Message about a good deed in Gogol's story. Brief biography of Gogol

The influence of Gogol's work on the development of Russian literature.

Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol - the most mysterious star in the sky of Russian literature of the 19th and 20th centuries - still amaze the reader and the viewer with the magical power of depiction, and the most unusual originality of his path to the Motherland, to unraveling and even ... creating a future for her. Inclination to the Future... Gogol - let's remember once again Pushkin's dream "The rumor about me will spread throughout the whole of Great Russia", and Mayakovsky's bashful hope "I want to be understood by my native country" that sounded a hundred years later - completed the idea of ​​​​moving into the Future, into the anxious and, as many believed, in the “beautiful Dapeko”, which would not only be cruel to a person. And in this regard, it is closest to many things in Russian folklore, in folk song

“It is impossible to forget anything that Gogol said, even trifles, even unnecessary ones,” noted F.M. Dostoevsky. “Gogol had Phidias’s chisel,” wrote V.V. Rozanov, a philosopher and critic of the 20th century. - How many words are dedicated to Petrushka, Chichikov's lackey? And I remember no less than Nikolai Rostov. And Osip? In fact ... The melancholic Osip, Khlestakov's servant in The Inspector General, says just something, warning his master, the inspired writer of the poem about his own significance: “Get out of here. By God, it’s time already,” and accepts gifts from merchants, including… a commemorative rope (“Give me a rope, and the rope will come in handy on the way”). But this “rope in reserve” was remembered by many generations of Russian viewers.

And with what supernatural fullness it was in Gogol that two most beautiful qualities, living separately in many, with the exception of Pushkin, were combined: an exceptional vital observation and an equally rare power of imagination. If the artistic image as the main exponent of the spiritual life of Russia, the focus of its spiritual life was, before Gogol, as it were, distant from the facts, from factuality, then in Gogol's work it was long before M. Gorky! - the fact, as it were, moved into the depths of the image, sharpened the image, made it heavier.

Incredibly wide harem pants, the fateful pipe, the "cradle" of Taras Bulba, the dried-up "singing doors" in the idyllic house of the "old-world landowners" will forever arise from Gogol's reality. And the enigmatic melody of the “string ringing in the fog” from the St. Petersburg fantastic dreams of Poprishchin (“Notes of a Madman”) that struck even A. Blok.

Until now, it is difficult to decide whether we “remember” in detail even the magic trinity bird itself, this “simple, it seems, road projectile”? Or every time, together with Gogol, do we “compose” this winged trio in our own way, “complete”, decipher the transcendent riddle of the indomitable, horror-inducing movement? An immense secret "by the smoke of a smoking road", the secret of horses unknown to the world with incredible, but, as it were, visible "whirlwinds In their manes"? Gogol's contemporary I. Kireevsky was probably right when he said that after reading "Dead Souls" we have "hope and thought about the great purpose of our fatherland."

But until now, the unanswered question is mysterious - the epigraph to all post-Gogol literature - “Rus, where are you rushing to? Give an answer. Gives no answer! And what can be the answer if Russia-troika rushes “through Korobochek and Sobakevichi” (P.v. Palievsky)? If two of the most famous writers of the early twentieth century, creating their image of Gogol close to symbolism, made up this Russia-troika “from the insane Poprishchin, the witty Khlestakov and the prudent Chichikov” (D.S. Merezhkovsky) or ?. “Gogol is rich: not one, but two triples - Nozdryov - Chichikov - Manilov and Korobochka - Plyushkin - Sobakevich ... Nozdrev - Chichikov - Manilov through the forests and mountains life hover under the clouds - an airy trio. Life is not built, but the owners - another trio: Korobochka - Plyushkin - Sobakevich.

What did Gogol teach all subsequent Russian literature?

The usual answer is that he brought Laughter as the element of life to the fore, that viewers and readers have never laughed so much in Russia - after D. Fonvizin's Undergrowth with his Prostakovs, Skotinins and Mitrofanushka, after A. Griboyedov's Woe from Wit, - how they laughed together with Gogol, is hardly accurate in everything. Gogol's laughter in "Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka" (1832) is still bright, light, sometimes funny, although often the appearances of all kinds of sorcerers, sorcerers, thieves of the moon alternate with continuous dances, frightening in their automatism, with a "hopak", as if protecting this optimism . An unbridled tide of some desperate mischief holds together an ideal and idyllic world.

