(the essay is divided into pages)
Both N.V. Gogol’s comedy “The Inspector General” and his famous poem “Dead Souls” are, first of all, social works. Their main goal is to show the whole truth of Russian life, to bring out everything “that is before our eyes every minute and which indifferent eyes do not see.” Gogol more than once spoke about the artificiality of love intrigue in such works, which is why both in “The Government Inspector” and in “Dead Souls” love line very weakly expressed. Consequently, the author needs female images not as heroines of novels, but as another way of expressing the main idea of the works. Korobochka, the wives of the landowners, the governor's daughter, the lady is simply pleasant and pleasant in all respects, the wives of officials in "Dead Souls", just like Anna Andreevna, Marya Antonovna and secondary female characters (the locksmith and the non-commissioned officer's wife) in "The Inspector General" , - caricatured female figures, carrying, in the words of the author himself, “the idea of emptiness.”
In the poem "Dead Souls" several groups of female images can be distinguished according to their place in figurative system. The only independent image is the image of Korobochka - the landowner, the Kolleias secretary. The little box is thrifty, “scraping little bits of money into colorful little bags,” lives secluded in its estate and, in accordance with its name, is surrounded by all sorts of drawers, boxes and chests of drawers, where all sorts of good things are stored, which may never be useful on the farm . Narrow-mindedness, madness, and indecisiveness complete the character of the “club-headed” landowner, who is distrustful of everything new in life. “Is the abyss separating her [Korobochka] from her sister really that great?” - asks Gogol. This is where it turns out that both of them are empty and worthless. But the worst thing is that the image of Korobochka, like all the images in Gogol’s work, is typical, that sometimes “even a statesman” will in fact turn out to be a perfect Korobochka.
Another group of images in “Dead Souls” consists of the wives of landowners, who complement the images of their spouses. Lizanka Manilova is similar in appearance and character to her husband. She is also feignedly polite, and also does not do housework, since these are “kitchen items,” and she was brought up well, that is, in a boarding school, where “three main items form the basis of human virtues: “ French, playing the piano and the actual economic part, that is, “knitting wallets and other surprises.”
Sobakevich's wife, Feodulia Ivanovna, is contrasted to her husband in appearance, although her sedateness is somewhat akin to her husband's clumsiness.
The only female image among the landowners that carries some kind of positive principle is the image deceased wife Plyushkina. During her lifetime, she was a “friendly and talkative” hostess and was famous for her hospitality. The housekeeping went well with her, “everything flowed briskly and was accomplished at a measured pace,” and Plyushkin was a pleasant person, in whose eyes “intelligence was visible.” But with her death, everything on the estate changed, the widower became stingy, neglected his farm, and soon he himself turned into “some kind of hole in humanity.”
Images of female officials can be separated into a separate group. These images are typified, which is constantly emphasized; even the lady who is pleasant in all respects and the simply pleasant lady are not named (we learn their names only from their remarks). Speaking about the ladies of the city of NN, Gogol identifies a number of features that are characteristic of the entire fair half of the bureaucracy. They all strive to resemble the capital’s aristocrats, dress in fashion, although sometimes among the chic outfits some “unseen on earth” cap will flash. Every lady is confident in her irresistibility and strives to show the best that she has. Another important feature of the inhabitants of the city of NN is stubbornness: “if an inner conviction was felt,” then there was no possibility of inspiring the lady with anything else. The ideal of female society is a lady who is pleasant in all respects, since she makes “every movement” with taste, loves poetry and knows how to “dreamily” hold her head.
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Gogol's poem " Dead souls» is not devoid of a significant amount acting characters. All heroes, according to their significance and the time period of action in the poem, can be divided into three categories: main, secondary and tertiary.
The main characters of "Dead Souls"
As a rule, in poems the number of main characters is small. The same tendency is observed in Gogol’s work.
Chichikov
The image of Chichikov is undoubtedly the key one in the poem. It is thanks to this image that the episodes of the narrative are connected.
Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov is distinguished by his dishonesty and hypocrisy. His desire to get rich by deception is discouraging.
