Description of the appearance of the landowner Manilov Dead Souls. Manilov as husband and owner. Why Manilov is a “dead soul”

Manilov's appearance is not something outstanding, bright, or memorable. On the contrary, the author openly declares that describing people like the owner of the estate is extremely difficult and unpleasant, since they do not particularly stand out. The character is simple, or rather empty, but the author speaks about this delicately and with restraint, allowing the reader to understand the essence of the hero himself. The portrait of Manilov in the poem “Dead Souls” is a tool for revealing inner world hero, despite his brevity, he plays an important role in the image of our character.

Portrait description of Manilov

The poem devotes several lines to describe the natural characteristics of the landowner. He has a pleasant appearance, “blond” hair, blue eyes. The author notes that the landowner is a prominent man, that is, he has a good figure and impressive stature. In addition, his background as an officer undoubtedly influenced his posture. That is why Chichikov, looking at the owner of the house, notes his pleasant appearance, alluring smile, and kind face. A little later, the guest will understand that Manilov’s smile, manners and speech are incredibly sweet.

Even at the beginning of the chapter, Gogol warns the reader that there are many manilas, they are all similar to each other, so it is extremely difficult to find something special and distinctive in such a person. This is both the appearance and the character of the character - “neither this nor that.” He has no thirst for life, fire, character. He is truly uninterested in anything except pipe smoking and empty dreams. But the character is a flatterer, a talker and a sloth. He is ridiculously aristocratic, overly polite, cloyingly caring and courteous. Manilov is dressed in a “green shaloon frock coat,” the landowner, however, like his wife, dresses well, but without zest.

Manilov as husband and owner

Chichikov's business conversation with the owner shows his helplessness in matters of managing the estate. The landowner knows nothing about how many souls he has, when the last audit was, how many peasants have died since then. According to many researchers of N.V. Gogol’s work, the author hints at Alexander I in last years his reign. The similarity of these images is indicated by his kindness, sincerity, sentimentality, global plans and complete inaction. Manilov looks like everyone else and that’s why he’s faceless, the author doesn’t even give him a name, doesn’t reveal his biography - as if he doesn’t exist.

Time seems to have no relation to our hero: he is a man without age, living every day the same way, unable to change anything in himself and around him. That is why the description of the estate includes a pond that is overgrown and turning into a swamp. This is precisely the allegory of Manilov’s entire life. There is no flow in it, it is meaningless, but a swamp can drag you in, and you can die in it. This is exactly what happened with Manilov: he was mired in this, and his family happily accepted this lifestyle. Many scenes very vividly characterize the way of life of the landowner's family. The reader is presented with a picture of Manilov cooing with his wife, as if they were on their honeymoon. He opens his mouth in a mannered manner, bites off a piece of an apple from his wife’s hands, and helps himself to some nuts. Sweetness and sweetness overwhelm the image of the hero; the author calls it “the devil knows what” and warns about the desire to escape from “deadly boredom.”

Inside view

The hero’s inner world is very much in tune with the landscape that opens to the guest at the entrance to the village: a house on the Jura, accessible to all winds, little vegetation, remoteness from the city. The weather also matches the character’s image - not light, not cloudy, something “light gray in color.” Same Pine forest ok can be seen not far from the estate - a “dull bluish” color. Everything: the long, confusing road to the Manilov estate (and the road back), the weather conditions, the surrounding landscapes, the description of the estate and the house - is aimed at preparing for a meeting with a new character: empty, boring, “gray,” “so-so,” “no in the city of Bogdan, nor in the village of Selifan.”

The article will be useful in preparing for literature lessons, writing essays or other creative works on the topic “Portrait of Manilov”.

Work test

Work:

Dead Souls

Gogol emphasizes the emptiness and insignificance of the hero, covered by the sugary pleasantness of his appearance and the details of the furnishings of his estate. M.'s house is open to all winds, the sparse tops of birch trees are visible everywhere, the pond is completely overgrown with duckweed. But the gazebo in M.’s garden is pompously named “Temple of Solitary Reflection.” M.’s office is covered with “blue paint, sort of grey,” which indicates the lifelessness of the hero, from whom you won’t get a single living word. Having caught on to any topic, M.’s thoughts float into the distance, into abstract thoughts. To think about real life, and even more so, this hero is not capable of making any decisions. Everything in M.'s life: action, time, meaning - has been replaced by refined verbal formulas. As soon as Chichikov expressed his strange request for the sale of dead souls in beautiful words, and M. immediately calmed down and agreed. Although before this proposal seemed wild to him. M.’s world is a world of false idyll, the path to death. It is not for nothing that even Chichikov’s path to the lost Manilovka is depicted as a path to nowhere. There is nothing negative in M., but there is nothing positive either. He is an empty place, nothing. Therefore, this hero cannot count on transformation and rebirth: there is nothing to be reborn in him. And therefore M., along with Korobochka, occupies one of the lowest places in the “hierarchy” of the heroes of the poem.

