An essay on the topic “Female images” in the works of N.V. Gogol
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 pay special attention to female images. The writer does not consider it necessary to depict separately the shortcomings of men and women; he only gives a general picture of the desolation that reigns 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 district 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 idea of "Dead Souls" is a continuation of "The Inspector General". It doesn’t just show the life and morals of officials of the 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. The most striking example of 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 is the desire to get as much money as possible, 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 the main feature of 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 finds itself, 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 the provincial city of 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 of a simply 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 a real picture of life, a real situation.
Outwardly, there is nothing interesting about Anna Andreevna, the mayor’s wife in “The Inspector General”: she is 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. Female 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 male characters more fully and in detail, and 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. A meeting with a 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 important image in the writer’s work - the image of the homeland, Russia. Through the description of such women, Gogol leads the reader to think about her fate, about the fate of his compatriots, and proves that Russia’s shortcomings are not her fault, but a misfortune. And behind all this lies the author’s enormous love, hope for her moral revival.
Data: 02/20/2012 02:03 |Anna Andreevna Skvoznik-Dmukhanovskaya - the mayor's wife, a minor character in Gogol's comedy "The Inspector General". The mayor's wife is most interested not in what damage an audit can cause to her husband, but in what the auditor looks like. A narrow-minded and fussy woman whose main entertainment is adultery. She even flirts with someone who could become a profitable match for her daughter. When choosing dresses for the reception, he advises his daughter to wear the blue one that would go with her favorite pale dress, and it doesn’t matter that the daughter considers blue completely unattractive.
Source: comedy in five acts "The Inspector General".
Anna Andreevna is impatient and intolerant: preferring that she have the last word, she asks pointlessly, denies the obvious, then in her own name pronounces what the interlocutor has already said and finally accuses the interlocutor of stupidity. It is according to this pattern that every conversation she has with everyone around her takes place: with her husband, with her daughter, with Dobchinsky and others. However, she is kind to the false inspector Khlestakov in a completely different spirit: she assents, flatters and praises.
Analyzing the husband’s note, sent to warn him exactly how to prepare for the arrival of the husband with the auditor, he cannot even distinguish its text from the words from the estate account, between the lines of which he hastily wrote a short message. But she doesn’t particularly care what he wrote in his note; it’s much more interesting to choose an outfit for a meeting in order to show himself in the best light. Gogol, in his remarks to the gentlemen of the actors, indicates that Anna Andreevna will change clothes four times in the continuation of the play. First of all, she asks Dobchinsky, “Tell me, what is he like? Is he old or young?”, and the next question is, “What is he like: brunette or blond?”
Having felt the taste of power and already imagining herself as a general who has the richest house in St. Petersburg, Anna Andreevna shows herself from the most negative side, insulting the petitioners who came to her husband: “But you can’t give protection to every small fry.” The petitioners (Korobkin’s wife and guest) in response give an impartial description: “yes, she has always been like this; I know her: put her at the table, she and her legs...”.
Quotes
Do you hear the runaways, ask where they went; Yes, ask carefully: what kind of visitor is he, what is he like, do you hear? Look through the crack and find out everything, and whether the eyes are black or not, and come back this very minute, do you hear? Hurry, hurry, hurry, hurry!
Well, Mashenka, we now need to get to the toilet. He’s a metropolitan creature: God forbid he makes fun of something. It would be best for you to wear a blue dress with small frills.
It will be much better for you, because I want to wear a fawn one; I really love fawn.
Oh, how good! I absolutely love such young people! I'm just out of memory. However, he really liked me: I noticed that he kept looking at me.
But I didn’t sense any timidity in him at all; I simply saw in him an educated, secular, high-class person, but I don’t even need to talk about his ranks.
Do you know what honor Ivan Alexandrovich bestows upon us? He asks for our daughter's hand in marriage.
In literature, women are given a special role. More often than not they are attractive and beautiful. Female images in The Inspector General are shown completely differently. They lack feminine modesty and inner charm; they are empty, stupid and cutesy.
