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 life path Nikolai Vasilyevich was short-lived (1809-1852), and in the last ten years he did not finish a single work, the writer introduced into Russian classic 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 romantic poem"Hanz Küchelgarten".It's hard to say what prompted young Nicholas to write such a strange work is probably a passion 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 the evil spirits, at the devil himself, to unite the past and the present, reality and fiction, and paint it all in cheerful tones.
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 every piece 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, contented folk legends, with scanty 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 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.
In "The Overcoat" it is shown classic look 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 centuries, 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 “Dénouement 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 Vasilyevich admitted that at the beginning of his life, 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 characterized by true cheerfulness, for example, “Evenings on a farm near Dikanka”, then with age the author wants deeper investigations, and encourages the reader and viewer to do this.
Nikolai Vasilyevich understood that laughter could be dangerous and resorted to various tricks to circumvent censorship. For example, stage fate“The Inspector General” might not have happened 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.
Herself christian book was truly instructive. The author explains what happens at the liturgy. Which symbolic meaning has one effect or another. But this work was not completed. At all, recent years The life of a writer is 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 a writer who wrote so much about evil spirits, deepened in faith. Everyone on earth has their own path.
Born on March 20 (April 1), 1809 in the village of Sorochintsy, Poltava province, in the family of a landowner. Gogol was the third child, and in total there were 12 children in the family.
Training in the biography of Gogol took place at the Poltava School. Then in 1821 he entered the class of the Nizhyn gymnasium, where he studied justice. IN school years the writer did not have any special academic abilities. He was only good at drawing lessons and studying Russian literature. He was only able to write mediocre works.
The beginning of a literary journey
In 1828, Gogol’s life took place when he moved to St. Petersburg. There he served as an official, tried to get a job as an actor in the theater and studied literature. Acting career things didn’t go well, and the service did not bring Gogol any pleasure, and at times even became a burden. And the writer decided to prove himself in the literary field.
In 1831, Gogol met representatives of the literary circles of Zhukovsky and Pushkin; undoubtedly, these acquaintances greatly influenced him future fate and literary activity.
Gogol and theater
Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol showed interest in theater in his youth, after the death of his father, a wonderful playwright and storyteller.
Realizing the power of the theater, Gogol took up drama. Gogol's work "The Inspector General" was written in 1835, and first staged in 1836. Due to the negative reaction of the public to the production of “The Inspector General,” the writer leaves the country.
Last years of life
In 1836, the biography of Nikolai Gogol included trips to Switzerland, Germany, Italy, as well as a short stay in Paris. Then, from March 1837, work continued on the first volume in Rome greatest work Gogol " Dead Souls", which was conceived by the author back in St. Petersburg. After returning home from Rome, the writer publishes the first volume of the poem. While working on the second volume, Gogol suffered from a spiritual crisis. Even a trip to Jerusalem did not help improve the situation.
At the beginning of 1843, Gogol’s famous story “The Overcoat” was first published.
Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol left a big mark on Russian literature. Born in 1809 on March 20 in the Poltava province in ordinary family a simple landowner. The writer learned to read and write at home, then studied for two years at a college and a gymnasium. During this period, young Gogol developed an interest in literature. In 1828, after graduating from high school, he took literary tests, which were unsuccessful. In 1829, Gogol became a minor official.
He continued to study literature; in 1930, his first work appeared in the magazine “Basavryuk”.
Gogol has his own social circle among writers, communicates with Pushkin, Vyazemsky, Krylov. Thanks to the help and advice of new friends, Gogol wrote such works as “Dead Souls”, “Revisoro”, “Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka”. In 1834, Gogol was invited to the department of history as a professor at the university, in 1835 he resigned and all his free time devotes literary creativity. Such stories as “Taras Bulba”, “Viy”, “Mirgorod”, “Old World Landowners”, “The Overcoat” appeared.
After the production at the Revizoro Theater, the writer, persecuted by the secular mob and injustice, goes abroad. Lives in many cities and writes Dead Souls. In 1841, the first volume of “Dead Souls” was published, which became a great creation with deep meaning. After the first volume, the writer took up the second, but during this period Gogol began to become interested in mysticism. Due to a lot of criticism and misunderstanding, he stops communicating with friends and withdraws entirely into himself. The writer's health deteriorated and in 1852, being mentally ill, he destroyed the second volume of Dead Souls.
