Analysis of an excerpt from Nevsky Prospekt. “Scary world” in N.V. Gogol’s story “Nevsky Prospekt”

N.V. Gogol has many works that we love for his subtle humor. Grotesque, absurd, satire - all this is intertwined, comes to the fore, makes the reader mock the ugly reality. For example, who wouldn’t smile at the scene when Solokha hides her lovers in bags in “The Night Before Christmas”? And the attempts of petty officials to hide all their offenses before a fake auditor in the play of the same name? But “Nevsky Prospekt” is a work of a completely different kind. There is neither comic effects, no human stupidity that could amuse us. Just something ominous, depressing, hopeless.

The story was published as part of the collection “Arabesques” (1835). Traditionally, it is classified as part of the “Petersburg Tales” cycle, but it is important to note that the author himself never united his works in this way. “Nevsky Prospekt”, “Nose”, “Portrait” and other works from this cycle are simply united by a common theme, but they were all written in different time. Why did these works so successfully form a single set? Gogol points out human vices, but he is no longer laughing; residents of the capital are spoiled by the city, and those who still retain moral principles and moral principles, cannot join the St. Petersburg whirlpool of vanities. So it turns out that true happiness remains unattainable for all city residents.

What is the story about?

“Nevsky Prospekt” is a story not rich in events. The whole plot can be contained in a few sentences: Lieutenant Pirogov and the painter Piskarev notice two girls on Nevsky Prospect, each of them follows the one who, by their standards, is prettier. The artist follows a seventeen-year-old girl, who becomes for him the personification of all that is most beautiful on earth, but, as it turns out, the stranger works in a brothel. Main character cannot come to terms with reality - it begins to come to him in a dream, Piskarev’s subconscious is trying to justify it. This turns into madness, he decides to marry a public woman, and the same one responds to his proposal with caustic ridicule. As the reader learns later, the young man commits suicide.

Pirogov turns out to be a little more fortunate - his blonde does not work in the brothel, but is married to the German Schiller. The fact that the hero’s passion is married does not confuse him at all, so he continues his obsessive courtship. But at one point the jealous husband finds the lieutenant at home and drives him away in disgrace. At first, Pirogov feels insulted and wants to complain to the general, but then abandons this idea.

Main themes and issues

In such an uneventful work, Gogol touches on several relevant topics at once, which are revealed through the example of the main characters.

1. The main theme, perhaps, is the incompatibility of dreams and reality - lovely illustration That’s Piskarev’s fate. He killed the hero romantic character, which Gogol’s contemporaries loved to portray in idyllic colors. Among them, a proud and pale young man reveled in his difference from others, his internal conflict, was unhappy at the same time, but somehow beautiful and elegant. But Nikolai Vasilyevich’s romanticism suffers a deafening collapse; he seems to be protesting against the idealization of pompous images and plunging them into the seething boiling water of reality. As a result, romantic heroes are doomed to an early death if they do not find a way to cope with the influx of feelings. Even the artist’s surname is telling – Piskarev. He seems to be “squeaking” from helplessness in a huge and hostile world. His inability to adapt to life is a problem for many creative people.
2. But the author also warns us against petty-bourgeois extremes in the image of Pirogov. Everything about him is like water off a duck's back: no burdens sink into his soul. The hero was publicly disgraced, he lost his “beloved”, his reputation was dealt an unprecedented blow, but he doesn’t care, he is too frivolous, cowardly and vulgar. Unlike his friend, he will never dare to take a bold and desperate act, his thoughts are extremely simple and vulgar, he is only concerned about his physical condition, and he does not harbor any special illusions about the world. This is how the author touches on the topic of spiritual impoverishment. Before us is Pirogov - in this case, his name speaks of the limitations of his horizons and character, his focus on the physical side of existence. His image focuses on the problem of lack of spirituality and moral decline.
3. In addition, Gogol talks about the loneliness of man - after all, no one comes to the artist’s funeral, not even his “friend” the lieutenant. It turns out that proud loneliness becomes an indirect cause of Piskarev’s death: no one helped him cope with his spiritual crisis. Loneliness in a big city goes beyond the theme: no one cares about each other, people cease to be valuable. This is a problem on a global scale, not just St. Petersburg.
4. The theme of morality is revealed through the example of a beautiful stranger from a brothel. An outwardly blooming woman turns out to be an internally vicious and callous lady of the demimonde. Appearance is deceptive; it cannot fully characterize a person. Likewise, the artist’s illusions are untenable and empty. He was unable to penetrate into the depths of things, to understand the essence of existence, and the contrast of beauty and ugliness stuns him.
5. Of course, there was a theme of love. It appears as a fateful, fateful meeting that brought passion, confusion and death. This kind wonderful feeling Bulgakov described it as “a killer from around the corner.” This happened with the artist, who met his killer in the form of a priestess of love. Here it is appropriate to mention the theme of rock, which was the subject of the narrator’s thoughts.

