The role of lyrical digressions in the poem dead souls. The role and place of lyrical digressions in the poem N

1. Gogol's talent as a writer.
2. The main themes of lyrical digressions.
3. The role and place of lyrical digressions in the poem.
4. Life-affirming pathos of digressions.

What a huge, what an original plot! What a varied bunch! All Russia will appear in it.
N. V. Gogol

N.V. Gogol - the great Russian writer - had a unique gift. It consisted in an organic combination of incompatible things: sharp, deep satire and amazing poetry. This is the genius of Gogol himself and the immortality of the first volume of Dead Souls, "a great and sad book."

It seems to me that the author accurately guessed the soul of Russia itself: the funny and the great, the low and the poetic live in it in an inseparable unity. This character of “a sixth part of the earth with a short name Rus” accurately reflects the deviations from the main outline of the work. In Gogol's poem "Dead Souls" there are two types of digressions - epic, which serve to reveal the characters and images of characters, and lyrical, reflecting the author's thoughts and feelings about the fate of Russia and its people.

Both of them contribute to the disclosure of the main idea of ​​the work. However, lyrical digressions, despite their relatively small number in the poem, are more important. They explain both the essence of the author's intention and determine the genre and character of the narrative.

"A lyrical appeal to Russia" and its people - this is how Gogol himself characterized the lyrical digressions in Dead Souls. The writer called his work a poem, a poetic creation of a special kind, occupying a middle place between a novel and an epic. The lyrical monologue about Russia and the Russian people is organically combined in it with criticism of the existing world order.

Particularly vivid and deep impressions are left by lyrical digressions that link together the themes of the country and the road. The image of the road has been relevant and significant for Russia since the time of ancient Russian literature. This is largely due to the large expanses of Russia, fateful for all its inhabitants. On the road, the heroes spend most of their lives, the choice of paths has always been relevant, starting with the plots of folk Russian fairy tales. The road is life.

In Dead Souls, the road is an image that permeates the entire plot: Chichikov finds his “enterprise” on the road, and Gogol himself constantly resorts to this image in lyrical reflections, trying to “travel all of Russia with the hero.” He either imagines himself on the way, then the whole of Russia is presented in the projection of the road. “Before, a long time ago, in the summers of my youth ... it was fun for me to drive up to an unfamiliar place for the first time ... Now I indifferently drive up to any unfamiliar village and indifferently look at its vulgar appearance; my chilled gaze is uncomfortable; I don't find it funny... and an indifferent silence keeps my motionless lips. O my youth! O my conscience! Lyrical digressions set off those negative aspects of life that the author makes fun of. They manifest the living soul of the country, those healthy forces that can lead it to the right path, choose the right path.

The soulless, callous world of dead characters is contrasted with the lyrical image of Russia, about which Gogol always wrote with love and admiration. We see how the tone of the narration changes when the author turns to the images and themes of folk life, to the dream of the future of Russia. Sad reflections, and a soft joke, and, finally, a genuine lyrical experience appear in it.

The lyrical lines describing the power, strength, courage, dexterity, talent, wisdom of the Russian people, their love for freedom are imbued with a special feeling. The present position of the people, their enslavement did not coincide with the share that they truly deserved. The neglected villages, unsettled life, ignorance and indifference drag Russia into the past. The personification of this is the dead souls of the shown landowners and the provincial elite.

In the story about Captain Kopeikin, the author emphasizes that this is a picture not only of a single province, but of the whole country, which is ruled by the landowners and officials shown in the poem. These are people who belong to the past. But the main character of the poem, Chichikov, differs from this gallery of characters only in his aspiration to the future. The thirst for profit at any cost characterizes Chichikov as a representative of the emerging and gaining strength of a new bourgeois society. Money for him is a means of achieving a career, comfort. Gogol very accurately noticed the typical features of the new class in Russia: vitality, efficiency of actions and at the same time callousness and greed, a desire to enrich themselves at the expense of other people's labor. The essence of their life is the same destruction of the "living" soul.

