Description of the village boxes dead souls table. The image of the landowner Korobochka in the poem by N.V. Gogol's "Dead Souls"

A poor landowner, a “college registrar”, Korobochka lives quietly in her small house, and her whole life is filled only with worries about the household. Korobochka’s narrow courtyard is full of birds and all other domestic creatures, and behind the courtyard stretch spacious vegetable gardens, in which there are fruit trees, “covered with nets to protect against magpies and sparrows.” Her village is “not small” and is kept in order. The box knows the prices for honey, lard and hemp, and it knows well when they can be sold more profitably.

The box is extremely limited. She knows how to save forty fruit trees from sparrows, but she just can’t figure out why she needed them.
Chichikova “dead souls”, especially since she doesn’t see any use in them. Chichikov rightly calls her “strong-headed” and “club-headed.” Without understanding Chichikov’s plans, she still understands perfectly well that paying taxes for the dead is unprofitable, and in the end she makes a deal. Constantly complaining about crop failures and losses, Korobochka meanwhile gradually collects money into colorful bags. In one of them she selects “rubles”, in another - “fifty kopecks”, in the third - “quarters” and hides them in a chest of drawers, in which, at first glance, there is nothing except underwear and night blouses.
The box is ignorant and extremely superstitious. She, for example, has no doubt that “if you make a wish on the cards after prayer,” you will definitely dream of a “cursed one” with long “bull horns.”

The primitiveness of this “poor widow” is reflected in her manner of speaking. With primitive simplicity, she declares to Chichikov: “Eh, my father, you’re like a hog, your whole back and side are covered in mud!” When Chichikov, buying dead souls, could not stand it and began to raise his tone, she exclaimed in fear: “Oh, what kind of insults you are causing!”
Patriarchy emanates from home environment Boxes. In her rooms there are more and more ancient objects: a portrait of an old man with red cuffs on his uniform, “the kind they sewed on under Pavel Petrovich,” small old mirrors with dark frames, an old clock with a hiss instead of a chime, an old deck of cards. There is not even a faint hint of living life and serious interests.

But perhaps Korobochka, with her limitations and ignorance, is just a rare phenomenon in the provincial wilderness?
Gogol sadly concludes: no. The squalor characteristic of Korobochka, the passion for money, the desire for profit, self-interest, stupidity and ignorance are traits typical not only of Korobochka, but also of various layers of the ruling class in general, its top. “Perhaps,” writes Gogol, “you will even begin to think: come on, is Korobochka really standing so low on the endless ladder of human improvement? “Gogol emphasizes with this the broad typicality of Korobochka.

The poem “Dead Souls” by N.V. Gogol invites its readers to plunge into a huge variety of completely different and dissimilar heroes. One of the most striking and important characters is the landowner Korobochka; her image is revealed in the third chapter of the work.

The first meeting of the main character of the poem, Chichikov, and Korobochka occurs completely by accident, when Pavel Ivanovich loses his way to Sobakevich due to bad weather. Chichikov arrives at Korobochka’s estate, in a village off the main road, and stays with her overnight, which is how they meet.

She was an elderly woman, in shabby clothes, who completely devotes her life to the housekeeping that she runs on her estate. Despite the fact that she has only 80 peasant souls, her estate boasts good condition: strong and well-kept houses, strong and healthy men.

Korobochka lives by selling products produced on her estate, such as honey and hemp. She earns quite a lot from this, she tries to make a profit from everything, she has enough for a comfortable life, nevertheless, the landowner likes to complain about life, become poor and underestimate her income. The box is selfish, greedy, stingy, since it did not feed the guest on the road, distrustful and shows excessive suspicion of people. Nevertheless, Korobochka, in her wealthy household, shows hospitality when she gives Chichikov clean clothes, washes dirty ones, and sends a girl to scratch his heel and fluff his pillow.

The landowner Korobochka collects and stores rubbish, her whole life is one of continuous hoarding, and mustiness reigns in her estate. Also, the interior of her house seems quite old-fashioned to Chichikov, as if he was frozen somewhere in time. Nastasya Petrovna believes in both God and the devil, and sometimes tells fortunes with cards. When Chichikov wakes up, he sees a lot of flies, which once again emphasizes old age. Little is known about Korobochka’s family; she is a widow and has no children. In the process of communicating with the landowner, Chichikov begins to lose his temper; he wants to leave her estate as quickly as possible in order to get rid of her.

Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol calls the landowner an oakhead, because after sales of the dead To shower Pavel Ivanovich, she goes to the city to find out the true price in order to find out whether she was deceived.

Overall, representing one of the most bright images, Nastasya Petrovna is an ordinary and simple landowner.

Option 2

The poem is presented in the form of a trip by the main character around Russia, where she is shown with all her hardships and problems. The author showed motherland with all its hardships, revealed the reason for the difficult situation of the Russian people and, with the help of satire, exposed the flaws of the existing system. We see how Chichikov, traveling through the southern provinces, wants to inexpensively buy up dead serfs in order to fraudulently get rich and not have to work.

He visits various landowners, among whom Korobochka especially stands out, who is a wealthy landowner, ready to trade with everything her heart desires, including deceased peasants.

Clueless Nastasya Petrovna thinks that she will need to dig up the dead from their graves, and this does not stop her. She intends to do everything just to get a reward. Chichikov, from the first minute, understanding the woman’s character, immediately began to talk with her more freely than with Manilov. He even shouted at her when Korobochka listened to him distractedly. After all, one thing was spinning in her thoughts, just not to give away the dead cheaply, and the rest did not bother her at all.

Korobochka is a powerful lady, she lives by subsistence farming, and at the same time understands how money is obtained. The intelligence of her development wants to leave the best. She can tell you how to protect trees with ripe fruits from birds, but she cannot explain why this had to be done. Her whole appearance suggests that she is not only stupid, but also sloppy. Moreover, it is full of superstitions. The box believes in fortune telling and all sorts of evil spirits that may appear in the house after midnight. And in her speech, different words slip through, inherent in man religious.

Her whole house looks like a box containing a lot of antiques. When you look at her, you are surprised at how greedy Nastasya Petrovna is. She does not have her own children, and there are no relatives to whom all affairs and property can be transferred, and who needed to be introduced to society. And still, she wants more and more capital.

Korobochka's useless hoarding is almost sinister. She saves money for its own sake, and is not even afraid to let dead people go on sale - just so as not to make a mistake. All her coins are put into different colorful bags, which she takes out and counts every day. Her range of interests is also small. Basically, she communicates only with those people with whom she consults on trading issues.

Little by little, Gogol will lead us to how the desire to get rich, the creation of capital by any means, the endless exploitation of the peasants kills the soul of the landowners. They lose their human appearance. In the image of Korobochka he showed new features of capitalist society.

Essay about landowner Korobochka

Gogol's poem can be read at the most different levels, the author put many different layers of meaning into his creation. If we look at Korobochka superficially, then we have a satire on stupidity and the patriarchal way of life, a parody of the limitations of the individual and excessive practicality, a heroine who surprises with her simplicity.

Gogol emphasizes the simplicity of Korobochka in her speech, which is full of simple and even primitive expressions and, as it were, naively naked. Only children or poorly educated people can speak like this without any embarrassment. The landowner is not distinguished by an exalted mind, but she has quite valuable practical knowledge, these details are also noted, for example, the nets that preserve fruit trees.

Thus, Gogol describes the figure of the down-to-earth people, common people without romanticization. These people, in reality, can be absurd and rude, sit and argue where the wheel will roll, know how to buy and sell more profitably. These people have no idea of ​​anything other than their own little world and are not going to get out of there, mired in the swamp of a banal and primitive existence.

If you look at Korobochka in the context of the symbolic series that the author offers, then this heroine appears as a kind of mystical figure who personifies such mystical heroes like Baba Yaga. For Chichikov, the trip to Korobochka is associated with images of death and afterlife experience. Before arriving, he falls into the ground (an image of a burial), when he wakes up, there are flies sitting on his face (like on a corpse), and if you follow the text, Gogol gives similar hints in almost every phrase.

Korobochka, like the magical old woman from Russian fairy tales, lives in the outskirts and is connected with otherworldly forces. In this reading, lamentations, signs in which she believes (making fortunes on cards, for example) and interior details (for example, fortune telling cards) receive a completely new reading and become unique attributes of the sorceress.

Korobochka is also the only female landowner and her figure stands out from the general outline of landowners, thanks to which her image becomes more interesting and unique.

In “Dead Souls” Gogol mercilessly exposes vices serfdom. To reveal the concept of the work, the author satirically depicted the landowners - serf owners and gave each an apt description. Among them is the image of Nastasya Petrovna Korobochka. The meaning of her life is to increase money and wealth through the hard work of her peasants.

