Kozak Nadezhda Vasilievna, teacher of Russian language and literature
MBOU "Secondary School No. 2" Tarko-Sale, highest category.
Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug, Purovsky district, Tarko-Sale.
Lyrical digressions in N.V. Gogol’s poem “ Dead Souls».
Goals: develop the ability to comment and analytical reading;
improve the skills of understanding the ideological and artistic meaning of lyrical digressions as integral plot and compositional elements, expressive means of depicting the image of the author, expressing his position;
develop proficient reading skills;
cultivate a love and interest in literature.
Equipment: portrait of N. V. Gogol, presentation, tables for working on agricultural storage.
Behind the dead souls are living souls.
A. I. Herzen
(1 slide)
DURING THE CLASSES
I. Organizational moment.
1. Greeting from the teacher.
(2nd slide) Hello guys. Today in class we are finishing our study of N.V. Gogol’s poem “Dead Souls.” This does not mean that we will put an end to our acquaintance with the work and personality of the writer. What sign we will close the conversation with will be decided at the end of the lesson.
Let's remember howN.V. Gogol began working on the creation of “Dead Souls” in 1835.
(3rd slide) But soon after the production of The Inspector General, hounded by the reactionary press, Gogol left for Germany. Then he travels to Switzerland and France, continuing to work on
"Dead souls."During his visit to Russia in 1839–40, he read chapters from the first volume to his friends. Dead souls", which was completed in Rome in 1840 - 41. (
4 slide) It is known that the writer planned to create a large poem similar to Dante’s “Divine Comedy”. The first part (volume 1) was supposed to correspond to “Hell”, the second (volume 2) to “Purgatory”, the third (volume 3) to “Paradise”. The writer thought about the possibility of Chichikov's spiritual rebirth.
2. Record the date, topic of the lesson, epigraph in a notebook.
Key words will be in our conversation todaywords from the title of the lesson topic.
II. The main part of the lesson.
(5 slide) Gogol’s book “Dead Souls” can rightfully be called a poem. This right is given by the special poetry, musicality, and expressiveness of the language of the work, saturated with such figurative comparisons and metaphors that can only be found in poetic speech. And most importantly, the constant presence of the author makes this work lyrical-epic.
(6 slide) Lyrical digressions permeate the entire artistic canvas of “Dead Souls”. It is lyrical digressions that determine the ideological, compositional and genre originality Gogol's poems, its poetic beginning associated with the image of the author. As the plot develops, new lyrical digressions appear, each of which clarifies the idea of the previous one, develops new ideas, and increasingly clarifies the author's intention.
It is noteworthy that “dead souls” are unevenly filled with lyrical digressions. Until the fifth chapter there are only minor lyrical insertions, and only at the end of this chapter the author places the first major lyrical digression about the “myriad number of churches” and how “the Russian people express themselves strongly.”
III. Exploratory conversation based on the implementation of individual homework
1. Quick survey
Students talk about the topic of lyrical digressions.
(7 slide) Lyrical digression is an extra-plot element of the work; compositional and stylistic device, which consists in the author’s retreat from the direct plot narrative; author's reasoning, reflection, statement expressing an attitude towards the depicted or having an indirect relation to it. Lyrically, the digressions in Gogol’s poem “Dead Souls” introduce a life-giving, refreshing beginning, highlight the content of the pictures of life that appear before the reader, and reveal the idea.
2. Comparative work with a reference table
(8 slide) Lyrical digressions in the poem n. V. Gogol “Dead Souls”
Chapter 1 About “thick” and “thin”.
Chapter 2 About which characters are easier for a writer to portray.
Chapter 3 About various shades and the intricacies of circulation in Rus'.
Chapter 4 About gentlemen of great and middle hand; about the survivability of nostrils.
Chapter 5 About the “sweeping, lively Russian word.”
Chapter 6 About passing life, youth, lost “youth and freshness”; “terrible”, “inhuman” old age.
Chapter 7 About two types of writers and the fate of a satirical writer; the fate of the peasants bought by Chichikov.
Chapter 11 Appeal to Rus'; reflections on the road, on why the author could not take a virtuous person as a hero; “Rus is a bird-three.”
“About fat and thin officials” (chap. 1); the author resorts to generalizing the images of civil servants. Self-interest, bribery, veneration for rank are their characteristic features. The contrast between thick and thin, which seems at first glance, actually reveals common negative traits both of them.
“About the shades and subtleties of our treatment” (chap. 3); speaks of ingratiation to the rich, respect for rank, self-humiliation of officials in front of their superiors and an arrogant attitude towards subordinates.
4. Ideological and thematic analysis of the lyrical digression.
About the “sweeping, lively Russian word”
What does the “sweeping, lively Russian word»?
How does it characterize the people?
Why does Gogol place this digression at the end of the fifth chapter, dedicated to Sobakevich?