This man is a little reminiscent of Chichikov himself. “God alone could say what kind of character M. has. There is a family of people known by the name: neither this, nor that, neither in the city of Bogdan, nor in the village of Selifan. His facial features were not without pleasantness, but in this pleasantness, it seemed , too much sugar."

M. considers himself well-mannered, educated, noble. But let's look into his office. We see heaps of ashes, a dusty book, which has been open for the second year on page 14. there is always something missing in the house, only some of the furniture is upholstered in silk fabric, and two armchairs are upholstered in matting. M.’s weakness is also emphasized by the fact that the landowner’s housekeeping is handled by a drunkard clerk.

M. is a dreamer, and his dreams are completely divorced from reality. He dreams of “how good it would be if suddenly there was an underground passage from the house or a a stone bridge"G. emphasizes the inactivity and social uselessness of the landowner, but does not deprive him of his human qualities. M. is a family man, loves his wife and children, sincerely rejoices at the arrival of the guest, tries in every possible way to please him and do something pleasant.

MANILOV is a character in N.V. Gogol’s poem “Dead Souls” (first volume, 1842, under the title “The Adventures of Chichikov, or Dead Souls”; second, volume 1842-1845). Meaningful name M. (from the verb “to lure”, “to lure”) is played ironically by Gogol, parodying laziness, fruitless daydreaming, projectism, and sentimentality. Possible literary sources images of M. - characters from the works of N.M. Karamzin, for example Erast from the story “ Poor Lisa" The historical prototype, according to Likhachev, could be Tsar Nicholas I, who reveals kinship with type M. The image of M. dynamically unfolds from the proverb: a person is neither this nor that, neither in the city of Bogdan, nor in the village of Selifan. Things surrounding M. testify to his inability, isolation from life, indifference to reality: the manor’s house stands on the south, “open to all winds”; M. spends time in a gazebo with the inscription “Temple of Solitary Reflection,” where various fantastic projects occur to him, for example, to build an underground passage from the house or to build a stone bridge across a pond; in M.’s office for two years in a row there has been a book with a bookmark on page 14; There are ashes scattered in caps, a tobacco box, piles of ash knocked out of a pipe are neatly placed on the table and windows, which constitutes M. M.’s leisure time, immersed in tempting thoughts, never goes out into the fields, and meanwhile the men get drunk, near the gray huts of the village of M. not a single tree - “only one log”; the economy goes on somehow by itself; the housekeeper steals, M.'s servants sleep and hang out. M.'s portrait is built on the principle of quantitatively pumping up a positive quality (enthusiasm, sympathy, hospitality) to extreme excess, turning into the opposite, negative quality: “his facial features were not devoid of pleasantness, but this pleasantness seemed to have too much sugar in it”; in M.’s face “the expression is not only sweet, but even cloying, similar to that mixture that the clever secular doctor sweetened mercilessly...”; “In the first minute of conversation with him, you can’t help but say: “What a pleasant and a kind person! The next time you won’t say anything, and the third time you’ll say: “The devil knows what it is!” - and you will move further away...” The love of M. and his wife is parodic and sentimental. After eight years of marriage, they still bring sweets and tidbits to each other with the words: “Open your mouth, darling, I’ll put this piece for you.” They love surprises: they prepare a “beaded toothpick case” or a knitted wallet as a gift. M.’s refined delicacy and warmth are expressed in absurd forms of irrepressible delight: “cabbage soup, but from the bottom of my heart,” “May day, name day of the heart”; officials, according to M., are entirely the most respectable and most amiable people. M.'s image personifies a universal human phenomenon - “Manilovism,” that is, the tendency to create chimeras and pseudo-philosophizing. M. dreams of a neighbor with whom he could talk “about courtesy, about good treatment, follow some kind of science that would stir his soul in this way, would give, so to speak, this guy ...”, philosophize “under the shadow of an elm tree” ( Gogol's parody of the abstraction of German idealism). Generalization, abstraction, indifference to details are the properties of M.’s worldview. In his sterile idealism, M. is the antipode of the materialist, practical and Russophile Sobakevich. M. is a Westerner and gravitates towards the enlightened European way of life. M.'s wife studied French at a boarding school, plays the piano, and M.'s children, Themistoclus and Alcides, are educated at home; their names, in addition, contain the heroic claims of M. (Alcides is the middle name of Hercules; Themistocles is the leader of the Athenian democracy), however, the alogism of the name Themistoclus (the Greek name - the ending “yus” is Latin) ridicules the beginnings of the formation of the semi-European Russian nobility. The effect of Gogol’s alogism (ugliness that violates the decent norm of the subject series) emphasizes the decadence of “Manilovism”: at M.’s dinner, a dandy candlestick with three ancient graces and next to “a copper invalid, lame... covered in fat” is placed on the table; in the living room there is “wonderful furniture upholstered in dandy silk fabric” - and two armchairs upholstered in matting. M's estate is the first circle of Dante's hell, where Chichikov descends, the first stage of the “deadness” of the soul (M. still retains sympathy for people), which, according to Gogol, consists in the absence of any “enthusiasm.” The figure of M. is immersed in a dim atmosphere, designed in twilight ash and gray tones, creating “a feeling of strange ephemerality of what is depicted” (V. Markovich). Comparing M. with a “too smart minister” indicates the illusory ephemerality and projectism of the highest state power, whose typical features are vulgar sweetness and hypocrisy (S. Mashinsky). In the dramatization of the poem carried out by the Moscow Art Theater (1932), the role of M. was played by M.N. Kedrov.

