56. Genre originality of the poem by N.V. Gogol's "Dead Souls". Features of the plot and composition.

Answer: "Dead Souls" is a poem of all Russian life and all of Gogol's work. In 1835 Gogol reads the first chapters to Pushkin, in 1842 he publishes the first volume. Gogol burned the second volume. Fragments of individual chapters have come down to us. Dead Souls is a poem of Gogol's life.

M.D. determine the development of the language itself. Subsequent Russian prose refers to the text of M.D. Gogol's text was created at the turn of two socio-economic periods: the era of the nobility was ending and the era of commoners began. A new hero is born: a man who earns money at any cost. In M.D. reflected the global problems of human existence. The last romantic heroes are traced here. The typology of social consciousness is traced in Gogol's text.

A poem is a polysemantic definition. Gogol violates the lyric-epic traditions of the poem, in which there is no poetic language. It was important for the author to emphasize the synthesis of epic and lyrical forms of expression. Gogol pushes the boundaries of prose and its possibilities. His epic acquires the energy of lyrics. Gogol relied on the traditions of the world epic poem (Dante's Divine Comedy corresponds to the structure of Gogol's plan to lead a Russian person through hell, purgatory and paradise; Krasinsky's Divine Comedy is parodia sacra). Writing the climaxes of M.D. was associated with Zhukovsky and his translation of The Odyssey. The idea of ​​a cunning Odysseus, who found a fatherland, gives rise to Gogol's associations with Chichikov. In 1847 Gogol wrote an article about

"Odyssey". In the last chapters of M.D. the reflection of the Homeric style is visible (complex epithets). Gogol is looking for a figure in the Russian world who will give Russia a sense of development.

The double title was published for censorship reasons. The titles "The Adventures of Chichikov" return to the tradition of the rogue novel. The game of yellow and black on the cover is a play of light and darkness. Yellow is the color of madness. Starting with the cover, Gogol wanted his concept of the epic to reach the reader.

The poem grew out of an anecdote. The anecdotal situation is gradually becoming symbolic. The most important motives - the road, the troika, the soul - express the Russian character. All of Chichikov's thoughts correspond to Gogol's way of thinking. Gogol defends his hero, calling him "the hero of our time."

Gogol continues the traditions of Russian heroism. Chichikov is a hero capable of development. M.D. - his "Odyssey", the movement of a wanderer in search of his homeland. The road is the path of Russian life. Gogol's hero is constantly straying, straying off the route.

In M.D. initially 33 chapters, returning to the sacred age of Christ. There are 11 chapters left.

Composition M.D .:

1. Chapter I - exposition; 2. Chapter II - VI - landlord heads; 3. Chapter VII - X - city chapters; 4. Chapter XI - conclusion.

Gogol chooses the plot of the travel guide. The road scene gave a glimpse of the world. The poem begins with a road episode. The wheel is a symbol of Chichikov's movement. Roads expand the Russian space and the author's consciousness. The chaos of repetitions is a symbol of the unpredictable Russian life. The image of the heap as Russian mud is symbolic. Symbolic images constantly create a sense of the Russian world. The theme of Russian heroes and Patriotic War going through the plot.

By the end of 1835, the dominant features of Gogolev's plan emerged: the motive of a trip to Russia, a multitude of different characters, the image “at least from one side” of all of Russia, the genre of the novel. Obviously, at the center of Gogol's artistic reflection is the image of Russia as a national substance, as “our everything”. But since there were quite long breaks between the revisions, many of the “revision souls” for which the tax was supposed to be paid were often already dead, and the landlords naturally wanted to get rid of them. The essence of Chichikov's adventure is based on this absurdity; The game itself is alive and dead Souls took on anecdotal, but quite real meaning. But it was no less important that in the lexicon of Gogol's poem, real-life landowners and representatives of the bureaucratic apparatus turned into dead souls. Gogol saw in them the absence of vitality, the death of the soul. He, in essence, with the whole meaning of his poem revealed the idea of ​​preserving a living soul during life. His philosophy of the soul was based on eternal values. The writer regards the passive submission to the force of external circumstances and, above all, to the antihuman morality of Gogol's contemporary society as the spiritual death of the individual, or the death of the soul ”. In a word, the title of the poem is polysemantic, contains various artistic meanings, but the anthropological aspect, which helps to reveal on a large scale national problems, the “Russian spirit”, can be considered decisive. In this sense, the genre definition of POEM, which already at the first edition received Gogol's work and which he so vividly graphically and with symbolic overtones (a kind of caryatids of heroes supporting the genre subtitle) recreated on his cover drawing, seems logical and significant in Gogol's artistic system. It was the poem as a lyric-epic genre that made it possible to organically combine the epic potential of the concept-creation “All Russia will appear in it!” with the author's word, his reflection on the national substance, on the ways of development of Russia, what later became known as "lyrical digressions." The very tradition of the genre of the poem as a national epic (remember the numerous "Petriads", "Rossiada" by Kheraskov), as heroes, could not be alien to Gogol's attitude. Finally, the great examples of the genre, above all Homer's Odyssey and Dante's Divine Comedy, could not help but stand before his mind's eye and excite his artistic imagination. The very idea of ​​the three-volume work with the recreation of Hell, Purgatory and Paradise of national existence gave rise to natural associations with Dante. Gogol introduced into Russian verbal culture his genre phenomenon - a prose poem. With this definition, Gogol expanded the very possibilities of prose, giving it a special music of the word and thereby creating an epic image of Russia - "a dazzling vision", "a blue distance." Even at the beginning of work on the work, Gogol was aware of the unusual nature of his idea, which did not fit into the usual genre canons. The genre subtitle concentrated the author's creative strategies “ Dead souls»: Synthetism of thinking, organic combination of epic and lyrical principles, pushing the boundaries and possibilities of prose, setting to recreate national, substantial problems of being. The image of Russia fills the entire space of the poem and manifests itself at the most varied levels of artistic thinking of its author. E.A. Smirnova, developing these thoughts, comes to the conclusion that “Dead Souls owe many important features of their poetic structure to three ancient genres. The first of them is folk song, the second is a proverb, the third Gogol calls "the word of Russian church pastors" ... "

The artistic structure of the poem contributes to the realization of the central image as the integrity of the changing, transient sides of things and phenomena, as a national substance. The composition of the poem is subordinated to the orientation towards revealing the nature of this substance. 11 chapters create a ring that recreates the idea of ​​"getting back to square one." The first chapter is the entry of Chichikov's chaise into the provincial town of NN. Chapters 3-6 - visiting the estates of the landowners Manilov, Korobochka, Nozdrev, Sobakevich, Plyushkin. 7-10 chapters - Chichikov's return to the city. Chapter 11 - the hero's departure from the city N. The nomination of the city by a strange coincidence changes: instead of NN, just N, but we are talking about one city. It is impossible to determine the travel time of Chichikov: all weather realities are washed away. This is truly a wandering in eternity. Dead Souls can be called a travel poem without exaggeration. The road is the main bond of the plot and philosophy. Road plot - view of the world. The journey and adventures of Chichikov are the compositional pivot that brings together the entire Russian world. Different types of roads: dead ends, country roads, “crawling like crayfish”, “endless and endless”, heading into space - give rise to a feeling of endless space and movement. And Gogol's hymn to the road: “What a strange and alluring, and carrying, and wonderful in the word: the road! and how wonderful it is, this road ... God! how good you are at times, distant, distant road! How many times, like a perishing and drowning man, have I grasped at you, and every time you generously endured and saved me! And how many wonderful ideas, poetic dreams were born in you, how many wonderful impressions were felt! .. ”(VI, 221-222) - contributes to the formation in the reader's mind of the image of the road-path. The path of an individual and the path of the entire nation, of Russia, in Gogol's mind, conjugate two plots: real, but mirage, and symbolic, but vital. Tina of trifles, daily, everyday life gives rise to the static of a dead life, but symbolic leit motives - roads, triplets, souls explode the static, reveal the dynamics of the flight of the author's thought. These leitmotifs are becoming symbols of Russian life. On the troika along the roads of life in search of a living soul and the answer to the question "Russia, where are you rushing?" - this is the vector of movement of the author's consciousness. The dual plot reveals the complexity of the relationship between the author and the hero. The plot of the image and the plot of storytelling are plots of different levels and volumes, these are two pictures of the world. If the first plot corresponds to the adventures of Chichikov, his dealings with the landowners, then to the second - the author's view of the world, his reflection on what is happening. The author is invisibly present in the chaise, next to Chichikov, Petrushka and Selifan. “... But as for the author,” Gogol notes at the end of the first volume, “in no case should he quarrel with his hero: there is still a long way and they will have to go hand in hand together; the two large parts in front are not a trifle "(VI, 245-246). There is no place for fantasy in the artistic space of the poem, but the author's fantasy is limitless. She easily turns a scam with dead souls into a real story, a chaise into a bird of three, comparing it with Russia: “Isn't it so you, Russia, that a brisk, unattainable troika, are you rushing?” (VI, 247); it promotes the “circulation of lyricism” in order to recreate not a gallery of satirical portraits, but to give a spiritual portrait of the nation. And this portrait has many faces: there is only one step from the great to the ridiculous. Each of the following heroes has its own unique face. The traditions of Russian popular prints, Tenier's and Rembrandt's paintings are manifested in the depiction of faces, interiors, and landscapes. But behind all the difference in types, the commonality of their philosophy and behavior is revealed. Gogol's landlords are inert; they do not vital energy and development. Gogol's laughter in Dead Souls is more restrained than in The Inspector General. The genre of the poem itself, in contrast to comedy, dissolves it in epic paintings and lyrical author's reflection. But he is an integral and organic part of the author's position. Laughter in Dead Souls turns into satire. It acquires a worldly meaning, as it is aimed at the very foundations of Russian statehood, its basic institutions. The landlords, the bureaucratic apparatus, and finally the state power itself are subjected to a sober analysis.

