.
4. By speech characteristics identify the hero of the work.
a) “Should I rub my back”, “scratch my heels at night”, “my inexperienced business”, “what kind of taunts are you making”.
b) “Blown to dust,” “spent it all,” “squandered it,” “got on a spree,” “provincial misers,” “judemor,” “fityuk.”
c) “A fool such as the world has never produced”, “the first robber in the world”, “a swindler”, “a scoundrel cook”, “a garbage can”.
G) " The most wonderful person", "nice person", "birthday of the heart."
e) “We have started the unpleasant custom of visiting each other,”
"nice liquor."
"Historical Man" "Cudgel-headed" heroine
Satirical techniques for depicting landowners in the poem
N.V. Gogol “Dead Souls”
Checklist
"Historical Man"
Nozdryov “Clubheaded” heroine
1 c, 2 a, 3 a, 4 b Box
1 b, 2 b, 3 b, 4 a
Satirical techniques for depicting landowners in N.V. Gogol’s poem “Dead Souls”
Neither in the city of Bogdan, nor in the village of Selifan
1 a, 2 a, 3 a, 4 g
He who has a fist cannot straighten into a palm. A hole in humanity
Sobakevich
1 g, v, 3 v, 4 v Plyushkin
1 d, 2 d, 3 d, 4 d
Lesson type: formation of knowledge, skills and abilities.
Lesson objectives: 1) determine the role of irony in the poem as an element of Gogol’s style; 2) analyze chapter 1.
During the classes:
I. Organizational moment.
II. Teacher's opening speech.
– Gogol uses irony in the poem “Dead Souls”, which permeates the entire poem. What is the role of irony in the author's text?
III. Conversation with students.
– Who is the narrator in the poem “Dead Souls”?
(Writer. But this is not just Gogol: before us is a generalized image, it reflects the views, aspirations, moods, ideals of Gogol and, at the same time, the features of a Russian patriotic writer.)
– Where in the text of Chapter 1 does Gogol talk about himself?
(In the mention of a woolen scarf, “which the spouse prepares for married people with her own hands, providing decent instructions on how to wrap themselves, but for single people, I probably can’t say who makes it, God knows: I have never worn such scarves,” etc. )
- But even more important sign the presence of the author is the tone of the narrative: irony is felt in all the variety of its shades.
– Read the description of Chichikov. Where in the text of the description does the author's irony occur?
– Read the description of the tavern, find the hyperbole.
(The floorman in the tavern was “alive and fidgety to such an extent that it was impossible to even see what kind of face he had.” In the window “there was a beater with a samovar made of red copper and a face as red as the samovar, so that from a distance one could to think that there were two samovars standing on the window, if one samovar did not have a pitch-black beard.”)
– Read the scene of the governor’s ball. Note the satirical comparison that the author of the poem uses.
(The comparison of guests at the governor’s ball to a swarm of flies on sugar. There are two levels in this comparison. One is external: gentlemen in black tailcoats look like flies, ladies in white dresses with shiny jewelry sparkle like pieces of sugar on a sunny day. The second is internal: the entire provincial aristocracy is like annoying flies, capable of “staying” at anything.)
– Gogol uses parody in the poem. Let's re-read the description of the city garden. Gogol here parodies the style of official newspaper articles praising the “prosperity” of Russia in the time of Nicholas.
– These are some of the forms of Gogol’s laughter in the poem. But why does Gogol say that for a long time he still has to “look around at the whole enormous rushing life, look at it through laughter visible to the world and invisible tears unknown to him”? Who are these tears about?
(Let us read, for example, into the comparison of the fat and the thin, and we will see the shallowness of the human soul. It is these fat ones who deftly manage their affairs and fill boxes, and the thin ones, who serve “more on special assignments” and send “all their father’s goods to courier” - all this The “color” of society are those who rule Russia)
IV. Student reports:“What do Chichikov’s things tell about his owner?”, “The story with the poster”, “Speech characteristics of Chichikov.”
V. Lesson summary. One thing is clear that our hero is a seasoned kalach, has seen a lot in life, is smart, dexterous and knows people well.
"...the brilliant accuracy of his satire was purely instinctive...
his satirical attitude towards Russian life is, without a doubt, explained... by the nature of his internal development"
N.K. Piksanov Piksanov N.K. Gogol N.V. /Article from the "New Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron", 1911 - 1916. //Source: Great Encyclopedia of Cyril and Methodius. Multimedia on 2 CDs. M., 2007.
There is a famous saying relating to Gogol’s work: “laughter through tears.” Gogol's laughter. But Gogol’s laughter is mixed with more than just sadness. It contains anger, rage, and protest. All this, merging into a single whole under the brilliant pen of the master, creates an extraordinary flavor of Gogol’s satire.
The flourishing of realism in Russian prose is usually associated with Gogol and the “Gogolian direction” (a later term of Russian criticism, introduced by N.G. Chernyshevsky). It is characterized by special attention to social issues, depiction (often satirical) of the social vices of Nicholas Russia, careful reproduction of socially and culturally significant details in portraits, interiors, landscapes and other descriptions; addressing themes of St. Petersburg life, depicting the fate of a minor official. Belinsky believed that Gogol’s works reflected the spirit of the “ghostly” reality of Russia at that time. Belinsky emphasized that Gogol’s work cannot be reduced to social satire (as for Gogol himself, he never considered himself a satirist).
Gogol's satire is addressed to the contradictions of reality itself. The degrading classes of society are clearly outlined in different groups of characters: the district nobility, provincial bureaucrats and nobility, entrepreneurs of a new type, courtyards, servants, peasants, metropolitan bureaucrats and nobility. Gogol reveals brilliant artistic skill, finds witty techniques for exposing “anti-heroes”: telling details of the hero’s appearance, correlating him with a certain type of person.
The poem "Dead Souls" is a brilliant satire on feudal Rus'. http://www.kalitva.ru/2007/11/28/print:page,1,sochinenie-mertvye-dushi-n.v.-gogolja.html - #Satirically drawing landowner-bureaucratic Rus', Gogol fills the work with colossal universal human content. From the first chapter, the road motif appears, and then grows and intensifies. The road, first drawn in a reduced everyday sense, then acquires the meaning of an image-symbol - the path along which Rus' rushes towards its great, although unclear, future.