Chichikov met the elderly landowner by chance when his drunken coachman lost his way at night and drove into the middle of nowhere. Nastasya Petrovna's estate was located away from the bustling life. The room where Chichikov was invited was “hung” with old wallpaper, “a clock hissing like snakes” hung on the wall, and bundles and little bags were hidden behind the paintings. Appearance a landowner in a night cap and a “flannel around her neck,” spoke of a modest and poor existence. According to the author, she is “one of those mothers” who complain about lean years and heavy losses. And she herself quietly puts the money “in colorful bags.”

Having learned that a nobleman had asked to stay for the night, Korobochka behaved very friendly with him and tried to please him in everything. She addressed him respectfully as “father” and forced the maid to clean his dirty clothes. She even asked if the guest would like to have his heels scratched before bed, as her late husband, the college secretary, loved. And, realizing that Chichikov was a “buyer,” the cunning Korobochka became even more cordial.

As it turned out, the landowner has a strong economy, she has eighty souls of serfs, who bring her good income. Nastasya Petrovna began briskly offering Chichikov her goods: lard, honey, flour, bird feathers. But he has another goal - to make a deal to buy “dead souls” and make his own profit. When he started talking about the dead peasants, it became clear that in front of him was a very greedy, uneducated and “club-headed” landowner. Not understanding why he needed these peasants, she asked: “Do you really want to dig them up?” She haggled for a long time: “Perhaps merchants will come and I’ll adjust the prices.” Having somehow explained that the merchants did not need this “product”, and she would save money on taxes, Chichikov promised her fifteen rubles in “blue banknotes”.

Korobochka was very worried that she had cheapened out and went to the city to find out the price of “dead souls,” which later led to the exposure of Chichikov’s scam.

Gogol gave Korobochka a speaking surname and revealed her real essence. The lack of moral principles among “box people”, the thirst for accumulation, leads to the degeneration of personality and their souls become “dead”.

Option 2

A separate chapter of N.V.’s poem is dedicated to each of the five landowners from whom the entrepreneur Chichikov bought up dead souls. Gogol "Dead Souls". Chichikov ends up visiting Nastasya Petrovna Korobochka by accident, having gotten lost at night on the road from Manilov.

Korobochka's farm is large and strong. This landowner is a skillful, thrifty housewife and takes care of the housework herself. She has 80 serf souls with whom Korobochka directly communicates, so her speech is close to peasant dialect. The yard is full of all kinds of birds, and various vegetables grow in the gardens. Lots of fruit trees. Korobochka is hospitable: she greeted Chichikov warmly, prepared the bed, offered him tea at night, and fed him well in the morning. All her interests are focused on the farm. Everything in the house is furnished in an old-fashioned way. Korobochka treats things carefully, and in the chest of drawers among the linen there are bags of money that she has been saving all her life. Korobochka's homeliness over time developed into hoarding. There are a lot of flies everywhere. This speaks of the frozen world of the heroine.

Korobochka's appearance is unattractive. In the description of the portrait we will not find a description of the face or eyes, as if they were not there. The author thereby emphasizes the character’s lack of spirituality. The box is ignorant, superstitious, and selfish. She is driven by a passion for profit. Gogol is ironic about mental abilities Boxes. Chichikov silently calls her “club-headed.” She has a “speaking” surname: she lives a closed life on her estate, as if in a box. Everything new scares her.

Korobochka sells natural products produced by its peasants: honey, lard, hemp. He also trades with the peasants themselves. Everything goes into her business. She mistakes Chichikov for a buyer and offers him to buy various products. All of Korobochka’s character traits appeared in the deal with Chichikov. Their conversation is a dialogue of the deaf. Korobochka does not understand the meaning of this deal and is afraid of being deceived. She has been saving and saving all her life, so she thinks what if dead souls come in handy. She knows the names of her dead peasants by heart. The box sells people as if it were inanimate objects. She is not going to give up dead souls to Chichikov on the cheap. After persuasion from Chichikov, Korobochka decides to sell this unusual goods. She's careful. After Chichikov left, Korobochka went to the city to find out at what price dead souls are sold nowadays.

The box is not a living person, but a parody of him, the embodiment of spiritual emptiness.

Essay about the Box

Korobochka Anastasia Petrovna is the heroine of the novel “Dead Souls”. In the work she appears as a landowner who sold dead souls. Gogol dedicated an entire third chapter to this character in his work.

