Nikolai Gogol is an original writer and a remarkable satirist in the history of Russian literature. His talented books are familiar to everyone not only in our country, but also abroad. Many feature films have already been made based on his works, and theaters stage performances based on his works. Gogol's literary heritage is great and significant. In the works of N. Gogol there are works that belong to both the romantic and realistic directions. It is known that the original writer was born in a place where there were many estates of already famous writers. This influenced the formation of Nikolai Gogol. He was born in the Poltava province, where in 1809 Velikie Sorochintsy was the cultural center of the province.
Biography of Nikolai Gogol
Much is known about the writer’s childhood. Thus, the father of the original writer was a playwright, but he did this not professionally, but at an amateur level. He worked as a secretary for a count who could afford to have a serf theater. It was for this theater that Gogol’s father wrote plays, and the little writer watched these productions. In addition, the landowner Troshinsky had a huge library, which the secretary’s child was allowed to visit and read books. But Gogol’s education does not end there, and after a little home schooling he goes to the gymnasium, which was located in Nizhyn.
He began studying at the gymnasium of higher sciences in 1821, where the students were instilled with the idea that an official is the pillar of the country on which it rests. Therefore, after graduating from college, graduates had only one option - to go into public service. But the knowledge that was given in the gymnasium was not enough to study literature. Therefore, an original writer begins to study independently. He subscribes to various almanacs and literary magazines. In the gymnasium, he wrote funny epigrams, often teachers became their heroes.
They were not only funny, but also witty. But the then high school student did not attach any importance to this creativity.
Gogol's first works
After studying at the gymnasium, Gogol moved to St. Petersburg, dreaming of a career as an official. But even then, in 1828, no one wanted to hire him anywhere. Being an impressionable person, he, offended and upset, writes the poem “Hans Küchelgarten”, where the main character is a young German youth who dreams of serving his homeland, but he is not allowed to fulfill his dream. Of course, the author himself becomes the prototype of the main character. But his literary creation was subject to severe criticism. This greatly offended the aspiring writer. He burns the entire published edition of this work.
Having analyzed the reasons for his failure, N. Gogol begins to understand that all his dreams were naive and childish, but when he gets a job as a minor official, he does not like the service at all and is disappointed. The only thing that an original writer liked at that time was communication with writers who were already famous. Among them is the disgraced poet Pushkin. Fairy tale motifs appear in Gogol's works of this time. So, in 1832 he created a story in which laughter plays an important role. When “Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka” was published, it was highly appreciated. A. Pushkin immediately informed the whole world that good things would come of Gogol.
In this story, the author describes the simple life of the Ukrainian people, and in this Gogol’s work there is absolutely no suffering of a person who turns out to be superfluous to society. Such a plot was unusual for Russian literature of that time. At this time, Nikolai Gogol, who did not like serving as an official, quits his position and decides to devote all his time to literature. He is interested in studying history, and is especially interested in the Ancient World and the Middle Ages. At some point he decides that he should go teach. At the University of Kyiv, he tries to win a chair for himself, but again fails. Therefore, in 1835 he abandoned the study of history.
Petersburg period
In 1828, the writer went to the Northern capital to get a job, but he was not hired anywhere: either they simply did not accept him, or they offered him a low salary.
In 1829, Nikolai wrote the poem “Italy” and, without signing it, sent it to the publication “Son of the Fatherland.” It was published, this gave Gogol confidence. He decided to publish his work “Hanz Küchelgarten”, which was signed by Alov. But this book was not popular: the poem was heavily criticized for its naivety. Then the writer bought the entire edition and burned it. After failure, he tried to become an actor and auditioned for the head of the Imperial Theaters. However, Nikolai was not taken. In June 1829 he went to travel around Germany.