And what is the laughter in the "Petersburg tales", in the entire Gogolian demonology of Petersburg, that most fatal, deliberate city in Russia? Gogol removes in these stories the amusing or terrible figures of the bearers of evil, all visual mischievous fantasy and devilry, removes somewhere Basavryuk, the lady-witch, mermaids, sorcerers - but some kind of faceless, boundless evil reigns in his Petersburg. For the first time in Russian prose, that “diaboliad” is born, that world evil, which will then be “disenchanted” by Bulgakov in The Master and Margaret with his Satan Woland, and Platonov in many plays, and of course, A. Bely in Paterburg ", F.K. Sologub in "Small Demon" and even Shukshin in his phantasmagories "Until the third roosters" and "In the morning they woke up ...". Even Dostoevsky came out of more than one "Overcoat", and Sukhovo-Kobylin with his dramatic trilogy "Krechinsky's Wedding", "Deed", "Death of Tarepkin", as well as from Gogol's "Nose" with its deceptive figurativeness, false concreteness, terrible illusoryness, fear of space, the desire to hide from the oncoming emptiness ... Squares of hypertrophied dimensions in St. Petersburg ... reflect the incomplete habitation, little overworking of space in early St. Petersburg (it is no coincidence that shoes are not robbed on a wide square, while in Moscow this was done in narrow alleys). Petersburg fear, evil itself in Gogol's "Petersburg stories" - this is no longer a bad neighbor-damn, a sorcerer, not Basavryuk. The writer does not see the carriers of living evil, the carriers of witchcraft. The whole Nevsky Prospekt is a continuing phantasmagoria, a deceit: “Everything is a deceit, everything is a dream, everything is not what it seems!” With this spell, Gogol completes Nevsky Prospekt, an alarming story about the tragic death of the idealist artist Piskarev and the happy “enlightenment”, getting rid of the thirst for revenge of the vulgar Lieutenant Pirogov, flogged by German artisans. From this Petersburg, along with Khlestakov, it is precisely fear, the satellite and shadow of Petersburg, that will come to the prefabricated provincial city in The Inspector General.

Gogol “sang” (didn’t he?) Petersburg in such a peculiar way that many historians later unfairly blamed and reproached him: with him, Gogol, the well-known “tarnishing”, darkening of the image of Petersburg, clouding of its regal beauty, the protracted era of the tragic twilight of Petropolis begins.

It was after Gogol that the tragic Petersburg of Dostoevsky, and the whole disturbing silhouette of a ghost town in the novel Petersburg by A. Bely, and that city of A. Blok, where “Above the bottomless pit into eternity, / Panting, a trotter flies ... ”. Gogol's Petersburg in the 20th century became the prototype, the basis of that grandiose stage platform for the multi-act action of revolutions, became a city "familiar to tears" (O. Mandelstam), for A. Blok in the poem "The Twelve" and many others.

The scope and depth of contradictions in the artist are often evidence of the greatness of his quest, the transcendentity of hopes and sorrows. Did Gogol, who created the comedy The Inspector General (1836), together with the future Khlestakov (he was called Skakunov in the first edition) understand this new, mirage space, full of echoes of the future, did he understand the whole meaning of The Inspector General, his brilliant creation?

The comical heroes of The Inspector General are extremely distinct, like sculpted figures of officials, inhabitants of the prefabricated city, as if drawn into the field of action of forces alienated, even from the author, into the field of absurdity, delusion. They are completed by some kind of impersonal carousel. They even break into the stage, literally squeezing out, cutting off the door, as Bobchinsky stumbled into Khlestakov's room, knocking down the door to the floor from the corridor. Gogol himself seems to be alienated from comedy, where the element of laughter reigns, the element of action and expressive language. Only at the end of the comedy does he, as it were, “remember”, he tries to relate both to the audience and to himself a very instructive and woeful doubt: “Why are you laughing? Laugh at yourself!" By the way, in the text of 1836 this meaningful remark, the signal to stop the "carousel", to the general petrification, the transformation of sinners into a kind of "pillars of salt", was not. Are they, the funny heroes of The Inspector General, so villainous? Before Gogol, there were no such truthful, frank, gullible "villains", as if begging to soften the punishment, rushing about with their vices, as if in confession, laying out everything about themselves. They behave as if they were walking under God, convinced that Khlestakov (the messenger of the terrible, St. Petersburg higher power) and knows their thoughts and deeds in advance ...

Dead Souls (1842) is a solitary, even more difficult attempt by Gogol, the direct predecessor of Dostoevsky’s prophetic realism, to express the ultimate conceptual “Russian point of view” on the fate of man in the world, on all his irrational connections, to express through analysis the feelings of conscience and voice vices. The immortal poem is a synthesis of the entire artistic spiritual experience of the writer and, at the same time, a sharp overcoming of the boundaries of literature, foreshadowing even Tolstoy's future renunciation of the artistic word. By the way, Leo Tolstoy, by the way, will speak almost Gogol about spiritual exhaustion, the overstrain of the Russian writer’s perceiving thought, about his suffering conscience and the torments of the word: for him in his later years, on the threshold of the twentieth century, all creativity is the knowledge of the Motherland “at the limit of thought and at the beginning of the prayer.