Anna Andreevna
The mayor's wife does not play any important role in the play; she flashes on the sidelines. Anna Andreevna is a curious lady “not yet quite old.” She was raised on love novels and fashion albums. The woman constantly changes clothes, changing outfits. A woman wants to know everything about everyone. She suggests looking through the crack, examining the color of the eyes and clothes. Genuine interest does not change anything, I found out, but did not calm down, I want new information so that I can be the first to spread rumors among the wives of county officials. About the mayor’s wife, Khlestakov says that she is “appetizing, very pretty.” In the words of the deceitful auditor there are also vulgar epithets: “...mother is such that it would still be possible...”. The daughter compares Anna Andreevna with a queen of hearts: light eyes and brown hair. There is only stupidity in the mayor’s speech; she chatters incessantly about trifles. A woman dreams of moving to the capital and hopes to become a famous lady in St. Petersburg. The room must have such “... such an aroma that it is impossible to enter.”
The arrogance of the mayor goes beyond limits; at some points she becomes a “pig”, not respecting those around her, neither near nor far.
Marya Antonovna
The mayor's daughter does not look 18 years old. She is an already matured district young lady who flirts with men. The daughter is “pretty good-looking”, but is often busy looking at her reflection in the mirror. The girl pays more attention to the postmaster. Marya Antonovna makes eyes and simpers in front of Khlestakov. She likes the flighty inspector: “...the master is pretty!”, “...your master has a cute little nose!” In a comical scene of courtship between mother and daughter, Khlestakov asks for Marya Antonovna’s hand in marriage, but runs away from the city, leaving the girl with nothing. The role of someone who wants to get married is the main one in the image of a daughter.
Widow of a non-commissioned officer
The female image is comical and tragic. A widow was flogged in the market because of a women's fight. The police were late for the women's showdown and captured those who were at the scene of the fight. The widow was “reported” in such a way that “she could not sit for two days.” The mayor tries to blame the lawlessness and arbitrariness of the police on the unfortunate woman. He says she "flogged herself."
Sarcasm is heard, Gogol laughs. The tragedy of the scene is also that the woman demands a fine for humiliation and pain; she is only interested in money.
The greed, vindictiveness and soullessness of comedy women only causes smiles.
Bright life characters are presented by N.V. Gogol in the images of the mayor’s wife and daughter. Before us are typical provincial fashionistas, primps, coquettes. They are devoid of any aspirations, do not do anything themselves, and all their thoughts are aimed at dressing up and coquetry.
The behavior and features of Anna Andreevna’s speech at the moment of her triumph. Petty pride: “Naturally in St. Petersburg. How can you stay here?” Groundless dreams: “... will eat all sorts of unprecedented soups.” Rudeness towards guests: “after all, you can’t give protection to every small fry.”
Features of the vocabulary of these characters. Words associated with female coquetry: “drag,” “pretend.” Compliments to the guest: “How nice.” Foreign words for more chic and showing your education: “passage”, “declaration”. The colloquial words are rare: “I went digging”, “I can’t get any sense.” Lack of clarity of thought and replacement of the most important concept with vague words: such, such, in some way. External respect for the mother: “you, mummy.” The speech is undoubtedly an imitation of the mother.
The provincial town in which the action of Gogol’s comedy “The Inspector General” unfolds is, in the full sense of the word, a “dark kingdom.” Only Gogol’s “laughter” cuts through the darkness in which the heroes of the comedy crawl with a bright ray. All these people are petty, vulgar, insignificant; Not a single one even has a “spark of God” glimmering in their soul; they all live an unconscious, animal life. Gogol described the heroes of The Inspector General both as figures in the local administration and as private people, in their family life, in their circle of friends and acquaintances. These are not major criminals, not villains, but petty rogues, cowardly predators who live in eternal anxiety that the day of reckoning will come. (See the characteristics of these heroes through the mouth of Gogol himself in “Notes for Gentlemen Actors.”)
