Features of the composition of N. Gogol's poem Dead Souls

N.V. Gogol, while writing “Dead Souls,” could not decide for a very long time whether it was a novel or a poem. And yet, the author settled on the fact that “Dead Souls” is a lyric epic poem, because a significant place in it is occupied by lyrical digressions and inserted episodes, which is typical for this literary genre. Consequently, in “Dead Souls” the lyrical and epic principles are equal.

The task of the epic part is to show “although from one side Rus',” and lyrical digressions add poetry to the work. For example, at the end of the first volume, the author introduces the image of a trio of birds, which rushes along the road and personifies all of Rus'. What pride and love for the Fatherland sounds in this episode. In my opinion, the introduction of lyrical digressions into the epic plot is a specific feature of the compositional integrity of this poem.

The originality of “Dead Souls” lies in its special construction. So, in the first chapter, the author gives a general description of the provincial city and briefly introduces the reader to the main character. In the next five chapters, Chichikov visits landowners and buys dead souls from them. Moreover, the author describes the serf owners in order of degradation: one is worse than the other. For example, Manilov, as an independent character, cannot be perceived positively (he does not read, does not develop, does not do housework, has feigned politeness), but in comparison with Nozdryov, a brawler and a liar, the first landowner looks spiritually much higher. And if we compare Korobochka and Plyushkin, then Nastasya Petrovna also wins with some character traits: although she does not develop, like Plyushkin, she is a landowner - a model of thriftiness.

It is no coincidence that the writer builds each chapter according to a certain scheme: a description of the village, the estate, the interior of the house, the meeting of the owner, the dinner scene, the serf owner’s reaction to Chichikov’s proposal. And so throughout all five chapters he uses the same typing methods.

Another interesting feature is that the reader learns the biography of the main character not at the beginning of the work, but only at the end of the first volume. We have already learned about what Chichikov did, what the consequences of his journey were, but the reasons that prompted Pavel Ivanovich to start these “adventures” are not yet known to us. It turns out that the engine of this idea is the covenant given to Pavlusha as a child by his father: “save a penny, it will never give out...”

Thus, a feature of the composition of the poem “Dead Souls” is the unusual arrangement of the chapters of the entire work, the existence of lyrical digressions, and ways of typifying the images of landowners, built according to the same method.

Each of the heroes of the poem - Manilov, Korobochka, Nozdryov, Sobakevich, Plyushkin, Chichikov - in itself does not represent anything valuable. But Gogol managed to give them a generalized character and at the same time create a general picture of contemporary Russia. The title of the poem is symbolic and ambiguous. Dead souls are not only those who ended their earthly existence, not only the peasants whom Chichikov bought, but also the landowners and provincial officials themselves, whom the reader meets on the pages of the poem. The words "dead souls" are used in the story in many shades and meanings. The happily living Sobakevich has a deader soul than the serfs whom he sells to Chichikov and who exist only in memory and on paper, and Chichikov himself is a new type of hero, an entrepreneur, in whom the features of the emerging bourgeoisie are embodied.

The chosen plot gave Gogol “complete freedom to travel all over Russia with the hero and bring out a wide variety of characters.” The poem has a huge number of characters, all social strata of serf Russia are represented: the acquirer Chichikov, officials of the provincial city and capital, representatives of the highest nobility, landowners and serfs. A significant place in the ideological and compositional structure of the work is occupied by lyrical digressions, in which the author touches on the most pressing social issues, and inserted episodes, which is characteristic of the poem as a literary genre.

The composition of “Dead Souls” serves to reveal each of the characters displayed in the overall picture. The author found an original and surprisingly simple compositional structure, which gave him the greatest opportunities for depicting life phenomena, and for combining the narrative and lyrical principles, and for poeticizing Russia.

The relationship of parts in “Dead Souls” is strictly thought out and subject to creative intent. The first chapter of the poem can be defined as a kind of introduction. The action has not yet begun, and the author only outlines his characters. In the first chapter, the author introduces us to the peculiarities of the life of the provincial city, with city officials, landowners Manilov, Nozdrev and Sobakevich, as well as with the central character of the work - Chichikov, who begins to make profitable acquaintances and is preparing for active actions, and his faithful companions - Petrushka and Selifan. The same chapter describes two men talking about the wheel of Chichikov’s chaise, a young man dressed in a suit “with attempts at fashion,” a nimble tavern servant and another “small people.” And although the action has not yet begun, the reader begins to guess that Chichikov came to the provincial town with some secret intentions, which become clear later.