1.3 Genre originality of the poem "Dead Souls"

Gogol called Dead Souls a poem, but the famous critic Vissarion Grigorievich Belinsky defined their genre as a novel. In the history of Russian literature this definition of Belinsky was confirmed, and "Dead Souls", retaining the word "poem" in the subtitle, are recognized as a genius novel from Russian life.

In Russian literature in the 30s and 40s, the novel and story developed rapidly. Beginning with Pushkin's "Belkin's Tales" (1830), there has been a continuous appearance of works of this genre. Belinsky wrote about this multitude of novels and stories that flooded literature back in 1835: “Now all our literature has turned into a novel and a story. An ode, an epic poem, even the so-called romantic poem, Pushkin's poem, it used to flood and drown our literature - all this is now no more than a memory of some funny, but long past time. Roman killed everything, swallowed everything. And the story that came with him erased even the traces of all this, and the novel itself respectfully stepped aside and gave it a path ahead of itself ... But that's not all: in which books both human life and the rules of morality, the philosophical side, and , in a word, all sciences? In novels and stories ".1

Belinsky's definition of the genre of "Dead Souls", developed in his articles (1835-1847), was based on the experience of studying the evolution of Russian realism in the 30-40s, works of foreign, French, English, American, works of novelists, it was forged in polemics with critics of different directions, especially reactionary and Slavophil, and changed over the years when Belinsky wrote about Dead Souls. In Gogol studies literature, in those cases when the genre of "Dead Souls" is considered, Belinsky's views and their evolution in resolving the issue are not taken into account or analyzed, whether "Dead Souls" should be recognized as a novel or a poem. Meanwhile, it is Belinsky's doctrine of the novel that is still the fundamental theory of this genre.

In the very first article, written after the poem was published in 1842, Belinsky, noting the humorous nature of Gogol's talent, wrote: “Comic” and “humor” are understood by the majority as buffoonery, as a caricature, and we are sure that many are not joking , with a sly and pretty smile from their insight, they will say and write that Gogol jokingly called his novel a poem. Exactly! After all, Gogol is a great wit and joker, and what a merry man, my God! He himself laughs incessantly and makes others laugh! That's right, you guessed it smart people ... "1 This was the answer to N. Polevoy, who wrote in the" Russian Bulletin ":" We did not think at all to condemn Gogol for what he called "Dead Souls" a poem. Of course, what is the name of a joke. ”2 Belinsky further reveals his understanding of the“ poem ”:“ As for us ... we can only say that Gogol called his novel “poem” in earnest and that he does not mean a comic poem by it. It was not the author who told us this, but his book ... Do not forget that this book is only an exposition, an introduction to the poem, that the author promises two more of the same big books, in which we will again meet with Chichikov and see new faces in which Russia will express itself from its other side ... "

Citing a number of lyrical digressions from the eleventh chapter about the road, fast driving, bird-three, Belinsky ends the article with the words: “It's sad to think that this lofty lyrical pathos, these thundering, singing praises of a blissful national self-awareness, worthy of the great Russian poet, will be far not accessible to everyone, that good-natured ignorance from the heart will burst out laughing at something that will cause another person's hair to stand on his head with sacred trepidation ... And yet this is so, and it cannot be otherwise. The lofty inspirational poem will go for the majority as "an amazing joke ..." 1

So, in 1842, Belinsky adopted the genre of Dead Souls as a poem, based on the lofty, pathetic lyricism of Gogol, on the author's promise to show in the second and third parts “Russia from the other side” and bring out new faces, new heroes.

The appearance of KS Aksakov's sensational brochure "A few words about Gogol's poem" The Adventures of Chichikov, or Dead Souls "presented Belinsky with the problem of genre as an expression of content, ideological meaning and artistic method works of Gogol.

KS Aksakov stated in his brochure that in Gogol's poem “ ancient epic rises before us ", that in Gogol's artistic manner he sees" epic contemplation ... ancient, true, the same as in Homer ", which can and should be compared Gogol with Homer, that" Dead Souls "is a poem similar to the Iliad ...

Belinsky sharply objected to the comparison of Dead Souls with the Iliad: life, to look at it through the laughter visible to the world and invisible, unknown to him tears. ”2 Belinsky now sees the genre's rationale in the tone of the depiction of Russian life, in humor combined with invisible tears unknown to the world, and in lyricism. Belinsky emphasized the critical pathos of Dead Souls, refuting Aksakov's thoughts about Gogol's supposedly contemplative attitude to the reality he depicts.

In the same review of the pamphlet, Belinsky expresses and develops one of the main theses of the poetics of realism he creates, namely, the thesis about the relationship between the epic and the novel, about the organic development of literature, its content and poetic genres, as an expression of the outlook inherent in people of a certain historical era... But Belinsky has not yet applied the theory of the novel in this article to Dead Souls; in the pathos of lyrical digressions and Gogol's humorous outlook on life, he sees the justification for the choice of the genre of the poem.

Aksakov's anti-historical and reactionary brochure took Dead Souls and their creator to the distant past, social problems modernity.

These assertions provoked a sharp rebuff from Belinsky, who stood for historicism in explaining social and literary phenomena. Comparison of Gogol's poem with the Iliad showed Aksakov's misunderstanding of the connection between the literary process and historical development human society... “In reality,” wrote Belinsky, “the epic developed historically into a novel, and the novel is a modern epic. Gogol's work is closely connected with the Russian life of the 19th century, and not with the ancient Greek, this is his "colossal greatness for us Russians."

In the next book, Notes of the Fatherland, Belinsky again wrote about Dead Souls and again examined the question of why Gogol called Dead Souls a poem. The genre of Gogol's work was not yet clear to him. In the interval between Belinsky's two articles, a review of O. Senkovsky's "Dead Souls" appeared, where he mocks the word "poem" in the appendix to "Dead Souls". Belinsky explains these ridicule by the fact that Senkovsky “does not understand the meaning of the word“ poem ”. As can be seen from his allusions, the poem must certainly praise the people in the person of its heroes. Perhaps "Dead Souls" are called a poem in this sense; but it is possible to make some kind of judgment on them in this respect when the other two parts of the poem come out. "

These words show Belinsky's meditation on the reasons for Gogol's choice of the genre of the poem for Dead Souls. He still does not refuse to call "Dead Souls" a poem, but now in a very special understanding of this definition, almost equal to rejection. He wrote that “for now I am ready to accept the word poem in relation to“ Dead Souls ”as equivalent to the word“ creation ”.

The controversy around Dead Souls grew, capturing more and more new participants. An article by P.A. Pletnev with an analysis of the poem, which Belinsky called "smart and efficient", an article by S.P. Shevyreva in "Moskvityanin", which provoked Belinsky's satirical remarks; K. Aksakov answered Belinsky in his "Explanation", where he continued to develop his abstract idealistic views on the genre of the poem.

Belinsky gave an answer to Aksakov in his article "An Explanation for an Explanation about Gogol's Poem" Dead Souls "1, in which he set clear socio-historical and materialistic theses of his understanding of the life and movement of the universal, world literary process from the ancient poems of India, Greece to the middle of the 19th century , before the emergence of novels by W. Scott, C. Dickens, Russian novels, primarily "Eugene Onegin", "Hero of Our Time".

Belinsky's historicism, "historical contemplation", in his words, gave him the opportunity to show the process of development of the ancient epic into a novel, which is "a representative of the modern epic." Belinsky argues that “the modern epic was manifested in more than one novel exclusively: in the latest poetry there is a special kind of epic that does not allow the prose of life, which captures only poetic, ideal moments of life and the content of which is the deepest world outlook and moral questions modern humanity. This kind of epic alone retained the name of the poem. " Belinsky now doubts the direction of Gogol's work in the future and asks how "however, the content of Dead Souls will be revealed in the last two parts."

Belinsky did not recognize "Dead Souls" as a poem for a long time. In a review of the second edition of Dead Souls (1846), Belinsky, as always, puts them high, but he definitely calls them not a poem, but a novel. In the above words of Belinsky, one can see the recognition of the depth of a living social idea, the significance of the pathos of "Dead Souls". But now the recognition of the importance of the main idea makes it possible for Belinsky to definitely call them a novel.

