A conversation between two ladies. Analysis of the ninth chapter of N. Gogol's poem "Dead Souls" - gogol - personal corner of the writer - file directory - literature teacher Conversation of two ladies

Chapter 1

A certain gentleman arrives in the provincial town of NN, staying at a hotel and "with extreme subtlety" began to ask the servants about the local officials and landowners. The curious gentleman turns out to be a collegiate adviser, Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov. The next day, he visited many city officials, starting with the governor. In conversations with them, Chichikov was exceptionally amiable, and every time he was modest (or rather, secretive) when it was necessary to say something about himself. Soon, the gentleman, as if by chance, found himself at the governor's party, where he met several landowners, including Manilov and Sobakevich. The next day Chichikov attended a party at the police chief's, where he struck up an acquaintance with the landowner Nozdryov. All officials spoke of the guest as a "pleasant person."

Chapter 2

Chichikov goes on an invitation to visit the landowner Manilov. Most of their conversation is spent on compliments and courtesy, since this is in the nature of Manilov. During a joint dinner, Chichikov gets to know the Manilov family better. After dinner, the guest informed the landowner that he had to discuss an important matter with him, and both closed themselves in the office. Here Chichikov agrees with Manilov on the purchase of dead serfs "for a good purpose". Manilov, in order to please the guest, agrees to draw up a bill of sale at his own expense and give away the dead souls for free.

Chapter 3

From Manilov, Chichikov hurriedly went to Sobakevich. On the way it began to rain heavily, and the coachman Selifan, who was treated to vodka by the servant Manilov, managed to turn the britzka over, so that Chichikov fell into the mud. Fortunately, a dog barking was heard not far away, which testified to the proximity of the village. The driver started to bark, and soon the britzka stopped at the house of the landowner Nastasya Petrovna Koro-barrels, to whom Chichikov asked for an overnight stay. From a conversation with her, Pavel Ivanovich realized that he had come far. In the morning he got into a conversation with Korobochka and offered her a deal with the peasants too. The landowner turned out to be a "clubhead" and bargained for a long time so as not to sell too cheap, which completely pissed off Chichikov.

Chapter 4

From Korobochka, Chichikov goes to the nearest tavern to give the horses a break and refresh himself. Here he finds out from the hostess how to get to the estate of Sobakevich. At this time, Nozdryov and a friend show up at the tavern. They are arguing about the past game of cards, in which Nozdryov "blew his ass". Nozdryov boasts of his puppy to Chichikov, and at the same time dissuades Pavel Ivanovich from going to Sobakevich, offering to have fun at his place. In the end, Chichikov agrees to go to Nozdryov with the idea of ​​profiting from something. The landowner shows the guest the kennel and his possessions, then treats him with wines. Chichikov begins to negotiate with Noz-drev about the purchase of dead souls, but he certainly wants to know what they are for the guest. The landowner considers all explanations of Chichikov to be a lie, because he sees in the guest a big rogue. Then Nozdryov begins to impose, in addition to the dead serfs, either a horse or a thoroughbred dog. Chichikov does not agree, and the friends quarrel, although the guest remains to spend the night with the landowner. Toward morning Nozdryov persuaded Chichikov to play checkers for his soul. As usual, the landowner began to cheat, and when the guest who noticed this refused to play, he decided to beat him. Fortunately, the police captain appeared at the door to take Noz-drev to court in some case. Without waiting for the end of the conversation between the landowner and the police chief, Chichikov slipped out the door and sat down in his britzka.

Chapter 5

In a bad mood from a meeting with Nozdrev, Chichikov gets on a britzka to the village of Mikhail Semyonovich Sobakevich, in which everything was "in some kind of strong and awkward order." After a short conversation, during which Sobakevich scolded all city officials, Chichikov learns about the stingy landowner Plyushkin, whom he also intends to visit. Then the conversation turns to buying dead souls. Sobakevich turns out to be dexterous in trade matters, he strives to sell souls at a high price, without going into why the guest needed them. After a tedious haggling, Chichikov gained a large number of souls and, pleased with himself, said goodbye to Sobakevich.

Chapter 6

From Sobakevich, Chichikov goes to Plyushkin and soon finds himself at his dilapidated house, overgrown with mold and ivy. The guest is met by the owner himself, whom Chichikov at first takes for a housekeeper because of an incomprehensible outfit - an old, patched dressing gown. Plyushkin zealously complains about life, and Chichikov, allegedly out of pity and compassion, expresses his readiness to buy dead souls. Without much bargaining, Plyushkin sells all the dead serfs to him. Satisfied, Chichikov returns to the city, to his hotel, where, after having dinner, he goes to bed.

Chapter 7

about the life of these peasants, showing the rare knowledge of people from the lower classes. Then, having lingered in order for reading the papers, he hurried to the civil chamber for the conclusion of the bill of sale. Before reaching the ward a little, he met Manilov, who decided to go along with a friend. In the ward, the friends had a not very pleasant conversation with the official Ivan Antonovich "jug snout". However, Chichikov “understood what the hitch was” in time, and slipped a bribe to the official, which he very cleverly took away, as if without noticing. Then Chichikov meets Sobakevich in the chamber and draws up a bill of sale for his peasants. Officials, after checking everything with excessive suspicion, filled out the necessary paperwork. After these cases, the landowners, together with Chichikov, went to the police chief to mark the deal.