Characteristics of the main characters

1. The central role in the story is given to the artist Piskarev. He is a true creator, hungry and honest. Income is not as important to him as the creative process itself. He tends to dream, and therefore idealize. He honors and respects beauty; in his mind, what is beautiful should not be vicious. And it was these qualities that played with him cruel joke. A non-mercantile, non-spoiled person could not come to terms with harsh realities Petersburg, where a young girl, without regret or repentance, condemns herself to the role of a prostitute, and is not at all ashamed of her position, but enjoys it. Such a turn of events could only harm such a pure and dreamy young man as Piskarev. If Pirogov had found himself in such a situation, he would not have been embarrassed at all. The painter refuses to accept the fact that a beautiful creature can be immoral and corrupt, so he tries with all his might to justify her - in his dreams she is either a noble lady or a simple village girl. So he becomes dependent on the world of dreams - over and over again it is more difficult for him to face reality. The hero was never able to accept reality, so the only way out for him was death - so the artist commits suicide.
2. A stranger from Nevsky played an important role in Piskarev’s fate. The reader does not have the opportunity to get to know her inner world, but her image is written quite accurately - this girl combines an absolutely angelic appearance and a completely unangelic soul. She calmly, and even proudly, regards her work in a brothel; she considers the role of a poor man’s wife more shameful, rather than the fate of a kept woman. This contrast of appearance and soul - beautiful and disgusting - becomes deadly for the pure and dreamy Piskarev. She is a person who has adapted to life in St. Petersburg, whatever it may be, he is her complete opposite.
3. His friend, Lieutenant Pirogov, also turns out to be the complete opposite of Piskarev. He is not at all dreamy, but, on the contrary, quite rational. It is important to him what position he occupies in society, which is why he loves to boast of his rank, even if it is low for now. He can transgress the boundaries of morality and morality - for example, the presence of a woman’s husband does not stop him at all, but, on the contrary, provokes him. He is selfish and selfish, but cowardly - after all, in the end, he does not even dare to tell the general about the insult inflicted on him - from the German Schiller for molesting his wife.

Gogol contrasts Pirogov, a stranger from Nevsky, with Piskarev - so he clearly shows for what people Petersburg is suitable, and who absolutely cannot survive there. The dreamy and highly moral artist could not come to terms with the simple discrepancy between dreams and reality, but the official absolutely calmly accepted the insults and beatings, and then went on a spree with his officer friends. This is how the author expresses his opinion regarding the big city - this is a city for thick-skinned people, spoiled, callous and materialistic people, like the stranger and the Pirogov, and not for the artists Piskarevs.

Image of Nevsky Prospekt

Nevsky Prospekt personifies the entire capital as a whole. The author does not immediately reveal his attitude to the city to the reader. The book begins with the sentence: “There is nothing better than Nevsky Prospect, at least in St. Petersburg; for him he is everything.” In the course of subsequent events, the reader understands that the street is not so simple, that it was partly she who fooled the gullible Piskarev around her finger. The beautiful road that the narrator describes in the introduction is, in fact, just a beautiful shell of a vicious city. She seems to be participating in “deception”; it is the city itself that is deceiving Piskunov; as if it was because of the avenue that the artist decides to pursue the stranger. Something mystical, enigmatic and mysterious appears in his image. “Oh, don’t believe this Nevsky Prospect!<…>Everything is a deception, everything is a dream, everything is not what it seems!” - this is how Gogol summarizes at the end of the story.

Idea in Nevsky Prospekt

As mentioned in previous paragraphs, the writer questioned the utopian idealization of fate romantic hero. In fact, such a refined nature cannot get used to the collapse of hopes and illusions. She either loses her sophistication, becoming an analogue of the girl from Nevsky, or dies. Many artists, precisely because of this pattern, do not live long, but bourgeois people, vicious women and ordinary dandies live long and relatively quiet life. The writer wanted to bring this truth of life to our attention.

However, the meaning of the story “Nevsky Prospekt” goes far beyond the problem of life in a vicious city - Gogol pays more attention to the coexistence of reality and dreams, truth and deception. To reveal this idea, the author uses the image of Nevsky Prospekt - this is how he shows the reader that everything can hide a lie, turn out to be not what it seems and what you want to believe. The same idea is continued by the image of the stranger. Her appearance also does not correspond to her internal content. People dream about what they cannot get from the world around them, but they begin to dream about it, having become infected with what the deceptive appearance shows, be it the appearance of a city or a person. And, as the fate of Piskarev shows, the discrepancy between reality and the world of illusions can bring destruction to the life and character of an individual.

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Many writers who worked in the 19th century turned to the theme of St. Petersburg in their work. Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol and his “Nevsky Prospekt” are no exception. Analysis of this story is, first of all, a study of the image of this city and how it appears to us in the work. St. Petersburg is a truly amazing city, because it was built in defiance of all the laws of nature in an extremely short period of time, and by the will of just one person. For centuries, it has been a symbol of the struggle of contrasts: poverty and prosperity, beauty and ugliness - all these extremes coexisted here in some incomprehensible way.

The image of St. Petersburg in the work of N. V. Gogol

The most outstanding minds of Russia from early years They strove to St. Petersburg, and it was in this city that they won the status of the best publicists, writers, critics, etc. However, here they came face to face with poverty and humiliation. The city seemed to be sucking people into a swamp of ostentatious luxury, vulgarity and stupidity. The center and place where these seemingly incompatible concepts met was the main street of the city - the same Nevsky Prospekt.

An analysis of N. Gogol's story necessarily pays great attention to the image of the city itself, which seems to be endowed with its own soul. This is not just a capital, not just a metropolis with amazingly beautiful streets, majestic palaces and the picturesque Neva. Petersburg, in the author's view, is a kind of animated giant, which has its own unique face, character, whims and habits.

Hundreds of people walk along Nevsky Prospekt every day. And they also have very different characters. Gogol separately emphasizes that, despite the fact that at any time of the day you can meet a huge crowd of people on the avenue, there is no feeling of unity or any community between them. The only thing that unites them all is the meeting place. Describing the street, the author says that it creates a feeling as if some demon had crushed the whole world into many tiny fragments and “meantlessly, senselessly mixed it together.”