The poem includes pictures of the endless expanses of Russia, the endless steppes, in which there is room for the hero to roam. Satire in Gogol's work is combined with deep lyricism, because this work is not only about six landowners, about a dozen officials, about one acquirer, not even about the nobility, the people, the emerging class of businessmen - this is a work about Russia, about its past, present , the future, about its historical purpose.
Let's look at those landowners whom Chichikov visited.
The first such landowner was Manilov. Gogol conveys Chichikov’s impression of Manilov this way: “God alone could have said what kind of character Manilov has. There is a race of people known as so-so people, neither this nor that, neither in the city of Bogdan, nor in the village of Selifan, his facial features were not devoid of pleasantness, but this pleasantness seemed to be too much given over to sugar.” Manilov is tearfully complacent, devoid of living thoughts and real feelings.
Step by step, Gogol inexorably exposes the vulgarity of a vulgar person, irony is constantly replaced by satire: “There is Russian cabbage soup on the table, but from the heart,” the children, Alcides and Themistoclus, are named after ancient Greek commanders as a sign of the education of their parents.
Manilov selflessly dreams of “the well-being of a friendly life” and makes fantastic plans for future improvements. But this is an empty phrase; His words and actions do not jibe. And we see that in the description of the owners of the estates, their hobbies and interests, the author’s ability to show the lack of spirituality and pettiness of aspirations, the emptiness of the soul with a few details of the situation. From one chapter to another, Gogol's accusatory and satirical pathos increases.
The second estate visited by Chichikov was the Korobochka estate. The qualities inherent in Korobochka are typical not only among the provincial nobility. The hostess, as the author describes her, is an elderly woman, in some kind of sleeping cap, put on hastily, with a flannel around her neck, one of those mothers, small landowners who cry about crop failures, losses and keep their heads somewhat to one side, and meanwhile gain little by little money into colorful bags.... For a very long time our hero had to persuade Nastasya Petrovna to sell him dead souls. At first she was surprised when she heard about the item being purchased, but then she was even afraid to sell it on the price. Wow, what a clubhead! Chichikov concluded for himself...
Pavel Ivanovich also visited Nozdryov. Nozdryov, according to the author, was one of those people who were always talkers, revelers, and prominent people. With irony, Gogol calls him “in some respects a historical person, because wherever Nozdryov was, there were stories,” that is, without a scandal. In addition, this landowner lies and flatters on almost any occasion, question and on any topic, for example, even when playing cards or checkers, he cheats. Nozdrev's character makes it clear that he can promise something, but not do it.
The portrait of a dashing reveler is satirical and sarcastic at the same time. “He was of average height, a very well-built fellow with full rosy cheeks. Health seemed to be dripping from his face.” However, Chichikov notices that one of Nozdryov’s sideburns was smaller and not as thick as the other (the result of another fight).
Such was Nozdryov, a reckless nature, a gambler, a reveler. For Nozdryov, any deal is something like a game; there are no moral barriers for him, as, indeed, for all his life’s actions. For example, only the arrival of the police captain to Nozdryov saves Chichikov from physical harm.
The image of Sobakevich was created in Gogol’s favorite hyperbolic manner. Describing Sobakevich's appearance, Gogol resorts to zoological comparison. Sobakevich seemed to Chichikov to be very similar to a medium-sized bear. Nature didn’t play tricks on his face for long; she took an ax to his nose once, took another blow at his lips, picked out his eyes with a large drill and, without scraping them, released him into the light, saying he lives! The furniture in Sobakevich's house is as heavy as the owner. He is gluttonous and can eat a whole sturgeon or a side of lamb at one time. In his judgments about food, Sobakevich rises to a kind of “gastronomic” pathos: “When I have pork, put the whole pig on the table, lamb, bring the whole lamb, goose, the whole goose!” Although slow-witted, he will not miss his goal.
Finally, our hero came to Plyushkin.
Irony and sarcasm in the characterization of Manilov, Korobochka, Nozdryov and Sobakevich are replaced by a grotesque image of Plyushkin. He is, of course, the most deadened among the “dead souls,” since it was in this hero that Gogol showed the limit of spiritual emptiness. He even outwardly lost his human appearance. Chichikov could not understand what gender this figure was. Seeing some strange figure, Chichikov at first decided that it was the housekeeper, but it turned out to be the owner himself.
Chichikov “for a long time could not recognize what gender the figure was: a woman or a man. The dress she was wearing was completely indefinite, very similar to a woman’s hood, on her head was a cap worn by village courtyard women, only her voice seemed to him somewhat hoarse for a woman: “Oh woman! - he thought to himself and immediately added: “Oh no!” "Of course, woman!" It could never have occurred to Chichikov that he was a Russian gentleman, a landowner, the owner of serf souls.
Chichikov thought if he met Plyushkin on the porch, then... he would give him a copper penny..., although this landowner had more than a thousand peasant souls. His greed is immeasurable. He had accumulated huge reserves, such reserves would be enough for many years of a carefree life, but he, not content with this, walked around his village every day and dragged everything he came across to his home.
Nozdryov’s arrogance and rudeness, his desire to harm his neighbor still did not prevent him from appearing in society and communicating with people. Plyushkin completely isolated himself in his selfish loneliness, cutting himself off from the whole world. He is indifferent to the fate of his children, much less the fate of the peasants dying of hunger. All normal human feelings are completely displaced from Plyushkin’s soul by a passion for hoarding. But if Korobochka and Sobakevich collected the money to strengthen the economy and spent it meaningfully, then Plyushkin’s senile stinginess crossed all limits and turned into its opposite. Busy collecting all sorts of rubbish, such as shards and old soles, he does not notice that his farm is being destroyed.
Thus ended our traveler’s trip to the estates of landowners. Manilov, Korobochka, Nozdrev, Sobakevich, despite the fact that the characters of all of them are far from ideal, each of them has at least something positive. The only exception is, perhaps, Plyushkin, whose image evokes not only laughter and irony, but also disgust. Gogol, thanks to his writing professionalism and skill, as we see from the above, talks about all this in a very interesting satirical form.