Belinsky finally recognized Gogol's "Dead Souls" social romance, and did not change this recognition in further statements about "Dead Souls". In accordance with this historically correct definition of the genre given by Belinsky, it must be admitted that Gogol's title of "Dead Souls" as a poem should be accepted only in a conventional sense, because the author called a poem a work that does not possess the main features of this genre.

At the beginning of 1847, the article “On the Historical and Literary Opinions of the Sovremennik” by Yu.F. Samarin1, who continued the line of Aksakov, Shevyrev and other conservatives and Slavophiles in denying the social significance of Gogol's work. Publicists and critics of the right-wing camp continued to struggle with Belinsky's understanding of the enormous social significance of Dead Souls.

Samarin tried to prove that "Dead Souls" carried reconciliation, that is, they asserted the socio-political foundations of the feudal state, and thereby muffled the political struggle of the progressive strata of society, disorientated the reader in his desire to "realize himself" and his role, his activities as a citizen and a patriot. The starting point of the views of Belinsky and his opponents were the contrasting concepts of the Russian historical process... Belinsky recognized the inevitability of the replacement of one social system by another, more progressive, and his opponents idealized the past, asserted the inviolability of the serf system.

Belinsky noted the enormous influence of Gogol's works on the further development of the "natural school" towards the creation of a Russian realistic novel. The historicism of Belinsky's thinking led him to define the genre of Dead Souls as a novel, and this was the victory of the progressive, progressive beginning of Russian life and literature of the mid-19th century.

2 Conclusions on the genre originality of the poem "Dead Souls"

In literature, there are non-traditional and mixed genres, which include those works that, in form and content, do not fit into the framework of the traditional interpretation of one or another kind or genre of literature. In other words, according to different signs they can be attributed to different types of literature.

A similar work is Gogol's prose poem "Dead Souls". On the one hand, the work is written in prosaic speech and has all the necessary components - the presence of the main character, the plot, which is led by the main character, and the spatio-temporal organization of the text. In addition, like any prose work, "Dead Souls" are divided into chapters, contain multiple descriptions of other characters. In other words, Gogol's text fully meets the requirements of an epic kind, with the exception of one. Gogol did not just call his text a poem.

The plot of "Dead Souls" is structured in such a way that we first observe the collegiate adviser Chichikov in communication with people of different classes, but most of all - with the officials of the provincial town of NN and landowners, the owners of the estates closest to the town. And only when the reader has looked at the hero and other characters, has realized the meaning of what is happening, he gets acquainted with the hero's biography.

If the plot was reduced to the story of Chichikov, "Dead Souls" could be called a novel. But the author not only draws people and their relationships - he himself invades the narrative: dreams, grieves, jokes, addresses the reader, recalls his youth, talks about the hard work of writing ... All this creates a special tone of the narrative.

Conclusion

Dead Souls is a genius literary work of the 19th century.

Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol wanted to show in it "all of Russia from one side."

The meaning of the title of the poem is connected with the plot of the work: the swindler Chichikov buys up the "souls" of the dead peasants for the purpose of profit. Another meaning of the title of the poem: “dead souls” are landowners who lead a monotonous, boring way of life and strive only to get rich.

N.V. Gogol did not immediately define the genre of Dead Souls. In his letters to Pogodin, Pushkin, Pletnev, he several times calls Dead Souls a novel. At the same time, another word slips through - "poem".

In the sketches for the "Educational Book of Literature for Russian Youth", Gogol defines the genre of "Dead Souls" as "a small epic."

The recognition of Dead Souls as a poem or novel was a major issue in the class and literary struggles of the 1840s.

Most huge contribution the critic V.G. Belinsky, who, thanks to his research, defined the genre of this work as a novel.

Gogol called Dead Souls a poem, not a novel, since the plot of the work is reduced not only to the story of Chichikov. Chichikov communicates with people of different classes. The author does not just lead the story, but he himself invades it - reasoning, joking, addressing the reader.

"Dead Souls" together with "Eugene Onegin" by Pushkin and "Hero of Our Time" by Lermontov laid the foundation for the development of a new line of novels in the great Russian literature.

Bibliography

1. Belinsky V.G. Favorites. - M., 1954

2. Gogol N.V. Dead Souls: Text Analysis. Main content.

Works ". - "Bustard", M., 2003

3. Gogol N.V. "Dead Souls". Preparation for literature lessons:

work, analysis, compositions ”. - "Dragonfly-press", 2004

4. Smirnova-Chikina E.S. “Poem by N.V. Gogol's "Dead Souls".

Literary commentary ". - "Education", M., 1964

5. "Handbook of a new type of schoolchild", Publishing House "Ves" - St. Petersburg, 2003

N.V. Gogol. Complete works in fourteen volumes, v. VIII, ed. USSR Academy of Sciences, p. 294

1 - E.S. Smirnova-Chikina. Poem by N.V. Gogol's "Dead Souls" - a literary commentary. M. "Education", 1964, p. 21

2 - A.I. Herzen, vol. II, p. 220

3 - The letter is kept in the Department of Manuscripts of the Library. IN AND. Lenin in Moscow.

1 - Statement by V.K.Trediakovsky

1 - V.G. Belinsky, vol. X, pp. 315 - 316.

1 - V.G. Belinsky, vol. I, p. 267

1 - V.G. Belinsky, vol. VI, p. 220

2 - E.S. Smirnova-Chikina. Poem by N.V. Gogol's "Dead Souls" - a literary commentary. M. "Education", 1964, p. 29

1 - V.G. Belinsky, vol. VI, p. 222

2 - V.G. Belinsky, vol. VI, p. 255

1 - V.G. Belinsky, vol. VI, p. 254

1 - V.G.Belinsky, vol. VI, p. 410

1 - E.S. Smirnova-Chikina. The poem "Dead Souls" by N. V. Gogol is a literary commentary. M. "Education", 1964, p. 35

All writers) - in narrative character epic works. In an epic work, it always tells about human destinies, about what has already happened has already happened. For the study of epic works, there are introductory classes, the purpose of which is to arouse children's interest in the material being studied and create conditions conducive to understanding it. Every now and then ...

Gogol himself, the word poem is highlighted in especially large letters. " (V. V. Gippius, "From Pushkin to Blok", publishing house "Science", Moscow-Leningrad, 1966). There was innovative courage in what Gogol called Dead Souls. Calling his work a poem, Gogol was guided by the following judgment: "the novel does not take a whole life, but a significant event in life." In another way, Gogol ...

Travesty of a knightly romance in a roguish one sometimes leads to the fact that they begin to exert a great influence and folklore elements... Their influence on the formation of the genre originality of "Dead Souls" is quite large, and the work of Gogol, who was a Ukrainianophile, was directly influenced by Ukrainian motives, especially since travesty turned out to be the most widespread on ...

Politics, science, technology, culture, art. The new era of historical and cultural development was distinguished by rapid dynamics and the most acute drama. The transition from classical literature to the new literary direction was accompanied by far from peaceful processes in general cultural and intra-literary life, an unexpectedly rapid change in aesthetic guidelines, a radical renewal of literary ...

Your verse, like a spirit of God, was hovering over the crowd
And, recall of noble thoughts,
It sounded like a bell on a veche tower,
During the days of celebrations and troubles of the people.
M. Yu. Lermontov

The time when Gogol conceived and created his works - from 1831 ("Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka") to 1842 (the first volume of "Dead Souls") - coincides with the period that in Russian history is usually called the "Nikolaev reaction". This historical period replaced the era of social upsurge in the 20s of the 19th century, which ended in 1825 with the heroic and tragic uprising of the Decembrists. The society of the period of "Nikolaev reaction" is painfully looking for a new idea of ​​its development. The most radical part of Russian society believes that it is necessary to continue the irreconcilable struggle against autocracy and serfdom. In literature, this mood was reflected in the works of A.I. Herzen. Another part of society behaves in a fundamentally apolitical manner, disillusioned with Decembrism, but not having time to develop new positive ideals. it life position « lost generation”, It was remarkably expressed in his work by M.Yu. Lermontov. The third part of Russian society is looking for a national idea in the spiritual development of Russia - in the moral improvement of the people, in approaching Christian truths. Expressing this public mood, Gogol creates the poem Dead Souls.

The idea of ​​the poem was enormous - to comprehend the fate of Russia, its present and future. The theme of the first volume (only it was written from the planned trilogy) can be formulated as follows: an image of the spiritual state of Russian society in the 1840s. The main attention in the first volume is devoted to showing the past and present of Russia - the life of landowners and officials, who are traditionally considered the color of the nation and the mainstay of the state, but in fact are "nebokopters" and nothing else. The people in the work are presented as dark and undeveloped: it is enough to recall Uncle Mitya and Uncle Minya and their stupid advice when divorcing carriages (Chapter 5) or to mention a serf girl who did not know where left and right were (Chapter 3). Primitive creatures are Chichikov's servants - coachman Selifan and lackey Petrushka (Ch. 2). The idea of ​​the first volume of the poem is to reveal the terrifying lack of spirituality of modern society. Russia is represented by a sleepy, motionless country, but in its depths lurks alive soul, which Gogol wants to discover and express in the following volumes of the poem. The author is optimistic about the future of Russia, believes in the creative forces of the nation, which is clearly expressed in several lyrical digressions, especially in the last one - about the bird-three.

