Genre and composition of the poem Dead Souls. Features of the genre and composition of Nikolai Gogol's poem “Dead Souls. Genre originality of the poem by N.V. Gogol "Dead Souls". Features of the plot and composition

N. Gogol's poem "Dead Souls"- the work is complex, it intertwines both merciless satire and philosophical reflections about the fate of Russia, and subtle lyricism. The writer walked to his masterpiece all his life, writing such original, original works as, for example, “Vecho-; ry on a farm near Dikanka", "Mirgorod", "The Inspector General". To better understand the features of the Dead Souls genre, it is worth comparing this work with the Divine Comedy by Dante, a poet of the Renaissance, whose influence is clearly felt in N. Gogol’s poem. “The Divine Comedy” consists of three parts. In the first part, the shadow of the ancient Roman poet Virgil appears before the poet, accompanying the lyrical hero to hell: they find themselves in all his circles, a whole gallery of sinners passes before their eyes. The fantastic nature of the plot does not prevent Dante from telling about his homeland - Italy, about its fate. Actually, Gogol planned to show the same circles of hell, but hell in Russia.

Significant place in the poem “Dead Souls” occupied by lyrical digressions and inserted episodes, which is typical for the poem as a literary genre. In them, Gogol touches on the most pressing social issues in Russia. The author's opinions about the high purpose of man, about the fate of the Motherland and the people are here contrasted with gloomy pictures of Russian life.

From the very first pages of the work, its plot captivates us, because “we cannot assume that after Chichikov’s meeting with Manilov there will be meetings with Sobakevich and Nozdrev. We cannot guess what the end of the poem will be, because all the characters in it are connected by principle of gradation: one is worse than the other. For example, Manilov, if considered as a separate image, cannot be perceived as a positive hero, “because on his table there is a book open on the same page, and his politeness is sickly sweet. But, in comparison with Plyushkin, Manilov’s character even wins in many ways. Gogol's focus is on the image of Korobochka, since her character has much in common with other characters. According to Gogol, she is a symbol of the “box man”, which contains the idea of a restless desire to accumulate. Chichikov is also a “little man,” like other characters. It was this trait, inherent in most nobles, that led them to degeneration. Hence the symbolism of the title of the poem - “Dead Souls”.

The topic of exposing bureaucracy is going on- through all of Gogol’s work: it occupies an important place both in the collection “Mirgorod” and in the comedy “The Inspector General”. In the poem “Dead Souls” it is also intertwined with the theme of serfdom. “The Tale of Captain Kopeikin” plays an important role in the composition of the poem, since it is in it that N.V. Gogol boldly exposes the state government. The world of “Dead Souls” in the poem is contrasted with a lyrical image people's Russia, about which Gogol writes with love and admiration. Talking about landowner and bureaucratic Russia, Gogol feels well the soul of the Russian people. A clear indication of this is the image of the troika quickly rushing forward. In her image, the author embodied the powerful forces of Russia, which when they are able to do something new, progressive for their Motherland: “Isn’t it like that, Rus', you rush along like a fast troika that no one will ever overtake?..”. And yet the main theme of the work is the fate of Russia: its past, present and future. In the first volume, Gogol revealed the theme of the past of the Motherland. The second and third volumes he conceived were supposed to tell about the modern and future of Russia. This idea can be compared with the second and third parts of Dante’s “Divine Comedy” - “Purgatory” and “Paradise”. However, these plans were not destined to come true: the idea for the second volume was not successful enough, and the third was never written. Therefore, Chichikov’s trip remained a trip into the unknown: Gogol did not know what to think, what kind of future Russia: “Rus, where are you going? Give an answer. Doesn't give an answer."

From the very beginning of his writing career, Gogol dreamed of writing a work “in which all of Rus' would appear.” This was supposed to be a grandiose description of the life and customs of Russia in the first third of the 19th century. The poem “Dead Souls,” written in 1842, became such a work. The first edition of the book was called “The Adventures of Chichikov, or Dead Souls.” This name reduced the true meaning of the work and transferred it to the realm of an adventure novel. Gogol did this for censorship reasons, wanting to publish the poem.

Why did Gogol call his work a poem? The definition of the genre became clear to the writer only at the last moment - while working on the manuscript, he spoke either about a poem or a novel.