Gogol's laughter can be kind and crafty - then extraordinary comparisons and stylistic turns are born, which constitute one of the characteristic features of Gogol's poem. Describing the ball and the governor, Gogol talks about the division of officials into fat and thin, and the thin officials, standing around the ladies in black tailcoats, looked like flies that had sat on refined sugar. It is impossible not to mention very small comparisons, which, like sparkling diamonds, are scattered throughout the poem and create its unique flavor. So, for example, the face of the governor’s daughter looked like a “just laid egg”; The head of Feoduliya Ivanovna Sobakevich looked like a cucumber, and Sobakevich himself looked more like a pumpkin, from which balalaikas are made in Rus'. When meeting Chichikov, Manilov’s facial expression was like that of a cat whose ears were lightly scratched. Gogol also uses hyperbole, for example, when talking about the Plyushkin toothpick, which was used to pick teeth even before the French invasion. The appearance of the landowners described by Gogol also evokes laughter.
Plyushkin’s appearance, which struck the wicked and hypocrite Chichikov himself (he couldn’t figure out for a long time whether the housekeeper was in front of him or the housekeeper), the “fisherman-beggar” habits that blossomed in Plyushkin’s soul - all this is surprisingly witty and funny, but Plyushkin, it turns out , is capable of causing not only laughter, but also disgust, indignation and protest. This degraded personality, who cannot even be called a personality, ceases to be funny. Is a person who has lost everything human: appearance, soul, heart really funny? Before us is a spider, for which the main thing is to swallow its prey as quickly as possible.
Gogol's laughter is not only angry, satirical, accusatory, there is cheerful and affectionate laughter. It is with a feeling of joyful pride, so to speak, that the writer speaks about the Russian people. This is how the image of a man appears who, like a tireless ant, carries a thick log.
Gogol's laughter seems good-natured, but he spares no one, every phrase has a deep, hidden meaning, subtext. But along with satirical negation, Gogol introduces a glorifying, creative element - the image of Russia. Associated with this image is the “high lyrical movement”, which in the poem at times replaces the comic narrative.
With the publication of Gogol's satirical works, the critical direction in Russian realistic literature is strengthened.
The meaning of the name "Dead Souls"
The title “Dead Souls” contains a much more important and deeper meaning than that expressed by the author in the first volume of the work. It has been said for a long time that Gogol originally planned to write this poem by analogy with Dante’s famous and immortal “Divine Comedy”, and as you know, it consisted of three parts - “Hell”, “Purgatory” and “Paradise”. It was to them that the three volumes of Gogol’s poem should have corresponded.
In the first volume of his most famous poem, the author intended to show the hell of Russian reality, the terrifying and truly terrifying truth about life of that time, and in the second and third volumes - the rise of spiritual culture and life in Russia. To some extent, the title of the work is a symbol of life in the district town of N., and the city itself is a symbol of the whole of Russia, and thus the author indicates that his native country is in a terrible state, and the saddest and most terrible thing is that that this happens due to the fact that the souls of people gradually grow cold, become callous and die.
The history of the creation of Dead Souls
Nikolai Gogol began writing the poem “Dead Souls” in 1835 and continued to work on it until the end of his life. At the very beginning, the writer most likely singled out for himself the funny side of the novel and created the plot of Dead Souls, as for a long work. There is an opinion that Gogol borrowed the main idea of the poem from A.S. Pushkin, since it was this poet who first heard the real story about “dead souls” in the city of Bendery. Gogol worked on the novel not only in his homeland, but also in Switzerland, Italy and France. The first volume of “Dead Souls” was completed in 1842, and in May it was already published under the title “The Adventures of Chichikov or Dead Souls.”
Subsequently, working on the novel, Gogol's original plan expanded significantly, it was then that the analogy with the three parts of the “Divine Comedy” appeared. Gogol intended that his heroes go through peculiar circles of hell and purgatory, so that at the end of the poem they would rise spiritually and be reborn. The author never managed to realize his idea; only the first part of the poem was written in full. It is known that Gogol began work on the second volume of the poem in 1840, and by 1845 he already had several options for continuing the poem ready. Unfortunately, it was this year that the author independently destroyed the second volume of the work, he irrevocably burned the second part of “Dead Souls”", being dissatisfied with what was written. The exact reason for this act of the writer is still unknown. There are draft manuscripts of four chapters of the second volume, which were discovered after Gogol's papers were opened.
Thus, it becomes clear that the central category and at the same time the main idea of Gogol’s poem is the soul, the presence of which makes a person complete and real. This is precisely the main theme of the work, and Gogol tries to point out the value of the soul through the example of soulless and callous heroes who represent a special social stratum of Russia. In his immortal and brilliant work, Gogol simultaneously raises the topic of the crisis in Russia and shows what this is directly related to. The author talks about the fact that the soul is the nature of man, without which there is no meaning in life, without which life becomes dead, and that it is thanks to it that salvation can be found.
Topics and problems
According to Gogol's plan the theme of the poem was to be all of contemporary Russia. Here he poses a whole series of problems, social, moral, and philosophical. Social and public issues are connected with Gogol’s depiction of Russia at that time. The question arises: where is the country going? " Dead Souls" can be called an encyclopedic study of all the pressing problems of that time: the state of landowners' farms, the moral character of the landowners and bureaucratic nobility, their relationships with the people, the fate of the people and the homeland. Moral issues are revealed in the depiction of landowners and officials, spiritually “dead” people. Finally, the writer raises philosophical questions in “Dead Souls”: what is a person, what is the meaning and purpose of human life.
Genre originality of the poem Dead Souls
The concept of the work was extremely complex. It did not fit into the framework of generally accepted genres in the literature of that time and required a rethinking of views on life, on Rus', on people. It was necessary to find new ways to express the idea artistically. The usual framework of genres for the embodiment of the author’s thoughts was cramped, because N.V. Gogol was looking for new forms for plotting and developing the plot.
At the beginning of work on the work in letters to N.V. Gogol often uses the word “novel”. In 1836, Gogol writes: “... the thing that I am sitting and working on now, and which I have been thinking about for a long time, and which I will think about for a long time, is not like either a story or a novel, it is long, long...” And yet, subsequently the idea of his new work N.V. Gogol decided to embody it in the genre of poems. The writer’s contemporaries were perplexed by his decision, since at that time, in the literature of the 19th century, the poem, written in poetic form. The main attention in it was focused on a strong and proud personality who, in the conditions of modern society, faced a tragic fate.