You can often find the definition that Gogol's poem sounds optimistic. It seems to me that this optimism is still restrained. The first volume of the poem ends with a question, and the second and third never saw completeness. Gogol expresses faith, but not certainty. He draws bright images of ordinary people, who for the author are the embodiment of the ideals of spirituality, courage, love of freedom, thereby showing that Russia has healthy forces. And that power is its people. The "bird-troika", rushing across the vast expanses of the Russian land, in his words, "could be born only among a lively people." Researchers of Gogol's work correctly noted: “The image of the “Russian troika”, which acquires a symbolic meaning, is inextricably linked with the images of the “efficient Yaroslavl peasant”, who made a solid carriage with one ax and chisel, and the coachman, who perched on “the devil knows what” and famously manages troika. After all, it is only thanks to such people that Russia rushes forward, striking the contemplator of this miracle.

Gogol, warning his readers against the "mortification of the soul", appeals to them with an appeal to preserve "all-human movements" from their youthful years. One of the significant lyrical digressions of the work is about the role of the writer in society. He talks about two types of writers and notes that the true writer is not the one who “wonderfully flattered people by hiding the sad things in life”, but the one who “turned inside out” all the “terrible, amazing mire of trifles that shrouded our lives”.

In their ideological and emotional intensity, the lyrical digressions of "Dead Souls" are like "a ray of light in a dark kingdom", contributing to insight and catharsis, purification. I think that this expression, introduced into Russian criticism by N. A. Dobrolyubov later, can be fully attributed to Dead Souls.

Gogol saw a different Russia in his dreams. The image of a trio bird is a symbol of the might of the Fatherland. And he was right. Russia and its people have gone through different times, but the world has always looked back at Russia and listened to it. She really is like that - at the same time clumsy, impetuous, reliable, and unpredictable, she knows both bitter defeats and the joy of victories. The writer's faith in Russia is endless, but there is also anxiety about where this "britchka" will lead or, more precisely, "rush", which, like Cinderella's pumpkin, turns into a mythical "troika bird". After all, it is filled not only with life-affirming pathos, is it a scoundrel? Why a scoundrel, why be so spur to others? ..». The writer was sure that the birth of a "new man" is inevitable in the Russian expanses, a man for whom the power of money is above all. Gogol called Chichikov an acquirer, and to some extent justified him: “Acquisition is the fault of everything; because of him things were done, to which the light gives the name of not very clean. But most of all, the writer is frustrated by the fact that such acquirers are resignedly accepted by others as decent people: “But it’s not so hard that they will be dissatisfied with the hero, it’s hard that there is an irresistible confidence in the soul that the same hero, the same Chichikov were readers would be happy. Do not look into the author's soul, do not stir at the bottom of it what escapes and hides from the light ... ".