Conclusion. Language and words reveal the essential characteristics of the character of each people. The “loose” Russian word reveals the lively and lively mind of the people, their observation, ability to accurately and accurately characterize the whole person in one word. It is evidence of the living soul of the people, not killed by oppression, a pledge of its creative powers and abilities.
“About the Russian people and their language” (chapter 5); the author notes that the language and speech of a people reflects its national character; A feature of the Russian word and Russian speech is amazing accuracy.
“About two types of writers, about their destiny and destinies” (chapter 7); the author contrasts a realist writer and a writer of a romantic direction, indicates character traits creativity of a romantic writer, speaks of the wonderful destiny of this writer. Gogol writes with bitterness about the lot of a realist writer who dared to portray the truth. Reflecting on the realist writer, Gogol determined the meaning of his work.
“Much has happened in the world of error” (chap. 10); a lyrical digression about the world chronicle of mankind, about its errors is a manifestation of the writer’s Christian views. All of humanity has wandered away from the straight path and is standing on the edge of an abyss. Gogol points out to everyone that the straight and bright path of humanity consists in following moral values, embedded in Christian teaching.
"About the expanses of Rus', national character and about the bird three"; the final lines of “Dead Souls” are connected with the theme of Russia, with the author’s thoughts about the Russian national character, about Russia as a state. IN symbolic image birds-three expressed Gogol's faith in Russia as a state destined from above for a great historical mission. At the same time, there is an idea about the originality of Russia’s path, as well as the idea about the difficulty of foreseeing specific forms promising development Russia.
3. Statement of a problematic question.
Teacher. Why did the writer need lyrical digressions?
What caused their need for an epic work written in prose?
The lyrical digressions express the widest range of the author’s moods.
Admiration for the accuracy of the Russian word and the liveliness of the Russian mind at the end of chapter 5 is replaced by a sad and elegiac reflection on the passing of youth and maturity, on the “loss of living movement” (the beginning of the sixth chapter).
(9 slide) At the end of this digression, Gogol directly addresses the reader: “Take it with you on the journey, leaving the soft teenage years into stern, embittering courage, take with you all human movements, do not leave them on the road, you will not pick them up later! The old age coming ahead is terrible, terrible, and nothing gives back and back!
(10 slide) 4. An expressive prepared reading of a passage about Rus' - the “three bird” and an analyzing conversation on it.
The image of the road that runs through the entire work is very important in lyrical digressions.
(11 slide) - What do the expressions “with a singing voice”, “the horses stirred up”, “a light chaise” mean?
How is the breadth of the Russian soul revealed, its desire for rapid movement? What visual means Is this movement conveyed by the writer, more like flight?
What does the comparison of a troika with a bird mean? Make up an associative series for the word “bird”.
(Bird - flight, height, freedom, joy, hope, love, future...)\
Expand the metaphorical image of the road? What other images have a metaphorical meaning?
Why did Gogol answer his question: “Rus, where are you rushing?” - does not receive an answer?
What does Gogol mean when he says: “...other peoples and states sidestep and give her way”?
Conclusion. Thus, two of the most important themes of the author’s reflections – the theme of Russia and the theme of the road – merge in a lyrical digression that ends the first volume of the poem. “Rus'-troika,” “all inspired by God,” appears in it as the vision of the author, who seeks to understand the meaning of its movement; “Rus, where are you going? Give an answer. Doesn't give an answer."
(12 slide) Lyrical digressions not only expand and deepen its meaning, revealing the grandiose appearance of “all Rus',” but also help to more clearly present the image of its author - a true patriot and citizen. It was the lyrical pathos of the affirmation of the great creative forces of the people and faith in the happy future of the homeland that gave him the basis to call his work a poem.
Exercise. Now we will divide you into pairs; in front of each pair on the desk there is a table with a task. Your task is to add to the table in 3-5 minutes the means of expression that the author used in a certain digression.
This activity will help you review and reflect on the impact artistic means not only in poetic, but also in epic works. You and I are preparing for an exam in the GIA format; in Part A there is a task related to finding a means of expression. Today's work will help, I hope, to better and more clearly find and distinguish paths and figures.
Let's see what you came up with. Read your passages, give examples of the means of expression proposed to you.
So what did Gogol want to tell us in his digressions? A question, like all questions, to which you and I probably will not give a direct answer, just as Gogol could not give an answer to many of the questions posed in the poem.
Gogol's thoughts about the fate of the people are inseparable from thoughts about the fate of his homeland. Tragically experiencing the situation of Russia, given over to the power of “dead souls,” the writer turns his bright and optimistic hopes to the future. But, believing in the great future of his homeland, Gogol, however, did not clearly imagine the path that should lead the country to power and prosperity.
(13 slide) He appears in lyrical digressions as a prophet bringing the light of knowledge to people: “Who, if not the author, should tell the holy truth?”