The writer died in 1852 on February 21. They buried him at Novodevichy Cemetery. Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol is one of the best writers, left a great contribution to literature.
5th grade, 7th grade. Creativity for children
Interesting Facts biography by date
Biography of Gogol about the main thing
Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol was born on March 20, 1809 in the Poltava province in the village of Sorochintsy. The writer's father was a landowner. Gogol's mother was married off at the age of 14 and was very pretty. Nikolai Vasilyevich had 11 more siblings. There is a version that the writer came from an ancient Cossack family.
Gogol began his studies at the Poltava school, and then continued at the Nizhyn gymnasium, where he was not an excellent student and his works were mediocre and did not have much popularity. Nikolai Vasilyevich's favorite subjects were drawing and Russian literature.
In 1828, Gogol served as an official in St. Petersburg, where his writing career began. Despite a lot of disappointments about creative plans writer, Gogol does not give up and, after long time, still achieves success. Nikolai Vasilyevich loved the theater very much and wanted to serve this cause, but the writer did not achieve success in the acting field. The writer’s first published work was “Basavryuk”. But it was his story “The Evening on the Eve of Ivan Kupala” that brought Gogol wide fame. During this period, Gogol was interested in such genres as: historical poem, tragedy and elegiac poems. Much written by Nikolai Vasilyevich clearly recreates the image of Ukraine. One of the most famous works Gogol is “Taras Bulba”, where the author recreates the image of real events that took place in the last century.
In 1831, Gogol met Pushkin and Zhukovsky, they believe that these people had a strong influence on creative activity author. In 1837, Nikolai Vasilyevich in Rome was working on “ Dead souls", which brought the writer untold success. But there were difficulties with printing this book: they refused to print it at all, censorship prohibited this story, but the author involved all his connections and friends and, with some amendments, publication still took place. Almost until the end of his life, the writer worked on the second volume of Dead Souls, but the deaths of his father, brothers and other difficulties caused a creative crisis and in 1845 Gogol burned his manuscripts. In 1843, the story “The Overcoat” was published.
The love for theater did not leave Nikolai Vasilyevich, so he began to write plays. “The Inspector General” was created specifically for production on stage, and, in fact, a year after its birth, it was staged in the theater. The production created a real sensation, because literature in those years was too cautious in touching on themes of conscience, honor and political system. And this work called and generalized all free-thinking people.
Soon Gogol's father dies and all care for the family falls on him. The writer develops good relationship with his mother, he supports her and helps her in every possible way, although there is no need to talk about friendship and trust. Due to the responsibility he has taken on, the writer cannot do what he loves and donates his inheritance to his sisters in order to regain this opportunity.
There is evidence that in the last years of his life Gogol often visited abroad: Italy, Paris, Germany and Switzerland. Then the writer visits Jerusalem, where he wants to devote himself to serving God, but nothing works out, and full of disappointment, dark and sad thoughts, the writer returns to his homeland. There is information that before his death, Nikolai Vasilyevich began to lose his memory. On February 21, 1852, one of the most mysterious talents died. He was buried in the cemetery of the Danilov Monastery in Moscow. But after a while, the cemetery was closed, and Gogol’s remains were reburied at the Novodevichy cemetery.
5, 7, 8, 9, 10 grade
Interesting facts and dates from life
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, Griboedov, and the Decembrists, Gogol, meanwhile, with all his creativity expresses a sharp protest to 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 spirit 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 to get 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.
In the image of Taras Bulba are embodied best features 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 “ Stationmaster", the theme of the "little man" in autocratic Russia. Petty official Akaki Akakievich Bashmachkin long 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 smoke-filled huts, naked spaces, to the better skies that looked at me more kindly.”
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 created by the author satirical images- 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.
In general, the work of N.V. Gogol developed in the direction from romanticism to realism, but this development was not schematic: romantic and realistic tendencies closely interacted with each other at all stages of his mature literary activity.