Gogol is the founder of a great series of grandiose ethical attempts to save Russia by turning it to Christ: it was continued both in the sermons of L. Tolstoy, and in S. Yesenin's often woeful attempts to realize the fate, the whirlwind of events, the deeds of those that were in Russia in 1917 only " They sprayed around, hoofed / And disappeared under the devil's whistle. And even in some kind of sacrifice by V. Mayakovsky: “I will cry for everyone, I will cry for everyone” ... The death of A. Blok in 1921 at the moment when music disappeared in the era is also a distant version of “Gogol’s self-immolation”. Gogol "gogolized" many decisions and thoughts of writers. It was as if he was trying to move the most immovable, petrified, to call everyone along the path of Russia-troika. And the mystery of "Dead Souls", that is, the first volume, with Chichikov's visits to six landowners (each of them is either "deader" or more alive than the previous one), with fragments of the second volume, is most often solved by focusing on the image of the road, on the motives movement. As in The Inspector General, Gogol's thought in Dead Souls seems to rush through sinful Russia, past the heap of junk in Plyushkin's house to holy, ideal Russia. The idea of ​​God-forsaken Russia is refuted by many penetrating mournful looks in the biographies of heroes, including Chichikov. Often the writer both hears and sees what goes to the aid of his despair, his longing: “It is still a mystery - this inexplicable revelry that is heard in our songs rushes somewhere past life and the song itself, as if burned by the desire for a better homeland” . His Chichikov, who laughed at Sobakevich's "comments" on the list of dead souls, suddenly creates whole poems about the carpenter Stepan Probka, about the barge hauler Abakum Fyrov, who went to the Volga, where reigns "the revelry of a wide life" and the song, "endless as Russia."

Nikolai Vasilyevich was born in 1809 in the town of Velikie Sorochintsy, Poltava province. This place was the center of provincial culture, there were estates of famous writers.

Gogol's father was an amateur playwright; he served as a secretary for D.P. Troshchinsky, who kept a home serf theater (plays were required for him). Also in the house of Troshchinsky there was a large library in which Gogol read all his childhood. In 1821 he went to study in Nizhyn, at the gymnasium of Higher Sciences. They inspired the idea: an official is a pillar on which everything in the state rests. Consequently, graduates simply had no other way but to go to public service.

The first works and acquaintance with Pushkin

In 1828, after graduating from the gymnasium, Gogol moved from Nizhyn to St. Petersburg, dreaming of becoming an official there. However, they don't want to take him anywhere. Offended and impressed, he wrote a poem Hans Küchelgarten dedicated to the German youth who is not allowed to serve the fatherland. In fact, of course, Gogol meant himself. Critics did not like this creation, and Gogol, offended again, burned the entire print run.

Finally he managed to get a job, but now Gogol realized that all his dreams were childishly naive, but in fact he did not like the service. But he began to communicate with famous writers, met Pushkin.

In 1832 they published Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka- a story in which laughter plays an important role, which becomes evil, fairy tale motifs appear. After this publication, even Pushkin said that Gogol could be useful. He did not describe the suffering of an extra person, but the simple life of ordinary Ukrainians, and this was very unusual for the literature of that era.

However, after that, Gogol suddenly abandons literature and service and begins to enthusiastically study the history of the Ancient World and the Middle Ages, wants to teach. He tries to get a chair at Kiev University, but he fails. In 1835 Gogol gave up science.

Petersburg stories

Gogol quickly begins to write again and almost immediately publishes Arabesque and Mirgorod, which describes not only Ukraine, but also St. Petersburg. His most famous stories are: Portrait, Nevsky prospect, Notes of a madman. Then Gogol writes more Nose and story Overcoat: these five stories will later be combined into a collection of St. Petersburg stories. In all of them we are talking about the existence of ordinary people, about how difficult it is sometimes for a small person to survive in a ruthless society. Also in Gogol's work for the first time (with the exception of Pushkin's "The Bronze Horseman") a separate image of the city appears - Petersburg, with all its imperial beauty, cold and light infernality. The European Gothic novel had a great influence on Gogol's work: otherworldly, mysterious and eerie motifs appear in his stories every now and then.

Auditor

After that, Gogol manifests himself in dramaturgy. In 1835 he writes a comedy Auditor, and in 1836 it was first staged on the stage of the Alexandrinsky Theater. The main task of this comedy was to bring together all the worst that is in Russia. Gogol consistently shows all the vices of society; each of the characters is driven by fear, behind each of them is a trail of vices. The production ended in complete failure, the audience did not appreciate the play. However, Gogol had one enthusiastic spectator, whose opinion overlapped all the others - it was Emperor Nicholas I. Since then, friendly relations have developed between him and Gogol.

He does not understand why the audience did not appreciate the production, and because of this he writes a short work "Reflections at the Theater Entrance", where he explains the meaning of the Examiner: Strange: I'm sorry that no one noticed the honest face that was in my play. Yes, there was one honest, noble person who acted in all its continuation. It was laughter.

