Born in the town of Velikiye Sorochintsy, Mirgorod district, Poltava province, in the family of a landowner. They named him Nicholas in honor of the miraculous icon of St. Nicholas, kept in the church of the village of Dikanka.
The Gogols had over 1000 acres of land and about 400 serfs. The writer’s ancestors on his father’s side were hereditary priests, but his grandfather Afanasy Demyanovich left the spiritual career and entered the hetman’s office; it was he who added to his surname Yanovsky another - Gogol, which was supposed to demonstrate the origin of the family from a well-known Ukrainian history 17th century Colonel Evstafy (Ostap) Gogol (this fact, however, does not find sufficient confirmation).
The writer's father, Vasily Afanasyevich Gogol-Yanovsky (1777-1825), served at the Little Russian Post Office, in 1805 he retired with the rank of collegiate assessor and married Maria Ivanovna Kosyarovskaya (1791-1868), who came from a landowner family. According to legend, she was the first beauty in the Poltava region. She married Vasily Afanasyevich at the age of fourteen. In addition to Nikolai, the family had five more children.
Gogol spent his childhood years on his parents' estate Vasilievka (another name is Yanovshchina). Cultural center the region was Kibintsy, the estate of D. P. Troshchinsky (1754-1829), a distant relative of the Gogols, a former minister elected to the district marshals (district leaders of the nobility); Gogol's father acted as his secretary. In Kibintsi there was a large library, there was home theater, for whom Father Gogol wrote comedies, being also its actor and conductor.
In 1818-19, Gogol, together with his brother Ivan, studied at the Poltava district school, and then, in 1820-1821, took lessons from the Poltava teacher Gabriel Sorochinsky, living in his apartment. In May 1821 he entered the gymnasium of higher sciences in Nizhyn. Here he is engaged in painting, participates in performances - as a set designer and as an actor, and with particular success he plays comic roles. He also tries himself in various literary genres (writes elegiac poems, tragedies, historical poem, story). At the same time he writes the satire “Something about Nezhin, or the law is not written for fools” (not preserved).
However, the thought of writing has not yet “come to mind” for Gogol; all his aspirations are connected with “public service”; he dreams of a legal career. Gogol’s decision to make this was greatly influenced by Prof. N. G. Belousov, who taught a course on natural law, as well as a general strengthening of freedom-loving sentiments in the gymnasium. In 1827, the “case of freethinking” arose here, which ended with the dismissal of leading professors, including Belousov; Gogol, who sympathized with him, testified in his favor during the investigation.
Having graduated from the gymnasium in 1828, Gogol, together with another graduate A. S. Danilevsky (1809-1888), went to St. Petersburg in December. Experiencing financial difficulties, unsuccessfully fussing about a place, Gogol made his first literary attempts: at the beginning of 1829 the poem “Italy” appeared, and in the spring of the same year, under the pseudonym “V. Alov”, Gogol published “an idyll in pictures” “Hanz Küchelgarten”. The poem evoked harsh and mocking reviews from N. A. Polevoy and later a condescending and sympathetic review from O. M. Somov (1830), which intensified Gogol’s difficult mood.
At the end of 1829, he managed to decide to serve in the department of state economy and public buildings of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. From April 1830 to March 1831 he served in the department of appanages (first as a scribe, then as an assistant to the clerk), under the command of the famous idyllic poet V.I. Panaev. His stay in the offices caused Gogol deep disappointment in the “state service,” but it provided him with rich material for future works that depicted bureaucratic life and the functioning of the state machine.
During this period, “Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka” (1831-1832) was published. They aroused almost universal admiration.
The pinnacle of Gogol’s fiction is the “St. Petersburg story” “The Nose” (1835; published in 1836), an extremely bold grotesque that anticipated some trends in twentieth-century art. In contrast to both the provincial and metropolitan world The story “Taras Bulba” appeared, capturing that moment in the national past when the people (“Cossacks”), defending their sovereignty, acted integrally, together and, moreover, as a force that determined the nature of pan-European history.
In the fall of 1835, he began writing “The Inspector General,” the plot of which was suggested by Pushkin; the work progressed so successfully that on January 18, 1836, he read the comedy at an evening with Zhukovsky (in the presence of Pushkin, P. A. Vyazemsky and others), and in February-March he was already busy staging it on stage Alexandria Theater. The play premiered on April 19. May 25 - premiere in Moscow, at the Maly Theater.
In June 1836, Gogol left St. Petersburg for Germany (in total, he lived abroad for about 12 years). He spends the end of summer and autumn in Switzerland, where he begins to work on the continuation of Dead Souls. The plot was also suggested by Pushkin. The work began back in 1835, before the writing of The Inspector General, and immediately acquired a wide scope. In St. Petersburg, several chapters were read to Pushkin, causing him both approval and at the same time a depressing feeling.
In November 1836, Gogol moved to Paris, where he met A. Mickiewicz. Then he moves to Rome. Here in February 1837, in the midst of work on " Dead souls", he receives the shocking news of Pushkin's death. In a fit of "inexpressible melancholy" and bitterness, Gogol feels the "present work" as the poet's "sacred testament."
In December 1838, Zhukovsky arrived in Rome, accompanying the heir (Alexander II). Gogol was extremely educated by the poet's arrival and showed him Rome; I drew views with him.
In September 1839, accompanied by Pogodin, Gogol came to Moscow and began reading the chapters of “Dead Souls” - first in the Aksakovs’ house, then, after moving to St. Petersburg in October, at Zhukovsky’s, at Prokopovich’s in the presence of his old friends. A total of 6 chapters have been read. There was universal delight.
In May 1842, “The Adventures of Chichikov, or Dead Souls” was published.
After the first, brief, but very commendable reviews, the initiative was seized by Gogol’s detractors, who accused him of being a caricature, a farce and slandering reality. Later, N.A. Polevoy came up with an article that bordered on denunciation.
All this controversy took place in the absence of Gogol, who went abroad in June 1842. Before leaving, he entrusts Prokopovich with the publication of the first collection of his works. Gogol spends the summer in Germany; in October, together with N. M. Yazykov, he moves to Rome. He is working on the 2nd volume of Dead Souls, which apparently began back in 1840; He devotes a lot of time to preparing his collected works. “The Works of Nikolai Gogol” in four volumes was published at the beginning of 1843, since censorship suspended the two volumes that had already been printed for a month.