According to the genre, Dead Souls can be defined as a novel.

On the one hand, this is a social novel, because it raises the question of the fate of Russia, of its social development. On the other hand, this is a novel of everyday life: Gogol describes in detail the life of heroes - Chichikov, landowners, officials. The reader learns not only the whole story of Pavel Ivanovich, but also the details of his life: what he eats at each post station, how he dresses, what he carries in his suitcase. The author enjoys painting the most expressive object that belongs to the hero - a box with a secret. The serfs of Chichikov are also represented - the imperturbable coachman Selifan, a lover of philosophy and alcohol, and the lackey Petrushka, who had a strong natural smell and a craving for reading (moreover, he often did not understand the meaning of words).

Gogol describes in detail the structure of life on the estate of each of the five landowners. For example, although Chichikov gets to Korobochka at night, he manages to make out a low wooden manor house, a strong gate. In the room where Pavel Ivanovich was invited, he carefully examined the portraits and pictures, the clock and the mirror on the wall. The writer tells in detail what the breakfast consisted of, which Korobochka treated Chichikov the next morning.

"Dead Souls" can be called a detective novel, because the mysterious activity of Chichikov, who buys up such a strange product as dead souls, is explained only in last chapter, where the story of the life of the protagonist is placed. Here only the reader understands the whole scam of Chichikov with the Board of Trustees. The work has features of a "rogue" novel (the clever rogue Chichikov, by hook or by crook, achieves his goal, his deception is revealed at first glance by pure chance). At the same time, Gogol's work can be attributed to an adventurous (adventure) novel, since the hero travels around the Russian province, meets different people, gets into different troubles (drunk Selifan got lost and threw the chaise with the owner into a puddle, Chichikov was almost beaten at Nozdrev, etc.). etc.). As you know, Gogol even called his novel (under the pressure of censorship) in an adventurous style: "Dead Souls, or the Adventures of Chichikov."

The author himself determined the genre of his large prose work quite unexpectedly - a poem. The most important artistic feature of Dead Souls is the presence of lyrical digressions, in which the author directly expresses his thoughts about the heroes, their behavior, talks about himself, recalls childhood, discusses the fate of the romantic and satirical writers, expresses his homesickness, etc. These numerous lyrical digressions make it possible to agree with the author's definition of the Dead Souls genre. In addition, as noted by literary historians, a poem in the time of Gogol meant not only a lyric-epic work, but also a purely epic one, standing between the novel and the epic (Yu.V. Mann "Poetics of Gogol" M., 1988, ch. 6).

Some literary scholars classify Dead Souls as an epic by genre. The fact is that the writer conceived a trilogy based on Dante's Divine Comedy. The first volume of "Dead Souls" had to correspond to Dante's "Hell", the second volume - "Purgatory", the third volume - "Paradise". However, Gogol rewrote the second volume several times and in the end burned it just before his death. He never proceeded to write the third volume, the supposed content of this volume in the most general outline can be restored from the original sketches. Thus, the writer created only the first part of the planned trilogy, in which he depicted, by his own admission, Russia “from one side,” that is, he showed “ scary picture modern Russian reality "(" Hell ").

It seems that "Dead Souls" cannot be attributed to an epic: there are no essential signs of this genre. Firstly, the time that Gogol describes does not make it possible to brightly and fully reveal Russian national character(usually the epic depicts historical events of national importance - patriotic wars or other social cataclysms). Secondly, in Dead Souls there are no memorable heroes from the people, that is, Russian society is not fully represented. Thirdly, Gogol wrote a novel about his contemporary life, and for an epic depiction, as experience shows, it is necessary historical retrospective, which allows you to assess the era fairly objectively (SI Mashinsky "The artistic world of Gogol. M., 1971).

So, it is obvious that Dead Souls is an extremely complex piece. Genre features allow us to attribute it to a social and everyday novel, and to a detective story, and to a poem. The first definition seems to be the most preferable (it was used by Belinsky in his article on "Dead Souls"). This genre definition reflects the most important artistic features of the work - its socio-philosophical significance and wonderful image reality.

The composition of Dead Souls brings the novel closer to a detective story, but it is completely wrong to reduce the work to a detective or rogue plot, because the main thing for the author is not Chichikov's clever invention about dead souls, but a detailed depiction and comprehension of contemporary Russian life.

Calling Dead Souls a poem, Gogol had in mind the future trilogy. If we talk about a real work, then even the numerous lyrical digressions do not make "Dead Souls" a poem in the strict sense of the word, because lyrical digressions are possible both in the novel ("Eugene Onegin" by A.S. Pushkin), and even in the drama (" Irkutsk history "A.N. Arbuzov). However, in the history of Russian literature, it is customary to preserve the author's definition of the genre (this applies not only to Dead Souls), specifically stipulating the genre originality of the work.

Genre originality of "Dead Souls"

Starting to work on Dead Souls, N.V. Gogol did not yet know exactly what genre he would classify his future work into. So, in 1835, in a letter to A.S. He wrote to Pushkin: "The plot stretched out into a pre-long novel." However, already in 1836, while in Europe, Gogol decided to call "Dead Souls" a poem. While in Paris, on November 12, he wrote to Zhukovsky: “ Every morning, in addition to breakfast, I wrote three pages in my poem". Gogol realizes the unusual genre nature of Dead Souls and admits on November 28, 1836 to M. Pogodin: “ The thing that I sit and work on now<…>not like a story or a novel, long, long, in several volumes, its title is "Dead Souls"<….>If God helps me to fulfill my poem as it should, then this will be my first decent creation.».

On the other hand, when the first edition of Dead Souls was already created, he wrote to Maksimovich in January 1840: “ I have, however, a novel from which I do not want to announce anything until the time of its appearance.". In the text of Dead Souls itself, Gogol calls his work either a poem or a story. All this indicates the writer's hesitation in defining the genre, but it is obvious that the writer strove to construct a completely new “genre whole” (J. Mann). To designate it, Gogol decided to use the word "poem", although it was less familiar than "novel" or "story."

When the first volume of Dead Souls appeared in print in 1842, many of Gogol's contemporaries began to argue about why the writer called his new work a poem. Some believed that such a genre definition was accidental, erroneous, because traditionally, poetry was called a poem, and "Dead Souls" were written in prose. Others believed that Gogol, being a satirist writer, called Dead Souls a poem in order to amuse and amuse his readers. Still others (and among them were Aksakov and Belinsky) argued that Gogol puts a special meaning in this genre definition. So, in the seventh issue of the magazine “ Domestic notes"For 1842 Belinsky, in a review of a new Gogol's work, wrote:" In earnest, Gogol called his novel a "poem" and he does not mean a comic poem by it ...". K.S. Aksakov expressed a similar opinion, arguing that Gogol called Dead Souls a poem, wishing to emphasize the special significance and uniqueness of his work.

Will help to understand the genre originality of "Dead Souls" "Educational book of literature for Russian youth", on which Gogol worked in the mid-forties. The writer has systematized the theoretical literary material and gave a list of the most typical, characteristic samples of genre classification. This book bore the stamp of the author's personal tastes and preferences, but Gogol could not introduce into it the genre of "Dead Souls" as a special and unique one, since such a genre had not yet existed in literature. The "textbook" gives us not a definition of the genre of "Dead Souls", but a Gogolian understanding of those genres, in processing and repulsion from which he creates his own literary text. Dead Souls is closest to the genre "A lesser kind of epic". This genre is “ as if the middle between the novel and the epic". Yielding to the large (Homeric type) epic in the breadth and universality of depicting reality, the small epic, however, surpasses the novel in this respect, including "the full epic volume of remarkable private phenomena." The "lesser kind of epic" is also peculiar in the character of its hero. If in the big epic in the center of the narration there is a "significant person", outstanding, then in the center of the small epic - " a private and invisible person, but, nevertheless, significant in many respects for the observer of the human soul. The author leads his life through a chain of adventures and changes in order to present<…>correct picture<…>flaws, abuses, vices and everything that he noticed inthe era and time taken worthy to attract the eye of any observant contemporary who is looking in the past, past living lessons for the present».

But the description of the genre of the "lesser kind of epic" does not fully reveal the peculiarities of the plot of "Dead Souls". In his work, Gogol, indeed, "leads" his hero, Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov, through a chain of adventures, giving a picture of the shortcomings and vices of the 19th century Russian world, but the general plot setting of Gogol's text is not only moral.