Manilov is a character in N.V. Gogol’s poem “Dead Souls.” The name Manilov (from the verb “to lure”, “to lure”) is played ironically by Gogol. It parodies laziness, fruitless daydreaming, projectism, and sentimentality.

(The historical prototype, according to D. Likhachev, could be Tsar Nicholas I, who reveals kinship with the Manilov type.)

Manilov is a sentimental landowner, the first “seller” of dead souls.

The image of Manilov dynamically unfolds from the proverb: a person is neither this nor that, neither in the city of Bogdan, nor in the village of Selifan.

1) The character of the hero is not defined, it is not perceptible.

“God alone could say what kind of character Manilov has. There is a race of people known by the name: neither this nor that, neither in the city of Bogdan, nor in the village of Selifan.”

Manilov’s weakness is also emphasized by the fact that the landowner’s housekeeping is handled by a drunkard clerk.

Generalization, abstraction, indifference to details are the properties of Manilov’s worldview.

In his sterile idealism, Manilov is the antithesis of the materialist, practitioner and Russophile Sobakevich

Manilov is a dreamer, and his dreams are completely divorced from reality. “How nice it would be if suddenly an underground passage was built from the house or a stone bridge was built across the pond.”

The landowner was only engaged in project planning: he dreamed, but these projects did not come true.

At first he seems like a nice person, but then he becomes deathly boring because he has no own opinion and can only smile and say banal, sugary phrases.

In Manilov there are no living desires, that force of life that moves a person, forces him to perform some actions. In this sense, Manilov is a dead soul, “not this, not that.”

He is so typical, gray, uncharacteristic that he does not even have certain inclinations towards anything, he does not have a name or patronymic.

2) appearance - In Manilov’s face “the expression is not only sweet, but even cloying, similar to that potion that a clever secular doctor sweetened mercilessly...”;

Negative quality: “his facial features were not without pleasantness, but this pleasantness seemed to have too much sugar in it”;

Manilov himself is an outwardly pleasant person, but that’s if you don’t communicate with him: there’s nothing to talk to him about, he’s a boring conversationalist.

3) education - Manilov considers himself well-mannered, educated, noble.

But in Manilov’s office for two years in a row there has been a book with a bookmark on page 14.

He displays a “beautiful soul” in everything, lively manners and an amiable chirp in conversation.

Having caught on to any topic, Manilov’s thoughts float into the distance, into abstract thoughts.

Manilov’s refined delicacy and warmth are expressed in absurd forms of irrepressible delight: “cabbage soup, but from the heart,” “May day, name day of the heart”; officials, according to Manilov, are entirely the most respectable and most amiable people.

Manilov’s most common words in speech are: “dear”, “permit me”, yes indefinite pronouns and adverbs: some, this, some, that way...

These words add a tinge of uncertainty to everything that Manilov says, creating a feeling of semantic futility of speech: Manilov dreams of a neighbor with whom he could talk “about courtesy, about good treatment, follow some kind of science,” “as it would be in the real world.” It would be really good if we could live together like this, under the same roof, or philosophize under the shadow of some elm tree.”

This hero is not capable of thinking about real life, much less making any decisions. Everything in Manilov's life: action, time, meaning - has been replaced by refined verbal formulas.

Manilov is a Westerner and gravitates towards the enlightened European way of life. Manilov's wife studied French at a boarding school, plays the piano, and Manilov's children, Themistoclus and Alcides, are educated at home;

Comparing Manilov with a “too smart minister” indicates the illusory ephemerality and projectism of the highest state power, the typical features of which are vulgar sweetness and hypocrisy.

The claims to sophistication, education, and refinement of taste further emphasize the inner simplicity of the inhabitants of the estate. In essence, this is decoration covering up poverty.

4) qualities: positive - enthusiasm, sympathy (Manilov still retains sympathy for people), hospitality.