Roman Period and Dead Souls

Despite the approval of the emperor, Gogol takes offense at the rest of the public who does not understand and leaves for Rome. There he worked hard, wrote Dead Souls which were published in Russia in 1842. (History of the creation of Dead Souls). He conceived this poem as a kind of analogue of Dante's Divine Comedy, but Gogol failed to write three parts. (Genre and plot of Dead Souls). In 1845, he was unexpectedly diagnosed with schizophrenia and placed in a mental hospital in Rome. He is very ill, the Russian ambassador gives Gogol money from the tsar. Having got out, he returns to Russia, thanks the emperor and is going to leave for the monastery.

Selected places from correspondence with friends

But Gogol did not realize this intention, literature turned out to be stronger. In 1847 he published Selected places from correspondence with friends: most of this work was really made up of letters, but there were also journalistic articles. The work turned out to be scandalous - gloomy and very conservative. It is about the state system of Russia and that serfdom does not need to be abolished. According to Gogol, literature in Russia really began with the era of Lomonosov. Conclusion: writers should praise the sovereign then everything will be fine with them.

He sends this book to his confessor as a confession. However, the church declared that it was unsuitable for a secular person to preach; for such liberties, they even wanted to excommunicate Gogol from the church, but the emperor intervened in time. The critic V.G. also spoke out against Gogol. Belinsky, who said that Gogol is trying to pull Russia back into a dark past, and also wants to get a job as an educator of the heir to the throne. In response to this, Gogol invited Belinsky to work together, but after that Gogol suddenly had a new attack of schizophrenia, therefore, he no longer had time for cooperation (although Belinsky agreed).

The last years have become the darkest in Gogol's life: an absolutely sick person writes the second volume of the poem Dead Souls, he is even ready to publish it, but on the night of February 11-12, 1852, he has a clouding of his mind, and for some reason he throws the manuscript into the fire . And ten days later he dies.

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One of the greatest Russian writers, Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol, was born in 1809. His parents were poor provincial landowners who lived on their small estate near the village of Dikanka in the Poltava province. The work and life of Gogol was also influenced by the fact that his father, Vasily Afanasyevich, had a passion for art, was fond of the theater and had his own compositions.

The birth of Gogol as a writer

Gogol received the usual education at home. Later he enters the Nizhyn gymnasium. In the gymnasium, the future writer showed interest in the theater, participating in productions, learned to play the violin, and in 1828 he graduated. The first attempts to compose turned out to be a failure for him, and such stages of Gogol's life and work will periodically be repeated in his biography. In 1829, he received a job as a petty official, while he was fond of painting and continued to write. The craving for literature takes its toll, and already in 1830 Gogol published his first story - "Basavryuk" - in "Notes of the Fatherland". In the same year, the chapters of the novel "Hetman" were published, on which the writer began work. During this period of his life, he met Pushkin, which seriously influenced Gogol's work and life. The writer listened to the advice of Alexander Sergeevich and highly appreciated his works. Pushkin introduced Gogol to many writers and artists of that time, including Delvig, Vyazemsky, Bryullov, Krylov.

Reflection of history and life in the works of Gogol

Fame among writers brought Gogol a collection of stories "Evenings on a farm near Dikanka" (1830-1831). The village in which Gogol grew up was famous for beliefs and legends. Gogol transferred many of those legends to his work. The writer decides to devote himself to pedagogy, scientific activity, and in 1834 he was appointed professor of the history department of the University in St. Petersburg. In the same year, he begins work on Taras Bulba. A year later, Gogol leaves the service and completely goes into literature. In 1835, "Viy", "Taras Bulba" come out from under his pen. In addition, essays about life in St. Petersburg "Arabesques" are published, and sketches of "The Overcoat" are being created, which Gogol will finish only in 1842.

Theatrical period of Gogol's work

Writing was not the only hobby, Gogol's work and life were quite diverse. The appearance of The Inspector General in 1835 was the result of a passion for theatrical performances. It was for the theater that this work was written, subsequently staged in one of the Moscow theaters with the participation of the famous Shchepkin. The production was sharply criticized, and the author decided to go abroad. Meanwhile, Gogol continues to work on the next work, in which he ridicules the bureaucracy of that time, and in 1841, with the participation of Belinsky in St. Petersburg, the first volume of Dead Souls was published.

Creative and spiritual crisis

The second volume of Dead Souls had a completely different fate. Further work and life of Gogol develop less successfully. Revision of life principles, disappointment in the influence of fiction on life led the writer to a complete spiritual crisis, to a serious mental illness. At one of the most critical moments, in 1852, Gogol completely burned the 2nd volume of Dead Souls. In the same year, the writer died. He was buried in the cemetery of the Danilov Monastery. The entire chronology of Gogol's life and work is reflected in his works.

Role and place in literature

Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol is an outstanding classic of Russian literature of the 19th century. He made a great contribution to dramaturgy and journalism. According to many literary critics, Gogol founded a special direction, called the "natural school". The writer, with his work, influenced the development of the Russian language, focusing on its nationality.

Origin and early years

N.V. Gogol was born on March 20, 1809 in the Poltava province (Ukraine) in the village of Velikie Sorochintsy. Nikolai was born the third child in a landowner's family (there were 12 children in total).

