Brief information about the work
“Petersburg Tales” by Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol is the general name of several of the writer’s stories, as well as the name of the collection that is compiled from these stories. The scene in them is St. Petersburg in the 30s and 40s of the 19th century. All the stories are united by the theme of humiliation of the “little man.” The collection includes the following stories:
- "Nevsky Avenue";
- "Nose";
- "Portrait";
- "Overcoat";
- "Diary of a Madman".
Some of these stories describe truly fantastic events that happened in St. Petersburg, where, it would seem, life flows according to an eternally established order.
Summary
"Nevsky Avenue"
Two friends, Lieutenant Pirogov and artist Piskarev, went for a walk along Nevsky Prospect to innocently flirt with girls. Pirogov liked the charming blonde, and he, “confident that there was no beauty that could resist him,” went after her to try his luck.
The vulnerable and sensitive Piskarev was captivated by the sophisticated beauty of a brunette in an expensive raincoat. He was sure that the stranger was a noble lady, but in fact she turned out to be a prostitute. The girl was miraculously beautiful - “she was fresh; she was only seventeen years old; it was clear that terrible depravity had recently overtaken her,” but Piskarev was deeply disappointed.
Returning home, the artist did not stop thinking about the beauty. It pained him to realize that such unearthly, pure beauty could be at the mercy of depravity. When Piskarev fell asleep, he dreamed that the brunette was in fact not a prostitute, but a noble lady with a mysterious past.
This dream turned out to be so beautiful, and the reality so “disgusting,” that Piskarev decided to sleep as much as possible in order to enjoy the company of a beautiful girl in his dreams. From now on, he “one might say, slept in reality and was awake in a dream.” To cope with nervous breakdown and insomnia, the artist began taking opium. Thanks to the drug, dreams involving the brunette became even more vivid and colorful.
When Piskarev had a dream in which a stranger appeared in the form of his wife, he went to a brothel and proposed to her. The artist wanted to do a noble deed: to give the prostitute an honest life and at the same time return “to the world its most beautiful adornment,” but the girl resolutely refused him. She had no intention of marrying a poor man and working hard and living in poverty.
In terrible despair, Piskarev returned home, where he committed suicide by cutting his throat with a razor. His body was discovered only a week later. Over the artist’s grave, “only the guard soldier cried, and that was because he drank an extra bottle of vodka.”
Meanwhile, Pirogov, who went after the blonde, learned that she was German, the wife of the German tinsmith Schiller. The next day, the lieutenant ordered spurs from Schiller and began to regularly visit the workshop, flirting whenever possible with his blond wife.
“Schiller’s wife, for all her prettiness, was very stupid” and did not understand Pirogov’s hints. Then he, seizing the moment, began to open his arms. A drunken Schiller and two of his friends caught him doing this and gave the loving lieutenant a fair beating. Pirogov wanted to take cruel revenge on the offender, but by the evening of that day he walked away and completely forgot about this unfortunate incident.
"Nose"
One morning, the barber Ivan Yakovlevich discovered someone’s nose in the bread at breakfast and was very scared: “the nose was none other than the collegiate assessor Kovalev, whom he shaved every Wednesday and Sunday.”
Wanting to quickly get rid of the terrible discovery, he hurried to the embankment - “wouldn’t it be possible to somehow throw it into the Neva?” Throwing the rag with his nose into the river, the barber sighed with relief. Soon a quarterly supervisor appeared near him and began to strictly interrogate him about what had happened. What happened after this interrogation is “absolutely unknown.”
That same morning, Major Kovalev, looking at himself in the mirror, “to the greatest amazement, saw that instead of a nose he had a completely smooth place.” He decided to report his missing nose and “flew straight to the Chief of Police.”
Suddenly, Kovalev saw his nose in the rich uniform of a high-ranking official. The poor fellow did not know what to think: his own “nose, which only yesterday was on his face, could not ride or walk, was in his uniform.” Kovalev demanded from the nose that he return to his rightful place, but he pretended that he did not understand anything and hastened to hide.
Fortunately, the policeman was able to catch the nose in time, which “was already boarding the stagecoach and wanted to leave for Riga,” and return it to Kovalev. But the nose did not want to grow to the face for a long time, which caused its owner a lot of trouble.
Meanwhile, the story of the missing nose quickly spread throughout St. Petersburg, “all the socialites, necessary visitors to receptions who loved to make the ladies laugh, were extremely happy.”
"Portrait"
In an art shop, the poor artist Chartkov, for his last pennies, purchased a portrait that amazed him, which depicted “an old man with a bronze-colored face, cheekbones, and stunted.”
The most expressive part of the old man's face were his dark, piercing eyes, which seemed to be alive. At night, Chartkov dreamed that the old man came to life and began counting bundles of gold coins. The artist managed to take one of the packages, and with this money he decided to improve his skills.