Human Manilov is a family man, loves his wife and children, sincerely rejoices at the arrival of a guest, tries in every possible way to please him and do something pleasant.

And he has a sweet relationship with his wife. Lyubov Manilov and his wives are parodic and sentimental

Manilov was mismanagement, the business “somehow went by itself.” Manilov’s mismanagement is revealed to us on the way to the estate: everything is lifeless, pitiful, petty.

Manilov is impractical - he takes the bill of sale on himself and does not understand the benefits sales of the dead shower. He allows the peasants to drink instead of work, his clerk does not know his business and, like the landowner, does not know how and does not want to manage the farm.

Manilov is a boring interlocutor, from him “you won’t get any lively or even arrogant words”, that after talking with him, “you will feel mortal boredom.”

Manilov is a landowner who is completely indifferent to the fate of the peasants.

Gogol emphasizes the inactivity and social uselessness of the landowner: the economy somehow goes on by itself; the housekeeper steals, M.'s servants sleep and hang out...

5) Things surrounding Manilov testify to his inability, isolation from life, and indifference to reality:

Manilov’s house is open to all the winds, thin tops of birches are visible everywhere, the pond is completely overgrown with duckweed, but the gazebo in Manilov’s garden is pompously named “Temple of Solitary Reflection.”

The master's house stands on the south; near the drab huts of the village of Manilov there is not a single tree - “only one log”;

The stamp of dullness, scarcity, and uncertainty of color lies on everything that surrounds Manilov: gray day, gray huts.

In the owners’ house, everything is also untidy and dull: the wife’s silk hood is pale in color, the walls of the office are painted “with some kind of blue paint, like gray”..., creating “a feeling of the strange ephemerality of what is depicted”

The situation always clearly characterizes the hero. In Gogol, this technique is brought to a satirical point: his heroes are immersed in the world of things, their appearance is exhausted by things.

Estate M is the first circle of Dante’s hell, where Chichikov descends, the first stage of the “deadness” of the soul (sympathy for people still remains), which, according to Gogol, consists in the absence of any “enthusiasm.”

Manilov's estate is the front façade of landowner Russia.

6) Manilov’s leisure time is:

Manilov spends time in a gazebo with the inscription “Temple of Solitary Reflection,” where various fantastic projects come to his mind (for example, to build an underground passage from the house or to build a stone bridge across a pond); in Manilov’s office for two years in a row there has been a book with a bookmark on page 14; There are ashes scattered in caps, a tobacco box, piles of ash knocked out of a pipe are neatly placed on the table and windows, immersed in tempting thoughts, he never goes out into the fields, and meanwhile the men get drunk...

Conclusion.

Gogol emphasizes the emptiness and insignificance of the hero, covered by the sugary pleasantness of his appearance and the details of the furnishings of his estate.

There is nothing negative in Manilov, but there is nothing positive either.

He is an empty place, nothing.

Therefore, this hero cannot count on transformation and rebirth: there is nothing to be reborn in him.

Manilov's world is a world of false idyll, the path to death.

It is not for nothing that even Chichikov’s path to the lost Manilovka is depicted as a path to nowhere.

And therefore Manilov, along with Korobochka, occupies one of the lowest places in the “hierarchy” of the heroes of the poem.

The image of Manilov personifies a universal human phenomenon - “Manilovism,” that is, the tendency to create chimeras and pseudo-philosophizing.

Manilov: character story

A character from the prose poem “Dead Souls.” Landowner, inactive dreamer. Manilov has two sons and a wife, Lizonka.

History of creation

The idea " Dead souls“He suggested it to Gogol, as follows from Gogol’s book “The Author’s Confession.” Pushkin himself intercepted this idea from a certain gentleman during his exile in Chisinau. Someone told Pushkin about a town in Bessarabia, where no one except the military has died for a long time.

IN early XIX century, many peasants fled to this town from the central Russian provinces. The police were looking for the fugitives, but they took the names of the dead, so it was impossible to find out who was who. As a result, it turned out that no deaths were registered in this city for a long time. According to statistics, people stopped dying. The authorities began an investigation, and it turned out that runaway peasants, who did not have papers, appropriated the names of the dead.

Gogol himself mentions for the first time that he is working on “ Dead souls", in a letter to Pushkin from 1835. A year later, Gogol travels to Switzerland, then to Paris and Italy, where he continues to work on the novel.

When meeting, Gogol read individual chapters from the still unfinished novel to Pushkin and his other acquaintances. In 1842, the work was first published. The novel is not finished. Incomplete drafts of several chapters of the second volume survive.

Biography

Manilov - a middle-aged man noble origin, landowner. The hero has blond hair, blue eyes and a winning smile. The hero is courteous and courteous, often laughs and smiles. At the same time, he squints or closes his eyes and becomes like a cat that has been “tickled behind the ears.” He gives the impression of a prominent and pleasant person at first glance, but Manilov’s appearance and manners are characterized by a certain sweetness, excessive “sugariness”.

