It would be worth describing the office rooms through which our heroes passed, but the author has a strong shyness towards all official places. If he happened to pass through them, even in their brilliant and ennobled appearance, with varnished floors and tables, he tried to run through them as quickly as possible, humbly lowering his eyes to the ground, and therefore does not know at all how everything prospers and prospers there. Our heroes saw a lot of paper, both rough and white, bowed heads, wide napes, tailcoats, frock coats of provincial cut, and even just some kind of light gray jacket, separated very sharply, which, turning its head to the side and laying it almost on the very paper, she was briskly and sloppily writing out some kind of protocol about the acquisition of land or the inventory of an estate seized by some peaceful landowner, who was quietly living out his life under court, who had amassed children and grandchildren under his protection, and short expressions were heard in fits and starts, uttered in a hoarse voice: “ Lend me, Fedosei Fedoseevich, business for No. 368!” - “You always drag the stopper from the government inkwell somewhere!” Sometimes a more majestic voice, no doubt one of the bosses, would be heard imperatively: “Here, rewrite it!” Otherwise they’ll take off your boots and you’ll sit with me for six days without eating.” The noise from the feathers was great and sounded as if several carts with brushwood were passing through a forest littered with a quarter of an arshin of withered leaves. Chichikov and Manilov approached the first table, where two young officials were sitting, and asked: “Let me know, where are the fortress affairs here?” - What do you need? - both officials said, turning around. - I need to submit a request. - What did you buy? - I would like to know first where the fortress table is, here or in another place? - Yes, tell me first what you bought and at what price, then we’ll tell you where, otherwise it’s impossible to know. Chichikov immediately saw that the officials were simply curious, like all young officials, and wanted to give more weight and significance to themselves and their activities. “Listen, my dears,” he said, “I know very well that all the affairs of the fortresses, whatever the price, are in one place, and therefore I ask you to show us the table, and if you don’t know what you have is done, so we will ask others. The officials did not answer this; one of them only pointed his finger at the corner of the room, where an old man was sitting at a table, marking up some papers. Chichikov and Manilov walked between the tables straight towards him. The old man was studying very carefully. “Let me ask,” said Chichikov with a bow, “is there business here regarding the fortresses?” The old man raised his eyes and said deliberately: “There is no work on the fortresses here.” - Where is it? - This is on a fortress expedition. -Where is the serf expedition? - This is from Ivan Antonovich. - Where is Ivan Antonovich? The old man pointed his finger to the other corner of the room. Chichikov and Manilov went to Ivan Antonovich. Ivan Antonovich had already turned one eye back and looked at them sideways, but at that very moment he plunged even more attentively into the writing. “Let me ask,” said Chichikov with a bow, “is there a serf table here?” Ivan Antonovich seemed not to have heard and plunged completely into the papers, not answering anything. It was suddenly clear that he was already a man of reasonable years, not like a young talker and helipad. Ivan Antonovich seemed to be well over forty years old; His hair was black and thick; the whole middle of his face protruded forward and went into his nose - in a word, it was the face that in the hostel is called a jug's snout. - Let me ask, is there a serf expedition here? - said Chichikov. “Here,” said Ivan Antonovich, turned his jug snout and began to write again. - And here’s my business: I bought peasants from various owners of the local district for withdrawal: I have a deed of sale, all that remains is to complete it. - Are there any sellers? - Some are here, and others have a power of attorney. - Did you bring the request? - I brought a request. I would like... I need to hurry... so is it possible, for example, to finish the matter today! - Yes, today! Today it’s impossible,” said Ivan Antonovich. - We need to make more inquiries to see if there are any other prohibitions. - However, as far as speeding things up, Ivan Grigorievich, the chairman, is a great friend of mine... - But Ivan Grigorievich is not alone; There are others,” said Ivan Antonovich sternly. Chichikov understood the twist that Ivan Antonovich had wrapped up and said: “Others won’t be offended either, I served myself, I know the business...” “Go to Ivan Grigorievich,” said Ivan Antonovich in a somewhat gentler voice, “let him give the order to whoever should.” , but things won’t stand up to us. Chichikov, taking a piece of paper out of his pocket, placed it in front of Ivan Antonovich, which he did not notice at all and immediately covered it with a book. Chichikov wanted to show it to him, but Ivan Antonovich with a movement of his head made it clear that there was no need to show it. - Here he will lead you into the presence! - said Ivan Antonovich, nodding his head, and one of the priests who were right there, who made sacrifices to Themis with such zeal that both sleeves burst at the elbows and the lining had long been peeling off from there, for which he received a collegiate registrar at one time, served our friends, as Virgil once served Dante, and led them into the presence room, where there were only wide armchairs and in them in front of the table, behind a mirror and two thick books, sat the chairman alone, like the sun. In this place, the new Virgil felt such awe that he did not dare to put his foot there and turned back, showing his back, wiped like a matting, with a chicken feather stuck somewhere. Entering the presence hall, they saw that the chairman was not alone; Sobakevich was sitting next to him, completely obscured by the mirror. The arrival of the guests caused an exclamation, and the government chairs were pushed back noisily. Sobakevich also stood up from his chair and became visible from all sides with his long sleeves. The chairman took Chichikov into his arms, and the room was filled with kisses; asked each other about health; It turned out that both of them had lower back pain, which was immediately attributed to sedentary life. N.V. Gogol, “Dead Souls”.

