Description of the character a box of dead souls. The image of the Korobochka in the poem 'Dead Souls' by N.V. Gogol. Character traits

In the third chapter of the poem "Dead Souls" NV Gogol introduces the reader to the landowner Nastasya Petrovna. The characteristic of Korobochka helps the author gradually realize the idea of ​​his work, moving from innocent images to more insignificant ones.

How Chichikov learned about the landowner

The main character went to another landowner - Sobakevich, but on the way at night his chaise got lost, and he accidentally ends up in the possession of Korobochka.

Portrait characteristic

The box is a woman in a "sleeping cap, put on hastily, with a flannel around her neck." The external description of Korobochka in the poem "Dead Souls" is laconic. The author does not give detailed characteristics, depriving the heroine of the face to show the typicality of this image.

Environment

Despite the fact that Chichikov calls Korobochka's possession a "good village", he realizes that he has found himself in a "decent wilderness." The estate is located far from the city; there is not a single rich landowner nearby.

The box is a good housewife, she pays great attention to housekeeping. She has a lot of household utensils; various fruits and varieties are grown in the garden. The peasants' houses are in good conditions.

Lifestyle

However, such features of Korobochka's life lead the reader to the conclusion that she lives only by household, other things do not interest her. It is limited by its own handwritten framework. Trying to save as much as possible, she is ready to sell everything she has. This clearly shows the real character of the heroine. Everything that is associated with the image of the Box is the first stage of misery.

Deal with Chichikov

The episode of buying dead souls from Korobochka plays a special role. The landowner, having learned that Chichikov is a "buyer", begins to offer him various goods. The desire for profit speaks in it. She regretfully says that she has already sold honey to other merchants, for which Chichikov, most likely, would have given more.

When the main character says what exactly he is ready to buy, Korobochka cannot understand for a long time: how can you sell already deceased souls? She is confused because she has never sold dead souls, so she does not know the price for them. Because of this, the heroine hesitates, fearing to sell too cheap, although she realizes that the deal "seems to be profitable."

For fear of making a mistake with the price, Korobochka spends a lot of time. She decides to "postpone" the sale, find out the prices of the deceased and then sell them. However, Chichikov still manages to lead her to conclude a deal in another way. Pavel Ivanovich, promising to buy the products grown by her peasants from her, gives 15 banknotes for the souls.

What Chichikov thinks about heroin

Long attempts to persuade Korobochka tire Chichikov, he feels that he is in sweat, "like in a river." The attitude of the protagonist to Korobochka is conveyed by the following quotes: "Well, the woman seems to be strong-minded!" you threw it into sweat, you damned old woman! "

Chichikov compares the heroine to a mongrel who does not eat hay herself, and does not allow others to do this.

The meaning of the image

So why did N.V. Gogol devote an entire chapter to the image of Korobochka? In his lyrical digressions, he proves the typical character of this character. He calls her one of those who "cry for crop failures", and themselves "are gaining a little bit of money."

Nastasya Petrovna is limited, she lives in a kind of "box", so the name of the heroine turns out to be a speaking one. She is fixated on making a profit, it is for this purpose that she runs the household. The heroine is stupid and uneducated. As the author writes, if Korobochka has hacked something on her nose, then nothing can be overpowered.

It is not in vain that the writer gives such a short description of the heroine's appearance; it was important for him to emphasize the typicality of this image. He does this in lyrical digressions: "a different and respectable, and even a state person, but in fact a perfect Box comes out."

This article will help you write the essay "Characteristics of the Box" according to the plan, will reveal the ways of creating this female image, show the meaning of the character in the work, as well as the author's opinion about this type of people.

Product test

We meet with Korobochka in the 3rd chapter of Gogol's novel-poem "Dead Souls". She is the second person to be visited by Chichikov. In fact, Chichikov drove into her estate by accident - the coachman got drunk, "played a part", as the author himself describes this event, and lost his way. Therefore, instead of Sobakevich, the main character meets the landowner Korobochka.

Consider the image of the Box in detail

She is a woman of venerable years, a widow, formerly a “college secretary”. Lives alone on his estate and is completely absorbed in housekeeping. Most likely, she has no children of her own, since Gogol mentions in the character description that all her "trash" accumulated during her life will go to some grand-niece.

Looks old-fashioned and a little ridiculous, "in a cap", "flannel", "something is imposed on the neck."