First published Gogol's work - the poem "Hanz Küchelgarten" - was written in the spirit of romanticism and was clearly imitative in nature. But already in his second book, the collection “Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka,” created on rich Ukrainian ethnographic material, Gogol’s characteristic mixture of romantic and realistic colors appeared. This collection reflected the writer’s romantic dream of beauty, simple, natural and free life a person not oppressed by anyone, a happy person who overcomes any obstacles. At the same time, the author managed to avoid an idyllically beautiful image of Ukraine: in his “Evenings” a restless and conflict-ridden world appeared, in which the motives of personal alienation, crimes against compatriots, and the severance of human and natural ties were heard.
In the next two collections of stories, “Mirgorod” and “Arabesques”, the center of gravity artistic image was transferred to the small-scale and bureaucratic environment, full of minor worries and troubles daily life ordinary people, to a reality fraught with disasters, in the face of which sublime dreams, heroic impulses and idyllic ideas fail. Romantic themes and conflicts were translated here into a realistic plane, which entailed a restructuring of all levels of poetics. One of the highest artistic achievements Gogol’s story of this period was the story “The Overcoat,” in which the theme of the “little man” received a deep artistic and humanistic development, which became one of the leading ones in Russian literature.
New stage in creative development The writer was noted for his appearance in the comedies “The Inspector General” and “Marriage”, in which his revealing and satirical talent and innovative approaches to constructing a dramatic work were fully demonstrated.
Gogol's work was of great importance for the development of Russian literature. The writer's immediate followers saw him as the founder « natural school» , for which the principles of realistic poetics he developed were of primary importance, social criticism, national and social generalizations, affirmation of humanistic values. Material from the site
In general, the work of N.V. Gogol developed in the direction from romanticism to realism, but this development was not schematic: romantic and realistic tendencies closely interacted with each other at all stages of his mature literary activity. Gogol's first published work - the poem "Hanz Küchelgarten" - was written in the spirit of romanticism and was clearly imitative in nature. But already in his second book, the collection “Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka,” created on rich Ukrainian ethnographic material, Gogol’s characteristic mixture of romantic and realistic colors appeared. This collection reflected the writer’s romantic dream of beauty, of the simple, natural and free life of a person who is not oppressed by anyone, happy, and overcomes any obstacles. At the same time, the author managed to avoid an idyllically beautiful image of Ukraine: in his “Evenings” a restless and conflict-ridden world appeared, in which the motives of personal alienation, crimes against compatriots, and the dissolution of human and natural ties were heard. In the next two collections of stories, “Mirgorod” and “Arabesques” ", the center of gravity of the artistic image was transferred to the small-scale and bureaucratic environment, to the everyday life of ordinary people, full of petty worries and troubles, to a reality fraught with disasters, in the face of which sublime dreams, heroic impulses and idyllic ideas fail. Romantic themes and conflicts were translated here into a realistic plane, which entailed a restructuring of all levels of poetics. One of Gogol’s highest artistic achievements of this period was the story “The Overcoat”, in which the theme of the “little man” received a deep artistic and humanistic development, which became one of the leading ones in Russian literature. A new stage in the creative development of the writer was marked by the appearance of the comedy “The Inspector General” and “Marriage”, in which his revealing and satirical talent and innovative approaches to the construction of a dramatic work were fully demonstrated. The pinnacle of Gogol’s creativity is considered the poem “Dead Souls”, which is a monumental panoramic canvas of the life of landowner-bureaucratic Russia. The main emphasis in this work was placed on the national side of reality, which corresponded to the writer’s desire to illuminate both the “higher” and “lower” properties of the Russian soul. At the same time, Gogol here achieved large-scale universal generalizations, thanks to which the depth of social parasitism, selfishness, acquisitiveness, and spiritual “death” of a society blinded by possessive instincts was revealed. Satirically depicting contemporary Russia as “hell”, inhabited by various sinners and moral monsters, the writer at the same time in his lyrical digressions expressed hope for the resurrection of the Russian soul and the great historical future of the Russian people. Gogol’s work was of great importance for the development of Russian literature. The writer’s immediate followers saw him as the founder of the “natural school”*, for which the principles of realistic poetics, social criticism, national and social generalizations, and the affirmation of humanistic values that he developed were of primary importance.