Composition

A contemporary of Pushkin, Gogol created his works in the historical conditions that developed in Russia after the failure of the first revolutionary speech - the Decembrist speech in 1825. The new socio-political situation posed new tasks for figures in Russian social thought and literature, which were deeply reflected in Gogol’s work. . Having turned to the most important social problems of his time, the writer went further along the path of realism, which was opened by Pushkin and Griboedov. Developing the principles of critical realism. Gogol became one of the greatest representatives of this trend in Russian literature. As Belinsky notes, “Gogol was the first to look boldly and directly at Russian reality.” One of the main themes in Gogol’s work is the theme of the Russian landowner class, the Russian nobility as the ruling class, its fate and role in public life. It is characteristic that Gogol’s main way of depicting landowners is satire. The images of landowners reflect the process of gradual degradation of the landowner class, revealing all its vices and shortcomings. Gogol's satire is tinged with irony and "hits you straight in the forehead." Irony helped the writer speak directly about things that were impossible to talk about under censorship conditions. Gogol's laughter seems good-natured, but he spares no one, every phrase has a deep, hidden meaning, subtext. Irony is a characteristic element of Gogol's satire. It is present not only in the author’s speech, but also in the speech of the characters. Irony is one of the essential signs of Gogol's poetics; it gives greater realism to the narrative, becoming an artistic means of critical analysis of reality. In Gogol's largest work - the poem "Dead Souls" - the images of landowners are given most fully and multifacetedly. The poem is structured as the story of the adventures of Chichikov, an official who buys "dead souls." The composition of the poem allowed the author to talk about different landowners and their villages. Almost half of volume 1 of the poem (five chapters out of eleven) is devoted to the characteristics of various types of Russian landowners. Gogol creates five characters, five portraits that are so different from each other, and at the same time, in each of them the typical features of a Russian landowner appear. Our acquaintance begins with Manilov and ends with Plyushkin. This sequence has its own logic: from one landowner to another, the process of impoverishment of the human personality deepens, an ever more terrible picture of the decomposition of serf society unfolds. Manilov opens the portrait gallery of landowners (Chapter 1). His character is already evident in his surname. The description begins with a picture of the village of Manilovka, which "not many could lure with its location." With irony, the author describes the master's courtyard, with the pretension of an "English garden with an overgrown pond", with sparse bushes and with a pale inscription "Temple of Solitary Reflection". Speaking about Manilov, the author exclaims: “God alone could say what Manilov’s character was.” He is kind by nature, polite, courteous, but all this took on ugly forms in him. Manilov is beautiful-hearted and sentimental to the point of cloying. Relations between people seem to him idyllic and festive. Manilov did not know life at all; reality was replaced by empty fantasy. He loved to think and dream, sometimes even about things useful to the peasants. But his projecting was far from the demands of life. He did not know and never thought about the real needs of the peasants. Manilov considers himself a bearer of spiritual culture. Once in the army he was considered the most educated man. The author speaks ironically about the atmosphere of Manilov’s house, in which “there was always something missing,” about his sugary relationship with his wife. When talking about dead souls, Manilov is compared to an overly smart minister. Here Gogol's irony, as if accidentally intrudes into a forbidden area. Comparing Manilov with the minister means that the latter is not so different from this landowner, and "Manilovism" is a typical phenomenon of this vulgar world. The third chapter