The future writer belonged to an old Cossack family. It is possible that the Hetman Ostap Gogol himself was an ancestor.

Father - Vasily Afanasyevich Gogol-Yanovsky. He was engaged in stage activities and instilled in his son a love for the theater. When Nikolai was only 16 years old, he died.

Mother - Maria Ivanovna Gogol-Yanovskaya (nee Kosyarovskaya). She got married at a young age (14). Her beautiful appearance was admired by many contemporaries. Nicholas became her first child to be born alive. And so he was named in honor of St. Nicholas.

Nikolai spent his childhood in a village in Ukraine. The traditions and way of life of the Ukrainian people greatly influenced the future creative activity of the writer. And the religiosity of the mother was passed on to her son and was also reflected in many of his works.

Education and work

When Gogol was ten years old, he was sent to Poltava to prepare for his studies at the gymnasium. He was taught by a local teacher, thanks to whom, in 1821, Nikolai entered the Gymnasium of Higher Sciences in Nizhyn. Gogol's progress left much to be desired. He was strong only in drawing and Russian literature. Although the Gymnasium itself is to blame for the fact that Gogol's academic success was not great. Teaching methods were outdated and not useful: rote learning and caning. Therefore, Gogol took up self-education: he subscribed to magazines together with his comrades, was fond of theater.

After finishing his studies at the gymnasium, Gogol moved to St. Petersburg, hoping for a brighter future here. But the reality disappointed him a little. His attempts to become an actor failed. In 1829, he became a petty official, a scribe in a department of the ministry, but did not work there for long, having become disillusioned with this matter.

Creation

Work as an official did not bring joy to Nikolai Gogol, so he tries himself in literary activity. The first published work is “Evening on the eve of Ivan Kupala” (at first it had a different name). Gogol's fame began with this story.

The popularity of Gogol's works was explained by the interest of the St. Petersburg public in the Little Russian (as some regions of Ukraine were previously called) being.

In his work, Gogol often turned to folk legends, beliefs, and used folk simple speech.

The early works of Nikolai Gogol are attributed to the direction of romanticism. Later, he writes in his original style, many associate it with realism.

Major works

The first work that brought him fame was the collection Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka. These stories are attributed to the main works of Gogol. In them, the author amazingly accurately depicted the traditions of the Ukrainian people. And the magic that lurks on the pages of this book still surprises readers.

Important works include the historical story "Taras Bulba". It is included in the cycle of stories "World City". The dramatic fate of the characters against the backdrop of real events makes a strong impression. Films have been made based on the story.

One of the great achievements in the field of Gogol's dramaturgy was the play "The Government Inspector". The comedy boldly exposed the vices of Russian officials.

Last years

The year 1836 was the time for Gogol to travel around Europe. He is working on the first part of Dead Souls. Returning to his homeland, the author publishes it.

In 1843, Gogol published the story "The Overcoat".

There is a version that Gogol burned the second volume of Dead Souls on February 11, 1852. And in the same year he was gone.

Chronological table (by dates)

Interesting facts from the writer's life

• Passion for mysticism led to the writing of the most mysterious work of Gogol - "Viy".
• There is a version that the author burned the second volume of Dead Souls.
• Nikolai Gogol had a passion for miniature publications.

Writer's Museum

In 1984, the museum was opened in the village of Gogolevo in a festive atmosphere.

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1831-1842 - "Evenings on a farm near Dikanka", "Mirgorod", St. Petersburg novels ("Nevsky Prospekt", "Nose", "Portrait", "Overcoat", "Notes of a Madman", "Carriage") were created.
1836, January - completion of the comedy "The Government Inspector"; April 19 - premiere in St. Petersburg at the Alexandrinsky Theater;
May 25 - premiere at the Maly Theater in Moscow.
1842 - censorship permission to print the first volume of "Dead Souls" With the title changed to "The Adventures of Chichikov, or Dead Souls"; the first volume of "Dead Souls", the story "The Overcoat" are printed.
1842-1845 - work on the second volume of Dead Souls.
1848 - pilgrimage to Jerusalem.
1852, on the night of February 13, the white manuscript of the 11th volume of "Dead Souls" was burned.
1852, February 21 (March 4) - died in Moscow.

Essay on life and work

The beginning of the way. In December 1828 Gogol graduates from the Nezhin Gymnasium of Higher Sciences and goes to St. Petersburg. It should be noted that this trip was planned with the utmost seriousness and the young man's dreams of his own device were quite specific. He “... set off for the capital with great intentions and in general with generally useful enterprises: firstly, to tell mother at least 6,000 rubles. the money he will receive for his tragedies; Secondly, to petition Little Russia for dismissal from all taxes. So ironically describes Gogol's hopes one of the acquaintances of the family.

