In May 1842, the first volume of Gogol's âDead Soulsâ was published. The work was conceived by the author during his work on the âExaminerâ. In Dead Souls, Gogol addresses the main theme of his work: the ruling classes of Russian society. The writer himself said: "My creation is huge and great, and its end will not be soon." Indeed, âDead Soulsâ is an outstanding phenomenon in the history of Russian and world satire.
"Dead Souls" - Satire on Serfdom
Dead Souls is a work of critical realism. In this Gogol is the successor of Pushkin's prose. He himself speaks about this on the pages of the poem in a lyrical digression about the two types of writers (chapter VII).
Here a feature of Gogol's realism is revealed: the ability to expose and show in close-up all the flaws of human nature, which are not always striking. The Dead Souls reflected the basic principles of realism:
- Historicism The work was written about the modern writer of the time - the turn of the 20-30s of the XIX century - then serfdom experienced a serious crisis.
- Typical characters and circumstances. Landowners and bureaucrats are depicted satirically with a pronounced critical orientation, the main social types are shown. Gogol pays particular attention to details.
- Satirical typing. It is achieved by the author's characterization of the characters, comic situations, a reference to the past of the characters, hyperbolization, the use of comparative turns and proverbs in speech.
The meaning of the name: literal and metaphorical
Gogol planned to write a work of three volumes. As a basis, he took the "Divine Comedy" by Dante Alighieri. Similarly, Dead Souls were to be composed of three parts. Even the title of the poem refers the reader to Christian principles.
Why Dead Souls? The name itself is an oxymoron, a comparison of the disparate. The soul is a substance that is inherent in the living, but not dead. Using this technique, Gogol gives hope that not everything is lost, that a positive beginning in the crippled souls of landowners and officials can be revived. This was to be the second volume.
The meaning of the title of the poem "Dead Souls" lies in several planes. On the very surface - literal meaning, because it was dead souls that called dead peasants in bureaucratic documents. Actually, this is the essence of Chichikovâs fraud: to buy up the dead serfs and take money on their bail. In the circumstances of the sale of peasants and shown the main characters. "Dead souls" are the landowners and officials themselves, with which Chichikov is confronted, because there is nothing human, living in them. They are ruled by a thirst for profit (officials), poor mind (Box), cruelty (Nozdrev) and rudeness (Sobakevich).
The deep meaning of the name
All new aspects open up as you read the poem Dead Souls. The meaning of the name, hidden in the depths of the work, makes you think that any person, a simple layman, may eventually turn into Manilova or Nozdreva. It is enough in his heart to settle one small passion. And he will not notice how vice grows there. To this end, in chapter XI, Gogol urges the reader to look deep into his soul and check: âIs there also any part of Chichikov in me?â
Gogol laid in the poem Dead Souls the meaning of the name is multifaceted, opening up to the reader not immediately, but in the process of comprehending the work.
Genre originality
When analyzing Dead Souls, another question arises: "Why does Gogol position the work as a poem?" Indeed, the genre originality of creation is unique. In the process of working on the work, Gogol in his letters shared with his friends his creative finds, calling âDead Soulsâ both a poem and a novel.
On the title page of the first edition it was written: âThe Adventures of Chichikov, or Dead Soulsâ (censorship insisted on the first part) - and further the subtitle âPoemâ was highlighted. The writer himself insisted that this is how the Dead Souls was framed. The meaning of the title of the work by the poem comes down to the fact that Gogol planned to continue the work, and in the second and third volumes show the revival of vicious heroes. And then "Dead Souls" from satire will turn into a poem.
This does not exhaust the genre features of the work âDead Soulsâ. The meaning of the name of his poem is explained by Nikolai Vasilyevich himself in the manual on literature. There he calls a poem a genre intermediate between the epic and the novel. In the center of this genre should be a hero - an ordinary person, through the adventures of which the mores of the modern era are shown to him. Gogol cites Cervantes' Don Quixote as an example.
In addition, in âDead Soulsâ there is another aspect due to which the work is considered a poem - there are numerous lyrical digressions characteristic of this singing genre.
In addition to these qualities, Dead Souls closely borders on a rogue and even a social novel. But attributing a work to this genre is not worth it due to the lack of love affair.
Heroes and antiheroes in a poem
In the first volume of âDead Soulsâ (âHellâ by Dante), Gogol intended to show evil â vicious bureaucracy and the landlord class. It was realized through a system of images. Heroes-dead souls are those officials and landowners whom Chichikov meets, performing his ingenious machinations.
The images of the landowners are presented as spiritual decline and moral baseness increase. In describing each of them, Gogol focuses on the fact that this is not a special case, but the type of people: âManilov belongs to people so-soâ; Box - âOne of those mothersâ; "Such people as Nozdrev, had to meet a lot of everyone." Such morally impoverished people are created by the social environment. The poem pronounced a sentence on both the landlords and the entire feudal system as a whole.
Another negative image of the poem Dead Souls is bureaucracy. The city is ruined and a mess. The bureaucratic apparatus is the place where you can profitably earn. The process of taking bribes is on stream. Recall the episode when Chichikov gives a bribe to Ivan Antonovich. The officialâs actions have been brought to automatism: to see the bill - to cover with a piece of paper - to pretend that everything is in order.
Negative heroes form the meaning of the name of the poem - "Dead Souls". However, according to Gogol, not everything is so bad: he gives two heroes a chance to improve. The process of resurrection from the dead is associated with the category of movement. Two characters of the poem are shown in the development process: a biography of Chichikov and Plyushkin is given. By this, Gogol hints that they are able to change in the future.
Undoubtedly, the positive character in the poem is the author, revealed through lyrical digressions. He understands and loves Russia, sees huge potential in the Russian people. In addition, Gogol emphasizes the positive qualities of the Russian people: juicy language, hard work, honesty, originality, ingenuity. This is what will allow Russia to change and become a fabulous bird-three.
About the second volume of Dead Souls
In a state of deep creative crisis for ten years, Gogol writes the second volume of Dead Souls. In correspondence, he often complains to friends that the matter is very tight and does not particularly satisfy him.
Gogol refers to the harmonious, positive image of the landowner Kostanzhoglo: judicious, responsible, using scientific knowledge in the construction of the estate. Under his influence, Chichikov revises his attitude to reality and changes for the better.
Seeing in the poem "life lies", Gogol burned the second volume of "Dead Souls".