The three years (1842-1845), which followed the writer’s departure abroad, was a period of intense and difficult work on the 2nd volume of Dead Souls.
At the beginning of 1845, Gogol showed signs of a new mental crisis. The writer goes to Paris to rest and “recuperate”, but returns to Frankfurt in March. Is the streak of treatment and consultations with various medical celebrities, moving from one resort to another beginning? then to Halle, then to Berlin, then to Dresden, then to Carlsbad. At the end of June or beginning of July 1845, in a state of sharp exacerbation of the disease, Gogol burns the manuscript of the 2nd volume. Subsequently (in “Four Letters to Various Persons Regarding “Dead Souls” - “Selected Places”) Gogol explained this step by saying that the book did not show “paths and roads” to the ideal clearly enough.
Gogol continues to work on the 2nd volume, however, experiencing increasing difficulties, he is distracted by other matters: he composes a preface to the 2nd edition of the poem (published in 1846) “To the reader from the author”, writes “The Inspector's Denouement” (published 1856 ), in which the idea of a “prefabricated city” in the spirit of the theological tradition (“On the City of God” by St. Augustine) was refracted into the subjective plane of the “spiritual city” of an individual, which brought to the fore the requirements of spiritual education and improvement of everyone.
In 1847, “Selected Places from Correspondence with Friends” was published in St. Petersburg. The book performed a dual function - both an explanation of why the 2nd volume has not yet been written, and some compensation for it: Gogol proceeded to present his main ideas - doubt about the effective, teaching function of fiction, a utopian program for all “classes” to fulfill their duty and "titles", from peasant to senior officials and the king.
The release of Selected Places brought a real critical storm upon its author. All these responses overtook the writer on the road: in May 1847, he headed from Naples to Paris, then to Germany. Gogol cannot recover from the “blows” he received: “My health... was shaken by this devastating story for me about my book... I marvel at how I was still alive.”
Gogol spends the winter of 1847-1848 in Naples, intensively reading Russian periodicals, new fiction, historical and folklore books - “in order to plunge deeper into the indigenous Russian spirit.” At the same time, he is preparing for a long-planned pilgrimage to holy places. In January 1848 he went to Jerusalem by sea. In April 1848, after a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, Gogol finally returned to Russia, where he spent most of his time in Moscow, visiting St. Petersburg, as well as in his native places - Little Russia.
In mid-October, Gogol lives in Moscow. In 1849-1850, Gogol reads individual chapters of the 2nd volume of Dead Souls to his friends. General approval and delight inspire the writer, who now works with redoubled energy. In the spring of 1850, Gogol makes the first and last attempt to organize his family life- makes an offer to A. M. Vielgorskaya, but is refused.
In October 1850 Gogol arrived in Odessa. His condition is improving; he is active, cheerful, cheerful; willingly gets along with the actors of the Odessa troupe, to whom he gives lessons in reading comedy works, with L. S. Pushkin, with local writers. In March 1851 he left Odessa and, after spending the spring and early summer in his native places, returned to Moscow in June. Should new circle readings of the 2nd volume of the poem; In total, up to 7 chapters were read. In October he attended “The Inspector General” at the Maly Theater, with S. V. Shumsky in the role of Khlestakov, and was pleased with the performance; in November he reads “The Inspector General” to a group of actors, including I. S. Turgenev.
On January 1, 1852, Gogol informs Arnoldi that the 2nd volume is “completely finished.” But in the last days of the month, signs of a new crisis were clearly revealed, the impetus for which was the death of E. M. Khomyakova, sister of N. M. Yazykov, a person spiritually close to Gogol. He is tormented by a premonition of imminent death, aggravated by newly intensified doubts about the beneficialness of his writing career and the success of the work being carried out. On February 7, Gogol confesses and receives communion, and on the night of 11 to 12 he burns the white manuscript of the 2nd volume (only 5 chapters have survived in incomplete form, relating to various draft editions; published in 1855). On the morning of February 21, Gogol died in his last apartment in the Talyzin house in Moscow.
The writer's funeral took place with a huge crowd of people at the cemetery of the St. Daniel's Monastery, and in 1931 Gogol's remains were reburied at the Novodevichy cemetery.
Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol was born on March 20 (April 1), 1809 in the town of Velikiye Sorochintsy, Mirgorod district, Poltava province. The writer came from a middle-income landowner family: they had about 400 serf souls and over 1000 acres of land. The writer’s ancestors on his father’s side were hereditary priests, but his grandfather Afanasy Demyanovich left the spiritual career and entered the hetman’s office; It was he who added another one to his surname Yanovsky - Go-gol, which was supposed to demonstrate the origin of the family from Colonel Evstafy (Ostap) Gogol, famous in Ukrainian history of the 17th century (this fact, however, does not find sufficient confirmation).
The writer's father, Vasily Afanasyevich, served at the Little Russian Post Office. Mother, Marya Ivanovna, who came from the landowner Kosyarovsky family, was known as the first beauty in the Poltava region; she married Vasily Afanasyevich at the age of fourteen. In addition to Nikolai, the family had five more children. The future writer spent his childhood years in his native estate Vasilyevka (another name is Yanovshchina), visiting with his parents the surrounding places - Dikanka, which belonged to the Minister of Internal Affairs V.P. Kochubey, to Obukhovka, where the writer V.V. Kapnist, but especially often in Kibintsy, the estate of the former minister, a distant relative of Gogol on his mother’s side - D. P. Troshchinsky. The early artistic impressions of the future writer are connected with Kibintsy, where there was an extensive library and a home theater. They were supplemented historical legends and biblical stories, in particular the mother’s prophecy about Last Judgment and the inevitable punishment of sinners. Since then, Gogol, in the words of researcher K.V. Mochulsky, has constantly lived “under the terror of retribution beyond the grave.”
