In this article we will describe the image of the landowners created by Gogol in the poem Dead Souls. The table compiled by us will help to remember information. We will consistently talk about the five heroes represented by the author in this work.
The image of the landowners in the poem Dead Souls by N. V. Gogol is briefly described in the following table.
| Landowner | Characteristic | Relation to a request for the sale of dead souls |
| Manilov | Vulgar and empty. A book with a bookmark on one page lies in his office for two years. His speech is sweet and cloying. | I was surprised. He thinks it is illegal, but he cannot refuse such a pleasant person. Gives free to peasants. He does not know how many souls he has. |
| Box | He knows the value of money, practical and economic. Stingy, stupid, clubhead, landowner-drive. | He wants to know why soul Chichikov. The number of dead people knows for sure (18 people). He looks at dead souls like hemp or fat: he suddenly comes in handy on the farm. |
| Nozdrev | It is considered a good friend, but is always ready to cheat on a friend. Kutila, a player in the cards, "broken small." Talking, he constantly jumps from one subject to another, uses abuse. | This landowner, it would seem, was easiest for Chichikov to get them, but he was the only one who left him with nothing. |
| Sobakevich | Indescribable, awkward, rude, unable to express experiences. A tough, evil serf, never missing out on benefits. | The smartest of all the landowners. Immediately saw through the guest, made a deal with benefit for himself. |
| Plyushkin | He once had a family, children, and he himself was a thrifty host. But the death of the mistress turned this man into a miser. He became, like many widowers, mean and suspicious. | Amazed and delighted his proposal, because there will be income. I agreed to sell souls at 30 kopecks (a total of 78 souls). |
Image of the landowners Gogol
In the work of Nikolai Vasilyevich, one of the main topics is the theme of the landlord class in Russia, as well as the ruling class (nobility), its role in society and its fate.
The main way Gogol used to portray various characters is satire. The heroes created by his pen reflected the process of gradual degeneration of the landowner class. Nikolay Vasilyevich reveals shortcomings and defects. Gogol's satire is colored by irony, which helped this writer to say directly about what it was impossible to speak openly in censorship conditions. At the same time, the laughter of Nikolai Vasilievich seems to us good-natured, but he does not spare anyone. Each phrase has a subtext, a hidden, deep meaning. Irony in general is a characteristic element of Gogol's satire. It is present not only in the speech of the author himself, but also in the speech of the heroes.
Irony is one of the essential features of Gogol's poetics, gives greater realism to the narrative, and becomes a means of analyzing the surrounding reality.
Compositional construction of a poem
The images of the landowners in the poem Dead Souls, the largest work of this author, are given in the most multifaceted and complete way. It is built as the story of the adventures of an official Chichikov, who buys "dead souls." The composition of the poem allowed the author to tell the author about the different villages and the hosts living in them. Almost half of the first volume (five of eleven chapters) is devoted to the characterization of different types of landowners in Russia. Nikolai Vasilyevich created five portraits that are not similar to each other, however, in each of them at the same time there are features that are typical of the Russian serfman. Acquaintance with them begins with Manilov and ends with Plyushkin. Such a construction is not accidental. There is a logic in this sequence: the process of impoverishment of a personās personality deepens from one image to another, it is more and more developing as a terrible picture of the collapse of feudal society.
Acquaintance with Manilov
Manilov is the first person to represent the image of landowners in the poem Dead Souls. The table only briefly describes it. Let us introduce you closer to this hero. The character of Manilov, which is described in the first chapter, manifests itself already in the surname itself. The story of this hero begins with the image of the village of Manilovka, few able to "lure" their location. The author describes with irony the masterās courtyard, created as an imitation of the English garden with a pond, bushes and the inscription "Temple of Solitary Thinking." External details help the writer create the image of landowners in the poem Dead Souls.
Manilov: the character of the hero
The author, speaking of Manilov, exclaims that only God knows what character this person had. By nature, he is kind, courteous, polite, but all this in his image takes on ugly, exaggerated forms. This landowner is sentimental and magnanimous to cloying. Festive and idyllic seems to him the relationship between people. Various relationships, in general, are one of the details that create the image of landowners in the poem Dead Souls. Manilov did not know life at all, his reality was replaced by empty fantasy. This hero loved to dream and reflect, sometimes even about things that were useful to the peasants. However, his ideas were far from the needs of life. He did not know about the real needs of serfs and never even thought about them. Manilov considers himself a bearer of culture. He was considered the most educated man in the army. Nikolai Vasilyevich ironically speaks about the house of this landowner, in which he always "had something missing," as well as about his sweet relationship with his wife.