Mann distinguishes two types of characters: characters without a biography and past (landowners, except Plyushkin) and with a biography (Plyushkin, Chichikov).

In characters of the first type - in Manilov, Korobochka, etc. The motives of puppetry and automaticity are more pronounced. Puppetry (like the grotesque in general) does not exclude the depth of the image, the combination of many features in it; however, it “deprives” and defamiliarizes. With a variety of external movements and actions, what is happening in the soul of Manilov, or Korobochka, or Sobakevich is not known exactly. Do they even have a “soul”? Or - like in a puppet - a mechanism unknown to us? Gogol does not give an answer. Characters of the second type have a soul. About Plyushkin, who heard the name of his school friend, it is said: “And some kind of warm ray suddenly slid across this wooden face, it was not a feeling that was expressed, but some pale reflection of a feeling, a phenomenon similar to the unexpected appearance of a drowning man on the surface of the waters.” Even if this is only a “pale reflection of a feeling,” it is still a “feeling,” that is, a true, living movement with which man was previously inspired. For Manilov or Sobakevich this is impossible. They are simply made from a different material. Yes, they don’t have a past; Chichikov also experiences “reflection of feelings” more than once, for example, when meeting a beauty, or while “driving fast,” or in thoughts about “the revelry of a broad life.” Figuratively speaking, characters of the first and second types belong to two different geological periods. Manilov may be “more attractive” than Plyushkin, but the process in him has already been completed, the image has petrified, while in Plyushkin the last echoes of underground blows are still noticeable. Of all the heroes of the first volume, Gogol (as far as one can judge from the surviving data) intended to take and lead through life's trials to revival - not only Chichikov, but also Plyushkin.

Summary of the novel “Dead Souls”

Volume one

The proposed history, as will become clear from what follows, took place somewhat shortly after the “glorious expulsion of the French.” Collegiate adviser Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov arrives in the provincial town of NN (he is neither old nor too young, neither fat nor thin, rather pleasant in appearance and somewhat round) and checks into a hotel. He makes a lot of questions to the tavern servant - both regarding the owner and income of the tavern, and also exposing his thoroughness: about city officials, the most significant landowners, asks about the state of the region and whether there were “any diseases in their province, epidemic fevers” and other similar things misfortunes.

Having gone on a visit, the visitor reveals extraordinary activity (having visited everyone, from the governor to the inspector of the medical board) and courtesy, for he knows how to say something nice to everyone. He speaks somewhat vaguely about himself (that he “has experienced a lot in his life, endured in the service for the truth, had many enemies who even attempted on his life,” and is now looking for a place to live). At the governor's house party, he manages to gain everyone's favor and, among other things, make acquaintance with the landowners Manilov and Sobakevich. In the following days, he dines with the police chief (where he meets the landowner Nozdryov), visits the chairman of the chamber and the vice-governor, the tax farmer and the prosecutor, and goes to Manilov’s estate (which, however, is preceded by a fair author’s digression, where, justifying himself with a love of thoroughness, the author attests in detail to Petrushka, the visitor’s servant: his passion for “the process of reading itself” and the ability to carry with him a special smell, “resembling a somewhat residential peace”).

Having traveled, contrary to the promise, not fifteen, but all thirty miles, Chichikov finds himself in Manilovka, in the arms of a kind owner. Manilov’s house, standing on the south, surrounded by several scattered English flower beds and a gazebo with the inscription “Temple of Solitary Reflection,” could characterize the owner, who was “neither this nor that,” not burdened by any passions, just overly cloying. After Manilov’s confession that Chichikov’s visit is “a May day, the name day of the heart,” and dinner in the company of the hostess and two sons, Themistoclus and Alcides, Chichikov discovers the reason for his visit: he would like to acquire peasants who have died, but have not yet been declared as such in the audit certificate, registering everything in a legal manner, as if for the living (“the law - I am dumb before the law”). The first fear and bewilderment are replaced by the perfect disposition of the kind owner, and, having completed the deal, Chichikov leaves for Sobakevich, and Manilov indulges in dreams about Chichikov’s life in the neighborhood across the river, about the construction of a bridge, about a house with such a gazebo that Moscow can be seen from there, and about their friendship, if the sovereign had known about it, he would have granted them generals. Chichikov's coachman Selifan, much favored by Manilov's servants, in conversations with his horses misses the necessary turn and, with the sound of a downpour, knocks the master over into the mud. In the darkness, they find accommodation for the night with Nastasya Petrovna Korobochka, a somewhat timid landowner, with whom in the morning Chichikov also begins to sell dead souls. Having explained that he himself would now pay the tax for them, cursing the old woman’s stupidity, promising to buy both hemp and lard, but another time, Chichikov buys souls from her for fifteen rubles, receives a detailed list of them (in which Pyotr Savelyev is especially amazed by Disrespect -Trough) and, having eaten unleavened egg pie, pancakes, pies and other things, departs, leaving the hostess in great concern as to whether she has sold too cheap.