Chapter 8

Soon the whole city started talking about Chichikov's purchases. Everyone decided that he was a millionaire, which is why they “fell in love even more sincerely.” The author again gives a general picture of the city bureaucracy, this time touching upon the intellectual pursuits of the “powerful ones”. Soon Chichikov receives an anonymous invitation from a certain lady to a ball at the governor's and, intrigued, decides to go there. Here the guest is occupied with the ladies' conversations, so that Chichikov at first forgets to express his respect to the hostess. But the governor herself finds Chichikov and introduces him to her daughter, whose appearance somewhat unbalances the guest, makes him timid and distracted. This annoyed all the other ladies. Suddenly, a drunken Nozdryov appeared at the ball, who began to pester Chichikov with questions, along the way telling everyone and everyone that the guest of the city NN tried to buy dead souls from him, the landowner. Fortunately, Nozdryov was soon taken out of the hall, and Chichikov hoped that these words would be ascribed to the usual deceitfulness of the absurd landowner. Completely upset, Chichikov cursed balls to himself.

Chapter 9

The author introduces the reader to “a lady who is pleasant in every way” (Anna Grigoryevna), whose name at first she prefers not to give in order to avoid misunderstandings. This lady is discussing with another, "simply pleasant lady" (Sofya Grigoryevna), the complaints of Korobochka, who was constantly afraid that Chichikov had paid her less than she was supposed to. In the end, the ladies agree that the mysterious guest came to take away the governor's daughter, and he invented the story of buying dead souls as a distraction. Of course, after a while the whole city was talking only about dead souls and the governor's daughter. Since the city was waiting for the appointment of a new governor-general, the officials were seriously frightened: something would happen when rumors about the purchase of dead serfs reached that point? In Chichi-kovo, they are ready to see both a robber and an auditor.

Chapter 10material from the site

The officials, completely bewildered, realized that they still could not guess who Chichikov really was. Therefore, they decided to discuss this issue together, enlisting the help of the police chief. During the discussion, the postmaster makes a surprising "discovery". He begins to assert that Chichikov is none other than Captain Kopeikin. Further, the author, as if from the words of the postmaster, tells the story of Captain Kopeikin, the hero of the war of 1812. Having returned from the war disabled, Kopeikin settled in St. Petersburg, but soon realized that he could not afford the life here. Then he went to the official, whom he was advised, to negotiate in order to receive state benefits. However, the case with the resolution on the allowance dragged on to the point that the hungry officer made a scandal in the official's waiting room, for which he was arrested. According to rumors, the captain then led a band of robbers. After listening to the postmaster, the officials, however, doubted that Chichikov was Kopeikin. In the meantime, rumors about Chichikov's personality were multiplying more and more. Chichikov, who did not suspect anything, learned about these gossip from Nozdryov, who praised him for his resourcefulness and slyness. Chichikov realized that it was time to leave the city.

Chapter 11

Chichikov is unable to quickly leave the city, as the britzka, as it turned out, needs to be repaired. Finally, the britzka is ready, and the collegiate adviser sets off. This is followed by a lyrical digression of the author, who, behind the description of the road, talks about the greatness and fate of Rus'. Then the author undertakes to tell the biography of his hero. Despite the noble origin of Chichikov, at first life looked into his face "sourly uncomfortably." Everything changed after the father gave a "valuable instruction" to please the authorities and save a penny. Having received his first position at the price of servility, Pavel Ivanovich overcame the first, most difficult threshold, and then began to move forward more successfully. His career, however, was broken more than once by envious people, then by fighters against bribery. Chichikov made plans every time how to get rich again and find a decent place for himself. His last plan was to buy dead souls, and this plan, apparently, succeeded. The author ends the first volume with a lyrical description of Rus' in the form of an "impossible troika".

Didn't find what you were looking for? Use the search

On this page, material on the topics:

• talking about dead souls with a nostril
• summary of dead souls
• dead souls how the deal ended
• Belinsky's critical article about the poem dead souls summary
• on the way to the dog begins

N. V. Gogol worked on one of the main works of his life, the poem "Dead Souls", at first without much enthusiasm. Maybe she just didn't grab him right away. Perhaps because the plot was found not by the writer himself, but by Pushkin.
The plot was based on a very real event, a real adventure with the purchase of "dead souls". The fact is that it was beneficial both to the landowners, for whom the dead peasants were a burden, and, of course, to the buyer himself. In Gogol's poem, Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov carried out such a machination. Arriving