The meaning of Chichikov’s enterprise was as follows. Once every 10-15 years, the treasury conducted a census of the serf population. Between censuses (“revision tales”), landowners were assigned a set number of serfs (revision) souls (only men were indicated in the census). Naturally, the peasants died, but according to documents, officially, they were considered alive until the next census. The landowners paid an annual tax for the serfs, including for the dead. “Listen, mother,” Chichikov explains to Korobochka, “just think carefully: you’re going bankrupt. Pay tax for him (the deceased) as for a living person.” Chichikov acquires dead peasants in order to pawn them as if they were alive in the Guardian Council and receive a decent amount of money.

A few days after arriving in the provincial town, Chichikov goes on a journey: he visits the estates of Manilov, Korobochka, Nozdryov, Sobakevich, Plyushkin and acquires “dead souls” from them. Showing Chichikov's criminal combinations, the author creates unforgettable images of landowners: the empty dreamer Manilov, the stingy Korobochka, the incorrigible liar Nozdryov, the greedy Sobakevich and the degenerate Plyushkin. The action takes an unexpected turn when, heading to Sobakevich, Chichikov ends up with Korobochka.

The sequence of events makes a lot of sense and is dictated by the development of the plot: the writer sought to reveal in his characters the increasing loss of human qualities, the death of their souls. As Gogol himself said: “My heroes follow one after another, one more vulgar than the other.” Thus, in Manilov, who begins a series of landowner characters, the human element has not yet completely died, as evidenced by his “strivings” towards spiritual life, but his aspirations are gradually dying out. The thrifty Korobochka no longer has even a hint of spiritual life; everything for her is subordinated to the desire to sell the products of her natural economy at a profit. Nozdryov completely lacks any moral and moral principles. There is very little humanity left in Sobakevich and everything that is bestial and cruel is clearly manifested. The series of expressive images of landowners is completed by Plyushkin, a person on the verge of mental collapse. The images of landowners created by Gogol are typical people for their time and environment. They could have become decent individuals, but the fact that they are the owners of serf souls deprived them of their humanity. For them, serfs are not people, but things.

The image of landowner Rus' is replaced by the image of the provincial city. The author introduces us to the world of officials involved in public administration. In the chapters devoted to the city, the picture of noble Russia expands and the impression of its deadness deepens. Depicting the world of officials, Gogol first shows their funny sides, and then makes the reader think about the laws reigning in this world. All the officials who pass before the reader’s mind’s eye turn out to be people without the slightest concept of honor and duty; they are bound by mutual patronage and mutual responsibility. Their life, like the life of the landowners, is meaningless.

Chichikov's return to the city and the registration of the deed of sale is the culmination of the plot. The officials congratulate him on acquiring the serfs. But Nozdryov and Korobochka reveal the tricks of the “most respectable Pavel Ivanovich,” and general amusement gives way to confusion. The denouement comes: Chichikov hastily leaves the city. The picture of Chichikov's exposure is drawn with humor, acquiring a pronounced incriminating character. The author, with undisguised irony, talks about the gossip and rumors that arose in the provincial city in connection with the exposure of the “millionaire”. The officials, overwhelmed by anxiety and panic, unwittingly discover their dark illegal affairs.

“The Tale of Captain Kopeikin” occupies a special place in the novel. It is plot-related to the poem and is of great importance for revealing the ideological and artistic meaning of the work. “The Tale of Captain Kopeikin” gave Gogol the opportunity to transport the reader to St. Petersburg, create an image of the city, introduce the theme of 1812 into the narrative and tell the story of the fate of the war hero, Captain Kopeikin, while exposing the bureaucratic arbitrariness and arbitrariness of the authorities, the injustice of the existing system. In “The Tale of Captain Kopeikin” the author raises the question that luxury turns a person away from morality.

The place of the “Tale...” is determined by the development of the plot. When ridiculous rumors about Chichikov began to spread throughout the city, officials, alarmed by the appointment of a new governor and the possibility of their exposure, gathered together to clarify the situation and protect themselves from the inevitable “reproaches.” It is no coincidence that the story about Captain Kopeikin is told on behalf of the postmaster. As head of the postal department, he may have read newspapers and magazines and could have gleaned a lot of information about life in the capital. He loved to “show off” in front of his listeners, to show off his education. The postmaster tells the story of Captain Kopeikin at the moment of the greatest commotion that gripped the provincial city. “The Tale of Captain Kopeikin” is another confirmation that the serfdom system is in decline, and new forces, albeit spontaneously, are already preparing to embark on the path of fighting social evil and injustice. The story of Kopeikin, as it were, completes the picture of statehood and shows that arbitrariness reigns not only among officials, but also in the higher strata, right up to the minister and the tsar.