Gogol. Inspector. Performance 1982 Episode 1
The mayor in Gogol's The Inspector General
In the person of the mayor Anton Antonovich Skvoznik-Dmukhanovsky, Gogol brought out an official living by extortion and embezzlement. Of all his fellow officials, who also live on bribes and extortion, he is the most arrogant extortionist. “Such a mayor,” the merchants complain to Khlestakov, has never existed before, sir.” Demanding gifts for himself and his family, he even celebrates his name day twice a year. This hero of “The Inspector General” not only takes advantage of ordinary people, abusing the traditional “orders” of life, he also robs the treasury, entering into fraudulent transactions with contractors, appropriating money allocated for the construction of the church. The circumstance mitigating the mayor’s guilt is that he vaguely understands the ugliness of his extortion and embezzlement. Skvoznik-Dmukhanovsky justifies himself 1) with a naive exclamation: “if I took anything, it was without any malice,” 2) with a very common argument: “everyone does it.” “There is no person,” he says, who does not have sins behind him. This is how God himself arranged it, and the Voltairians are in vain speaking against it!”
In relation to the townsfolk, the mayor shows unlimited autocracy and arbitrariness: he gives soldiers the wrong person, flogs innocent people.
Uneducated and rude in his manners (conversation with merchants), this hero of The Inspector General is distinguished, however, by his great practical acumen, and this is his pride. The mayor himself says that not a single swindler could deceive him, that he himself “fooled them.” He understands the state of affairs more clearly than all other officials, and when they, explaining the reasons for sending an auditor to them, go God knows where, he, as a practical person, speaks not about the reasons, but about the future consequences. The mayor knows how to handle his affairs better than all other city officials, because he perfectly understands the human soul, because he is resourceful, knows how to play on human weaknesses, which is why he maneuvers among various virtuous governors and auditors for a long time and with impunity.
Mayor Anton Antonovich Skvoznik-Dmukhanovsky. Artist Yu. Korovin
The lack of education of this comedy hero is reflected not only in the lack of polish in his manners, but is expressed even more clearly in his superstition; he very naively, in a pagan way, understands his relationship with God, considering himself a true Christian and a person of exemplary piety (“I am firm in the faith.” he says). By religion, the mayor understands only ritual, expressed in visiting church on holidays and observing fasts. He takes a “two-faith” point of view, which allows for the possibility of “bribing” one’s God with sacrifices, like a pound candle.
The brightest feature of the mayor must be his good nature. Considering himself, thanks to the matchmaking of the “auditor” Khlestakov, infinitely superior to everyone in the city, he does not become as proud as his empty wife, he remains the same simple person, rudely cordial and simply hospitable.
The mayor's wife and daughter in The Inspector General
The mayor's wife Anna Andreevna, a stupid and insignificant woman, who until old age retained the manners of a young coquette-dandy, amazes with the endless emptiness of her soul. This heroine of “The Inspector General” is obsessed with “social life”, with clothes, she imagines what else men might like, and competes with her daughter in acquiring fans and suitors. She lives on the gossip and intrigues of the county town. A frivolous woman, Anna Andreevna easily believes everything. When the mayor's wife decided that she would move to St. Petersburg and play the role of a socialite there, she did not hide her contempt for all her recent friends and acquaintances. This trait, testifying to her spiritual baseness, places her even lower than her husband. (See Anna Andreevna - characteristics with quotes.)
The heroes of Gogol's The Inspector General are the mayor's wife and daughter, Anna Andreevna and Maria Antonovna. Artist K. Boklevsky
The mayor's daughter, Maria Antonovna, follows in her mother's footsteps, she also loves to dress up, she also loves to flirt, but she has not yet been spoiled like her mother by the lies and emptiness of this provincial life and has not yet learned to break down like her mother.
Khlestakov - the main character of "The Inspector General"
More complex is the image of the main character of The Inspector General, Khlestakov. This is an empty slacker, an insignificant little official, whose whole meaning of life is to “throw dust in someone’s eyes” with his manners, cigars, fashionable suit, individual words... He constantly brags to everyone and even to himself. His insignificant, meaningless life is pitiful, but Khlestakov himself does not notice this, he is always pleased with himself, always happy. Fantasy, which easily takes him away from reality, especially helps him forget failures. In Khlestakov there is no bitterness of oppressed pride, like the hero of “Notes of a Madman” Poprishchina. He has vanity, and he lies with passion, because this lying helps him forget his insignificance. Sick pride drove Poprishchin crazy, but the vanity of the empty, frivolous Khlestakov will not bring him to this. The main character of The Government Inspector is not able to imagine himself as a “Spanish king”, and therefore he will not end up in a madhouse - at best, he will be beaten for lying, or put in a debt ward for debts.