Gogol's decision had a deeper meaning. Having conceived of creating a collective image of his homeland, he was able to highlight the properties inherent in different genres and harmoniously combine them under one definition of “poem”. “Dead Souls” contains features of a picaresque novel, a lyric poem, a socio-psychological novel, a story, and a satirical work. At first impression, “Dead Souls” is more of a novel. This is evidenced by the system of vividly and detailed characters. But Lev Tolstoy , having familiarized himself with the work, said: “Take Gogol’s Dead Souls. What is this? Neither a novel nor a story. Something completely original."
The poem is based on a narrative about Russian life, in the center of attention is the personality of Russia, covered from all sides. Chichikov, hero of "Dead Souls" an unremarkable face, and it was precisely such a person, according to Gogol, who was the hero of his time, an acquirer who managed to vulgarize everything, even the very idea of evil. Chichikov's travels around Rus' turned out to be the most convenient form for the design of artistic material. This form is original and interesting mainly because it is not only Chichikov who travels in the work, whose adventures are the connecting element of the plot. The author travels around Russia with his hero. He meets with representatives of various social strata and, combining them into one whole, creates a rich gallery of character portraits.
Sketches of road landscapes, travel scenes, various historical, geographical and other information help Gogol present to the reader a complete picture of Russian life in those years. Taking Chichikov along Russian roads, the author shows the reader a huge range of Russian life in all its manifestations: landowners, officials, peasants, estates, taverns, nature and much more. Exploring the particular, Gogol draws conclusions about the whole, paints a terrible picture of the morals of contemporary Russia and, most importantly, explores the soul of the people.
The life of Russia at that time, the reality familiar to the writer, is depicted in the poem from the “satirical side,” which was new and unusual for Russian literature of the 19th century. Therefore, having started from the genre of traditional adventure novel , N.V. Gogol, following an increasingly expanding plan, goes beyond the scope of the novel, both a traditional story and a poem, and as a result creates a large-scale lyric-epic work. Epic start it presents the adventures of Chichikov and is connected with the plot. Lyrical beginning, whose presence becomes more and more significant as events unfold, expressed in lyrical author's digressions.
The method is realism. Thus, “Dead Souls” combined elements of various genres: a picaresque novel, a lyric poem, a socio-psychological novel, a story, and a satirical work.
The satirical nature of the poem manifests itself in the very sequence of presentation of the landowners, starting with Manilov and ending with Plyushkin, who has already “turned into a hole in humanity.” Behind the close-up portraits of landowners, The poem follows a satirical depiction of the life of provincial officials. Gogol shows the terrible degradation of the human soul, the spiritual and moral fall of man.
Lyrical in the poem.“Dead Souls” is a lyric-epic work - a prose poem that combines two beginnings: epic and lyrical. First principle embodied in the author’s plan to paint “all of Rus'”, and second- in the author’s lyrical digressions related to his plan, constituting an integral part of the work.
The epic narrative in “Dead Souls” is continually interrupted by the author’s lyrical monologues, assessing the behavior of a character or reflecting on life, art, Russia and its people, as well as touching on topics such as youth and old age, the purpose of the writer, which help to learn more about the spiritual world of the writer, about his ideals.
Of greatest importance are lyrical digressions about Russia and the Russian people. Throughout the poem, the author's idea is affirmed about the positive image of the Russian people, which merges with the glorification and celebration of the homeland, which expresses the author’s civil-patriotic position.
So, in the fifth chapter the writer praises the “living and lively Russian mind”, his extraordinary ability for verbal expressiveness, that “if he rewards him with a slanted word, then it will go to his family and posterity, he will drag it with him into service, and into retirement, and to St. Petersburg, and to the ends of the world.” Chichikov was led to such reasoning by his conversation with the peasants., who called Plyushkin “patched” and knew him only because he did not feed his peasants well.
Gogol felt the living soul of the Russian people, their daring, courage, hard work and love for a free life. In this regard, they are of profound importance the author's reasoning, put into Chichikov's mouth, about serfs in the seventh chapter. What appears here is not a generalized image of Russian men, and specific people with real traits, written out in detail. This is the carpenter Stepan Cork - “a hero who would be fit for the guard,” who, according to Chichikov, walked all over Rus' with an ax in his belt and boots on his shoulders. This and shoemaker Maxim Telyatnikov , who studied with a German and decided to get rich instantly by making boots from rotten leather, which fell apart in two weeks. At this point, he abandoned his work, started drinking, blaming everything on the Germans, who did not allow Russian people to live.
Further Chichikov reflects on the fate of many peasants, purchased from Plyushkin, Sobakevich, Manilov and Korobochka. But here the idea of “the revelry of people’s life” did not coincide so much with the image of Chichikov, what takes the word the author himself continues the story on his own behalf, a story about how Abakum Fyrov walks on the grain pier with barge haulers and merchants, having worked out “to one song, like Rus'.” The image of Abakum Fyrov indicates the love of the Russian people for a free, wild life, festivities and fun, despite the hard life of serfdom, the oppression of landowners and officials.
The tragic fate of the enslaved people appears in lyrical digressions, downtrodden and socially humiliated, which is reflected in the images Uncle Mitya and Uncle Minya, Pelageya’s girls, who did not know how to distinguish between right and left, Plyushkin’s Proshkas and the Moors. Behind these images and pictures of folk life lies the deep and broad soul of the Russian people.
The love for the Russian people, for the homeland, the patriotic and sublime feelings of the writer were expressed in the image of the troika created by Gogol, rushing forward, personifying the mighty and inexhaustible forces of Russia. Here the author thinks about the future of the country: “Rus, where are you rushing?” He looks into the future and does not see it, but as a true patriot he believes that in the future there will be no Manilovs, Sobakeviches, Nozdrevs, Plyushkins, that Russia will rise to greatness and glory.
The image of the road in lyrical digressions is symbolic. This is the road from the past to the future, the road along which the development of each person and Russia as a whole takes place.
The work ends with a hymn to the Russian people: “Eh! troika! Bird-three, who invented you? You could have been born to a lively people...” Here lyrical digressions perform a generalizing function: serve to expand the artistic space and to create a holistic image of Rus'. They reveal a positive ideal the author - people's Russia, which is opposed to landowner-bureaucratic Rus'.