Korobochka, unlike Manilov, successfully runs the household herself. Through the eyes of Chichikov, we see that the houses in her village are strong, serf men are "sturdy" (strong), there are many guard dogs, which suggests that this is a "decent village." The yard is full of poultry, and behind the fence there are vegetable gardens with vegetables - cabbage, beets, onions, potatoes. There are also fruit trees, carefully covered with nets from voracious magpies and sparrows. The stuffed animals have been installed for the same purpose. Gogol ironically notes that one of the scarecrows was wearing the cap of the hostess herself.

The houses of the peasants were maintained and renovated - Chichikov saw a new board on the roofs, the gates were level everywhere, in some yards there were carts. That is, the master's care is visible everywhere. In total, Korobochka has 80 serfs, 18 died, about which the mistress deeply laments - they were good workers.

Korobochka does not let the serfs be lazy - they beat Chichikov's feather bed masterfully, in the morning, when he returns to the living room where he spent the night, everything is already tidied up; the table is bursting with baked goods.

The fact that the landowner is in order all around and everything is under her personal control, we see from the dialogue about the purchase of dead souls - she remembers all the dead peasants by their first and last names, she does not even keep any records.

Despite the fact that Korobochka is very fond of complaining about how bad things are, her estate also had surpluses that were sold to merchants and resellers. From the dialogue with Chichikov, we learn that the landowner sells honey, hemp, feathers, meat, flour, cereals, bacon. She knows how to bargain, sells a pood of honey at a very expensive price, as much as 12 rubles, which Chichikov is very surprised at.

Nastasya Petrovna is thrifty and even a little stingy. Despite the fact that things are going well on the estate, the decor in the house is very modest, the wallpaper is old, the clock is creaky. Despite the courteous treatment and hospitality, Korobochka did not invite the guest to dinner, referring to the late hour. And in the morning he offers Chichikov only tea, albeit with fruit tincture. Only when she felt the benefit - when Chichikov promised to buy "household products" from her - Korobochka decided to appease him and ordered to bake a pie and pancakes. She also set the table with different pastries.

Gogol writes that her "dress will not burn out and will not wear out by itself." Complaining about poverty and poor harvests, she nevertheless puts the money in "motley bags", which she stuffs in the drawers of the chest of drawers. All coins are carefully sorted - "rubles, fifty dollars, little devil's" are laid out separately in bags. In everything, the old landowner tries to find profit - noticing Chichikov's stamped paper, she asks him to "give a leaf."

The little box is devout and superstitious. In a thunderstorm, he puts a candle in front of the icon, prays; gets scared when Chichikov mentions a devil in a conversation.

She is not too smart and a little suspicious, she is very afraid to miscalculate and sell too cheap. She doubts the deal with Chichikov and does not want to sell him dead souls, although she has to pay for them as if they were alive. He naively thinks that other merchants can come and offer a better price. This deal completely exhausted Chichikov, and in the process of negotiations he calls Korobochka mentally and aloud “tough-headed”, “club-headed”, “mongrel in the manger” and “damned old woman”.

The image of Korobochka is interesting in that it is a fairly common type in Russia during the time of Gogol. Its main features - stubbornness, stupidity and narrow-mindedness - were inherent in real individuals - some officials and civil servants. The author writes about such people that you seemingly see a respectable and statesman person, but in fact it turns out to be a "perfect Box". Arguments and arguments bounce off them like a rubber ball.

The description of the landowner ends with a reflection on the topic, can we assume that Korobochka is at the very bottom of the “ladder of“ human development ”? Gogol compares her to an aristocratic sister who lives in a rich and elegant house, who reads books, attends social events, and her thoughts are occupied with "fashionable Catholicism" and political upheavals in France, and not with economic affairs. The author does not give a concrete answer to this question; the reader must answer it himself.

Let's summarize the main characteristics of the Box image

Economic

Has a business acumen

Practical

Thrifty

Petty

Hypocritical

Suspicious

Limited

Cares only about his own benefit

Obsessed with hoarding

Religious, but without real spirituality

Superstitious

The symbolism of the landowner's surname

Symbolism is an important artistic tool in the hands of a writer. In Gogol's poem "Dead Souls" all the names of the landowners are symbolic. Our heroine is no exception. A box is a diminutive derivative of the word "box", that is, an inanimate object. So in the image of the Korobochka there are few living features, she is turned to the past, there is no real life in her, no development - personal, spiritual. A real "dead soul".

People keep various things in a box - just like Korobochka is absorbed in hoarding solely for the sake of money itself, it does not have any global goal on which this money can be spent. She just puts them in bags.

Well, the walls of the box are solid, like Korobochka's mind. She is stupid and limited.