The similarity of destinies and the contradictory characters of Pirogov and Piskarev

However, as the story progresses, the story “Nevsky Prospekt,” which we are analyzing, includes two characters to whom the author pays close attention. The first is Lieutenant Pirogov, and the second is Piskarev, “a young man in a tailcoat and cloak.” Pirogov knows the laws well modern world. He knows that life in a majestic city is in many ways like playing roulette. But the one who is ready to constantly take risks in order to fulfill his most secret, hopeless and even sometimes ridiculous dreams will be able to conquer him.

The lieutenant, following his convictions, takes risks. He does not see anything unusual or tragic in his loss and, not without the influence of the cool evening Nevsky Prospect, quickly copes with the “anger and indignation” that has overwhelmed him.

The second hero, Piskarev, the same “young man in a cloak and tails,” is trying to act the same way as his friend. He too fails. But for him, feeling lonely and alien in the northern capital of the empire, such an event becomes fatal. Timid and shy by nature, the artist, who all his life carried sparks of feeling in his heart, which were always just waiting in the wings to “turn into flame,” literally entrusted his fate to Nevsky Prospekt. Analysis of the work “Nevsky Prospekt” is an analysis of two similar in appearance, but completely different in essence stories. Both heroes risk everything, but Pirogov, for whom everything that happens is a game, essentially loses nothing. For Piskarev, this is life. A person who subtly senses the world is unable to instantly become rude and callous and stop trusting the world. However, he cannot quickly forget about the disappointment that he experienced due to the fault of the famous avenue.

What did Gogol want to show when completing Nevsky Prospekt? The analysis of this story is an analysis of a parallel narrative about two characters who are opposites of each other in character and attitude. For the reader, such a contrast allows a deeper understanding of the inconsistency of Nevsky Prospect itself. The comical nature of the situation in which Lieutenant Pirogov finds himself is contrasted with the tragic fate of poor fellow Piskarev. In the same way, the atmosphere of comic vulgarity, characteristic of Nevsky in the morning, is combined with tragic evening vulgarity and lies. “...he lies at all times, this Nevsky Prospect,” says Gogol.

Conclusion

A tiny light that dances before your eyes, beckons you and lures you into a dangerous net - this is exactly how the author strives to present Nevsky Prospekt to the reader. Analysis of the story makes you think about deeply philosophical questions. For the artist Piskarev, the meeting with Nevsky and its inhabitants becomes fatal; it literally devastates his soul. Before his eyes, the beauty of the world turns into nothing, and the question itself arises: “If all this is a ghostly mirage, what in this case is real at all?” And the author gives the answer - Nevsky Prospect itself remains real, in which the eternal mystery is combined with eternal deception.

The image of St. Petersburg in the works of Gogol

Why did St. Petersburg attract writers so much? Just remember the history of this city - that despite all the laws of nature, by the will of Peter alone, in the shortest possible time the city rose above the Neva, and for centuries symbolized the struggle of contrasting concepts, such as poverty and luxury, splendor and ugliness, strength and weakness. All this surprisingly coexisted in St. Petersburg.

It is impossible to make an accurate analysis of the story "Nevsky Prospekt" without considering the image of St. Petersburg. We are not surprised that Russian talent literally flocked here to gain a position in society, develop abilities and show off their skills. The best publicists, writers and critics were educated in St. Petersburg, although it was in this city that they faced poverty and persecution, were humiliated and disadvantaged. Ostentatious luxury, stupidity and vulgarity dragged people into a quagmire, and the place where the most unimaginable, intriguing and fascinating events began was called Nevsky Prospekt. Yes, the main street of the city is dedicated fatal role.

Since we are doing an analysis of Gogol's "Nevsky Prospekt", we will say that this concept of the avenue symbolizes the soul of St. Petersburg itself, which, according to the author, is not just a large metropolis where you can walk through beautiful streets and admire the architecture. The city is like a living giant, which has its own character, whims, habits and secrets.

Nevsky Prospekt in St. Petersburg is a place where thousands of people walk every day. And each of them has its own unique character. This point is important to consider when we analyze Gogol's idea regarding the integrity of the crowd. Everyone has their own business, their own path, but these people are together only because they were united by the meeting place, and nothing more.

Pirogov and Piskarev

But not only the avenue itself appears in the work, because continuing the analysis of the story "Nevsky Prospect", we see the appearance of two heroes - this is Lieutenant Pirogov and Piskarev, whom the author describes as " young man", dressed in a tailcoat and cloak. Pirogov knows perfectly well how the modern world works, and understands that living in St. Petersburg is like playing roulette. However, it is possible to win, you just need to take risks and believe that your innermost dreams will become reality. The lieutenant has such principles, and he himself is ready to take risks. Even if he has to feel the bitterness of defeat, Pirogov does not consider it something tragic and absurd. Therefore, after the loss, he overcomes his anger and indignation, and the coolness of evening Petersburg seems to cool his ardor.

Let's look at the second hero - Piskarev. The character of these two people is extremely important in the analysis of Nevsky Prospect. Piskarev wants to be like his friend, and he also takes on the role of the loser, but unlike Pirogov, the second character is lonely and almost a stranger in this city, so failure became fatal for him. Being timid and shy, he completely trusted the embrace of Nevsky Prospect, hoping that the sparks of feelings that always lived in his heart would become a flame.