But, in addition to lyrical digressions praising Russia and its people, the poem also contains reflections of the lyrical hero on philosophical topics, for example, about youth and old age, the vocation and purpose of a true writer, about his fate, which are somehow connected with the image of the road in the work. So, in the sixth chapter, Gogol exclaims: “Take with you on the journey, emerging from the soft youthful years into stern, embittering courage, take with you all human movements, do not leave them on the road, you will not pick them up later!..” Thus, the author wanted to say that all the best things in life are connected precisely with youth and one should not forget about it, as the landowners described in the novel did when they became “dead souls.” They do not live, but exist. Gogol calls for preserving a living soul, freshness and fullness of feelings and remaining like that for as long as possible.
To recreate the completeness of the author’s image, it is necessary to talk about lyrical digressions in which Gogol talks about two types of writers. One of them “never once changed the sublime structure of his lyre, did not descend from its top to his poor, insignificant brothers, and the other dared to call out everything that is every minute before the eyes and which indifferent eyes do not see.” The lot of a real writer, who dared to truthfully recreate a reality hidden from the eyes of the people, is such that, unlike a romantic writer, absorbed in his unearthly and sublime images, he is not destined to achieve fame and experience the joyful feelings of being recognized and sung. Gogol comes to the conclusion that unrecognized realist writer, satirist writer will remain without participation that “his field is harsh, and he feels his loneliness bitterly.”
So, lyrical digressions occupy a significant place in Gogol’s poem “Dead Souls”. They are remarkable from a poetic point of view. In them one can discern the beginnings of a new literary style, which would later find a vibrant life in Turgenev’s prose and especially in the works of Chekhov.
Images (mostly here – a satirical depiction of landowners, a technique of satire)
Landowners. Gogol's characters are not just landowners with dead souls. These are universal human types. The uniqueness of the construction of these characters lies in the fact that vices, habits, specific lifestyle and even appearance is depicted grotesquely. Creating images Manilov, Korobochki, Nozdrev, Sobakevich, Plyushkin, Gogol uses not only the method typification(that is, it highlights the most typical traits of a particular character ), but also microscopic analysis method. This explains the writer’s constant interest in the objective world surrounding the heroes: he describes in detail the estate, the furnishings of the house, things. One of the most important components of the description is the portrait. Gogol describes in detail the color of his eyes, hair, clothes, manners, gait, gestures, and facial expressions. A characteristic feature of a particular landowner ( Manilov's courtesy, Sobakevich's clumsiness, Nozdryov's shamelessness) the writer shows from different angles, inventing more and more new situations and details. It was the combination of typification methods and microscopic analysis that breathed soul into Gogol’s characters, which is why these characters became household names.
In the image of Manilov the type of idle dreamer, the “romantic” slacker is captured. The landowner's economy is in complete decline. The housekeeper steals, “stupidly and uselessly cooks in the kitchen,” “the pantry is empty,” “the servants are unclean and drunkards.” Gogol shows that Manilov is vulgar and empty, he has no real spiritual interests . “In his office there was always some kind of book, bookmarked on page fourteen, which he had been constantly reading for two years." The vulgarity of family life, the sugary sweetness of speech (“May Day”, “Name Day of the Heart”) confirm the insightfulness of the character’s portrait characteristics. “In the first minute of a conversation with him, you can’t help but say: “What a pleasant and kind person!” In the next minute of the conversation you won’t say anything, and in the third you’ll say: “The devil knows what this is!” - and move away; If you don’t leave, you will feel mortal boredom.” Gogol with amazing artistic power shows the deadness of Manilov, the worthlessness of his life. Behind the external attractiveness lies a spiritual emptiness.
Image storage boxes is already deprived of those “attractive” features that distinguish Manilov. And again we have the type - “ one of those mothers, small landowners who collect little money in colorful bags placed in dresser drawers" Korobochka's interests are entirely concentrated on farming. “Strong-browed” and “club-headed” Nastasya Petrovna he is afraid to sell himself cheap by selling “dead souls” to Chichikov. The “silent scene” that appears in this chapter is curious. We find similar scenes in almost all chapters showing the conclusion of Chichikov’s deal with another landowner. This allows us to show with particular clarity the spiritual emptiness of Pavel Ivanovich and his interlocutors. At the end of the third chapter, Gogol talks about the typicality of the image of Korobochka, the insignificant difference between her and another aristocratic lady.
The gallery of “dead souls” continues in the poem Nozdryov. Like other landowners, he does not develop internally and does not change depending on age. " Nozdryov at thirty-five was exactly the same as he was at eighteen and twenty: a lover of a walk.” The portrait of a dashing reveler is satirical and sarcastic at the same time. “He was of average height, a very well built fellow with full rosy cheeks. Health seemed to be dripping from his face.” However, Chichikov notices that one of Nozdryov’s sideburns was smaller and not as thick as the other (the result of another fight). The passion for lying and playing cards largely explains the fact that not a single meeting where Nozdryov was present was complete without a story. The life of a landowner is absolutely soulless. In the office “there were no visible traces of what happens in offices, that is, books or paper; only a saber and two guns were hanging.” Of course, Nozdryov’s farm was ruined. Even lunch consists of dishes that are burnt, or, on the contrary, not cooked. Chichikov's attempt to buy dead souls from Nozdryov is a fatal mistake. It is Nozdryov who spills the secret at the governor’s ball. The arrival of Korobochka in the city, who wanted to find out “how much dead souls walk for,” confirms the words of the dashing “talker.” The image of Nozdryov is no less typical than the image of Manilov or Korobochka. Gogol writes: “Nozdryov will not leave the world for a long time. He is everywhere between us and, perhaps, only wears a different caftan; but people are frivolously undiscerning, and a person in a different caftan seems to them a different person.”
The typification techniques listed above are also used by Gogol to describe image of Sobakevich. The village and the landowner's economy indicate a certain prosperity. “The yard was surrounded by a strong and excessively thick wooden lattice. The landowner seemed to be concerned a lot about strength. The village huts of the peasants were also cut down marvelously, everything was fitted tightly and properly.” Describing Sobakevich’s appearance, Gogol resorts to zoological assimilation(comparing a landowner with a bear). However, Sobakevich (in this he differs from Plyushkin and most other landowners) has a certain economic streak. He does not ruin his own serfs, achieves a certain order in the economy, is profitable sells dead souls to Chichikov, is well aware of the business and human qualities of his peasants.