In the provincial town of NN, he immediately began to act. Firstly, he visited all the major local officials, visited places where “the most noble, pleasant” and, most importantly, the right people gather. At one of these dinners, Chichikov meets Manilov, who did not fail to invite his new friend to visit.
So, the first Chichikov visits Manilovka. How does he see her? Gray, ordinary, the appearance of which was enlivened only by two women, “who, picturesquely picking up their dresses and tucking them in from all sides, wandered knee-deep in the pond,” and who, as it turned out, were squabbling.
Manilov, who greeted Chichikov with a smile and talked to him later on the same note, brightens up the picture a little. In which there is too much light gray. Before dinner and at dinner, the interlocutors carry on a rather empty conversation about the governor, "the most respectable and most gracious person", about the vice-governor, also "nice" and "very worthy", about the police chief's wife, "the most beloved woman" and so on in the same spirit.
All these conversations have a sugary-sugary tone, which comes, of course, from the owner of the estate - Manilov. His very appearance speaks of this: his face had “an expression not only sweet, but even cloying, similar to the potion that the dexterous secular doctor sweetened mercilessly, imagining to please the patient with it.” He, too, wants to please his guest, and in this aspiration he goes too far. Well, still, he considers Chichikov a highly educated person who “has a high art of expressing himself,” in the words of Manilov himself.
In this empty chatter “about nothing”, the reader discovers Manilov through his speech.
If we talk about Chichikov, then he is distinguished by extraordinary patience and the ability to adapt to a person. Later, we see that the hero varies his style of communication depending on the nature of the interlocutor. Therefore, Manilov's impression of the conversation with Chichikov can be described by the words: "you feel some, in some way, spiritual pleasure."
But we know that Pavel Ivanovich did not come to Manilovka for a “pleasant conversation”. He needs dead souls, which he starts talking about after dinner already in Manilov's office. Gradually, step by step, he finds out the number of dead peasants. It is interesting that at first Manilov, without suspicion, without even thinking, helps Chichikov in this, but suddenly asks himself the question: “And for what reasons do you need this?”
This is where the fun begins. Chichikov blushed from the "tension to express something." The swindler and swindler, speaking of his desire to buy the peasants, closed himself off and did not finish his speech. Despite all his dexterity in such matters, he gives in to the expression on Manilov's face, which sincerely does not understand what is at stake.
The behavior of Manilov and Chichikov is truly comical. The first dropped the pipe and remained there with his mouth open for several minutes; both fixed their eyes on each other; Chichikov was even more sedate than usual, which forced Manilov to refuse the offer of the guest's madness; finally, Manilov did not think of anything else how to blow smoke out of his mouth in a thin stream.
Chichikov brings Manilov out of such a confused state, again with the help of his business acumen. He pulled himself together and more extensively explained to the landowner what and how, not forgetting to clarify that this commercial transaction did not violate the law. And Chichikov did not lie: the whole story of the purchase of dead souls was told by the writer in full accordance with the legislation in force at that time. It is not in vain that Pavel Ivanovich says that he is "accustomed to not deviating from civil laws in any way." Chichikov's fantastic deal was carried out in full accordance with the paragraphs of the law.
As soon as our hero mentioned the legality of this enterprise, Manilov forgot about the essence of the purchase. For him, the guest's idea is just a "fantastic desire", which he fulfills, Manilov. What an honor for him! “He would certainly like to prove by something the attraction of the heart, the magnetism of the soul.” In addition, "dead souls are in some way complete rubbish."
But this whole performance is not over yet, it is too early to lower the curtain. Chichikov would not be Chichikov if he did not express his gratitude to Manilov. “Not without feeling and expression,” he delivered his speech. He, a man without family or tribe, eternally subjected to persecution and trials, is now saved. And don't forget to shed a tear. That was enough: "Manilov was completely moved."
Such was the outcome of Manilov's conversation with Chichikov. This was Pavel Ivanovich's first success in buying up dead souls. The success of the deal was due to Manilov's temperament, striving for the high and noble in everything.
Chichikov no longer had to meet with such landowners. Manilov is the first in the gallery of landowners created by Gogol. Despite all his upbringing, the ability to deal with guests, we can say with confidence: this is a vulgarity that is revealed when looking inside the hero. Vulgarity, ever growing from landowner to landowner.

(No ratings yet)

Essay on literature on the topic: Chichikov's conversation with Manilov (analysis of episode 2 of the chapter of N. V. Gogol's poem "Dead Souls")

Other writings:

1. Chichikov, having met the landowners in the city, received an invitation from each of them to visit the estate. The gallery of the owners of "dead souls" is opened by Manilov. The author at the very beginning of the chapter gives a description of this character. His appearance initially made a very pleasant impression, then bewilderment, and Read More ......
2. Gogol's novel "Dead Souls" tells the story of a certain Pavel Chichikov, whose resourcefulness and dexterity in his affairs formed the basis of the whole story. The remarkable thing about this image is that, according to the author himself, Chichikov is not an anomaly of society, but its direct product, the result of a certain Read More ......
3. N. V. Gogol's poem "Dead Souls" is one of the greatest works in world literature. V. G. Belinsky wrote: “Dead Souls” by Gogol is a creation so deep in content and great in creative concept and artistic perfection of form that it alone replenished Read More ......
4. N. V. Gogol's poem "Dead Souls" was created in the 40s of the XIX century. Gogol did not work on any of his works, including The Inspector General, with such enthusiasm, with such faith in his vocation as a citizen writer, with which he created Dead Souls. No Read More ......
5. “Dead Souls” by N. V. Gogol was a great, major contribution to the literary life of the country. Neither Pushkin, who gave Gogol the plot for the poem, nor Gogol himself thought of the significance of this work. The plot of “Dead Souls” consists of three externally closed, but Read More ......
6. The great Russian writer Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol in his poem "Dead Souls" showed the terrible Russian Reality, figuratively speaking, reflected the "hell" of contemporary reality, figuratively speaking, reflected the "hell" of contemporary life. The poem is a broad picture of reality. At that time in Russia it was Read More ......
7. N. V. Gogol's poem "Dead Souls" is an attempt by the author to show the whole life of Russia, to comprehend the character of the Russian people, to determine the further ways of its development. N.V. Gogol himself said that the plot of “Dead Souls” is good because “it gives complete freedom to travel together Read More ......
8. N. V. Gogol's poem "Dead Souls" showed all the advantages and disadvantages of Russian life. In general, this work is satirical, because, of course, there is much less good than bad. The poem reveals a lot of problems. So, the episode “Formulation of a bill of sale in the civil chamber” highlights the current Read More ......

Chichikov's conversation with Manilov (analysis of episode 2 of the chapter of N. V. Gogol's poem "Dead Souls")

1. Compositional construction.
2. Storyline.
3. "Dead" soul of Plyushkin.
4. Analysis of the episode.
5. The symbolic image of "dead" souls.

The plot composition of N.V. Gogol's poem "Dead Souls" is constructed in such a way that here one can consider three ideological lines or directions, logically connected and intertwined parts. The first reveals the life of landowners, the second - city officials, and the third - Chichikov himself. Each of the directions, manifesting, contributes to a deeper manifestation of the other two lines.

The action of the poem begins with the arrival of a new person in the provincial town of NN. There is a plot twist. Immediately in the first chapter, Chichikov meets almost all the heroes of the poem. In the second chapter, the movement of the plot is shown, which takes place together with the main character, who goes on a trip to the surrounding villages for his own needs. Chichikov turns out to be visiting one or another landowner, and an interesting feature is visible. The author seems to deliberately arrange his characters in such a way that each new character is even more “vulgar than the other”. Plyushkin is the latest, Chichikov has to communicate with schemes in this series, which means that it can be assumed that it is he who has the most anti-human essence. Chichikov returns to the city, and a colorful picture of the life of city officials unfolds before the reader. These people have long forgotten the meaning of such words as "honesty", "fairness", "decency". The positions they hold fully allow them to lead a prosperous and idle life, in which there is no place for awareness of public debt, compassion for others. Gogol does not try to separately focus attention on the very social elite of the inhabitants of the city, however, fleeting sketches, quick conversations - and the reader already knows everything about these people. Here, for example, the general, at first glance, and seems like a good person, but “... it was sketched in him in some kind of picture disorder ... self-sacrifice, generosity in decisive moments, courage, intelligence - and to all this - a fair amount of a mixture of selfishness, ambition, pride and petty personal ticklishness.

The dominant role in the plot of the work is given to Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov. And it is he, his qualities of character, his life that are under the close attention of the author. Gogol is interested in this new kind of people that appeared in Russia at that time. Capital is their only aspiration, and for its sake they are ready to deceive, mean, flatter. That is, “Dead Souls” is nothing more than a way to examine and understand as deeply as possible the pressing problems of the social life of Russia at that time. Of course, the plot is structured in such a way that the main place in the poem is occupied by the image of landowners and officials, but Gogol is not limited only to describing reality, he seeks to prompt the reader to think about how tragic and hopeless the life of ordinary people is.

Plyushkin is the last in the gallery of landowners passing before the reader's eyes. Chichikov accidentally learned about this landowner from Sobakevich, who gave a rather unfavorable recommendation to his neighbor on the estate. In the past, Plyushkin was an experienced, hardworking and enterprising person. He was not deprived of intelligence and worldly ingenuity: “Everything flowed vividly and took place in a measured course: mills moved,
felters, cloth factories, carpentry machines, spinning mills worked; everywhere the keen eye of the owner entered into everything and, like an industrious spider, he ran troublesomely, but quickly, along all ends of his economic web. However, everything soon fell apart. The wife is dead. In Plyushkin, who became a widower, suspiciousness and stinginess increased. Then the eldest daughter fled with the staff captain, the son chose the military instead of the civil service, and was excommunicated from home. The youngest daughter died. The family fell apart. Plyushkin turned out to be the only keeper of all wealth.