of the poem is devoted to the image of Korobochka, which Gogol classifies as one of those “small landowners who complain about crop failures, losses and keep their heads somewhat to one side, and meanwhile gradually collect money in colorful bags placed in dresser drawers!” This money comes from the sale of a wide variety of subsistence products. Korobochka realized the benefits of trade and, after much persuasion, agrees to sell such an unusual product as dead souls. The author is ironic in his description of the dialogue between Chichikov and Korobochka. The “club-headed” landowner for a long time cannot understand what they want from her, she infuriates Chichikov, and then bargains for a long time, fearing “just not to make a mistake.” Korobochka’s horizons and interests do not extend beyond the boundaries of her estate. The household and its entire way of life are patriarchal in nature. Gogol depicts a completely different form of decomposition of the noble class in the image of Nozdryov (Chapter IV). This is a typical "jack of all trades" person. There was something open, direct, and daring in his face. He is characterized by a peculiar "breadth of nature." As the author ironically notes: “Nozdryov was in some respects a historical person.” Not a single meeting he attended was complete without stories! Nozdryov, with a light heart, loses a lot of money at cards, beats a simpleton at a fair and immediately “squanders” all the money. Nozdryov is a master of "pouring bullets", he is a reckless braggart and an utter liar. Nozdryov behaves defiantly, even aggressively, everywhere. The hero's speech is full of swear words, while he has the passion of "to spoil his neighbor." In the image of Nozdrev, Gogol created a new socio-psychological type of "Nozdrevism" in Russian literature. In the image of Sobakevich, the author's satire takes on a more accusatory character (Chapter V of the poem ). He bears little resemblance to the previous landowners - he is a "kulak landowner", a cunning, tight-fisted huckster. He is alien to the dreamy complacency of Manilov, the violent extravagance of Nozdryov, and the hoarding of Korobochka. He is laconic, has an iron grip, has his own mind, and there are few people who could deceive him. Everything about him is solid and strong. Gogol finds a reflection of a person’s character in all the surrounding things of his life. Everything in Sobakevich’s house was surprisingly reminiscent of himself. Each thing seemed to say: “And I, too, are Sobakevich.” Gogol draws a figure that is striking in its rudeness. To Chichikov he seemed very similar to a medium-sized bear. Sobakevich is a cynic who is not ashamed of moral ugliness either in himself or in others. This is a man far from enlightenment, a die-hard serf owner who cares about the peasants only as labor force. It is characteristic that, apart from Sobakevich, no one understood the essence of the “scoundrel” Chichikov, but he perfectly understood the essence of the proposal, which reflects the spirit of the times: everything is subject to purchase and sale, benefit should be derived from everything. Chapter VI of the poem is dedicated to Plyushkin, whose name has become a household name to denote stinginess and moral degradation. This image becomes the last step in the degeneration of the landowner class. Gogol begins to introduce the reader to the character; as usual, with a description of the village and the landowner's estate. “Some kind of special disrepair” was noticeable on all the buildings. The writer paints a picture of the complete ruin of a once rich landowner's economy. The reason for this is not the extravagance or idleness of the landowner, but morbid stinginess. This is an evil satire on the landowner, who has become a "hole in humanity." The owner himself is a sexless creature, reminiscent of a housekeeper. This hero does not cause laughter, but only bitter disappointment. So, the five characters created by Gogol in “Dead Souls” portray the state of the noble-serf class in many ways. Manilov, Korobochka, Nozdrev, Sobakevich, Plyushkin - all these are different forms of one phenomenon - the economic, social, spiritual decline of the class of landowners-serfs.