In the fall he came back to St. Petersburg. His financial situation was greatly shaken, and the writer went to work as an assistant to the clerk. Gogol held the position of collegiate assessor. He carried out various assignments from management, filed documents and received complaints, and during breaks he composed works about life in Ukraine. In 1830, the writer published “Bisavryuk, or the Evening on the Eve of Ivan Kupala” in the newspaper Otechestvennye zapiski. But the main text differed from the original: editor-in-chief P. Svinin corrected it at his own discretion.
Over time, the writer increasingly creates his own works of art for various publications. In 1831 he published:
- “Ge.
In the same year he met Anton Delvig; this was an important stage in Gogol’s life. A new acquaintance introduced Nikolai Vasilyevich to a creative literary society. Messages about Gogol's work reached P. Pletnev and V. Zhukovsky, who highly appreciated the writer. They helped him find a new job: he began teaching at the Women's Patriotic University, and in his free time he tutored noble children.
Gogol's cycle "Petersburg Tales"
After the appearance of the first collection of stories, “Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka,” the author begins to work a lot, and therefore, almost immediately he releases two more collections of stories, “Arabesques,” and stories, “Mirgorod.” They describe both Ukrainian settlements and the city of St. Petersburg itself. At this time he wrote several more stories, which he later combined into the general cycle “Petersburg Tales”. It turns out that this Gogol collection includes five stories:
•Portrait. •Nevsky Avenue. •Diary of a Madman. •Nose. •Overcoat.
In all these stories, the main characters are simple and ordinary people, whose life is very scary in this ruthless and harsh world. And in these stories, for the first time since Pushkin’s “The Bronze Horseman,” the image of St. Petersburg appears. Gogol's city on the Neva is beautiful and light, but for a little person it is cold and scary. But next to a simple person, with a graceful and indifferent city, mystical and mysterious motives appear.
From this time on, writing became the main activity of Nikolai Gogol. He takes it very seriously, seeing in it the whole meaning of his life. Continuing to communicate with the leading writers of that time, A. Pushkin and V. Zhukovsky, he constantly visits literary circles. All this has a huge influence on his work. The author works hard, almost without respite, without giving preference to any particular genre. During this period, he wrote many works that later became famous.
Then critics started talking about him. V. Belinsky also drew attention to him, who recognized the talent of the young writer.
Creativity N.V. Gogol
Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol (1809 – 1852) began his literary career as a romantic writer. His literary debut was the collection “Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka” (1831 – 1832).
In “Evenings” the nationality appears within the boundaries of the romantic artistic system. The texts reflected the author’s “ideal world”. The life of the Ukrainian people, the real Dikanka, are magically transformed in Gogol. Without giving a comprehensive picture of people's life, "Evenings" reveal its poetry. It is no coincidence that V.G. Belinsky wrote: “Everything that nature can have is beautiful, the rural life of common people is seductive, everything that the people can have is original, typical, all of this shines with rainbow colors in these first poetic dreams of Mr. Gogol.”
In two stories (“The Evening on the Eve of Ivan Kupala” and “Terrible Revenge”), fantasy takes on an ominous (in the latter, with a touch of mystical) character. The fantastic images here capture the evil forces that exist in life and are hostile to man, primarily the power of gold. However, in these stories, the story unfolds not of triumph, but of the punishment of evil, and thus the final victory of good and justice is affirmed.
In subsequent years, Gogol created the collection “Mirgorod” (“Old World Landowners”, “Taras Bulba”, “Viy”, etc.). In “Portrait”, “Nevsky Prospect” and “Notes of a Madman” Gogol leaves Ukrainian themes and turns to St. Petersburg reality. Later (also based on St. Petersburg material) “Nose” and “Overcoat” were written.
Gogol worked on the last story in the St. Petersburg cycle, “The Overcoat,” in 1839–1841. Depicting the fate of a poor official, Gogol fills the story with enormous social and humanistic content. The story of Akaki Akakievich Bashmachkin, the “eternal titular adviser,” is the story of the distortion and death of a person under the power of circumstances.