Chartkov dressed up, rented a decent apartment and became a fashionable portrait painter in the city. In pursuit of fame and money, he lost his talent, because he painted portraits to please the customer.
The artist tried to regain the abilities he had lost, but “the brush involuntarily turned to rigid forms, the hands folded in one memorized manner.” Realizing his insignificance, Chartkov fiercely hated talented masters. He bought the most beautiful paintings in order to destroy them at home. Chartkov's mind became clouded from envy and hatred, and he died suddenly from fits of rage.
Subsequently it became known that the ill-fated portrait of an old man with piercing, lively eyes was painted by a self-taught artist. A greedy, evil moneylender, whose money evoked the most disgusting impulses in people, posed for him. After the death of the moneylender, his soul settled in the portrait, which drove all the owners crazy.
"Diary of a Madman"
On a rainy autumn day, minor official Aksentiy Ivanovich Poprishchin went, as usual, to the department. On the way, he met the young daughter of the director of the department, who captivated the heart of a modest official. Next to the girl walked her little dog Meji. Suddenly Poprishchin realized that he was hearing a conversation between Medzhi and the dog Fidel, who were discussing the latest news.
The next day, the director's daughter came to visit her father at the department. At the sight of her, Poprishchin was speechless. When the girl accidentally dropped her handkerchief, he “rushed as fast as he could, slipped on the damned parquet floor and almost broke his nose.”
Poprishchin’s feelings for the director’s daughter did not go unnoticed, and the head of the department scolded him for his daring dreams: “after all, you are a zero, nothing more.” But the happy Poprishchin did not pay any attention to his words; a much bigger problem for him was his poverty: “there is no income - that’s the problem.”
Finding himself in the house of the director of service affairs, Poprishchin tried to talk to Medzhi, but she only “tucked her tail between her legs and shrank in half.” Noticing the paper torn into shreds, he decided that this was correspondence between Meji and Fidel. From it, the lover learned that the director's daughter's name was Sophie, and she was going to marry the chamber cadet Teplov, and openly laughed at him.
Love experiences exhausted Poprishchin so much that he began to consider himself the king of Spain. He stopped standing up in the presence of the director, and began signing “Ferdinand VIII” on documents. When Poprishchin entered the director's house and greatly frightened Sophie with his behavior, he was taken to an insane asylum.
"Overcoat"
An elderly official, Akaki Akakievich Bashmachkin, served in the department all his life in one position, everyone believed that he “was born into the world completely ready, in a uniform and with a bald spot on his head.” Nobody respected him in the department, and the bosses “treated him in a cold, despotic way.”
When Bashmachkin discovered that his old overcoat was completely worn out and could not be repaired, he was very upset. In order to collect the required amount, he decided to “banish drinking tea in the evenings, not light candles in the evenings..., walking along the streets, step as lightly and carefully as possible... so as not to wear out the soles too soon; give the laundry to the laundress to wash the clothes as little as possible.”
After six months of all sorts of hardships, Bashmakin saved up money and sewed a new overcoat. But the official did not rejoice at the long-awaited new thing for long: that same evening he was robbed on the street.
The police did not even try to help the unfortunate official. He turned to the general for help, but was driven out with a shout. Frustrated, Bashmachkin rushed out into the street, where a blizzard was raging. The next day he “got all swollen and went to bed,” and soon died of a fever.
Soon after the death of the official, rumors spread throughout St. Petersburg that his ghost was wandering around the city and taking off the greatcoats of passers-by.
Main characters
The story "Nevsky Prospekt"
- Piskarev is a young artist, a romantic with a pure soul, shy, timid.
- Pirogov is a lieutenant who values only pleasure in life.
The story "The Nose"
- Kovalev Platon Kuzmich is a collegiate assessor who strives only for a successful career and pleasure.
The story "Portrait"
- Chartkov is a talented young artist who exchanged his talent for a prosperous life.
- The artist who painted the portrait of the moneylender is a kind, honest person.
The story "The Overcoat"
- Bashmachkin Akakiy Akakievich is a poor official, modest, timid, very fond of his job of copying papers.
The story “Notes of a Madman”
- Aksenty Ivanovich Poprishchin is a minor official. He feels very painfully his insignificant position in the service and wants to be closer to his superiors.
The main theme of the story “Portrait”
In this work, Gogol shows the conflict of genuine talent with the demonic principle. In the terrible eyes of the old man depicted in the portrait, the artist sees himself. He himself gave his soul to the devil, which is why the portrait he once bought for a pittance in an art shop became so hateful to him. When God gives a person a talent, at the same time he gives him great responsibility in being able to correctly apply this talent in life. The more extraordinary a person is, the more temptations he encounters along the way.