But, as it has been said, there are no prophets in their own country. The author’s voice, sounded from the pages of the lyrical digressions of the poem “Dead Souls,” was heard by few of his contemporaries, and even less was understood by them. Gogol later tried to convey his ideas in the artistic and journalistic book “Selected Passages from Correspondence with Friends”, and in the “Author’s Confession”, and - most importantly - in subsequent volumes of the poem. But all his attempts to reach the minds and hearts of his contemporaries were in vain. Who knows, maybe only now the time has come to discover Gogol’s real word, and it’s up to us to do this.
Your home. The task will be to answer the question: how do I imagine N.V. Gogol after reading the poem “Dead Souls”?
1 group. Lyrical digression in chapter 6, beginning with the words: “Before, long ago, in the summer... I was amazed...”
following something
(words in a sentence, plot elements).
2Repetitions (repetitions of words or
cognate words, roots).
3 Appeals, exclamations.
4Parcellation (technique of dividing a phrase into
parts or even individual words in the form
independent incomplete sentence.
Its goal is to give speech intonation
expression by
5Name sentences.
6Synonyms
7Antonyms (words with opposite meanings).
8 Homogeneous members (syntactic means:
words with the meaning of listing facts,
events).
9Comparisons (one item is compared
with another).
10Metaphorical epithets (metaphor -
to the subject).
11Sound writing: alliteration (repetition
identical or homogeneous consonants).
12Sound writing: Assonance (consonance of vowel sounds).
2nd group. Lyrical digression in chapter 5 with the words: “It is expressed strongly Russian people!»
Expressive means Examples
1Inversion - changing the usual order
plot elements).
2Repetitions (repetitions of words
or cognate words, roots).
3 Appeals, exclamations.
4Gradation.
5Synonyms (words close in meaning).
artistic medium,
using a word figuratively
to define any object or
a phenomenon similar to it in certain features
or
attitude towards the subject).
8Colloquial speech.
9Phraseological units.
3rd group. A lyrical digression in chapter 11 with the words: “And what kind of Russian doesn’t like driving fast!... for a month some seem motionless.”
Expressive means Examples
1Inversion - changing the usual order
following something (words in a sentence,
plot elements).
2Repetitions (repetitions of words or
cognate words, roots).
3 Appeals, exclamations.
4Synonyms (words close in meaning).
5Gradation.
6Personifications (inanimate object
endowed with living qualities).
7Metaphorical epithets (metaphor -
artistic medium,
using a word figuratively
to define any object or
a phenomenon similar to it in certain features
or by the parties; epithet – a colorful adjective,
attitude towards the subject).
8Colloquial speech.
9Rhetorical questions.
10Antonyms.
11Parcellation (method of division
her abrupt pronunciation).
4th group. Lyrical digression in chapter 11 with the words: “Oh, three! The bird is a troika and drills into the air.”
Expressive means Examples
1Inversion - changing the usual
the order of something (words)
in a sentence, plot elements).
2Repetitions (repetitions of words or
cognate words, roots).
3 Appeals, exclamations.
4Hyperbole.
5Gradation.
6Personifications (inanimate object
endowed with living qualities).
7Metaphorical epithets (metaphor -
artistic medium,
using a word figuratively
to define any object or
a phenomenon similar to it in certain features
or by the parties; epithet – a colorful adjective,
attitude towards the subject).
8Colloquial speech.
9Rhetorical questions.
10Sayings, catchphrases.
11Parcellation. (Method of dividing a phrase
into parts or even individual words
as an independent incomplete sentence.
Its goal is to give speech intonation expression
by its abrupt pronunciation).
12Anaphora (same beginning of sentences).
5 group. A lyrical digression in chapter 11 with the words: “Aren’t you, too, Rus', so lively…”
Expressive means Examples
1Repetitions (repetitions of words or
cognate words, roots).
2 Appeals, exclamations.
3Synonyms.
4Metaphorical epithets (metaphor -
artistic medium,
using a word figuratively
to define an object
or a phenomenon similar to it in some ways
features or sides; epithet – colorful
adjective used to express
5Rhetorical questions.
phrases into parts or even into separate ones
words as independent incomplete
offers. Its goal is to give speech
intonation expression by
abrupt pronunciation.)
7Anaphora (same beginning
proposals).
6 group. A lyrical digression in chapter 11 with the words: “Rus! Rus!…"
Expressive means Examples
1Personifications.
2 Appeals, exclamations.
3Reps.
4Metaphorical epithets
parties; epithet – colorful adjective,
attitude towards the subject).
5Rhetorical questions.
6Parcellation. (Method of dismemberment
phrases into parts or even into separate ones
words as independent incomplete
offers. Its goal is to give speech
intonation expression by
her abrupt pronunciation).
7 Anaphora (same beginning
proposals).
Group 7, chapter 1 “About thick and thin.”
Expressive means Examples
1Repetitions (repetitions of words or
cognate words, roots).