At first, Gogol studied at the Poltava district school (1818-1819), then took private lessons from the Poltava teacher Gabriel Sorochinsky, living in his apartment, and in May 1821 he entered the newly founded Nizhyn Gymnasium of Higher Sciences. Gogol was a rather mediocre student, but he distinguished himself in the gymnasium theater as an actor and decorator. The gymnasium period includes the first literary experiments in verse and prose, mainly “in a lyrical and serious manner,” but also in a comic spirit, such as the satire “Something about Nezhin, or the law is not written for fools” (not preserved). Most of all, however, Gogol was occupied at this time by the thought of public service in the field of JUSTICE; This decision arose not without the influence of Professor N. G. Belousov, who taught natural law and was subsequently dismissed from the gymnasium on charges of “freethinking” (during the investigation, Gogol testified in favor of the professor).
After graduating from the gymnasium, Gogol in December 1828, together with one of his closest friends A. S. Danilevsky, came to St. Petersburg. But only disappointment awaits him: he cannot get the desired place; the poem "Hanz Küchelgarten", written, obviously, back in the gymnasium era and published in 1829 (under the pseudonym V. Alov), receives murderous
reviews from reviewers (Gogol immediately buys up almost the entire circulation of the book and burns it); to this, perhaps, were added the love experiences that he spoke about in a letter to his mother (dated July 24, 1829). All this makes Gogol suddenly leave St. Petersburg for Germany.
Upon returning to Russia (in September of the same year), Gogol finally managed to enter the service - first in the Department of State Economy and Public Buildings, and then in the Department of Appanages. Official activity does not bring Gogol satisfaction, but new publications (the story “Bisavryuk, or the Evening on the Eve of Ivan Kupala”, articles and essays) are drawing increasing attention to the Russian reading public. The writer makes extensive literary acquaintances, in particular V. A. Zhukovsky, P. A. Pletnev, who at his home in May 1831 (apparently the 20th) introduced Gogol to A. S. Pushkin.
In the autumn of the same year, the first part of the collection of stories from Ukrainian life“Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka” (the second part appeared the following year), enthusiastically received by Pushkin: “This is real gaiety, sincere, relaxed, without affectation, without stiffness. And in places what poetry!..” At the same time, the “gaiety” of Gogol’s book was revealed various shades- from light-hearted banter to dark comedy, close to black humor. Despite the completeness and sincerity of the feelings of Gogol’s characters, the world in which they live is tragically conflicting: natural and family ties are dissolved, mysterious unreal forces invade the natural order of things (the fantastic is based mainly on folk demonology). Already in “Evenings” Gogol’s extraordinary art of creating an integral, complete artistic cosmos that lives according to its own laws was revealed.
After the publication of his first prose book, Go-gol becomes famous. In the summer of 1832, he was greeted with enthusiasm in Moscow, where he met M. P. Pogodin, S. T. Aksakov and his family, M. S. Shchepkin and other famous cultural figures. Gogol's next trip to Moscow, equally successful, took place in the summer of 1835. By the end of this year, he left pedagogy (since the summer of 1834 he held the position of associate professor of general history at St. Petersburg University) and devoted himself entirely to literary work.
The year 1835 was unusually fruitful: the next two collections of prose works were published - “Arabesques” and “Mirgorod” (both in two parts), work began on the poem “Dead Souls”, the comedy “The Inspector General” was mostly completed, the comedy “The Inspector General” was written. Grooms" (future "Marry-ba"). Reporting on the writer’s new achievements, including the upcoming premiere of “The Inspector General” at the St. Petersburg Alexandrinsky Theater (April 19, 1836), Pushkin noted in Sovremennik: “Mr. Gogol is moving forward. We wish and hope to have frequent opportunities to talk about him in our magazine.” By the way, Gogol actively published in Pushkin’s magazine, in particular as a critic (article “On the movement of magazine literature in 1834 and 1835”).
“Mirgorod” and “Arabesque” marked new
art worlds on the Gogol map
universe. Thematically close to “Evenings”
(“Little Russian” life), the Mirgorod cycle, which united the stories “Old World Landowners”, “Taras Bulba”, “Viy”, “The Tale of How Ivan Ivanovich Quarreled with Ivan Nikiforovich”, reveals a sharp change in perspective and pictorial scale: in a number of cases, instead of strong and sharp characteristics - the vulgarity and facelessness of ordinary people, instead of poetic and deep feelings - sluggish, almost animal reflexes. Ordinariness modern life was set off by the colorfulness and extravagance of the past, but deep internal conflict was all the more strikingly manifested in it, in this past (for example, in “Taras Bulba” - the clash of an individualizing love feeling with communal interests).
The world of the “Petersburg Tales” from “Arabs” (“Nevsky Prospekt”, “Notes of a Madman”, “Portrait”; they are joined by “The Nose” and “The Overcoat”) is the world of a modern city with its acute social and ethical conflicts, fractured characters, and an alarming and ghostly atmosphere.
Gogol’s generalization reaches its highest degree in “The Inspector General,” where “ prefabricated city"as if imitating the life activity of any larger social association, up to the state, Russian Empire, or even humanity as a whole. Instead of the traditional active engine of intrigue - a rogue or an adventurer - an involuntary deceiver (the imaginary inspector Khlestakov) was placed at the epicenter of the collision, which gave everything that was happening an additional, grotesque illumination, enhanced to the limit by the final “non-my scene”. Freed from the specific details of the “punishment of vice”, conveying first of all the very effect of general shock (which was emphasized by the symbolic duration of the moment of petrification), this scene left the possibility of the most different interpretations, including eschatological - as a reminder of the inevitable Last Judgment.
In June 1836, Gogol (again together with Da-nilevsky) went abroad, where he spent a total of more than 12 years, not counting two visits to Russia - in 1839-1840 and in 1841-1842. The writer lived in Germany, Switzerland, France, Austria, the Czech Republic, but most of all in Italy, continuing to work on “Dead Souls.”
