The story "Portrait" of Gogol (part 2), a brief summary of which is given in this article, is included in the series "Petersburg Tales". It was written in the years 1833-1843. First saw the light in the book "Arabesques", which was published in 1835. Over time, the author revised the text, the current version of the work has been known since 1842.
The story "Portrait"
The story "Portrait" of Gogol (part 2), the brief content of which you are reading now, consists of two parts. Before moving on to the second, you need to at least briefly familiarize yourself with what was in the first.
The work begins with a description of the life of a poor artist by the name of Chartkov. At the very beginning of the story "Portrait" of Gogol (a brief summary in parts gives an idea of the plot) the protagonist acquires an image of an old Asian unknown to him. In this case, this picture is unfinished. The author painstakingly wrote out only eyes that look as if alive. Everything else is shown as schematically as possible.
From the story "Portrait", a brief summary, a retelling of which you will find in this article, it becomes clear that Chartkov spent his last money on this picture. She fascinated him so much that he could not tear himself away. Together with her, he returns to his impoverished apartment, learns that while he was gone, the owner came again, demanding to make money for housing.
Chartkova is burdened by poverty. He is sure that life is being treated unfairly with him, because, despite his talent, he cannot get out of poverty. He goes to bed upset and hungry.
Portrait in the night
The mysterious and even mystical events in the novel "Portrait" of Gogol, a brief summary of the parts of which you are now reading, begin to occur on the very first night. The picture hangs on the wall, and when moonlight falls on it, the eyes begin to look frightening and piercing. Suddenly, the old man on the canvas starts to move, rests on the frame and jumps to the Chartkov bed.
From the folds of his robes, he takes out money, on each of the pieces of paper the inscription "1000 chervonny". In the story "Portrait" of Gogol, a brief summary in parts of which is given in this article, the artist looks at them with greed and lust. The old man recounts and puts them in a bag, at the last moment one piece of paper falls out and rolls to the side. Chartov imperceptibly grabs her ... And at the same moment she wakes up. At the same time, he has a persistent feeling that it was not a dream, but everything happened in reality.
How to make money?
This question torments the artist constantly, and especially this morning. He dreams of becoming the owner of at least a small part of the money that he saw with the old man. In addition, the owner of the apartment is again, and even with the quarter, demanding money for accommodation.
While Chartkov communicates with the owner, the quarterman takes a portrait of an Asian in his hand and gently presses on the frame. At this moment, a bundle falls out. In it lies a thousand pieces of gold. In Gogol’s novel “Portrait,” which you are currently reading a summary of, describes that there is no limit to Chartkov’s happiness. He is paying off his debts, renting new housing, and announcing his picturesque talent.
Soon he has rich customers, his life is getting better. He paints every portrait diligently, putting his soul into it. But over time, there are so many orders that he begins to hack. In addition, almost no one pays attention to this. The public worships him, although some critics even notice that the artist's works have less talent.
Everything changes when he sees the canvas of his old friend. Gogol’s novel “Portrait,” a summary of which you can find in this article, describes how astonished Chartkov is. This artist lived in poverty and oblivion for several years, but through hard work managed to achieve true perfection. The main character understands that he will never be able to reach such a level and begins to envy in black. Those years that he spent on making money killed a spark of talent in him.
From now on, he envies all talented painters. From the novel “Portrait” by N. V. Gogol, which you are now reading a summary of, we learn about his strange occupation. He buys up all the worthy paintings that he can find, and cuts the paintings into pieces at home. Soon he goes crazy, dying in terrible agony.
Part two
In the story "Portrait" of Gogol (part 2), a brief summary of which you are reading now, it is further described that the same portrait from Chartkov’s house was soon put up for auction. The old man's amazing eyes attracted buyers, prices rose rapidly. At the very height of the auction, a young man appeared who told everyone the story of this picture.