The writer, of course, was right, not finally opposing his work to the genre novel... "Dead Souls" was created as a large epic canvas, in which a single artistic concept, the development of an end-to-end storyline united the image wide range phenomena of reality. In the novel, as Gogol wrote in The Educational Book of Literature, all faces are presented in advance, “ the author is concerned about the fate of each of them and cannot carry and move them quickly and in a multitude, in the form of phenomena flying by. Every arrival of a person<…>already announces his participation later". In Dead Souls, most of the faces are released “on the stage” in the very first chapter: Chichikov with his servants Selifan and Petrushka, officials of the provincial town, three out of five landowners (Manilov, Nozdryov, Sobakevich). Almost all of Chichikov's visits from the first half of the volume in the second half are, as it were, "replayed" again - with the help of the versions reported by Korobochka, Manilov, Sobakevich, Nozdrev. Information about the character traits of these landowners at the same time hides the impulses for the further course of development. So, Korobochka, having arrived in the city of NN to find out "how much dead souls walk," involuntarily gives the first impetus to Chichikov's misadventures. Then the reader involuntarily recalls Nastasya Petrovna's suspicion, her fear of selling too cheap. Nozdryov, aggravating Chichikov's position, at the governor's ball calls Pavel Ivanovich a buyer of "dead souls", and the reader recalls Nozdrev's extraordinary passion to nourish, to dirty his neighbor.

In the novel, according to Gogol, the disclosure of the "case" follows after the presentation of the persons participating in it and presupposes a skillfully deliberate plot. In "Dead Souls" at the end of the first chapter (exposition), "one strange property of the guest and the enterprise" is reported, which has to be the subject of further narration. In the novel, as indicated in the "Study Book", not the whole life of the character is taken, but only one particularly characteristic incident. In Dead Souls, the focus is not on the biographies of the characters (we know very little about the past of almost all landowners and officials), but on the main event, “a strange undertaking” (which does not exclude the background biographies of Chichikov and Plyushkin). In the novel, a "remarkable incident" affects the interests and requires the participation of all actors. In "Dead Souls" it is shown how Chichikov's scam unexpectedly determined the lives of many people, becoming for some time the center of attention of the residents of the city of NN.

How the epic work Dead Souls is related to the genre rogue novel (picaresque), whose masters are considered Alain René Lesage ("The Story of Gilles Blaz from Santillana"), Quevedo y Villegas ("The story of the life of a rascal named Pablos"), Grimmelshausen ("Simplicissimus"). In Russian literature, in the spirit of a rogue novel, the works of V.T. Narezhny "Russian Zhilblas, or the Adventures of Gavrila Simonovich Chistyakov" and F. Bulgarin "Ivan Vyzhigin", and in the XX century the novels of Ilf and Petrov "Twelve Chairs" and "Golden Calf". It brings Dead Souls closer to rogue novels, firstly, the presence of a rogue hero, a rogue, and secondly, episodes united by the adventures and tricks of this hero, and thirdly, the satirical orientation of the literary text. However, the work "Dead Souls" was deprived of the compositional looseness, often characteristic of the Picaresque XVII-early. XIX centuries.

The work "Dead Souls" is also associated with the genre romance ways, which is represented by the texts of Cervantes (Don Quixote Lamansky), Novalis (Heinrich von Ofterdingen) and L. Tieck (The Wanderings of Franz Sternbald), where knowledge of the truth comes to the heroes only after they commit strange, confusing and illogical (as it seems at first glance) travel, the purpose and meaning of which are revealed only at the end. (This is the principle behind Gogol's first poem, Ganz Kuchelgarten, where the hero has to go a long and difficult path in order to recognize in his dear Louise, abandoned by him, the Peri he dreamed of in his “desert”).

Indeed, from the historical and literary point of view, "Dead Souls" are a complex fusion of various literary and folklore genres (from fairy tales, proverbs, sayings, epics to the novel).

However, it is worth remembering that the author himself called his work a poem, he wrote this word in the largest letters and on the famous cover of his work. The epics of Homer, and Dante's Divine Comedy, and the works of Ariosto's Furious Roland, Pushkin's Ruslan and Lyudmila, Byron's Childe Harold's Pilgrimage were called poems in the 19th century.

So, Gogol attributed "Dead Souls" to the genre of the poem, firstly, because he wanted to emphasize special role his "moralizing" work, with the help of which he dreamed of helping people (and himself) to find spiritual transformation. The framework of the novel seemed to the writer too narrow. Most readers of the 19th century perceived the novels as entertaining works, and Gogol wanted not so much to entertain as to teach people, to help them find the right path in life. Secondly, the poem "Dead Souls" makes the presence of a lyrical, subjective element. It is clear that in the chaise next to Chichikov there is an invisible lyric narrator, evaluating and explaining all the events that are taking place. The pathos of subjectivity is manifested in the story of the most prosaic subjects, and in the author's reflections, and in "lyrical digressions" about youth, about the Russian language, about the road, about the whole country.

The composition of the poem by N.V. Gogol "Dead Souls"

It is known that N.V. Gogol intended to create three volumes of the poem Dead Souls. The writer compared his work to a temple or a palace. In a letter to P.A. Pletnev on March 17, 1842, Gogol confessed that the first volume was presented “ nothing more than the porch to the palace that" in him " was built».

The construction of the poem was supposed to remind readers of the composition of the Divine Comedy (1307-21) by the Italian Renaissance author Dante Alighieri. The Divine Comedy consisted of three kantik (parts): Hell, Purgatory, Paradise, respectively, the first volume of Dead Souls would be associated with Dante's Hell, the second volume with Purgatory, and the third with "Paradise". Since the third volume of the poem was not written, but most of the second was burned by the writer, then we can only talk about the composition of the first volume.

Conventionally, the first volume of the poem "Dead Souls" can be divided into three parts: the first - the arrival of Chichikov and his servants in the provincial town of NN, meeting the dignitaries, visiting the governor's house; the second - a trip to the landowners; the third - the completion of the deeds of sale, communication with the governor's daughter and the hasty departure of Chichikov from the city of NN due to bad rumors that a catcher of "dead souls" had arisen.

The exposition of the poem can be considered the first chapter, in which readers get acquainted with many heroes of the work, including Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov, and residents of the city of NN (from ordinary men talking about the wheel of Chichikov's chaise to the governor himself), and some landowners (Manilov, Sobakevich , Nozdryov), whose estates Chichikov will visit. The first chapter gives a broad panorama of life, which will be presented in more detail later. Here is also the plot of the poem - mention is made of Chichikov's plan and his swindle.

Particularly significant in terms of composition is the part where the series of Chichikov's trips to various estates is shown. The description of these visits is given in accordance with a clear scheme: initially, a description of the peasant huts and the entire economy as a whole is given, then follows a story about the manor house, the interior of the house, the appearance of the owner (person, character, favourite hobby- "enthusiasm", speech characteristic), after - a description of the feast, a conversation between Chichikov and the landowner about dead souls, Chichikov's departure from the estate.

Each previous landowner in Gogol's poem is opposed to the next. So, the mismanaged dreamer Manilov, who does not have any "enthusiasm", is opposed to the overly petty Nastasya Petrovna Korobochka, who is interested only in the everyday sphere of life and collects money in " variegated bags placed on the drawers of the dressers". The money-grubber Korobochka is opposed by the reckless driver Nozdryov, who burns out his life and collects greyhounds. The destroyer of the economy, Nozdryov, who is often played out of the blue at fairs, is given in contrast to the cunning huckster Sobakevich, who loves good food. Mikhail Semyonovich Sobakevich himself, who has a strong large farm, opposes himself to Stepan Plyushkin, whose estate is in desolation, and the peasants are dying of hunger: “ This is not what some Plyushkin will sell you».

There is a literary myth according to which each subsequent landowner, to whom Pavel Ivanovich comes, is “more dead than the previous one” (A. Bely). This myth arose, probably, due to a literal reading of Gogol's statement given in Four Letters to Various Persons Regarding 'Dead Souls' "(letter 3):" One after another, my heroes follow one more vulgar than the other».

The researcher of Gogol Yu.V. Mann was able to debunk this myth and prove the incorrectness of the assumption that Manilov and Korobochka are "less dead" than Nozdrev and Sobakevich. Let's remember that Gogol writes about Manilov: “ You won't get any lively or even arrogant word from him<…>if you touch an object that is bullying him. Everyone has their own enthusiasm: one of them turned to greyhounds "(this can be said about Nozdryov), another “ dashing master"(This is Sobakevich)," but Manilov had nothing". If by "deadness" is meant the harm that landowners inflict on the peasants, then in this aspect Manilov does not seem more "alive". He absolutely does not know the specifics of the life of the Russian peasantry (therefore, he absurdly assumes that the peasants will buy goods from merchants, climbing onto the bridge that stretches over the pond), does not know how many peasants work for him, and how many have already died. Sobakevich knows the names of all his peasants, imagines which of them is capable of what work. The serfs of Sobakevich live in strong huts, cut down "wonderfully". All this proves that Manilov is no better than Sobakevich or Nozdrev.