In the eleventh chapter, which concludes the work, the author shows how Chichikov’s enterprise ended, talks about his origin, talks about how his character was formed, and his views on life were developed. Penetrating into the spiritual recesses of his hero, Gogol presents to the reader everything that “eludes and hides from the light,” reveals “intimate thoughts that a person does not entrust to anyone,” and before us is a scoundrel who is rarely visited by human feelings.

On the first pages of the poem, the author himself describes him somehow vaguely: “... not handsome, but not bad-looking, neither too fat, nor too thin.” Provincial officials and landowners, whose characters the following chapters of the poem are devoted to, characterize Chichikov as “well-intentioned,” “efficient,” “learned,” “the most kind and courteous person.” Based on this, one gets the impression that we have before us the personification of the “ideal of a decent person.”

The entire plot of the poem is structured as an exposure of Chichikov, since the center of the story is a scam involving the purchase and sale of “dead souls.” In the system of images of the poem, Chichikov stands somewhat apart. He plays the role of a landowner traveling to fulfill his needs, and is one by origin, but has very little connection with the lordly local life. Every time he appears before us in a new guise and always achieves his goal. In the world of such people, friendship and love are not valued. They are characterized by extraordinary persistence, will, energy, perseverance, practical calculation and tireless activity; a vile and terrible force is hidden in them.

Understanding the danger posed by people like Chichikov, Gogol openly ridicules his hero and reveals his insignificance. Gogol's satire becomes a kind of weapon with which the writer exposes Chichikov's “dead soul”; suggests that such people, despite their tenacious mind and adaptability, are doomed to death. And Gogol’s laughter, which helps him expose the world of self-interest, evil and deception, was suggested to him by the people. It was in the souls of the people that hatred towards the oppressors, towards the “masters of life” grew and became stronger over many years. And only laughter helped him survive in a monstrous world, without losing optimism and love of life.

It found its expression in the fact that the images of landowners, peasants, the description of their life, economy and morals are depicted in the poem so clearly that after reading this part of the poem, you remember it forever. The image of landowner-peasant Rus' was very relevant in Gogol’s time due to the aggravation of the crisis of the serfdom system. Many landowners have ceased to be useful to society, have fallen morally and become hostages of their rights to land and people. Another layer of Russian society began to come to the fore - city residents. As earlier in “The Inspector General,” in this poem Gogol presents a broad picture of officialdom, ladies’ society, ordinary townspeople, and servants.

So, the image of Gogol’s contemporary Russia determines the main themes of “Dead Souls”: the theme of the homeland, the theme of local life, the theme of the city, the theme of the soul. Among the motifs of the poem, the main ones are the road motif and the path motif. The road motif organizes the narrative in the work, the path motif expresses the central author’s idea - the acquisition by Russian people of a true and spiritual life. Gogol achieves an expressive semantic effect by combining these motifs with the following compositional device: at the beginning of the poem, Chichikov’s chaise enters the city, and at the end it leaves. Thus, the author shows that what is described in the first volume is part of an unimaginably long road in finding the way. All the heroes of the poem are on the way - Chichikov, the author, Rus'.

“Dead Souls” consists of two large parts, which can be roughly called “village” and “city”. In total, the first volume of the poem contains eleven chapters: the first chapter, describing Chichikov’s arrival, acquaintance with the city and urban society, should be considered expositional; then there are five chapters about landowners (chapters two - six), in the seventh Chichikov returns to the city, at the beginning of the eleventh he leaves it, and the next content of the chapter is no longer connected with the city. Thus, the description of the village and the city account for equal parts of the text of the work, which fully correlates with the main thesis of Gogol’s plan: “All of Rus' will appear in it!”

The poem also has two extra-plot elements: “The Tale of Captain Kopeikin” and the parable of Kif Mokievich and Mokia Kifovich. The purpose of including a story in the text of the work is to clarify some of the ideas of the poem. The parable serves as a generalization, connecting the characters of the poem with the idea of the purpose of intelligence and heroism as two priceless gifts given to man.

It is also noteworthy that the author tells the “story of Chichikov” in the eleventh chapter. The main purpose of placing the hero's backstory at the end of the chapter is that the author wanted to avoid the reader's preconceived, prepared perception of events and the hero. Gogol wanted the reader to form his own opinion about what was happening, observing everything as if it were in real life.