Having reached the main road to the tavern, Chichikov stops to have a snack, which the author provides with a lengthy discussion about the properties of the appetite of middle-class gentlemen. Here Nozdryov meets him, returning from the fair in the chaise of his son-in-law Mizhuev, for he had lost everything on his horses and even his watch chain. Describing the delights of the fair, the drinking qualities of the dragoon officers, a certain Kuvshinnikov, a big fan of “taking advantage of strawberries” and, finally, presenting a puppy, “a real little face,” Nozdryov takes Chichikov (thinking of making money here too) to his home, taking his reluctant son-in-law as well. Having described Nozdryov, “in some respects a historical man” (for everywhere he went, there was history), his possessions, the unpretentiousness of his dinner with an abundance of, however, drinks of dubious quality, the author sends his dazed son-in-law to his wife (Nozdryov admonishes him with abuse and words “fetyuk”), and Chichikov is forced to turn to his subject; but he fails to either beg or buy a soul: Nozdryov offers to exchange them, take them in addition to the stallion, or make a bet in a card game, finally scolds, quarrels, and they part for the night. In the morning, the persuasion resumes, and, having agreed to play checkers, Chichikov notices that Nozdryov is shamelessly cheating. Chichikov, whom the owner and the mongrels are already attempting to beat, manages to escape due to the appearance of the police captain, who announces that Nozdryov is on trial. On the road, Chichikov’s carriage collides with a certain carriage, and while onlookers come running to separate the tangled horses, Chichikov admires the sixteen-year-old young lady, indulges in speculation about her and dreams of family life. A visit to Sobakevich in his strong estate, like himself, is accompanied by a thorough dinner, a discussion of city officials, who, according to the owner, are all swindlers (one prosecutor is a decent person, “and even that one, to tell the truth, is a pig”), and is married to the guest of interest deal. Not at all frightened by the strangeness of the object, Sobakevich bargains, characterizes the advantageous qualities of each serf, provides Chichikov with a detailed list and forces him to give a deposit.

Chichikov’s path to the neighboring landowner Plyushkin, mentioned by Sobakevich, is interrupted by a conversation with the man who gave Plyushkin an apt, but not very printed nickname, and the author’s lyrical reflection on his former love for unfamiliar places and the indifference that has now appeared. Chichikov at first takes Plyushkin, this “hole in humanity,” for a housekeeper or a beggar whose place is on the porch. His most important feature is his amazing stinginess, and he even carries the old sole of his boot into a pile piled up in the master's chambers. Having shown the profitability of his proposal (namely, that he will take on the taxes for the dead and runaway peasants), Chichikov is completely successful in his enterprise and, having refused tea with crackers, equipped with a letter to the chairman of the chamber, departs in the most cheerful mood.

While Chichikov sleeps in the hotel, the author sadly reflects on the baseness of the objects he paints. Meanwhile, a satisfied Chichikov, having woken up, composes merchant fortresses, studies the lists of acquired peasants, reflects on their expected fates and finally goes to the civil chamber in order to quickly conclude the deal. Met at the hotel gate, Manilov accompanies him. Then follows a description of the office, Chichikov’s first ordeals and a bribe to a certain pitcher’s snout, until he enters the chairman’s apartment, where, by the way, he finds Sobakevich. The chairman agrees to be Plyushkin’s attorney, and at the same time speeds up other transactions. The acquisition of Chichikov is discussed, with land or for withdrawal he bought peasants and in what places. Having found out that they were heading to the Kherson province, having discussed the properties of the sold men (here the chairman remembered that the coachman Mikheev seemed to have died, but Sobakevich assured that he was still alive and “became healthier than before”), they finished with champagne and went to the police chief, “father and to a benefactor in the city" (whose habits are immediately outlined), where they drink to the health of the new Kherson landowner, become completely excited, force Chichikov to stay and attempt to marry him.