The generality characteristic of Gogol now received spatial expression: as the Chichikov scam developed (the purchase of the “revision souls” of dead people), Russian life was supposed to reveal itself in a variety of ways - not only from the “lowest ranks of it”, but also to higher, significant ones. manifestations. At the same time, the full depth of the key motif of the poem was revealed: the concept of “dead soul” and the antithesis “alive-dead” that followed from the STSYUDZ from the sphere of concrete word usage (dead peasant, “revision soul”) moved into the sphere of figurative and symbolic semantics. The problem arose of the deadening and revitalization of the human soul and, in connection with this, of society as a whole, of the Russian world first of all, but through it of all modern humanity. Associated with the complexity of the design genre specificity“Dead Souls” (the designation “poem” indicated the symbolic meaning of the work, the special role of the narrator and the positive ideal of the author). After the release of the first volume of Dead Souls (1842), work on the second volume (started back in 1840) was especially intense and painful. In the summer of 1845, in a difficult mental state, Gogol burned the manuscript of the second volume, later explaining his decision precisely by the fact that the “paths and roads” to the ideal, the revival of the human spirit, did not receive sufficiently truthful and convincing expression. As if compensating for the long-promised second volume and anticipating the general movement of the meaning of the poem* Gogol in “Selected Passages from Correspondence with Friends” (1847) turned to a more direct, journalistic explanation of his ideas. The need for internal Christian education and re-education of each and every person was emphasized with particular force in this book, without which no social improvements are possible. At the same time, Gogol was also working on works of a theological nature, the most significant of which was “Reflections on the Divine Liturgy” (published posthumously in 1857).
In April 1848, after a pilgrimage to the Holy Land to the Holy Sepulcher, Gogol finally returned to his homeland. He spends many months in 1848 and 1850-1851 in Odessa and Little Russia, in the fall of 1848 he visits St. Petersburg, in 1850 and 1851 he visits Optina Pustyn, but most of the time he lives in Moscow.
By the beginning of 1852, the edition of the second volume was re-created, chapters from which Gogol read to his closest friends - A. O. Smirnova-Rosset, S. P. Shevyrev, M. P. Pogodin, S. T. Aksakov and others. The Rzhev archpriest Father Matvey (Konstantinovsky), whose preaching of tireless moral self-improvement largely determined Gogol’s mentality in the last period of his life, disapproved of the work.
On the night of February 11-12, in the house on Nikitsky Boulevard, where Gogol lived with Count A.P. Tolstoy, in a state of deep mental crisis, the writer burns the new edition of the second volume. A few days later, on the morning of February 21, he dies.
The writer's funeral took place with a huge crowd of people at the cemetery of the St. Daniel's Monastery (in 1931, Gogol's remains were reburied at the Novodevichy cemetery).
From a historical perspective, Gogol's creativity was revealed gradually. For his immediate successors, representatives of the so-called natural school, of paramount importance were social motives, the removal of all prohibitions on the topic and material, everyday concreteness, as well as humanistic pathos in the depiction of the “little man”. On turn of the 19th century and the 20th century, the Christian philosophical and moral problematics of Gogol’s works were revealed with particular force. Subsequently, the perception of Gogol’s work was supplemented by a feeling of its special complexity and irrationality. art world and the visionary courage and non-traditionality of his pictorial manner. “Gogol’s prose is at least four-dimensional. He can be compared with his contemporary mathematician Lobachevsky, who blew up the Euclidean world...” - V. Nabokov appreciated Gogol’s work. All this determined the special place of Gogol’s work in modern world culture.
“To be in the world and not have anything to indicate your existence - it seems terrible to me.” N.V. Gogol.
Genius of classical literature
Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol is known to the world as a writer, poet, playwright, publicist and critic. A man of remarkable talent and an amazing master of words, he is famous both in Ukraine, where he was born, and in Russia, to which he eventually moved.
Gogol is especially known for his mystical heritage. His stories, written in a unique Ukrainian language, which is not literary in the full sense of the word, convey the depth and beauty of Ukrainian speech, known throughout the world. Viy gave Gogol his greatest popularity. What other works did Gogol write? We will look at the list of works below. These are sensational stories, often mystical, and stories from school curriculum, and little famous works author.
List of works by the writer
In total, Gogol wrote more than 30 works. He continued to complete some of them, despite publication. Many of his creations had several variations, including Taras Bulba and Viy. Having published the story, Gogol continued to reflect on it, sometimes adding or changing the ending. Often his stories have several endings. So, next we will consider the most famous works of Gogol. The list is in front of you:
- "Hanz Küchelgarten" (1827-1829, under the pseudonym A. Alov).
- “Evenings on a farm near Dikanka” (1831), part 1 (“Sorochinskaya Fair”, “Evening on the Eve of Ivan Kupala”, “Drowned Man”, “Missing Letter”). Its second part was published a year later. It included the following stories: “The Night Before Christmas”, “Terrible Revenge”, “Ivan Fedorovich Shponka and His Aunt”, “Enchanted Place”.
- "Mirgorod" (1835). Its edition was divided into 2 parts. The first part included the stories “Taras Bulba” and “Old World Landowners”. The second part, completed in 1839-1841, included “Viy” and “The Tale of How Ivan Ivanovich Quarreled with Ivan Nikiforovich.”
- "The Nose" (1841-1842).
- "Morning business man" It was written, like the comedies “Litigation”, “Excerpt” and “Lackey”, in the period from 1832 to 1841.
- "Portrait" (1842).
- “Notes of a Madman” and “Nevsky Prospekt” (1834-1835).
- "The Inspector General" (1835).
- The play "Marriage" (1841).
- "Dead Souls" (1835-1841).
- Comedies "The Players" and "Theatrical Tour after the Presentation of a New Comedy" (1836-1841).
- "The Overcoat" (1839-1841).
- "Rome" (1842).
These are published works that Gogol wrote. The works (list by year, more precisely) indicate that the heyday of the writer’s talent occurred in 1835-1841. Now let’s take a little look at the reviews of Gogol’s most famous stories.
"Viy" - Gogol's most mystical creation
The story of “Viy” tells about the recently deceased lady, the centurion’s daughter, who, as the whole village knew, was a witch. The centurion, at the request of his beloved daughter, makes the funeral student Khoma Brut read over her. The witch, who died due to Khoma’s fault, dreams of revenge...