The extreme degree of human degradation is captured by Gogol in the image of the richest landowner in the province (more than a thousand serfs) Plyushkina. The character's biography allows us to trace the path from a "thrifty" owner to a half-crazy miser. “But there was a time when he was married and a family man, and a neighbor stopped by for lunch, two pretty daughters came out to meet him, and his son ran out. The owner himself came to the table in a frock coat. But the good housewife died, some of the keys, and with them small worries passed to him. Plyushkin became more restless and, like all widowers, more suspicious and stingy.” Soon the family completely fell apart, and unprecedented pettiness and suspicion developed in Plyushkin: “... he himself finally turned into some kind of hole in humanity.” So, it was not social conditions that led the landowner to the last point of moral decline. The tragedy of loneliness is playing out before us, developing into a nightmarish picture of lonely old age.
Thus, the landowners in “Dead Souls” are united by common features: inhumanity, idleness, vulgarity, spiritual emptiness.
Chichikov- the central character of the poem “Dead Souls”, the entire action of the poem is tied to him, all of its characters are connected with him. Gogol himself wrote: “For, no matter what you say, if this thought (about buying dead souls) had not entered Chichikov’s head, this poem would not have been born.”
Unlike the images of landowners and officials, the image of Chichikov is given in development: we know about the origin and upbringing of the hero, the beginning of his activities and the subsequent events of his life. Chichikov is a person who, with many of his features, different from the landed nobility . He is a nobleman by birth, but the estate is not the source of his existence. “The origins of our hero are dark and modest,” writes Gogol and gives a picture of his childhood and teaching. Chichikov remembered his father’s advice for the rest of his life. Most of all, save and save a penny. “You will do everything and ruin everything in the world with a penny,” his father told him.
Chichikov set the goal of his life to acquire. He is overwhelmed by the desire to become the owner of capital that will bring with it “life in all pleasures.” The hero patiently and persistently overcomes career barriers. Cunning and cheating become its characteristic features. Having become a member of the “commission for the construction of some government-owned, but very capital building,” he acquires a good cook and an excellent pair of horses, and wears thin, Dutch linen shirts. The unexpected revelation of a scam involving the construction of a government building disrupts the flow of this pleasant life. But Chichikov finds an even more profitable service at customs . Money floats into his hands. “God knows, to what enormous figure the blessed sums would have grown, if some difficult beast had not run across everything.” Once again exposed and expelled, Chichikov becomes an attorney, and here the thought of searching for dead souls.
The writer reveals the image of Chichikov gradually, as he talks about his adventures. In each chapter we learn something new about him. He comes to the provincial city to conduct reconnaissance and ensure the success of the planned enterprise. In the city he is extremely careful and strictly calculating. Ability to interact with people and communicate skillfully - Chichikov’s proven remedy in all fraudulent transactions. He knows how to talk to whom. With Manilov he conducts a conversation in a sweetly polite tone, with Plyushkin he is respectfully polite. Meetings with landowners show Chichikov’s exceptional persistence in achieving his goal, ease of transformation, extraordinary resourcefulness and energy, which hide the prudence of a predatory nature behind external softness and grace.
In the finale, Gogol concludes: “... our hero is all there. What he is! At first glance, there is something indefinite about him, he is “a gentleman, not handsome, but not of bad appearance, neither too fat nor too thin; I can’t say that I’m old, but I can’t say that I’m too young.” This is a sedate, courteous, well-dressed man, but how this pleasant appearance contradicts his inner world! Gogol masterfully, in one phrase, gives him a complete description: “It is most fair to call him the owner-acquirer,” and then the author speaks about him simply and sharply: “Scoundrel.”
A character like Chichikov’s could only arise in the conditions of the formation of capitalist relations, when entrepreneurs put everything on the line for profit and enrichment. Chichikov is a type of bourgeois businessman-acquirer who does not disdain any means to enrich himself.
People. Throughout the entire poem, Gogol, parallel to the plot lines of landowners, officials and Chichikov, continuously draws another one - connected with the image of the people. Throughout the entire poem, the affirmation of the people as a positive hero merges with the glorification of the homeland, with the author expressing his patriotic and civil judgments. These judgments are scattered throughout the work in the form of heartfelt lyrical digressions. For example, in the fifth chapter, Gogol praises the “lively and lively Russian mind”, its extraordinary ability for verbal expressiveness. And the last, eleventh, ends with an enthusiastic hymn to Rus' and its wonderful future.
The world of “dead souls” is contrasted in the work with faith in the “mysterious” Russian people, in their inexhaustible moral potential. At the end of the poem, the image of an endless road and a trio of birds rushing forward appears. In this indomitable movement one can feel the writer’s confidence in the great destiny of Russia, in the possibility of the spiritual resurrection of humanity.
N.V. Gogol's poem "Dead Souls" is a brilliant satire on serfdom Rus'
Sample essay text
N.V. Gogol's poem "Dead Souls" is a satirical work. This funny and cheerful book nevertheless leads the reader to sad thoughts about the fate of Russia and its people. The peculiarity of Gogol's talent was the organic combination of the comic and the tragic. Therefore, in “Dead Souls,” funny scenes and characters only more vividly highlight the overall tragic picture of Russian reality in the 30s and 40s of the 19th century. Gogol was convinced that one of the most effective means of transforming society is to ridicule the typical vices that hinder its further development. Therefore, the author widely uses satirical visual means in the poem.
With irony, Gogol describes the signs of a typical provincial city, which we see through the eyes of the recently arrived Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov. These are houses lost among the streets as wide as a field, and ridiculous signs with pretzels and boots almost washed away by the rains, among which the proud inscription stands out: “Foreigner Vasily Fedorov.” The humorously depicted cityscape gives an idea not only of appearance city, but also about the life of its inhabitants, their general cultural level. Having visited the city garden, Chichikov saw trees that were no taller than reeds. However, the newspapers said that the city was decorated with a garden “of shady broad-leaved trees.” The pathetic lines of a local journalist especially emphasize the squalor of this poor, poorly organized city, where for two rubles a day a traveler can get in a hotel “a quiet room with cockroaches peeking out like prunes from all corners,” or dine in a tavern on a dish that was two weeks old.