Gogol in his work classified Anastasia Petrovna as a landowner who constantly complains about their income and losses. But Anastasia Petrovna was by no means like that, while she complains her chest is slowly but surely filling with money. Still, she was a simple woman, and the author more than once highlighted her spiritual simplicity. She did not belong to the privileged part of society, like other landowners at that time; they wanted to join it with all their might.

Gogol emphasized her clothes and appearance. The author more than once called her clothes shabby. Her main goal in life is to increase your capital. She never refused any way to earn money. Her whole life was based on accumulation material resources. She believes that money is much more important than appearance. She also does not notice the difference between living and non-living nature. When Chichikov offered to buy her dead souls, she immediately agreed. You could even say that she got money out of thin air. But she sold them to him at three prices, because she really loved to make good and fast money. For her greed and greed, Gogol gave her the nickname “clubhead.”

Bringing the third chapter to a close, Gogol made a conclusion. In his opinion, Korobochka is an image that could exist in reality. He also said that she was not much different from other landowners of that time. All landowners were obsessed with money and behaved in the same way. Throughout the entire chapter, Gogol did not mention the beauty of Korobochka more than once. From this we can conclude that Anastasia Petrovna did not stand out for her beauty, unlike Manilov, since Gogol spoke many times about Manilov’s beauty.

Korobochka had a strong and loyal economy, which was built on the reputation of Korobochka itself. She sold anything, lard, milk, eggs and much more. Her economy is autonomous and does not depend on anything. It has not suffered more than one fire during its existence. It is constantly growing upward, albeit slowly.

It is also worth noting the situation in the house. She had old rooms with faded wallpaper. The house is full of different decorations. Each room has large mirrors in old, gloomy frames.

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The image of the landowner Nastasya Petrovna Korobochka successfully complements the collage of characteristic types of landowners. It cannot be said that she is endowed negative qualities, but one cannot classify her as a pleasant person.

Despite the complexity of her personality, compared to all the other landowners, she looks one of the most attractive in terms of housekeeping and attitude towards serfs.

Personality characteristics

We don’t know what Korobochka was like in her youth; in the story, Gogol limits himself to an episodic description of her character at a certain point in time, bypassing the entire process of his formation.

Dear readers! On our website you can read about the poem “Dead Souls” described in Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol’s poem.

The box is noticeably distinguished by thriftiness and a penchant for order. Everything on her estate is in good working order - however, the things used both in everyday life and in the interior of the landowner are not new, but this does not bother the old woman. With particular pleasure, she complains about everything in the world - bad harvests, lack of money, although, in fact, everything is not so dire: “one of those mothers, small landowners who cry about crop failures, losses and keep their heads somewhat to one side, and between Then they gradually collect a little money into colorful bags placed on the drawers of the chests of drawers.”

Nastasya Petrovna is no different extraordinary mind- The aristocrats around her consider her a stupid old woman. This is true - Korobochka is truly a stupid and uneducated woman. The landowner is distrustful of everything new - first of all, she strives to see some kind of catch in people's actions - in this way she “saves” herself from troubles in the future.

Korobochka is distinguished by her particular stubbornness; she belongs to those people who “once you’ve got something in your head, you can’t overpower it with anything; No matter how much you present him with arguments, clear as day, everything bounces off him, like a rubber ball bounces off a wall.”

Nastasya Petrovna contradictory nature- on the one hand, she is attached to religion (she believes in the existence of God and the devil, prays and is baptized), but at the same time she does not neglect fortune telling and using cards, which is not encouraged by religion.

Family

It is difficult to say anything about the Korobochka family - Gogol provides too little information on this matter. It is reliably known that Nastasya Petrovna was married, but her husband died and at the time of the story she is a widow. It is likely that she has children, most likely due to the age of the landowner and Chichikov’s lack of memories of the presence of children in the house; they are already adults and live separately. Their names, ages and genders are not specified in the text. The only mention of them is found together with a mention of Korobochka’s sister, who lives in Moscow: “my sister brought warm boots for children from there: such a durable product, they are still worn.”

Korobochki Estate

The Korobochka estate and house - oddly enough, among all the landowners' houses it looks one of the most attractive. It should be clarified that such an assessment does not concern the aesthetic appearance, but the condition of the estate. The village of Korobochki is noticeably distinguished by its well-kept houses and buildings: dilapidated elements of peasant houses have been replaced with new ones, the gates to the estate have also been repaired. The houses and buildings do not look as massive as those of Sobakevich, but they also have a special aesthetic value don't imagine. Korobochka owns about 80 serfs.