N. V. Gogol is one of the greatest figures in Russian literature. The pinnacle of his work is the poem "Dead Souls". It reflects all the main features of the author's talent.
The most important role in the compositional structure of "Dead Souls" is played by lyrical digressions and inserted episodes, which are characteristic of the poem as a literary genre. In them, Gogol deals with the most pressing Russian social issues. The author's thoughts about the high purpose of man, about the fate of the Motherland and the people are contrasted here with the gloomy pictures of Russian life.
At the beginning of the poem, lyrical digressions are in the nature of the author's statements about his heroes, but as the action unfolds, their inner theme becomes broader and more multifaceted.
Having told about Manilov and Korobochka, the author interrupts the narration in order to make the painted picture of life clearer for the reader. The author's digression, which interrupts the story about Korobochka, contains a comparison with her "sister" from an aristocratic society, who, despite a different appearance, is no different from the landlady.
After visiting Nozdrev, Chichikov meets a beautiful blonde on the road. The description of this meeting ends with a remarkable digression from the author: “Everywhere, wherever in life, whether among its callous, rough-poor and untidy-staining low-lying ranks, or among the monotonously cold and boringly tidy classes of the higher, everywhere at least once will meet on way to a person, a phenomenon unlike anything that he has happened to see before, which at least once will awaken in him a feeling that is not like those that he is destined to feel all his life. But what is characteristic of many people, what appears "across" to any kind of sadness - all this is completely alien to Chichikov, whose cold discretion is compared here with the direct manifestation of feelings.
The lyrical digression at the end of the fifth chapter is of a completely different character. Here the author is no longer talking about the hero, not about the attitude towards him, but about the mighty Russian man, about the talent of the Russian people. Outwardly, this lyrical digression seems to have little to do with the entire previous development of the action, but it is very important for revealing the main idea of ​​​​the poem: the real Russia is not the dogs, nostrils and boxes, but the people, the element of the people.
In close contact with the lyrical statements about the Russian word and folk character is the author's digression, which opens the sixth chapter.
The story about Plyushkin is interrupted by the angry words of the author, which have a deep generalizing meaning: “And a person could descend to such insignificance, pettiness, filth!”
Of considerable importance are lyrical statements about the creative and life fate of the writer in Gogol's contemporary society, about two different destinies awaiting the writer who creates "exalted images" and the realist writer and satirist. This lyrical digression, full of deep thoughts and vivid generalizations, reflected not only the writer's views on art, but also his attitude to the ruling elites of society, to the people. It determines both the writer's ideological path and his assessment of the main social forces.
In the chapters devoted to the image of the city, we come across the author's statements about the extreme irritation of ranks and estates - "now we have all the ranks and estates so irritated that everything that is in the printed book already seems to them a person: that is, apparently, located in the air." Gogol ends the description of the general confusion with reflections on human delusions, on the false paths that mankind has often followed in its history, “but the current generation laughs and arrogantly, proudly begins a series of new delusions, which descendants will also laugh at later.”
The civic pathos of the writer reaches special strength in a lyrical digression - “Rus, Rus! I see you from my wonderful, beautiful far away. Like the lyrical monologue at the beginning of the seventh chapter, this lyrical digression forms a distinct line between two major links in the narrative - urban scenes and the story of Chichikov's origins. Here, in a broader sense, the theme of Russia appears, in which it was “poor, scattered and uncomfortable,” but where heroes cannot but be born. The author's lyrical statements seem to be interrupted by the intrusion of rough worldly prose. “And menacingly, a mighty space embraces me, reflecting with terrible power in my depths; my eyes lit up with an unnatural power: wow! what a sparkling, wonderful, unfamiliar distance to the earth! Rus!
- Hold on, hold on, fool! Chichikov shouted to Selifan.
- Here I am with your broadsword! shouted a courier with a arshin mustache galloping towards him. “And, like a ghost, the trio disappeared with thunder and dust.”
The vulgarity, emptiness, meanness of life are even more clearly outlined against the background of sublime lyrical lines. This technique of contrast is applied by Gogol with great skill. Thanks to such a sharp contrast, we better understand the vile features of the heroes of Dead Souls.
Immediately after this, the author shares with the reader the thoughts that the racing troika, the long road, evoke in him. “What a strange, and alluring, and bearing, and wonderful in the word road! and how wonderful she herself is, this road. One after another, Gogol sketches here pictures of Russian nature that appear before the gaze of a traveler racing on fast horses along an autumn road. Both in the general mood of the author's monologue and in the rapidly changing scenes, there is a clear hint at the image of a trinity bird, from which this lyrical digression is separated by a large chapter devoted to the adventures of Chichikov.
The story about the protagonist of the poem is completed by the author's statements, which present sharp objections to those who can be shocked both by the protagonist and the poem as a whole, depicting "bad", "despicable".
A high sense of patriotism is fanned by the image of Russia, which completes the first volume of the poem, an image that embodies the ideal that lit the way for the artist when depicting a petty, vulgar life.
Such is the role of lyrical digressions in the composition of the poem. But the most important thing is that they express many of the author's views on art, relations between people. On the pages of the poem, Gogol wanted not only to denounce, but also to affirm his moral ideal, and expressed it in his wonderful lyrical digressions, which reflected all his thoughts and feelings, and above all a great feeling of love for his people and fatherland, the belief that the homeland will break out of the power of the "swamp lights" and return to the true path: the path of a living soul.