2Metaphorical epithets
(metaphor is a means of artistic
figurativeness, use of words
in a figurative sense to define
any object or phenomenon,
similar to it in certain features or
parties; epithet – colorful adjective,
attitude towards the subject).
3 Appeals, exclamations.
4Synonyms, antonyms
5Rhetorical questions,
Exclamations.
6.Antithesis (opposition)
In lyrical digressions, Gogol turns to the people and his homeland, expresses his thoughts in them, to the events, phenomena and heroes depicted in the poem, or reflects on life in general, on youth, on human virtues. In total, the poem contains over twenty lyrical digressions.
Many digressions, although sharply contrasting with the comic narrative tone of the poem, are always closely related to its ideological content.
Along with small digressions, such as, for example, the reflection that “everyone has his own enthusiasm” (in the chapter about Manilov) or “The world is not so wonderfully arranged...” (in the chapter about Korobochka), the poem contains more extensive digressions, representing complete arguments or poems in prose.
The first include, for example, the interpretation of “the ability to address” (in the second chapter) and the shortcomings of public meetings in Russia (in the tenth chapter); to the second - a reflection on the power and accuracy of the Russian word (at the end of the fifth chapter). Lyrical passages dedicated to the homeland and people are marked with special strength of feeling. Warm love for home country imbued with Gogol’s appeal: “Rus! Rus! I see you from my wonderful, beautiful distance...” (in the eleventh chapter). The vast expanses of Rus' captivate and enchant the author, and he is full of pride in his wonderful homeland, with which he has a strong connection..
In the lyrical digression “How strange, and alluring, and carrying, and wonderful is the word: road!” Gogol lovingly paints pictures of Russian nature. Wonderful ideas and poetic dreams are born in his soul when looking at his native paintings.
Gogol admires the sharp mind of the Russian man and the accuracy of his words: “The short-lived word of a Frenchman will flash and scatter like a light dandy; the German will intricately come up with his own, not accessible to everyone, clever and thin word; but there is no word that would be so sweeping, lively, would burst out from under the very heart, would teem and vibrate as much as a well-spoken Russian word.”
Gogol’s lyrical appeal to Rus', rushing forward like a brisk and unstoppable troika, which closes the first volume of the poem, sounds solemnly: “The bell rings with a wonderful ringing; The air, torn into pieces, thunders and becomes the wind; “everything that is on earth flies past, and, looking askance, other peoples and states step aside and give way to it.”
In addition to those indicated, there are many other places in the poem imbued with deep patriotism. Often Gogol puts his thoughts into the mouth of one of his heroes. Such lyrical digressions included, for example, Chichikov’s reflection on the lists of “dead souls” he bought. In this reflection, Gogol reflected his sympathy for the Russian people, who were then languishing under the yoke of serfdom.
The special significance of the lyrical digressions in the poem is that they balance individual places in the poem: the eerie present that Gogol saw in life is contrasted with the wonderful future of Russia.
The abundance of lyrical passages helps to understand why Gogol called his work not a story or a novel, but a poem.
Gogol had long dreamed of writing a work “in which all of Rus' would appear.” This was supposed to be a grandiose description of the life and customs of Russia first thirds of the XIX century. Such a work was the poem “Dead Souls,” written in 1842.
Why did Gogol call his work a poem? The definition of the genre became clear to the writer only in last moment, since, while still working on the poem, Gogol calls it either a poem or a novel. The genre of the novel did not satisfy N.V. Gogol, since the novel is epic work, revealing the history of the fate of a particular person, and the author’s intention was to show “all of Russia.” The genre uniqueness of “Dead Souls” is that it is a fairly large work - a poem in prose.
To understand the features of the genre of the poem "Dead Souls", you can compare this work with the "Divine Comedy" by Dante, a poet of the Renaissance. Its influence is felt in Gogol's poem. " The Divine Comedy"consists of three parts. In the first part, the shadow of the ancient Roman poet Virgil appears to the poet, which accompanies lyrical hero to hell, they go through all the circles, a whole gallery of sinners passes before their eyes. The fantastic nature of the plot does not prevent Dante from revealing the theme of his homeland - Italy, and its fate. In fact, Gogol planned to show the same circles of hell, but hell in Russia. It is not for nothing that the title of the poem “Dead Souls” ideologically echoes the title of the first part of Dante’s poem “The Divine Comedy,” which is called “Hell.” Gogol, along with satirical negation, introduces a glorifying, creative element - the image of Russia. Associated with this image is the “high lyrical movement”, which in the poem at times replaces the comic narrative.
A significant place in the poem “Dead Souls” is occupied by lyrical digressions and inserted episodes, which is characteristic of the poem as a literary genre. In them, Gogol touches on the most pressing Russian social issues. The author's thoughts about the high purpose of man, about the fate of the Motherland and the people are here contrasted with gloomy pictures of Russian life.