This number is noticeably inferior to the rich landowners of the county, such as Plyushkina, but this does not significantly affect the income of the estate. Chichikov was pleasantly surprised by the state of the village: “You, mother, have a good village.”

Korobochka's household also pleasantly surprises with its diversity and well-groomed nature. The box successfully sells vegetables and fruits. She has “gardens with cabbage, onions, potatoes, beets and other household vegetables. Apple trees and other fruit trees were scattered here and there throughout the garden.”

You can also observe the variety of cereals grown. In addition, Korobochka is confidently engaged in livestock farming - she also has various birds (“Turkeys and chickens were countless; a rooster walked among them” and pigs. Korobochka is engaged in beekeeping and grows hemp for sale for the production of ropes and ropes.

Korobochka House

Korobochka's house is not pompous or elegant. The house is guarded by a pack of dogs that react violently to all strangers, for example, when Chichikov arrived, the dogs “began to burst into all sorts of voices.” It is small in size, its windows overlook the courtyard, so it is impossible to admire the view from the window. The roof of the house is wooden. Chichikov, who came to Korobochka in the rain, noted that the raindrops were loudly knocking on his roof. A barrel was placed near the drain to collect rainwater.

Since Chichikov arrived at the Korobochka estate in the evening, and also in bad weather, it was impossible to find out about the nuances of the appearance of the landowner’s house.

On our website you can read Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol’s poem “Dead Souls”.

The inside of the house was not attractive. The wallpaper there was old, as was all the furniture. There were paintings hanging on the walls - “not all of the paintings were birds: between them hung a portrait of Kutuzov and a painted oil paints some old man with red cuffs on his uniform, like they were sewn on under Pavel Petrovich.” The furnishings were complemented by mirrors, “with dark frames in the form of curled leaves,” behind which were placed all sorts of necessary little things in the form of a letter or a stocking. The watch made a particular impression - it was also not particularly new, and the sounds it made were similar to the hissing of snakes. The clock struck no less unpleasantly: “as if someone were beating a broken pot with a stick.”

Attitude towards peasants

The number of Korobochka serfs is not so large - approximately 80 people. The landowner knows them all by name. Korobochka is always actively involved in the affairs of her estate and takes a direct part in all work. It is impossible to find descriptions of the attitude towards the peasants in the text, but the way the landowner describes her dead souls suggests that Korobochka is no different bad attitude to the serfs.

Nastasya Petrovna Korobochka is a landowner, the widow of a college secretary, a very thrifty and thrifty elderly woman. Her village is small, but everything in it is in good order, the farm is flourishing and, apparently, brings in a good income. Korobochka compares favorably with Manilov: she knows all her peasants (“... she didn’t keep any notes or lists, but knew almost everyone by heart”), speaks of them as good workers(“all glorious people, all workers” Hereinafter quoted from the publisher: Gogol N.V. Collected works in eight volumes. - (Library “Ogonyok”: domestic classics) - T.5. “Dead Souls”. Vol. first. - M., 1984.), she herself is engaged in housekeeping - “she fixed her eyes on the housekeeper,” “little by little she all moved into economic life.” Judging by the fact that, when asking Chichikov who he is, she lists those people with whom she constantly communicates: the assessor, merchants, the archpriest, her social circle is small and is connected mainly with economic affairs - trade and the payment of state taxes.

Apparently, she rarely goes to the city and does not communicate with her neighbors, because when asked about Manilov, he replies that there is no such landowner and names ancient noble families, which are more appropriate in the classic comedy of the 18th century - Bobrov, Kanapatiev, Pleshakov, Kharpakin. In the same row is the surname Svinin, which draws a direct parallel with Fonvizin’s comedy “The Minor” (Mitrofanushka’s mother and uncle are Svinin).

Korobochka’s behavior, her address to the guest “father”, the desire to serve (Chichikov called himself a nobleman), to treat her, to arrange for an overnight stay as best as possible - all this character traits images provincial landowners V works of the XVIII century. Mrs. Prostakova behaves the same way when she finds out that Starodum is a nobleman and has been accepted at court.

Korobochka, it would seem, is devout; in her speeches there are constantly sayings and expressions characteristic of a believer: “The power of the cross is with us!”, “Apparently, God sent him as a punishment,” but there is no special faith in her. When Chichikov persuades her to sell dead peasants promising benefits, she agrees and begins to “calculate” the benefits. Korobochka's confidant is the son of the archpriest, who serves in the city.