Chichikov's purchases create a sensation in the city, rumors spread that he is a millionaire. The ladies are crazy about him. Several times approaching to describe the ladies, the author becomes timid and retreats. On the eve of the ball, Chichikov even receives a love letter from the governor, although unsigned. Having, as usual, spent a lot of time on the toilet and being satisfied with the result, Chichikov goes to the ball, where he passes from one embrace to another. The ladies, among whom he is trying to find the sender of the letter, even quarrel, challenging his attention. But when the governor’s wife approaches him, he forgets everything, for she is accompanied by her daughter (“Institute, just released”), a sixteen-year-old blonde whose carriage he encountered on the road. He loses the affection of the ladies because he starts a conversation with a fascinating blonde, scandalously neglecting the others. To top off the troubles, Nozdryov appears and loudly asks how many dead people Chichikov has traded. And although Nozdryov is obviously drunk and the embarrassed society is gradually distracted, Chichikov does not succeed in either whist or the subsequent dinner, and he leaves upset.

About this time, a carriage enters the city with the landowner Korobochka, whose growing anxiety forced her to come in order to find out what the price of dead souls is. The next morning, this news becomes the property of a certain pleasant lady, and she rushes to tell it to another, pleasant in all respects, the story acquires amazing details (Chichikov, armed to the teeth, bursts into Korobochka in the dead of midnight, demands the souls that have died, instills terrible fear - “ the whole village came running, the children were crying, everyone was screaming"). Her friend concludes that the dead souls are just a cover, and Chichikov wants to take away the governor’s daughter. Having discussed the details of this enterprise, Nozdryov’s undoubted participation in it and the qualities of the governor’s daughter, both ladies let the prosecutor know everything and set off to riot the city.

In a short time, the city is seething, adding news about the appointment of a new governor-general, as well as information about the papers received: about a counterfeit banknote maker who showed up in the province, and about a robber who fled from legal prosecution. Trying to understand who Chichikov was, they remember that he was certified very vaguely and even spoke about those who attempted to kill him. The postmaster's statement that Chichikov, in his opinion, is Captain Kopeikin, who took up arms against the injustices of the world and became a robber, is rejected, since from the postmaster's entertaining story it follows that the captain is missing an arm and a leg, but Chichikov is whole. The assumption arises whether Chichikov is Napoleon in disguise, and many begin to find a certain resemblance, especially in profile. Questioning Korobochka, Manilov and Sobakevich does not produce results, and Nozdryov only increases the confusion by declaring that Chichikov is definitely a spy, a maker of false banknotes and had an undoubted intention to take away the governor’s daughter, in which Nozdryov undertook to help him (each of the versions was accompanied by detailed details right down to the name the priest who took up the wedding). All these rumors have an enormous effect on the prosecutor; he suffers a blow and dies.

Chichikov himself, sitting in a hotel with a slight cold, is surprised that none of the officials visit him. Having finally gone on a visit, he discovers that the governor does not receive him, and in other places they fearfully shun him. Nozdryov, having visited him at the hotel, amid the general noise he made, partly clarifies the situation, announcing that he agrees to facilitate the kidnapping of the governor’s daughter. The next day, Chichikov hurriedly leaves, but is stopped by the funeral procession and forced to contemplate the whole world of officialdom flowing behind the coffin of the prosecutor. The brichka leaves the city, and the open spaces on both sides bring to the author sad and joyful thoughts about Russia, the road, and then only sad ones about his chosen hero. Having concluded that it is time to give the virtuous hero a rest, but, on the contrary, to hide the scoundrel, the author sets out the life story of Pavel Ivanovich, his childhood, training in classes, where he had already shown a practical mind, his relationships with his comrades and the teacher, his later service in the government chamber, some commission for the construction of a state building, where for the first time he gave vent to some of his weaknesses, his subsequent departure to other, not so profitable places, transfer to the customs service, where, showing honesty and integrity almost unnatural, he made a lot of money in an agreement with smugglers, he went bankrupt, but dodged a criminal trial, although he was forced to resign. He became an attorney and, during the troubles of pledging the peasants, he formed a plan in his head, began to travel around the expanses of Rus', so that, by buying up dead souls and pawning them in the treasury as if they were alive, he would receive money, perhaps buy a village and provide for future offspring.

Having again complained about the properties of his hero’s nature and partly justified him, having found him the name of “owner, acquirer,” the author is distracted by the urged running of horses, by the similarity of the flying troika with rushing Russia and ends the first volume with the ringing of a bell.

Volume two

It opens with a description of the nature that makes up the estate of Andrei Ivanovich Tentetnikov, whom the author calls “the smoker of the sky.” The story of the stupidity of his pastime is followed by the story of a life inspired by hopes at the very beginning, overshadowed by the pettiness of his service and troubles later; he retires, intending to improve the estate, reads books, takes care of the man, but without experience, sometimes just human, this does not give the expected results, the man is idle, Tentetnikov gives up. He breaks off acquaintances with his neighbors, offended by General Betrishchev’s address, and stops visiting him, although he cannot forget his daughter Ulinka. In a word, without someone who would tell him an invigorating “go ahead!”, he completely turns sour.