The author also ironically draws portraits of landowners and officials in the poem. Calling Manilov “very courteous and courteous,” the author characterizes the hero with words from his own vocabulary. This is exactly how this landowner wants to appear, and this is how those around him perceive him. Gogol compares Manilov's eyes to sugar in the sweetness of their gaze, emphasizing the sugary sweetness. Describing Sobakevich’s appearance, the writer compares him to a medium-sized bear, sharply and ironically bringing the image of the hero closer to an animal. This allows us to identify characteristics this character: his animal essence, the complete absence in him of an aesthetic sense, of a higher spiritual principle. The likening of Sobakevich’s furniture to the owner himself is also subordinated to this goal. “The table, armchairs, chairs - everything was of the heaviest and most restless quality.” The irony in Nozdryov's characterization is associated with the contradiction between its first part, which calls people like him good comrades, and the following remark that “for all that, they can be beaten very painfully.”
In addition to the ironic characteristics of the heroes. Gogol saturates the poem with comic situations and situations. For example, I remember the scene between Chichikov and Manilov, who for several minutes have not been able to go into the living room, because they persistently cede this honorable privilege to each other, like cultured, delicate people. One of the best comic scenes of the poem is the episode of Chichikov’s visit to the landowner Korobochka. In this brilliant dialogue between the club-headed Nastasya Petrovna and the enterprising businessman, the whole gamut of the heroine’s feelings is conveyed: bewilderment, confusion, suspicion, economic prudence. It is in this scene that the main character traits of Korobochka are fully and psychologically revealed - greed, perseverance and stupidity.
The comic situations in the poem are associated not only with landowners and officials, but also with people from the people. Such a scene, for example, is the conversation between the coachman Selifan and the courtyard girl Pelageya, who, while showing the way, does not know where the right is and where the left is. This laconic episode speaks volumes: about the extreme ignorance of the people, their underdevelopment and darkness, which was a consequence of centuries of serfdom. The same negative traits of the people are emphasized by the comic scene between Uncle Mityai and Uncle Minyai, who, having helpfully rushed to dismantle the horses, became entangled in the lines. Even Chichikov’s literate serf Petrushka is perceived as a parody of an educated person, for he derives pleasure from the ability to put letters into words without thinking at all about their meaning.
Sarcastically depicting bureaucracy in the poem. Gogol reveals in him such disgusting traits as bribery, embezzlement, dishonesty, and squalor of interests. If such people are in the public service, it means that the administrative system of Tsarist Russia does not defend law and order, but breeds evil and arbitrariness. And this is clear evidence of the anti-people nature of the state apparatus.
Except for irony and sarcasm. Gogol uses the grotesque in the poem in the depiction of the most disgusting hero - Plyushkin. It represents the last degree of degradation, the complete deadness of the soul. He even outwardly lost his human appearance, because Chichikov, seeing him, did not immediately understand what gender this figure was. In this sinister old man, all attachments and family feelings died long ago. He is indifferent to the fate of his children and grandchildren. He cut himself off from the whole world in gloomy, selfish loneliness. Everything disappeared from his soul except stinginess, which had gone beyond all reasonable limits. Plyushkin's petty money-grubbing turned into its opposite. It is in the image of Plyushkin that Gogol fully reveals the depth of the landowners’ crime against their people.
Drawing in the poem the many-sided evil of Russian life, Gogol convinces the reader that the main disease of Nicholas Russia was serfdom, which caused enormous harm to the country, ruined and maimed the people. No wonder Herzen called “Dead Souls” “a medical history written by the hand of a master.”
1. The meaning of the poem “Dead Souls”.
2. Irony and satire in the work.
3. Image of landowners.
4. Satire in the depiction of officials.
5. Irony in the depiction of ordinary people.
“Dead Souls” is a medical history written by a master.
A. I. Herzen
“Dead Souls” by N.V. Gogol - immortal satirical work Russian literature. However, this sharp and funny poem does not at all lead to joyful and cheerful thoughts. A special feature of Gogol’s talent is that he easily, harmoniously and subtly combined tragic and comic principles in his works. That is why the comedic and satirical moments of the work only highlight the overall tragedy of the picture of life in Russia at the beginning of the 19th century. Satire dominates the text of the poem for the reason that the author considered it the most effective way to combat social vices and shortcomings. How much this satire helped in the framework of perestroika in Russia is not for us to decide.
The general picture of the life of Russians, full of irony and light mockery, begins with a description of the city to which Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov arrives. Here are houses, lost against the backdrop of the vast expanses of the streets, and half-erased, half-washed out by the rain signs with ridiculous boots and bagels, with the only surviving inscription: “Foreigner Vasily Fedorov.” The description of the city is detailed and full of subtle but important details. It gives an idea of the life and customs of its inhabitants. For example, it turns out that non-residents are alien to lies. So, after the scene in which Chichikov walks through the garden, where the trees have just been planted and they are no taller than a cane, the hero comes across a note in the local newspaper, where there is a message about the appearance of a garden consisting of “shady broad-leaved trees.” The pathos and pathos of these lines only emphasize the squalor real picture happening in a city where, for just a couple of rubles a day, a traveler can get a “peaceful room with cockroaches peeking out like prunes from all corners” or have a snack in the canteen that was two weeks old.
In the same spirit of rather evil irony, landowners and bureaucratic brethren are depicted. So Manilov is called “very courteous and polite, and these are his favorite words, the very characteristics that he so lacks. Judging by the sweetness of his gaze, his eyes are compared to sugar, causing the reader to associate with disgusting sugariness. It is no coincidence that Sobakevich’s appearance is correlated with a bear—through this image, the author brings the character closer to an animal devoid of aesthetic and spiritual principles. And the interior of Sobakevich’s office is described in such a way as to highlight the main characteristics of the owner: “The table, armchairs, chairs - everything was of the heaviest and most restless nature.” Nozdryov becomes ridiculous in the eyes of the reader after the phrase calling people like him good comrades is followed by the following line: “... despite all this, they can be beaten very painfully.”
In addition to irony, which is quite evil and sharp, the text of the work is also full of comedic situations, where laughter becomes softer and less evil. Many readers must have remembered the scene about how Manilov and Chichikov could not enter the room for several minutes, persistently giving each other the right to be the first to cross the threshold of the room. The scene of Chichikov’s visit to Korobochka is also interesting to consider, where in the dialogue between the club-headed Nastasya and the cunning businessman, Korobochka’s confusion, her stupidity and feeble-mindedness, and amazing thriftiness alternately appear.