The absence of family and friends led to an even greater aggravation of the suspicion and stinginess of this person. Gradually, it sinks lower and lower until it turns into "some kind of hole in humanity." Even a prosperous economy is gradually falling apart: “... he became more uncompromising towards buyers who came to take away his household works; the buyers bargained and bargained and, finally, abandoned him altogether, saying that he was a demon, and not a man; hay and bread rotted, stacks and haystacks turned into clean manure, even dilute cabbage in them, flour in the cellars turned into stone ... it was terrible to touch the cloth, canvas and household materials: they turned into dust. He put a curse on all the surviving children, which further aggravated his loneliness.

It was in such a distressed condition that Chichikov saw him. In the first moments of acquaintance, the main character for a long time could not understand who was in front of him: a woman or a man. A sexless creature in an old dirty dressing gown was taken by Chichikov for a housekeeper. However, after the main character was very surprised and shocked to find out that the owner of the house was standing in front of him. The author, describing the wealth of Plyushkin, immediately tells how a previously thrifty person starves his peasants, and even himself, wears all kinds of rags instead of clothes, while food disappears in his pantries and cellars, bread and cloth deteriorate. Moreover, the stinginess of the landowner leads to the fact that the entire master's house is littered with all sorts of rubbish, since, walking down the street, Plyushkin collects any objects and things forgotten or left unattended by the serfs, brings them into the house and dumps them in a heap.

In a conversation with Chichikov, the owner complains about his life, complaining about the serfs who rob him. It is they who are responsible for such a plight of the landowner. Plyushkin, owning a thousand souls, cellars and barns full of all kinds of food, is trying to treat Chichikov with a dried, moldy Easter cake left over from his daughter's arrival, to drink a suspicious liquid that was once tincture. In Plyushkin's descriptions, Gogol tries to prove to the reader that such a life story of a landowner is not an accident, but a predetermined course of events. And here in the foreground is not so much the personal tragedy of the protagonist, but the prevailing conditions of social life. Plyushkin gladly agrees to a deal with a visiting gentleman, especially since he takes care of all the paperwork. The landowner is not even aware of why the guest needs "dead" souls. Greed takes possession of the owner so much that he has no time for reflection. The main concern of the owner is how to save paper, which is required for a letter to the chairman. Even the gaps between lines and words cause him regret: “... he began to write, putting out letters that looked like musical notes, holding the agility of his hand every minute, which bounced all over the paper, sparingly sculpting line upon line and not without regret thinking about that there will still be a lot of blank space.” During the conversation, the main character learns that Plyushkin also has runaway serfs, who also lead him into ruin, since they have to pay for them in the revision.

Chichikov offers the owner to make another deal. Trade is booming. Plyushkin's hands tremble with excitement. The owner does not want to give up two kopecks, only to get the money and quickly hide it in one of the drawers of the bureau. After the transaction is completed, Plyushkin carefully counts the banknotes several times, carefully stacks them in order to never take them out again. The painful desire for hoarding takes possession of the landowner so much that he is no longer able to part with the treasures that have fallen into his hands, even if his life or the well-being of his loved ones depends on it. However, human feelings have not completely left the landowner. At some point, he even considers whether to give Chichikov a watch for his generosity, but a noble impulse
passes quickly. Plyushkin again plunges into the abyss of stinginess and loneliness. After the departure of a random gentleman, the old man slowly walks around his pantries, checks on the watchmen, "who stood at all corners, pounding with wooden spatulas into an empty keg." Plyushkin's day ended as usual: "... looked into the kitchen ... ate a lot of cabbage soup with porridge and, having scolded everyone to the last for theft and bad behavior, returned to his room."

The image of Plyushkin, brilliantly created by Gogdle, clearly shows the readers the callousness and deadness of his soul, of everything that is human in a person. Here, as clearly as possible, all the vulgarity and baseness of the serf landowner is manifested. The question inevitably arises: who does the writer call “dead” souls: poor dead peasants or officials and landlords who manage life in Russian districts.

In this article we will describe the image of landowners created by Gogol in the poem "Dead Souls". The table compiled by us will help you remember the information. We will sequentially talk about the five heroes presented by the author in this work.

The image of the landlords in the poem "Dead Souls" by N.V. Gogol is briefly described in the following table.

landowner	Characteristic	Attitude towards the request for the sale of dead souls
Manilov	Dirty and empty. For two years a book with a bookmark on one page has been lying in his office. Sweet and luscious is his speech.	Surprised. He thinks that this is illegal, but he cannot refuse such a pleasant person. Gives free peasants. At the same time, he does not know how many souls he has.
box	Knows the value of money, practical and economic. Stingy, stupid, cudgel-headed, landowner-accumulator.	He wants to know what Chichikov's souls are for. The number of dead knows exactly (18 people). He looks at dead souls as if they were hemp or lard: they will suddenly come in handy in the household.
Nozdrev	It is considered a good friend, but is always ready to harm a friend. Kutila, card player, "broken fellow." When talking, he constantly jumps from subject to subject, uses abuse.	It would seem that it was easiest for Chichikov to get them from this landowner, but he is the only one who left him with nothing.
Sobakevich	Uncouth, clumsy, rude, unable to express feelings. A tough, vicious serf-owner who never misses a profit.	The smartest of all landowners. Immediately saw through the guest, made a deal for the benefit of himself.
Plushkin	Once he had a family, children, and he himself was a thrifty owner. But the death of the mistress turned this man into a miser. He became, like many widowers, stingy and suspicious.	I was amazed and delighted by his proposal, since there would be income. He agreed to sell the souls for 30 kopecks (78 souls in total).