The story "Nevsky Prospekt". Summary for a reader's diary (15 sentences)
The artist Piskarev and his friend Lieutenant Pirogov, walking along Nevsky Prospect, saw two pretty girls. The artist followed the brunette to find out where this girl, who struck him with her beauty, lived. And the lieutenant began to catch up with the blonde.
The beautiful brunette signaled Pirogov to follow her and led him to an apartment where there were several women. The artist realized that this was a nest of depravity and rushed out.
In a dream, he saw that a stranger was shining in secular society. From then on, Piskarev truly lived only in a dream, where he saw that this beauty had become his wife.
The artist decided to save the stranger from a nest of debauchery. Arriving there, he invited the girl to become his wife and work in order to have a means of living. But the beauty despised work and did not want to do needlework and sewing. Disappointed in his beloved, the artist came home and cut his throat.
The following is the story of the love adventure of Lieutenant Pirogov. The blonde he was pursuing was the wife of the tinsmith Schiller. Having learned from her that her husband was not at home on Sundays, the lieutenant came to her on Sunday and offered to dance. Although the blonde's returning husband and his two friends beat Pirogov, he spent the rest of the day very pleasantly, attending a social evening where he successfully danced the mazurka.
You can read more about the story “Nevsky Prospekt” here.
"Overcoat"
This story has been known to everyone since school. It is part of a cycle called “Petersburg Tales”.
“The Overcoat” (read the summary below) is a very famous work. A titular councilor, Akakiy Akakievich Bashmachkin, served in one department. At work, he was such an insignificant person that sometimes they openly didn’t notice him, they made fun of him, they might not say hello and pass him by. He was not respected among officials; he was insulted, his salary could be lowered, or he could be offended in some other way.
Akaki Akakievich never entered into gossip with anyone, but preferred to tolerate such an attitude towards himself. One day he went to a tailor to straighten his overcoat, but the master replied that the clothes were quite worn out, so it was better to change them. Then the titular adviser decided to save enough money for this. It was not easy: the salary he received was barely enough to feed himself. He had no family, children, or friends.
For more than a year, Bashmachkin denied himself literally everything in order to collect the required amount: he was often malnourished and walked around in only rags. When the required amount was collected, Akaki Akakievich bought himself an overcoat. Colleagues congratulated him on the new thing and offered to celebrate this event. He was returning home late when two unknown men approached him and took off his brand new overcoat. Bashmachkin's despair knew no bounds. He has lost the meaning of existence. From the grief he suffered, the titular councilor fell ill with a sore throat and died a few days later. Sometimes, as witnesses say, the ghost of a man appears in that place and tears off the greatcoats of his offenders, not giving them the opportunity to justify themselves. This work is part of the “Petersburg Tales” cycle. The summary of the story allows you to understand what the author wanted to convey to the reader.
The story "The Nose". Summary for a reader's diary (15 sentences)
One day, the barber Ivan Yakovlevich discovered a nose in the bread baked by his wife. He recognized it as the nose of the collegiate assessor Kovalev, whom he usually shaved on Wednesdays and Sundays. The barber, fearing that the police would find Kovalev’s nose on him, threw this dangerous find into the river.
Platon Kuzmich Kovalev, waking up, did not notice the disappearance of his nose. Just looking in the mirror, he discovered a smooth spot where his nose used to be.
The dejected official went to the chief of police to report the loss. On the way, he noticed that a gentleman in a uniform and with a sword jumped out of the carriage and entered a house. With horror, Kovalev recognized it as his own nose, which, judging by the hat, was a state councilor. When this gentleman left the house and drove away in a carriage, Kovalev ran as fast as he could after the carriage.
In the Kazan Cathedral, the nose began to pray. Kovalev timidly began to ask him to return to his place. Nose said that he did not understand what was needed from him, and when Kovalev was distracted, the gentleman took advantage of this and slipped away.
Kovalev was unable to get help either from the newspaper’s editorial office (they refused to advertise his missing nose) or from a private bailiff (who stated that an honest man’s nose would not be torn off).
The police turned Kovalev's nose back, saying that he had been caught with a false passport on the way to Riga. Kovalev could not stick the nose in its place, the doctor did not succeed either, but one day the nose was where it should be, and its owner again became pleased with himself and healed as before.
You can read more about the story “The Nose” here.