The two stories that we analyze in this work are similar in appearance, but their essence is completely different. Both Pirogov and Piskarev put everything they have on the line, but the former treats this as a game and, by and large, loses nothing, while for the latter it turns out to be something insurmountable. After all, Piskarev, who feels the world completely differently, cannot suddenly turn into a rude and callous person, losing all trust. But it is also impossible to get rid of the cruel disappointment that came to him from his head and heart. And Nevsky Prospekt is to blame for this.

Conclusions in the analysis of the story "Nevsky Prospekt"

Gogol superbly shows two heroes who are opposite to each other - they have different tempers And different perceptions peace. But the reader, in this contrast, understands the depth of inconsistency of the main image of the story - Nevsky Prospekt. On the one hand we see Pirogov’s comical situation, on the other hand tragic fate poor Piskarev. The same can be said about the atmosphere of the avenue - comic vulgarity and tragic vulgarity and lies, this is what is combined in the main street of St. Petersburg. Gogol emphasizes that “this Nevsky Prospect always lies.”

After meeting Nevsky Prospekt, Piskarev’s soul was literally devastated. The colors of the whole world fade in his eyes, and he turns out to be cold and empty. Then the artist thinks, what could be real if all this turned out to be a ghostly mirage? Gogol answers: Nevsky Prospekt is real, and its eternal secrets are combined with eternal lies.

We hope that the analysis of the story “Nevsky Prospekt” by Gogol was useful for you. You can find more articles in our

The theme of St. Petersburg in creativity writers of the XIX century occupies by no means the last place. A city built contrary to all laws of nature, by the will of only one person; a city created in an incredibly short period of time, as if in a fairy tale; a city that has become the embodiment of various human contradictions, a symbol of the eternal struggle between prosperity and poverty, splendor and ugliness - this is how St. Petersburg appears to us in the works of A. S. Pushkin, N. V. Gogol, and many writers of the so-called natural school.

The assessment of St. Petersburg has always been ambiguous: hatred and love were intertwined. It was here that the most outstanding figures of Russia strove when they were young; here they turned into wonderful writers, critics, and publicists. In St. Petersburg their ambitious dreams came true. But on the other hand, here they had to endure humiliation and poverty; the city seemed to suck people into a swamp - a swamp of vulgarity, stupidity, ostentatious luxury, behind which extreme poverty was often hidden, and the center of this swamp, the heart of St. Petersburg, was the famous Nevsky Prospekt.

N.V. Gogol wrote in the story “Nevsky Prospekt”; “There is nothing better than Nevsky Prospekt, at least in St. Petersburg; for him he is everything.”

St. Petersburg appears before the reader not just as a capital, a grandiose metropolis with magnificent palaces, beautiful streets and the Neva, “dressed in granite,” but as a living giant, with its own face, its own character, its own special habits and whims.

And the people who walk along Nevsky Prospekt in the hundreds throughout the day are also bearers of the most diverse characters. “Creator! What strange characters one meets on Nevsky Prospekt!”

But despite the huge number of people passing along the avenue at any time, there is still no feeling of community or integrity created between them. The only thing that unites them is the meeting place, Nevsky Prospekt. It’s as if “some demon chopped up the whole world into many different pieces and mixed all these pieces together without meaning, to no avail.”

And out of this human jumble, two stand before the reader: Lieutenant Pirogov and “a young man in a tailcoat and cloak” - Piskarev. The first is well oriented in his contemporary reality, he is perfectly familiar with the “roulette” of the majestic city: risk, eternal risk, and if you are ready to take it, then St. Petersburg is cruel and merciless, but at the same time capable of helping to realize the most secret, most hopeless, most absurd dreams - will become yours.

The lieutenant takes risks and ends up losing, but for him this is nothing unusual, much less tragic. He easily copes with the “anger and indignation” that has gripped him, and this does not happen without the influence of Nevsky Prospect: “A cool evening forced him to walk a little along Nevsky Prospect; By nine o'clock he had calmed down...”

But another character - a hero in a cloak and tails - follows the example of his friend and, just like him, loses. However, for him - alone and a stranger in the northern capital - this loss becomes fatal. “Shy, timid, but in his soul he carried sparks of feelings that were ready to turn into flames on occasion,” the artist Piskarev trusts Nevsky Prospect all his life, while Pirogov, seemingly risking everything, loses nothing. For him it’s a game, but for Piskarev it’s life. A person who has a keen sense of the world cannot suddenly become callous and rude, stop believing the world, and forget about the disappointment that the famous avenue brought him.

A parallel story about two heroes, opposite in character and fate, helps the reader better understand the inconsistency of Nevsky Prospect itself. The comical situation in which Lieutenant Pirogov found himself is contrasted with the tragic fate of poor Piskarev. In the same way, the comic vulgarity of the morning prospectus is combined with the evening, tragic vulgarity, with deception, because “he lies at all times, this Nevsky Prospekt, but most of all when the night falls on him in a condensed mass...”.

N.V. Gogol presents us with Nevsky Prospekt as a small flame dancing before our eyes, beckoning us and luring us into dangerous nets. It is difficult for any person to survive the trials that befell Piskarev, especially for an artist. The author writes: “Indeed, pity never takes possession of us so strongly as at the sight of beauty touched by the corrupting breath of depravity.” For the artist, the meeting with Nevsky Prospekt and its inhabitants became the reason for the collapse of all hopes; it literally devastated his soul. Not seeing the beauty of the world means not wanting to live, and when beauty turns into nothing before your eyes, you involuntarily ask the question: if this is all a mirage and a ghost, then what is real? And Nevsky Prospekt with its eternal mystery and eternal deception remains real.