On the one hand, the reasons for this behavior can be explained by the pressure of society and the priorities operating in it - a rich and dishonest person is more respected than an honest and decent poor person. Since no one wants to eke out his existence in poverty, then financial issue and the problem of improving one’s material resources is always relevant and often borders on the norms of morality and integrity, which many are ready to cross.
The same situation happened with Chichikov. He, being a simple person by origin, he was actually deprived of the opportunity to make his fortune in an honest way, so he solved the problem that arose with the help of ingenuity, ingenuity and deception. The stinginess of “dead souls” as an idea is a hymn to his mind, but at the same time exposes the dishonest nature of the hero.
Manilov
Manilov became the first landowner to whom Chichikov came to buy souls. The image of this landowner is ambiguous. On the one hand, it creates pleasant impression- Manilov is pleasant and well-mannered person, but let’s immediately note that he is apathetic and lazy.
Manilov is a person who always adapts to circumstances and never expresses his real opinion on this or that matter - Manilov takes the most favorable side.
Box
The image of this landowner is perhaps generally perceived as positive and pleasant. Korobochka is not smart, she is a stupid and, to some extent, uneducated woman, but at the same time she was able to successfully realize herself as a landowner, which significantly elevates her perception as a whole.
The box is too simple - to some extent, its habits and habits resemble the lifestyle of peasants, which does not impress those who aspire to aristocrats and life in high society Chichikov, but allows Korobochka to live quite happily and quite successfully develop her farm.
Nozdryov
Nozdryov, to whom Chichikov comes, after Korobochka, is perceived completely differently. And this is not surprising: it seems that Nozdryov was unable to fully realize himself in any field of activity. Nozdryov is a bad father who neglects communication with his children and their upbringing. He is a bad landowner - Nozdryov does not take care of his estate, but only wastes all his funds. Nozdryov’s life is the life of a man who prefers drinking, partying, cards, women and dogs.
Sobakevich
This landowner is controversial. On the one hand, he is a rude, manly person, but on the other hand, this simplicity allows him to live quite successfully - all the buildings on his estate, including the peasants' houses, are made to last - you won't find anything leaky anywhere, his peasants are well-fed and quite happy . Sobakevich himself often works together with peasants as equals and does not see anything unusual in this.
Plyushkin
The image of this landowner is perhaps perceived as the most negative - he is stingy and angry old man. Plyushkin looks like a beggar, since his clothes are incredibly thin, his house looks like ruins, as do the houses of his peasants.
Plyushkin lives unusually frugally, but he does this not because there is a need for it, but because of a feeling of greed - he is ready to throw away a spoiled thing, but not to use it for good. That is why fabric and food rot in its warehouses, but at the same time its serfs walk around with their heads and tatters.
Minor characters
Minor characters There is also not much in Gogol's story. In fact, all of them can be characterized as significant figures in the county, whose activities are not related to landownership.
The Governor and his family
This is perhaps one of the most significant people in the county. In theory, he should be insightful, smart and reasonable. However, in practice everything turned out to be not quite so. The governor was a kind and pleasant man, but he was not distinguished by his foresight.
His wife was also a nice woman, but her excessive coquetry spoiled the whole picture. The governor's daughter was a typical cutesy girl, although in appearance she was very different from the generally accepted standard - the girl was not plump, as was customary, but was slender and cute.
That it was true that, due to her age, she was too naive and gullible.
Prosecutor
The image of the prosecutor defies significant description. According to Sobakevich, he was the only decent person, although, to be completely honest, he was still a “pig.” Sobakevich does not explain this characteristic in any way, which makes it difficult to understand his image. In addition, we know that the prosecutor was a very impressionable person - when Chichikov’s deception was discovered, due to excessive excitement, he dies.
Chairman of the Chamber
Ivan Grigorievich, who was the chairman of the chamber, was a nice and well-mannered man.
Chichikov noted that he was very educated, unlike most significant people in the district. However, his education does not always make a person wise and far-sighted.
This happened in the case of the chairman of the chamber, who could easily quote works of literature, but at the same time could not discern Chichikov’s deception and even helped him draw up documents for dead souls.