The pinnacle of the work of the Russian poet N. A. Nekrasov becomes the epic poem “Who Lives Well in Rus',” in which the author, with vivid imagery and authenticity, wanted to show and showed the relationship between the ruling class and the peasantry in the 20-70s of the 19th century.

Note that the first candidate for the happy one is precisely one of the main characters of the poem - the landowner. Representatives of the peasantry, who are always in his service, still, after the abolition of serfdom, consider his life free and happy.
But Nekrasov does not stop there. He expands the plot framework, fully reveals his idea and further develops the image of the landowner in the fifth chapter, which is called “The Landowner”. In this chapter, we are introduced to a certain representative of the landowner class, Obolt-Obolduev (let us pay attention to the surname, which in some way helps Nekrasov to show even more clearly his mockery of the depicted class), whose description is first given by the peasants:

Some round gentleman,

pot-bellied,

with a cigar in his mouth.

There is mockery and irony in these words. The once important, sedate gentleman turns into a target for bullying and ridicule. The same intonation continues to sound in the subsequent description of the landowner, already through the mouth of the author himself: “ruddy, dignified, planted,” “well done.” This is the kind of landowner who got a C grade.

The hero appears to us as a “clown”, at whom even former serfs laugh. And he pretends to be an important gentleman and speaks with bitterness and resentment about the old days:

We lived

Like Christ in his bosom,

And we knew honor.

He speaks of the nobility and antiquity of his family, boasts of this, and he himself is the subject of ridicule both by the peasants and the author. Light laughter in some moments is accompanied by open sarcasm:

Law is my desire!

The fist is my police!

The blow is sparkling,

The blow is tooth-breaking,

Hit the cheekbone!

But I punished - lovingly!

The landowner considers himself to have the right to offend and humiliate the peasants, because they are his property. But that time has passed, and the bells are already ringing for the life of the landowners. Rus' is not his mother, but his stepmother now. And now it’s time to work, but the landowner doesn’t know how to do it. All his life he lived without grieving, “smoking God’s heaven.” But now everything has changed, and I really don’t want to come to terms with these orders, but I have to:

The great chain has broken!

Broke through - split:

One end for the master,

Others don't care!..

These words can be attributed to a greater extent to the landowner from the chapter “The Last One”: “Our landowner: Ducky Prince!”

The title of the chapter “The Last One” is symbolic. Her hero is somewhat hyperbolic and, at the same time, allegorical: the landowner does not want to part with the old order, with the old power, so he lives with the remnants of the past.

Unlike Obolt-Obolduev, Prince Utyatin could not come to terms with the abolition of serfdom:

Our landowner is special,

Exorbitant wealth

An important rank, a noble family,

I've been acting weird and fooling all my life

Yes, suddenly a thunderstorm struck.

Prince Utyatin was paralyzed with grief after the terrible news - then his “heirs” came to him. The hero vomits and rushes, does not want to admit the obvious. The “heirs” were afraid that their inheritance would be lost, but they persuaded the peasants to pretend that Prince Utyatin was still their master. Absurd and funny:

Believe me: it’s easier than anything

The child has become an old lady!

I started crying! Before the icons

He prays with the whole family.

How strong is the desire of the landowner to control the peasants, to make their lives more miserable! After all, when the prince woke up from a terrible “dream”, he began to treat the peasant even more than before, and again took up his own work: judging and punishing the people. And the peasant does not have the will and strength to resist this. From time immemorial this has been inherent in the Russian people - reverence for their master and service to him.

The "heirs" of the former serfs were cleverly deceived. After all, after the death of the prince, they began to sue the peasants to prove that this land belonged to them. The writer draws a bitter truth from the description of this landowner and his last days of life: even though the landowners have ceased to be serf owners, they still have their power over the peasants. The Russian people have not yet truly liberated themselves. Yes, Prince Utyatin died, and who knows how many more such “last-borns” there are throughout Mother Rus'.

Let us note that it was no coincidence that Nekrasov showed all the landowners: the first has come to terms with the inevitable, but decides to continue living for someone else’s labor; the second almost died after learning about the reform; and the third type of landowner is the master who constantly mocks the peasant, serf or not. And there are still many of them left in Rus'. But, nevertheless, Nekrasov writes that the autocratic system is coming to an end, and the landowners will no longer be able to say with greatness:

By the grace of God I

And with the ancient royal charter,

Both by birth and merit

Master over you!..

The time of master and slave has passed, and although the peasants have not yet completely freed themselves from the oppression of the landowners, the Obolt-Obolduevs, Utyatins and Shalashnikovs are already living out their days. The “last-born” will soon completely leave the Russian land, and the people will breathe freely. Symbolic in this regard is the picture of an empty manor house being torn apart brick by brick by servants (chapter “Peasant Woman”).