However, not only landowners and officials are satirically depicted in the work. The depiction of peasant life is also associated with satire. A funny situation is connected with the coachman Selifan and the yard wench Pelageya, who explains the way, but does not distinguish between right and left. This laconic passage will tell the reader a lot - about the general level of illiteracy among the common people, about darkness and underdevelopment - the natural consequences of a long stay in a state of serfdom. The same motives are visible in the episode with Uncle Mityai and Uncle Minyai, who, rushing to disassemble the horses, became entangled in the traces. Even Chichikov’s serf Petrushka, a man considered to be educated, looks like a living laughingstock, since all his learning consists only in the ability to put words together from letters, without thinking too much about their meaning.
Through sarcasm, such characteristic features of the landowners of that time as bribery, embezzlement, dishonesty, and squalor of interests are highlighted. Hence the thought for thought: will such people bring benefit to the state by occupying high positions in the bureaucracy?
In the depiction of perhaps the most disgusting character in the work - Plyushkin - the grotesque is widely used. Plyushkin represents the last degree of degradation, consisting in the complete death of the soul. Even the appearance begins to succumb to the hero’s spiritual crisis, because his belonging to a certain gender becomes more and more difficult. The fate of his children and grandchildren is indifferent to him. And he himself abstracted himself from the world around him behind the high wall of his own egoism. All emotions and feelings disappeared from his soul forever, leaving only boundless, impossible stinginess. And this hero is the most terrible example of an official’s crime against his people and the state.
The many-sided evil, picturesquely depicted by Gogol in the poem “Dead Souls” convinces the reader that the main problem and the main disease that infected the Russian body was serfdom, which acted equally mercilessly both against those in power and against ordinary peasants.
Composition
N.V. Gogol's poem "Dead Souls" is a satirical work. This funny and cheerful book nevertheless leads the reader to sad thoughts about the fate of Russia and its people. The peculiarity of Gogol's talent was the organic combination of the comic and the tragic. Therefore, in “Dead Souls,” funny scenes and characters only more vividly highlight the overall tragic picture of Russian reality in the 30s of the 19th century. Gogol was convinced that one of the most effective means of transforming society is to ridicule the typical vices that hinder its further development. Therefore, the author widely uses satirical visual means in the poem.
With irony, Gogol describes the signs of a typical provincial city, which we see through the eyes of the recently arrived Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov. These are houses lost among the streets as wide as a field, and ridiculous signs with pretzels and boots almost washed away by the rains, among which the proud inscription stands out: “Foreigner Vasily Fedorov.” The humorously depicted cityscape gives an idea not only of the appearance of the city, but also of the life of its inhabitants, their general cultural level. Having visited the city garden, Chichikov saw trees that were no taller than reeds. However, the newspapers said that the city was decorated with a garden “of shady broad-leaved trees.” The pathetic lines of a local journalist especially emphasize the squalor of this poor, poorly organized city, where for two rubles a day a traveler can get in a hotel “a quiet room with cockroaches peeking out like prunes from all corners,” or dine in a tavern on a dish that was two weeks old.
The author also ironically draws portraits of landowners and officials in the poem. Calling Manilov “very courteous and courteous,” the author characterizes the hero with words from his own vocabulary. This is exactly how this landowner wants to appear, and this is how those around him perceive him. Gogol compares Manilov's eyes to sugar in the sweetness of their gaze, emphasizing the sugary sweetness. Describing Sobakevich’s appearance, the writer compares him to a medium-sized bear, sharply and ironically bringing the image of the hero closer to an animal. This makes it possible to identify the characteristic features of this character: his animal essence, the complete absence in him of an aesthetic sense, of a higher spiritual principle. The likening of Sobakevich’s furniture to the owner himself is also subordinated to this goal. “The table, armchairs, chairs - everything was of the heaviest and most restless quality.” The irony in Nozdryov's characterization is associated with the contradiction between its first part, which calls people like him good comrades, and the following remark that “for all that, they can be beaten very painfully.”
In addition to the ironic characteristics of the heroes. Gogol saturates the poem with comic situations and situations. For example, I remember the scene between Chichikov and Manilov, who for several minutes have not been able to go into the living room, because they persistently cede this honorable privilege to each other, like cultured, delicate people. One of the best comic scenes of the poem is the episode of Chichikov’s visit to the landowner Korobochka. In this brilliant dialogue between the club-headed Nastasya Petrovna and the enterprising businessman, the whole gamut of the heroine’s feelings is conveyed: bewilderment, confusion, suspicion, economic prudence. It is in this scene that the main character traits of Korobochka are fully and psychologically revealed - greed, perseverance and stupidity.
The comic situations in the poem are associated not only with landowners and officials, but also with people from the people. Such a scene, for example, is the conversation between the coachman Selifan and the courtyard girl Pelageya, who, while showing the way, does not know where the right is and where the left is. This laconic episode speaks volumes: about the extreme ignorance of the people, their underdevelopment and darkness, which was a consequence of centuries of serfdom. The same negative traits of the people are emphasized by the comic scene between Uncle Mityai and Uncle Minyai, who, having helpfully rushed to dismantle the horses, became entangled in the lines. Even Chichikov’s literate serf Petrushka is perceived as a parody of an educated person, for he derives pleasure from the ability to put letters into words without thinking at all about their meaning.
Sarcastically depicting bureaucracy in the poem. Gogol reveals in him such disgusting traits as bribery, embezzlement, dishonesty, and squalor of interests. If such people are in the public service, it means that the administrative system of Tsarist Russia does not defend law and order, but breeds evil and arbitrariness. And this is clear evidence of the anti-people nature of the state apparatus.
Except for irony and sarcasm. Gogol uses the grotesque in the poem in the depiction of the most disgusting hero Plyushkin. It represents the last degree of degradation, the complete deadness of the soul. He even outwardly lost his human appearance, because Chichikov, seeing him, did not immediately understand what gender this figure was. In this sinister old man, all attachments and family feelings died long ago. He is indifferent to the fate of his children and grandchildren. He cut himself off from the whole world in gloomy, selfish loneliness. Everything disappeared from his soul except stinginess, which had gone beyond all reasonable limits. Plyushkin's petty money-grubbing turned into its opposite. It is in the image of Plyushkin that Gogol fully reveals the depth of the landowners’ crime against their people.
Drawing in the poem the many-sided evil of Russian life, Gogol convinces the reader that the main disease of Nicholas Russia was serfdom, which caused enormous harm to the country, ruined and maimed the people. No wonder Herzen called “Dead Souls” “a medical history written by the hand of a master.”