The Petersburg Stories by Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol is a series of amazing works. They carry the philosophical problem of choice and moral values.
What are the Petersburg Stories?
The main theme is the image of a little man, oppressed by life, devastated by his loneliness. Among other works of Russian classical literature, the St. Petersburg Tales is a real highlight.
A brief summary of these creations will refresh the famous sayings and the high Gogol's style. The article will be useful to students and applicants preparing for exams. A summary of the Petersburg Stories and their analysis are presented below. Pay attention to the main idea of the author.
"Nose"
The story uses a satire technique with which the author makes fun of greed, stinginess, and bribery. One of the masterpieces representing St. Petersburg Tales is Nose.
The summary is as follows: once a college assessor Kovalev wakes up in his apartment and discovers that he does not have a nose. He only had a “smooth spot." In a panic, Kovalev rushes to various representatives of the authorities in order to resolve this situation, but everyone dismisses him, because the matter seems extremely strange and not serious to them. Then Kovalev decides to act independently.
He finds his own nose and asks him to return to his place. The nose refuses the offer and declares that he is in itself an individual personality. This work is included in the St. Petersburg Tales series. The summary of the story will allow students to better prepare for literature lessons.
The basic idea
In this work, the talent of N.V. Gogol as a satirist. He denounces an unhealthy society in which the position of a person and his position are higher than the personality itself, more important than its needs and desires: who has a more serious title, is right, who has more money, who has a louder voice.
The comic nature of Kovalev’s position emphasizes the absurdity of the situation when a person’s individuality is violated and suppressed by external circumstances.
"Portrait"
The “portrait” of Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol can be described as the most mysterious and incredible story that could happen to the heroes of the work “Petersburg Tales”.
“Portrait” (a brief summary is presented below) is a striking story. Some little-known artist Chartkov, with his last resources, acquired a strange portrait in the picture shop. He could not explain why this creation attracted him so much, but his influence on the man turned out to be significant. As soon as the night thickened, the artist was afraid to go to bed because from everywhere he was dreaming of the eyes of the old man depicted in the portrait. When it was time to pay for the room, Chartkov found a bag of money in the portrait: he accidentally caught the eye with the inscription “thousand red hearts”. These funds, according to calculations, with a modest life, he should have been enough for three years.
The artist’s righteous voice told him that he should lock himself in the room and create from morning to night. But at the same time, Chartkov heard a different voice coming from a dark beginning: to live in a big way, to afford all that is enough money. Chartkov bought himself expensive clothes, dined and dined in restaurants, began to paint to order. He was dictated by the conditions and deadlines, paid a lot of money, and he had to fulfill these requirements. People who knew him before were surprised: where did his talent disappear? He began to work according to the pattern, liveliness gradually disappeared from the paintings.
Once Chartkov was at the exhibition of an unknown artist and was amazed at the talent of a young talent. Arriving home, he tried to start writing in the same elegant and original way, but his hand did not obey: his soul was empty, she was not worried about anything else. Chartkov understood that it was precisely when he was still a poor artist and had bold dreams for the future that he was truly happy. Neither money nor fame brought what was desired. The inability to go back to correct the mistakes of the past gave rise to envy in him. He bought the works of talented masters and destroyed them. After some time, Chartkov became seriously ill and died. This creation is part of the St. Petersburg Tales series. We presented the summary above.
The main theme of the story "Portrait"
In this work, Gogol shows the conflict of genuine talent with a demonic beginning. In the terrible eyes of the old man depicted in the portrait, the artist sees himself. He himself gave his soul to the devil, because the portrait that was once bought for pennies in a picture shop became so hateful to him. When God presents talent to a person, at the same time he gives him great responsibility in being able to correctly apply this talent in life. The more extraordinary a person is, the more temptations she encounters on the way.
"Overcoat"
This story is known to everyone since school. He enters into a cycle called St. Petersburg Tales.
“Overcoat” (read the summary below) is a very famous work. A titular adviser, Akaki Akakievich Bashmachkin, served in one department. In the service, he was so insignificant that sometimes he was not openly noticed, they teased him, could not say hello and pass by. Among the officials he was not respected, he was insulted, they could lower his salary or offend in some other way.
Akaki Akakievich never entered into gossip with anyone, but preferred to endure such an attitude towards himself. Once he went to the tailor to adjust his overcoat, but the master replied that the clothes were worn out in order, so it is better to change them. Then the titular adviser decided to save enough money for this. It was not easy: the salary he received was barely enough to feed himself. He had no family, children, friends.
For more than a year, Bashmachkin refused himself literally everything in order to collect the necessary amount: he often was malnourished, walked in rags alone. When the necessary amount was collected, Akaki Akakievich bought himself an overcoat. Colleagues congratulated him on the new thing and offered to mark this event. He returned home late, when two unidentified men approached him and took off his brand new overcoat. Bashmachkin's despair knew no bounds. He has lost the meaning of existence. From suffering grief, the titular adviser fell ill with tonsillitis and died a few days later. Sometimes, according to witnesses, in that place a ghost of a man appears who rips off his overcoats from his offenders, preventing them from making excuses. This work is included in the St. Petersburg Tales series. The summary of the story allows us to understand what the author wanted to convey to the reader.
The promise
The image of Akaky Akakievich contains the image of a small man, humiliated and offended by an unmerciful fate. The hero of Gogol sacrificed himself: he does not engage in self-development, does not fulfill his desires, but is only occupied with rewriting papers. All his thoughts are focused on service. By sacrificing himself, he received nothing. In the image of Bashmachkin, Gogol draws the image of a little man who does not know how to take responsibility for the well-being of his own life: anyone can offend him, and he does not even make any attempts to defend himself.
Conclusion
A brief summary of the Petersburg Stories shows that the image of a little man is the leitmotif of all the works. The loneliness of the heroes is stressed, unbearable: Kovalev is poor in heart, Chartkov gave his soul to the devil, lost his way of high mission as an artist, Bashmachkin is humiliated and crushed by circumstances. This is what the Petersburg Stories are like. A very brief summary of the works is presented in this article.