Finally, the relationship between the epic and the lyrical in the poem also has its own ideological meaning. The first lyrical digression in the poem appears at the end of the fifth chapter in a discussion about the Russian language. In the future, their number increases; at the end of Chapter 11, the author speaks with patriotism and civic passion about Rus', the bird-three. The lyrical beginning in the work increases because Gogol’s idea was to establish his bright ideal. He wanted to show how the fog that had thickened over “sad Russia” (as Pushkin described the first chapters of the poem) dissipates in the dream of a happy future for the country.

As for the composition of the work, it is extremely simple and expressive. It has three links.

First: five portrait chapters (2 - 6), in which all types of landowners available at that time are given; second - counties and officials (chapters 1, 7 - 10); the third is chapter 11, in which the background story of the main character. The first chapter describes Chichikov’s arrival in the city and his acquaintance with officials and surrounding landowners.

Five portrait chapters dedicated to Manilov, Korobochka, Nozdryov, Sobakevich and Plyushkin describe Chichikov’s visits to landowners’ estates with the aim of purchasing “dead souls.” In the next four chapters - the hassle of processing “purchases”, excitement and gossip in the city about Chichikov and his enterprise, the death of the prosecutor, who was frightened by the rumors about Chichikov. The eleventh chapter concludes the first volume.

In the second volume, which has not reached us in full, there is much more tragedy and dynamism. Chichikov continues to pay visits to landowners. New characters are introduced. At the same time, events take place leading to the rebirth of the main character.

Compositionally, the poem consists of three outwardly not closed, but internally interconnected circles - landowners, the city, the biography of the hero - united by the image of the road, plot-related by Chichikov’s scam.

“... It was not in jest that Gogol called his novel a “poem” and that he did not mean a comic poem by it. It was not the author who told us this, but his book. We do not see anything humorous or funny in it; In not a single word of the author did we notice an intention to make the reader laugh: everything is serious, calm, true and deep... Do not forget that this book is only an exposition, an introduction to the poem, that the author promises two more such large books in which we will meet again with Chichikov and we will see new faces in which Rus' will express itself from its other side...” (“V.G. Belinsky about Gogol”, OGIZ, State Publishing House of Fiction, Moscow, 1949).

V.V. Gippius writes that Gogol built his poem on two levels: psychological and historical.

The main task is to bring out as many characters as possible who are attached to the landowner environment. “But the significance of Gogol’s heroes outgrows their initial social characteristics. Manilovshchina, Nozdrevshchina, Chichikovshchina received... the meaning of large typical generalizations. And this was not only a later historical reinterpretation; the generalized nature of the images is provided for in the author's plan. Gogol reminds us of this about almost each of his heroes.” (V.V. Gippius, “From Pushkin to Blok”, publishing house “Nauka”, Moscow-Leningrad, 1966, p. 127).

On the other hand, each Gogol image is historical because it is marked by the features of its era. Long-lasting images are supplemented by newly emerging ones (Chichikov). The images from “Dead Souls” have acquired long-lasting historical significance.

The novel remains inevitably within the framework of the depiction of individual people and events. There is no place in the novel for the image of the people and the country.

The genre of the novel did not accommodate Gogol’s tasks. “Based on these tasks (which were not canceled, but included an in-depth depiction of real life), it was necessary to create a special genre - a large epic form, broader than the novel. Gogol calls “Dead Souls” a poem - by no means in jest, as hostile criticism said; It’s no coincidence that on the cover of Dead Souls, drawn by Gogol himself, the word poem is highlighted in especially large letters.” (V.V. Gippius, “From Pushkin to Blok”, publishing house “Nauka”, Moscow-Leningrad, 1966).

There was innovative courage in the fact that Gogol called “Dead Souls” a poem. Calling his work a poem, Gogol was guided by his following judgment: “a novel does not take the whole life, but a significant incident in life.” Gogol imagined the epic differently. It “encompasses in some features, but the entire era of time, among which the hero acted with the way of thoughts, beliefs and even confessions that humanity made at that time...” “...Such phenomena appeared from time to time among many peoples. Many of them, although written in prose, can nevertheless be considered poetic creations.” (P. Antopolsky, article “Dead Souls”, poem by N.V. Gogol”, Gogol N.V., “Dead Souls”, Moscow, Higher School, 1980, p. 6).