Manilov was an officer, but is now retired. Colleagues considered the hero an educated and delicate person. While still in the army, the hero developed the habit of smoking a pipe. The hero has been married for more than eight years, but is still happily married. Manilov and his wife Lizonka are happy with each other and communicate tenderly. The hero is raising two sons, six and seven years old, to whom he gave unusual names in the "Greek" manner.

Manilov differs little from people of the same circle as him; he is a typical rich gentleman noble blood. Despite his pleasant and kind character, Manilov is boring and not interesting to communicate with. The hero does not stand out in any way, is not able to captivate the conversation and looks like a characterless person, devoid of an inner core.

The hero does not argue and is not arrogant, does not have hobbies, his own opinions or views that he would consider necessary to defend. Manilov, in principle, is taciturn, more inclined to have his head in the clouds and think about abstract subjects. The hero can enter the room, sit in a chair and fall into prostration for several hours.

Manilov is unusually lazy. The hero has left the household to its own devices, and affairs in the estate are settled without the participation of the owner. Manilov has never seen his own fields in his life and does not keep records of dead peasants, which indicates the hero’s complete indifference to his own estate.

In the Manilovs' house, things are also going very badly, and the owners do not pay attention to it. The Manilovs' servants drink, do not take care of their own appearance and do not fulfill their duties, the housekeeper steals, the pantries are empty, and the cook wastes food senselessly. The owners themselves, like the servants, do not pay attention to what is happening in the house and in what conditions they live.

In 2005, the eight-episode series “The Case of Dead Souls” was released. The script was created based on several works by Nikolai Gogol - “Dead Souls”, “Notes of a Madman”, “The Inspector General”, etc. Pavel Chichikov here is a swindler who disappeared from prison.

Main character series - Ivan Schiller, a college registrar, is investigating the disappearance of Chichikov and for this he arrives in a certain provincial town. Local officials are doing their best to prevent the visiting gentleman from investigating. Along the way, Schiller is forced to go through several strange encounters, and in the finale the hero himself turns into the swindler Chichikov. The role of Manilov in the series is played by actor Pavel Lyubimtsev.

Characteristics of Manilov, one of the heroes of the poem “” (1842) by the Russian writer (1809 - 1852).

On behalf of this hero, the word ➤ baseless daydreaming, a passively complacent attitude towards reality entered the Russian language.

Manilov is married. Lives in Manilovka village. He has two boys - Themistoclus and Alcides.

Volume I, Chapter I

“He immediately met the very courteous and courteous landowner Manilov...”

“The landowner Manilov, not yet an old man at all, who had eyes as sweet as sugar and squinted them every time he laughed, was crazy about him. He shook his hand for a very long time and asked him to earnestly honor him by coming to the village, to which, according to him, was only fifteen miles from the city outpost. To which Chichikov, with a very polite bow of his head and a sincere handshake, replied that he was not only very willing to do this, but would even consider it a sacred duty."

Volume I, Chapter II

Description of the village of Manilovka:

“We went to look for Manilovka. Having driven two miles, we came across a turn onto a country road, but two, three, and four miles had already gone, it seems, and the two-story stone house was still not visible. Then Chichikov remembered that if a friend invites you to a village fifteen miles away, which means that there are thirty faithful to it. The village of Manilovka could lure few people with its location. The master's house stood alone on the south, that is, on a hill, open to all the winds that would blow; sloping The mountain on which he stood was covered with trimmed turf. Two or three flower beds with bushes of lilacs and yellow acacias were scattered on it; five or six birch trees in small clumps here and there raised their small-leaved thin peaks. Under two of them one can see there was a gazebo with a flat green dome, wooden blue columns and the inscription “temple of solitary reflection"; lower down there was a pond covered with greenery, which, however, is not uncommon in the English gardens of Russian landowners. At the foot of this elevation, and partly along the slope itself, there were dark and across the gray log huts, which our hero, for unknown reasons, at that very moment began to count and counted more than two hundred; nowhere between them is a growing tree or any greenery; There was only one log visible everywhere. The view was enlivened by two women who, having picked up their dresses in a picturesque manner and tucked themselves in on all sides, were wandering knee-deep in the pond, dragging a tattered mess by two wooden nags, where two tangled crayfish were visible and a roach that had come across was glistening; the women seemed to be quarreling among themselves and quarreling over something. At a distance, to the side, a pine forest darkened with some dull bluish color. Even the weather itself was very useful: the day was either clear or gloomy, but of some light gray color, which only appears on the old uniforms of garrison soldiers, this, however, was a peaceful army, but partly drunk in Sundays. To complete the picture there was no shortage of a rooster, the harbinger of changeable weather, which, despite the fact that the head was hollowed out to the very brain by the noses of other roosters, famous cases red tape, bawled very loudly and even flapped his wings, which were tattered like old matting. Approaching the yard, Chichikov noticed the owner himself on the porch, who stood in a green shallot frock coat, putting his hand to his forehead in the form of an umbrella over his eyes in order to get a better look at the approaching carriage. As the chaise approached the porch, his eyes became more cheerful and his smile widened more and more."

