Analysis of the story “Nevsky Prospekt” by Gogol: the essence, meaning and idea of the work. N. Gogol, “Nevsky Prospekt”. Analysis of the work Analysis of the episode describing Nevsky Prospekt
St. Petersburg as a symbol of the power of Russia and its unfading glory was sung by poets of the 18th and first half of the 19th centuries. The milestone in the development and implementation of the theme of St. Petersburg was the work of Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin. The enormous, multi-valued symbolic image of the Russian capital he created powerfully entered Russian literature. Never before has Gogol’s thought so piercingly and mercilessly exposed the reality of modern Russia. The entire cycle of stories was like a cry of indignation against all those who vulgarized her, dehumanized her, and made her unbearable. Pushkin’s understanding of the St. Petersburg theme determined its embodiment in the works of great writers of the 19th and 20th centuries. The first who embodied in his works the artistic discoveries of Pushkin in the historical, social and philosophical interpretation of the theme of St. Petersburg was Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol. Before Pushkin, works about St. Petersburg were descriptive in nature. Pushkin, a realist, created the image of modern St. Petersburg, explaining its existence, its past and present as the capital of the Russian Empire from the positions of historical and social, political and philosophical. In the first chapter of the novel “Eugene Onegin,” Pushkin, perhaps for the first time, painted in such detail and with such love the image of St. Petersburg that was dear and close to him. With quick strokes he sketched a portrait of the center of the capital. Nevsky Prospect, Summer Garden, Palace Embankment, Neva, theaters, white nights The charm of “Onegin” Petersburg is achieved both by the deeply lyrical tonality of the descriptions and by the light, pastel-transparent colors of the city’s portrait. But the main thing in the image of St. Petersburg in the first chapter of the novel is the historically accurately conveyed atmosphere of public life of the late 1810s, the atmosphere of hope, expectation of change, freedom and high spirituality. The image of the northern capital created by Pushkin in the first chapter of the novel is Decembrist Petersburg, Petersburg of high spirituality, a city that helps the new generation generated by the great war of liberation to selflessly seek ways to freedom for Russia, to its salvation from slavery.
Perhaps the most Pushkin-esque story is Gogol’s story “Nevsky Prospekt”. The poetics of Gogol's story, which gives the reader the key to understanding its deep content, is peculiarly focused in the title. The central street, symbolizing the city of Petrov, was made a hero. Nevsky Prospekt made it possible to accurately paint the social portrait of the capital of the bureaucratic state. Actions either take place or begin on the avenue. It is this principle – exposing the idea of conflict between man and city and socially conflicting relations between the residents of the capital – that was first created by Pushkin in his poetic St. Petersburg story “The Bronze Horseman”. Gogol was sensitive to Pushkin’s discoveries and had a truly miraculous ability to understand and unravel the “secret music” of truth, which he extracted from the poetic depiction of the ordinary. Gogol also emphasized the function of large space in the story “Nevsky Prospekt”. This was due to the writer's understanding of bureaucracy. Officialdom, according to Gogol, is the main enemy of the nation and people. It is to blame for all the disasters in Russia. It is especially dangerous in the capital
2. Petersburg in the life of Gogol
“Nevsky Prospekt” is based on the impressions of Gogol’s life in St. Petersburg. The writer turned to the big city, and a huge, terrible world was revealed to him, which destroys a person, kills him, turns him into a thing. Belinsky wrote: “Plays such as Nevsky Prospekt could have been written not only by a person with enormous talent and a brilliant view of things, but also by a person who at the same time knows St. Petersburg firsthand.”
The years of St. Petersburg life passed. The city amazed him with pictures of deep social contradictions and tragic social contrasts. Behind the external splendor of the capital, the writer more and more clearly discerned the soullessness and predatory inhumanity of the octopus city, destroying the living souls of small, poor people, inhabitants of attics and basements. And now the capital was no longer presented as a slender, austere mass, but as a heap of “houses piled one on top of the other, thundering streets, seething commercialism, this ugly heap of fashions, parades, officials, wild northern nights, splendor and low colorlessness”2. It was precisely this Petersburg that became the main character of Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol’s Petersburg Stories, the cycle of which includes the story “Nevsky Prospekt”, first published in “Arabesques” in 1835.
Having chosen the story “Nevsky Prospekt” as the object of our study, we will try to trace how Gogol manages to combine humor and satire in the development of the main theme.
What is the difference between humor and satire? Between humor and satire there is a whole range of shades of laughter - joke, mockery, irony, sarcasm. Humor is a friendly laugh, although not toothless, but softer. Satire is a castigating, revealing laughter that can cause greater offense than simple humor.
Gogol is a writer whose humorous talent had such a strong influence on all literature that it gave it a completely new direction. He creates humorous content by placing words next to each other that are not lexically combined. “You see something and expect something that matches the word - and suddenly.”
3. Nevsky Prospekt - the subject of artistic study by N.V. Gogol.
“There is nothing better than Nevsky Prospect, at least in St. Petersburg” - the story begins with these words of delight.
From the first words, the reader assumes that Gogol madly admires St. Petersburg and its main street, but this is a deception. Just as St. Petersburg in its metropolitan significance is elevated above Russia, Nevsky Prospekt is elevated above St. Petersburg itself. Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol paints this beauty of the main avenue of the cultural capital as a stage area on which, in accordance with the sequence, there are revelers, and at the same time inactive persons.
Nevsky Prospekt is the “universal communication of St. Petersburg”, connecting everyone to everyone. “Here is the only place where people are shown not out of necessity, where they have not been driven by necessity and the mercantile interest that embraces the whole of St. Petersburg,” is how Gogol initially describes Nevsky Prospekt. But the further you read, the more you realize that this is a myth. This idea is reinforced by the author's irony. “How clean its sidewalks are swept, and, God, how many feet have left their traces on it!” Only the “clumsy dirty boot of a retired soldier” can destroy blissful purity. The sidewalk, as an innocent creation of human hands, is subjected to terrible tests every minute: “the miniature light, like smoke, shoe of a young lady, and the rattling saber of a hopeful ensign, making a sharp scratch on it - everything takes out on it the power of strength or the power of weakness.” The restless and multifaceted procession along Nevsky Prospect from dawn to dark is a kind of carnival procession with the only important difference that the carnival interferes with people of different ranks, and the main street of the capital maintains partitions and distance between them.