Lyrical digression- extra-plot element of the work; compositional and stylistic device, which consists in the author’s retreat from the direct plot narrative; copyright reasoning, reflection, statement expressing an attitude towards the depicted or having an indirect relation to it. It can take the form of memories or addresses from the author. Used in epic or lyric-epic works.
Lyrical digressions give the author the opportunity to directly communicate with the reader. Their excitement and sincerity have a special power of persuasion. At the same time, the lyricism of the digressions does not mean that the writer withdraws into the world of his own “I” alone: they convey thoughts, feelings, and moods that are important for everyone. Generally significant content is expressed in them usually on behalf of the narrator or lyrical hero, who embodies the typical position of a contemporary, his views and feelings.
In “Dead Souls” Gogol combines lyrical and epic principles. The poetry of the work is given by the lyrical digressions that appear in each chapter of the poem. They introduce the image of the author, giving the work depth, breadth, and lyricism. The topics of lyrical digressions are varied. The author reflects on the gentlemen of the “middle class”, “on youth and youth”, on urban people, and the fate of the writer in Russia. Particularly interesting are the thoughts about upbringing, the apt Russian word, about Russia, about “thick and thin.”
In the second chapter, where the story is told about Manilov and his wife, N.V. Gogol writes, in particular, about the kind of education girls receive in boarding schools. The ironic tone of the narrative (“... in boarding houses... three main subjects form the basis of human virtues: French necessary for a happy family life; piano, to bring pleasant moments to the spouse, and... the actual economic part: knitting wallets and other surprises”) makes it clear to the reader that the author does not consider this method of education correct. Proof of the uselessness of such an upbringing is the image of Manilova: in their house “something was always missing: in the living room there was beautiful furniture covered in smart silk fabric... but there wasn’t enough for two armchairs, and the armchairs were simply upholstered in matting...”, “ in the evening, a very dandy candlestick made of dark bronze with three antique graces, with a dandy mother-of-pearl shield, was served on the table, and next to it was placed some simple copper invalid, lame, curled to one side and covered in fat...” Spouses spend their time in long and languid kisses, preparing birthday surprises, etc.
In the fifth chapter, the word “patched”, which a simple man called Plyushkin, makes the author think about the accuracy of the Russian word. The author plays on a well-known proverb: “What is accurately spoken is the same as what is written; it cannot be cut down with an axe.” Reflecting on the features of other languages, Gogol summarizes: “...there is no word that would be so sweeping, smart, would burst out from under the very heart, would boil and vibrate so much, like an aptly spoken Russian word.”
The author's reflections on the subtlety of treatment expose sycophants who have a fantastic ability to determine their line of behavior, their manner of dealing with people of different social status (and he notes this feature exclusively among Russians). A striking example Such chameleonism is served by the behavior of Ivan Petrovich, the “ruler of the chancellery,” who, when he is “among his subordinates, you simply cannot utter a word out of fear!” pride and nobility... Prometheus, determined Prometheus! Looks out like an eagle, acts smoothly, measuredly.” But, approaching the boss’s office, he is already “in a hurry like a partridge with papers under his arm...”. And if he is in society and at a party, where people are a little higher in rank than him, then “Prometheus will undergo such a transformation that even Ovid would not invent: a fly, smaller than even a fly, destroyed into a grain of sand!”
After visiting Nozdreva Chichikov On the road he meets a beautiful blonde. The description of this meeting ends with a remarkable author’s digression: “... Everywhere, at least once, a person will encounter a phenomenon that is unlike anything he has seen before, which at least once will awaken in him a feeling that is not similar to those that he is destined to feel all his life.” But all this is completely alien to Chichikov: his cold caution is here compared with the direct manifestation of human feelings.
At the end of the fifth chapter“lyrical digression” is of a completely different nature. Here the author is no longer talking about the hero, not about the attitude towards him, but about the mighty Russian man, about the talent of the Russian people. Outwardly, this “lyrical digression” seems to have little connection with the entire previous development of the action, but it is very important for revealing the main idea of the poem : true Russia is not the Sobakevichs, Nozdryovs and Korobochki, but the people, the element of the people.
At the conclusion of the first volume, the author’s words about Russia are heard with a hymn to the glory of the Motherland. The image of an unstoppable troika rushing along the road personifies Rus' itself:
BY HEART:
“Isn’t it so for you, Rus', that you are rushing along like a brisk, unstoppable troika? The road beneath you is smoking, the bridges are rattling, everything falls behind and is left behind. The contemplator, amazed by God's miracle, stopped: was this lightning thrown from the sky? What does this terrifying movement mean? and what kind of unknown power is contained in these horses, unknown to the light? Oh, horses, horses, what kind of horses! Are there whirlwinds in your manes? Is there a sensitive ear burning in every vein of yours? They heard a familiar song from above, together and at once tensed their copper chests and, almost without touching the ground with their hooves, turned into just elongated lines flying through the air, and all inspired by God rushes!.. Rus', where are you rushing? Give an answer. Doesn't give an answer. The bell rings with a wonderful ringing; The air, torn into pieces, thunders and becomes the wind; “everything that is on earth flies past, and, looking askance, other peoples and states step aside and give way to it.”