As for the diminutive-affectionate suffix, the author may have wanted to show the harmlessness and some comic character of the character.

Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol created his work "Dead Souls" in 1842. In it, he depicted a number of Russian landowners, created their grotesque and vivid images. One of the most interesting representatives of this class, described in the poem, is the Box. The characteristics of this heroine will be discussed in this article.

Characteristics plan

The plan according to which the analysis of the landowners - the characters of the work "Dead Souls" is carried out, includes one way or another the following points:

• the first impression that the hero makes;
• the characteristic features of this character;
• speech and demeanor;
• the attitude of the hero to the household;
• attitude towards other people;
• goals in life;
• conclusions.

Let's try to analyze according to this plan the image of such a heroine as Korobochka ("Dead Souls"). Our characterization will begin with the first impression that the heroine made on Chichikov. In the work, the third chapter is devoted to the creation of the image of the Box.

Chichikov's first impression

Korobochka Nastasya Petrovna is a landowner who is the widow of one very thrifty and economic woman, already elderly.

Her village is small, but everything is in order in it, the economy is flourishing, which brings a good income. Korobochka favorably differs from Manilov: she knows by the names of all the peasants belonging to her (quote from the text: "... she knew almost everyone by heart"), she speaks of them as diligent workers, and is engaged in farming independently.

The behavior of this landowner, the appeal of the "father" to the guest, the desire to serve him (since Chichikov introduced himself as a nobleman), as best as possible to arrange for the night, to regale - these are all features characteristic of the landowner class in the provinces. The portrait of Korobochka is not as detailed as the portraits of the rest of the landowners. He seemed to be stretched out: first Chichikov heard the voice of an old servant woman ("hoarse woman"), then another woman appeared, younger, but very similar to her, and now, finally, when he was escorted into the house and he had already looked around, she entered herself mistress Korobochka (Dead Souls).

The characterization of the portrait heroine is as follows. The author describes her as an elderly woman, in a "sleeping cap, put on hastily, with a flannel around her neck." The quotation characteristic of the Box ("Dead Souls") can be continued. Nikolai Vasilievich emphasizes the old age of Korobochka in the image of the landowner, in the text further Chichikov calls her directly to himself - an old woman. Especially does not change in the morning of this hostess. Only the sleeping cap disappears from her image.

The box is just that, so the main character immediately discards the ceremony and gets down to business.

Attitude to the economy

We describe further such a character as Box ("Dead Souls"). The characterization according to the plan continues with the attitude of this heroine to the household. In understanding the image of this landowner, an important role is played by the description of the decoration of the rooms in the house, as well as the whole estate, which is distinguished by contentment and strength.

It is evident in everything that this woman is a good housewife. The windows of the room overlook the courtyard, which is filled with numerous birds and various "house creatures". Further you can see vegetable gardens, fruit trees covered with nets from birds, there are also stuffed animals on poles, on one of which "the hostess's cap" flaunts.

The prosperity of their inhabitants is also shown by peasant huts. This is also noted by Gogol ("Dead Souls"). The characteristic (Box is an image, also conveyed by external details) includes a description of not only the character himself, but also the environment associated with him. This must be remembered when conducting analysis. The economy of this landowner is clearly flourishing, bringing her considerable profit. And the village itself is not small, it consists of eighty souls.

Character traits

We continue to describe such a character as Box ("Dead Souls"). The characteristic according to the plan is supplemented with the following details. This landowner Gogol includes among the small owners who complain about losses and crop failures and "hold their heads a little to one side", and meanwhile collect a little bit of money in "variegated bags placed on the drawers of the chest of drawers".

Manilov and Korobochka are antipodes in some way: the vulgarity of the former is hidden behind reflections about the Motherland, lofty phrases about its good, and Korobochka's spiritual scarcity appears in a natural, undisguised form. She does not even pretend to be culture: in the whole appearance of the heroine, first of all, the unpretentious simplicity that Korobochka has is emphasized. The characterization of the hero "Dead Souls" also shows that this simplicity is found in Nastasya Petrovna and in relations with people.

In the summary given by the author, it is noted that their decoration was old - striped old wallpaper, paintings depicting birds, small antique mirrors between the windows, framed by frames in the form of leaves. Behind each of the mirrors was either a letter, a stocking, or an old deck of cards. The wall is decorated with a clock with flowers painted on the dial. Here are the items that are shown during Chichikov's short visit. They say that the people living in the rooms are looking more towards the past than towards the present.