The measured circulation of time corresponds to the orderly (ceremonial and official) circulation of people. Nevsky Prospekt is shown by Gogol at different times of the day (in the morning, from twelve o'clock, from three o'clock to noon). For people who appear in the early morning hours and for whom Nevsky Prospect does not represent a goal, it “serves only as a means.” At this time, the main avenue of St. Petersburg is “filled with old women in tattered dresses and cloaks,” beggars, “Russian men rushing to work, stained with lime,” those who have no time for festivities and who “have their own occupations, their own worries, their own annoyances.”
3. 1 How Gogol saw Nevsky Prospekt in the early morning hours.
In the morning, before lunch, noble Petersburg is still sleeping, despite the fact that the poor and working people (“the necessary people”) are already getting to work. Thanks to the combination of incongruous words: “noble brush; flying yesterday like a fly with chocolate” - it becomes clear that Gogol is laughing at the nobles and their empty troubles, and ordinary poor people, in Gogol’s understanding, are “the necessary people.” He does not say that nobles are not a necessary people, but the reader already independently understands what the author wants to tell him. At the same time, Gogol, resorting to hyperbole, speaks caustically about “Russian peasants”: “in boots stained with lime, which even the Catherine Canal, known for its cleanliness, would not be able to wash.” N.V. Gogol calls the common people Russian, but the nobles and high society are not called Russian. Blame it all on fashion! Fashion for everything French. All of Russia was obsessed with Europe, and Russian traditions were preserved only in simple families. And at a time when the “Russian people” appear on the street, it becomes indecent for ladies to walk along the street, because there, the author slightly ironizes, the “Russian people” like to express themselves in such harsh expressions, which they probably “won’t hear even in the theater “But are the ears of young ladies so ambitious? “At this time, no matter what you put on, no one will notice,” no one pays attention to anyone.
2. Irony as one of the main artistic techniques in depicting life on Nevsky Prospect during the day.
But by twelve o'clock the picture changes, and those who were there in the morning disappear. They are replaced by tutors with their pets. At this time, Nevsky Prospekt became a pedagogical one. What sciences can you learn here? And again Gogol is ironic and shows something completely different: tutors with decent respectability explain to their pupils what the signs on stores are for, and governesses teach fidgety girls how much higher they should hold their shoulders. They leave the stage at two.
But during the day, Nevsky Prospekt, as the author notes, will dazzle any observer with the best works of “nature and art.” By this time, having finished their household chores, ladies with their friends and employees of the foreign college, distinguished by the nobility of their knowledge and habits, go out for a walk. Gogol laughs at the habits of the nobles, at their stupidity and limitations. Through small details, the author conveys to the reader his attitude towards these people. Gogol uses the technique of metonymy: “a young lady’s light shoe as smoke,” “a dandy frock coat with the best beaver,” a man “bearing excellent sideburns,” a lady “carrying a pair of pretty eyes.” These people may seem strange to us because when they say “important homework” they mean talking to the doctor about the weather and a small pimple on the nose. They are not endowed with special intelligence, and the health of their children and horses is on the same side of the scale. Gogol, laughing at them, ironically remarked: “Fate has endowed them with the blessed title of officials on their own orders. God, what wonderful positions and services there are! How they elevate and delight the soul! But, alas! I did not serve and am deprived of the pleasure of seeing the subtle treatment of my superiors.” This pure bureaucratic public amazed with its extraordinary nobility and decency. It shows the most attractive surface of people and things. And nothing more than this superficial attractiveness. Therefore, in the motley phantasmagoria of changing pictures, illuminated by daylight, only dandy frock coats and sideburns, mustaches and dresses, sleeves and waists, pretty eyes and hats, legs, smiles and ties flash mixed in. This is all an “exhibition” put on public display, which hides the true the essence of people and things, hidden under the miniature diversity of the veil thrown over everything. The people in this "exhibition" don't matter. Gogol is not left with a feeling of ridicule and irony: “Everything is full of decency.” It is not without reason that the author animates the mustache and sideburns using the technique of synecdoche. It is important for him to show that external beauty and superficial decency are all just a colorful mask. The description not of the people themselves, but of individual parts of clothing simply shoots out from the general background of the story. Yes, and earlier Nevsky Prospekt was colorful and bright, but the detail of describing people through clothing gives such a dazzling and striking image that without this detail the true essence of a person would not be fully revealed. Gogol compares a woman to a sea of moths that have risen above the black male beetles, and the sleeves of her dresses “look like two balloons.” And how the author ironizes about a smile, noting: “a smile is the height of art.” She can do whatever she wants to a person. What about people? How strange they behave: “when they meet you, they will certainly look at your boots.” Gogol is at a loss as to who these people are. He even dares to suggest that these are shoemakers, but again deceives the reader by saying that these people “mostly serve in different departments.” It's all a deception and a game.
But three o'clock strikes and the crowd thins out. The street is filled with officials in green uniforms.
By four o’clock Nevsky Prospekt is empty and “it’s unlikely that you will meet even one official on it, perhaps some seamstress from a store, some visiting eccentric for whom all the hours are equal, some Englishwoman, some artel worker - no one else.” you will meet on Nevsky Prospekt.” But if you meet on it those (no matter how many there are) who have neither rank nor hours assigned to it, it means you won’t meet anyone at all.
3. 3 Nevsky Prospect at twilight.
Only at dusk, when the eyes can be deceived, but are not blinded by either the brilliance of the day or the darkness or brilliance of the night, does the underbelly of metropolitan life, its dark and secret depths, reveal itself. When it begins to get dark, young collegiate registrars, provincial and collegiate secretaries walk around for a very long time, unlike their old colleagues who sit at home, because “these are married people”: in the 19th century, marriage was considered a label, a married person lost his freedom, became a domesticated master who had no opinion of their own. Ostentatious nobility and decency give way to unsightly reality - unchanging passions and dirty vice. Although not reflected in the appearance of wealthy people, this baseness and dirt are stains on their souls. The attractive and funny phantasmagoria of the day gives way, in the end, to the gloomy phantasmagoria of the night.
Reading the description of Nevsky Prospekt and the people changing on it, you do not imagine that a whole chain of events will be built next. Gogol draws two storylines, two destinies, completely different from each other. There are two heroes in the story - Lieutenant Pirogov and the artist Piskarev. They meet once on Nevsky Prospekt. Gogol constantly contrasts two worlds with each other: the world of the nobles (or middle class) and the poor - the world of Pirogov and Piskarev. After the meeting on Nevsky, everyone went their own way.
4. Compositionally and ideologically - the artistic role of the short stories about the destinies of Lieutenant Pirogov and the artist Piskarev.