Depiction of landowners by Gogol

In the work of Nikolai Vasilyevich, one of the main topics is the theme of the landlord class in Russia, as well as the ruling class (nobility), its role in society and its fate.

The main method used by Gogol when depicting various characters is satire. The process of gradual degeneration of the landlord class was reflected in the heroes created by his pen. Nikolai Vasilievich reveals shortcomings and vices. Gogol's satire is colored with irony, which helped this writer to speak directly about what was impossible to speak openly under censorship conditions. At the same time, the laughter of Nikolai Vasilyevich seems to us good-natured, but he does not spare anyone. Each phrase has a subtext, a hidden, deep meaning. Irony in general is a characteristic element of Gogol's satire. It is present not only in the speech of the author himself, but also in the speech of the characters.

Irony is one of the essential features of Gogol's poetics, it gives more realism to the narrative, it becomes a means of analyzing the surrounding reality.

Compositional construction of the poem

The images of the landowners in the poem, the largest work of this author, are given in the most multifaceted and complete way. It is built as the story of the adventures of the official Chichikov, who buys up "dead souls". The composition of the poem allowed the author to tell about different villages and the owners living in them. Almost half of the first volume (five of the eleven chapters) is devoted to characterizing different types of landowners in Russia. Nikolai Vasilievich created five portraits that are not similar to each other, but at the same time, each of them contains features that are typical of a Russian serf-owner. Acquaintance with them begins with Manilov and ends with Plyushkin. Such a construction is not accidental. This sequence has its own logic: the process of impoverishment of a person's personality deepens from one image to another, it unfolds more and more like a terrible picture of the disintegration of a feudal society.

Acquaintance with Manilov

Manilov - representing the image of the landowners in the poem "Dead Souls". The table only briefly describes it. Let's get to know this character better. The character of Manilov, which is described in the first chapter, is already manifested in the surname itself. The story about this hero begins with the image of the village of Manilovka, a few able to "lure" with its location. The author describes with irony the manor's courtyard, created as an imitation with a pond, bushes and the inscription "Temple of solitary reflection". External details help the writer to create the image of the landlords in the poem "Dead Souls".

Manilov: the character of the hero

The author, speaking of Manilov, exclaims that only God knows what kind of character this man had. By nature, he is kind, courteous, polite, but all this takes ugly, exaggerated forms in his image. sentimental and splendid to the point of cloying. Festive and idyllic seem to him the relationship between people. Various relationships, in general, are one of the details that create the image of landlords in the poem "Dead Souls". Manilov did not know life at all, reality was replaced by an empty fantasy with him. This hero loved to dream and reflect, sometimes even about things useful for the peasants. However, his ideas were far from the needs of life. He did not know about the real needs of the serfs and never even thought about them. Manilov considers himself a bearer of culture. He was considered the most educated person in the army. Nikolai Vasilyevich speaks ironically about the house of this landowner, in which "something was always missing", as well as about his sugary relationship with his wife.

Chichikov's conversation with Manilov about buying dead souls

Manilov in the episode of the conversation about buying dead souls is compared with an overly smart minister. Gogol's irony here intrudes, as if by accident, into a forbidden area. Such a comparison means that the minister differs not so much from Manilov, and "Manilovism" is a typical phenomenon of the vulgar bureaucratic world.

box

Let's describe one more image of landowners in the poem "Dead Souls". The table has already briefly introduced you to the Box. We learn about it in the third chapter of the poem. Gogol refers this heroine to the number of small landowners who complain about losses and crop failures and always keep their heads somewhat to one side, while gaining money little by little in the bags placed in the chest of drawers. This money is obtained through the sale of a variety of subsistence products. Korobochka's interests and horizons are completely focused on her estate. Her entire life and economy are patriarchal in nature.

How did Korobochka react to Chichikov's proposal?

The landowner realized that the trade in dead souls was profitable, and after much persuasion agreed to sell them. The author, describing the image of the landlords in the poem "Dead Souls" (Korobochka and other heroes), is ironic. For a long time, the "clubhead" cannot figure out what exactly is required of her, which infuriates Chichikov. After that, she bargains with him for a long time, fearing to miscalculate.

Nozdrev

In the image of Nozdryov in the fifth chapter, Gogol draws a completely different form of decomposition of the nobility. This hero is a man, as they say, "of all trades." There was something remote, direct, open in his very face. Characteristic for him is also the "breadth of nature." According to the ironic remark of Nikolai Vasilyevich, Nozdrev is a "historical person", since not a single meeting that he managed to attend was ever complete without stories. He loses a lot of money at cards with a light heart, beats a simpleton at a fair and immediately "squanders" everything. This hero is an utter liar and a reckless braggart, a real master of "pouring bullets". He behaves defiantly everywhere, if not aggressively. The speech of this character is replete with swear words, and at the same time he has a passion to "shame on his neighbor." Gogol created in Russian literature a new socio-psychological type of the so-called Nozdrevshchina. In many ways, the image of the landlords in the poem "Dead Souls" is innovative. A brief image of the following heroes is described below.