Chichikov comes to him, apologizing for a breakdown in the carriage, curiosity and a desire to pay respects. Having won the favor of the owner with his amazing ability to adapt to anyone, Chichikov, having lived with him for a while, goes to the general, to whom he weaves a story about a quarrelsome uncle and, as usual, begs for the dead. The poem fails at the laughing general, and we find Chichikov heading to Colonel Koshkarev. Contrary to expectations, he ends up with Pyotr Petrovich Rooster, whom he finds at first completely naked, keen on hunting sturgeon. At Rooster's, not having anything to get hold of, for the estate is mortgaged, he only overeats terribly, meets the bored landowner Platonov and, having encouraged him to travel together across Rus', goes to Konstantin Fedorovich Kostanzhoglo, married to Platonov's sister. He talks about the methods of management with which he increased the income from the estate tenfold, and Chichikov is terribly inspired.

Very quickly he visits Colonel Koshkarev, who has divided his village into committees, expeditions and departments and has organized a perfect paper production in the mortgaged estate, as it turns out. Returning, he listens to the curses of the bilious Kostanzhoglo against the factories and manufactories that corrupt the peasant, the peasant’s absurd desire to educate, and his neighbor Khlobuev, who has neglected a sizable estate and is now selling it for next to nothing. Having experienced tenderness and even a craving for honest work, having listened to the story of the tax farmer Murazov, who made forty million in an impeccable way, Chichikov the next day, accompanied by Kostanzhoglo and Platonov, goes to Khlobuev, observes the unrest and dissipation of his household in the neighborhood of a governess for children, dressed in fashion wife and other traces of absurd luxury. Having borrowed money from Kostanzhoglo and Platonov, he gives a deposit for the estate, intending to buy it, and goes to Platonov’s estate, where he meets his brother Vasily, who efficiently manages the estate. Then he suddenly appears at their neighbor Lenitsyn, clearly a rogue, wins his sympathy with his ability to skillfully tickle a child and receives dead souls.

After many seizures in the manuscript, Chichikov is found already in the city at a fair, where he buys fabric that is so dear to him, the lingonberry color with a sparkle. He runs into Khlobuev, whom, apparently, he spoiled, either depriving him, or almost depriving him of his inheritance through some kind of forgery. Khlobuev, who let him go, is taken away by Murazov, who convinces Khlobuev of the need to work and orders him to collect funds for the church. Meanwhile, denunciations against Chichikov are discovered both about the forgery and about dead souls. The tailor brings a new tailcoat. Suddenly a gendarme appears, dragging the smartly dressed Chichikov to the Governor-General, “angry as anger itself.” Here all his atrocities become clear, and he, kissing the general’s boot, is thrown into prison. In a dark closet, Murazov finds Chichikov, tearing his hair and tails of his coat, mourning the loss of a box of papers, with simple virtuous words awakens in him a desire to live honestly and sets off to soften the Governor-General. At that time, officials who want to spoil their wise superiors and get a bribe from Chichikov, deliver a box to him, kidnap an important witness and write many denunciations in order to completely confuse the matter. Unrest breaks out in the province itself, greatly worrying the Governor-General. However, Murazov knows how to feel the sensitive strings of his soul and give him the right advice, which the Governor-General, having released Chichikov, is about to use when “the manuscript breaks off.”

24. N.V. Gogol and Russian literature of the first half of the 19th century. Gogol as a religious thinker.

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Manilov and Plyushkin - two types of characters in the poem “Dead Souls”

When analyzing the images of the heroes of the poem, first of all it is necessary to remember that they are all socially conditioned. In the work “Gogol’s Realism” G.A. Gukovsky notes that the center of the 1st volume is “the typical features of social groups and individuals as their representatives.” Indeed, Gogol’s desire to reflect the whole of Rus' in the poem: “to embrace it in its full embrace,” suggests that the heroes should not only be individualized, but also socially typified.

The most important, complex and interesting in this regard is the image of Manilov. What is his social status?

As we remember, it is Chichikov who comes to him first. In Russia there was a strict etiquette for visits, requiring that the most significant persons be visited first. And Chichikov certainly did not neglect the requirements of etiquette. Thus, the very fact that Chichikov went first of all to Manilov indicates his fairly high position in the provincial hierarchy.