In Khlestakov, Gogol brought out a useless, unnecessary person who cannot even control his thoughts and language: a submissive slave of his imagination, richly endowed with “extraordinary lightness in thoughts,” he lives day after day, not realizing what he is doing and why. That is why Khlestakov can equally easily do evil and good, and will never be a conscious rogue: he does not invent any plans, but says and does what his frivolous imagination tells him at the moment. That’s why he can propose to both the mayor’s wife and his daughter at once, with full readiness to marry both, he can borrow money from officials, convinced that he will give it back to them, he can rant so stupidly that he immediately blurts out and talks to the point of nonsense . (See the full text of Khlestakov’s most deceitful monologue.)
Khlestakov. Artist L. Konstantinovsky
The frightened imagination of the frightened officials, who were waiting for the auditor, created from the “icicle” Khlestakov the one they were waiting for. Psychologically, the mistake of officials is quite understandable; it is expressed in proverbs: “a frightened crow is afraid of a bush,” “fear has big eyes.” This “fear” and “anxiety of conscience” carried away even the clever and intelligent rogue mayor into a fatal mistake.
Judge Lyapkin-Tyapkin in “The Inspector General”
Other city officials are small varieties of the mayor type. Judge Lyapkin-Tyapkin is also a dishonest person, which he quite sincerely does not notice, does not do anything, is absurdly stupid and, at the same time, full of conceit only because he has the courage to speak about religious issues with such freedom that believers “make their hair stand on end.” But in practical matters he amazes with his naivety.
Gogol. Inspector. Performance 1982 Episode 2
Trustee of charitable institutions Strawberry
In the person of Strawberry, Gogol brought out not only an embezzler, but also a petty and vile intriguer who wants to trip up his comrades in misfortune. (See Artemy Filippovich Strawberry - characteristics with quotes.)
Gogol formed the surname of the superintendent of schools Khlopov from the words “khlop”, “serf”. This is an extremely cowardly man, whose tongue “gets stuck in the mud” in the presence of his superiors, and his hands tremble so much that Luka Lukich is unable to even light the cigar Khlestakov offered him. (See Luka Lukich Khlopov - characterization with quotes.)
Postmaster Shpekin
Postmaster Ivan Kuzmich Shpekin is, according to Gogol, “a simple-minded person to the point of naivety.” He will not yield to Khlestakov himself in his frivolity. Ivan Kuzmich calmly prints out the letters arriving at his post office and reads them, finding this activity more entertaining than reading newspapers. He keeps the letters he especially likes.
It is thanks to these inclinations of Shpekin that the true identity of the “auditor” becomes clear to the rest of the officials. Ivan Kuzmich opens and reads Khlestakov’s letter to his friend Tryapichkin, from which it is clear that Khlestakov was by no means an important official, but an ordinary young whip and helipad. (See Ivan Kuzmich Shpekin - characterization with quotes.)
Dobchinsky and Bobchinsky in "The Inspector General"
Dobchinsky and Bobchinsky are the personification of the most hopeless vulgarity. These heroes of The Inspector General are not engaged in absolutely any business, are not interested in any religious, philosophical, political issues - even to the extent that is available to other characters in the comedy. Dobchinsky and Bobchinsky collect and spread only small local gossip, which feeds their wretched curiosity and fills their idle life. (See Bobchinsky and Dobchinsky - characteristics with quotes.)
Khlestakov's servant Osip
In the person of Osip, Gogol brought out the type of an old serf servant, spoiled by the idleness of a lackey's life. This comedy hero tasted the fruits of the civilization of St. Petersburg life, learned to ride in cabs for free, thanks to the through gate; he appreciates the “haberdashery appeal” of the capital’s small shops and Apraksin Dvor. Osip despises his master, the frivolous and empty Khlestakov, with all his soul, because he feels immeasurably smarter than him. Unfortunately, his mind is extremely tricky. If his master cheats out of naivety, then Osip cheats quite deliberately. (Cm.