“The Petersburg Tales,” especially “The Overcoat,” were of great importance for all subsequent Russian literature, establishing in it the principles of social humanism and the “natural” direction. Herzen considered “The Overcoat” to be a colossal work by Gogol. Dostoevsky is credited with the famous words: “We all came out of Gogol’s “The Overcoat”.”
Gogol's most significant works are the comedy "The Inspector General" and the poem "Dead Souls"
In October 1835, Gogol turned to Pushkin with a request to give him some “purely Russian anecdote” as a plot for a comedy. Pushkin shared with Gogol a story about an official who in a provincial town was mistaken for an important state person. Gogol's pen turned an anecdote (which was based on actual incidents) into a comedy of enormous general meaning. In December, “The Inspector General” was completed, and in April 1836 it was staged on the stage of the Alexandrinsky Theater.
The plot of The Inspector General is based on social conflicts. The action of the comedy takes place in a provincial town, but the orders operating there are shown not as a private phenomenon, but as a consequence of the feudal and bureaucratic system of Russia. The world painted by Gogol reflects the most important parts of this system: the court, public education and enlightenment, hospitals, police, post office. The writer pointed out the concentration and enlargement of the artistic world of his comedy: “This is a collective place. From everywhere, from different corners of Russia, exceptions to truth, error and abuse flocked here to serve one idea: to produce in the viewer a bright, noble disgust ... ". Gogol (unlike the authors of accusatory comedies of the 18th century) does not contrast the world of abuse with any other, positive world; From the comedy it inevitably follows that the phenomena depicted in it are the norm, the law of reality.
Gogol's brilliant discovery is the image of Khlestakov. In a sharpened form, the immoderate and unfounded claims, the desire to seem “higher in rank”, the ability to “shine” with complete mental and spiritual emptiness and frivolity are revealed. The dizzying transformation of a nonentity into a significant “person” reflected the nonsense of social order, the cult of “rank.”
Gogol's central work was Dead Souls.
Gogol conceived a monumental work in three volumes, a “great national poem,” striving not only to show modern Russia (Rus' “from one side”), but also to look into its future, to reveal the positive principles of Russian life. The writer considered the work on “Dead Souls” as the greatest work of his entire life, as his human and civic feat: “... What a huge, what an original plot! What a varied bunch! All Rus' will appear in it!..”
The first volume of Dead Souls was published in 1842. Its action takes place in one of the Russian provinces, but everything depicted has the broadest general meaning. The poem presents different “levels” of Russian life: Russia of the nobility, bureaucratic-bureaucratic, folk; Russia in its present and Russia in its great destiny. The Russia of the present is revealed in its everyday everyday life. Chichikov's acquaintance with the city, its dignitaries, and visits to the surrounding landowners enable the author to develop a panorama of reality and show its contrasts.
The theme of spiritual death is revealed primarily in the depiction of the local nobility. Gogol’s poem features a new type of realism compared to Pushkin’s, new methods of typification and psychologism. In contrast to the spiritually developed, complex characters of Pushkin’s heroes, Gogol’s characters are ordinary beings, representatives of the “crowd”.
The life of landowners is presented in “Dead Souls” in two forms: an aimless, carefree selfish existence and greedy acquisitiveness. Basically, the writer portrays characters “from the outside.” In Gogol's work there remains a feature that goes back to romanticism: in the modern world the spiritual dies and things reign, reality becomes only material. Hence the detailed description of the things in the house of Manilov, Korobochka, and Sobakevich.
Gogol follows different paths of artistic generalization in his depiction of Chichikov. Unlike static portraits of landowners, a dynamic characterization is given here, which is caused by the complexity of the central character of the poem. In his face, it was no longer the stagnation of Russian life that was expressed, but the process of penetration of new trends into it: the spirit of acquisition and swindle. Revealing his intention to make the hero of the poem not a respectable person, but to “hide” a “scoundrel,” Gogol explores in detail the origins of his personality. The deepest connection between character and circumstances is drawn here too. A resourceful and dexterous adventurer, Chichikov is a product of the surrounding world with its contradictions of poverty and wealth.