With his poem, I think, Nekrasov wanted to show that the time of landowner Rus' has passed. Depicting satirical images of landowners, the author boldly and fearlessly asserts: happiness of the people is possible without landowners, but only after the people themselves free themselves and become masters of their own lives.

The pinnacle of creativity N.A. Nekrasov’s poem “Who Lives Well in Rus'.” All his life Nekrasov nurtured the idea of ​​a work that would become a people's book, that is, a book “useful, understandable to the people and truthful,” reflecting the most important aspects of his life. Nekrasov devoted many years of his life to the poem, putting into it all the information about the Russian people, accumulated, as the poet said, “by word of mouth” for twenty years. Severe illness and death interrupted Nekrasov’s work, but what he managed to create puts the poem “Who Lives Well in Rus'” on a par with the most remarkable creations of Russian literature.

With all the variety of types depicted in the poem, its main character is the people. “The people have been liberated. But are the people happy? - this main question, which worried the poet all his life, stood before him when creating the poem. Truthfully depicting the painful situation of the people in post-reform Russia, Nekrasov posed and resolved the most important questions of his time: who is to blame for the people’s grief, what should be done to make the people free and happy? The reform of 1861 did not improve the situation of the people, and it is not without reason that the peasants say about it:

You are good, royal letter,

Yes, you are not writing about us...

Some round gentleman;

Mustachioed, pot-bellied,

With a cigar in his mouth...

The diminutive suffixes traditional in folk poetry here enhance the ironic sound of the story and emphasize the insignificance of the “round” little man. He speaks with pride about the antiquity of his family. The landowner recalls the old blessed times, when “not only Russian people, but Russian nature itself submitted to us.” Remembering his life under serfdom - “like Christ in his bosom,” he proudly says:

It used to be that you were surrounded

Alone, like the sun in the sky,

Your villages are modest,

Your forests are dense,

Your fields are all around!

Residents of the “modest villages” fed and watered the master, provided with their labor his wild life, “holidays, not a day, not two - for a month,” and he, with unlimited power, established his own laws:

I will have mercy on whomever I want,

I'll execute whoever I want.

The landowner Obolt-Obolduvv recalls his heavenly life: luxurious feasts, fat turkeys, juicy liqueurs, his own actors and “a whole regiment of servants.” According to the landowner, peasants from everywhere brought them “voluntary gifts.” Now everything has fallen into decay - “the noble class seemed to have all gone into hiding and died out!” Manor houses are being torn down into bricks, gardens are being cut down, timber is being stolen:

Fields are unfinished,

Crops are not sown,

There is no trace of order!

The peasants greet Obolt-Obolduev's boastful story about the antiquity of his family with outright ridicule. He himself is good for nothing. Nekrasov’s irony resonates with particular force when he forces Obolt-Obolduev to admit his complete inability to work:

I smoked God's heavens,

He wore royal livery.

Wasted the people's treasury

And I thought about living like this forever...

The peasants sympathize with the landowner and think to themselves:

The great chain has broken,

It tore and splintered:

One end for the master,

Others don't care!..

The weak-minded “last child” Prince Utyatin evokes contempt. The very title of the chapter “Last One” has a deep meaning. We are talking not only about Prince Utyatin, but also the last landowner-serf. Before us is a slave owner who has lost his mind, and there is little humanity left even in his appearance:

Nose beak like a hawk's

Mustache is gray and long

And different eyes:

One healthy one glows,

And the left one is cloudy, cloudy,

Like a tin penny!