Lyrical digression is an extra-plot element of the work; compositional and stylistic device, which consists in the author’s retreat from the direct plot narrative; author's reasoning, reflection, statement expressing an attitude towards the depicted or having an indirect relation to it. Lyrically, the digressions in Gogol’s poem “Dead Souls” introduce a life-giving, refreshing beginning, highlight the content of the pictures of life that appear before the reader, and reveal the idea.
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Analysis of lyrical digressions in the poem by N.V. Gogol's "Dead Souls"
Lyrical digression is an extra-plot element of the work; compositional and stylistic device, which consists in the author’s retreat from the direct plot narrative; author's reasoning, reflection, statement expressing an attitude towards the depicted or having an indirect relation to it. Lyrically, the digressions in Gogol’s poem “Dead Souls” introduce a life-giving, refreshing beginning, highlight the content of the pictures of life that appear before the reader, and reveal the idea. The topics of lyrical digressions are varied.
“About fat and thin officials” (1 chapter); the author resorts to generalizing the images of civil servants. Self-interest, bribery, veneration for rank are their characteristic features. The opposition between thick and thin, which seems at first glance, actually reveals the common negative features of both.
“On the shades and subtleties of our treatment” (chap. 3); speaks of ingratiation to the rich, respect for rank, self-humiliation of officials in front of their superiors and an arrogant attitude towards subordinates.
“About the Russian people and their language” (chap. 5); the author notes that the language and speech of a people reflects its national character; A feature of the Russian word and Russian speech is amazing accuracy.
“About two types of writers, about their destiny and destinies” (chap. 7); the author contrasts a realist writer and a romantic writer, indicates the characteristic features of the work of a romantic writer, and talks about the wonderful destiny of this writer. Gogol writes with bitterness about the lot of a realist writer who dared to portray the truth. Reflecting on the realist writer, Gogol determined the meaning of his work.
“Much has happened in the world of error” (chap. 10); a lyrical digression about the world chronicle of mankind, about its errors is a manifestation of the writer’s Christian views. All of humanity has wandered away from the straight path and is standing on the edge of an abyss. Gogol points out to everyone that the straight and bright path of humanity consists in following the moral values founded in Christian teaching.
“About the expanses of Rus', national character and the bird troika”; the final lines of “Dead Souls” are connected with the theme of Russia, with the author’s thoughts about the Russian national character, about Russia as a state. The symbolic image of the bird-troika expressed Gogol’s faith in Russia as a state destined for a great historical mission from above. At the same time, there is an idea about the uniqueness of Russia’s path, as well as the idea about the difficulty of foreseeing specific forms of Russia’s long-term development.
“Dead Souls” is a lyric-epic work - a prose poem that combines two principles: epic and lyrical. The first principle is embodied in the author’s plan to paint “all of Rus',” and the second in the author’s lyrical digressions related to his plan, which form an integral part of the work. The epic narrative in “Dead Souls” is continually interrupted by lyrical monologues of the author, assessing the character’s behavior or reflecting on life, art, Russia and its people, as well as touching on topics such as youth and old age, the purpose of the writer, which help to learn more O spiritual world writer, about his ideals. Highest value have lyrical digressions about Russia and the Russian people. Throughout the poem, the author's idea of positive image of the Russian people, which merges with the glorification and celebration of the homeland, which expresses the author’s civil-patriotic position.
Thus, in the fifth chapter, the writer praises the “living and lively Russian mind”, his extraordinary ability to verbal expressiveness, that “if he rewards him with a slanted word, then it will go to his family and posterity, he will drag it with him into service, and into retirement, and to St. Petersburg, and to the ends of the world.” Chichikov was led to such reasoning by his conversation with the peasants, who called Plyushkin “patched” and knew him only because he did not feed his peasants well.
Gogol felt living soul Russian people, their daring, courage, hard work and love for free life. In this regard, the author’s reasoning, put into Chichikov’s mouth, about serfs in the seventh chapter is of deep significance. What appears here is not a generalized image of Russian men, but specific people with real features, described in detail. This is the carpenter Stepan Probka - “a hero who would be fit for the guard,” who, according to Chichikov, walked all over Rus' with an ax in his belt and boots on his shoulders. This is the shoemaker Maxim Telyatnikov, who studied with a German and decided to get rich instantly by making boots from rotten leather, which fell apart in two weeks. At this point, he abandoned his work, started drinking, blaming everything on the Germans, who did not allow Russian people to live.
Next, Chichikov reflects on the fate of many peasants bought from Plyushkin, Sobakevich, Manilov and Korobochka. But here's the idea of "revelry" folk life"was so different from the image of Chichikov that the author himself takes the floor and, on his own behalf, continues the story, the story of how Abakum Fyrov walks on the grain pier with barge haulers and merchants, having worked out "to one song, like Rus'." The image of Abakum Fyrov indicates the love of the Russian people for a free, wild life, festivities and fun, despite the hard life of serfdom, the oppression of landowners and officials.