Born into a poor family, Chichikov does not become a “little man” like Bashmachkin. To climb the social ladder, he steadily cultivates opportunism and resourcefulness. Gogol shows that Chichikov’s frugality and hoarding, which he was distinguished by since childhood, are of a different nature than, for example, the stinginess of Korobochka or Plyushkin. Chichikov's thirst for enrichment is a feature of the new bourgeois society; money for him is a means of achieving a career.
Gogol very accurately defines one of the characteristic features of the rising bourgeoisie - the vital energy of his hero, the purposefulness of his actions and at the same time their extreme selfishness. Although all of Chichikov’s undertakings end in failure, he tirelessly strives forward towards the alluring cherished goal. Possessing extraordinary willpower, for the time being he puts a rein on his desires and passions, dooms himself to a modest existence, and then begins to act “in the grand scheme of things.”
The complexity of Gogol's poem lies in its two-dimensionality, which determines its idea, composition, and style. Russian reality reveals itself to Gogol not only in its “dead” state, but also in its enormous possibilities. The exponent of the ideal in the poem is people's Russia, its hidden, dormant forces. Gogol's realistic artistic vision states the darkness and ignorance of the enslaved people. At the same time, the writer strives to penetrate into the future, which seems to him on the path of establishing the “daring” Russian nationality, the victory of the living soul over the deadening social order. Gogol sees the guarantee of this victory in the “heroism” of the people, their talent and giftedness; in the “brisk, sweeping” Russian word; in the “immense space”, “mighty space” of the Russian land.
“Dead Souls” is the pinnacle of Gogol’s creativity. The realism of the poem was expressed in the multidimensionality of the artistic vision of life, in the ability to reveal it in movement, in deep attention to social problems and relationships between people. The ideal in the poem grows from reality itself, from the Russian folk soil, which in itself contains the source of its great future.
The theme of the unknown future emerging in the poem leads to the infusion of a romantic stream of “lyrical digressions” into the epic narrative. A significant part of them is dedicated to their native country: “... And a mighty space threateningly embraces me, reflecting with terrible force in my depths; My eyes lit up with unnatural power: oh! what a sparkling, wonderful, unknown distance to the earth! Rus!..".
The image of the author also appears in the poem, whose richness of feelings is revealed in lyrical digressions. In Chapter VII, Gogol reflects on the destinies and paths of two writers in Russia. Recognizing the “sweet charm” of romantic works, Gogol nevertheless chooses the fate of the writer who “dared to bring to light everything that is every minute in front of our eyes and that indifferent eyes do not see, all the terrible, stunning mud of little things that entangle our lives, the whole depth of the cold, fragmented, everyday characters." Gogol denotes the path of realistic creativity. At the same time, a romantic current continues to live in the realism of “Dead Souls,” defining the “high” mood of the poem.
Gogol’s humor is also distinguished by “duality.” Along with accusatory and satirical notes, it contains sadness and pain for a person; through the “laughter visible to the world” appear “invisible, unknown tears.”
While working on Dead Souls, Gogol called them either a novel, a story, or a poem. He was probably well aware of the unusual nature of his work: “The thing I’m sitting and working on now... doesn’t look like a story or a novel.” While publishing Dead Souls, Gogol made his final decision. The subjective beginning, the high lyrical mood, the epic breadth of the narrative, the intensity of the author’s “party” obviously prompted the writer to call his creation a “poem”. “Dead Souls,” of course, contain the most important features of the genre of socio-psychological novel, which will later occupy such a large place in Russian literature (deep disclosure of social relations, diversity and typification of characters). At the same time, the text is unique. “Dead Souls” organically combines an objective, narrative-dramatic element with lyrical statements, high poetry and merciless prose, a “living flow” of life with a clear author’s purpose.