First, about the first story and about Piskarev. He is a typical artist with a secret world inside himself and a vulnerable soul. He has an ideal - beauty. He is passionately in love with beauty. Piskarev is a dreamer, a romantic, his best dreams merged with the image of a stranger. His soul was open to the beautiful and sublime. Nothing earthly prevented him from indulging in the joys of creativity. An enthusiastic dreamer, he was selflessly devoted to his art. It can be compared with Lensky (A. S. Pushkin’s novel “Eugene Onegin”). They both lived in dreams and could not look at the world through the eyes of a realist. The artist, having noticed one of the “wonderful creatures” on Nevsky Prospekt, follows her. Shocked by the girl's appearance, he created an ideal image in his imagination, which became an object of worship for him. Charming, beautiful, she is like a vision straight out of a painting by a great master. One look or smile of the beauty awakened conflicting thoughts, dreams, and hopes in the hero’s head, but the beauty turns out to be an inhabitant of a “disgusting den.” Piskarev, as a dreamer living outside of reality, opposes the main street with its secular crowd. He does not fit into the framework of the time and society that surrounds him. The artist Piskarev was a victim, as Gogol put it, of “the eternal conflict between dreams and reality.” This young man “belonged to that class, which constitutes a rather strange phenomenon among us and belongs just as much to the citizens of St. Petersburg as the person who appears to us in a dream belongs to the essential world.” Gogol questions the fact that an artist can live in gloomy, gray, smooth and pale Petersburg. He believes that this is not a suitable place for creativity. He sees Italy as a saving place. Piskarev, in the author’s eyes, was “shy, timid, but in his soul he carried sparks of feeling, ready to turn into flame at the right opportunity.” And this spark flared up when our artist saw a mysterious stranger on Nevsky. Unfortunately, his feelings were not destined to burn for long. It was unrequited love that burned him from the inside and killed him. After this meeting, the unfortunate artist plunged into a world of illusions and dreams. The worst thing that can happen to a young man happened to him - he lost the desire to create and the taste for life. He did not live, but existed. He was no longer interested in creativity. Painting was abandoned. Waking up in the morning, I waited for the night, did not eat and did not leave the room. In his sleep, all his dreams became reality. He no longer understood that the world in which he lived was just his imagination, but he did not want to return to harsh reality. And then one day he didn’t return. His life was cut short before it even began. On the day of his funeral, there was no one, and no one cried over him, except for the “soldier-guard, and that was because he drank an extra glass of vodka.”
This story could not help but touch the reader’s soul; it is filled with lyricism, drama and bitter disappointments. It was a shame to realize that the ball at which Piskarev found himself and where he again met the mysterious stranger turned out to be a dream. All the dreams and hopes of the young artist, and the author too, instantly collapsed. Gogol seems to deliberately give hope for the best and immediately take it away. He, like fate, plays with his hero. Gogol's attitude towards Piskarev is ambivalent. On the one hand, he is deeply sympathetic to the character of this noble dreamer, who indignantly rejects the false and vulgar foundations of the modern world. However, on the other hand, the writer cannot help but feel the groundlessness of the romantic ideal of his hero. Gogol saw Piskarev’s weakness and the infidelity of his life position.
The satirical, accusatory content of the story is especially strongly expressed in the second short story, dedicated to Pirogov. Pirogov is a typical representative of the middle class. He is an officer who has earned this rank through many years of work. He was pleased with his rank, had many talents: “he recited poems from “Dmitry Donskoy” and “Woe from Wit”, had his own art of blowing smoke rings, and knew how to tell jokes very pleasantly.” Limited and self-confident, successful, successful, always in an excellent mood, Pirogov was completely alien to any kind of moral torment. Unlike Piskarev, the lieutenant was completely immersed in St. Petersburg society and was part of it. He was an ordinary participant in the “exhibition”. Pirogov's fate turned out completely differently. Having followed a young German woman, he discovers her place of residence. He is not even embarrassed by the fact that she is married to a German artisan. The girl rejects the impudent advances of her new acquaintance, but this does not stop him, because this man is not used to rejection. And Pirogov gets his way, after which he is beaten by two Germans (his husband and his friend), but he does not consider himself guilty. At first the lieutenant was indignant, wanted to complain, and then, as the author sarcastically notes, he ate two puff pastries in the pastry shop, calmed down, and even distinguished himself in the mazurka that same evening.
Lieutenant Pirogov does not evoke any sympathy. Why feel sorry for him? He is as vile and low as most representatives of his class, who live only for entertainment, balls and fleeting romances. His fate is not controlled by malicious satire, he himself is the culprit of the situation that happened to him. The writer created a very bright human type, which became a household name for many aspects of contemporary social existence. His story evokes more laughter and indignation than compassion. Pirogov's entire essence is insignificant and stupid. He is a narcissistic egoist who, for the sake of his whim, practically destroyed someone else’s family and at the same time felt no remorse. His conscience was silent. He himself feels ridiculous and funny from this story that happened to him. For him, this is just entertainment, an opportunity to diversify his life, and he is happily ready to plunge into some new adventure again. The image of Pirogov is one of Gogol's best artistic creations. In terms of the strength and depth of generalization, he is perhaps on a par with Khlestakov and Chichikov.
There is an opinion that both stories can be perceived as two independent stories. Maybe Gogol decided to weave two separate stories into one? Outwardly, there are similarities: both heroes ended up on Nevsky Prospekt, and both got carried away (although each of them understands love in their own way). Only one of them quickly consoled himself with pies in a pastry shop, while the other committed suicide. Piskarev and Pirogov are two opposite heroes. They are connected only by a walk along Nevsky.
Note that Gogol uses the principle of a speaking surname. Piskarev is represented by a small fish living in a huge ocean, among others unlike him. He is also not noticeable to anyone, almost no one knows him. It can be compared to a small fish - a gudgeon. Gogol contrasts the names of Schiller (“a pretty good shoemaker”) and Hoffmann with the names of the romantic writer Schiller and the science fiction writer Hoffmann. Pirogov, as the author himself notes, fully lives up to his name. He kills his grief by eating a couple of pies. Belinsky will say about him: “Pirogov! - he exclaimed. - Saints! Yes, this is a whole beauty, a whole people, a whole nation! "
“Nevsky Prospekt” connects the incompatible – Lieutenant Pirogov and the artist Piskarev. Two human characters. Two destinies, two completely different views on reality - Gogol collides all this in his story. The characters give a vivid idea of the complexity of life in St. Petersburg, of the vigilance and sharpness of the writer’s artistic vision. Gogol leads the reader to the conclusion: what a strange city Petersburg is, in which honest, unprotected talent perishes and arrogant, self-righteous vulgarity prospers!