Mayor Vlas talks about the landowner Utyatin. He says that their landowner is “special” - “he’s been weird and foolish all his life, and suddenly a thunderstorm struck.” When he learned about the abolition of serfdom, at first he did not believe it, and then he became ill from grief - the left half of his body was paralyzed. The heirs, fearing that he would deprive them of their inheritance, begin to indulge him in everything. When the old man felt better, he was told that the men were ordered to be returned to the landowner. The old man was delighted and ordered a prayer service to be served and the bells to be rung. Since then, the peasants have begun to play tricks: pretend that serfdom has not been abolished. The old order has returned to the estate: the prince gives stupid orders, gives orders, gives the order to marry a widow of seventy years old to her neighbor Gavril, who has just turned six years old. The peasants laugh at the prince behind his back. Only one man, Agap Petrov, did not want to obey the old order, and when his landowner caught him stealing timber, he told Utyatin everything directly, calling him a fool. Ducky got the second blow. The old master can no longer walk - he sits in a chair on the porch. But he still shows his noble arrogance. After a hearty meal, Utyatin dies. The last one is not only scary, but also funny. After all, he has already been deprived of his former power over peasant souls. The peasants only agreed to “play serfs” until the “last child” dies. The inflexible man Agap Petrov was right when he revealed the truth to Prince Utyatin:

...You are the last one! By grace

Our peasant stupidity

Today you are in charge

And tomorrow we will follow

Kick - and the ball is over!

A satirical depiction of landowners. In the poem “Who Lives Well in Rus',” Nekrasov, as if on behalf of millions of peasants, acted as an angry denouncer of the socio-political system of Russia and pronounced a severe sentence on it. The poet painfully experienced the submissiveness of the people, their downtroddenness, darkness.

Nekrasov looks at the landowners through the eyes of the peasants, without any idealization or sympathy, drawing their images.

Nekrasov satirically and angrily talks about the parasitic life of landowners in the recent past, when the landowner's chest breathed freely and easily.

The master, who owned “baptized property,” was the sovereign king in his estate, where everything “submitted” to him:

There is no contradiction in anyone,

I will have mercy on whomever I want,

I'll execute whoever I want.

The landowner Obolt-Obolduev remembers the past. In conditions of complete impunity and uncontrolled arbitrariness, the rules of behavior of landowners, their habits and views took shape:

Law is my desire!

The fist is my police!

The blow is sparkling,

The blow is tooth-breaking,

Hit the cheekbones!..

The abolition of serfdom hit “the master with one end, / the peasant with the other.” The master cannot and does not want to adapt to the living conditions of growing capitalism - the desolation of estates and the ruin of the masters becomes inevitable.

Without any regret, the poet speaks about how the manor’s houses are being dismantled “brick by brick.” Nekrasov’s satirical attitude towards bars is also reflected in the surnames with which he gives them: Obolt-Obolduev, Utyatin (“Last One”). The image of Prince Utyatin, the Last One, is especially expressive in the poem. This is a gentleman who “has been weird and foolish all his life.” He remained a cruel despot-serf owner even after 1861.

Completely unaware of his peasants, the Posledysh gives absurd orders for the estate, orders “the widow Terentyeva to marry Gavrila Zhokhov, to repair the hut again, so that they can live in it, be fruitful and rule the tax!”

The men greet this order with laughter, since “that widow is nearly seventy, and the groom is six years old!”

Posledysh appoints a deaf-mute fool as a watchman, and orders the shepherds to quiet the herd so that the cows do not wake up the master with their mooing.

Not only are the Last One’s orders absurd, he himself is even more absurd and strange, stubbornly refusing to come to terms with the abolition of serfdom. His appearance is also caricatured:

Nose beak like a hawk's

The mustache is gray, long and - different eyes:

One healthy one glows,

And the left one is cloudy, cloudy,

Like a tin penny!

The landowner Shalashnikov, who “used military force” to subjugate his own peasants, is also shown to be a cruel tyrant-oppressor.

Savely says that the German manager Vogel is even more cruel. Under him, “hard labor came to the Korezh peasant - he ruined him to the bone!”

The men and the master are irreconcilable, eternal enemies. “Praise the grass in the haystack, and the master in the coffin,” says the poet. As long as gentlemen exist, there is no and cannot be happiness for the peasant - this is the conclusion to which Nekrasov leads the reader of the poem with iron consistency.