The role and place of lyrical digressions in N. V. Gogol's poem "Dead Souls". N.V. Gogol - the great Russian writer - had a unique gift. It consisted in an organic combination of incompatible things: sharp, deep satire and amazing poetry. This is the genius of Gogol himself and the immortality of the first volume of "Dead Souls", "a great and sad book."

It seems to me that the author accurately guessed the soul of Russia itself: the funny and the great, the low and the poetic live in it in an inseparable unity. This character of “a sixth part of the earth with a short name Rus” accurately reflects the deviations from the main outline of the work. In Gogol's poem "Dead Souls" there are two types of digressions - epic, which serve to reveal the characters and images of characters, and lyrical, reflecting the author's thoughts and feelings about the fate of Russia and its people.

Both of them contribute to the disclosure of the main idea of ​​the work. However, lyrical digressions, despite their relatively small number in the poem, are more important. They explain both the essence of the author's intention and determine the genre and character of the narrative. "A lyrical appeal to Russia" and its people - this is how Gogol himself characterized the lyrical digressions in Dead Souls. The writer called his work a poem, a poetic creation of a special kind, occupying a middle place between a novel and an epic. The lyrical monologue about Russia and the Russian people is organically combined in it with criticism of the existing world order.

Particularly vivid and deep impressions are left by lyrical digressions that link together the themes of the country and the road. The image of the road has been relevant and significant for Russia since the time of ancient Russian literature. This is largely due to the large expanses of Russia, fateful for all its inhabitants. On the road, the heroes spend most of their lives, the choice of paths has always been relevant, starting with the plots of folk Russian fairy tales. The road is life.

In Dead Souls, the road is an image that permeates the entire plot: Chichikov finds his “enterprise” on the road, and Gogol himself constantly resorts to this image in lyrical reflections, trying to “travel all of Russia with the hero.” He either imagines himself on the way, then the whole of Russia is presented in the projection of the road. “Before, long ago, in the summers of my youth ... it was fun for me to drive up to an unfamiliar place for the first time ... Now I indifferently drive up to any unfamiliar village and indifferently look at its vulgar appearance; my chilled gaze is uncomfortable; I don't find it funny ... and an indifferent silence keeps my motionless lips. O my youth! O my conscience! Lyrical digressions set off those negative aspects of life that the author makes fun of. They manifest the living soul of the country, those healthy forces that can lead it to the right path, choose the right path.

The soulless, callous world of dead characters is contrasted with the lyrical image of Russia, about which Gogol always wrote with love and admiration. We see how the tone of the narration changes when the author turns to the images and themes of folk life, to the dream of the future of Russia. Sad reflections, and a soft joke, and, finally, a genuine lyrical experience appear in it.

The lyrical lines describing the power, strength, courage, dexterity, talent, wisdom of the Russian people, their love for freedom are imbued with a special feeling. The present position of the people, their enslavement did not coincide with the share that they truly deserved. The neglected villages, unsettled life, ignorance and indifference drag Russia into the past. The personification of this is the dead souls of the shown landowners and the provincial elite.