About Manilov and his wife:

“God alone could say what Manilov’s character was. There is a kind of people known by the name: people are so-so, neither this nor that, neither in the city of Bogdan, nor in the village of Selifan, according to the proverb. Perhaps we should approach them Manilov also joined in. He was a distinguished man in appearance; his facial features were not devoid of pleasantness, but this pleasantness seemed to have too much sugar in it; in his techniques and turns there was something that curried favor and acquaintance. He smiled temptingly, was blond, with blue eyes. In the first minute of conversation with him, you can’t help but say: what a pleasant and kind man! The next minute you won’t say anything, and the third you’ll say: the devil knows what that is! and you’ll move away; if If you don't leave, you'll feel mortal boredom. You won't get any lively or even arrogant words from him, which you can hear from almost anyone if you touch an object that bothers him. Everyone has his own enthusiasm: one's enthusiasm turned to greyhounds; another thinks that he is a strong lover of music and amazingly feels all the deep places in it; the third master of a dashing lunch; the fourth to play a role at least one inch higher than the one assigned to him; the fifth, with a more limited desire, sleeps and dreams of going on a walk with the aide-de-camp, to show off to his friends, acquaintances and even strangers; the sixth is already gifted with a hand that feels a supernatural desire to bend the corner of some ace or deuce of diamonds, while the hand of the seventh is trying to create order somewhere, to get closer to the person stationmaster or coachmen - in a word, everyone has their own, but Manilov had nothing. At home he spoke very little and spent most of his time reflecting and thinking, but what he was thinking about was also unknown to God. “It’s impossible to say that he was involved in farming, he never even went to the fields, farming somehow went on by itself.” When the clerk said: “It would be nice, master, to do this and that,” “yes, not bad,” he usually answered, smoking a pipe, which he had made a habit of smoking when he was still serving in the army, where he was considered the most modest, most delicate and educated officer: “yes.” “It’s not bad,” he repeated. When a man came to him and, scratching the back of his head with his hand, said, “Master, let me go away to work and earn some money.” “Go,” he said, smoking a pipe, and it didn’t even occur to him that the man was going out to drink. Sometimes, looking from the porch at the yard and the pond, he talked about how nice it would be if suddenly an underground passage was built from the house or a stone bridge was built across the pond, on which there would be benches on both sides, and so that people could sit in them merchants sold various small goods needed by the peasants. “At the same time, his eyes became extremely sweet and his face took on the most contented expression, however, all these projects ended only in words. In his office there was always some kind of book, bookmarked on page 14, which he had been constantly reading for two years. There was always something missing in his house: in the living room there was beautiful furniture, upholstered in smart silk fabric, which was probably quite expensive; but there wasn’t enough for two chairs, and the chairs were simply upholstered in matting; However, for several years the owner always warned his guest with the words: “Don’t sit on these chairs, they are not ready yet.” In another room there was no furniture at all, although it was said in the first days after marriage: “Darling, tomorrow we will have to work hard to put furniture in this room, at least for a while.” In the evening, a very dandy candlestick made of dark bronze with three antique graces, with a dandy mother-of-pearl shield, was served on the table, and next to it was placed some simple copper invalid, lame, curled up to the side and covered in fat, although neither the owner nor mistress, no servant. His wife ... however, they were completely satisfied with each other. Despite the fact that more than eight years of their marriage had passed, each of them still brought the other either a piece of apple, or candy, or a nut and said in a touchingly gentle voice, expressing perfect love: “Open your mouth, darling, I’ll put it in your mouth.” this piece." “It goes without saying that the mouth opened very gracefully on this occasion.” There were surprises prepared for the birthday: some kind of beaded case for a toothpick. And quite often, sitting on the sofa, suddenly, for absolutely unknown reasons, one leaving his pipe, and the other his work, if only she was holding it in his hands at that time, they impressed each other with such a languid and long kiss that it could be continued It would be easy to smoke a small straw cigar. In a word, they were what they say happy. Of course, one could notice that there are many other things to do in the house besides long kisses and surprises, and many different requests could be made. Why, for example, do you cook stupidly and uselessly in the kitchen? Why is the pantry pretty empty? Why is a thief a housekeeper? Why are servants unclean and drunkards? Why do all the servants sleep mercilessly and hang out the rest of the time? But all these are low subjects, and Manilova was brought up well. And a good education, as you know, comes from boarding schools. And in boarding schools, as you know, three main subjects form the basis of human virtues: French, necessary for the happiness of family life, the piano, to bring pleasant moments to the spouse, and, finally, the actual economic part: knitting wallets and other surprises. However, there are various improvements and changes in methods, especially at the present time; all this depends more on the prudence and abilities of the boarding house owners themselves. In other boarding houses it happens that first the piano, then the French language, and then the economic part. And sometimes it happens that first the economic part, i.e. knitting surprises, then French, and then piano. There are different methods. It doesn’t hurt to make another remark that Manilova ... but I admit, I’m very afraid to talk about ladies, and besides, it’s time for me to return to our heroes, who have been standing for several minutes in front of the doors of the living room, mutually begging each other to go forward.”