The Roman period in the works of Nikolai Gogol
After the release of the “Petersburg Tales” series, the author tried his hand at dramaturgy. In 1835, he wrote a wonderful and realistic comedy-play “The Inspector General,” which was staged in the theater the following year. The author decided to collect all Russian vices and laugh at them. All the heroes of Gogol's comedy are united by fear, because each of them has many vices. After its production on the theater stage, where the first performance was not successful, the author had a regular viewer with whom he developed good and friendly relations. This was Emperor Nicholas I.
Not understanding the viewer who reacted this way to the first theatrical production, he decides to write another small work, where he explains the whole meaning of his comedy. This small work by Gogol was called “Reflections at the Theater Entrance.” The original writer wrote this about the meaning of his comedy work:
“It’s strange: I’m sorry that no one noticed the honest face that was in my play. Yes, there was one honest, noble person who acted throughout its entire continuation. It was a laugh."
After this, the offended Nikolai Gogol leaves for Rome, where he works a lot and diligently. It was there that he began writing the poem “Dead Souls,” which were published in Russia in 1842. The author's plan was in three parts, like Dante's Divine Comedy. However, he did not have time to write all three parts. His work was severely criticized. And after three years he becomes so ill that in Rome he is placed in a specialized clinic for the mentally ill. The Russian Emperor himself gives him money for treatment. Therefore, immediately after recovery, returning to his homeland, he thanks the emperor and voices his desire to enter a monastery.
Roman period and Dead Souls
Despite the approval of the emperor, Gogol is offended by the rest of the public who do not understand and leaves for Rome. There he worked a lot, wrote Dead Souls , which were published in Russia in 1842. (The history of the creation of Dead Souls). He intended this poem to be a kind of analogue of Dante's Divine Comedy, but Gogol failed to write three parts. (Genre and plot of Dead Souls). In 1845, he was unexpectedly diagnosed with schizophrenia and was placed in a mental hospital in Rome. He feels very bad, the Russian ambassador gives Gogol money from the tsar. Having survived, he returns to Russia, thanks the emperor and is going to go to the monastery.
Journalism in Gogol's works
Nikolai Gogol never went into a monastery, so Russian literature was replenished with his works and became much stronger. Soon he began to work in journalistic genres, where his article “Selected Passages from Correspondence with Friends” especially stands out. This Gogol article was published in 1847. It is known that the main part of the plot is letters, the rest are small articles of a journalistic nature. By its nature, the work turned out to be gloomy and conservative.
The main idea is the question of serfdom in Russia. The author believes that serfdom should not be abolished, since great Russian literature began with the odes of Lomonosov. From this he concluded that the well-being of a writer lies in his ability to praise the emperor. But his book, sent to his confessor, had a negative reaction and he was almost excommunicated from the church for the liberties shown in a journalistic article. But the intervention of the emperor helped.
Critic V. Belinsky did not like the article either. After reading it, he stated that the author was trying to return the country to the past, which was terrible and gloomy. He saw in the writing of this work the author’s personal interest in becoming the educator of the heir to the throne. To ward off suspicion, Nikolai Gogol invited the critic to work together and he agreed. But, unfortunately, the writer again had a new attack of schizophrenia. Therefore, cooperation did not take place.
But the darkest years for Nikolai Gogol were his last years. Completely ill, he nevertheless writes the second book of his poem “Dead Souls”, and is even ready to hand it over to the publisher for printing. But in early February, almost before his death, he burns it with his own hands, being in a clouded state of mind. In the morning he regrets it, and after another 10 days he dies.
The influence of Gogol's creativity on Russian literature
It is known that Nikolai Gogol is the most mysterious writer. His works were able to perfectly combine two wonderful facts: the power of imagination and vital observation. The unusual nature of the author's images lies in the fact that laughter is most often present on the pages of his stories and novellas. It was Nikolai Gogol who glorified St. Petersburg, but critics saw that he overshadowed it with his images of petty St. Petersburg officials. And on the pages of Gogol’s works the tragedy of this city already appears.
But the author was tormented by contradictions, which were later reflected in his work. He denounces society and believes in their truthfulness, as in the comedy “The Inspector General”. His poem “Dead Souls” is an immortal work. Gogol tried to save Russia. Gogol's ideas were continued by other famous authors: Dostoevsky, A. Blok, Tolstoy.