Chief of Police
Alexey Ivanovich, who performed the duties of police chief, seemed to have become accustomed to his work. Gogol says that he was able to ideally comprehend all the intricacies of the work and it was already difficult to imagine him in any other position. Alexey Ivanovich comes to any shop as if it were his own home and can take whatever his heart desires. Despite such arrogant behavior, he did not cause indignation among the townspeople - Alexey Ivanovich knows how to successfully get out of a situation and smooth out the unpleasant impression of extortion. So, for example, he invites you to come over for tea, play checkers, or watch a trotter.
We suggest following in Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol’s poem “Dead Souls”.
Such proposals are not made spontaneously by the police chief - Alexey Ivanovich knows how to find in a person weak point and uses this knowledge. So, for example, having learned that a merchant has a passion for card games, then immediately invites the merchant to a game.
Episodic and tertiary heroes of the poem
Selifan
Selifan is Chichikov's coachman. Like most ordinary people, he is an uneducated and stupid person. Selifan faithfully serves his master. Typical of all serfs, he likes to drink and is often absent-minded.
Parsley
Petrushka is the second serf under Chichikov. He serves as a footman. Parsley loves to read books, however, he does not understand much of what he reads, but this does not prevent him from enjoying the process itself. Parsley often neglects the rules of hygiene and therefore it gives off an incomprehensible smell.
Mizhuev
Mizhuev is Nozdryov's son-in-law. Mizhuev is not distinguished by prudence. At his core, he is a harmless person, but he loves to drink, which significantly spoils his image.
Feodulia Ivanovna
Feodulia Ivanovna is Sobakevich’s wife. She is a simple woman and in her habits resembles a peasant woman. Although, it cannot be said that the behavior of aristocrats is completely alien to her - some elements are still present in her arsenal.
We invite you to read Nikolai Gogol’s poem “Dead Souls”
Thus, in the poem, Gogol presents the reader with a wide system of images. And, although most of them are collective images and in their structure are images characteristic types individuals in society still arouse the reader's interest.
Characteristics of the heroes of the poem “Dead Souls”: list of characters
4.8 (96.36%) 11 votesIN " Dead souls“We will not meet bright, poetic female images like Pushkin’s Tatyana or Turgenev’s Liza Kalitina. Gogol's heroines, for the most part, contain elements of the comic and are objects of the author's satire, and not at all of the author's admiration.
Most significant female character in the poem - landowner Korobochka. Gogol describes the heroine’s appearance in a very remarkable way. “A minute later the landlady entered, an elderly woman, in some kind of sleeping cap, put on hastily, with a flannel around her neck, one of those mothers, small landowners who cry about crop failures, losses and keep their heads somewhat to one side, and meanwhile they gain little by little. money in colorful bags placed in dresser drawers.”
V. Gippius notes in Korobochka the absence of “any appearance, any face: a flannel on the neck, a cap on the head.” By “depersonalizing” the landowner, Gogol emphasizes her typicality, the great prevalence of this type.
The main qualities of Korobochka are thriftiness, thriftiness, bordering on stinginess. Nothing goes missing in the landowner's household: neither night blouses, nor skeins of thread, nor a torn cloak. All this is destined to lie for a long time, and then go “according to a spiritual will to the niece of a grand-sister, along with all other rubbish.”
The box is simple and patriarchal, it lives in the old fashioned way. She calls Chichikov “my father,” “father,” and addresses him as “you.” The guest sleeps on huge feather beds from which feathers fly; there is an old wall clock in the house, the strange ringing of which reminds Chichikov of the hissing of snakes; Korobochka treats him to simple Russian dishes: pies, pancakes, shanezhki.
Simplicity and patriarchy coexist in the landowner with extraordinary stupidity, ignorance, timidity and timidity. Korobochka is extremely slow-witted, unlike Sobakevich; for a long time she cannot figure out what the essence of Chichikov’s request is, and even asks him if he is going to dig up the dead. “Cudgel-headed,” Pavel Ivanovich thinks about her, seeing that his “eloquence” is powerless here. With great difficulty, he manages to convince Nastasya Petrovna to sell him dead souls. However, Korobochka immediately tries to come to an agreement with Chichikov about contracts in order to sell him flour, lard, and bird feathers in the future.