St. Petersburg as a symbol of the power of Russia and its unfading glory was sung even poets XVIII and first half of the 19th century century. The milestone in the development and implementation of the theme of St. Petersburg was the work of Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin. The enormous, multi-valued symbolic image of the Russian capital he created powerfully entered Russian literature. Never before had Gogol’s thought so piercingly and mercilessly exposed reality. modern Russia. The entire cycle of stories was like a cry of indignation against all those who vulgarized her, dehumanized her, and made her unbearable. Pushkin’s understanding of the St. Petersburg theme determined its embodiment in the works of great writers of the 19th and 20th centuries. The first who embodied in his works the artistic discoveries of Pushkin in the historical, social and philosophical interpretation of the theme of St. Petersburg was Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol. Before Pushkin, works about St. Petersburg were descriptive in nature. Pushkin, a realist, created the image of modern St. Petersburg, explaining its existence, its past and present as the capital of the Russian Empire from the positions of historical and social, political and philosophical. In the first chapter of the novel “Eugene Onegin,” Pushkin, perhaps for the first time, painted in such detail and with such love his dear and close image St. Petersburg. With quick strokes he sketched a portrait of the center of the capital. Nevsky Avenue, Summer garden, Palace Embankment, Neva, theaters, white nights The charm of “Onegin” Petersburg is achieved both by the deeply lyrical tonality of the descriptions and by the light, pastel-transparent colors of the city portrait. But the main thing in the image of St. Petersburg in the first chapter of the novel is the historically accurately conveyed atmosphere of public life of the late 1810s, the atmosphere of hope, expectation of change, freedom and high spirituality. Image northern capital, created by Pushkin in the first chapter of the novel, is Decembrist Petersburg, Petersburg of high spirituality, a city that helps the new generation generated by the great war of liberation to selflessly seek ways to freedom for Russia, to its salvation from slavery.

Perhaps the most Pushkin-esque story is Gogol’s story “Nevsky Prospekt”. The poetics of Gogol's story, which gives the reader the key to understanding its deep content, is peculiarly focused in the title. The central street, symbolizing the city of Petrov, was made a hero. Nevsky Prospekt made it possible to accurately paint the social portrait of the capital of the bureaucratic state. Actions either take place or begin on the avenue. It is this principle - exposing the idea of ​​conflict between man and the city and the socially conflicting relations of the capital's residents - that was first created by Pushkin in his poetic story "Petersburg" Bronze Horseman" Gogol was sensitive to Pushkin’s discoveries and had a truly miraculous ability to understand and unravel the “secret music” of truth, which he extracted from the poetic depiction of the ordinary. Gogol also emphasized the function large space in the story "Nevsky Prospekt". This was due to the writer's understanding of bureaucracy. Officialdom, according to Gogol, is the main enemy of the nation and people. It is to blame for all the disasters in Russia. It is especially dangerous in the capital

2. Petersburg in the life of Gogol

“Nevsky Prospekt” is based on the impressions of Gogol’s life in St. Petersburg. The writer turned to big city, and a huge terrible world opened up to him, which destroys a person, kills him, turns him into a thing. Belinsky wrote: “Plays such as Nevsky Prospekt could have been written not only by a person with enormous talent and a brilliant view of things, but also by a person who at the same time knows St. Petersburg firsthand.”

The years of St. Petersburg life passed. The city amazed him with pictures of deep social contradictions and tragic social contrasts. Behind the external splendor of the capital, the writer more and more clearly discerned the soullessness and predatory inhumanity of the octopus city, destroying the living souls of small, poor people, inhabitants of attics and basements. And now the capital was no longer presented as a slender, austere mass, but as a heap of “houses piled one on top of the other, thundering streets, seething commercialism, this ugly heap of fashions, parades, officials, wild northern nights, splendor and low colorlessness”2. It was precisely this Petersburg that became the main character of Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol’s Petersburg Stories, the cycle of which includes the story “Nevsky Prospekt”, first published in “Arabesques” in 1835.

Having chosen the story “Nevsky Prospekt” as the object of our study, we will try to trace how Gogol manages to combine humor and satire in the development of the main theme.

What is the difference between humor and satire? Between humor and satire there is a whole range of shades of laughter - joke, mockery, irony, sarcasm. Humor is a friendly laugh, although not toothless, but softer. Satire is a castigating, revealing laughter that can cause greater offense than simple humor.

Gogol is a writer whose humorous talent had such a strong influence on all literature that it gave it a completely new direction. He creates humorous content by placing words next to each other that are not lexically combined. “You see something and expect something that matches the word - and suddenly.”

3. Nevsky Prospekt - the subject of artistic study by N.V. Gogol.

“There is nothing better than Nevsky Prospect, at least in St. Petersburg” - the story begins with these words of delight.

From the first words, the reader assumes that Gogol madly admires St. Petersburg and its main street, but this is a deception. Just as St. Petersburg in its metropolitan significance is elevated above Russia, Nevsky Prospekt is elevated above St. Petersburg itself. Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol paints this beauty of the main avenue of the cultural capital as a stage area on which, in accordance with the sequence, there are revelers, and at the same time inactive persons.