In the story about Captain Kopeikin, the author emphasizes that this is a picture not only of a single province, but of the whole country, which is ruled by the landowners and officials shown in the poem. These are people who belong to the past. But the main character of the poem, Chichikov, differs from this gallery of characters only in his aspiration to the future. The thirst for profit at any cost characterizes Chichikov as a representative of the emerging and gaining strength of a new bourgeois society. Money for him is a means of achieving a career, comfort. Gogol very accurately noticed the typical features of the new class in Russia: vitality, efficiency of actions and at the same time callousness and greed, a desire to enrich themselves at the expense of other people's labor. The essence of their life is the same destruction of the "living" soul.

You can often find the definition that Gogol's poem sounds optimistic. It seems to me that this optimism is still restrained. The first volume of the poem ends with a question, and the second and third never saw completeness. Gogol expresses faith, but not certainty. He draws bright images of ordinary people, who for the author are the embodiment of the ideals of spirituality, courage, love of freedom, thereby showing that Russia has healthy forces. And that power is its people. The “troika bird”, rushing across the vast expanses of the Russian land, in his words, “could be born only among a lively people.” Researchers of Gogol's work correctly noted: “The image of the “Russian troika”, which acquires a symbolic meaning, is inextricably linked with the images of the “efficient Yaroslavl peasant”, who made a solid carriage with one ax and chisel, and the coachman, perched “on what the devil knows” and famously manages troika. After all, it is only thanks to such people that Russia rushes forward, striking the contemplator of this miracle.

Gogol, warning his readers against the "mortification of the soul", appeals to them with an appeal to preserve "all-human movements" from their youthful years. One of the significant lyrical digressions of the work is about the role of the writer in society. He talks about two types of writers and notes that the true writer is not the one who “wonderfully flattered people by hiding the sad things in life”, but the one who “turned inside out” all the “terrible, amazing mire of trifles that shrouded our lives”.

In their ideological and emotional intensity, the lyrical digressions of "Dead Souls" are like "a ray of light in a dark kingdom", contributing to insight and catharsis, purification. I think that this expression, introduced into Russian criticism by N. A. Dobrolyubov later, can be fully attributed to Dead Souls. In his dreams, Gogol saw a different Russia. The image of a triple bird is a symbol of the might of the Fatherland. And he was right. Russia and its people have gone through different times, but the world has always looked back at Russia and listened to it. She really is - at the same time clumsy, swift, reliable, and unpredictable, she knows both bitter defeats and the joy of victories. The writer's faith in Russia is endless, but there is also anxiety about where this "britchka" will lead or, more precisely, "rush", which, like Cinderella's pumpkin, turns into a mythical "troika bird". After all, it is filled not only with life-affirming pathos, but also with a powerful guard of "club-headed" and "inanimate" creatures.

The writer felt a huge unrealized potential in Russia. He believed in her future despite the unsightly present: “Rus, where are you rushing to, give me an answer? Doesn't give an answer. A bell is filled with a wonderful ringing; the air rumbles and becomes torn to pieces by the wind; everything that is on the earth flies past, and, looking askance, other peoples and states step aside and give it the way.

By the way, there is still no clear answer to the question that the writer asked us all. There is no single correct way. From the time the poem was written to the present day, Russia and its people have experienced many tragedies, and it was often ruled by people like Manilov, Plyushkin, Nozdryov. But the soul of Russia is still alive and, in spite of everything, "other peoples and states step aside and give it way." This, perhaps, is the main clue to the viability of our country, which is described by N.V. Gogol in lyrical digressions.

Lyrical digressions in the poem "Dead Souls" play a huge role. They are so organically included in the structure of this work that we can no longer imagine a poem without the magnificent monologues of the author. What is the role of lyrical digressions in the poem Agree, we constantly feel, thanks to their presence, the presence of Gogol, who shares with us his experiences and thoughts about this or that event. In this article we will talk about lyrical digressions in the poem "Dead Souls", talk about their role in the work.