Naturally, dreams remained dreams, and the search for money for food was quite difficult and overshadowed the first years of life in the capital. The publication of the idyllic poem "Hans Küchelgarten" written back in Nizhyn under the pseudonym V. Alov does not bring success. After reading the lines: “My small payment / For the rest of my life story", - the reviewer wrote:" The patch of such verses should have been saving them under a bushel. The review forced the author to buy up the remaining copies of the poem and destroy them.

However, Gogol does not get tired of writing new works, and his prose stories quickly find their readers. Published at the beginning of 1830, the work "Bisavryuk, or Evening on the Eve of Ivan Kupala" was noticed by readers and critics. Gogol makes literary acquaintances. He manages to enter the service in the Department of Appanages. Moving up the career ladder, he even becomes an assistant clerk.

At the same time, the novice writer works and is actively printed, choosing various pseudonyms. So, a pseudonym was chosen for the head of the historical novel: "0000" (these are four "o" from the name and surname: Nikolai Gogol-Yanovsky).

True, it is not yet possible to live comfortably. “I’ll tell you about myself,” Gogol writes to his “dear friend mother” on February 10, 1831. - that my circumstances are getting better and better, everything gives me hope that if not this year, then next year I will already be able to support myself by my own labors; at least the foundation is made of the strongest stone. Only now I will greatly disturb you with a convincing request to send two hundred and fifty rubles.

On May 20, 1831, Gogol's biggest dream came true: he was presented Pushkin. The desire to assert oneself is characteristic of every person, and one can understand the desire of a novice writer to prove to his mother and all those close to him that he and Pushkin are “on a friendly footing”. This gave rise to the awkward actions of the young provincial. In the summer, Gogol lives as a tutor at the Vasilchikovs' dacha in Pavlovsk, while Pushkin rents a dacha for his family in Tsarskoye Selo. Here Nikolai Vasilievich informs his mother: “Letters addressed to me in the name of Pushkin, in Tsarskoye Selo, like this: “His Excellency Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin. And I ask you to give it to N.V. Gogol. In the next letter he repeats: “Do you remember the address? in the name of Pushkin. Realizing the awkwardness of his act, in his first letter to Pushkin, Gogol apologizes for his faux pas.

Life is enriched by friendly meetings with interesting people. The writer's artistic talent also contributed to the expansion of the circle of acquaintances. “In addition to facial expressions, Gogol was able to adopt the voice of others. During his stay in St. Petersburg, he liked to represent one old man V., whom he knew in Nizhyn.

One of his listeners, who had never seen this B., comes once to Gogol and sees some old man ... the voice and manner of this old man immediately reminded him of a Gogol performance. He takes the owner aside and asks if it is B.. Indeed, it was B.

"Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka".

In early September 1831, the first part of the collection Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka was published. By January 1832, all the stories of this cycle were completed. The first part includes "Sorochinsky Fair", "Evening on the Eve of Ivan Kupala", "May Night, or the Drowned Woman", "The Lost Diploma"). In the second - "The Night Before Christmas", "A Terrible Revenge", "Ivan Fedorovich Shponka and his Aunt", "The Enchanted Place".

Pushkin’s response to the publication of the collection is known: “How amazed we were at the Russian book that made us laugh, we who have not laughed since Fonvizina!" This is how Belinsky assessed this collection: Gogol, who so cutely pretended to be Pasichnik, belongs to the number of extraordinary talents. Who does not know his "Evenings on a farm near Dikanka"? How much wit, gaiety, poetry and nationality are there in them?) Later he will write: “This is a cheerful comic, the smile of a young man greeting the beautiful world of God. Here everything is bright, everything shines with joy and happiness; the gloomy spirits of life do not confuse the young heart, trembling with the fullness of life, with heavy forebodings.

The unusual nature of the works created by the young author attracts Pushkin, Zhukovsky, Pletnev. At that time, writes a contemporary, “the most important thing in Gogol was the idea that he brought with him everywhere. We are talking about an energetic understanding of the harm caused by vulgarity, laziness, indulgence of evil, on the one hand, and by gross complacency, arrogance and insignificance of moral grounds, on the other ... In his pursuit of the dark sides of human existence, there was a passion that constituted a true moral expression his physiognomy." Revealing, Gogol actively drew material from constant observations of everything that happened around him, including from observations of his own actions.

Filled with the most optimistic hopes, it seemed to Gogol that any sphere of activity was within his power. In addition to creating works of art, he decided to try himself in the pursuit of historical science. Using the patronage of his friends, the writer receives the post of professor of history at St. Petersburg University. However, he quickly realized the hopelessness of the undertaking: lecture activity required intense, unrelenting work and great knowledge. After reading two excellent lectures (one of them was listened to by Pushkin, the other was listened to and described by Typgenev), Gogol began to skimp heavily on his studies and, finally, refused to teach. He frankly confessed this failure to his friend M.A. Maksimovich. Now the literary completely owns his thoughts.

Mirgorod.