At the end of the story, N.V. Gogol again returns to Nevsky Prospect to tear off its beautiful covers and express all his hatred for the capitalist city with its corruption and indifference to everything beautiful and to man. Petersburg in the story is presented as a dual city. Gogol makes a lot of irony about St. Petersburg and its inhabitants. He is disgusted by the masks that the city has put on itself. The author really wants to rip them off, but people are so accustomed to these masks that they have already lost themselves and their own essence. The writer emphasizes the contradiction of the city between appearance and essence (“everything is not what it seems”). In the story, the strange is intertwined with the everyday, the real with the fantastic, the majestic with the base, the beautiful with the ugly. At the same time, there is a deeply realistic vision of St. Petersburg.
5. Irony and satire as an integral part of the narrative about the life of Nevsky Prospekt.
Satire in the story is presented in the guise of fate. She laughs at Piskarev, not pitying him, because he is not a hero of his time, and Pirogov is a completely realistic person (if he can be called a person). He lives by the rules of his time, and Piskarev is an ordinary eccentric, to whom fate is not so favorable. This person is not created for life, he does not know how to survive.
The humor in the story is Petersburg. Outwardly bright, ambitious, festive, but inside gray, dirty, boring. There is a grain of irony in every description of a noble resident. It is impossible to talk about them without smiling and mocking.
Drama is life. Everyone approaches life differently. For Piskarev, the drama is disappointment in a loved one, and for Pirogov, it is the refusal of his advances and attention by a pretty German woman. And in whose life was the true drama?
When the story reached the censor, he became enraged. Write how shamefully the officer was whipped - and even the lieutenant! - some German craftsmen. This is a subversion of the very foundations! There is no doubt that this cannot be printed.
Concerned about the fate of his story, Gogol turned to Pushkin for advice. Pushkin responded with a short note: “I read it with great pleasure. It seems like everything can be missed. It’s a pity to release the section: it seems to me that it is necessary for the full effect of the evening mazurka. Perhaps God will bear it! With God blessing!". However, God could not bear it, and Gogol had to convey the end of the story, only transparently hinting at the punishment that befell Lieutenant Pirogov.
“Fate plays us strangely, strange incidents happen on Nevsky Prospekt!” - Gogol exclaims more than once in this story.
Conclusion
In the story “Nevsky Prospekt” (as, indeed, in other works of art), N.V. Gogol talentedly uses various comic techniques and no less talentedly combines the dramatic and the comic.
Work on the topic of this study made it possible to see the features of Gogol’s artistic style, enriching the author of this study with new literary knowledge and new experience in literary analysis.
Tatyana Alekseevna KALGANOVA (1941) - Candidate of Pedagogical Sciences, Associate Professor at the Institute for Advanced Training and Retraining of Public Education Workers of the Moscow Region; author of many works on methods of teaching literature at school.
Study of the story by N.V. Gogol's "Nevsky Prospekt" in 10th grade
Work materials for teachers
From the history of the creation of the story
“Nevsky Prospekt” was first published in the collection “Arabesques” (1835), which was highly appreciated by V.G. Belinsky. Gogol began working on the story during the creation of “Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka” (around 1831). His notebook contains sketches of “Nevsky Prospekt” along with rough notes of “The Night Before Christmas” and “Portrait”.
Gogol's stories "Nevsky Prospekt", "Notes of a Madman", "Portrait" (1835), "The Nose" (1836), "The Overcoat" (1842) belong to the cycle of St. Petersburg stories. The writer himself did not combine them into a special cycle. All of them were written at different times, do not have a common narrator or fictional publisher, but entered Russian literature and culture as an artistic whole, as a cycle. This happened because the stories are united by a common theme (the life of St. Petersburg), problems (reflection of social contradictions), the similarity of the main character (“little man”), and the integrity of the author’s position (satirical exposure of the vices of people and society).
Subject of the story
The main theme of the story is the life of St. Petersburg and the fate of the “little man” in the big city with its social contrasts, causing a discord between ideas about the ideal and reality. Along with the main theme, the themes of people's indifference, the replacement of spirituality with mercantile interests, the corruption of love, and the harmful effects of drugs on humans are revealed.
Plot and composition of the story
They become clear during the conversation. Sample questions.
What role does the description of Nevsky Prospect play at the beginning of the story?
What moment is the beginning of the action?
What is the fate of Piskarev?
What is the fate of Pirogov?
What role does the description of Nevsky Prospect play in the ending of the story?
Gogol combines in the story the image of general, typical aspects of life in a big city with the fate of individual heroes. The general picture of life in St. Petersburg is revealed in the description of Nevsky Prospect, as well as in the author’s generalizations throughout the narrative. Thus, the fate of the hero is given in the general movement of the life of the city.
The description of Nevsky Prospect at the beginning of the story is an exposition. The unexpected exclamation of Lieutenant Pirogov addressed to Piskarev, their dialogue and following the beautiful strangers is the beginning of the action with two contrasting endings. The story also ends with a description of Nevsky Prospekt and the author’s reasoning about it, which is a compositional device that contains both a generalization and a conclusion that reveals the idea of the story.
Description of Nevsky Prospekt
Considered during the conversation. Sample questions.
What role does Nevsky Prospekt play in the life of the city, and how does the author feel about it?
How are the social contrasts and disunity of the city residents shown?
How is the discrepancy between the ostentatious side of the life of the noble class and its true essence revealed? What qualities of people does the author ridicule?
How does the demon motif arise in the description of the evening Nevsky Prospect at the beginning of the story? How is it continued in the subsequent narrative?
How are the descriptions of Nevsky Prospekt at the beginning of the story and at the end connected?
The author begins the story with solemnly upbeat phrases about Nevsky Prospekt and notes that this is “the universal communication of St. Petersburg,” a place where you can get “true news” better than in the address calendar or information service, this is a place for walking, this is an “exhibition.” all the best works of man." At the same time, Nevsky Prospekt is a mirror of the capital, which reflects its life, it is the personification of the whole of St. Petersburg with its striking contrasts.
Literary scholars believe that the description of Nevsky Prospekt at the beginning of the story represents a kind of “physiological” sketch of St. Petersburg. Its depiction at different times of the day allows the author to characterize the social structure of the city. First of all, he singles out ordinary working people, on whom all life rests, and for them Nevsky Prospekt is not a goal, “it serves only as a means.”