A poem is a work about significant phenomena in the state or in life. It implies historicity and heroism of the content, legendary, pathetic.

“Gogol conceived Dead Souls as a historical poem. With great consistency, he attributed the time of action of the first volume at least twenty years ago, to the middle of the reign of Alexander the First, to the era after the Patriotic War of 1812.

Gogol directly states: “However, we must remember that all this happened shortly after the glorious expulsion of the French.” That is why, in the minds of officials and ordinary people of the provincial city, Napoleon is still alive (he died in 1821) and can threaten to land from St. Helena. That is why the true story or fairy tale about the unfortunate one-armed and one-legged veteran - the captain of the victorious Russian army, who took Paris in 1814, has such a vivid effect on the postmaster's listeners. That is why one of the heroes of the second volume (on which Gogol... worked much later), General Betrishchev, completely emerged from the epic of the twelfth year and is full of memories of it. And if Chichikov invented some mythical story of the generals of the twelfth year for Tentetnikov, then this circumstance is grist for Gogol’s historical mill.” (Introductory article by P. Antopolsky, “Dead Souls”, Moscow, Higher School, 1980, p. 7). This is on the one hand.

On the other hand, it was impossible to call “Dead Souls” anything other than a poem. Because the name itself betrays its lyrical-epic essence; soul is a poetic concept.

The genre of “Dead Souls” has become a unique form of raising everyday life material to the level of poetic generalization. The principles of artistic typification used by Gogol create an ideological and philosophical situation when reality is realized exclusively in the context of a global ethical doctrine. In this regard, the title of the poem plays a special role. After the appearance of Dead Souls, fierce controversy broke out. The author was reproached for encroaching on sacred categories and attacking the foundations of faith. The title of the poem is based on the use of an oxymoron; the social characteristics of the characters correlate with their spiritual and biological state. A specific image is considered not only in the aspect of moral and ethical antinomies, but also within the framework of the dominant existential-philosophical concept (life-death). It is this thematic collision that determines the specific perspective of the author’s vision of the problems.

Gogol defines the genre of “Dead Souls” already in the title of the work, which is explained by the author’s desire to precede the reader’s perception with a hint of the lyrical epic of the artistic world. “Poem” indicates a special type of narrative in which the lyrical element largely prevails over the epic scale. The structure of Gogol's text represents an organic synthesis of lyrical digressions and plot eventfulness. The image of the narrator plays a special role in the story. He is present in all scenes, comments, evaluates what is happening, expresses ardent indignation or sincere sympathy.” (“The originality of the narrative style in the poem “Dead Souls”, gramata.ru).

In “Dead Souls” two worlds are artistically embodied: the “real” world and the “ideal” world. The “real” world is the world of Plyushkin, Nozdryov, Manilov, Korobochka - a world that reflects the Russian reality of Gogol’s time. According to the laws of the epic, Gogol creates a picture of life, most tightly covering reality. He shows as many characters as possible. To show Rus', the artist distances himself from current events and is busy creating a reliable world.

This is a scary, ugly world, a world of inverted values and ideals. In this world the soul can be dead. In this world, spiritual guidelines are upside down, its laws are immoral. This world is a picture of the modern world, in which there are caricature masks of contemporaries, and hyperbolic ones, and bringing what is happening to the point of absurdity...

The “ideal” world is built in accordance with the criteria by which the author judges himself and his life. This is a world of true spiritual values and high ideals. For this world, the human soul is immortal, for it is the embodiment of the Divine in man.

“The “ideal” world is the world of spirituality, the spiritual world of man. There is no Plyushkin and Sobakevich in it, there cannot be Nozdryov and Korobochka. There are souls in it - immortal human souls. He is perfect in every sense of the word. And therefore this world cannot be recreated epically. The spiritual world describes a different kind of literature - lyrics. That is why Gogol defines the genre of the work as lyric-epic, calling “Dead Souls” a poem.” (Monakhova O.P., Malkhazova M.V., Russian literature of the 19th century, part 1, Moscow, 1995, p. 155).

The entire composition of the huge work, the composition of all volumes of “Dead Souls” was suggested to Gogol immortally by Dante’s “Divine Comedy”, where the first volume is hell and the kingdom of dead souls, the second volume is purgatory and the third is heaven.

In the composition of Dead Souls, inserted short stories and lyrical digressions are of great importance. Particularly important is “The Tale of Captain Kopeikin,” which seems to be outside the plot, but shows the peak of the death of the human soul.