To understand the features of the genre of the poem “Dead Souls,” you can compare this work with the “Divine Comedy” of Dante, a poet of the Renaissance. Its influence is felt in Gogol's poem. The Divine Comedy consists of three parts. In the first part, the shadow of the ancient Roman poet Virgil appears to Dante, which accompanies the lyrical hero to hell; They go all the way, a whole gallery of sinners appears before their eyes. The fantastic nature of the plot does not prevent Dante from revealing the theme of his homeland - Italy. In fact, Gogol planned to show the same circles of hell, but hell in Russia. It is not for nothing that the title of the poem “Dead Souls” ideologically echoes the title of the first part of Dante’s poem “The Divine Comedy,” which is called “Hell.”

Gogol, along with satirical negation, introduces a glorifying, creative element - the image of Russia. Associated with this image is a “high lyrical movement”, which in the poem at times replaces the comic narrative.

A significant place in the poem “Dead Souls” is occupied by lyrical digressions and inserted episodes, which is typical for this literary genre. In them, Gogol touches on the most pressing Russian social issues. The author's thoughts about the high purpose of man, about the fate of the Motherland and the people are here contrasted with gloomy pictures of Russian life.

So, let's go for the hero of the poem "Dead Souls" Chichikov to the city of NN. From the very first pages of the work, we feel the fascination of the plot, since the reader cannot assume that after Chichikov’s meeting with Manilov there will be meetings with Sobakevich and Nozdrev. The reader cannot guess what will happen at the end of the poem, because all its characters are derived according to the principle of gradation: one is worse than the other.
For example, Manilov, if we consider him as a separate image, cannot be perceived as a positive hero (on his table there is a book open on the same page, and his politeness is feigned: “Let us not allow this to you”), but in comparison with Plyushkin, Manilov even wins in many ways. However, Gogol put Korobochka in the center of attention, since she is a kind of unified beginning of all the characters. According to Gogol, this is a symbol of the “box man”, which contains the idea of an insatiable thirst for hoarding.

The theme of exposing officialdom runs through Gogol’s entire Turkic life: it is also characteristic of the collection “Mirgorod” and the comedy “The Inspector General”. In the poem “Dead Souls” it is intertwined with the theme of serfdom.

“The Tale of Captain Kopeikin” occupies a special place in the poem. It is not plot-related to the poem, but has great importance to reveal the ideological content of the work. The form of the tale gives the story vital character: she exposes shortcomings public life Russia at all levels.

The world of “dead souls” in the poem is contrasted with the lyrical image of folk Russia, which Gogol writes about with love and admiration. Z

Poem by N.V. Gogol's "Dead Souls" - greatest work world literature. In the death of the souls of the characters - landowners, officials, Chichikov - the writer sees the tragic death of humanity, the sad movement of history along a closed...

Gogol is a great realist writer, whose work is firmly entrenched in Russian classical literature. His originality lies in the fact that he was one of the first to give a broad picture of the district landowner-bureaucratic Russia. In his poem "The Dead...

Work plan: 1. Introduction 2. Main part 2.1. Plyushkin's estate 2.2. Plyushkin's feelings and emotions, their manifestation 2.3. Plyushkin's path to complete degradation 2.4. The influence of loved ones on the fate of the main character 2.5. Appearance...

When writing an essay, I advise you to answer the questions: Why did Gogol, after depicting the landowner environment, turn to depicting the bureaucracy? How are the ways of depicting officials and landowners different? What vices of bureaucratic life does Gogol expose?...

It found its expression in the fact that the images of landowners, peasants, the description of their life, economy and morals are depicted in the poem so clearly that after reading this part of the poem, you remember it forever. The image of landowner-peasant Rus' was very relevant in Gogol’s time due to the aggravation of the crisis of the serfdom system. Many landowners have ceased to be useful to society, have fallen morally and become hostages of their rights to land and people. Another layer of Russian society began to come to the fore - city residents. As earlier in “The Inspector General,” in this poem Gogol presents a broad picture of officialdom, ladies’ society, ordinary townspeople, and servants.

So, the image of Gogol’s contemporary Russia determines the main themes of “Dead Souls”: the theme of the homeland, the theme of local life, the theme of the city, the theme of the soul. Among the motifs of the poem, the main ones are the road motif and the path motif. The road motif organizes the narrative in the work, the path motif expresses the central author’s idea - the acquisition by Russian people of a true and spiritual life. Gogol achieves an expressive semantic effect by combining these motifs with the following compositional device: at the beginning of the poem, Chichikov’s chaise enters the city, and at the end it leaves. Thus, the author shows that what is described in the first volume is part of an unimaginably long road in finding the way. All the heroes of the poem are on the way - Chichikov, the author, Rus'.

