Plyushkin description. Plyushkin - characterization of the hero of the poem “Dead Souls”
Stepan Plyushkin is a character in N.V. Gogol’s poem “Dead Souls”, the fifth and last “seller” of dead souls. He is the personification of the complete death of the human soul. In this character, a bright personality was lost, consumed by stinginess. Despite Sobakevich’s persuasion not to go to him, Chichikov still decided to visit this landowner, since it is known that he has a high mortality rate among peasants. Being the owner of 800 or more souls, Plyushkin lives in a dilapidated estate, eats crumbs, wears old, patched things, and also poorly supports his charges. He picks up every unnecessary trinket that comes his way and brings it home. And the desolation and clutter of his house clearly demonstrates the disorder in the mind of Plyushkin himself.
It is known about this character that he was previously a rich and economic landowner and the father of three children, but after the death of his beloved wife he completely changed. His children left him: the eldest daughter married a cavalryman and left, the son joined the army and then lost, the youngest daughter died. The relationship with the children went wrong. Having a rich fortune, he does not want to help them with a penny. Knowing all this, Chichikov is afraid to even start talking about his “business.” However, the old man surprisingly well accepts his offer to ransom the “dead souls” and even offers help in drawing up a deed of sale in the city, since the chairman is his long-time friend. According to the author, this character is deeply unhappy. Shadow and light were forever mixed in his soul.
I decided to buy the souls of dead peasants from the landowners, we meet with different images of the landowners of that time. There are five of them, and each one’s soul has long since died. It was Plyushkin, the last of the landowners, where Chichikov came for the souls. Plyushkin in the poem Dead Souls we will present in our essay.
Plyushkin, characterization of the hero
Looking at Plyushkin and characterizing him according to plan, we see not only his description, general image, but also his attitude towards the serfs, his family, as well as his attitude towards his estate.
The surname Plyushkin was not chosen by Gogol by chance, because the writer often resorted to symbolic names. Likewise, the surname Plyushkin can be applied to those who are greedy and stingy in life. These people save not for the sake of a good life, but for the sake of saving. They save aimlessly, which is why the lives of such people are aimless. This is exactly what the fifth landowner of the work Plyushkin is with his further characteristics.
So, in Gogol’s work we met Plyushkin, who previously, although he was a rich landowner and an exemplary family man, after the death of his wife his life changed. The children left such a father. For all his wealth, he does not want to help them. Having good savings, Plyushkin does not invest his money in anything. He just saves, and he really likes this process.
When Chichikov sees Plyushkin for the first time, he confuses the owner with the housekeeper. He was so poorly dressed that he could have been confused with a beggar at the church. And here we understand that the scumbag feels sorry for spending his money not only on children, but also on himself. Plyushkin is not worried about the estate, which has long been impoverished and stands dilapidated. He continues to save and is happy with everything.
Plyushkin is constantly making himself poor. Despite the stock being plentiful and disappearing, he says he doesn't have enough food. And then we again see his greed, because he does not give out a single crumb from his warehouses to the serfs.
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In Gogol's poem "Dead Souls" all the characters have collective and typical traits. Each of the landowners whom Chichikov visits with his strange request for the purchase and sale of “dead souls” personifies one of the characteristic images of the landowners of Gogol’s modernity. Gogol’s poem, in terms of describing the characters of landowners, is interesting primarily because Nikolai Vasilyevich was a foreigner in relation to Russian people, Ukrainian society was closer to him, so Gogol was able to notice the specific character traits and behavior of certain types of people.
Plyushkin's age and appearance
One of the landowners whom Chichikov visits is Plyushkin. Before the moment of personal acquaintance, Chichikov already knew something about this landowner - mainly it was information about his stinginess. Chichikov knew that thanks to this trait, Plyushkin’s serfs were “dying like flies,” and those who did not die were running away from him.
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In the eyes of Chichikov, Plyushkin became an important candidate - he had the opportunity to buy up many “dead souls”.
However, Chichikov was not ready to see Plyushkin’s estate and get to know him personally - the picture that opened before him plunged him into bewilderment, Plyushkin himself also did not stand out from the general background.
To his horror, Chichikov realized that the person he mistook for the housekeeper was in fact not the housekeeper, but the landowner Plyushkin himself. Plyushkin could have been mistaken for anyone, but not for the richest landowner in the district: he was extremely skinny, his face was slightly elongated and just as terribly skinny as his body. His eyes were small and unusually lively for an old man. The chin was very long. His appearance was complemented by a toothless mouth.