Demeanor

In a conversation about the acquisition of "dead" souls, the character and essence of the Box is fully revealed. At first, this woman cannot comprehend in any way what the main character wants from her. When she finally realizes what can be beneficial to her, bewilderment turns into a desire to get the most benefit from this transaction: since if someone needs the dead, therefore, they are a bargaining chip, since they are worth something.

Attitude towards people

For Korobochka, dead souls are on a par with lard, flour, honey and hemp. She has already had to sell everything else (quite profitable, as we know), and this business seems to her unknown and new. The desire not to sell too cheap is triggered here. Gogol writes that she "began to be very afraid that this buyer would somehow cheat her." The landowner infuriates Chichikov with her obstinacy, who had already hoped to get an easy consent.

Here an epithet appears, expressing the essence of not only Korobochka, but also a whole similar to this landowner - "club-headed".

Nikolai Vasilievich explains that neither social status nor rank is the reason for this property. The phenomenon of "cudgel head" is very common. Its representative can even be a stately, respectable person who actually turns out to be a "perfect box". The author explains that the essence of this trait is that if a person took something into his head, he cannot be overpowered in any way, regardless of the number of arguments, clear as daylight, everything bounces off him, just like a rubber ball flies off a wall. ...

Purpose in life

The main goal of life pursued by Korobochka ("Dead Souls"), the characteristics of which are presented in this article, is the consolidation of personal wealth, non-stop hoarding. The economy inherent in Korobochka reveals at the same time its inner insignificance. In addition to the desire to benefit and acquire something, she has no other feelings. The image of this accumulator is deprived of some of the "attractive" features inherent in Manilov. Her interests are completely focused on the economy.

conclusions

In the finale of the chapter about Korobochka, Gogol says that her image is typical; there is no significant difference between her and some representatives of the aristocracy. The author pays great attention to the behavior of Chichikov, emphasizing that he behaves with this landowner more cheekily, more simply than with Manilov.

This phenomenon is typical for Russian reality, proves Nikolai Vasilyevich about how Prometheus turned into a fly. Such is the Korobochka ("Dead Souls"), the characteristics of which were carried out by us. It can be presented more clearly. To better assimilate the information, we suggest that you familiarize yourself with the table that characterizes such a landowner as Korobochka ("Dead Souls").

Feature (table) Boxes

The landowner Korobochka ("Dead Souls") was introduced to you. The characterization with quotes from this heroine can be supplemented. The excerpts on the decoration of rooms, housekeeping, and the agreement with Chichikov seem to be very interesting. The quotes you like can be written out of the text and supplemented with this characteristic. We only briefly described such a heroine as Korobochka ("Dead Souls"). The characterization was briefly presented in order to make the reader want to continue it on his own.

A poor landowner, "collegiate registrar" Korobochka lives quietly in her little house, and her whole life is filled only with worries about the economy. Korobochka’s narrow courtyard is full of birds and all kinds of other domestic creatures, and beyond the courtyard there are 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, bacon and hemp, and she knows very well when they can be sold at a better price.

The box is extremely limited. She knows how to keep forty fruit trees from sparrows, but she cannot figure out what it took
Chichikov "dead souls", especially since she sees no use in them. Chichikov rightly calls her "tough-headed" and "club-headed". Not understanding Chichikov's plans, she nevertheless understands perfectly well that it is unprofitable to pay to file for the dead, and in the end she makes a deal. Constantly complaining about crop failures and losses, Korobochka, meanwhile, is gaining a little bit of money in motley bags. In one of them she selects "rubles", in the other - "fifty rubles", in the third - "quarters" and hides them in a chest of drawers, in which, at first glance, there is nothing but linen and night jackets.
The little box is ignorant and extremely superstitious. For example, she has no doubts that "if you make a guess on the cards after prayer," then you will definitely dream of the "accursed" 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: "Oh, my father, you have, like a hog, your back and side covered in mud!" When Chichikov, buying dead souls, could not bear it and began to raise his tone, she exclaimed in fear: "Oh, what kind of rejection you are asking!"
Patriarchy emanates from Korobochka's home environment. There are more and more antique items in her rooms: a portrait of an old man with red cuffs on his uniform, "which were sewn under Pavel Petrovich," old small mirrors with dark frames, an old clock with a hiss instead of a fight, an old deck of cards. There is not even a faint hint of living life and serious interests in anything.