Reviews of the work “Viy” are complete praise for the writer and his talent. It is impossible to discuss the list of Nikolai Gogol’s works without mentioning everyone’s favorite “Viy”. Readers note bright characters, original, unique, with their own characters and habits. All of them are typical Ukrainians, cheerful and optimistic people, rude but kind. It is impossible not to appreciate Gogol's subtle irony and humor.
The writer’s unique style and his ability to play on contrasts are also highlighted. During the day, the peasants walk and have fun, Khoma also drinks so as not to think about the horror of the coming night. With the arrival of evening, a gloomy, mystical silence sets in - and Khoma again enters the circle outlined in chalk...
A very short story keeps you in suspense until the last pages. Below are stills from the 1967 film of the same name.
Satirical comedy "The Nose"
“The Nose” is an amazing story, written in such a satirical form that at first it seems fantastically absurd. According to the plot, Platon Kovalev, a public person and prone to narcissism, wakes up in the morning without a nose - his place is empty. In a panic, Kovalev begins to look for his lost nose, because without it you won’t even appear in decent society!
Readers easily saw the prototype of Russian (and not only!) society. Gogol's stories, despite the fact that they were written in the 19th century, do not lose their relevance. Gogol, whose list of works can mostly be divided into mysticism and satire, felt very subtly modern society, which has not changed at all over the past time. Rank and external polish are still held in high esteem, but no one is interested in the inner content of a person. It is Plato’s nose, with an outer shell, but without internal content, that becomes the prototype of a richly dressed man, intelligently thinking, but soulless.
"Taras Bulba"
"Taras Bulba" is a great creation. When describing Gogol's works, the most famous, the list of which is provided above, one cannot fail to mention this story. The plot centers on two brothers, Andrei and Ostap, as well as their father, Taras Bulba himself, a strong, courageous and extremely principled man.
Readers especially highlight the small details of the story, which the author focused on, which enliven the picture and make those distant times closer and understandable. The writer spent a long time studying the details of everyday life of that era, so that readers could more vividly and vividly imagine the events taking place. In general, Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol, whose list of works we are discussing today, always attached special importance to little things.
The charismatic characters also made a lasting impression on readers. Tough, merciless Taras, ready to do anything for the sake of the Motherland, brave and courageous Ostap and romantic, selfless Andrey - they cannot leave readers indifferent. In general, the famous works of Gogol, the list of which we are considering, have interesting feature- a surprising but harmonious contradiction in the characters’ characters.
“Evenings on a farm near Dikanka”
Another mystical, but at the same time funny and ironic work by Gogol. The blacksmith Vakula is in love with Oksana, who promised to marry him if he gets her slippers like the queen herself. Vakula is in despair... But then, quite by chance, he comes across evil spirits having fun in the village in the company of a witch. It is not surprising that Gogol, whose list of works includes numerous mystical stories, this story involved a witch and a devil.
This story is interesting not only because of the plot, but also because of the colorful characters, each of whom is unique. They, as if alive, appear before the readers, each in their own image. Gogol admires some with slight irony, he admires Vakula, and teaches Oksana to appreciate and love. Like a caring father, he chuckles good-naturedly at his characters, but it all looks so soft that it only evokes a gentle smile.
The character of the Ukrainians, their language, customs and foundations, so clearly described in the story, could only be described in such detail and lovingly by Gogol. Even making fun of the “Moskalyama” looks cute from the lips of the characters in the story. This is because Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol, whose list of works we are discussing today, loved his homeland and spoke of it with love.
"Dead Souls"
Sounds mystical, don’t you agree? However, in fact, Gogol did not resort to mysticism in this work and looked much deeper - into human souls. Main character Chichikov seems like a negative character at first glance, but the more the reader gets to know him, the more positive traits he notices in him. Gogol makes the reader worry about the fate of his hero, despite his unpleasant actions, which already says a lot.
In this work, the writer, as always, is an excellent psychologist and a true genius of words.
Of course, these are not all the works that Gogol wrote. The list of works is incomplete without the continuation of Dead Souls. It was its author who allegedly burned it before his death. Rumor has it that in the next two volumes Chichikov was supposed to improve and become a decent person. Is this true? Unfortunately, now we will never know for sure.
The work of Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol is literary heritage, which can be compared to a large and multifaceted diamond, shimmering with all the colors of the rainbow.
Despite the fact that Nikolai Vasilyevich’s life path was short-lived (1809-1852), and in the last ten years he did not finish a single work, the writer introduced into Russian classical literature invaluable contribution.
Gogol was looked upon as a hoaxer, a satirist, a romantic and simply a wonderful storyteller. Such versatility was attractive as a phenomenon even during the writer’s lifetime. Incredible situations were attributed to him, and sometimes ridiculous rumors were spread. But Nikolai Vasilyevich did not refute them. He understood that over time all this would turn into legends.
The writer's literary destiny is enviable. Not every author can boast that all of his works were published during his lifetime, and each work attracted the attention of critics.
Start
The fact that real talent had come to literature became clear after the story “Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka.” But this is not the author's first work. The first thing the writer created was the romantic poem “Hanz Küchelgarten”.It's hard to say what prompted young Nicholas to write such a strange work is probably a fascination with German romanticism. But the poem was not a success. And as soon as the first negative reviews appeared, the young author, together with his servant Yakim, bought all the remaining copies and simply burned them.
This act became something of a ring-shaped composition in creativity. Nikolai Vasilyevich began his literary journey with the burning of his works and ended it with the burning. Yes, Gogol treated his works cruelly when he felt some kind of failure.
But then a second work came out, which was mixed with Ukrainian folklore and Russian ancient literature- “Evenings on a farm near Dikanka.” The author managed to laugh at evil spirits, above the devil himself, to combine the past and the present, reality and fiction, and paint it all in cheerful colors.
All the stories described in the two volumes were received with delight. Pushkin, who was an authority for Nikolai Vasilyevich, wrote: “What poetry!.. All this is so unusual in our current literature.” Belinsky also put his “quality mark”. It was a success.
Genius
If the first two books, which included eight stories, showed that talent had entered literature, then the new cycle, under common name"Mirgorod" showed a genius.Mirgorod- these are only four stories. But each work is a true masterpiece.