“Dead Souls” consists of two large parts, which can be roughly called “village” and “city”. In total, the first volume of the poem contains eleven chapters: the first chapter, describing Chichikov’s arrival, acquaintance with the city and urban society, should be considered expositional; then there are five chapters about landowners (chapters two - six), in the seventh Chichikov returns to the city, at the beginning of the eleventh he leaves it, and the next content of the chapter is no longer connected with the city. Thus, the description of the village and the city account for equal parts of the text of the work, which fully correlates with the main thesis of Gogol’s plan: “All of Rus' will appear in it!”

The poem also has two extra-plot elements: “The Tale of Captain Kopeikin” and the parable of Kif Mokievich and Mokiya Kifovich. The purpose of including a story in the text of the work is to clarify some of the ideas of the poem. The parable serves as a generalization, connecting the characters of the poem with the idea of the purpose of intelligence and heroism as two priceless gifts given to man.

It is also noteworthy that the author tells the “story of Chichikov” in the eleventh chapter. The main purpose of placing the hero's backstory at the end of the chapter is that the author wanted to avoid the reader's preconceived, prepared perception of events and the hero. Gogol wanted the reader to form his own opinion about what was happening, observing everything as if it were in real life.

Finally, the relationship between the epic and the lyrical in the poem also has its own ideological meaning. The first lyrical digression in the poem appears at the end of the fifth chapter in a discussion about the Russian language. In the future, their number increases; at the end of Chapter 11, the author speaks with patriotism and civic passion about Rus', the bird-three. The lyrical beginning in the work increases because Gogol’s idea was to establish his bright ideal. He wanted to show how the fog that had thickened over “sad Russia” (as Pushkin described the first chapters of the poem) dissipates in the dream of a happy future for the country.

Defining the genre of his own work, N.V. Gogol called “Dead Souls” a poem. This genre definition was maintained at all stages of work, right up to the publication of the book. This is due, first of all, to the fact that in “Dead Souls,” which were originally thought of under the sign of “gaiety” and comedy, there is also another, non-comic element - in the form of lyrical digressions of a serious and pathetic nature. It is a mistake to believe that Gogol called his work a poem “for fun,” although the first critics of “Dead Souls” expressed the following opinion: “This is simply a story put on paper by an intricate, supposedly simple-minded Little Russian in a circle of good friends,” who “do not require a plan.” “No unity, no syllable, just something to laugh about.”

More on initial stage work on the poem, Gogol saw it as something huge and great. Thus, in a letter to Zhukovsky, the writer reported: “If I complete this creation the way it needs to be accomplished, then... what a huge, what an original plot!.. All of Rus' will appear in it!” Later he develops this idea, believing that the hero of the poem can be a “private, invisible” person, but at the same time significant for the observer of the human soul.

The author leads his hero through a chain of adventures and changes with the goal of “presenting at the same time a true picture of everything significant in the traits and morals of the time he took, that earthly, almost statistically captured picture of the shortcomings, abuses, vices and everything that he noticed in the era he took.” and time." As we can see, Gogol put an educational meaning into the definition of “poem in prose”: a satirical picture of the morals, shortcomings and vices of society should be “a living lesson for the present.”

The life of the main character of the work - the petty swindler and rogue Chichikov - is inextricably linked with the life of the lyrical hero of the poem, who sits invisible in Chichikov's chaise, accompanies him to the ball, is present at fraudulent trade transactions, explaining, analyzing and evaluating the behavior of Pavel Ivanovich. The author, in the guise of a lyrical hero, is indignant and “mocks the world, which directly contradicts his abstract idea of virtue and truth.” In the last chapter, from the moment when the chaise leaves the city and endless fields stretch along the road, the lyrical hero of the poem becomes the driving force of the plot. He deepens his discussion about the purpose of the writer-accuser (his fate is not enviable), and decided to present to the reader’s eyes “all the terrible, amazing power of the little things that entangle our lives, all the depth of the cold, fragmented, everyday characters with which our earth is teeming.” Wonderful power granted the lyrical hero-author the opportunity to walk hand in hand with “strange heroes, to look around at the whole enormously rushing life, to look at it through laughter visible to the world and invisible, unknown to him tears!”

We can confidently say that in his work Gogol showed that satire can be poetic, since his lyrical hero “recreates before our eyes the image of a corrupted reality in such a way that this corruption is destroyed in itself due to its own absurdity.”