Nevsky Prospekt is the “universal communication of St. Petersburg”, connecting everyone to everyone. “Here is the only place where people are shown not out of necessity, where they have not been driven by necessity and the mercantile interest that embraces the whole of St. Petersburg,” is how Gogol initially describes Nevsky Prospekt. But the further you read, the more you realize that this is a myth. This idea is reinforced by the author's irony. “How clean its sidewalks are swept, and, God, how many feet have left their traces on it!” Only "clumsy" dirty boot retired soldier" can destroy blissful purity. The sidewalk, as an innocent creation of human hands, is subjected to terrible tests every minute: “the miniature light, like smoke, shoe of a young lady, and the rattling saber of a hopeful ensign, making a sharp scratch on it - everything takes out on it the power of strength or the power of weakness.” The restless and multifaceted procession along Nevsky Prospect from dawn to dark is a kind of carnival procession with the only important difference that the carnival interferes with people of different ranks, and the main street of the capital maintains partitions and distance between them.

The measured circulation of time corresponds to the orderly (ceremonial and official) circulation of people. Nevsky Prospekt shown by Gogol in different watches day (in the morning, from twelve o'clock, from three hours at noon). For people who appear in the early morning hours and for whom Nevsky Prospect does not represent a goal, it “serves only as a means.” At this time, the main avenue of St. Petersburg is “filled with old women in tattered dresses and cloaks,” beggars, “Russian men rushing to work, stained with lime,” those who have no time for festivities and who “have their own occupations, their own worries, their own annoyances.”

3. 1 How Gogol saw Nevsky Prospekt in the early morning hours.

In the morning, before lunch, noble Petersburg is still sleeping, despite the fact that the beggar and working people (“ the right people") is already getting to work. Thanks to the combination of incongruous words: “noble brush; flying yesterday like a fly with chocolate” - it becomes clear that Gogol is laughing at the nobles and their empty troubles, and ordinary poor people, in Gogol’s understanding, are “the necessary people.” He does not say that nobles are not a necessary people, but the reader already independently understands what the author wants to tell him. At the same time, Gogol, resorting to hyperbole, speaks caustically about “Russian peasants”: “in boots stained with lime, which even the Catherine Canal, known for its cleanliness, would not be able to wash.” N.V. Gogol calls the common people Russian, but the nobles and high society are not called Russian. Blame it all on fashion! Fashion for everything French. All of Russia was obsessed with Europe, and Russian traditions were preserved only in ordinary families. And at a time when the “Russian people” appear on the street, it becomes indecent for ladies to walk along the street, because there, the author slightly ironizes, the “Russian people” like to express themselves in such harsh expressions, which they probably “won’t hear even in the theater “But are the ears of young ladies so ambitious? “At this time, no matter what you put on, no one will notice,” no one pays attention to anyone.

2. Irony as one of the main artistic techniques in depicting life on Nevsky Prospekt during the day.

But by twelve o'clock the picture changes, and those who were there in the morning disappear. They are replaced by tutors with their pets. At this time, Nevsky Prospekt became a pedagogical one. What sciences can you learn here? And again Gogol is ironic and shows something completely different: tutors with decent respectability explain to their pupils what the signs on stores are for, and governesses teach fidgety girls how much higher they should hold their shoulders. They leave the stage at two.

But during the day, Nevsky Prospekt, as the author notes, will dazzle any observer with the best works of “nature and art.” By this time, having finished their household chores, ladies with their friends and employees of the foreign college, distinguished by the nobility of their knowledge and habits, go out for a walk. Gogol laughs at the habits of the nobles, at their stupidity and limitations. Through small parts The author conveys to the reader his attitude towards these people. Gogol uses the technique of metonymy: “a young lady’s light shoe as smoke,” “a dandy frock coat with the best beaver,” a man “bearing excellent sideburns,” a lady “carrying a pair of pretty eyes.” These people may seem strange to us, because under the words “important” homework“They involve talking to the doctor about the weather and a small pimple on your nose. They are not endowed with special intelligence, and the health of their children and horses is on the same side of the scale. Gogol, laughing at them, ironically remarked: “Fate has endowed them with the blessed title of officials on their own orders. God, what wonderful positions and services there are! How they elevate and delight the soul! But, alas! I did not serve and am deprived of the pleasure of seeing the subtle treatment of my superiors.” This pure bureaucratic public amazed with its extraordinary nobility and decency. It shows the most attractive surface of people and things. And nothing more than this superficial attractiveness. Therefore, in the motley phantasmagoria of changing pictures, illuminated by daylight, only dapper frock coats and sideburns, mustaches and dresses, sleeves and waists, pretty eyes and hats, legs, smiles and ties flash mixed in. This is all an “exhibition” put on public display, which hides the true the essence of people and things, hidden under the miniature diversity of the veil thrown over everything. The people in this "exhibition" don't matter. Gogol is not left with a feeling of ridicule and irony: “Everything is full of decency.” It is not without reason that the author animates the mustache and sideburns using the technique of synecdoche. It is important for him to show that external beauty and superficial decency are all just a colorful mask. The description not of the people themselves, but of individual parts of clothing simply shoots out from the general background of the story. Yes, and earlier Nevsky Prospekt was colorful and bright, but the detail of describing people through clothing gives such a dazzling and striking image that without this detail the true essence of a person would not be fully revealed. Gogol compares a woman to a sea of ​​moths that have risen above the black male beetles, and the sleeves of her dresses “look like two balloons.” And how the author ironizes about a smile, noting: “a smile is the height of art.” She can do whatever she wants to a person. What about people? How strange they behave: “when they meet you, they will certainly look at your boots.” Gogol is at a loss as to who these people are. He even dares to suggest that these are shoemakers, but again deceives the reader by saying that these people “ for the most part serve in different departments." It's all a deception and a game.

But three o'clock strikes and the crowd thins out. The street is filled with officials in green uniforms.