Sobakevich

The satire of the author in the image of Sobakevich, with whom we get acquainted in the fifth chapter, acquires a more accusatory character. This character bears little resemblance to previous landowners. This is a fisted, cunning merchant, a "landowner-fist". He is alien to the violent extravagance of Nozdryov, the dreamy complacency of Manilov, and also the hoarding of Korobochka. Sobakevich has an iron grip, he is laconic, he is on his mind. There are few people who could deceive him. Everything about this landowner is strong and durable. In all household items surrounding him, Gogol reflects the features of the character of this person. Everything surprisingly resembles the hero himself in his house. Each thing, as the author notes, seemed to say that she was "also Sobakevich."

Nikolai Vasilyevich depicts a figure that strikes with rudeness. This man seemed to Chichikov like a bear. Sobakevich is a cynic who is not ashamed of moral ugliness either in others or in himself. He is far from enlightened. This is a stubborn feudal lord who only cares about his own peasants. It is interesting that, except for this hero, no one understood the true essence of the "scoundrel" Chichikov, and Sobakevich perfectly understood the essence of the proposal, which reflects the spirit of the times: everything can be sold and bought, you should benefit as much as possible. Such is the generalized image of the landowners in the poem of the work, however, it is not limited to the image of only these characters. We present you the next landowner.

Plushkin

The sixth chapter is devoted to Plyushkin. On it, the characteristics of the landowners in the poem "Dead Souls" are completed. The name of this hero has become a household name, denoting moral degradation and stinginess. This image is the last degree of degeneration of the landlord class. Gogol begins his acquaintance with the character, as usual, with a description of the estate and village of the landowner. At the same time, "special dilapidation" was noticeable on all buildings. Nikolai Vasilievich describes a picture of the ruin of a once rich serf-owner. Its cause is not idleness and extravagance, but the painful stinginess of the owner. Gogol calls this landowner "a hole in humanity." Its appearance itself is characteristic - it is a sexless creature resembling a housekeeper. This character no longer causes laughter, only bitter disappointment.

Conclusion

The image of the landowners in the poem "Dead Souls" (the table is presented above) is revealed by the author in many ways. The five characters that Gogol created in the work depict the versatile state of this class. Plyushkin, Sobakevich, Nozdrev, Korobochka, Manilov - different forms of one phenomenon - spiritual, social and economic decline. The characteristics of the landlords in Gogol's Dead Souls prove this.