Nose
Assessor Kovalev woke up in the morning and discovered that his nose had disappeared from his face. Attempts to place advertisements in newspapers about the loss led to nothing, and the bailiff also did not pay any attention to his statement. While sadly wandering down the street, Kovalev sees his nose walking around in an expensive overcoat. Shy from the absurd situation, the man persuades the nose to return to its rightful place, but he pretends that he does not understand what he is talking about. A couple more days passed of Kovalev’s desperate and unsuccessful attempts to regain his nose. One good morning, a man wakes up and realizes that the nose is back on his face. (More details)
The story "Portrait". Summary for a reader's diary (20 sentences)
The poor young artist Chartkov bought a portrait of an old man in a shop. The eyes of the depicted old man were as if alive. In a dream, the artist saw that the old man crawled out of the frame, took out of the bag the packages with the inscription “100 chervonets”, then put them back into the bag and returned to their place.
In the morning, the owner of the apartment brought the quarterly supervisor to Chartkov, since the artist did not pay the rent. The warden suggested that Chartkov give the owner this portrait instead of money, he took it, accidentally pressed on the frame, and a package with the inscription “100 chervonets” fell out. Chartkov picked it up so quickly and deftly that the policeman did not notice the fallen package.
With this money, the artist was able to rent a rich apartment and soon became a fashionable painter, but one day, seeing a beautiful painting by his former friend, he realized that he had wasted his talent. He began to look at his previous paintings, accidentally came across a portrait he had once bought and was frightened by the old man’s terrible eyes. From that day on, he began, envying talented painters, to buy their paintings and destroy these beautiful works. In the end, Chartkov went crazy and died.
The following describes how the portrait of the old man appeared.
An old moneylender ordered his portrait from one artist, he began to paint it, and the next day he learned that the customer had died.
From that time on, anxiety and envy settled in the artist’s soul, and in his painting, which was commissioned by the church, all the people depicted had the terrible eyes of a moneylender. The artist decided to burn the portrait of the old man, but his friend asked to give the portrait to him, and after that the artist became calmer and kinder.
And the friend who became the owner of the portrait became restless, anxious, but when he gave the portrait to another person, calm returned to him. From then on, the portrait began to pass to different people.
The artist who painted it became a monk, became a hermit, and painted a beautiful painting for the church. He bequeathed to his son to keep his soul pure, and if he saw a portrait of a moneylender somewhere, he would destroy it.
The son saw this portrait at auction, told the story of its creation and stated that he had more rights to it than other buyers. But while everyone was listening to the story about the portrait, someone stole it.
You can read more about the story “Portrait” here.
Portrait
The young artist Chartkov used his last money to buy an unfinished portrait of an old man with an Asian appearance in a shop. That night the artist slept poorly, and in the morning he discovered a bundle of gold coins in the painting’s stretcher. But instead of using the wealth he found to develop his talent, Chartkov decides not to spend any more time on training. After placing an advertisement in the newspaper, the hero moves to a new apartment, buys canvases and paints and begins to paint portraits to order.
For many years in a row, Chartkov painted the same type of portraits of the St. Petersburg nobility. This brings him wealth and fame. But one day, having seen a picture of his comrade, who devoted his life to creativity, the hero understands the entire abyss of his fall. He begins to buy paintings by talented artists in order to destroy them. Soon Chartkov goes crazy and dies.
The second part of the story tells the story of the portrait purchased by Chertkov. It depicts an old moneylender who lent people money. A deal with a moneylender brought a lot of troubles and trials to those who entered into it. Before his death, the old man decided to order his portrait, which was supposed to be inhabited by a part of his soul. But the artist was unable to complete the work and the portrait remained unfinished.
The story "The Overcoat". Summary for a reader's diary (15 sentences)
The narration is told in the first person, in a deliberately tongue-tied tale manner, which is combined with the pathetic monologues of the author. The plot of the story is very simple - it is a story about the life of a “little man,” a poor petty official.
Titular Councilor Akaki Akakievich Bashmachkin served in the department, received a very small salary, but loved his work. The job consisted of copying business papers.
The official's overcoat was so old that the tailor did not repair it, but advised him to buy a new one. A dream appears in Bashmachkin’s life - a new overcoat, and for the sake of its fulfillment he begins to save money. When, finally, the overcoat was sewn, Akaki Akakievich was completely happy.
On this day, his colleagues invited him to celebrate the name day of one of them with them. When Bashmachkin returned home in the evening, the robbers took off his overcoat.
The unfortunate official informed the private bailiff about the robbery, but it turned out to be useless. Then his colleagues advised him to turn to a “significant person,” but he shouted at Akaki Akakievich so that he no longer remembered anything from fear. There was severe frost, and Bashmachkin, going from a “significant person,” caught a cold, because his old overcoat no longer protected him from the cold. The poor official, dejected by his grief, could not recover and died.
Since then, rumors have appeared in St. Petersburg about a dead man who takes off people's greatcoats at night. These robberies stopped only after the dead man tore the general's overcoat from "one significant person." The “spirit” of the dead Bashmachkin calmed down, apparently, “the general’s overcoat suited him perfectly.”
You can read more about the story “The Overcoat” here.
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