Gogol opens the gallery of landowners precisely by the Manilovs for many reasons. Firstly, Chichikov began his detour of the landowners from Manilov because, even in the governor's house, he seemed to him a cordial and amiable person, from whom it would be easy to acquire dead souls. This calculation turned out to be correct. Manilov became the only landowner who presented Chichikov with dead peasants without even thinking of asking for money. It is important for the writer to show that on his wrong path Chichikov does not at first encounter serious obstacles and difficulties. Manilov only, dropping his chubuk from surprise, is surprised at the request of Pavel Ivanovich. Such a reaction should prompt the reader to the uncommonness and strangeness of Chichikov's activities. Secondly, the general emotional tone around the image of Manilov is still serene, the colors that the writer mentions in connection with this hero are light (green, blue, yellow) or muted gray. In the future, the light spectrum changes, dark, gloomy tones begin to dominate in it, and Chichikov is in trouble one after another. Researcher I. Zolotussky in the monograph "Gogol" (Series ZhZL) writes: " The poem began in a fun-prosaic way: entering the city, detouring officials, pleasant conversations, evenings. Then came the comic Manilov, not causing alarm, then Korobochka, when something stirred in the left side of his chest. Then, as if muffling this alarm, Nozdrev's booth - and here Sobakevich with his soul hidden at the bottom of the cache, and the image of old age, foreshadowing death».

Can it be assumed that the peculiarity of building a "gallery of landowners" is that it is more and more difficult for Chichikov to acquire dead peasants from each subsequent landowner? Indeed, for a long time, Korobochka could not understand what Chichikov wanted from her ("After all, I never sold the dead"), Nozdryov began to offer to buy a barrel organ, horses or greyhound puppies along with dead souls, and in the end he did not sell peasants to Chichikov at all, and Sobakevich probably guessing that such a deal was beneficial to Pavel Ivanovich, he asked for a hundred rubles for the dead, i.e. as much as a living peasant was worth. However, Stepan Plyushkin not only sold to Chichikov the greatest number of dead and fugitive peasants, but was also incredibly happy about the opportunity to free himself from "dead souls", for which he now would not have to pay a poll tax.

The composition of the "gallery of landowners" has one more important feature. It is important to note that Chichikov rarely gets to the estate he planned to get into. So, he goes to Zamanilovka, and ends up in Manilovka, goes to Sobakevich, but, having lost his way, at two o'clock in the morning gets to Korobochka, from Korobochka again plans to go to Sobakevich, but stops in a tavern, and then goes to Nozdrev, with whom he met in the provincial town, but was not going to visit him. After Nozdryov, Chichikov still ends up with Sobakevich, but he is no longer going to go anywhere from him. However, Mikhail Semyonovich reports about the landowner Plyushkin, who starves his peasants with hunger. Taking an interest, Chichikov goes to this landowner too. Here "side passages" (A. Bely) make themselves felt: " the improper turns on the way to Nozdrev, to Korobochka are carefully listed ...". If the poem showed how Chichikov planned to go to Manilov and Sobakevich and ended up safely with them, then there would be something schematic in such a construction. But if Gogol showed that Chichikov, having conceived to go to Manilov and Sobakevich, in the end does not end up with either of them, but comes, for example, to “Bobrov, Svinin, Kanapatiev, Kharpakin, Trepakin, Pleshakov” (these names are mentioned by Korobochka ), then in such a construction there would be something invented, unnatural.

In the third part, an image of the provincial city NN and its inhabitants is given. The static description of estates is being replaced by a dynamic image of disputes between city officials, gossip of ladies belonging to a "secular" society.

In the finale of the poem, Gogol refers to the principle of compositional inversion, used by Pushkin in his novel Eugene Onegin, where the introduction was given in the last stanza of the seventh chapter. Gogol turns to the protagonist's past, tells about Chichikov's childhood and adolescence, giving readers the opportunity to find out how the character and worldview of the acquirer was formed.

A special place in the composition of the first volume of the poem "Dead Souls" is occupied by the author's reflections and inserted stories. So, for example, at the beginning of the work, the author's reflections are mostly ironic (for example, discussions about fat and thin gentlemen), but, starting from the fifth chapter, pathetic (about the great and rich Russian language) or lyrical reflections (about " youth and freshness", About the road and about Russia). The Tale of Captain Kopeikin and the parable of Kif Mokievich and Mokiya Kifovich become a kind of key to understanding the poem.

The composition of Gogol's poem "Dead Souls" was carefully thought out by the author. She is the embodiment of architectonic harmony and originality.

The role of inserted stories in the poem "Dead Souls"

When residents of the provincial town of NN begin to argue about who the "Kherson landowner" Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov is and assume that it is noble robber or Napoleon Bonaparte, who fled from the island of St. Helena, the postmaster expresses the opinion that Chichikov “ none other than Captain Kopeikin". The postmaster calls the story about this captain a poem in some way, therefore, we have before us a "micropoem" in the "macropoem" "Dead Souls".

It is known that the censorship in 1842 forbade Gogol to print “ The Tale of Captain Kopeikin". So, on April 1, censor Nikitenko informed Gogol: “ The episode of Kopeikin turned out to be absolutely impossible to pass - no power could protect him from death ...". Gogol, shocked by this message, reports N.Ya. Prokopovich: " They threw away a whole episode of Kopeikin, which is very necessary for me, more even than they think"; On April 10, he writes to Pletnev: “ The destruction of Kopeikin confused me a lot! This is one of the best places in the poem, and without it - a hole that I am unable to pay and sew up.". These statements of the author make it possible to understand what place the writer assigned to "Tale ...", considering it not an accidental plug-in novella that has no connection with the general plot, but an organic part of the poem "Dead Souls".

The central character of The Tale has real, folklore and literary prototypes. The real ones include, firstly, the Colonel of the Life Guards Fyodor Orlov, who was injured in the war of 1812 (lost his leg in the battle of Bautzen), and after the hostilities became a robber. The second prototype of Kopeikin is considered to be the soldier Kopeknikov, who turned to Arakcheev for help, but received nothing from him. The folklore prototype is the robber Kopeikin, the hero of folk songs. These songs are recorded by P.V. Kireevsky were well known to N.V. Gogol. (One of them says that the leader of the band of robbers, the thief Kopeikin, sees prophetic dream: « Get up, brothers, amicable, I had a bad dream. As if I were walking along the edge of the sea, I stumbled with my right foot, grabbed a fragile tree, a frail tree, a buckthorn"- remember that Captain Kopeikin lost his leg and arm). Kopeikin's literary prototypes are Rinaldo Rinaldini (the hero of the novel by the German writer Vulpius), Pushkin's Dubrovsky, a legless German in N.A. Field "Abadonna".

The censorship did not let The Tale of Captain Kopeikin go to print, since this part of the poem Dead Souls had a sharp satirical focus on the St. Petersburg bureaucracy, the authorities as such, which “will not cross” until “thunder breaks out”. It is significant that for the sake of preserving the "Tale ..." Gogol decided to weaken its accusatory sound, about which he wrote to Pletnev: " I'd rather decided to remake it than to lose it altogether. I threw out all the generals, Kopeikin's character meant stronger ...».

"The Tale of Captain Kopeikin" existed in three editions. The second is considered canonical, which is now printed in all modern editions. In 1842, the censorship did not pass it, just as it did not pass the version given in the first edition. In the first edition of "The Tale ..." it was said that Kopeikin became the leader of a gang of robbers, the head of a huge detachment (" in short, my sir, he just has an army ..."). Kopeikin, fearing persecution, leaves the country and writes a letter to the emperor, where he explains the reasons for his revolutionary actions. The tsar stopped the persecution of Kopeikin's accomplices, formed the "invalid capital". But such a denouement was more politically ambiguous than reliable.

Kopeikin's special place among the robbers – the people's avengers of literature of those years was that his revenge was purposefully directed at the bureaucratic state. It is characteristic that Kopeikin, who is seeking justice, Gogol confronts not with petty bureaucrats, but with the largest representatives of the St. Petersburg authorities, showing that in contact with them, his hopes collapse just as quickly as they would undoubtedly disappear if he turned to the lower strata of the bureaucratic hierarchy. ...

At first glance, it may seem that the rapprochement between Chichikov and Captain Kopeikin is absurd and ridiculous. Indeed, if the captain is a cripple, an invalid who lost his leg and arm in battles, then Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov looks completely healthy and very vigorous. However, there is still a hidden connection between these heroes. The very surname of the captain (originally the surname was Pyatkin) is associated with the slogan of Chichikov's life: "Save a penny!" A penny is a sign of gradual, slow accumulation based on patience and diligence. Both Chichikov and Captain Kopeikin do not strive to achieve the goal instantly, they are ready for a long wait, a gradual approach to the desired goal. The goal of the heroes is to receive money from the state. However, Kopeikin wants to receive a legal pension, the money that rightfully belongs to him. Chichikov, on the other hand, dreams of deceiving the state, using a scam, a cunning trick to lure money from the Board of Trustees. The word “penny” is also associated with reckless prowess, courage (the expression “life is a penny” was in the draft version of the first volume of the poem “Dead Souls”). Captain Kopeikin showed himself in the war with the Napoleonic army as a brave and courageous man. Chichikov's peculiar boldness is his scam, his conceived "little business" is buying up dead souls.