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Plyushkin's clothes were absolutely not like clothes; they could hardly even be called that. Plyushkin paid absolutely no attention to his suit - he was worn out to such an extent that his clothes began to look like rags. It was quite possible for Plyushkin to be mistaken for a tramp.
Natural aging processes were also added to this appearance - at the time of the story, Plyushkin was about 60 years old.
The problem of the name and the meaning of the surname
Plyushkin's name never appears in the text; it is likely that this was done deliberately. In this way, Gogol emphasizes Plyushkin’s detachment, the callousness of his character and the lack of a humanistic principle in the landowner.
There is, however, a point in the text that can help reveal the name Plyushkin. The landowner from time to time calls his daughter by her patronymic - Stepanovna, this fact gives the right to say that Plyushkin was called Stepan.
It is unlikely that this character's name was chosen as a specific symbol. Translated from Greek, Stepan means “crown, diadem” and indicates a permanent attribute of the goddess Hera. It is unlikely that this information was decisive when choosing a name, which cannot be said about the hero’s surname.
In Russian, the word “plyushkin” is used to nominate a person distinguished by stinginess and a mania for accumulating raw materials and material resources without any purpose.
Marital status of Plyushkin
At the time of the story, Plyushkin is a lonely person leading an ascetic lifestyle. He has been a widow for a long time. Once upon a time, Plyushkin’s life was different - his wife brought the meaning of life into Plyushkin’s being, she stimulated the emergence of positive qualities in him, contributed to the emergence of humanistic qualities. They had three children in their marriage - two girls and a boy.
At that time, Plyushkin was not at all like a petty miser. He happily received guests and was a sociable and open person.
Plyushkin was never a spender, but his stinginess had its reasonable limits. His clothes were not new - he usually wore a frock coat, it was noticeably worn, but looked very decent, there wasn’t even a single patch on it.
Reasons for character change
After the death of his wife, Plyushkin completely succumbed to his grief and apathy. Most likely, he did not have a predisposition to communicate with children, he was of little interest and fascination with the process of education, so the motivation to live and be reborn for the sake of children did not work for him.
Later, he begins to develop a conflict with his older children - as a result, they, tired of constant grumbling and deprivation, leave their father’s house without his permission. The daughter gets married without Plyushkin’s blessing, and the son begins military service. Such freedom became the reason for Plyushkin’s anger - he curses his children. The son was categorical towards his father - he completely broke off contact with him. The daughter still did not abandon her father, despite this attitude towards her family, she visits the old man from time to time and brings her children to him. Plyushkin does not like to bother with his grandchildren and perceives their meetings extremely coolly.
Plyushkin's youngest daughter died as a child.
Thus, Plyushkin remained alone in his large estate.
Plyushkin's estate
Plyushkin was considered the richest landowner in the district, but Chichikov, who came to his estate, thought it was a joke - Plyushkin’s estate was in a dilapidated state - repairs had not been made to the house for many years. Moss could be seen on the wooden elements of the house, the windows in the house were boarded up - it seemed that no one actually lived here.
Plyushkin's house was huge, now it was empty - Plyushkin lived alone in the whole house. Because of its desolation, the house resembled an ancient castle.
The inside of the house was not much different from the outside. Since most of the windows in the house were boarded up, the house was incredibly dark and it was difficult to see anything. The only place where sunlight penetrated was Plyushkin’s personal rooms.
An incredible mess reigned in Plyushkin's room. It seems that the place has never been cleaned - everything was covered in cobwebs and dust. Broken things were lying everywhere, which Plyushkin did not dare to throw away, because he thought that he might still need them.
The garbage was also not thrown away anywhere, but was piled right there in the room. Plyushkin's desk was no exception - important papers and documents lay mixed in with trash.
Behind Plyushkin's house there is a huge garden. Like everything else in the estate, it is in disrepair. No one has looked after the trees for a long time, the garden is overgrown with weeds and small bushes that are entwined with hops, but even in this form the garden is beautiful, it stands out sharply against the background of deserted houses and dilapidated buildings.