In his remarkable article “Social roots of the Manilov type,” Dmitry Sergeevich Likhachev gives a complete analysis of the problem. Manilov’s affiliation with the provincial elite is determined not only by Chichikov’s visit. Manilov’s lifestyle, conversations, and dreams correspond to his social status. Likhachev even draws a parallel with Emperor Nicholas I himself. Remember Manilov’s dream “to build a huge house with such a high belvedere that you can even see Moscow from there and drink tea in the evening in the open air and talk about some pleasant subjects”? So, Tsar Nicholas ordered the construction of a “belvedere for tea drinking with a view of St. Petersburg” in the old Peterhof. Everything matches, right down to the goal. Why build a house so high that you can see another city from it? - And to drink tea there! Well, isn't it Manilov?

Manilov's love for public expression of feelings (the scene of his meeting with Chichikov in the city and kisses so strong that both of them had aching teeth) was also characteristic of Emperor Nicholas. Newspapers enthusiastically described his meeting with his brother, Grand Duke Constantine, which “was very touching. Their embrace, their excitement in the presence of the courtiers, gave this unexpected meeting a touch of sentimentalism that is difficult to convey.”

In general, Manilov’s love for external surroundings (“a temple of solitary reflection” among the economy, which “somehow went by itself”) could not be more consistent with the entire Nikolaev “empire of the façade.”

A kind of crowning achievement of the emperor’s love for show was Likhachev’s description of the Battle of Borodino, which took place not in 1812, but in 1839, on September 10: Nicholas decided to reproduce it! Here is a description of this event made by an eyewitness, the German traveler Gagern: “September 10. Today is a great day, on which the Battle of Borodino took place once again. However, it was represented by the Russian army alone, the enemy was only assumed. A plan was drawn up... Field Marshal Paskevich commanded as long as it was possible, and at first he fairly faithfully reproduced the battle, but after several hours, that is, around noon, the emperor himself actually took the command into his own hands and corrected the mistakes allegedly made once... “About these imperial amusements, the Marquis de Custine remarked: “Childishness on a grandiose scale is a terrible thing!”

But all this in no way allows us to conclude that Manilov is a caricature of Nicholas I. Firstly, Gogol is far from the idea of ​​​​discrediting the tsarist power as such - by conviction, he is by no means a revolutionary. Secondly, and this is the main thing, a caricature of a certain person reduces the level of the work, reduces artistic creativity to journalism. Gogol writes about the phenomenon of Manilovism, which characterizes the bureaucracy and the landowner layer of Russia. Traits of Manilovism are characteristic not only of Nikolai. They are no less characteristic of, say, Benckendorff (the chief of the secret police). D.S. Likhachev cites the memoirs of M.A. Korf about how once in the State Council the Minister of Justice Panin gave a speech: “After listening for half an hour, Benckendorff turned to his neighbor, Count Orlov, with the exclamation: “My God, that’s what I call eloquence!” To which Count Orlov, surprised, replied “For mercy, brother, don’t you hear that he’s been talking against you for half an hour!” “Really?” answered Benckendorff, who only then realized that Panin’s speech was a response and an objection to his presentation.”

This anecdotal incident more than corresponds to the character of Manilov, who loved to listen to beautiful speeches, the meaning of which he did not delve into: “... Manilov, enchanted by the phrase, only shook his head with pleasure...”

And, finally, the spread of Manilovism at the “top” is perfectly characterized by the reasoning of A.F. Tyutcheva. In the book “At the Court of Two Emperors” she says about the greats of this world: “... if they rarely do great things, they turn everyday little things into very important things.” This is the essence of the “façade empire”! Neither great nor small deeds can be expected from Manilov and others like him, but what significance is attached to his life! What thoughts and dreams captivate him! And what is comical at the lower levels of the social ladder becomes terrible and leads to a general catastrophe when revealed at the highest level of power. After all, in the poem itself, notes D.S. Likhachev, Manilovism is not characteristic of Manilov alone. Let us remember the governor, who “was a great good-natured man and sometimes even embroidered tulle himself.”

“... Manilovism is greater than Manilov himself,” Likhachev concludes his study. “Manilovism, if considered not only as a universal human phenomenon, but as a phenomenon of a certain era and a certain environment, was highly characteristic of the highest bureaucratic-bureaucratic system of Russia. The provincial landowner Manilov imitated “to the first landowner of Russia” - Nicholas I and his entourage. Gogol depicted the Manilovism of the upper classes through its reflection in the provincial environment. The Manilovism of Nicholas I and his entourage appeared to the reader as a caricature not so much of Gogol as of provincial life itself."