In 1835, the collection Mirgorod was published, which consisted of two parts. The first part included the stories “Old-world landowners” and “Taras Bulba”, the second - “Viy” and “The Tale of how Ivan Ivanovich quarreled with Ivan Nikiforovich. Although Gogol wrote that these were “stories that serve as a continuation of Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka,” the cheerful romantic idyll is a thing of the past. Satirical sketches of everyday life, tragic pictures of reality, life-true scenes of the historical past filled the pages of this collection. The reader no longer meets the naive and benevolent narrator Rudy Pasichnik, the author-narrator speaks before him.

The author's courage and sharpness of denunciation are also visible when referring to the past. “Beat the present in the past, and your word will be clothed with triple power,” Gogol advised N. M. Yazykov. The writer opposed the world of vulgarity and boredom in the historical story "Taras Bulba" with lofty passions. V. G. Belinsky in “On the Russian story and the stories of Mr. Gogol” named the distinctive features of the writer’s work - simplicity of fiction, the perfect truth of life, nationality, originality. “And such is our life: at first it’s funny, then it’s ugly,” the critic wrote.

First comedy. "Inspector".

Restless disposition and incessant creative search often gave rise to amusing everyday solutions. So, on the way to St. Petersburg from his homeland (after a summer visit to his relatives), as the writer’s friend A. S. Danilevsky recalls, “an original rehearsal of The Inspector General was played ... Gogol wanted to thoroughly study the impression that his revision with supposedly incognito. For this purpose, he asked Pashchenko to go ahead and spread everywhere that the auditor was following him, carefully concealing the real purpose of his trip. Pashchenko left a few hours earlier and made sure that everyone at the stations was already prepared for the arrival and for the meeting of the imaginary auditor. Thanks to this maneuver, which was wonderfully successful, all three rolled with extraordinary speed ... Gogol's roadside was written: "adjunct professor", which was usually taken by the confused caretakers almost for the adjutant of His Imperial Majesty.

Work on the play The Inspector General was in full swing, and already in January 1836 Gogol wrote that the comedy was ready and rewritten. One of the writer's contemporaries recalled: “When reading it, the censors got scared and strictly banned it. It remained for the author to appeal to a higher authority on such a decision.” Thanks to the efforts of friends, the play gets to Nicholas 1, and, as Gogol tells his mother, “if the sovereign himself had not shown his high patronage and intercession, then, probably,“ The Inspector General - would never have been played or printed.

The performance was a triumph in St. Petersburg, then in Moscow, but Gogol was not happy with the success. He told Zhukovsky his doubts: “The Inspector General” has been played, and my soul is so vague, so strange ... I expected, I knew in advance how things would go, and for all that, a sad and annoyingly painful feeling enveloped me ... My laughter was at first good-natured; I did not at all think of ridiculing anyone for any purpose, and it amazed me to such an extent when I heard that entire estates and classes of society were offended and even angry with me, that I finally thought. If the power of laughter is so great that it is feared, then it should not be wasted.

Abroad .

Work on the poem Dead Souls". The desire to avoid a stormy discussion of comedy and an acute sense of fatigue drives Gogol from the capitals. He goes abroad, travels for about three years from June 1836 to September 1839. In Paris, he learns about the death of Pushkin, this message shocks Gogol. Again and again changing his place of residence, he comes to Rome, which enchants him. Here the work on the poem "Dead Souls" continues. There is a rapprochement with Russian artists, and in particular with A. A. Ivanov, who in those years worked on the painting “The Appearance of Christ to the People”. Here, the friendship with Count I. M. Vielgorsky ends tragically: the young man dies in the hands of the writer. This death for Gogol will be a farewell to his own youth.

The need to arrange household chores brings the writer back to Russia. On this visit, Gogol stayed in his homeland for less than a year: he met with benevolent and hospitable Moscow, with his admirers in St. Petersburg, and made new acquaintances. A meeting took place with V. G. Belinsky, and at a dinner, which was traditionally given in honor of Gogol's name day on May 9, 1840, in the garden of Pogodin's house on Maiden's Field in Moscow, he met Lermontov and listened to the author's reading of the poem "Mtsyri".

Leaving again abroad, the writer promises his friends to bring the completed poem in a year. By the end of August 1841, the first volume was finished and rewritten by volunteers. The promise made to friends at parting was fulfilled. Gogol returns to Russia to print the first volume of Dead Souls. Through joint efforts, censorship obstacles were overcome; for this, the Tale of Captain Kopeikin was remade. So, the main work of life has already been done. However, the author believes that this is only the beginning of a great work, since he hoped that it was he who would be able to point the way to the revival of Russia. “Gogol aims to give “positive images” of the Russian people - to expose them in vivid, speaking examples that can act by force ... These indicative examples of an exemplary life should have been: a clever acquirer, a landowner Costanjoglo, a virtuous wine farmer, a millionaire Murazov, a noble general-governor, a pious priest, and, finally, Tsar Nikolai himself, who with his mercy revives the repentant Chichikov” (V. Veresaev).