By four o’clock Nevsky Prospekt is empty and “it’s unlikely that you will meet even one official on it, perhaps some seamstress from a store, some visiting eccentric for whom all the hours are equal, some Englishwoman, some artel worker - no one else.” you will meet on Nevsky Prospekt.” But if you meet on it those (no matter how many there are) who have neither rank nor hours assigned to it, it means you won’t meet anyone at all.

3. 3 Nevsky Prospect at twilight.

Only at dusk, when the eyes can be deceived, but are not blinded by either the brilliance of the day or the darkness or brilliance of the night, does the underbelly of metropolitan life, its dark and secret depths, reveal itself. When it begins to get dark, young collegiate registrars, provincial and collegiate secretaries walk around for a very long time, unlike their old colleagues who sit at home, because “these are married people”: in the 19th century, marriage was considered a label, a married person lost his freedom, became a domesticated master who had no opinion of their own. Ostentatious nobility and decency give way to unsightly reality - unchanging passions and dirty vice. Although not reflected in the appearance of wealthy people, this baseness and dirt are stains on their souls. The attractive and funny phantasmagoria of the day gives way, in the end, to the gloomy phantasmagoria of the night.

Reading the description of Nevsky Prospekt and the people changing on it, you do not imagine that a whole chain of events will be built next. Gogol draws two storylines, two destinies, completely different from each other. There are two heroes in the story - Lieutenant Pirogov and the artist Piskarev. They meet once on Nevsky Prospekt. Gogol constantly contrasts two worlds with each other: the world of the nobles (or middle class) and the poor - the world of Pirogov and Piskarev. After the meeting on Nevsky, everyone went their own way.

4. Compositionally and ideologically - artistic role short stories about the destinies of Lieutenant Pirogov and the artist Piskarev.

First, about the first story and about Piskarev. He is a typical artist with secret world within yourself and with a vulnerable soul. He has an ideal - beauty. He is passionately in love with beauty. Piskarev is a dreamer, a romantic, his best dreams merged with the image of a stranger. His soul was open to the beautiful and sublime. Nothing earthly prevented him from indulging in the joys of creativity. An enthusiastic dreamer, he was selflessly devoted to his art. It can be compared with Lensky (A. S. Pushkin’s novel “Eugene Onegin”). They both lived in dreams and could not look at the world through the eyes of a realist. The artist, having noticed one of the “wonderful creatures” on Nevsky Prospekt, follows her. Shocked by the girl's appearance, he created in his imagination perfect image, which became an object of worship for him. Charming, beautiful, she is like a vision straight out of a painting by a great master. One look or smile of the beauty awakened conflicting thoughts, dreams, and hopes in the hero’s head, but the beauty turns out to be an inhabitant of a “disgusting den.” Piskarev, as a dreamer living outside of reality, opposes the main street with its secular crowd. He does not fit into the framework of the time and society that surrounds him. The artist Piskarev was a victim, as Gogol put it, of “the eternal conflict between dreams and reality.” This young man “belonged to that class, which constitutes a rather strange phenomenon among us and belongs just as much to the citizens of St. Petersburg as the person who appears to us in a dream belongs to the essential world.” Gogol questions the fact that an artist can live in gloomy, gray, smooth and pale Petersburg. He believes that this is not a suitable place for creativity. He sees Italy as a saving place. Piskarev, in the author’s eyes, was “shy, timid, but in his soul he carried sparks of feeling, ready to turn into flame at the right opportunity.” And this spark flared up when our artist saw a mysterious stranger on Nevsky. Unfortunately, his feelings were not destined to burn for long. Exactly unrequited love burned him from the inside and killed him. After this meeting, the unfortunate artist plunged into a world of illusions and dreams. The worst thing that can happen to a young man happened to him - he lost the desire to create and the taste for life. He did not live, but existed. He was no longer interested in creativity. Painting was abandoned. Waking up in the morning, I waited for the night, did not eat and did not leave the room. In his sleep, all his dreams became reality. He no longer understood that the world in which he lived was just his imagination, but he did not want to return to harsh reality. And then one day he didn’t return. His life was cut short before it even began. On the day of his funeral, there was no one, and no one cried over him, except for the “soldier-guard, and that was because he drank an extra bottle of vodka.”

This story could not help but touch the reader’s soul; it is filled with lyricism, drama and bitter disappointments. It was a shame to realize that the ball at which Piskarev found himself and where he again met the mysterious stranger turned out to be a dream. All dreams and hopes instantly collapsed young artist, and the author too. Gogol seems to deliberately give hope for the best and immediately take it away. He, like fate, plays with his hero. Gogol's attitude towards Piskarev is ambivalent. On the one hand, he is deeply sympathetic to the character of this noble dreamer, who indignantly rejects the false and vulgar foundations of the modern world. However, on the other hand, the writer cannot help but feel the groundlessness of the romantic ideal of his hero. Gogol saw Piskarev’s weakness and the infidelity of his life position.