Manilov's external well-being, his goodwill and willingness to serve seem to Gogol to be terrible traits. All this in Manilov is affected, exaggerated. His eyes, “sweet as sugar,” express nothing. And this sweetness of appearance introduces a feeling of unnaturalness in every movement and word of the hero: now on his face appears “an expression that is not only sweet, but even cloying, similar to that potion that a clever secular doctor sweetened mercilessly, imagining to please the patient with it.” What kind of “potion” did Manilov’s sugary sweetness sweeten? - Emptiness, his worthlessness, soullessness with endless discussions about the happiness of friendship and “name days of the heart.” He talks about important matters, looks after state interests - remember, the first thing he asked Chichikov about was whether his negotiations would be “inconsistent with civil regulations and further views of Russia”? But despite all this, his ideas about state interests greatly surprise the reader: he dreams of making friends with Chichikov so firmly that the sovereign, “having learned about their friendship, would grant them generals.” It is clear now what the merits of generals are, what is the meaning of generalship? Manilov’s dreams are absurd, but this absurdity is natural for the Nicholas era! Manilov is terrible for Gogol. While this landowner is prospering and dreaming, his estate is being destroyed, the peasants have forgotten how to work - they drink and become sloppy. The landowner's duty is to organize the life of his serfs, to give them the opportunity to live and work profitably (this will become one of the main themes of the second volume of the poem). Manilov's idleness is not neutral. That “mortal boredom” that emanates from him testifies to the complete deadness of the soul.

And here it is necessary to recall two types of characters in Dead Souls.

Manilov, Korobochka, Nozdrev, Sobakevich, governor, prosecutor and many others represent the first type. It is characterized by complete petrification and an absolute lack of development. Please note that only Plyushkin has a story. We found all the other landowners as they were. Moreover, Gogol strongly emphasizes that these heroes do not have a past that would be fundamentally different from the present and explain something about it. We know that Manilov served, retired and was always the same as he is now. It is reported about Korobochka that she had a husband who loved to have his heels scratched before he went to bed. As for Nozdryov, he “at thirty-five years old was exactly the same as he was at eighteen and twenty...” It is known about Sobakevich that in forty years he had never been sick, and that his father was even healthier and stronger . Yu.V. Mann finds an extremely precise definition of the leading property of these heroes - puppetry, puppetry: “With a variety of external movements, actions, etc., what happens in the soul of Manilov or Korobochka, or Sobakevich is not known for sure. Do they even have a soul? Or - like in a puppet - a mechanism unknown to us?

The second type of character is opposed to the first: these heroes are “with development,” that is, we can judge them as developing, changing (even for the worse!) people. Their deadness is not as absolute as the deadness of heroes of the first type. We are talking, of course, about Plyushkin and Chichikov.

The image of Plyushkin crowns the portrait gallery of provincial landowners, revealing the last abyss of moral decline to which a person can approach in Russia: a kind of “black hole” - the path to the anti-world, to hell. What does Gogol’s definition of “a hole in humanity” mean? Let's think about these words: it makes no sense to pronounce them in the usual patter. Why is it not Manilov, not Nozdryov, but Plyushkin who is called the terrible word “hole”? Unchanging, non-developing heroes of the first type are depressing with their immobility. The core of the comedy of these images is puppetry. They are funny and disgusting because of their mechanicalness, because we see in them dolls parodying people, because soulless pieces of wood have populated Russia and are trading in souls. But these heroes cannot become better or worse. Even in their everyday environment, this static nature is visible: it manifests itself in their household, in the general appearance of the estate, in their houses... Remember: Manilov’s household runs “somehow by itself,” as if it contains a mechanism programmed for certain actions. Sobakevich’s everything is made of logs, “designed to stand for centuries.” As long as he is alive, everything will remain as it is now.

Now let’s read carefully the chapter about Plyushkin. First of all, let us remember that it opens with a “lyrical digression”; the author interrupts the story about Chichikov’s adventures and plunges into sad thoughts about how the soul shrinks with age, how the naive delights of youth are replaced by indifference and deadening boredom. Let us pay attention to how Gogol intensifies this feeling of growing indifference in the soul to the world and to oneself: “Now I indifferently approach every unfamiliar village and indifferently look at its vulgar appearance; It’s unpleasant to my chilled gaze, it’s not funny to me, and what would have awakened in previous years a lively movement in the face, laughter and silent speech, now slides past, and my motionless lips keep an indifferent silence. O my youth! Oh my freshness! It is no coincidence that these considerations precede our meeting with Plyushkin. They are the key to his image; they capture the general process that led Plyushkin to such a tragic fiasco.

A new note is woven into the already familiar picture of the general appearance of the estate: this is a picture of decay, destruction, a slow, gradual process of dying. All the more clear is the living miracle of the garden against this background of general decay: its mysterious and wondrous beauty triumphs over impending death, for it is eternal. This is the contrast of life and death, the contrast of prolonged agony and eternal life.

The image of Plyushkin ideally corresponds to the picture of his estate presented to us. The same decay and destruction, loss of human appearance: he, a man, a nobleman, can easily be mistaken for an old woman-housekeeper! You can feel movement in him and in his house - but this is the movement of decay, decay... Let us remember Plyushkin's eyes (in general, the eyes are the most important detail of a portrait!) How does Gogol describe them? - “... the small eyes had not yet gone out and ran from under the high eyebrows, like mice...” Remember Manilov’s eyes? - sugar (that is, a substance); Sobakevich's eyes? “nature picked out” (that is, just holes).