As we have already noted, Gogol constantly emphasizes the recognition of Korobochka and the wide prevalence of this type of people in life. “Is the abyss really that great separating her from her sister, inaccessibly fenced off by the walls of an aristocratic house, ... yawning over an unread book in anticipation of a witty social visit, where she will have the opportunity to show off her mind and express her thoughts ... not about what is happening in her estates, confused and upset, ... but about what political revolution is being prepared in France, what direction fashionable Catholicism has taken.”
In addition to Korobochka, Gogol introduces readers to the spouses of Manilov and Sobakevich, who are, as it were, a continuation of their husbands.
Manilova is a boarding school graduate. She is pretty, “dressed to suit”, and kind to others. She doesn’t do housework at all, although “there are many different requests that could be made”: “Why, for example, do you cook stupidly and uselessly in the kitchen? Why is the pantry pretty empty? Why is a housekeeper a thief? “But all these are low subjects, and Manilova was well brought up,” Gogol ironically remarks. Manilova is dreamy and sentimental, she is just as far from reality as her husband. The heroine has not a drop of common sense: she allows her husband to name the children ancient Greek names Themistoclus and Alcides, not realizing how comical these names are for Russian life.
Sobakevich's wife is “a very tall lady, wearing a cap, with ribbons repainted with homemade paint.” Feodulia Ivanovna somewhat resembles her clumsy, phlegmatic husband: she is calm and calm, her movements resemble those of actresses “representing queens.” She stands straight, “like a palm tree.” Sobakevich's wife is not as elegant as Manilova, but she is economical and practical, neat and homely. Like Korobochka, Feodulia Ivanovna is not concerned with “high matters”; the Sobakevichs live in the old-fashioned way, rarely going into the city.
“City ladies” are most clearly represented in Gogol in two collective images- a “pleasant” lady (Sofia Ivanovna) and a “pleasant in all respects” lady (Anna Grigorievna).
Anna Grigorievna’s manners are simply “amazing”: “every movement” comes out “with taste”, she loves poetry, sometimes she even knows how to “dreamy... hold her head.” And this turns out to be enough for society to conclude that she is “like a pleasant lady in all respects.” Sofya Ivanovna does not have such elegant manners and therefore receives the definition of “simply pleasant.”
The description of these heroines is thoroughly imbued with the author's satire. These ladies observe " social etiquette", are concerned about the "impeccability of their own reputation", but their conversations are primitive and vulgar. They talk about fashions, dresses, materials, as if they were significant objects. As N.L. Stepanov notes, “the very exaggeration and expansiveness with which ladies talk about insignificant things ... produces a comic impression.” Both ladies love to gossip and slander. So, having discussed Chichikov’s purchase of dead peasants, Anna Grigorievna and Sofya Ivanovna come to the conclusion that, with the help of Nozdryov, he wants to take away the governor’s daughter. IN short term These ladies set almost the entire city in motion, managing to “throw such a fog into everyone’s eyes that everyone, and especially the officials, remained stunned for some time.”
Gogol emphasizes the stupidity and absurdity of both heroines, the vulgarity of their activities and lifestyle, their affectation and hypocrisy. Anna Grigorievna and Sofya Ivanovna are happy to slander the governor’s daughter, condemning her “mannerness” and “immoral behavior.” The life of city ladies, in essence, is as meaningless and vulgar as the life of the landowners represented by Gogol.
I would especially like to dwell on the image of the governor’s daughter, who awakened Chichikov’s poetic dreams. This image is to some extent contrasted with all the other heroines of the poem. As E. A. Smirnova notes, this young girl was supposed to play her role in the spiritual revival of Chichikov. When Pavel Ivanovich meets her, he not only dreams about the future, but also “gets lost,” his usual insight betrays him (scene at the ball). The face of the governor’s daughter looks like an Easter egg; in this face there is light opposing the darkness of life. Chichikov looks at this light, and his soul “strives to remember the true good, a hint of which is contained in the harmonious beauty of the governor’s daughter, but his spiritual resources are too insignificant for this.”