However, if the "scoundrel" and the acquirer Chichikov is accepted by the high society, in the provincial town of NN they treat him with great respect, even Sobakevich speaks flattering words about him, then the honest and decent captain Kopeikin is not accepted by society: an important general, having learned that Kopeikin " expensive to live<…>in the capital", Sends it" to the state account". The "little man", feeling that his life is worth a penny (a penny!), Decides to rebel: " When the general says that I should look for the means to help myself - well, he says, I, he says, will find the means!". After two months " a gang of robbers appeared in the Ryazan forests", Of which Captain Kopeikin became the chieftain. (The theme of the riot " little man", From which the state turned its back, appears already in Pushkin's poem" The Honey Horseman "in 1833 and sounds especially poignant in Gogol's story" The Overcoat "and in the tenth chapter of" Dead Souls ").

If the ladies of the city of NN (the lady is simply pleasant and the lady is pleasant in all respects) compare Chichikov with the robber Rinaldo Rinaldini (“ is armed from head to toe, like Rinaldo Rinaldini”), Then Kopeikin actually becomes a noble robber.

In the story about Kopeikin, the theme of the Patriotic War is clearly emerging. This theme not only accentuates the selfishness and greed of landowners and officials, but also reminds of those high responsibilities that did not exist for “ significant persons". Precisely because the image of Kopeikin is the image of the defender of the fatherland, he carries a positive, “living” principle, which puts him significantly above any “creators” and acquirers.

The theme of the Patriotic War, closely related to the "Tale of Captain Kopeikin", appears in the poem in a different form. Trying to figure out who Chichikov is, provincial officials remember Napoleon. “… We got thoughtful and, considering this case, each one for himself, we found that Chichikov’s face, if he turns and turns sideways, looks very much like a portrait of Napoleon. The chief of police, who served in the campaign for 12 years and personally saw Napoleon, could not help but admit that he would not be taller than Chichikov in any way, and that Napoleon, too, could not be said to be too fat and not so thin in the shape of his figure ...". In itself, Chichikov's rapprochement with Napoleon is ironic, but the image of Napoleon appears in the poem not only as an element of comparison, but also has an independent meaning. " We all look at Napoleons", - wrote Pushkin in" Eugene Onegin ", emphasizing the aspiration of his contemporaries, as if spellbound by an unusual fate French emperor, to be or seem like this "little great man."

The originality of the genre and composition of "Dead Souls" by N. V. Gogol (vols. 1, 2).

Gogol had long dreamed of writing a work "in which all of Russia would appear." This was supposed to be a grandiose description of the life and customs of Russia in the first third of the 19th century. Such a work was the poem "Dead Souls", written in 1842. The first edition of the work was called "The Adventures of Chichikov, or Dead Souls". Such a name reduced the true meaning of this work, translated into the field of an adventure novel. Gogol did this for censorship reasons, in order for the poem to be published.

Why did Gogol call his work a poem? The definition of the genre became clear to the writer only at the last moment, since, while still working on the poem, Gogol calls it either a poem or a novel. To understand the peculiarities of the genre of the poem "Dead Souls", you can

compare this work with the "Divine Comedy" by Dante, the poet of the Renaissance. Its influence is felt in Gogol's poem. In fact, Gogol conceived to show the same circles of hell, but the hell of Russia. No wonder the title of the poem "Dead Souls" ideologically echoes the title

the first part of Dante's poem "The Divine Comedy", which is called "Hell".

Gogol, along with satirical negation, introduces an element of glorification, a creative one - the image of Russia. This image is associated with a "high lyrical movement", which in the poem at times replaces the comic narration.

A significant place in the poem "Dead Souls" is occupied by lyrical digressions and inserted episodes, which is characteristic of the poem as literary genre... In them, Gogol touches on the most pressing Russian public issues. The author's thoughts about the high purpose of man, about the fate of the Motherland and the people are opposed here to the gloomy pictures of Russian life.

So, let's go for the hero of the poem "Dead Souls" Chichikov in N.

From the very first pages of the work, we feel the fascination of the plot, since the reader cannot assume that after the meeting between Chichikov and Manilov, there will be meetings with Sobakevich and Nozdrev. The reader cannot guess about the end of the poem, because all its characters are deduced according to the principle of gradation: one is worse than the other. For example, Manilov, if viewed as a separate image, cannot be perceived as a positive hero (he has a book on his table, open on the same page, and his politeness

feigned: "Let me not allow you to do this >>), but in comparison with Plyushkin, Manilov even wins in many ways. However, Gogol put the image of the Box in the center of attention, since she is a kind of single beginning of all the characters. According to Gogol, this is a symbol of" human boxes ", which contains the idea of ​​an irrepressible thirst for hoarding.

The theme of exposing the bureaucracy runs through all of Gogol's work: it stands out both in the collection Mirgorod and in the comedy The Inspector General. In the poem Dead Souls, it is intertwined with the theme of serfdom.

A special place in the poem is occupied by "The Tale of Captain Kopeikin". It is connected with the plot of the poem, but is of great importance for the disclosure of the ideological content of the work. The form of the tale gives the story a vital character: it denounces the government. The world of "dead souls" in the poem is contrasted with a lyrical image People's Russia, about which Gogol writes with love and admiration. Per scary world landlord and bureaucratic Russia, Gogol felt the soul of the Russian people, which he quickly expressed in the image

rushing forward troika, embodying the strength of Russia: "Isn't it so you, Russia, that a brisk, unstoppable troika rushing?" So, we stopped at what Gogol portrays in his work. He portrays the social illness of society, but one should also dwell on how Gogol manages to do this. First, Gogol uses methods of social typification. In the depiction of the gallery of landowners, he skillfully combines the general and the individual. Almost all of his characters are static, they do not develop (except for Plyushkin and Chichikov), captured by the author as a result. This technique emphasizes once again that all these Manilovs, Korobochki, Sobakevichs, Plyushkins are dead souls. For

Characteristics of his characters Gogol also uses a favorite technique - characterization of a character through a detail. Gogol can be called a "genius of detailing," as sometimes details reflect the character and inner world of a character. What is, for example, a description of the estate and house of Manilov! When Chichikov drove into Manilov's estate, he drew attention to an overgrown English pond, to a lopsided gazebo, to dirt and desolation, to the wallpaper in Manilov's room - either gray or blue, two chairs covered with matting, which never reached the hands of the owner. All these and many other details lead us to main characteristic, made by the author himself: "Neither that, nor that, but the devil knows what it is!" Let us recall Plyushkin, this "hole in humanity", which has even lost its gender. He comes out to Chichikov in a greasy dressing gown, on his head some kind of unthinkable scarf, everywhere desolation, dirt, dilapidation. Plyushkin is an extreme degree of degradation. And all this is conveyed through detail, through those little things in life that A.S. admired so much. Pushkin: "Not a single writer had this gift to expose the vulgarity of life so vividly, to be able to outline the vulgarity in such a force vulgar person so that all that little thing that escapes the eyes would flash large into the eyes of everyone. "

main topic poems are the fate of Russia: its past, present and future. In the first volume, Gogol revealed the theme of the past of his homeland. The second and third volumes conceived by him were supposed to tell about the present and future of Russia. This idea can be compared with the second

and the third parts of Dante's Divine Comedy: Purgatory and Paradise. However, these plans were not destined to come true: the second volume turned out to be unsuccessful in theory, and the third was never written. Therefore, Chichikov's trip remained a trip into the unknown. Gogol was lost, thinking about the future of Russia: "Rus, where are you rushing? Give an answer! Doesn't give an answer."

Although the concept of a genre is constantly changing and becoming more complex, a genre can be understood as a historically emerging type of literary work, which has certain features. Already by these features, the main idea of ​​the work becomes clear to us in many respects, and we roughly guess its content; from the definition of "novel" we expect a description of the heroes' lives from beginning to end, from comedy - a dynamic action and an unusual denouement; a lyric poem should immerse us in the depths of feelings and experiences. But when these traits are inherent different genres, mix with each other, create a kind of unique combination - such a work at first confuses the reader.

So, one of the greatest, but at the same time mysterious works of XIX century - Gogol's poem "Dead Souls". The genre definition of "poem", which was then unambiguously understood as a lyric-epic work written in poetic form and predominantly romantic, was accepted by Gogol's contemporaries in different ways. Some found him mocking. Reactionary criticism simply sneered at the author's definition of the genre of the work.

But opinions differed and others saw hidden irony in this definition. Shevyrev wrote that "the meaning of the word 'poem' seems to us twofold ... because of the word 'poem' a deep, significant irony will appear." But is it only because of one irony that Gogol title page Did you draw the word "poem" on a large scale? Undoubtedly, this decision of Gogol had a deeper meaning.