The exposition of “Dead Souls” is moved to the end of the poem - to the eleventh chapter, which is almost the beginning of the poem, showing the main character - Chichikov.

“Chichikov is conceived as a hero who faces an upcoming rebirth. The way of motivating this very possibility leads us to something new for the 19th century. sides of Gogol's artistic thinking. Villain in educational literature of the 18th century. retained the right to our sympathies and to our faith in his possible rebirth, since at the basis of his personality lay a kind Nature, but perverted by society. The romantic villain redeemed himself by the enormity of his crimes; the greatness of his soul ensured him the sympathy of the reader. Ultimately, he could end up as an angel gone astray, or even a sword in the hands of heavenly justice. Gogol's hero has hope for revival because he has reached the limit of evil in its extreme - low, petty and ridiculous - manifestations. Comparison of Chichikov and the robber, Chichikov and Napoleon,

Chichikov and the Antichrist makes the former a comic figure, removes from him the halo of literary nobility (in parallel runs the parodic theme of Chichikov’s attachment to “noble” service, “noble” treatment, etc.). Evil is given not only in its pure form, but also in its insignificant forms. This is already the extreme and most hopeless evil, according to Gogol. And precisely in its hopelessness lies the possibility of an equally complete and absolute revival. This concept is organically connected with Christianity and forms one of the foundations of the artistic world of Dead Souls. This makes Chichikov similar to Dostoevsky’s heroes. (Yu.M. Lotman, “Pushkin and “The Tale of Captain Kopeikin.” On the history of the design and composition of “Dead Souls”, gogol.ru).

“Gogol loves Rus', knows and guesses it with his creative feeling better than many: we see this at every step. The depiction of the very shortcomings of the people, even if we take it in moral and practical terms, leads him to deep reflections about the nature of the Russian person, about his abilities and especially upbringing, on which all his happiness and power depend. Read Chichikov’s thoughts about dead and fugitive souls (on pp. 261 - 264): after laughing, you will deeply think about how a Russian person, standing at the lowest level of social life, grows, develops, is educated and lives in this world.

May readers also not think that we recognize Gogol’s talent as one-sided, capable of contemplating only the negative half of human and Russian life: oh! Of course, we do not think so, and everything that has been said before would contradict such a statement. If in this first volume of his poem comic humor prevailed, and we see Russian life and Russian people mostly on their negative side, then it does not in any way follow that Gogol’s imagination could not rise to the full scope of all aspects of Russian life. He himself promises to further present to us all the untold wealth of the Russian spirit (page 430), and we are confident in advance that he will gloriously keep his word. Moreover, in this part, where the very content, characters and subject of the action carried him away into laughter and irony, he felt the need to make up for the lack of the other half of life, and therefore, in frequent digressions, in vivid notes thrown occasionally, he gave us a presentiment of the other half. side of Russian life, which over time will be revealed in its entirety. Who doesn’t remember episodes about the apt word of a Russian man and the nickname he gives, about the endless Russian song rushing from sea to sea about the wide expanse of our land, and, finally, about the swaggering troika, about this bird-troika that he could have invented only a Russian person and who inspired Gogol with a hot page and a wonderful image for the rapid flight of our glorious Rus'? All these lyrical episodes, especially the last one, seem to present us with glances cast forward, or a premonition of the future, which should develop enormously in the work and depict the fullness of our spirit and our life.” (Stepan Shevyrev, “The Adventures of Chichikov or Dead Souls”, poem by N.V. Gogol).

Stepan Shevyrev also writes that a complete answer to the question of why Gogol called his work a poem can be given if the work is completed.

“Now the meaning of the word: poem seems to us twofold: if you look at the work from the side of fantasy, which participates in it, then you can accept it in a real poetic, even lofty sense; - but if you look at the comic humor that predominates in the content of the first part, then involuntarily, because of the word: poem, a deep, significant irony will appear, and you will say internally: “shouldn’t we add to the title: “Poem of our time”?” (Stepan Shevyrev, “The Adventures of Chichikov or Dead Souls”, poem by N.V. Gogol).

The soul must not be dead. And the resurrection of the soul is from the realm of poetry. Therefore, the planned work in three volumes of Gogol’s “Dead Souls” is a poem; This is not a matter of joke or irony. Another thing is that the plan was not completed: the reader saw neither purgatory nor heaven, but only the hell of Russian reality.

The genre uniqueness of “Dead Souls” is still controversial. What is this - a poem, a novel, a moral narrative? In any case, this is a great work about the significant.