The role of digressions

Nikolai Vasilievich becomes not just a guide leading the reader through the pages of the work. He is more of a close friend. Lyrical digressions in the poem "Dead Souls" encourage us to share with the author the emotions that overwhelm him. Often the reader expects that Gogol, with his inherent inimitable humor, will help him overcome sadness or indignation caused by the events in the poem. And sometimes we want to know the opinion of Nikolai Vasilyevich about what is happening. Lyrical digressions in the poem "Dead Souls", in addition, have great artistic power. We enjoy every image, every word, admiring their beauty and accuracy.

Opinions on lyrical digressions expressed by famous contemporaries of Gogol

Many of the author's contemporaries appreciated the work "Dead Souls". Lyrical digressions in the poem also did not go unnoticed. Some famous people spoke about them. For example, I. Herzen noted that a lyrical place illuminates, enlivens the narrative in order to be replaced again by a picture that reminds us even more clearly of what kind of hell we are in. The lyrical beginning of this work was also highly appreciated by V. G. Belinsky. He pointed to a humane, comprehensive and deep subjectivity, which reveals in the artist a person with a "sympathetic soul and a warm heart."

Thoughts shared by Gogol

The writer, with the help of lyrical digressions, expresses his own attitude not only to the events and people described by him. They contain, in addition, the affirmation of the high destiny of man, the significance of great public interests and ideas. The source of the author's lyricism is thoughts about serving his country, about its sorrows, destinies and hidden gigantic forces. This manifests itself regardless of whether Gogol expresses his anger or bitterness about the insignificance of the characters depicted by him, whether he talks about the role of the writer in modern society or about the lively Russian mind.

First retreats

With great artistic tact, Gogol included extra-plot elements in the work "Dead Souls". Lyrical digressions in the poem are at first only the statements of Nikolai Vasilyevich about the heroes of the work. However, as the plot develops, the themes become more varied.

Gogol, having talked about Korobochka and Manilov, briefly interrupts his narration, as if he wants to step aside for a while, so that the reader can better understand the picture of life he has drawn. For example, the digression that interrupts the story of Korobochka Nastasya Petrovna in the work contains a comparison of her with a "sister" belonging to an aristocratic society. Despite a slightly different appearance, she does not differ in any way from the local mistress.

lovely blonde

Chichikov on the road after visiting Nozdryov meets a beautiful blonde on his way. A remarkable lyrical digression ends the description of this meeting. Gogol writes that everywhere a person will meet at least once on the way a phenomenon that is unlike anything that he has ever seen before, and will awaken in him a new feeling that is not like the usual. However, this is completely alien to Chichikov: the cold prudence of this hero is compared with the manifestation of feelings inherent in man.

Digressions in chapters 5 and 6

The lyrical digression at the end of the fifth chapter has a completely different character. The author here is not talking about his hero, not about his attitude to this or that character, but about the talent of the Russian people, about a powerful man living in Russia. as if unrelated to the previous development of the action. However, it is very important for revealing the main idea of ​​the poem: true Russia is not boxes, nostrils and dogs, but the element of the people.

Closely connected with lyrical statements devoted to the national character and the Russian word, and an inspired confession about youth, about Gogol's perception of life, which opens the sixth chapter.

With the angry words of Nikolai Vasilievich, which have a generalizing effect, the story of Plyushkin, who embodied base feelings and aspirations with the greatest force, is interrupted. Gogol is indignant at what "muck, pettiness and insignificance" a person could reach.

The author's reasoning in the 7th chapter

Nikolai Vasilyevich begins the seventh chapter with discussions about the life and creative fate of the writer in a society contemporary to him. He talks about two different destinies that await him. A writer can become a creator of "exalted images" or a satirist, a realist. This lyrical digression reflects Gogol's views on art, as well as the author's attitude towards the people and the ruling elites in society.

"Happy Traveler..."

Another digression, beginning with the words "Happy traveler ...", is an important stage in the development of the plot. It separates one part of the story from another. The statements of Nikolai Vasilyevich illuminate the meaning and essence of both the previous and subsequent paintings of the poem. This lyrical digression is directly related to the folk scenes depicted in the seventh chapter. It plays a very important role in the composition of the poem.