A story about two old men who live in their estate. Nothing happens in their life. At the end of the story they die.
This story can be approached in different ways. What was the author trying to achieve: sympathy, pity, compassion? Maybe this is how the writer sees the idyll of the twilight part of a person’s life?
A very young Gogol (he was only 26 years old at the time of working on the story) decided to show the real, true love. He moved away from generally accepted stereotypes: romance between young people, wild passions, betrayals, confessions.
Two old men, Afanasy Ivanovich and Pulcheria Ivanovna, do not show any special love for each other, there is no talk of carnal needs, and there are no anxious worries. Their life is caring for each other, the desire to predict, not yet voiced desires, to play a joke.
But their affection for each other is so great that after the death of Pulcheria Ivanovna, Afanasy Ivanovich simply cannot live without her. Afanasy Ivanovich is weakening, dilapidating, like the old estate, and before his death he asks: “Put me near Pulcheria Ivanovna.”
This is a daily, deep feeling.
The story of Taras Bulba
Here the author touches on historical topic. The war that Taras Bulba is waging against the Poles is a war for the purity of faith, for Orthodoxy, against “Catholic mistrust.”And although Nikolai Vasilyevich did not have reliable historical facts about Ukraine, being content with folk legends, meager chronicle data, Ukrainian folk songs, and sometimes simply turning to mythology and his own imagination, he perfectly managed to show the heroism of the Cossacks. The story was literally stretched out catchphrases, which remain relevant even now: “I gave birth to you, I will kill you!”, “Be patient, Cossack, and you will be an ataman!”, “Is there still gunpowder in the flasks?!”
The mystical basis of the work, where evil spirits and evil spirits united against the main character form the basis of the plot, is perhaps the most incredible Gogol story.
The main action takes place in the temple. Here the author allowed himself to fall into doubt: can evil spirits be defeated? Is faith capable of resisting this demonic revelry, when neither the word of God nor the performance of special sacraments helps?
Even the name of the main character, Khoma Brut, was chosen with deep meaning. Homa is a religious principle (that was the name of one of Christ’s disciples, Thomas), and Brutus, as you know, is the killer of Caesar and an apostate.
Bursak Brutus had to spend three nights in the church reading prayers. But the fear of the lady who had risen from the grave forced him to turn to non-God-pleasing protection.
Gogol's character fights the lady with two methods. On the one hand, with the help of prayers, on the other hand, with the help of pagan rituals, drawing a circle and spells. His behavior is explained by philosophical views on life and doubts about the existence of God.
As a result, Homa Brutus did not have enough faith. He rejected the inner voice telling him: “Don’t look at Viy.” But in magic he turned out to be weak compared to the surrounding entities, and lost this battle. He was a few minutes short of the last rooster crow. Salvation was so close, but the student did not take advantage of it. But the church remained desolate, desecrated by evil spirits.
The story of how Ivan Ivanovich quarreled with Ivan Nikiforovich
A story about the enmity of former friends who quarreled over a trifle and devoted the rest of their lives to sorting things out.A sinful passion for hatred and strife - this is the vice the author points out. Gogol laughs at the petty tricks and intrigues that the main characters plot against each other. This enmity makes their whole life petty and vulgar.
The story is full of satire, grotesque, irony. And when the author says with admiration that both Ivan Ivanovich and Ivan Nikiforovich are both wonderful people, the reader understands all the baseness and vulgarity of the main characters. Out of boredom, landowners look for reasons to litigate and this becomes their meaning of life. And it’s sad because these gentlemen have no other goal.
Petersburg stories
The search for a way to overcome evil was continued by Gogol in those works that the writer did not combine into a specific cycle. It’s just that the writers decided to call them St. Petersburg, after the place of action. Here again the author ridicules human vices. The play “Marriage”, the stories “Notes of a Madman”, “Portrait”, “Nevsky Prospekt”, the comedies “Litigation”, “Excerpt”, “Players” deserved particular popularity.Some works should be described in more detail.
The most significant of these St. Petersburg works is considered to be the story “The Overcoat”. No wonder Dostoevsky once said: “We all came out of Gogol’s Overcoat.” Yes it is key work for Russian writers.
“The Overcoat” shows the classic image of a little man. The reader is presented with a downtrodden titular adviser, insignificant in the service, whom anyone can offend.
Here Gogol made another discovery - the little man is interesting to everyone. After all, a worthy depiction in literature early XIX century, problems of the state level, heroic deeds, violent or sentimental feelings, vivid passions, and strong characters were considered.
And so, against the backdrop of prominent characters, Nikolai Vasilyevich “releases into the public” a petty official who should be completely uninteresting. There are no state secrets here, no struggle for the glory of the Fatherland. There is no place for sentimentality and sighs here. starry sky. And the most courageous thoughts in Akaki Akakievich’s head: “Shouldn’t we put a marten on the collar of our overcoat?”
The writer showed an insignificant person whose meaning in life is his overcoat. His goals are very small. Bashmachkin first dreams of an overcoat, then saves money for it, and when it is stolen, he simply dies. And readers sympathize with the unfortunate adviser, considering the issue of social injustice.
Gogol definitely wanted to show the stupidity, inconsistency and mediocrity of Akaki Akakievich, who can only deal with copying papers. But it is compassion for this insignificant person that gives rise to a warm feeling in the reader.
It is impossible to ignore this masterpiece. The play has always been a success, including because the author gives the actors a good basis for creativity. The play's first release was a triumph. It is known that the example of “The Inspector General” was Emperor Nicholas I himself, who perceived the production favorably and assessed it as a criticism of bureaucracy. This is exactly how everyone else saw the comedy.
But Gogol did not rejoice. His work was not understood! We can say that Nikolai Vasilyevich took up self-flagellation. It is with “The Inspector General” that the writer begins to evaluate his work more harshly, raising the literary bar higher and higher after any of his publications.
As for “The Inspector General,” the author had long hoped that he would be understood. But this did not happen even ten years later. Then the writer created the work “Decoupling to The Inspector General,” in which he explains to the reader and viewer how to correctly understand this comedy.