Chichikovās conversation with Manilov about buying dead souls
Manilov in an episode of a conversation about buying dead souls is compared with an overly smart minister. Gogol's irony here invades, as it were, by chance in a forbidden area. Such a comparison means that the minister is not so different from Manilov, and āManilovismā is a typical phenomenon of the vulgar bureaucratic world.
Box
Let us describe another image of the landowners in the poem Dead Souls. The table has already briefly introduced you to the Box. We learn about it in the third chapter of the poem. Gogol refers this heroine to the number of small landowners who complain about losses and poor harvests and always keep their heads a little on one side, while collecting little money little by little in bags placed in the chest of drawers. This money is obtained by selling a wide variety of subsistence products. Interests and horizons Boxes are fully focused on her estate. Her whole life and economy are patriarchal in nature.
How did Korobochka respond to Chichikovās proposal?
The landowner realized that trading in dead souls was profitable, and agreed, after much persuasion, to sell them. The author, describing the image of the landowners in the poem "Dead Souls" (Box and other heroes), is ironic. For a long time, the "clubhead" cannot understand what exactly is required of her, which infuriates Chichikov. After that, she bargained with him for a long time, afraid to miscalculate.
Nozdrev
In the image of Nozdrev in the fifth chapter, Gogol paints a completely different form of decomposition of the nobility. This hero is a man of all trades. In his very face was something remote, direct, open. His "breadth of nature" is also characteristic. According to the ironic remark of Nikolai Vasilievich, Nozdrev is a āhistorical person,ā since he never went without stories at any meeting he could attend. He loses a lot of money with cards with a light heart, beats a simpleton at the fair and immediately āsquandersā everything. This hero is utter liar and reckless bouncer, a true master of "pouring bullets." He behaves defiantly everywhere, if not aggressively. The speech of this character is replete with swear words, he has at the same time the passion "to spoil his neighbor." Gogol in the image of Nozdrev created in Russian literature a new socio-psychological type of the so-called nozdrevschina. The image of the landowners in the poem Dead Souls is largely innovative. A brief image of the following characters is described below.
Sobakevich
The authorās satire in the image of Sobakevich, whom we meet in the fifth chapter, acquires a more revealing character. This character does not look much like previous landowners. This is a fisted cunning tradesman, "landowner-fist." He is alien to the violent folly of Nozdrev, the dreamy complacency of Manilov, as well as the hoarding of Korobochka. Sobakevich has an iron grip, he is laconic, on his mind. There are few people who could deceive him. Everything at this landowner is strong and durable. In all everyday objects surrounding him, Gogol is reflected in the characteristics of the character of this person. Everything is surprisingly reminiscent of the hero himself in his house. Each thing, as the author notes, seemed to say that she was "also Sobakevich."
Nikolai Vasilievich depicts a figure that strikes with rudeness. This man seemed to Chichikov like a bear. Sobakevich is a cynic who is not ashamed of either others or moral ugliness in himself. He is far from enlightenment. This is a die-hard serf, who only as a labor takes care of his own peasants. It is interesting that, besides this hero, no one understood the true essence of Chichikov's āvillainā, and Sobakevich understood perfectly well the essence of the proposal, reflecting the spirit of the times: everything can be sold and bought, profit should be maximized. Such is the generalized image of the landowners in the poem Dead Souls. The summary of the work, however, does not come down to portraying only these characters. We present to you the next landowner.
Plyushkin
The sixth chapter is devoted to Plyushkin. It features landowners in the poem "Dead Souls" are completed. The name of this hero has become a household name denoting moral degradation and stinginess. This image is the last degree of degeneration of the landlord class. Gogol begins his acquaintance with the character, as usual, with a description of the manor and the village of the landowner. At the same time, āspecial dilapidationā was noticeable on all buildings. Nikolai Vasilievich describes the picture of the ruin of the once rich serf. Its cause is not idleness and motivation, but the painful stinginess of the owner. Gogol calls this landowner a "hole in humanity." His appearance is characteristic - it is reminiscent of a housekeeper asexual creature. This character no longer causes laughter, only bitter disappointment.
Output
The image of the landowners in the poem "Dead Souls" (the table is presented above) is disclosed by the author multifaceted. The five characters that Gogol created in the work paint a versatile state of this class. Plyushkin, Sobakevich, Nozdrev, Korobochka, Manilov - different forms of one phenomenon - spiritual, social and economic decline. The characteristics of the landowners in Gogol's poem Dead Souls prove this.