But, perhaps, Korobochka with its limitations and ignorance is just a rare phenomenon of the provincial wilderness?
Gogol sadly concludes: no. The squalor inherent in Korobochka, a passion for money, a desire for profit, self-interest, stupidity and ignorance are features typical not only for Korobochka, but also for various strata of the ruling class in general, for its top. “Maybe,” Gogol writes, “you’ll even start thinking: yes, really, is Korobochka really standing so low on the endless ladder of human development? "Gogol thereby emphasizes the broad typicality of the 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 brightest and most 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 happens quite by accident, when Pavel Ivanovich, due to bad weather, loses his way to Sobakevich. Chichikov arrives at Korobochka's estate, in a village away from the main road, and stays with her to spend the night, and this is how they meet.

She was an elderly woman, in shabby clothes, completely devoting her life to the household, which she leads in her estate. Despite the fact that she has only 80 peasant souls at her disposal, her estate boasts a good condition: strong and well-groomed houses, strong and healthy men.

Korobochka lives by selling products produced on her estate, for example, honey, hemp. She earns a lot on this, she tries to make a profit from everything, she has enough for a comfortable life, nevertheless, the landowner likes to complain about life, be poor and underestimate her wealth. The box is self-serving, greedy, stingy, since it did not feed the guest from the road., Distrustful and shows excessive suspicion towards people. Nevertheless, Korobochka, in his well-to-do household, shows hospitality when he gives Chichikov clean clothes, wash dirty ones, sends the girl to scratch his heel and fluff up a pillow.

The landowner Korobochka collects and stores trash, her whole life is a continuous hoarding, musty reigns in her estate. Also, the interior of her house seems to Chichikov quite old-fashioned, as if it had frozen somewhere in time. Nastasya Petrovna believes in both God and the devil, sometimes she makes fortune with cards. When Chichikov wakes up, he sees many flies, which once again emphasizes old age. Little is known about Korobochka's family that 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 soon as possible in order to get rid of her.

Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol calls the landowner an oak-headed one, since after selling dead souls to Pavel Ivanovich, she goes to the city to find out the true price in order to find out if she was deceived.

On the whole, representing one of the most striking images, Nastasya Petrovna is an ordinary and simple landowner.

Option 2

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

He visits various landowners, among whom Korobochka stands out, who is a wealthy landowner, ready to sell whatever her heart desires, including the deceased peasants.

The stupid Nastasya Petrovna thinks that she will need to dig up the dead from the graves, and this does not stop her. She intends to do everything in order to only receive a reward. Chichikov, from the first minute, realizing the character of the woman, immediately began to converse with her more freely than with Manilov. He even shouted at her when Korobochka listened to him distractedly. After all, one thing revolves in her thoughts, just not to give the dead cheaply, and the rest did not bother at all.

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

Her whole house looks like a box in which there are many antiques. When you look at her, you are surprised how greedy Nastasya Petrovna is. She does not have children of her own, 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 ominous. She saves money for their own sake, she is not afraid to even let the dead go on sale - just not to make a mistake. All her coins are laid out in different colorful bags, which she takes out and counts every day. Her circle of interests is also small. Basically, she communicates only with those people with whom she consults on trafficking.

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 are killing the soul of the landlords. They lose their human appearance. In the image of Korobochka, he showed new features of capitalist society.

Essay about the landowner Korobochka

Gogol's poem can be read at various levels, the author has put many different semantic layers into his creation. If you look at Korobochka superficially, then we have a satire on stupidity and patriarchal way of life, a parody of limited personality and excessive practicality, a heroine that surprises with her own 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 this way without any hesitation. The landlord is not distinguished by an exalted mind, but she has quite valuable practical knowledge, these details are also noted, for example, the nets that keep fruit trees.

Thus, Gogol describes the figure of a down-to-earth people, a common people without romanticization. These people in reality can be ridiculous and rude, sit and argue where the wheel will roll, know how to buy and sell more profitably. This people has nothing but their own little world and is 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 as Baba Yaga. A trip to Korobochka is associated for Chichikov with images of death and afterlife. Before arriving, he falls into the ground (the image of a burial), when he wakes up - flies are sitting on his face (as on a corpse) and if you follow through the text, Gogol gives similar hints in almost every phrase.

The box, like a magical old woman from Russian fairy tales, lives in the outskirts and is associated with otherworldly forces. In this reading, lamentations, omens in which she believes (guessing on cards, for example) and interior details (for example, cards for fortune telling) receive a completely new reading and become a kind of attributes of a sorceress.

One of the main characters in the work is the key character's best friend Dmitry Nekhlyudov.

Our world is great, and the behavior of people in it is even greater and more varied. It so happened for millennia that we are born beautiful and ugly - both in body and soul.