In lyrical digressions appears tragic fate enslaved people, downtrodden and socially humiliated, which was reflected in the images of Uncle Mitya and Uncle Minya, the girl Pelageya, who could not distinguish between right and left, Plyushkin’s Proshka and Mavra. Behind these images and pictures of folk life lies the deep and broad soul of the Russian people. Love for the Russian people, for the motherland, patriotic and sublime feelings The writers expressed themselves in the image of the troika created by Gogol, rushing forward, personifying the mighty and inexhaustible forces of Russia. Here the author thinks about the future of the country: “Rus, where are you rushing to? "He looks into the future and does not see it, but how true patriot believes that in the future there will be no Manilovs, Sobakeviches, Nozdrevs, Plyushkins, that Russia will rise to greatness and glory.
The image of the road in the lyrical digressions is symbolic. This is the road from the past to the future, the road along which the development of each person and Russia as a whole takes place. The work ends with a hymn to the Russian people: “Eh! troika! Bird-three, who invented you? You could have been born to a lively people... "Here, lyrical digressions perform a generalizing function: they serve to expand artistic space and to create complete image Rus'. They reveal the positive ideal of the author - people's Russia, which is opposed to landowner-bureaucratic Rus'.
But, in addition to lyrical digressions glorifying Russia and its people, the poem also contains reflections of the lyrical hero on philosophical topics, for example, about youth and old age, the vocation and purpose of a true writer, about his fate, which are somehow connected with the image of the road in the work. So, in the sixth chapter, Gogol exclaims: “Take with you on the journey, emerging from the soft youthful years into stern, embittering courage, take with you all human movements, do not leave them on the road, you will not pick them up later! ..” Thus, the author wanted to say that all the best things in life are connected precisely with youth and one should not forget about it, as the landowners described in the novel did, stasis “ dead souls" They do not live, but exist. Gogol calls for preserving a living soul, freshness and fullness of feelings and remaining like that for as long as possible.
Sometimes, reflecting on the transience of life, on changing ideals, the author himself appears as a traveler: “Before, long ago, in the summer of my youth... it was fun for me to drive up to an unfamiliar place for the first time... Now I indifferently drive up to any unfamiliar village and look indifferently at her vulgar appearance; It’s unpleasant to my chilled gaze, it’s not funny to me... and my motionless lips keep an indifferent silence. O my youth! Oh my freshness! “To recreate the completeness of the author’s image, it is necessary to talk about lyrical digressions in which Gogol talks about two types of writers. One of them “never once changed the sublime structure of his lyre, did not descend from its top to his poor, insignificant brothers, and the other dared to call out everything that is every minute before the eyes and which indifferent eyes do not see.” The lot of a real writer, who dared to truthfully recreate a reality hidden from the eyes of the people, is such that, unlike a romantic writer, absorbed in his unearthly and sublime images, he is not destined to achieve fame and experience the joyful feelings of being recognized and sung. Gogol comes to the conclusion that the unrecognized realist writer, satirist writer will remain without participation, that “his field is harsh, and he bitterly feels his loneliness.” The author also talks about “connoisseurs of literature” who have their own idea of the purpose of a writer (“It’s better to present to us the beautiful and fascinating”), which confirms his conclusion about the fate of two types of writers.
All this recreates the lyrical image of the author, who will continue to walk hand in hand with the “strange hero for a long time, looking around at the whole enormous rushing life, looking at it through laughter visible to the world and invisible tears unknown to him! »
So, lyrical digressions take significant place in Gogol's poem "Dead Souls". They are remarkable from a poetic point of view. They reveal new beginnings literary style, which will later acquire bright life in the prose of Turgenev and especially in the works of Chekhov.
The poem “Dead Souls” cannot be imagined without “lyrical digressions.” They entered the structure of the work so organically that we can no longer imagine it without these magnificent author’s monologues. Thanks to “lyrical digressions,” we constantly feel the presence of the author, who shares with us his thoughts and experiences about a particular event described in the poem. He becomes not just a guide leading us through the pages of his work, but rather a close friend with whom we want to share the emotions that overwhelm us. Often we wait for these “digressions” in the hope that he, with his inimitable humor, will help us cope with indignation or sadness, and sometimes we just want to know his opinion about everything that is happening. In addition, these “retreats” have incredible artistic power: we enjoy every word, every image and admire their precision and beauty.
What did Gogol’s famous contemporaries say about the “lyrical digressions” in the poem? A. I. Herzen wrote: “Here the transition from the Sobakeviches to the Plyushkins is filled with horror; With every step you get stuck, you sink deeper, the lyrical place suddenly revives, illuminates and is now replaced again by a picture that reminds even more clearly what kind of pit of hell we are in.” V. G. Belinsky also highly appreciated the lyrical beginning of “Dead Souls,” pointing to “that deep, comprehensive and humane subjectivity that in the artist reveals a person with a warm heart and a sympathetic soul.”