About Manilov's wife:

“Let me introduce you to my wife,” said Manilov. “Darling, Pavel Ivanovich!”

Chichikov, for sure, saw a lady whom he had not noticed at all, bowing at the door with Manilov. She was not bad-looking, and was dressed to her liking. A pale silk cloth hood fitted her well; her thin small hand hurriedly threw something on the table and clutched a cambric handkerchief with embroidered corners. She rose from the sofa on which she was sitting; Chichikov, not without pleasure, approached her hand. Manilova said, even burbling somewhat, that he made them very happy with his arrival and that her husband did not go by a day without thinking about him.

Volume I, Chapter IV

Chichikov talks to the owner of the tavern:

"Oh! Do you know Sobakevich?" he asked and immediately heard that the old woman knew not only Sobakevich, but also Manilov, and that Manilov would be greater than Sobakevich: he would order the chicken to be cooked immediately, he would also ask for veal; if there was lamb liver, then he would ask for lamb liver, and would just try everything. , and Sobakevich will ask for one thing, but he’ll eat it all, and even demand a supplement for the same price.”

A brief description of Manilov from the poem “Dead Souls” boils down to the fact that this man is a representative of the landowner nobility, who is distinguished by a dreamy but inactive disposition.

The image of Manilov in the poem “Dead Souls”

Manilov is a businesslike, sentimental person. The behavior, appearance, including pleasant facial features, and charm of this hero are so pleasant that they seem cloying and become literally repulsive.

Behind all this sugary appearance lies soullessness, callousness, and insignificance.

The hero's thoughts are chaotic and disorderly. Having touched on one topic, they can immediately disappear in an unknown direction, go far from reality.

He does not know how to think about today and solve everyday issues. He tries to put his entire life into refined verbal formulations.

Characteristics and description of the portrait of the hero Manilov

The portrait of this character, like any other, consists of several parameters.

These include:

• the hero's life attitudes;
• hobbies;
• description of home furnishings and workplace (if any);
• first impression of the character;
• speech and behavior.

Landowner's life goals

The hero does not make definite plans. All his dreams are extremely vague and far from reality - it is not possible to realize them.

One of the projects was the idea to build an underground tunnel and a bridge across a pond. As a result, not even a drop of what the landowner had imagined was accomplished.

The hero is unable to plan own life and make real decisions. Instead of real deeds, Manilov is engaged in verbiage.

However, it also contains good features- the landowner can be described as good family man who sincerely loves his wife and his children, cares about their present and future.

Favorite activities

Manilov's leisure time is not filled with anything. Most he spends time in a gazebo with the inscription “Temple of Solitary Reflection.” It is here that the hero indulges in his fantasies, dreams, and comes up with impossible projects.

The hero also likes to sit in his office, think and, out of idleness, build piles of ash in “beautiful rows.” Constantly in his dreams, the landowner never goes to the fields.

Description of Manilov's office

The landowner's office, like his entire estate, very accurately characterizes the hero's personality. Interior decoration emphasizes the character’s character traits and habits. The office windows face the forest. Nearby lies a book, bookmarked on the same page for two whole years.

Overall, the room looks nice. The furniture in it is: a table with a book, four chairs, an armchair. The biggest thing in the office was tobacco—ashes from a tobacco pipe were scattered all around.

First impression of the hero

At first glance, the character appears to be a charming person. Thanks to his immense good nature, the hero sees the best in everyone, and does not detect shortcomings at all or turns a blind eye to them.

The first impression does not last long. Soon Manilov's company becomes terribly boring for his interlocutor. The fact is that the hero does not have his own point of view, but only utters “honey” phrases and smiles sweetly.

It doesn't have vital energy, real desires that drive a person and force him to act. Thus, Manilov is a dead soul, a gray, characterless person, without specific interests.

The behavior and speech of the landowner

Manilov behaves very hospitably. At the same time, the hero is so pleasant to talk to that sometimes it becomes excessive. The landowner's gaze seems to exude sugar, and his speech is cloying to the point of disgrace.