First of all, the author states that he is not criticizing anything. And a city where all the officials are freaks cannot exist in Russia: “Even if there are two or three, there will be decent ones.” And the city shown in the play is a spiritual city that sits inside everyone.
It turns out that Gogol showed the soul of a person in his comedy, and called on people to understand their apostasy and repent. The author put all his efforts into the epigraph: “There is no point in blaming the mirror if your face is crooked.” And after he was not understood, he turned this phrase against himself.
But the poem was also perceived as a criticism of landowner Russia. They also saw a call to fight serfdom, although, in fact, Gogol was not an opponent of serfdom.
In the second volume of Dead Souls, the writer wanted to show positive examples. For example, he painted the image of the landowner Kostanzhoglo as so decent, hardworking and fair that the men of the neighboring landowner come to him and ask him to buy them.
All the author’s ideas were brilliant, but he himself believed that everything was going wrong. Not everyone knows that Gogol burned the second volume of Dead Souls for the first time back in 1845. This is not an aesthetic failure. The surviving rough works show that Gogol’s talent has not at all dried up, as some critics try to claim. The burning of the second volume reveals the author's demands, not his insanity.
But rumors about Nikolai Vasilyevich’s mild insanity quickly spread. Even the writer’s inner circle, people who were far from stupid, could not understand what the writer wanted from life. All this gave rise to additional fictions.
But there was also an idea for the third volume, where the heroes from the first two volumes were supposed to meet. One can only guess what the author deprived us of by destroying his manuscripts.
Nikolai Vasilievich admitted that at the beginning life path, while still in adolescence, he was not easily worried about the question of good and evil. The boy wanted to find a way to fight evil. The search for an answer to this question redefined his calling.
The method was found - satire and humor. Anything that seems unattractive, unsightly or ugly should be made funny. Gogol said: “Even those who are not afraid of anything are afraid of laughter.”
The writer has so developed the ability to turn a situation around with a funny side that his humor has acquired a special, subtle basis. Visible to the world laughter hid in itself tears, disappointment, and grief, something that cannot amuse, but, on the contrary, leads to sad thoughts.
For example, in the very funny story “The Tale of How Ivan Ivanovich Quarreled with Ivan Nikiforovich” after funny story about irreconcilable neighbors, the author concludes: “It’s boring in this world, gentlemen!” The goal has been achieved. The reader is sad because the situation played out is not funny at all. The same effect occurs after reading the story “Notes of a Madman,” where a whole tragedy is played out, although it is presented from a comedic perspective.
And if early work is distinguished by true cheerfulness, for example, “Evenings on a farm near Dikanka”, then with age the author wants deeper investigations, and calls on the reader and viewer to this.
Nikolai Vasilyevich understood that laughter could be dangerous and resorted to various tricks to circumvent censorship. For example, the stage fate of The Inspector General might not have worked out at all if Zhukovsky had not convinced the emperor himself that there was nothing unreliable in mocking untrustworthy officials.
Like many, Gogol’s road to Orthodoxy was not easy. He painfully, making mistakes and doubting, searched for his path to the truth. But it was not enough for him to find this road himself. He wanted to point it out to others. He wanted to cleanse himself of everything bad and suggested that everyone do this.
WITH youth the boy studied both Orthodoxy and Catholicism, comparing religions, noting similarities and differences. And this search for truth was reflected in many of his works. Gogol not only read the Gospel, he made extracts.
Having become famous as a great mystifier, he was not understood in his last unfinished work, “Selected Passages from Correspondence with Friends.” And the church reacted negatively to “Selected Places,” believing that it was unacceptable for the author of “Dead Souls” to read sermons.
The Christian book itself was truly instructive. The author explains what happens at the liturgy. What symbolic meaning does this or that action have? But this work was not completed. In general, the last years of a writer’s life are a turn from external to internal.
Nikolai Vasilyevich travels a lot to monasteries, especially often visiting the Vvedenskaya Optina Hermitage, where he has a spiritual mentor, Elder Macarius. In 1949, Gogol met a priest, Father Matvey Konstantinovsky.
Disputes often occur between the writer and Archpriest Matvey. Moreover, Nikolai’s humility and piety are not enough for the priest; he demands: “Renounce Pushkin.”
And although Gogol did not commit any renunciation, the opinion of his spiritual mentor hovered over him as an undeniable authority. The writer persuades the archpriest to read the second volume of “Dead Souls” in its final version. And although the priest initially refused, he later decided to give his assessment of the work.
Archpriest Matthew is the only lifetime reader of the Gogol manuscript of the 2nd part. Returning the clean original to the author, the priest did not easily give a negative assessment of the prose poem; he advised it to be destroyed. In fact, this is who influenced the fate of the work of the great classic.
The conviction of Konstantinovsky, and a number of other circumstances, prompted the writer to abandon his work. Gogol begins to analyze his works. He almost refused food. Dark thoughts overcome him more and more.
Since everything was happening in the house of Count Tolstoy, Gogol asked him to hand over the manuscripts to Metropolitan Philaret of Moscow. With the best of intentions, the count refused to fulfill such a request. Then, late at night, Nikolai Vasilyevich woke up Semyon’s servant so that he would open the stove valves and burn all his manuscripts.
It seems that this event predetermined imminent death writer. He continued to fast and rejected any help from friends and doctors. It was as if he was purifying himself, preparing for death.
It must be said that Nikolai Vasilyevich was not abandoned. The literary community sent the best doctors to the patient's bedside. A whole council of professors was assembled. But, apparently, the decision to begin compulsory treatment was belated. Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol died.
It is not surprising that the writer, who wrote so much about evil spirits, delved deeper into faith. Everyone on earth has their own path.
Composition
Will the time come
(Come what you desire!).
When the people are not Blucher
And not my foolish lord,
Belinsky and Gogol
Will it come from the market?
N. Nekrasov
The work of Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol goes far beyond national and historical boundaries. His works opened to a wide circle readers, the fairy-tale and bright world of the heroes of the stories from the collection “Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka”, the harsh and freedom-loving characters of “Taras Bulba”, lifted the veil of mystery of the Russian person in the poem “Dead Souls”. Far from the revolutionary ideas of Radishchev, Griboyedov, and the Decembrists, Gogol, meanwhile, with all his work expresses a sharp protest against the autocratic serfdom, which cripples and destroys human dignity, personality, and the very life of people subject to him. By force artistic word Gogol makes millions of hearts beat in unison and lights the noble fire of mercy in the souls of readers.