Thus, there is not a single heroine in the poem who represents true virtue. The spirituality of the image of the governor's daughter was only outlined by Gogol. The rest of the heroines are described by the author satirically, with irony and sarcasm.
“The Inspector General” and “Dead Souls” are perhaps the most outstanding works not only by Gogol, but in all of Russian literature. Both of these masterpieces show the main types of people of that time. Each writer's hero is individual, each has his own character. And, of course, Gogol did not ignore female images in his work.
The description of the female half of humanity plays a significant role in the poem “Dead Souls”. Shown here are a “typical”, very thrifty landowner, a young coquette, and two pleasant ladies who are ready to instantly turn any news into a town rumor.
The only female landowner in Dead Souls is Nastasya Petrovna Korobochka. She is one of the “small landowners who complain about crop failures, losses and keep their heads somewhat to one side, and meanwhile little by little they collect money in colorful bags placed on the drawers of the chest of drawers!” Korobochka has a “pretty village”, the yard is full of all kinds of birds, there are “spacious vegetable gardens with cabbage, onions, potatoes, beets and other household vegetables”, there are “apple trees and other fruit trees”.
The box does not pretend to be high culture: its appearance is distinguished by its very unpretentious simplicity. This is emphasized by Gogol in the heroine’s appearance: he points out her shabby and unattractive appearance. This simplicity also reveals itself in relationships with people. The main goal of the landowner's life is to consolidate her wealth and incessant accumulation.
The box does not see anything further than “its nose”. Everything “new” and “unprecedented” scares her. The only thing that worries the heroine is the price of hemp and honey. It seems that she has no feelings other than the desire to acquire and benefit. The situation with “dead souls” is confirmation. Korobochka sells to peasants with the same efficiency with which she sells other items of her farm. For her there is no difference between an animate and an inanimate being. In Chichikov’s proposal, the helper is frightened by only one thing: the prospect of missing something, not taking what can be obtained for “dead souls.”
Korobochka is a stupid, “club-headed” and greedy landowner. She has little left of her female appearance. The small house and large yard of Korobochka symbolically represent her inner world- neat, strong, “inhabited” with flies, which in Gogol always accompany a frozen, stopped, internally dead world hero.
In addition to Korobochka, the Governor’s daughter is present in the poem. The reader can form her portrait only after the ball scene. This girl is a socialite, and Chichikov is unable to carry on a conversation with her.
Also in the novel there is a description of “secular” ladies, whose main occupation is to dissolve various gossip. It is these “ladies who are pleasant in all respects” and “simply pleasant ladies” who become main reason Chichikov's collapse. It is the completely groundless rumors they spread, accepted by everyone as the truth and giving rise to new, even more absurd, hypotheses that fundamentally undermine Chichikov’s authority. And the “nice” ladies did all this out of “nothing to do,” accidentally turning to this conversation after an argument about the pattern. In the poem they personify the “metropolitan” society ladies, who, although they differ in financial condition and position in society, but in terms of the desire to wash bones and spread rumors, they are absolutely in no way different from their provincial “sisters”.
The play “The Inspector General” also features female characters. These are the mayor's wife and daughter, typical provincial coquettes. The meaning of their life is an endless change of outfits, and their range of interests is limited to reading pulp novels and collecting low-grade poems in albums.
Anna Andreevna is the mayor’s wife. She first appears in the first act of the play. Here she is very emotional, her speech is full of exclamatory and interrogative sentences. Anna Andreevna constantly yells at her daughter and even forces her to wear a blue dress just because she herself wants to wear a fawn one. Thus, the mother competes with her daughter, wants to prove to her that she is the best.
Anna Andreevna flirts in front of Khlestakov, not embarrassed by her husband, and then also declares that the guest liked her. And when the hero proposes to her, he replies: “But let me note: I’m in some way... I’m married.” Thus, before us is an over-aged social coquette, the main thing for whom is her position in society. The mayor's wife is already dreaming of life in St. Petersburg after Khlestakov proposes to her daughter.