The satirical, accusatory content of the story is especially strongly expressed in the second short story, dedicated to Pirogov. Pirogov is a typical representative of the middle class. He is an officer who has earned this rank through many years of work. He was pleased with his rank, had many talents: “he recited poems from “Dmitry Donskoy” and “Woe from Wit”, had his own art of blowing smoke rings, and knew how to tell jokes very pleasantly.” Limited and self-confident, successful, successful, always in an excellent mood, Pirogov was completely alien to any kind of moral torment. Unlike Piskarev, the lieutenant was completely immersed in St. Petersburg society and was part of it. He was an ordinary participant in the “exhibition”. Pirogov's fate turned out completely differently. Having followed a young German woman, he discovers her place of residence. He is not even embarrassed by the fact that she is married to a German artisan. The girl rejects the impudent advances of her new acquaintance, but this does not stop him, because this man is not used to rejection. And Pirogov gets his way, after which he is beaten by two Germans (his husband and his friend), but he does not consider himself guilty. At first the lieutenant was indignant, wanted to complain, and then, as the author sarcastically notes, he ate two puff pastries in the pastry shop, calmed down, and even distinguished himself in the mazurka that same evening.

Lieutenant Pirogov does not evoke any sympathy. Why feel sorry for him? He is as vile and low as most representatives of his class, who live only for entertainment, balls and fleeting novels. His fate is not controlled by malicious satire, he himself is the culprit of the situation that happened to him. The writer created a very bright human type, which became a household name for many aspects of contemporary social existence. His story evokes more laughter and indignation than compassion. Pirogov's entire essence is insignificant and stupid. He is a narcissistic egoist who, for the sake of his whim, practically destroyed someone else’s family and at the same time felt no remorse. His conscience was silent. He himself feels ridiculous and funny from this story that happened to him. For him, this is just entertainment, an opportunity to diversify his life, and he is happily ready to plunge into some new adventure again. The image of Pirogov is one of Gogol's best artistic creations. In terms of the strength and depth of generalization, he is perhaps on a par with Khlestakov and Chichikov.

There is an opinion that both stories can be perceived as two independent stories. Maybe Gogol decided to weave two separate stories into one? Outwardly, there are similarities: both heroes ended up on Nevsky Prospekt, and both got carried away (although each of them understands love in their own way). Only one of them quickly consoled himself with pies in a pastry shop, while the other committed suicide. Piskarev and Pirogov are two opposite heroes. They are connected only by a walk along Nevsky.

Note that Gogol uses the principle of a speaking surname. Piskarev is represented by a small fish living in a huge ocean, among others unlike him. He is also not noticeable to anyone, almost no one knows him. It can be compared to a small fish - a gudgeon. Gogol contrasts the names of Schiller (“a pretty good shoemaker”) and Hoffmann with the names of the romantic writer Schiller and the science fiction writer Hoffmann. Pirogov, as the author himself notes, fully lives up to his name. He kills his grief by eating a couple of pies. Belinsky will say about him: “Pirogov! - he exclaimed. - Saints! Yes, this is a whole beauty, a whole people, a whole nation! "

“Nevsky Prospekt” connects the incompatible – Lieutenant Pirogov and the artist Piskarev. Two human characters. Two destinies, two completely different look in reality - Gogol brings all this together in his story. The characters give a vivid idea of ​​the complexity of life in St. Petersburg, of vigilance and acuity artistic vision writer. Gogol leads the reader to the conclusion: what a strange city Petersburg is, in which honest, unprotected talent perishes and arrogant, self-righteous vulgarity prospers!

At the end of the story, N.V. Gogol again returns to Nevsky Prospect to tear off its beautiful covers and express all his hatred for the capitalist city with its corruption and indifference to everything beautiful and to man. Petersburg in the story is presented as a dual city. Gogol makes a lot of irony about St. Petersburg and its inhabitants. He is disgusted by the masks that the city has put on itself. The author really wants to rip them off, but people are so accustomed to these masks that they have already lost themselves and their own essence. The writer emphasizes the contradiction of the city between appearance and essence (“everything is not what it seems”). In the story, the strange is intertwined with the everyday, the real with the fantastic, the majestic with the base, the beautiful with the ugly. At the same time, there is a deeply realistic vision of St. Petersburg.

5. Irony and satire as an integral part of stories about the life of Nevsky Prospekt.

Satire in the story is presented in the guise of fate. She laughs at Piskarev, not pitying him, because he is not a hero of his time, and Pirogov is a completely realistic person (if he can be called a person). He lives by the rules of his time, and Piskarev is an ordinary eccentric, to whom fate is not so favorable. This person is not created for life, he does not know how to survive.

The humor in the story is Petersburg. Outwardly bright, ambitious, festive, but inside gray, dirty, boring. There is a grain of irony in every description of a noble resident. It is impossible to talk about them without smiling and mocking.

Drama is life. Everyone approaches life differently. For Piskarev, the drama is disappointment in a loved one, and for Pirogov, it is the refusal of his advances and attention by a pretty German woman. And in whose life was the true drama?

When the story reached the censor, he became enraged. Write how shamefully the officer was whipped - and even the lieutenant! - some German craftsmen. This is a subversion of the very foundations! There is no doubt that this cannot be printed.

Concerned about the fate of his story, Gogol turned to Pushkin for advice. Pushkin responded with a short note: “I read it with great pleasure. It seems like everything can be missed. It’s a pity to release the section: it seems to me that it is necessary for the full effect of the evening mazurka. Perhaps God will bear it! With God blessing!". However, God could not bear it, and Gogol had to convey the end of the story, only transparently hinting at the punishment that befell Lieutenant Pirogov.

“Fate plays us strangely, strange incidents happen on Nevsky Prospekt!” - Gogol exclaims more than once in this story.

Conclusion

In the story “Nevsky Prospekt” (as, indeed, in other works of art) N.V. Gogol talentedly uses various techniques of the comic and no less talentedly combines the dramatic and the comic.

Working on the topic of this research allowed us to see the features artistic manner Gogol, enriched the author of this study with new literary knowledge and new experience in literary analysis.