In 1831, the first collection of his stories and short stories, “Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka,” was published. It included “The Evening on the Eve of Ivan Kupala”, “May Night, or the Drowned Woman”, “The Missing Letter”, “Sorochinskaya Fair”, “The Night Before Christmas”. From the pages of his works emerge the living characters of cheerful Ukrainian boys and girls. The freshness and purity of love, friendship, camaraderie are their wonderful qualities. Written in a romantic style based on folklore and fairy-tale sources, Gogol's stories and stories recreate a poetic picture of the life of the Ukrainian people.
The happiness of lovers Gritsko and Paraska, Levko and Ganna, Vakula and Oksana is hindered by the forces of evil. In the spirit of folk tales, the writer embodied these forces in the images of witches, devils, and werewolves. But no matter how evil the evil forces are, the people will defeat them. And so the blacksmith Vakula, breaking the stubbornness of the old devil, forced him to take himself to St. Petersburg for slippers for his beloved Oksana. The old Cossack from the story “The Missing Letter” outwitted the witches.
In 1835, the second collection of Gogol’s stories “Mirgorod” was published, which included stories written in a romantic style: “Old World Landowners”, “Taras Bulba”, “Viy”, “The Story of How Ivan Ivanovich Quarreled with Ivan Nikiforovich”. In “Old World Landowners” and “The Tale of How Ivan Ivanovich Quarreled with Ivan Nikiforovich,” the writer reveals the insignificance of representatives of the serf-owner class, who lived only for the sake of their stomachs, indulged in endless squabbles and quarrels, in whose hearts, instead of noble civil feelings, lived exorbitantly petty envy, self-interest, cynicism. And the story “Taras Bulba” takes the reader to a completely different world, which depicts an entire era in the national liberation struggle of the Ukrainian people, their fraternal friendship with the great Russian people. Before writing the story, Gogol worked a lot on studying historical documents about popular uprisings.
The image of Taras Bulba embodies the best features of the freedom-loving Ukrainian people. He devoted his entire life to the struggle for the liberation of Ukraine from its oppressors. In bloody battles with enemies, he teaches the Cossacks by personal example how to serve their homeland. When native son Andriy betrayed the sacred cause, Taras’s hand did not waver to kill him. Having learned that the enemies have captured Ostap, Taras makes his way through all the obstacles and dangers to the very center of the enemy camp and, looking at the terrible torment that Ostap endures, worries most of all about how his son would not show cowardice during the torture, for then the enemy can take comfort in the weakness of the Russian man.
In his speech to the Cossacks, Taras Bulba says: “Let them all know what partnership means in the Russian land! If it comes to that, to die, then none of them will have to die like that!.. No one, no one!” And when the enemies grabbed old Taras and led him to a terrible execution, when they tied him to a tree and built a fire under him, the Cossack did not think about his life, but until his last breath he was together with his comrades in the struggle. “Will there really be such fires, torments and such strength in the world that would overpower the Russian force!” - the writer exclaims enthusiastically.
Following the collection “Mirgorod”, Gogol published “Arabesques”, which contained his articles on literature, history, painting and three stories - “Nevsky Prospect”, “Portrait”, “Notes of a Madman”; later, “The Nose”, “Carriage”, “Overcoat”, “Rome” were also published, classified by the author as part of the “St. Petersburg cycle”.
In the story “Nevsky Prospekt” the writer claims that in the northern capital everything breathes lies, and the highest human feelings and impulses are trampled by the power and authority of money. An example of this is the sad fate of the hero of the story - the artist Piskarev. I'll show you tragic fate The story “Portrait” is dedicated to folk talents in serf Russia.
In “The Overcoat,” one of Gogol’s most remarkable works, the writer continues the theme raised by Pushkin in “The Station Agent,” the theme of the “little man” in autocratic Russia. Petty official Akaki Akakievich Bashmachkin for many years Without straightening his back, he copied papers, not noticing anything around him. He is poor, his horizons are narrow, his only dream is to buy a new overcoat. What joy lit up the official’s face when he finally put on his new overcoat! But a misfortune happened - the robbers robbed Akaki Akakievich of his “treasure”. He seeks protection from his superiors, but everywhere he encounters cold indifference, contempt and misunderstanding.
In 1835, Gogol finished the comedy “The Inspector General”, in which he, by his own admission, was able to collect in one pile everything that was bad and unfair in Russia at that time and laugh at it all at once. With the epigraph of the play - “There is no point in blaming the mirror if your face is crooked” - the author emphasizes the connection between comedy and reality. When the play was staged, the real prototypes of its heroes, all these Khlestakovs and Derzhimords, recognizing themselves in the gallery of swindlers, screamed that Gogol was allegedly slandering the nobility. Unable to withstand the attacks of ill-wishers, in 1836 Nikolai Vasilyevich went abroad for a long time. There he works hard on the poem “Dead Souls”. “I could not devote a single line to someone else,” he wrote from abroad. “I am chained to my own by an insurmountable chain, and I preferred our poor dim world, our smoking huts, naked spaces, to the better skies that looked at me more welcomingly.”
In 1841, Gogol brought his work to Russia. But only a year later the writer managed to publish the main creation of life. The generalizing power of the gallery of satirical images created by the author - Chichikov, Manilov, Nozdryov, Sobakevich, Plyushkin, Korobochka - was so impressive and apt that the poem immediately aroused the indignation and hatred of apologists of serfdom and at the same time gained warm sympathy and admiration from the writer's progressive contemporaries . True meaning“Dead Souls” was revealed by the great Russian critic V. G. Belinsky. He compared them to a flash of lightning and called them a “truly patriotic” work.
The significance of Gogol's work is enormous, and not only for Russia. “The same officials,” said Belinsky, “only in a different dress: in France and England they don’t buy dead souls, but they bribe living souls in free parliamentary elections!” Life has confirmed the correctness of these words.