Statements about estates and ranks

In the chapters devoted to the image of the city, we find Gogol's statements about estates and ranks. He says that they are so "annoyed" that everything that is in the printed book seems "personal" to them. Apparently, this is the "arrangement in the air."

Reflections on the delusions of man

We see the lyrical digressions of the poem "Dead Souls" throughout the story. Gogol ends the description of the general confusion with reflections on the false ways of man, his delusions. Humanity has made many mistakes in its history. The current generation arrogantly laughs at this, although it itself starts a whole series of new delusions. His descendants in the future will laugh at the current generation.

Last Retreats

Gogol's civic pathos reaches its special strength in the digression "Rus! Rus!...". It shows, as well as the lyrical monologue placed at the beginning of the 7th chapter, a distinct line between the links of the narrative - the story of the origin of the protagonist (Chichikov) and city scenes. Here the theme of Russia has already been developed widely. It is "uncomfortable, scattered, poor." However, this is where heroes are born. The author, after this, shares with us the thoughts that were inspired by the racing troika and the distant road. Nikolai Vasilievich paints pictures of his native Russian nature one after another. They appear before the gaze of a traveler rushing along the autumn road on fast horses. Despite the fact that the image of the troika bird has been left behind, in this lyrical digression we feel it again.

The story about Chichikov ends with the author's statement, which is a sharp objection to whom the main character and the whole work as a whole, depicting "despicable and bad", can shock.

What do the lyrical digressions reflect and what remains unanswered?

The author's sense of patriotism is reflected in the lyrical digressions in N.V. Gogol's poem "Dead Souls". The image of Russia, which completes the work, is covered with deep love. He embodied the ideal that lit the way for the artist when depicting a vulgar petty life.

Speaking about the role and place of lyrical digressions in the poem "Dead Souls", I would like to note one curious moment. Despite the numerous arguments of the author, the most important question for Gogol remains unanswered. And this question is, where is Russia rushing to. You will not find the answer to it by reading the lyrical digressions in Gogol's Dead Souls. Only the Almighty could know what awaited this country, "inspired by God," at the end of the journey.

N. V. Gogol is one of the greatest figures in Russian literature. The pinnacle of his work is the poem "Dead Souls". It reflects all the main features of the author's talent.

The most important role in the compositional structure of "Dead Souls" is played by lyrical digressions and inserted episodes, which are characteristic of the poem as a literary genre. In them, Gogol deals with the most pressing Russian social issues. The author's thoughts about the high purpose of man, about the fate of the Motherland and the people are contrasted here with the gloomy pictures of Russian life.

At the beginning of the poem, lyrical digressions are in the nature of the author's statements about his heroes, but as the action unfolds, their inner theme becomes broader and more multifaceted.

Having told about Manilov and Korobochka, the author interrupts the narration in order to make the painted picture of life clearer for the reader. The author's digression, which interrupts the story about Korobochka, contains a comparison with her "sister" from an aristocratic society, who, despite a different appearance, is no different from the landlady.

After visiting Nozdrev, Chichikov meets a beautiful blonde on the road. The description of this meeting ends with a remarkable digression by the author: “Everywhere, wherever in life, whether among its callous, rough-poor and untidy-staining low-lying ranks, or among the monotonously cold and boringly tidy classes of the higher, everywhere at least once will meet on way to a person, a phenomenon unlike anything that he had seen before, which at least once awakens in him a feeling unlike those that he is destined to feel all his life. But what is characteristic of many people, what appears “across” to any kind of sadness - all this is completely alien to Chichikov, whose cold discretion is compared here with the direct manifestation of feelings.