Ordinary people are opposed to the nobility, for whom Nevsky Prospect is the goal - this is a place where one can show oneself. The story about the “pedagogical” Nevsky Prospekt with “tutors of all nations” and their students, as well as about nobles and officials walking along the avenue, is permeated with irony.
Showing the falsehood of Nevsky Prospect, the seamy side of life hidden behind its ceremonial appearance, its tragic side, exposing the emptiness of the inner world of those walking along it, their hypocrisy, the author uses ironic pathos. This is emphasized by the fact that instead of people, the details of their appearance or clothing act: “Here you will meet a wonderful mustache, impossible to depict with any pen or brush.”<...>Thousands of varieties of hats, dresses, scarves<...>Here you will find such waists as you have never even dreamed of.<...>And what kind of long sleeves you will find.”
The description of the avenue is given in a realistic manner, at the same time, the story about the changes on Nevsky is preceded by the phrase: “What a fast phantasmagoria is happening on it in just one day.” The illusory, deceptive nature of the evening Nevsky Prospect is explained not only by twilight, the bizarre light of lanterns and lamps, but also by the action of an unconscious, mysterious force influencing a person: “At this time, some kind of goal is felt, or, better, something similar to a goal that something extremely unaccountable; Everyone’s steps speed up and generally become very uneven. Long shadows flicker along the walls of the pavement and almost reach the Police Bridge with their heads.” Thus, fantasy and the demon motif are included in the description of Nevsky Prospect.
The hero’s experiences and actions are explained, it would seem, by his psychological state, but they can also be perceived as the actions of a demon: “...The beauty looked around, and it seemed to him as if a light smile flashed on her lips. He trembled all over and couldn’t believe his eyes<...>The sidewalk rushed under him, carriages with galloping horses seemed motionless, the bridge stretched and broke on its arch, the house stood with its roof down, the booth was falling towards him, and the sentry's halberd, along with the golden words of the sign and painted scissors, seemed to shine on his very eyelash eye. And all this was accomplished by one glance, one turn of the pretty head. Without hearing, without seeing, without heeding, he rushed along the light tracks of beautiful legs...”
Piskarev’s fantastic dream can also be explained in two ways: “The extraordinary diversity of faces led him into complete confusion; it seemed to him that some demon had chopped up the whole world into many different pieces and mixed all these pieces together without meaning, to no avail.”
At the end of the story, the motive of the demon is revealed openly: the source of lies and falsehood of the incomprehensible game with the destinies of people, according to the author, is the demon: “Oh, don’t believe this Nevsky Prospect!<...>Everything is a deception, everything is a dream, everything is not what it seems!<...>He lies at all times, this Nevsky Prospekt, but most of all, when the night falls like a condensed mass on him and separates the white and fawn walls of the houses, when the whole city turns into thunder and brilliance, myriads of carriages fall from the bridges, postilions shout and jump on horses and when the demon himself lights the lamps only to show everything in an unreal form.”
Artist Piskarev
Sample questions for conversation.
Why did Piskarev follow the girl? How does the author convey his feeling?
Who was the girl? Why did Piskarev escape from the “disgusting shelter”?
How does a girl's appearance change?
Why did Piskarev choose real life over illusions? Could illusions replace real life for him?
How did Piskarev die, why was he wrong in his crazy act?
Piskarev is a young man, an artist, belongs to people of art, and this is his unusualness. The author says that he belongs to the “class” of artists, to a “strange class,” thereby emphasizing the typicality of the hero.
Like other young artists of St. Petersburg, the author characterizes Piskarev as a poor man, living in a small room, content with what he has, but striving for wealth. This is a “quiet, timid, modest, childishly simple-minded person who carried within himself a spark of talent, which, perhaps, over time flared up widely and brightly,” a person. The hero's surname emphasizes his ordinariness and recalls the type of “little man” in literature.
Piskarev believes in the harmony of goodness and beauty, pure, sincere love, and lofty ideals. He followed the stranger only because he saw in her the ideal of beauty and purity; she reminded him of Perugin’s Bianca. But the beautiful stranger turned out to be a prostitute, and Piskarev tragically experiences the collapse of his ideals. The charm of beauty and innocence turned out to be a deception. Ruthless reality destroyed his dreams, and the artist fled from the disgusting shelter where he was brought by a seventeen-year-old beauty, whose beauty, which had not had time to fade from debauchery, was not combined with a smile filled with “some kind of pathetic impudence,” all she said was “ stupid and vulgar<...>It’s as if the person’s mind leaves along with his integrity.”
The author, sharing Piskarev’s shocked feeling, writes with bitterness: “...A woman, this beauty of the world, the crown of creation, turned into some strange ambiguous creature, where she, along with the purity of her soul, lost everything feminine and disgustingly appropriated to herself the grasp and impudence of a man and has already ceased to be that weak, that beautiful and so different from us being.”
Piskarev is unable to bear the fact that the beauty of a woman who gives the world new life can be an object of trade, because this is a desecration of beauty, love and humanity. He was overcome by a feeling of “tearing pity,” the author notes and explains: “In fact, pity never takes possession of us so strongly as at the sight of beauty touched by the corrupting breath of depravity. Even if ugliness were friends with him, but beauty, tender beauty... it merges only with purity and purity in our thoughts.”
Being under strong psychological stress, Piskarev has a dream in which his beauty appears as a society lady, trying to explain her visit to the shelter with her secret. The dream inspired Piskarev with hope, which was destroyed by the cruel and vulgar side of life: “The desired image appeared to him almost every day, always in a position opposite to reality, because his thoughts were completely pure, like the thoughts of a child.” Therefore, he tries artificially, by taking the drug, to go into the world of dreams and illusions. However, dreams and illusions cannot replace real life.
The dream of quiet happiness in a village house, of a modest life provided for by one’s own labor, is rejected by the fallen beauty. “How can you! - she interrupted her speech with an expression of some kind of contempt. “I’m not a laundress or a seamstress to do the work.” Assessing the situation, the author says: “These words expressed the entire low, despicable life, a life filled with emptiness and idleness, faithful companions of depravity.” And further, in the author’s thoughts about the beauty, the demon’s motif again arises: “... She was thrown with laughter into its abyss by some terrible will of a hellish spirit, eager to destroy the harmony of life.” During the time that the artist did not see the girl, she changed for the worse - sleepless nights of debauchery and drunkenness were reflected on her face.