The landowner's only entertainment when she is not busy with her household is fortune-telling on cards - “I decided to make fortunes on cards at night after prayer...”. And she spends her evenings with the maid.

Korobochka's portrait is not as detailed as the portraits of other landowners and seems to be stretched out: first Chichikov hears the “hoarse woman's voice” of the old servant; then “again some woman, younger than before, but very similar to her”; when he was shown into the rooms and he had time to look around, a lady came in - “an elderly woman, in some kind of sleeping cap, put on hastily, with a flannel around her neck, ....” The author emphasizes Korobochka’s old age, then Chichikov directly calls her an old woman to himself. The housewife’s appearance in the morning does not change much - only the sleeping cap disappears: “She was dressed better than yesterday - in a dark dress ( widow!) and no longer in a sleeping cap ( but apparently there was still a cap on his head - a day cap), but there was still something tied around the neck" ( fashion late XVIII century - fichu, i.e. a small scarf that partially covered the neckline and the ends of which were tucked into the neckline of the dress See Kirsanova R.M. Russian costume artistic culture 18 - first half of the 20th centuries: Experience of an encyclopedia / Ed. T.G. Morozova, V.D. Sinyukova. - M., 1995. - P.115).

The author's description, which follows the portrait of the hostess, on the one hand emphasizes the typicality of the character, on the other hand, gives a comprehensive description: “one of those mothers, small landowners who cry when the harvest fails ( it is with words about crop failure and bad times that the business conversation between Korobochka and Chichikov begins), losses and keep your head somewhat to one side, and meanwhile they are gradually gaining a little money in motley Motley - fabric from the remnants of yarn of various kinds, homespun fabric (Kirsanova) bags placed in dresser drawers. All the rubles are taken into one bag, fifty dollars into another, quarters into the third, although from the outside it seems as if there is nothing in the chest of drawers except underwear, night blouses, skeins of thread, and a torn cloak Salop - outerwear made of fur and rich fabrics, which had gone out of fashion by 1830; the name “salopnitsa” has an additional connotation of “old-fashioned” (Kirsanova). Apparently, for this purpose, Gogol mentions the salop as an indispensable attribute of such landowners, who can then turn into a dress if the old one somehow burns out during the baking of festive cakes with all sorts of yarn. - to another, baked. or it will disappear on its own. But the dress will not burn or fray on its own; thrifty old lady..." This is exactly what Korobochka is, so Chichikov immediately does not stand on ceremony and gets down to business.

An important role in understanding the image of the landowner is played by the description of the estate and the decoration of the rooms in the house. This is one of the techniques for characterizing a character that Gogol uses in “Dead Souls”: the image of all landowners consists of the same set of descriptions and artistic details - the estate, rooms, interior details or significant objects, an indispensable feast (in one form or another - from a full dinner , like Sobakevich, before Plyushkin offered Easter cake and wine), the owner’s manners and behavior during business negotiations and after them, attitude towards an unusual transaction, etc.

Korobochka's estate is distinguished by its strength and contentment; it is immediately clear that she good hostess. The courtyard into which the room's windows overlook is filled with birds and “all kinds of domestic creatures”; further on you can see vegetable gardens with “household vegetables”; fruit trees are covered with bird nets, and stuffed animals on poles are also visible - “one of them was wearing the cap of the mistress herself.” Peasant huts also show the wealth of their inhabitants. In a word, Korobochka’s farm is clearly thriving and generating sufficient profit. And the village itself is not small - eighty souls.

The description of the estate is divided into two parts - at night, in the rain, and during the day. The first description is scanty, motivated by the fact that Chichikov drives up in the dark, during heavy rain. But in this part of the text there is also artistic detail, which, in our opinion, is essential for the further narrative, is the mention of the external villa of the house: “stopped<бричка>in front of a small house, which was difficult to see in the darkness. Only one half of it was illuminated by the light coming from the windows; a puddle was still visible in front of the house, which was directly hit by the same light.” Chichikov is also greeted by the barking of dogs, which indicates that “the village was decent.” The windows of a house are a kind of eyes, and eyes, as we know, are the mirror of the soul. Therefore, the fact that Chichikov drives up to the house in the dark, only one window is illuminated and the light from it falls into a puddle, speaks, most likely, about the poverty of inner life, about the focus on one side of it, about the mundane aspirations of the owners of this house.

The “daytime” description, as mentioned earlier, emphasizes precisely this one-sidedness of Korobochka’s inner life - focus only on economic activity, thrift and thrift.