With the help of “lyrical digressions,” the writer expresses his attitude not only to the people and events he describes. These “digressions” carry within them a statement of a person’s high calling, the significance of great social ideas and interests. Does the author express his bitterness and anger about the insignificance of the heroes he shows, does he talk about the writer’s place in modern society, whether he writes about the living, lively Russian mind - the source of his lyricism is thoughts about serving his native country, about its destinies, sorrows and hidden gigantic forces.
The author includes lyrical passages in the work with great artistic tact. At first, they contain his statements only about the heroes of the work, but as the plot develops, their themes become more and more versatile.
Having talked about Manilov and Korobochka, the author briefly interrupts the story, as if he wants to step aside a little so that the picture of life painted becomes clearer to the reader. The author's digression, which interrupts the story about Korobochka, contains a comparison of her with a “sister” from an aristocratic society, who, despite her different appearance, is no different from the local mistress.
After visiting Nozdryov, Chichikov meets a beautiful blonde on the road. The description of this meeting ends with the author’s remarkable digression: “Wherever in life, whether among the callous, rough-poor and unkempt and moldy low-lying ranks, or among the monotonously cold and boringly neat upper classes, everywhere at least once you will meet on the way to a person, a phenomenon unlike anything he has ever seen before, which will at least once awaken in him a feeling not similar to those that he is destined to feel throughout his life.” But all this is completely alien to Chichikov: his cold caution is here compared with the direct manifestation of human feelings.
At the end of the fifth chapter, the “lyrical digression” is of a completely different nature. Here the author is no longer talking about the hero, not about the attitude towards him, but about the mighty Russian man, about the talent of the Russian people. Outwardly, this “lyrical digression” seems to have little connection with the entire previous development of the action, but it is very important for revealing the main idea of the poem: true Russia is not the Sobakevichs, Nozdryovs and Korobochki, but the people, the element of the people.
With lyrical statements about the Russian word and national character Closely related is the artist’s inspired confession about his youth, about his perception of life, which opens the sixth chapter.
The story about Plyushkin, who most powerfully embodied base aspirations and feelings, is interrupted by the author’s angry words, which have a deep, generalizing meaning: “And a person could condescend to such insignificance, pettiness, and disgusting!”
Gogol begins the seventh chapter with his thoughts about the creative and life fate of the writer in his contemporary society, about two different destinies awaiting the writer who creates “exalted images” and the realist writer, satirist. This “lyrical digression” reflected not only the writer’s views on art, but also his attitude towards the ruling elite of society and the people. “Lyrical digression”: “Happy is the traveler who, after a long and boring road...” is important stage in the development of the narrative: it seems to separate one narrative link from another. Gogol's statements illuminate the essence and meaning of both previous and subsequent paintings of the poem. This “lyrical digression” is directly related to the folk scenes shown in the seventh chapter, and plays a very important role in the composition of the poem.
In the chapters devoted to the depiction of the city, we come across the author’s statements about ranks and classes: “... now all ranks and classes are so irritated with us that everything that is in a printed book already seems to them to be a person: that’s how it is, apparently, location in the air."
Gogol ends his description of the general confusion with reflections on human delusions, false paths, which humanity has often followed in its history: but the current generation laughs and arrogantly, proudly begins a series of new errors, which posterity will also laugh at later.”
The writer’s civic pathos reaches particular strength in the “lyrical digression”: “Rus, Rus'! I see you from my wonderful, beautiful distance.” Like the lyrical monologue at the beginning of the seventh chapter, this “lyrical digression” forms a clear line between two parts of the narrative - city scenes and the story of Chichikov’s origins. It's already wide here topic expanded Russia, in which it is “poor, scattered and unpleasant,” but where heroes cannot help but be born. Following this, the author shares with the reader the thoughts that the distant road and the rushing troika evoke in him: “How strange, and alluring, and carrying, and wonderful in the word: road! and how wonderful this road itself is.” Gogol sketches here one after another pictures of Russian nature that appear before the gaze of a traveler racing on fast horses along an autumn road. And despite the fact that the image of the three-bird is left behind, in this “lyrical digression” we feel it again.
The story about the main character of the poem is completed by the author’s statements, presenting sharp objections to those who may be shocked by how main character, and so is the entire poem, depicting the “bad” and “despicable”.
“Lyrical digressions” reflect high feeling the author's patriotism. The image of Russia that concludes the novel-poem is filled with deep love, an image that embodies the ideal that illuminated the artist’s path when depicting petty, vulgar life.
But the most important question for Gogol remains unanswered: “Rus, where are you rushing?” What awaited this “God-inspired” country at the end of the road, then only God could know.