The composition of Gogol's poem "Dead Souls" is somewhat dependent on the plot. The underlying anecdote is based on the conditional assumption that the officials of the city of N do not understand the meaning of Chichikov’s actions. A clever swindler bought several hundred peasant “souls” on the cheap, physically non-existent, dead, but legally alive. I bought them to pawn them at a pawn shop and get a substantial amount. The officials became worried when they learned about Chichikov’s purchases: “dead souls,” “which, however, the devil knows what they mean, but they also contain something very bad, something bad.” Due to his own carelessness, the swindler gave away his secret and was forced to hastily flee the city. Such a plot gave the author the opportunity, on the one hand, to bring out a wide variety of heroes, and on the other hand, to present a wide panorama of the life of Russian society. Lyrical digressions and author's reflections establish the author's personal connection with the world he depicts. This world is addressed to him, he expects a certain word from him, at least the author clearly sees this appeal. A typical example is the reflections on Rus' at the beginning of Chapter XI: “Why is your melancholy song heard and heard incessantly in your ears, rushing along your entire length and width, from sea to sea? What's in it, in this song? What calls and cries and grabs your heart? What sounds painfully kiss and strive into the soul and curl around my heart? Rus! What do you want from me? What incomprehensible connection lies between us?

Words about the merits of the Russian word also appear here. At the beginning, the author emphasizes that the Russian people are a great hunter of giving everything their own names and nicknames, many of which are not used in social conversation, but are very apt and correct. Through a series of expressive details and descriptions, through comparative characteristics different languages, he comes to enthusiastic praise of the Russian word: “The word of a Briton will respond with heartfelt knowledge and wise knowledge of life, the short-lived word of a Frenchman will flash with light dandy and scatter..., but there is no word that would be so sweeping, so smart, so quick and together it would seethe and vibrate like a well-spoken Russian word.”

Despite the fact that the main place in the poem is given to the depiction of negative, vicious phenomena, in its text the positive principle appears more and more clearly.

In this regard, the key is “The Tale of Captain Kopeikin,” which was banned from publication by the censor. Main character story - the one-legged and one-armed captain Kopeikin. After returning from the battlefield, Kopeikin found himself deceived and rejected by society, for the sake of which he, in general, lost his health. The father abandons his son because he barely has enough bread himself. Kopeikin decides to go to St. Petersburg “to ask the sovereign if there would be some kind of royal mercy,” and there for a long time awaits an audience or at least a solution to his question. It was difficult for a frail disabled person in a city where “you walk down the street, and your nose can hear that it smells of thousands.”

At first, Kopeikin succumbed to the minister’s deceitful promises and store and restaurant lures, but he did not become their victim, but turned into a rebel - an avenger for the people killed by the capital. Expelled from St. Petersburg to his homeland, Kopeikin disappeared to God knows where, but not even two months had passed before a gang of robbers appeared in the Ryazan forests at the head... At this point the story ends and Gogol gives the reader the opportunity to guess for himself that it was Kopeikin who led the gang. Thus, he demanded that the world of “dead souls” pay for his death. Thus, in a satire poem about the world of “dead souls,” a living soul suddenly appears, rebelling against the soullessness of the social system.

As we see, in the poem by N.V. Gogol's "Dead Souls" has two principles - descriptive and lyrical, which determine the features of the genre and composition of the work. F. M. Dostoevsky in the “Diary of a Writer” for 1876 emphasized that Gogol’s moral and philosophical content does not fit within the framework of specific political issues: the images in the poem “almost crush the mind with the deepest unbearable questions, evoke the most restless thoughts in the Russian mind, with which, one feels, cannot be dealt with now; Moreover, will you ever cope again?

Why did Gogol call his work a poem? The definition of the genre became clear to the writer only at the last moment - while working on the manuscript, he spoke either about a poem or a novel.

To understand the features of the genre of the poem “Dead Souls,” you can compare this work with the “Divine Comedy” of Dante, a poet of the Renaissance. Its influence is felt in Gogol's poem. The Divine Comedy consists of three parts. In the first part, the shadow of the ancient Roman poet Virgil appears to Dante, which accompanies the lyrical hero to hell; They go around all the circles, a whole gallery of sinners appears before their eyes. The fantastic nature of the plot does not prevent Dante from revealing the theme of his homeland - Italy. In fact, Gogol planned to show the same circles of hell, but hell in Russia. It is not for nothing that the title of the poem “Dead Souls” ideologically echoes the title of the first part of Dante’s poem “The Divine Comedy,” which is called “Hell.”