Marya Antonovna is the daughter of the mayor. This is a young coquette, very similar to her mother. But still, she is not averse to arguing with her mother. Marya Antonovna has taste and a reluctance to be like others. For example, the scene where her mother tells her to wear a blue dress: “Hey, mommy, blue! I don’t like it at all.” Why? Yes, because all the young girls in the city wear blue dresses.
Besides, this girl is quite well read. So, in a conversation with Khlestakov, when he mentions that he wrote “Yuri Miloslavsky,” Marya Antonovna says that this is the work of “Mr. Zagoskin.”
The heroine never says too much and is more often silent. She really liked Khlestakov, and she thinks that he also paid attention to her. When Ivan Alexandrovich explains to Marya Antonovna, she does not believe him, thinks that he is mocking her, and asks him to write poems in her album instead of these unnecessary conversations. Probably, her feelings suffered most of all due to Khlestakov’s deception.
So, in “Dead Souls” and “The Government Inspector” Gogol, through secondary female characters, carries out projections on the capital’s morals. And both works contain images of society ladies. They are all very similar - in their emptiness and ordinaryness. Is it possible that in The Inspector General they are spelled out more clearly and clearly. In “Dead Souls” there is a unique image of the landowner Korobochka, which has no analogues not only in “The Inspector General,” but in Russian literature in general.
Creativity N.V. Gogol occupies a special place in Russian literature. No one else could describe the broad panorama of Russian life in such a lively and humorous manner. Of course, first of all, the artist is interested in shortcomings; he does not feel sorry for his homeland, but shows all its injuries, all the bad things that exist in everyday life. The satirist's pen serves to expose officials and landowners, and evilly ridicules their vices.
In his works Gogol does not devote special attention female images. The writer does not consider it necessary to depict separately the shortcomings of men and women, he only gives big picture desolation reigning in the cities and villages of Russia. However, on the other hand, they prompt the reader to think more deeply about the causes of desolation, adding color to the description and dynamics to the actions.
One of Gogol's most famous creations is the play "The Inspector General". This work seems to be a kind of prologue to the monumental poem “Dead Souls,” the writer’s life’s work. In "The Inspector General" the sting of satire is directed against the life and morals of a remote town, against the greed and arbitrariness of county officials.
"Dead Souls" is a work of a much larger scale. In it, all of Russia appeared before the reader's court. Gogol does not feel sorry for her, but caustically mocks her shortcomings, believing that this treatment will be beneficial, that in the future the homeland will definitely get rid of dirt and vulgarity. The concept of “Dead Souls” is a continuation of “The Inspector General”. It doesn’t just show the life and morals of officials county town. Now Gogol exposes both landowners and officials; he castigates glaring shortcomings on a much larger scale. The “dead” souls of all Russia pass before the eyes of readers.
One of the main functions performed by female characters in both works is the formation of ideas about certain social and socio-psychological types. Most shining example This is the image of the landowner Korobochka. She is described by Gogol as a terrible person with her stinginess and stupidity, who is more like a machine than a person. Her characteristic feature- the desire to get as much as possible more money, and she is not interested in whether the buyer needs the product or not. Korobochka is stingy and thrifty; nothing goes to waste in her household, which, in general, is commendable. But main feature Her character is hidden in her “talking” surname: she is an impenetrable, limited and stupid old woman. If some idea comes to her mind, then it is impossible to convince her; all reasonable arguments “bounce off her like a rubber ball from a wall.” Even the imperturbable Chichikov becomes furious, trying to prove to her the undoubted benefit of selling the peasants. But she firmly took it into her head that Chichikov wanted to deceive her, and cracking this nut, this box, was extremely difficult even for the hardened businessman Chichikov. In Korobochka, Gogol embodied all the limited thinking of Russian landowners; it became a symbol of the abyss in which the Russian landed nobility, having completely lost the ability to think sensibly.
In order to show the picture of life and the depth of the decline of morals in provincial town N. the author introduces images of city gossips. Their exaggerated and fictitious stories about Chichikov's adventures, mixed with discussions about fashion, do not evoke anything in the reader except a feeling of disgust. Vivid images just a pleasant lady and a lady pleasant in all respects characterize the city and province from a very unfavorable side, emphasizing the flatness of their thinking.