It turned out that his father lived near St. Petersburg. An Asian loan shark settled in the neighborhood. Tall, scary and with a heavy look. He built a huge house and began to give loans to everyone at high interest rates. Moreover, the money that he borrowed from him soon brought misfortune. The generous became mean, the good - envious, families started quarrels and scandals, even came to killings.
The father of this artist painted paintings on religious topics. Once he decided to portray the devil, it seemed to him that it would be best to take this loan shark as a model. Surprisingly, the Asian soon appeared on the threshold of his house and asked to paint his portrait.
The moneylender began to pose for him. My father painted a picture, investing all his talent in it, but at the same time managed to paint only the eyes of his customer. After that, he could not continue to work, it constantly seemed to him that his eyes came to life and were staring at him intently. Then the artist announced that he refused the order and he did not need money. The moneylender begged to finish the job, but he was adamant. The next day, the Asian died, bequeathed to the master.
The fate of the portrait
From the story "Portrait" of Gogol (part 2), a brief summary of which is given in this article, we learn that the artist hung a picture in his house. Soon, he felt the demonic influence of those eyes. He began to envy his disciple, and the expression of the eyes of the saints for icons began to acquire a devilish expression. Suspecting that the portrait of an Asian was to blame for everything, he wanted to destroy him, but one of his friends asked for a picture of himself.
As soon as the portrait was taken away, the father began to calm down, and the new owner began to feel the depressing power on the picture. From now on, the moneylender's painted face brought disaster to all its owners.
Before his death, the author of this picture bequeathed to his son, who also became an artist, the knowledge that creativity always contains some kind of devil power, it must be avoided by any means. Under the influence of this force, he then wrote the eyes of the usurer. He bequeathed to his son to find a portrait and destroy it. This story struck everyone so that when everyone looked at the scene again, the portrait was gone. Either someone stole it, or it disappeared mysteriously.
Story creation
Pushkin's The Queen of Spades, which everyone discussed in 1834, prompted Gogol to write this work. Contemporaries did not appreciate the work. After the failure of the "Examiner", the author left for Italy, where he reworked the work.
He changed many dialogs, character names. The main character was now called Chartkov, not Chertkov. The final has also changed. If earlier the figure of the moneylender disappeared from the picture, now the portrait itself has disappeared.
Composition
The story consists of two parts. In each of them, the main character is an artist. The writer demonstrates the fate of two talented painters who fall under the corrupting influence of the devilish eyes of a usurer.
Each of the masters succumbs to temptation, which is based on the envy of more talented colleagues in the shop.
Characteristics of Heroes
Speaking of characters, it is worth noting that the young painter Chartkov at the beginning of his career seeks to follow the truth of life. He is trying not only to draw, but to transfer the soul of a person to the canvas. But when there are a lot of orders, he gradually turns into an ordinary artisan who cares only about quantity and not about quality.
As soon as he becomes rich, he begins to look down on young and novice painters. He is invited to teach at the Academy of Arts, but as soon as he sees a truly talented work, he realizes that he has ruined his talent.
The artist’s father from the second part succumbs to a different kind of temptation. In the image of a moneylender, he is attracted by the opportunity to create a portrait of evil spirits. He perceives this as a challenge to his talent. At the same time, he feels that he is doing wrong, but professional interest prevails.
Analysis of the story "Portrait"
Summary, analysis of the story "Portrait" of Gogol were given above. It contrasts the fate of two talented artists.
It is worth noting that the author himself was at a crossroads during his work on this work. From early romanticism, he was increasingly inclined toward realism, but at the same time he did not yet fully comprehend for himself the transition to this new direction.
In this story, Gogol tries to answer the question of whether art is capable of thoroughly depicting the reality of life. Is it necessary? Or is the task of creativity - to paint reality exclusively by artistic means? Indeed, in the second part of the story, it was an attempt to unduly get closer to reality that led to the moneylender's eyes becoming the personification of evil that erupted into this world.
In the novel "Portrait" by N. V. Gogol, the analysis and summary of which you read, the writer claims that the author must be responsible for his creation.