Features of Plyushkin's relationship with serfs
Plyushkin is far from the ideal of a landowner; he behaves rudely and cruelly with his serfs. Sobakevich, talking about his attitude towards serfs, claims that Plyushkin starves his subjects, which significantly increases the mortality rate among serfs. The appearance of Plyushkin’s serfs becomes confirmation of these words - they are excessively thin, immeasurably skinny.
It is not surprising that many serfs run away from Plyushkin - life on the run is more attractive.
Sometimes Plyushkin pretends to take care of his serfs - he goes into the kitchen and checks whether they are eating well. However, he does this for a reason - while undergoing food quality control, Plyushkin manages to eat to his heart’s content. Of course, this trick was not hidden from the peasants and became a reason for discussion.
Plyushkin always accuses his serfs of theft and fraud - he believes that the peasants are always trying to rob him. But the situation looks completely different - Plyushkin has intimidated his peasants so much that they are afraid to take at least something for themselves without the knowledge of the landowner.
The tragedy of the situation is also created by the fact that Plyushkin’s warehouses are overflowing with food, almost all of it becomes unusable and is then thrown away. Of course, Plyushkin could give the surplus to his serfs, thereby improving their living conditions and raising his authority in their eyes, but greed takes over - it’s easier for him to throw away unsuitable things than to do a good deed.
Characteristics of personal qualities
In his old age, Plyushkin became an unpleasant type due to his quarrelsome character. People began to avoid him, neighbors and friends began to visit less and less, and then they stopped communicating with him altogether.
After the death of his wife, Plyushkin preferred a solitary way of life. He believed that guests always cause harm - instead of doing something truly useful, you have to spend time in empty conversations.
By the way, this position of Plyushkin did not bring the desired results - his estate steadily fell into disrepair until it finally took on the appearance of an abandoned village.
There are only two joys in the life of the old man Plyushkin - scandals and the accumulation of finances and raw materials. Sincerely speaking, he gives himself wholeheartedly to both one and the other.
Plyushkin surprisingly has the talent to notice any little things and even the most insignificant flaws. In other words, he is overly picky about people. He is unable to express his comments calmly - he mainly shouts and scolds his servants.
Plyushkin is not capable of doing anything good. He is a callous and cruel person. He is indifferent to the fate of his children - he has lost contact with his son, and his daughter periodically tries to reconcile, but the old man stops these attempts. He believes that they have a selfish goal - his daughter and son-in-law want to enrich themselves at his expense.
Thus, Plyushkin is a terrible landowner who lives for a specific purpose. In general, he is endowed with negative character traits. The landowner himself does not realize the true results of his actions - he seriously thinks that he is a caring landowner. In fact, he is a tyrant, ruining and destroying the destinies of people.
Characteristics of Plyushkin: the hero of the poem Dead Souls.
Gallery of landowners presented in the poem by N.V. Gogol's "Dead Souls" ends with the image of Plyushkin. In the scene of meeting Chichikov, the character of the hero is revealed in all its artistic fullness.
The poem reveals such traits of the hero as grumpiness, stinginess, lack of spirituality, suspicion and distrust. He calls the dead peasants “parasites” and grumbles at Mavra, confident that she is deceiving the master. Plyushkin suspects Mavra that she “tampered” his paper. When it turns out that his suspicions are in vain, he begins to grumble, dissatisfied with the rebuff that Mavra gave him. Gogol also emphasizes Plyushkin’s stinginess here. Having found the paper, in order to save money, he asks for a “splinter” instead of a tallow candle. And, having started to write, he scribbles “sparingly line upon line,” regretting that “there will still be a lot of blank space left.” The hero's stinginess acquired hypertrophied features and led his entire house into desolation and chaos. In Plyushkin’s house everything is covered with dust, in his inkwell there is “mouldy liquid and a lot of flies at the bottom.”
Using portrait details, the author reveals to the reader the lack of spirituality of his hero. In passing, Gogol gives us a brief portrait sketch of Plyushkin. We see how suddenly “some kind of warm ray”, “a pale reflection of feeling” flashed on his wooden face. Using an extended comparison, the author here compares this phenomenon with the appearance of a drowning person on the surface of the waters. But the impression remains immediate. Following this, Plyushkin’s face becomes “even more insensitive and even more vulgar.” Here the hero’s lack of spirituality and lack of living life are emphasized. And at the same time, the “pale reflection of feeling” on his face is probably a potential opportunity for spiritual rebirth. It is known that Plyushkin is the only landowner who, together with Chichikov, was supposed to become a character in the third volume of the poem, according to Gogol’s plan. And it’s not for nothing that the author gives us a biography of this hero, and in this passage he notes that Plyushkin had friends at school.