IN brief description The rooms are primarily noted for the antiquity of their decoration: “the room was hung with old striped wallpaper; paintings with some birds; between the windows there are old small mirrors with dark frames in the shape of curled leaves; Behind every mirror there was either a letter, or an old deck of cards, or a stocking; wall clock with painted flowers on the dial...". In this description, two features clearly stand out - linguistic and artistic. Firstly, the synonyms “old”, “vintage” and “old” are used; secondly, the set of objects that catch Chichikov’s eye during a brief examination also indicates that the people living in such rooms are more drawn to the past than to the present. What is important is that flowers are mentioned several times (on the watch dial, leaves on the mirror frames) and birds. If we recall the history of the interior, we can find out that such a “design” is typical for the Rococo era, i.e. for the second half of the XVIII century.

Later in the episode, the description of the room is supplemented by one more detail, which confirms the “antiqueness” of Korobochka’s life: Chichikov discovers in the morning two portraits on the wall - Kutuzov and “some old man with red cuffs on his uniform, as they were sewn on under Pavel Petrovich

In the conversation about the purchase of “dead” souls, the whole essence and character of Korobochka is revealed. At first, she cannot understand what Chichikov wants from her - dead peasants have no economic value, and therefore cannot be sold. When she realizes that the deal can be profitable for her, then bewilderment gives way to another - the desire to get the maximum benefit from the sale: after all, if someone wants to buy the dead, therefore, they are worth something and are the subject of bargaining. That is, dead souls become for her on a par with hemp, honey, flour and lard. But she has already sold everything else (as we know, quite profitably), and this is a new and unknown business for her. The desire not to undercut the price is triggered: “I started to be very afraid that this buyer would somehow cheat her,” “I was afraid at first, so as not to somehow incur a loss. Maybe you, my father, are deceiving me, but they are... they are somehow worth more”, “I’ll wait a little, maybe merchants will come, and I’ll adjust the prices”, “somehow they’ll be needed on the farm in case they’re needed...”. With her stubbornness, she infuriates Chichikov, who was counting on easy consent. This is where the epithet arises, which expresses the essence not only of Korobochka, but of the entire type of similar people - “club-headed”. The author explains that neither rank nor position in society is the reason for this property; “club-headedness” is a very common phenomenon: “someone is both respectable and even a statesman. but in reality it turns out to be a perfect Box. Once you've hacked something into your head, you can't overpower him with anything; No matter how much you present him with arguments, clear as day, everything bounces off him, like a rubber ball bounces off a wall.”

Korobochka agrees when Chichikov offers her another deal that she understands - government contracts, that is, a state supply order that paid well and was beneficial for the landowner due to its stability.

The author ends the bidding episode with a generalized discussion about the prevalence of this type of people: “Is Korobochka really standing so low on the endless ladder of human improvement? Is the abyss really that great that separates her from her sister, inaccessibly fenced by the walls of an aristocratic house with fragrant cast-iron staircases, shining copper, mahogany and carpets, yawning over an unread book in anticipation of a witty social visit, where she will have the opportunity to show off her mind and express her expressed thoughts? thoughts that, according to the laws of fashion, occupy the city for a whole week, thoughts not about what is happening in her house and on her estates, confused and upset thanks to ignorance of economic affairs, but about what political revolution is being prepared in France, what direction fashionable Catholicism has taken " Comparison of an economical, thrifty and practical Box with a worthless one socialite makes you wonder what Korobochka’s “sin” is, is it just her “club-headedness”?

Thus, we have several grounds for determining the meaning of the image of Korobochka - an indication of her “club-headedness,” i.e. getting stuck on one thought, inability and inability to consider the situation from different sides, limited thinking; comparison with the habitually established life of a society lady; the clear dominance of the past in everything related to the cultural components of human life, embodied in fashion, interior design, speech and rules of etiquette in relation to other people.

Is it a coincidence that Chichikov ends up with Korobochka after wandering along a dirty and dark road, at night, during the rain? It can be suggested that these details metaphorically reflect the nature of the image - the lack of spirituality (darkness, rare reflections of light from the window) and the aimlessness - in spiritual and moral terms - of her existence (a confusing road, by the way, the girl who accompanies Chichikov to high road confuses right and left). Then the logical answer to the question about the landowner’s “sin” will be the absence of the life of the soul, the existence of which has collapsed to one point - the distant past, when the deceased husband was still alive, who loved to have his heels scratched before going to bed. The clock that hardly strikes the appointed hour, the flies that wake up Chichikov in the morning, the confusion of the roads to the estate, the lack of external contacts with the world - all this confirms our point of view.