The lyrical digression at the end of the fifth chapter is of a completely different character. Here the author is no longer talking about the hero, not about the attitude towards him, but about the mighty Russian man, about the talent of the Russian people. Outwardly, this lyrical digression seems to have little to do with the entire previous development of the action, but it is very important for revealing the main idea of ​​​​the poem: the real Russia is not the dogs, nostrils and boxes, but the people, the element of the people.

In close contact with the lyrical statements about the Russian word and folk character is the author's digression, which opens the sixth chapter.

The story about Plyushkin is interrupted by the angry words of the author, which have a deep generalizing meaning: "And a person could descend to such insignificance, pettiness, filth!"

Of considerable importance are lyrical statements about the creative and life fate of the writer in Gogol's contemporary society, about two different destinies awaiting the writer creating "exalted images" and the realist writer and satirist. This lyrical digression, full of deep thoughts and vivid generalizations, reflected not only the writer's views on art, but also his attitude to the ruling elites of society, to the people. It determines both the writer's ideological path and his assessment of the main social forces.

In the chapters devoted to the image of the city, we come across the author's statements about the extreme irritation of ranks and estates - "now we have all the ranks and estates so irritated that everything that is in the printed book already seems to them a person: that is, apparently, located in the air." Gogol ends the description of the general confusion with reflections on human delusions, on the false paths that mankind has often followed in its history - "but the current generation laughs and arrogantly, proudly begins a series of new delusions, which descendants will also laugh at later."

The civic pathos of the writer reaches special strength in a lyrical digression - "Rus, Rus! I see you from my wonderful, beautiful far away." Like the lyrical monologue at the beginning of the seventh chapter, this lyrical digression forms a distinct line between two major links in the narrative - urban scenes and the story of Chichikov's origins. Here, in a broader sense, the theme of Russia appears, in which it was "poor, scattered and uncomfortable," but where heroes cannot but be born. The author's lyrical statements seem to be interrupted by the intrusion of rough worldly prose. “And menacingly, a mighty space surrounds me, reflecting with terrible force in my depth; my eyes lit up with unnatural power: what a sparkling, wonderful, unfamiliar distance to the earth! Russia!

Hold on, hold on, fool! Chichikov shouted to Selifan.

Here I am with your broadsword! shouted a courier with a arshin mustache galloping towards him. “And like a ghost, the troika disappeared with thunder and dust.”

The vulgarity, emptiness, meanness of life are even more clearly outlined against the background of sublime lyrical lines. This technique of contrast is applied by Gogol with great skill. Thanks to such a sharp contrast, we better understand the vile features of the heroes of "Dead Souls".

Immediately after this, the author shares with the reader the thoughts that the racing troika, the long road, evoke in him. "What a strange, and enticing, and bearing, and wonderful in the word road! And how wonderful it is, this road." One after another, Gogol sketches here pictures of Russian nature that appear before the gaze of a traveler racing on fast horses along an autumn road. Both in the general mood of the author's monologue and in the rapidly changing scenes, there is a clear hint at the image of a trinity bird, from which this lyrical digression is separated by a large chapter devoted to the adventures of Chichikov.

A high sense of patriotism is fanned by the image of Russia, which completes the first volume of the poem, an image that embodies the ideal that lit the way for the artist when depicting a petty, vulgar life.

Such is the role of lyrical digressions in the composition of the poem. But the most important thing is that they express many of the author's views on art, relations between people. On the pages of the poem, Gogol wanted not only to denounce, but also to affirm his moral ideal, and expressed it in his wonderful lyrical digressions, which reflected all his thoughts and feelings, and above all a great feeling of love for his people and fatherland, the belief that the homeland will break out of the power of the "marsh lights" and return to the true path: the path of a living soul.

Bibliography

For the preparation of this work, materials from the site http://www.bobych.spb.ru/

Tutoring

Need help learning a topic?

Our experts will advise or provide tutoring services on topics of interest to you.
Submit an application indicating the topic right now to find out about the possibility of obtaining a consultation.