The hero's speech is typical. It is dominated by abusive expressions (“thief”, “fraudster”, “robber”). Plyushkin's intonations contain threats; he is grumpy, irritated, and emotional. His speech contains exclamatory sentences.
Thus, in the poem the character of the hero appears multifaceted, potentially interesting for readers and the author. Gogol's Plyushkin completes the gallery of Russian landowners opened by Manilov. And this order also, according to critics, has a certain meaning. Some researchers believe that the hero represents the last degree of moral decline, while others, analyzing Gogol’s plan (a poem in three volumes), say that the most soulless, “dead” character in the work is Manilov. Plyushkin is a man* capable of moral rebirth. And in this regard, we can talk about the great significance of this scene in the development of the entire author’s plan.
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“Dead Souls”, I didn’t even imagine what bright personalities I would meet. In all the variety of characters in the work, the miser and miser Stepan Plyushkin stands out. The rest of the rich people in the literary work are shown statically, but this landowner has his own life story.
History of creation
The idea that formed the basis of the work belongs to. One day, the great Russian writer told Nikolai Gogol the story of fraud, which he heard during his exile in Chisinau. In the Moldovan city of Bendery, in recent years, only people of military ranks have died; ordinary mortals were in no hurry to die. The strange phenomenon was explained simply - hundreds of fugitive peasants from the center of Russia flocked to Bessarabia at the beginning of the 19th century, and during the investigation it turned out that the “passport data” of the dead was appropriated by the fugitives.
Gogol considered the idea ingenious and, after reflection, came up with a plot in which the main character was an enterprising man who enriched himself by selling “dead souls” to the board of trustees. The idea seemed interesting to him because it opened up the opportunity to create an epic work, to show the whole of Mother Russia through a scattering of characters, which the writer had long dreamed of.
Work on the poem began in 1835. At that time, Nikolai Vasilyevich spent most of the year abroad, trying to forget the scandal that erupted after the production of the play “The Inspector General”. According to the plan, the plot was supposed to take three volumes, and in general the work was defined as comic and humorous.
However, neither one nor the other was destined to come true. The poem turned out to be gloomy, exposing all the vices of the country. The author burned the manuscript of the second book, but never started the third. Of course, in Moscow they flatly refused to publish the literary work, but the critic Vissarion Belinsky volunteered to help the writer, after lobbying the St. Petersburg censors.
A miracle happened - the poem was allowed to be published, only on the condition that the title would have a small addition to divert attention from the serious problems raised: “The Adventures of Chichikov, or Dead Souls.” In this form, in 1842, the poem went to the reader. Gogol’s new work again found itself at the epicenter of a scandal, because landowners and officials clearly saw their images in it.
Gogol had a brilliant idea - first he showed the shortcomings of Russian life, then he planned to describe ways to resurrect “dead souls.” Some researchers connect the idea of the poem with the “Divine Comedy”: the first volume is “hell”, the second is “purgatory”, and the third is “paradise”.
It is assumed that Plyushkin was supposed to transform from a greedy old man into a wanderer-benefactor who tries in every possible way to help the poor. But Nikolai Gogol was never able to convincingly describe the ways of people’s rebirth, which he himself admitted after burning the manuscript.
Image and character
The image of a half-crazy landowner in the work is the most striking of all who meet on the path of the main character Chichikov. It is Plyushkin who the writer gives the most complete description, even looking into the character’s past. This is a lonely widower who cursed his daughter who left with her lover and his son who lost at cards.
Periodically, the daughter and grandchildren visit the old man, but receive no help from him - only indifference. An educated and intelligent man in his youth eventually turned into a “worn-out wreck,” a grouch and a penny-pincher with a bad character, becoming a laughing stock even for the servants.
The work contains a detailed description of Plyushkin’s appearance. He walked around the house in a decrepit robe (“...which was not only embarrassing to look at, but even embarrassing”), and came to the table in a worn, but quite neat frock coat without a single patch. At the first meeting, Chichikov could not understand who was in front of him, a woman or a man: a creature of indeterminate gender was moving around the house, and the buyer of dead souls mistook him for the housekeeper.