The poor artist could not survive, as the author puts it, “the eternal conflict between dreams and reality.” He could not stand the confrontation with harsh reality; the drug completely destroyed his psyche, depriving him of the opportunity to do work and resist fate. Piskarev commits suicide. He is wrong in this crazy act: the Christian religion considers life the greatest good, and suicide a great sin. Also, from the point of view of secular morality, taking one’s life is unacceptable - this is a passive form of resolving life’s contradictions, for an active person can always find a way out of the most difficult, seemingly insoluble situations.
Lieutenant Pirogov
Sample questions for conversation.
Why did Pirogov follow the blonde?
Where did Pirogov end up after the beauty, who did she turn out to be?
Why is Pirogov courting a married lady?
What is ridiculed in the image of Schiller?
How does Pirogov's story end?
What is being ridiculed in the image of Pirogov, and how does the author do it?
What is the meaning of comparing the images of Piskarev and Pirogov?
The author says about Lieutenant Pirogov that officers like him constitute “some kind of middle class of society in St. Petersburg,” thereby emphasizing the typical character of the hero. Talking about these officers, the author, of course, characterizes Pirogov. 
In their circle they are considered educated people because they know how to entertain women, they like to talk about literature: “they praise Bulgarin, Pushkin and Grech and speak with contempt and witty barbs about A.A. Orlov,” that is, they put Pushkin and Bulgarin on a par, the author ironically notes. They go to the theater to show themselves. Their life goal is to “earn the rank of colonel” and achieve a wealthy position. They usually “marry a merchant’s daughter who can play the piano, with a hundred thousand or so in cash and a bunch of big-haired relatives.”
Characterizing Pirogov, the author talks about his talents, in fact, reveals such of his traits as careerism, narrow-mindedness, arrogance, self-confident vulgarity, and the desire to imitate what is in fashion among a select public.
For Pirogov, love is just an interesting adventure, an “affair” that you can brag about to your friends. The lieutenant, not at all embarrassed, rather vulgarly looks after the wife of the artisan Schiller and is sure that “his courtesy and brilliant rank give him full right to her attention.” He does not bother himself at all with thoughts about life's problems, he strives for pleasure.
The test of Pirogov’s honor and dignity was the “section” to which Schiller subjected him. Quickly forgetting his insult, he discovered a complete lack of human dignity: “he spent the evening with pleasure and distinguished himself so much in the mazurka that he delighted not only the ladies, but even the gentlemen.”
The images of Pirogov and Piskarev are associated with opposing moral principles in the characters’ characters. The comic image of Pirogov is contrasted with the tragic image of Piskarev. “Piskarev and Pirogov - what a contrast! Both of them began on the same day, at the same hour, the pursuit of their beauties, and how different were the consequences of these pursuits for both of them! Oh, what meaning is hidden in this contrast! And what an effect this contrast produces!” - wrote V.G. Belinsky.
Schiller, tinsmith
Images of German craftsmen - tinsmith master Schiller, shoemaker Hoffmann, carpenter Kunz - complement the social picture of St. Petersburg. Schiller is the embodiment of commercialism. Accumulating money is the goal of this artisan’s life, therefore strict calculation, limiting himself in everything, suppressing sincere human feelings determine his behavior. At the same time, jealousy awakens a sense of dignity in Schiller, and he, while drunk, not thinking about the consequences at that moment, together with his friends, flogged Pirogov.
In the draft version, the hero's surname was Palitrin.
This refers to a painting by the artist Perugino (1446–1524), Raphael’s teacher.
The article was published with the support of the online store MSK-MODA.ru. By following the link http://msk-moda.ru/woman/platya, you will get acquainted with a truly amazing (more than 200 models) assortment of evening dresses. The site's convenient search engine will help you choose stylish clothes or shoes according to your sizes and preferences. Follow fashion trends with the website MSK-MODA.ru!
Life in St. Petersburg left a deep imprint on the work of Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol. Being impressed by Northern Palmyra, the writer dedicated several works to it, among which was the story “Nevsky Prospekt”. We suggest that you familiarize yourself with the literary analysis of the work, which will be useful in preparing for a literature lesson in the 10th grade.
Brief Analysis
Year of writing– 1834.
History of creation– Life in St. Petersburg had a great influence on the young writer, who wrote several stories dedicated to the northern capital. Among them was the story “Nevsky Prospekt”.
Subject- Life of St. Petersburg and the fate of the “little man” in the big city.
Composition- The composition of the work is presented in such a way that the life of the entire city is revealed in the best possible way through the description of Nevsky Prospekt. The compositional structure of the story is as follows: the beginning (a meeting of two friends), the development of events (the artist tries to save a fallen woman, and the lieutenant starts an affair with a married lady), the climax (the fallen woman refuses to marry the artist, the lieutenant is beaten by the husband of his passion), the denouement ( the violated honor of the lieutenant, the death of the artist).
Genre- A story.
Direction– Social-critical realism.
History of creation
In 1831, the writer had an idea to write a story, the central character of which would be the amazing, majestic and very controversial St. Petersburg. Gogol made several sketches describing the city, which always deeply worried him. The writer loved to take long walks along the cobbled streets of St. Petersburg, observing the life of the northern capital and the morals of its inhabitants. He absorbed and memorized random conversations and everyday scenes, which later became part of his work.
Work on Nevsky Prospekt was completed in October 1834, and a month later, having successfully survived criticism and censorship, the story was published in the literary collection Arabesques.
This work is considered one of the cycle of St. Petersburg stories by Nikolai Vasilyevich, in which he surprisingly subtly described the many-sided life of Northern Palmyra, including its darkest sides.
The meaning of the story's title is that the famous Nevsky Prospect has always been considered the very heart of St. Petersburg, its personification. Thus, through the prism of relationships between people, this avenue, so beautiful in appearance, reflects the life of the entire city.
Subject
The central theme of the work- the fate of a “little man” in a big city, with its pronounced social contrasts, causing in people an internal conflict between ideas about the ideal and the harsh reality of life.
The writer reveals himself moral issues. Thus, the seventeen-year-old girl with whom the artist falls in love, despite her young age, is already deeply mired in the abyss of vice. She contemptuously rejects Piskarev’s proposal to change her life and become an exemplary wife; she is simply not interested. Lieutenant Pirogov is not embarrassed by the married status of the charming blonde. Without a drop of embarrassment, he is ready to seduce a young woman to satisfy his own whim.