Artistic features in Gogol's works
Gogol began his creative career as a romantic. However, he soon turned to critical realism and opened a new chapter in it. As a realist artist, Gogol developed under the beneficial influence of Pushkin.
But he was not a simple imitator of the founder of new Russian literature. Gogol’s originality was that he was the first to give the broadest image of the district landowner-bureaucratic Russia and the “little man”, a resident of the corners of St. Petersburg. Gogol was a brilliant satirist who castigated the “vulgarity of a vulgar man” to the utmost
Often he exaggerates them, which makes the image even more vivid and prominent. The purposes of a vivid, satirical portrayal of the characters are served by Gogol’s careful selection of many details and their sharp exaggeration. For example, portraits of the heroes of “Dead Souls” were created. These details in Gogol are mainly everyday: things, clothes, the hero’s home. If in Gogol’s romantic stories there are emphatically picturesque landscapes that give the work a certain uplifting tone, then in his realistic works, especially in “Dead Souls,” landscape is one of the means of depicting types and characteristics of heroes. The subject matter, social orientation and ideological coverage of life phenomena and people's characters determined the originality of Gogol's literary speech. The two worlds depicted by Gogol - the folk collective and the “existents” - determined the main features of the writer’s speech: his speech is sometimes enthusiastic, imbued with lyricism, when he talks about the people, about the homeland (in “Evenings”, in “Taras Bulba”, in lyrical digressions of “Dead Souls”), then it becomes close to a live conversational one (in everyday pictures and scenes of “Evenings” or when the story is told about bureaucratic and landowner Russia). The originality of Gogol's language lies in the wider use of common speech, dialectisms, and Ukrainianisms than that of his predecessors and contemporaries. Gogol loved and had a keen sense of folk speech and skillfully used all its shades to characterize his heroes and phenomena of social life. The lyricism in the speech of the author and his heroes determines some of the methods of its construction: 1) the periodic structure of the phrase, when many sentences are connected into one whole (“Taras saw how vague the Cossack ranks had become and how despondency, indecent for the brave, began to quietly embrace the Cossack heads, but was silent: he wanted to give time to everything, so that they would get used to the despondency brought on by farewell to their comrades, and meanwhile in the silence he was preparing to suddenly wake them all up, whooping like a Cossack, so that cheerfulness would return again and with greater strength than before everyone understands what only the Slavic breed is capable of, a broad, powerful breed compared to others, like the sea to shallow rivers”); 2) the introduction of lyrical dialogues and monologues (for example, the conversation between Levko and Ganna in the first chapter of “May Night”, monologues - appeals to the Cossacks of Koshevoy, Taras Bulba, Bovdyug in “Taras Bulba”); 3) an abundance of exclamatory and interrogative sentences (for example, in the description of the Ukrainian night in “May Night”); 4) emotional epithets that convey the power of the author’s inspiration, born of love for native nature (description of a day at the “Sorochinskaya Fair”) or for a folk group (“Taras Bulba”). Gogol uses everyday speech in different ways. In early works (in “Evenings”) its bearer is the narrator. The author puts into his mouth both vernacular words (everyday words and phrases), and such appeals to listeners that are of a familiar, good-natured nature, characteristic of this environment: “By God, I’m already tired of telling! What are you thinking? The character of a person, his social status, profession - all this is unusually clearly and accurately revealed in the speech of Gogol’s characters. Gogol's strength as a stylist lies in his humor. Gogol's humor - “laughter through tears” - was determined by the contradictions of the Russian reality of his time, mainly by the contradictions between the people and the anti-people essence of the noble state. In his articles about “Dead Souls,” Belinsky showed that Gogol’s humor “consists in the opposition of the ideal of life with the reality of life.” He wrote: “Humor is the most powerful weapon of the spirit of negation, destroying the old and preparing the new.”