Manilov is a very boring interlocutor; it is never possible to hear criticism, indignation, or “arrogant words” from him. The hero’s lively manners are revealed in the conversation; Manilov’s fast speech is like a bird’s chirping, full of pleasantries.

The landowner is distinguished by delicacy and cordiality in communication. These qualities are manifested in bright and pompous forms of endless delight (“cabbage soup, but from the heart”).

Among the hero’s favorite expressions there are words such as “permit”, “dear”, “pleasant”, “pretty”, “dear”. In addition, Manilov’s conversation is full of pronouns, interjections and adverbs of indefinite form: this, that, some. These words emphasize Manilov’s vague attitude towards everything around him.

The hero's speech makes no sense, it is empty and fruitless. And yet, Mr. Manilov is a taciturn person, and prefers to spend his free time thinking rather than talking.

Children of Manilov

The landowner has two children - sons. Wanting to somehow stand out from the gray mass, the father gave the boys unusual names - he called the eldest Themistoklos, the youngest he gave the name Alcides. The children were still small - 7 and 6 years old, respectively. The teacher is in charge of the sons' education.

Manilov predicts a great future for his eldest son - due to his incredible wit, the boy will have a career as a diplomat. Speaking of abilities youngest son, the landowner is limited brief description: “...Here is the smaller one, Alcides, he is not so fast...”.

Relationship between Manilov and Chichikov

Unlike other landowners, Manilov greets with great cordiality and hospitality, showing himself as a caring and attentive owner. He tries to please Chichikov in everything.

In the deal with the main character, Manilov does not seek profit, refusing in every possible way to accept payment for dead souls. He gives them freely, out of friendship.

At first, the landowner is perplexed by Chichikov’s unusual proposal, so much so that his pipe falls out of his mouth and he becomes speechless.

Manilov changed his attitude to the deal after Chichikov deftly formulated his request into beautiful words - the landowner immediately calmed down and agreed.

The main character, in turn, cannot believe that Manilov and the clerk are not able to answer how many of their peasants have died since the last census.

Attitude to Manilov's farm

The character, to put it mildly, is not practical, which is clearly shown in the description of his estate.

The hero's house stands in an open space, accessible to all winds, the pond is overgrown with greenery, the village is impoverished. Pitiful, lifeless views open before Chichikov. Decrepancy and desolation reign everywhere.

Manilov was not involved in farming, he never went to the fields, he did not know about the number of serfs and how many of them were no longer alive. The landowner entrusted the management of affairs to the clerk, and he himself completely avoided solving pressing problems.

He can’t understand why Chichikov might need dead souls, but at the same time he is happy to indulge in fantasies about how great it would be to live next to him on the river bank. The clerk running Manilov's household is a hopeless drunkard, and the servants do nothing but sleep and idle.

Manilov is the only one who did not sell dead souls, but decided to give them away for free. In addition, the landowner bears all the costs of preparing the deed of sale. This act clearly demonstrates the hero’s impracticality. The only thing that guides Manilov is senseless sycophancy before Chichikov, as well as before any other person.

Attitude towards others

Manilov treats all people equally kindly and, as noted earlier, sees in every person only positive traits. According to the hero, all officials - wonderful people in every way.

The landowner treats the peasants well, both his own and strangers. Manilov is very polite towards his children’s teacher, and he even addressed the coachman as “you” once. Manilov is so trusting and naive that he does not notice lies and deception.

The landowner behaves very hospitably and kindly with his guests. In addition, he exhibits ingratiating behavior towards those people who are of a certain interest to him (such as Chichikov).

Manilov's kindness, gullibility, and gentleness are greatly exaggerated and unbalanced with a critical eye for life.

Description of the Manilov estate

This large estate owned by a landowner. More than 200 peasant houses are assigned to it. There are fields, a forest, a pond, a town house, a gazebo and flower beds. Manilov's farm is left to its own devices, and its peasants lead an idle lifestyle. The estate has a gazebo for reflection, where the landowner from time to time indulges in dreams and fantasies.

Why Manilov is a “dead soul”

The image of the landowner is the personification of a person who has lost his own personality and has no individuality.

Manilov has no goal in life, he is a “dead soul” that is worth nothing even in comparison with such a scoundrel as Chichikov.

Conclusion

In the work, the red line emphasizes the spiritual emptiness and insignificance of Manilov, hiding behind the sugar shell of the hero and his estate. This character cannot be called negative, but he also cannot be classified as positive. He is a man without a patronymic name, who has no meaning for the world around him.

The hero can be characterized by a succinct quote from “Dead Souls” - “the devil knows what it is.” Manilov cannot count on rebirth, because inside him there is an emptiness that cannot be reborn or transformed. The world of this hero consists of false fantasies and is, in fact, a barren idyll leading to nowhere.