Using the example of the artist Piskarev, the author fully reveals the theme of loneliness. Living in a large, crowded city, surrounded by thousands of people, the young man is left alone with his own problems. Unable to cope with mental anguish, he comes to the cowardly conclusion - to voluntarily die. And even those around him learn about his death only a few days later, and no one comes to the funeral. Indifference to one's neighbors acquires catastrophic proportions; a person ceases to be a value.
Subtle, romantic natures, desperately seeking ideals, are unable to cope with the frightening realities of everyday life. Often, behind a beautiful appearance, an ugly soul is hidden, and the purest intentions are broken by falsehood and indifference. This is how the author conveys the main the idea of your work- an inevitable and for many tragic contradiction between illusions and reality, a clash of a living, trembling soul with the destructive power of deception.
Composition
Carrying out an analysis of the work in the story “Nevsky Prospekt”, one should note its somewhat unusual compositional structure. Gogol reveals the general picture of the life of St. Petersburg, with all its vices, passions and temptations, in his description of Nevsky Prospect, as well as in the author’s generalizations during the narrative. The fates of the main characters in the story are viewed through the prism of the general movement of city life.
Nikolai Vasilyevich attaches great importance to a thorough description of Nevsky Prospekt, using various artistic means. Its depiction at different times of the day allows the author to make a very accurate description of the social structure of the entire northern capital.
The composition of the story is very traditional and consists of successive parts:
- plot- a meeting of two friends, each of whom chooses his own path in life, the search for a personal “ideal”;
- developments represents a parallel development of two storylines: the artist is trying to save the “fallen angel,” while the lieutenant is in full swing after a married woman;
- climax also represented by two events: the artist’s proposal of marriage to a fallen woman and her refusal, as well as the flogging of the lieutenant by the husband of his passion;
- denouement- the desecrated honor of Lieutenant Pirogov and the deserted funeral of the young artist Piskarev;
- epilogue- a description of Nevsky Prospekt, in which everything is ephemeral and untrue.
Genre
Gogol's work "Nevsky Prospekt" is written in the genre of a story. Since the main idea of the work is accusatory, we can say that the story belongs to the literary movement called social-critical realism.
Work test
Rating analysis
Average rating: 4.5. Total ratings received: 304.
The story “Nevsky Prospekt” by Gogol reveals to readers a picture of the life of two men who walk along the central street of the city and attract the attention of young girls. Two young men - an artist named Piskarev and his comrade, Lieutenant Pirogov - are infatuated with two females, each of whom they consider ideal by their own standards. For the painter, who is a delicate and sensual nature, the image of the seventeen-year-old girl he saw seems beautiful and pure. In fact, she works in the dirtiest place - a brothel.
Despite the fact that Piskarev in reality understands who the stranger really is, he tries to find an excuse for her lifestyle. In his subconscious, he does not want to come to terms with what really is. He constantly dreams of the girl, he is delusional with the idea of marrying her. Piskarev proposes marriage to a young lady, and she simply mocks him. Ultimately, he commits suicide.
For his friend Pirogov, the situation is simpler - his stranger is married to a German named Schiller. But this does not bother the young man, and he continues his persistent courtship of the blonde. But one day the German discovers a lieutenant in his house and throws him out in disgrace. In a fit of anger, feeling humiliated and insulted, Pirogov rushes to go to the general and complain about Schiller. But later he abandons this idea.
The main idea of the work is a certain contrast that St. Petersburg creates. On the one hand, the city is replete and shining with different faces, chic clothes, people of different classes and outlooks on life. But reality is significantly different from human desires and the reality of the world. It is difficult for a person with weak willpower and too sensitive to the world around him to adapt to reality. The world seems too cruel for him, reality is unbearable. This character trait is clearly expressed by the writer in the image of the artist Piskarev. The reality of St. Petersburg broke him, and the only way out of this situation for the painter was suicide.
Pirogov, a soulless and cowardly man, turned out to be the direct opposite of his friend. People like him look at things more realistically, they think only about themselves, their well-being. It is important to them how society views their social status. Individuals like Pirogov have no moral principles, they are selfish and actually stupid.
The essence of the story “Nevsky Prospekt” is that the walls of a large, majestic city are by no means welcoming for such dreamers and seekers of the pure and beautiful as the artist Piskarev. On the contrary, everything here is saturated with cynicism, commercialism and soullessness. Only the spoiled, callous and indifferent to the feelings of another person can live here. And there is no place for people like an artist in this small world of numerous streets.
Analysis 2
The main characters of the work are Lieutenant Pirogov and the young artist Piskarev.
The storyline of the story is built on the contrast of two stories, one of which is a real, vulgar story about the life of Lieutenant Pirogov, punished by the Germans as a ladies' man, and the second depicts the romantic story of an artist who took his own life.
In addition to the characters, the main theme of the work is the St. Petersburg theme, since the writer is not indifferent to the St. Petersburg capital, which, according to the author, is similar to a living giant, which has its own characteristic features, habits, and whims. The main street of the St. Petersburg capital in the story personifies the integrity of the crowd, where each running person has his own business and life, but it is there that they sometimes intersect, just like the main characters of the work.
The lieutenant is presented by the writer as a hardened realist who understands the structure of the modern world and life in a large metropolis, where you need to be able to take risks and win the God-given opportunity in the form of the fulfillment of your innermost dreams. At the same time, Pirogov assumes the possibility of losing, without considering it tragic and absurd. That is why he achieves peace through the coolness of the evening St. Petersburg prospect.
The second hero of the work also becomes a loser in his life's destiny, but for him failure becomes a fate, since he is distinguished by timidity and shyness, trustingly hoping for the flame of the avenue.
Both heroes are ready to put their own lives on the line, but at the same time, the lieutenant perceives the events happening to him as a card game, and the artist does not have the strength to overcome the impossible, because he cannot find the traits of rudeness and callousness in himself.
The writer emphasizes the contradictions in the characters' characters with the unobtrusive background of Nevsky Prospekt, with the help of which Pirogov's fate seems comical, and Piskarev's life carries shades of drama and tragedy. The author demonstrates the coldness and emptiness of the capital's avenue, its deceit, after meeting with which the soul of the artist Piskarev is devastated.
The narrative of the work is based on a parallel depiction of the life paths of the characters, contrasting the social and moral spheres, revealing the difference in characters and perceptions of reality, enhancing the plot background and description of the main city street.
The essence, meaning and idea of the work
In this work, the writer, using the example of the stories of two people of his time, shows the wrong side of the world around us, the vulgarity and meaninglessness that most prefer not to notice.