He described the most diverse types of landowners who lived in contemporary Russia. At the same time, he tried to clearly show their life, morals and vices. All landowners are depicted satirically, forming a kind of art gallery. Arriving in the city of NN, the main character met many new people. All of them, basically, were either successful landowners or influential officials, since Chichikov had a plan to earn a large fortune. He described five families most colorfully, so it is by their characteristics that we can judge the people with whom the hero dealt.

This is, first of all, the good-natured and “sweet as sugar” landowner Manilov. Everything about him seems perfect, from the way he presents himself to his sweet tone. In fact, behind this mask hides a boring and lazy person who is of little interest in his household. For two years now he has been reading the same book, on the same page. The servants drink, the housekeeper steals, the kitchen cooks carelessly. He himself does not know who works for him and for how long. Against the background of this decline, the gazebo called “Temple of Solitary Reflection” looks rather strange. Chichikov’s request to sell “dead souls” seems illegal to him, but he is unable to refuse such a “pleasant” person, so he easily gives him the list of peasants for free.

Having been in Manilovka, the main character goes to Nastasya Petrovna Korobochka. This is an elderly widow living in a small village and regularly running her household. Korobochka has many advantages. She is skillful and organized, her farm, although not rich, is thriving, the peasants are educated and focused on results. By nature, the housewife is thrifty and thrifty, but at the same time stingy, stupid and stupid. When selling “dead souls” to Chichikov, she is always worried not to sell things too cheap. Nastasya Petrovna knows all her peasants by name, which is why she doesn’t keep a list. In total, eighteen peasants died. She sold them to the guest like lard, honey or cereal.

Immediately after Korobochka, the hero visited the reckless Nozdryov. This is a young widower of about thirty-five who loved cheerful and noisy companies. Outwardly, he is well built, radiant in health and looks younger than his age. He manages the farm poorly, as he is never at home a day, has little interest in children, and even less in peasants. The only thing that he always has in excellent condition is his kennel, as he is an avid hunter. In fact, he was a “historical” person, since not a single meeting was complete without his intervention. He liked to lie, use swear words and spoke abruptly, without bringing any topic to the end. At first, Chichikov thought that it would be easy to bargain with him for the “souls” of the peasants, but here he was mistaken. Nozdryov is the only landowner who left him with nothing and, in addition, almost beat him.

From Nozdryov, Gogol's businessman went to Sobakevich, a man who, with his clumsiness and massiveness, resembled a bear. The village in which he lived was huge, and the house was awkward. But at the same time, Sobakevich is a good business executive. All his houses and huts are built from good wood. Knowing his peasants well and being a smart merchant, he immediately guesses why Chichikov came and makes a deal to his advantage. Sobakevich also had a downside. As a serf owner, he was quite rude, uncouth and cruel. This character is incapable of expressing emotional experiences and will never miss his benefits.

The landowner Plyushkin seemed the strangest to Chichikov, from whose appearance it was difficult to determine what class he belonged to. He looked like an old, grumpy housekeeper with shifty eyes and a cap on her head. The men called the owner “Patched” among themselves. In fact, Plyushkin was very rich. Thousands of peasants worked for him, his house once flourished, but after the death of his wife it fell into disrepair. He was always a thrifty landowner, but over time he turned into a real miser who hoarded all unnecessary rubbish, wore cast-offs and ate only crackers. He sincerely rejoiced at Chichikov’s offer as an opportunity to earn an extra penny.

So colorfully the writer described five images of landowners, revealing the five stages of human degradation and hardening of the soul. From Manilov to Plyushkin we observe a picture of the gradual extinction of the human in man. Both in the image of Chichikov buying up “dead souls” and in the description of the landowners, the author most likely expressed anxiety and worries for the future of the country and humanity as a whole.