Because of the gossip started by these ladies, the shortcomings of dishonest officials were revealed. And this is not the only example of how female images help Gogol to show real picture life, real situation.
Outwardly, there is nothing interesting about Anna Andreevna, the mayor’s wife in The Inspector General: a fussy, curious chatterbox, the reader immediately gets the impression that she has the wind in her head. However, it is worth taking a closer look at it. After all, the author in his “Notes for Gentlemen Actors” characterizes her as a woman who is smart in her own way and even has some power over her husband. This is an interesting representative of provincial society. Thanks to her, the image of the mayor becomes more prominent, acquires additional meaning, and the reader gets a clear idea of the lifestyle and problems of the county ladies.
Marya Antonovna is not very different from mother. She is very similar to her, but much less active; she is not a double of the energetic official, but only her shadow. Marya Antonovna tries with all her might to seem significant, but her behavior betrays her: outfits occupy most of the space in a girl’s heart; she pays attention primarily to Khlestakov’s “suit,” and not to its owner. The image of Marya Antonovna characterizes the city from the bad side, because if young people are busy only with themselves and “suits,” then society has no future.
The images of the mayor's wife and daughter brilliantly reveal the author's intention and illustrate his idea: the bureaucracy and society of the district town are rotten through and through. Women's images help to reveal the author's intention in "Dead Souls". Mortification is manifested in Korobochka, who is always painstakingly collecting a penny and is afraid of making a mistake when making a deal, and in the wives of the landowners.
In addition, the wives of Manilov and Sobakevich help the author reveal men's images more fully and in detail, to emphasize any character traits. Each of them is, as it were, a copy of her spouse. For example, Sobakevich’s wife, upon entering the room, sat down and did not even think about starting a conversation, which confirms the rudeness and ignorance of the owner. Manilova is more interesting. Her manners and habits exactly repeat the manners and habits of her husband, we recognize in the expression of her face the same cloying, she, like Manilov himself, has not yet left the world of dreams. But at the same time, there are hints of her independence; Gogol recalls studying at the boarding school and her playing the piano. Thus, Manilova separates from her husband, acquires her own characteristics, the author hints that her fate could have turned out differently if she had not met Manilova. However, the images of the landowners' wives are not independent; they only enrich the images of the landowners themselves.
The image of the governor’s daughter is extremely important in this aspect. Although she does not utter a word throughout the entire poem, with her help the reader discovers the amazing character traits of Chichikov. Meeting with charming girl awakens tender feelings in Chichikov's soul, this rogue suddenly begins to think about love and marriage, about the future of youth. Despite the fact that this obsession will soon subside like a haze, this moment is very important; here the reader encounters a vague hint of the possible spiritual rebirth of the hero. Compared to the image of the mayor's daughter in "The Inspector General", the image of the governor's daughter carries a fundamentally different semantic load.
In principle, the female images of The Inspector General do not play an important role in understanding the main idea of the work. But their significance is also great. After all, women are not officials, which means Gogol’s satire is not aimed directly at them, their function is to emphasize the general degradation of the county town. Anna Andreevna and Marya Antonovna highlight the shortcomings of officials. Their stupidity and overly high self-esteem expose the same shortcomings of officials, hidden under the mask of integrity and diligence, under the blinding light of satire.
In “Dead Souls,” the female characters, on the contrary, are versatile. They are much more complex, more developed than in The Inspector General. None of them can be clearly characterized. But one thing is certain: female characters allow the reader to understand the work more deeply; their presence enlivens the story and often makes the reader smile.
In general, Gogol’s female images, although not the main ones, characterize in detail and accurately the morals of the bureaucracy. they show the life of landowners in an interesting and varied way, revealing more fully and deeply the most main image in the writer’s work - the image of his homeland, Russia. Through the description of such women, Gogol leads the reader to think about her fate, about the fate of her compatriots, and proves that Russia’s shortcomings are not her fault, but a misfortune. And behind all this lies the author’s great love, hope for her moral revival.