1. Compositional construction. 2. Storyline. 3. "Dead" soul of Plyushkin. 4. Analysis of the episode. 5. The symbolic image of "dead" souls. The plot composition of N.V. Gogol's poem "Dead Souls" is constructed in such a way that here one can consider three ideological lines or directions, logically connected and intertwined parts. The first reveals the life of landowners, the second - city officials, and the third - Chichikov himself. Each of the directions, manifesting, contributes to a deeper manifestation of the other two lines. The action of the poem begins with the arrival of a new person in the provincial town of NN. There is a plot twist. Immediately in the first chapter, Chichikov meets almost all the heroes of the poem. In the second chapter, the movement of the plot is shown, which takes place together with the main character, who goes on a trip to the surrounding villages for his own needs. Chichikov turns out to be visiting one or another landowner, and an interesting feature is visible. The author seems to deliberately arrange his characters in such a way that each new character is even more “vulgar than the other”. Plyushkin is the latest, Chichikov has to communicate with schemes in this series, which means that it can be assumed that it is he who has the most anti-human essence. Chichikov returns to the city, and a colorful picture of the life of city officials unfolds before the reader. These people have long forgotten the meaning of such words as "honesty", "fairness", "decency". The positions they hold fully allow them to lead a prosperous and idle life, in which there is no place for awareness of public debt, compassion for others. Gogol does not try to separately focus on the very social elite of the inhabitants of the city, however, fleeting sketches, quick conversations - and the reader already knows everything about these people. Here, for example, the general, at first glance, and seems like a good person, but “... it was sketched in him in some kind of picture disorder ... self-sacrifice, generosity in decisive moments, courage, intelligence - and to all this - a fair amount of a mixture of selfishness, ambition, pride and petty personal ticklishness. The dominant role in the plot of the work is given to Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov. And it is he, his qualities of character, his life that are under the close attention of the author. Gogol is interested in this new kind of people that appeared in Russia at that time. Capital is their only aspiration, and for its sake they are ready to deceive, mean, flatter. That is, "Dead Souls" is nothing more than a way to examine and understand as deeply as possible the pressing problems of the social life of Russia at that time. Of course, the plot is structured in such a way that the main place in the poem is occupied by the image of landowners and officials, but Gogol is not limited only to describing reality, he seeks to prompt the reader to think about how tragic and hopeless the life of ordinary people is. Plyushkin is the last in the gallery of landowners passing before the reader's eyes. Chichikov accidentally learned about this landowner from Sobakevich, who gave a rather unfavorable recommendation to his neighbor on the estate. In the past, Plyushkin was an experienced, hardworking and enterprising person. He was not deprived of intelligence and worldly ingenuity: “Everything flowed quickly and took place at a measured pace: mills, felters moved, cloth factories, carpentry machines, spinning mills worked; everywhere the keen eye of the owner entered into everything and, like an industrious spider, he ran troublesomely, but quickly, along all ends of his economic web. However, everything soon fell apart. The wife is dead. In Plyushkin, who became a widower, suspiciousness and stinginess increased. Then the eldest daughter fled with the staff captain, the son chose the military instead of the civil service, and was excommunicated from home. The youngest daughter died. The family fell apart. Plyushkin turned out to be the only keeper of all wealth. The absence of family and friends led to an even greater aggravation of the suspicion and stinginess of this person. Gradually, it sinks lower and lower until it turns into "some kind of hole in humanity." Even a prosperous economy is gradually falling apart: “... he became more uncompromising towards buyers who came to take away his household works; the buyers bargained and bargained and, finally, abandoned him altogether, saying that he was a demon, and not a man; hay and bread rotted, stacks and haystacks turned into clean manure, even dilute cabbage in them, flour in the cellars turned into stone ... it was terrible to touch the cloth, canvas and household materials: they turned into dust. He put a curse on all the surviving children, which further aggravated his loneliness. It was in such a distressed condition that Chichikov saw him. In the first moments of acquaintance, the main character for a long time could not understand who was in front of him: a woman or a man. A sexless creature in an old dirty dressing gown was taken by Chichikov for a housekeeper. However, after the main character was very surprised and shocked to find out that the owner of the house was standing in front of him. The author, describing the wealth of Plyushkin, immediately tells how a previously thrifty person starves his peasants, and even himself, wears all kinds of rags instead of clothes, while food disappears in his pantries and cellars, bread and cloth deteriorate. Moreover, the stinginess of the landowner leads to the fact that the entire master's house is littered with all sorts of rubbish, since, walking down the street, Plyushkin collects any objects and things forgotten or left unattended by the serfs, brings them into the house and dumps them in a heap. In a conversation with Chichikov, the owner complains about his life, complaining about the serfs who rob him. It is they who are responsible for such a plight of the landowner. Plyushkin, owning a thousand souls, cellars and barns full of all kinds of food, is trying to treat Chichikov with a dried, moldy Easter cake left over from his daughter's arrival, to drink a suspicious liquid that was once tincture. In Plyushkin's descriptions, Gogol tries to prove to the reader that such a life story of a landowner is not an accident, but a predetermined course of events. And here in the foreground is not so much the personal tragedy of the protagonist, but the prevailing conditions of social life. Plyushkin gladly agrees to a deal with a visiting gentleman, especially since he takes care of all the paperwork. The landowner is not even aware of why the guest needs "dead" souls. Greed takes possession of the owner so much that he has no time for reflection. The main concern of the owner is how to save paper, which is required for a letter to the chairman. Even the gaps between lines and words cause him regret: “... he began to write, putting out letters that looked like musical notes, holding the agility of his hand every minute, which bounced all over the paper, sparingly sculpting line upon line and not without regret thinking about that there will still be a lot of blank space.” During the conversation, the main character learns that Plyushkin also has runaway serfs, who also lead him into ruin, since they have to pay for them in the revision. Chichikov offers the owner to make another deal. Trade is booming. Plyushkin's hands tremble with excitement. The owner does not want to give up two kopecks, only to get the money and quickly hide it in one of the drawers of the bureau. After the transaction is completed, Plyushkin carefully counts the banknotes several times, carefully stacks them in order to never take them out again. The painful desire for hoarding takes possession of the landowner so much that he is no longer able to part with the treasures that have fallen into his hands, even if his life or the well-being of his loved ones depends on it. However, human feelings have not completely left the landowner. At some point, he even considers whether to give Chichikov a watch for his generosity, but the noble impulse quickly passes. Plyushkin again plunges into the abyss of stinginess and loneliness. After the departure of a random gentleman, the old man slowly walks around his pantries, checks on the watchmen, "who stood at all corners, pounding with wooden spatulas into an empty keg." Plyushkin's day ended as usual: "... looked into the kitchen ... ate a lot of cabbage soup with porridge and, having scolded everyone to the last for theft and bad behavior, returned to his room." The image of Plyushkin, brilliantly created by Gogdle, clearly shows the readers the callousness and deadness of his soul, of everything that is human in a person. Here, as clearly as possible, all the vulgarity and baseness of the serf landowner is manifested. The question inevitably arises: who does the writer call “dead” souls: poor dead peasants or officials and landlords who manage life in Russian districts.