In the story that happened to the artist, Gogol confronts two antagonistic characters in everything. The romantically minded “servant of the muses,” who belongs to the world of dreams and ideals, is imbued with sympathy for the prostitute. The attempts of the artist Piskarev to guide his chosen one on the right path naturally end in failure. The girl does not want to listen to his admonitions about the delights of family life.
The 17-year-old girl is beautiful, which arouses the sympathy of the artist, who initially does not know her occupation. Her occupation and down-to-earth thinking are so incompatible with each other that it shatters Piskarev’s ideas about reality. In this case, Gogol deliberately opposes the literary cliches of the previous time, according to which positive heroes are beautiful in everything, and there is not a single bright spot in negative ones. The writer strives to show reality as it is, without embellishment.
The life of a modern big city is built not on ideals, but on the desire for money. The prostitute directly tells the artist that she leads such a life, and does not marry him simply because he has nothing to offer her. As a result, the artist kills himself. By this, Gogol wanted to show that sublime ideas and everyday life are incompatible. A creative person cannot hide forever from vulgar reality. One day he will have to make a choice: become like everyone else or leave.
Another hero of the work, Lieutenant Pirogov, does not hide from reality, on the contrary, he constantly plunges into it. Capital life does not destroy the officer’s dreams; much worse happens to him (in the manuscript the husband and his friends flogged him, in the published version the matter is limited to hints). However, after the insult, Pirogov only needs to eat a cake, read a newspaper, dance, and he no longer cares about what happened.
The lieutenant finds himself at home in this world described by Gogol. An insult to the honor of an officer, as well as a shameful occupation for a prostitute, are just minor misunderstandings for them. They have no ideals at all, and grievances and insults are easily covered up by an increased level of consumption. It is not for nothing that Gogol emphasizes that the lieutenant was calmed down by such trifles as cakes and praise for a well-performed dance.
One of the most famous paintings by the Russian artist A. Savrasov, “The Rooks Have Arrived,” depicts the beginning of spring. The landscape was copied from the outskirts of a Russian village in the Kostroma region in 1871.
The main characters of the ballad are a man and his son. The plot of this work was taken from one legend.
Unexpected essay topic. Usually the school year comes, and everyone expects something from you. Our teachers have their own curriculum, manuals, and they write lessons. Our parents have a common plan for us to become smart and so on.
Above the story "Nevsky Avenue" Nikolai Gogol began working in 1831, and published it in the collection Arabesques four years later. This work belongs to the cycle of St. Petersburg stories by Gogol, which also included “The Overcoat”, “Portrait”, “Notes of a Madman”, “The Nose”, “The Stroller” and “Rome”. The author captured the features and customs of the Russian capital from various angles. In addition to the satirical exposure of the vices of society, in each work of the St. Petersburg cycle there is a “little man” who desperately fights for the right to a decent life.
“Nevsky Prospekt” consists of three parts. The first part is a real city, well known to every resident of the capital. In the second part, we are presented with a bizarre space of illusions in which two stories develop. Gogol, as if by chance, snatches two young people from the crowd and sends them off on love adventures. The third part of the story is a kind of metaphysical experience of perception of Nevsky Prospect and St. Petersburg as a whole.
The story begins with a description of the main metropolitan highway. Gogol calls Nevsky "universal communication of St. Petersburg". Thousands of people pass here throughout the day, whom the writer watches with interest and draws readers into his thoughts. For Gogol, this avenue is the main character: with his own face, manners, habits, character.
The heroes of the story are Lieutenant Pirogov and the artist Piskarev. They are not friends because they have completely different worldviews. And Gogol skillfully emphasizes this antagonism: one is a comic character, the other is a tragic figure.
Pirogov- an arrogant and self-confident careerist, for whom the main thing in life is to curry favor and achieve a secure position in society. For this purpose, he is ready to profitably marry an unloved woman and step over many moral obstacles. Pirogov is arrogant towards those who are lower in rank than him, and blindly imitates everything that is in fashion among the select public. The lieutenant does not think about problems; he strives to get only pleasure from life. Pirogov takes care of the naive Piskarev like a lord, accustoming him to a life filled with emptiness and idleness.
A completely different artist Piskarev. He is a naive romantic, subtle and vulnerable. “Shy, timid, but in his soul he carried sparks of feeling that were ready to turn into flames”- this is how Gogol characterizes his hero. Piskarev sees a Muse in every woman, which is why he admires and idolizes them.
Once, while walking along Nevsky Prospekt, the friends met charming strangers and embarked on an adventurous adventure: the artist followed the brunette, immediately falling in love with her, and the lieutenant chose the blonde, counting on a fleeting affair.
The artist’s chosen one turned out to be a girl from a brothel, whose “heavenly appearance” hid a vulgar and stupid nature. But the invented image haunts the young talent. In order to see the girl at least in a dream, Piskarev begins to take opium. Following the dictates of his heart, the artist again finds his beauty and offers her an honest and simple life, but she only laughs in response. Piskarev is shocked and crushed. He locks himself in his room, where a week later he is found with his throat cut. “So perished, a victim of insane passion, poor Piskarev, quiet, timid, modest, childishly simple-minded, who carried within himself a spark of talent that, perhaps, would have flared up widely and brightly over time.”, - Gogol laments.
Pirogov’s friend did not even come to the funeral, because at that time he was going through his own adventures. His lady love turned out to be the wife of the German tinsmith Schiller. The self-confident lieutenant sought the beauty’s favor for quite a long time. When the desired goal was close, Schiller and his friends caught the couple in the act. The unfortunate womanizer was severely punished and thrown out onto the street. Pirogov furiously showered the tinsmith and his friends with curses and threatened Siberia. But then I went to the pastry shop, ate some pies and read the newspaper, calmed down and simply forgot about the unpleasant incident.
This is how these stories ended differently: the talented and promising Piskarev became a victim of insane passion, and the cynic and careerist Pirogov escaped with a slight fright. Two different adventures are united by a lost ending: the heroes never got what they wanted. “for which all their forces seemed to be prepared”.
You can’t trust Nevsky Prospekt, because there is complete deception there. Nikolai Gogol makes such a disappointing conclusion, warning the reader about the seamy side of a beautiful life and its hidden treachery. The writer's sad reflections on the unrealizability of human hopes complete this unusual story.
In Nevsky Prospect, Gogol first tried to combine the funny and the tragic, the high and the base, the holy and the vulgar. In the future, this expressive artistic technique will become the main one in his work.
- “Nevsky Prospekt”, a summary of Gogol’s story
- “Portrait”, analysis of Gogol’s story, essay