And the rare awakenings of the soul when meeting a grandson, with memories of youth, only emphasize its usual fossilization: “everything is silent, and after that the quieted surface of the unresponsive element becomes even more terrible and deserted. So Plyushkin’s face, following the feeling that instantly slid across it, became even more insensitive and vulgar.”

This is what the author sees as the reason for the spiritual devastation of man: indifference to his own soul. His reasoning at the beginning of the sixth chapter is sad. Gogol returns to them after the biography of Plyushkin: “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, do not pick them up later!”

It is known that in the third volume of the poem two heroes of the first volume were to be revived - Chichikov and Plyushkin. Belief in the immortality of the soul gives the right to believe in its ability to change, and therefore to be reborn. This path is infinitely difficult, but it exists - and Gogol sought to show it.

References

Monakhova O.P., Malkhazova M.V. Russian literature of the 19th century. Part 1. - M., 1994.

Gracheva I.S. Lessons of Russian literature. A book for teachers and students. - St. Petersburg, 1993.

Mann Yu.V. Gogol's poetics. - M., 1988

Nesterova I.A. Conceptual analysis of the work Dead Souls // Nesterov Encyclopedia

Analysis of plot development in Gogol's work "Dead Souls".

Dead Souls is a clearly expressed social work in which the author sharply critically depicts contemporary reality, sometimes depicting it satirically.

It should be noted that in the work you can see the presence of elements of the following genres:

Romanticism;

Realism;

Critical realism.

A typical hero in typical circumstances.

Such aspects of life as inaction, idleness and embezzlement, which Gogol shows, in many ways continue to develop the themes of The Inspector General.

Plot development Dead Souls

	Plot development	Lyrical digressions, inserted episodes, scenes
	Chichikov's arrival in the provincial town. Exposition, plot.	Discussion about thin and thick.
	Chichikov in the Manilov estate.	Reasoning about two types of characters: “It is much easier to portray characters...”
	Chichikov at Korobochka	Discussion about the nuances and subtleties of communication.
	Chichikov at the inn and at Nozdryov’s house	Thought about Nozdryov's survivability.
	Chichikov at the Sobakevich estate
	Chichikov at Plyushkin's
	Chichikov in the city in the civil chamber	About two writers, about peasants bought by Chichikov.
	The governor's ball. Climax. Chichikov is a millionaire. Catastrophe.	About the power of the police officer.
	Trouble in the city	About the revolt of the peasants of the village. "Lousy arrogance."
	Confusion of officials.	The story about captain Kopeikin.
	Chichikov's flight from the city. Education of Chichikov.

The plot is based on three centers: Chichikov, landowners and officials.

The gallery of landowners is a gradation of types, of which “one is more vulgar than the other.” Gogol builds images on external contrasts and dissimilarity, emphasizing unity and the absence of human principles, growing from one image to another.

Manilov – oblivion – daydreaming

The box is stingy - petty squalor

Nozdryov - indifference - rascal

Moreover, each of them is characterized by the following qualities: personal self-interest, moral squalor, lack of civic ideals, life at the expense of serfs.

Chichikov and Sobakevich are two scammers.

Gogol uses artistic details, everyday life, surroundings, and furnishings as a means of characterizing the characters. Gogol creates a temple of solitary reflection. The speech of the characters is used as a means of characterizing them.

Nozdrev is characterized by familiarity, swagger, and rudeness of speech. Sobakevich is characterized by taciturnity and precision.

The peculiarity of Gogol’s satire is in irony and ascension to large generalizations: “Another minister is not a stupid person, but look closely - Korobochka.”

The material world of the poem's heroes is determined by their spiritual poverty.

“The police chief is a smart man... we played whist with him until the morning.”

"A very good mayor... does amazing embroidery"

Officials are a development of the theme of the auditor in the context of inaction, idleness and embezzlement.

The story of Chichikov is the story of a rogue, a scoundrel, he is an entrepreneur and a hero in whom a “dead soul,” which means the absence of healthy human principles, is combined with resourcefulness of mind, enterprise, extraordinary energy and the desire for profit.

In his letters and notes, Gogol called “Dead Souls” either a poem, a story, or a novel. In the publisher's copy it was identified as a poem. Belinsky called it a novel, which in meaning can mean a short story or an epic novel. The author's title of the work as a poem is correct, since the epic nature of the narrative and its character correspond to the genre. The narration is interrupted more than 10 times, which further highlights the thoughts expressed by the author. At the same time, there are lyrical digressions, inserted episodes and scenes in which Gogol not only seems to give the author’s commentary on the image or situation, but also expresses his thoughts about life and Russia.