Thus, Korobochka embodies a state of mind in which life is reduced to a single point and remains somewhere far behind, in the past. Therefore, the author emphasizes that Korobochka is an old woman. And no future is possible for her, therefore, it is impossible to be reborn, i.e. It is not destined to unfold life to the fullness of being.

The reason for this lies in the initially unspiritual life of a woman in Russia, in her traditional position, but not social, but psychological. The comparison with a society lady and the details about how Korobochka spends her “free time” (fortune telling on cards, housework) reflect the absence of any intellectual, cultural, spiritual life. Later in the poem, the reader will encounter an explanation of the reasons for this state of a woman and her soul in Chichikov’s monologue after meeting a beautiful stranger, when the hero discusses what happens to a pure and simple girl and how “rubbish” turns out of her.

Korobochka’s “club-headedness” also receives a precise meaning: it is not excessive practicality or commercialism, but a limited mind, which is determined by a single thought or belief and is a consequence of the general limitations of life. And it is the “club-headed” Korobochka, who never gave up the thought of a possible deception on the part of Chichikov and comes to the city to inquire “how much are dead souls these days,” becomes one of the reasons for the collapse of the hero’s adventure and his rapid flight from the city.

Why does Chichikov get to Korobochka after Manilov and before meeting Nozdryov? As was said earlier, the sequence of images of landowners is built along two lines. The first is descending: the degree of “sin” in each subsequent case becomes more severe, responsibility for the state of the soul increasingly lies with the person himself. The second is ascending: how possible is it for a character to revive his life and “resurrect” his soul?

Manilov lives quite openly - he appears in the city, is present at evenings and meetings, communicates, but his life is similar to a sentimental novel, and therefore illusory: he is very reminiscent in appearance, and in his reasoning, and in his attitude towards people, of the hero of sentimental and romantic works, fashionable in early XIX century. You can guess about his past - good education, short civil service, retirement, marriage and life with family on the estate. Manilov does not understand that his existence is not connected with reality, therefore he cannot realize that his life is not going as it should. If we draw a parallel with Dante's " Divine Comedy", then he is more reminiscent of sinners of the first circle, whose sin is that they are unbaptized infants or pagans. But the possibility of rebirth is closed to him for the same reason: his life is an illusion, and he does not realize it.

The box is too immersed in the material world. If Manilov is entirely in fantasy, then she is in the prose of life, and intellectual and spiritual life comes down to habitual prayers and the same habitual piety. The fixation on material things, on profit, the one-sidedness of her life is worse than Manilov’s fantasies.

Could Korobochka's life have turned out differently? Yes and no. The influence of the surrounding world, society, circumstances left their mark on her, made her inner world just the way he is. But there was still a way out - sincere faith in God. As we will see later, it is true Christian morality, from Gogol’s point of view, that is the saving force that keeps a person from spiritual fall and spiritual death. Therefore, the image of the Box cannot be considered satirical image- one-sidedness, “club-headedness” is no longer caused by laughter, but by sad reflections: “But why, among the unthinking, cheerful, carefree minutes, will another wonderful stream suddenly rush by itself: laughter has not yet had time to completely escape from the face, but has already become different among those same people, and the face was illuminated with a different light..."

A further meeting with Nozdryov - a scoundrel, a brawler and a rogue - shows that worse than the one-sidedness of life can be dishonor, a willingness to do nasty things to one’s neighbor, sometimes for no reason at all, and excessive activity that has no purpose. In this regard, Nozdryov is a kind of antipode to Korobochka: instead of one-sidedness of life - excessive scatteredness, instead of veneration of rank - contempt for any conventions, even to the point of violating elementary norms human relations and behavior. Gogol himself said: “...My heroes follow one after another, one more vulgar than the other.” Vulgarity is a spiritual fall, and the degree of vulgarity in life is the degree of triumph of death over life in the human soul.

So, the image of Korobochka reflects the widespread, from the author’s point of view, type of people who limit their lives to only one sphere, who “rest their foreheads” on one thing and do not see, and most importantly - do not want to see - anything that exists apart from the subject of their attention. Gogol chooses the material sphere - taking care of the household. The box reaches a level sufficient in this area for a woman, a widow, who has to manage a decent-sized estate. But her life is so concentrated on this that she does not and cannot have any other interests. That's why real life it remains in the past, and the present, and especially the future, is not life. but only existence.