Nikolai Vasilievich liked to dream up and create a mystical story in his stories, as can be seen from his famous stories “Viy”, “Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka”. But if the reader has to plunge into the fictional world of a folk character, then an analysis of Gogol's work “Portrait” shows that the author wanted to transfer fiction to social phenomena as well. In this, Nikolai Vasilievich reminds many foreign writers in whom the “supernatural” takes over the world. In our case, money is evil.
The inner confrontation of wealth and talent
At the beginning of the story, a young, promising artist Chartkov appears before the reader. He is poor, so he envies the fate of painters who should draw several paintings to bathe in luxury. The young man grumbles at his fate, because he has to live in obscurity and poverty. And here Gogol creates an atypical and absolutely fantastic situation. An analysis of the work “Portrait” shows the gradual transformation of Chartkov from a talented artist into an envious and greedy person who destroyed his talent.
In the shop on the Shchukin yard, the artist finds a mysterious portrait, which as a result becomes a source of enrichment. The painting contains a particle of the devilish soul of the usurer Petromichali. First, Chartkov buys engravings and mannequins with the money he gets in order to seriously engage in art, but then he gives in to temptation, acquiring completely useless and unnecessary things for him. It comes to the fact that a young man buys up talented paintings of other painters and destroys them at home.
An analysis of Gogol’s work “Portrait” shows that the desire to have everything at once can kill talent. Chartkov painted beautifully, but even his teacher noticed that he was impatient and was eyeing fashion trends. The teacher instructs the young artist so that he does not spend his talent on painting portraits for money. But Chartkov wants instant fame and money. An analysis of Gogol’s work “Portrait” shows that you have to pay for everything, the painter received wealth, but his brush became colorless, he lost his gift.
Atonement and service to art
N.V. Gogol "Portrait" wrote to contrast the completely different characters of people and their views on art. The author of the diabolical portrait was the father of the narrator. This man, as soon as he realized what power the picture has and what sin he committed, immediately went to the monastery to atone for his sins. The writer sees nothing wrong with the use of art to depict evil, but a person must repent of this and not destroy his talent.
An analysis of Gogol’s work “Portrait” shows that the icon painter, who spent more than one year in prayer, was able to paint a picture of Jesus' Christmas so that all of her characters seem alive. Even the abbot was struck by the sanctity of the figures, saying that a higher power drove with the brush of the painter. Nikolai Vasilievich, using two people as an example, showed his attitude to art. Chartkov went from talent to death, and the icon painter went from committing sin to good.