In the mind of the writer, a turning point was finally determined. S. T. Aksakov notes: “... He began to write “Dead Souls” as a curious and funny anecdote ... only later did he find out, speaking in his words, “what strong and deep thoughts and deep phenomena an insignificant plot can lead to” that ... little by little this colossal edifice was put together, filled with the painful phenomena of our social life ... subsequently he felt the need to leave this terrible gathering of human freaks. From here begins Gogol's constant striving to improve himself as a spiritual person and the predominance of the religious direction, which subsequently reached ... Such a high mood, which is already incompatible with the human body ... "

From now on, all subsequent works of the writer are subordinated to the realization of an unrealizable goal: Gogol feels like a preacher, he seeks to teach people to live according to high moral laws. “When all the utopianism that was in Gogol when he wrote The Inspector General received a severe blow from the obvious discrepancy between the artistic value of art creations (in this case, The Inspector General) and its impact on mores, on the moral consciousness of society, then Gogol found in the religious worldview a different basis for understanding the function of art, emphasizes V.Zenkovsky, a researcher of the writer's work.
"Selected places from correspondence with friends." At first, Gogol expected a direct and immediate result from the Inspector General, then from Dead Souls, from those stories and short stories that the parallel was working on, but with the creation of a poem. Then his hopes were tied to Selected Places from Correspondence with Friends. In the preface to this book, he writes: “My heart says that my book is needed and that it can be useful ...” The writer again touches on those issues and problems, those aspects of Russian life that are touched upon in stories, comedies, and a poem.

The desire of any person to subordinate the will of those around him to what he himself considers to be an absolute good inevitably ends in failure. An attempt to create a work that will show all people how one can and should live, the most sincere confidence that only his decision is right, and the impossibility of doing this precisely thanks to the merciless honesty of talent is the cause of the Tragedy. Gogol set himself a task beyond human strength. He had already doomed himself to failure.

Many disputes have arisen and arise around "Selected places from correspondence with friends." Disillusioned with the possibilities of the writer, Gogol decides to turn to people with the word of a preacher. He said: "... For a while, my occupation was not a Russian person and Russia, but a person and a soul in general." The result of the appearance of Gogol's work will be a polemic between the writer and the critic V. G. Belinsky, in which the widest literary circles were involved. The critic argued: “... woe to a man whom nature itself has created as an artist, woe to him if, dissatisfied with his own path, he rushes into someone else's path!”

Gogol writes in the "Author's Confession", created in May - June 1847, that he decides to quit writing. Suppressed by misunderstanding, in January 1848 he undertakes a pilgrimage. Zhukovsky explains his decision this way: “My trip to Palestine was definitely made by me in order to find out personally and, as it were, to see with my own eyes how great is the callousness of my heart. Friend, this callousness is great! I was deigned to spend the night at the tomb of the Savior, I was deigned to partake of the holy mysteries that stood on the tomb itself instead of the altar, and for all that I did not become the best, while everything earthly should have burned in me and only heaven remained.

Work on the second volume of Dead Souls.

Last years of life. Returning to Russia, Gogol continues to work on the second volume of Dead Souls. For other travelers, returning to their homeland was also returning to their home. For Gogol, this was only a change in the place of his wanderings. As always, the road had a beneficial effect on him: “The road is my only medicine”; “... the road through our open steppes immediately did a miracle on me. Close to him and sympathizing with his spiritual searches, Kaluga governor A. O. Smirnova remarked: “He always needs to warm himself somewhere, then he is healthy.” And he “warmed up” with A. O. Smirnova, V. A. Zhukovsky, the Vielgorskys in Nice, S. P. Apraksina in Naples, M. P. Pogodin and Count A. P. Tolstoy in Moscow. He never had his own home. But he did not like and did not know how to be alone: ​​in St. Petersburg he lived through the wall with A. S. Danilevsky, I. G. Pashchenko, in Rome he was side by side with P. V. Annenkov, N. M. Yazykov, V. A. Panov.

An attempt to overcome loneliness was carried out by him only once. This happened in the family of Count Vielgorsky, a rich and noble courtier. His house was, as contemporaries write, the center of the capital's aristocratic life. The count himself was a good musician, and R. Schumann called him the most brilliant of amateurs. Vielgorsky was close to Karamzin, Zhukovsky, Pushkin and Gogol. largely thanks to him (. The auditor - got on stage. His son Joseph Mikhailovich died in 1839 in Rome in the arms of Gogol. With his youngest daughter, Anna Mikhailovna, something happened that Gogol himself obviously considered (a novel,). Anna Mikhailovna (aka Anolina, Nozi) eagerly listened to the writer's teachings and was in constant correspondence with him. But the friendship of a smart and kind girl, as it turned out, did not imply a closer relationship. Gogol's attempt to offer his hand and heart remained unanswered.

Gogol had no close friends throughout his life. Closed and distrustful, ironic and mocking, he did not trust anyone with his innermost thoughts and feelings.