The character's stinginess is on the verge of insanity. There are 800 serf souls in his possessions, the barns are full of rotting food. But Plyushkin does not allow his hungry peasants to touch the products, and with resellers he is unyielding “like a devil,” so the traders stopped coming for goods. In his own bedroom, a man carefully folds the feathers and pieces of paper he found, and in the corner of one of the rooms there is a pile of “goods” picked up on the street.
Life goals come down to accumulating wealth - this problem often acts as an argument for writing essays on the Unified State Exam. The meaning of the image lies in the fact that Nikolai Vasilyevich tried to show how painful stinginess kills a bright and strong personality.
Increasing goodness is Plyushkin’s favorite pastime, as evidenced even by the change in his speech. At first, the old curmudgeon greets Chichikov warily, clarifying that “there is no use in visiting.” But, having learned the purpose of the visit, the dissatisfied grumbling gives way to undisguised joy, and the protagonist of the poem turns into a “father”, a “benefactor”.
The miser's vocabulary includes a whole dictionary of swear words and expressions, from “fool” and “robber” to “the devil will get you” and “scum.” The landowner, who has lived all his life among peasants, has a speech full of common folk words.
Plyushkin's house resembles a medieval castle, but battered by time: there are cracks in the walls, some of the windows are boarded up so that no one sees the wealth hidden in the home. Gogol managed to combine the character traits and image of the hero with his house with the phrase:
“All this was dumped into storerooms, and everything became rotten and a hole, and he himself finally turned into some kind of hole in humanity.”
Film adaptations
Gogol's work has been staged in Russian cinema five times. Based on the story, two cartoons were also created: “The Adventures of Chichikov. Manilov" and "The Adventures of Chichikov. Nozdrev."
"Dead Souls" (1909)
In the era of the formation of cinema, Pyotr Chardynin undertook to capture on film Chichikov’s adventures. A silent short film with a stripped-down Gogolian plot was filmed at a railway club. And since the experiments in cinema were just beginning, the film turned out to be unsuccessful due to incorrectly selected lighting. The role of the stingy Plyushkin was played by theater actor Adolf Georgievsky.
"Dead Souls" (1960)
The film-play staged by the Moscow Art Theater was directed by Leonid Trauberg. A year after the premiere, the film received the Critics' Prize at the Monte Carlo Festival.
The film starred Vladimir Belokurov (Chichikov), (Nozdryov), (Korobochka) and even (a modest role of a waiter, the actor was not even included in the credits). And Plyushkin was brilliantly played by Boris Petker.
"Dead Souls" (1969)
Another television performance conceived by director Alexander Belinsky. According to film fans, this film adaptation is the best film production of the imperishable work.
The film also features prominent actors of Soviet cinema: (Nozdrev), (Manilov), (Chichikov). The role of Plyushkin went to Alexander Sokolov.
"Dead Souls" (1984)
The five-episode series, directed by Mikhail Schweitzer, was shown on central television.
Leonid Yarmolnik was reincarnated as a greedy landowner - the actor is called Plyushkin in the film.
- The meaning of the character's name contains a motive of self-denial. Gogol created a paradoxical metaphor: a ruddy bun - a symbol of wealth, satiety, joyful contentment - is contrasted with a “moldy cracker”, for which the colors of life have long faded.
- The surname Plyushkin has become a household name. This is what they call overly thrifty, manically greedy people. In addition, the passion for storing old, useless things is a typical behavior of people with a mental disorder, medically called “Plyushkin syndrome.”
Quotes
“After all, the devil knows, maybe he’s just a braggart, like all these little money-makers: he’ll lie, he’ll lie to talk and drink tea, and then he’ll leave!”
“I’m living in my seventies!”
“Plyushkin muttered something through his lips, because he had no teeth.”
“If Chichikov had met him, dressed up like that, somewhere at the church door, he would probably have given him a copper penny. But standing before him was not a beggar, standing before him was a landowner.”
“I don’t even advise you to know the way to this dog! - said Sobakevich. “It’s more excusable to go to some obscene place than to go to him.”
“But there was a time when he was just a thrifty owner! He was married and a family man, and a neighbor stopped by to have dinner with him, listen and learn from him about housekeeping and wise stinginess.”