But why did Gogol choose this particular genre for the embodiment of his ideas? Is the poem really so capacious as to give scope to all thoughts and spiritual experiences of Gogol? After all, "Dead Souls" embodied both irony and artistic preaching. Of course, this is precisely what Gogol's mastery consists of. He managed to mix the features inherent in different genres, and harmoniously combine them under one genre definition of "poem". So what new has Gogol introduced? Which of the features of the poem, whose roots go back to antiquity, did he leave to reveal his creative intention?

First of all, we are reminded of Homer's Iliad and Odyssey.

On this basis, a controversy unfolded between Belinsky and K. Aksakov, who believed that Dead Souls were written exactly after the model of the Iliad and Odyssey. “In Gogol's poem that ancient Homeric epic appears to us, in it its important character, its dignity and wide-ranging size reappears,” wrote K. Aksakov. Indeed, the features of similarity with the Homeric poem are obvious, they play a large role in defining the genre and disclosing the author's intention. Starting from the title, the analogy with Odysseus's wanderings is obvious. To the violent protests of the censorship against such a somewhat strange name - "Dead Souls" - Gogol responded by adding to the main title one more - "The Adventures of Chichikov." But the adventures, travels, wanderings of Odysseus were described by the great Homer. One of the most striking analogies with Homer's poem is the appearance of Chichikov at Korobochka. If Chichikov is Odysseus, wandering around the world, then Korobochka appears before us, albeit in such an unusual form, as the nymph Calypso or the sorceress Circe: “Oh, sir, father, but you, like a hog, have your whole back and side in mud ... Where have you so deigned to get greasy? " - with these words, Korobochka greets Chichikova, and so, only turning them into real pigs, he meets the companions of Odysseus Circe. After staying at Korobochka for about a day, Chichikov himself turns into a hog, absorbing pies and other foods. It should be noted that Korobochka (by the way, the only woman among the landowners) lived in her remote estate, reminiscent of the abandoned island of Calypso, and kept Chichikov with her longer than all the landowners. Korobochka reveals the secret of Chichikov's box. Some researchers believe that this is Chichikov's wife. This clearly manifests the mysticism and mystery of Gogol's work, it partly begins to resemble lyric poem with exciting mystical plot... The title “Dead Souls” and the skulls drawn by Gogol himself on the title page only confirm this idea. Another reference to Homer's poem is the image of Sobakevich. One has only to look at him, and we recognize in him the Cyclops Polyphemus - a powerful, formidable giant who lives in the same huge dens. Sobakevich's house is not at all distinguished by beauty and grace, but we are talking about such a building - a cyclopean structure, meaning its form and the complete absence of any logic in its construction. And Sobakevich himself is contradictory: his "half" - Theodulia Ivanovna, skinny as a pole, is the complete opposite of her husband. But not only in the descriptions of landowners do we find similarities with Homer's poem. The episode at customs is also interesting, which is, as it were, a continuation of Odysseus's cunning. The transportation of lace on rams is clearly taken over from the ancient hero who saved his life and the lives of his comrades by tying people up to sheep. There are analogies in the composition - an exposition about Chichikov's past deeds is given at the end of the work, just as Odysseus tells Alkinoy about his misfortunes, already being almost next to his native Ithaca. But in the poem this fact is like an introduction, and the story itself is the main part. This rearrangement of introductions, conclusions and the main part is facilitated by another interesting fact: both Odysseus and Chichikov travel as if not of their own free will - both of them are gradually drawn by the elements, which control the heroes as they want. Attention is drawn to the similarity of these elements - in one case it is a formidable nature, in the other - the vicious nature of man. So, we see that composition is directly related to the genre of the poem and Homeric analogies are of great importance here. They play a big role in genre definition and expand the poem to the "size" of a "small kind of epic". This is directly indicated by unusual compositional techniques that allow covering a significant period of time, and inserted stories that complicate storyline works.

But talking about direct influence antique epic to Gogol's poem would be wrong. Since ancient times, many genres have gone through a complex evolution. To think that an ancient epic is possible in our time is as absurd as to think that in our time humanity could become a child again, as Belinsky wrote, arguing with K. Aksakov. But Gogol's poem, of course, is much more philosophical, and some critics find the influence of another great work, it is true, already from the Middle Ages - Dante's Divine Comedy. In the composition itself, some similarities are visible: firstly, it indicates three private principle the composition of the work, and the first volume of Dead Souls, conceived as a three-volume edition, is, relatively speaking, the Hell of Dante's comedy. Individual chapters represent the circles of hell. 1st circle - Limb - Manilov estate, where sinless pagans are - Manilov with his wife and their children. Voluptuous Korobochka and Nozdrev inhabit the second circle of hell, followed by Sobakevich and Plyushkin, possessed by Plutos - the God of wealth and avarice. The city of Dit is a provincial town, and even the guard at the gate, whose mustache appears on his forehead and thus resembles the horns of the devil, already tells us about the similarity of these vicious cities in their appearance. At the time when Chichikov leaves the city, the coffin of the late prosecutor is brought into it - these devils are dragging his soul into hell. Through this kingdom of shadow and gloom, only one ray of light peeps through - the governor's daughter - Beatrice (or the heroine of the 2nd volume of Dead Souls, Ulenka Betrishchev). Compositional and textual analogies with Dante's comedy indicate the all-encompassing and all-destructive nature of Gogol's work. With one comparison of Russia with hell in the first volume, Gogol helps us understand that Russia must perk up and go from hell to purgatory and then to heaven. Such somewhat utopian and grotesque ideas of Gogol, his all-destructive and truly Homeric comparisons could only be expressed in a poem, as mystical and unusual in its plot, like Dante's. Gogol's aesthetic tragedy lies in the fact that Gogol was unable to carry out his creative plan of “creating” purgatory and paradise (two subsequent volumes). He was too well aware of the fall of Russia, and in his poem the vulgar Russian reality found its not only philosophical, but also satanic reflection. It turned out, as it were, a parody - exposing the vices of Russian reality. And even the revival of Chichikov, conceived by Gogol, carries a shade of a certain quixotism. One more possible prototype of Gogol's poem opens before us - a travested knightly novel (which is also Cervantes' Don Quixote). The genre of adventures also lies at the heart of the travesty knightly romance, otherwise the roguish one. Chichikov travels around Russia, engaging in scams and dubious enterprises, but the search for spiritual perfection is visible through the search for treasures - Gogol gradually leads Chichikov on a straight path, which would be the beginning of a long path of rebirth in the second and third volumes of Dead Souls. Travesty of a genre, such as travesty of a chivalric romance in a rogue one, sometimes leads to the fact that folklore elements also begin to exert a great influence. Their influence on the formation of the genre originality of Dead Souls is quite large, and the work of Gogol, who was a Ukrainianophile, was directly influenced by Ukrainian motives, especially since travesty turned out to be the most widespread in Ukraine (for example, Kotlyarevsky's poem Aeneid). V. Bakhtin finds in Gogol's poem "forms of a cheerful, carnival procession through the underworld." So, before us appear common heroes folklore genres - heroes, depicted by Gogol, as it were, upside down (in the form of anti-heroes without souls). it Gogol landlords and officials, for example Sobakevich, who, according to Nabokov, is almost Gogol's most poetic hero.

An important role in the poem is played by the image of the people, but not the pitiful Selifan and Petrushka, who, in fact, are also internally dead, but the idealized people of lyrical digressions. He not only points to such folklore genre, like a lyrical folk song, but kind of brings us to the deepest in the artistic and ideological sense genre - artistic sermon. Gogol himself thought of himself as a hero who, directly pointing out the shortcomings, would educate Russia and keep her from falling further. He thought that by showing the “metaphysical nature of evil” (N. Berdyaev), he would revive the fallen “dead souls” and, with his work, as a lever, would turn their development in the direction of rebirth. This is indicated by one fact - Gogol wanted his poem to be published together with Ivanov's painting "The Appearance of Christ to the People." Gogol presented his work with the same ray that promotes insight.

This is Gogol's special intention: the combination of features of different genres gives his work an all-encompassing didactic character of a parable or teaching. The first part of the planned trilogy is brilliantly written - only Gogol was able to show so vividly the ugly Russian reality. But in the future, the writer suffered an aesthetic and creative tragedy, artistic preaching embodied only its first part - censure, but had no end - repentance and resurrection. A hint of repentance is contained in the very genre definition - it is the lyrical digressions, which the present poem should be filled with, that point to it, although they remain, perhaps, the only feature of this lyro-epic work. They give the whole piece an inner sadness and set off irony.

Gogol himself said that the 1st volume of Dead Souls is just a "porch to a vast building," the 2nd and 3rd volumes are purgatory and rebirth.

The writer thought to reincarnate people through direct instruction, but he could not - he never saw the ideal “resurrected” people. But his literary endeavor was then continued in Russian literature. Her messianic character begins with Gogol - Dostoevsky, Tolstoy. They were able to show the rebirth of man, his resurrection from the reality that Gogol so vividly portrayed.