Test on the poem by N. V

Why do you think A. S. Pushkin, after listening to the first chapters of “Dead Souls” (these chapters were read to him by Gogol himself), exclaimed: “God, how sad our Russia is”? How can you explain the title of the poem? What features unite the characters depicted by N.V. Gogol?

They are united by a lack of high motives, indifference to the fate of the homeland and people, selfishness, narrowness of interests, gross selfishness, dulling of all human feelings, mental squalor and limitations.

These vices are typical: they are inherent in both landowners and city officials, although they manifest themselves in different forms. Self-interest, bribery, the desire not to serve, but to please, envy, baiting each other, gossip, slander - these are the characteristic features of the bureaucracy. And the landowners, and officials, and the “acquirer” Chichikov are dead souls who own and dispose of living souls.

What is more important: the common features of landowners and officials or their individual differences? Why do you think so? Is it a coincidence that the city officials depicted by Gogol in “Dead Souls” are similar to the characters in “The Inspector General”? How did Chichikov prepare for his life's field? What did his father punish him?

How does this instruction differ from the “testament” of Father Molchalin? Since childhood, Chichikov showed the abilities of a dishonest “business” person: he knew how to make a favorable impression, please those on whom he depended, make a profitable deal, and having achieved his goal, betray, turn away from the person he deceived (remember his school speculations, attitude towards the teacher; then “ way up" in the office). For the rest of his life he remembered his father’s advice, more than anything else in the world, to take care of a penny, which “will never betray.” The father’s order to Chichikov is very reminiscent of the “will” of Molchalin’s father: both taught their sons to adapt to life using dishonest means, but time has made its own amendments to the parental instructions: if Molchalin Sr. put connections and favor of the right people above all else, then Chichikov’s father during the period capitalization of Russia believed that the surest way to succeed in life is money.

How is the gallery of landowner freaks built? What is the sequence of the story about each of them? In fact, the chapters devoted to landowners are built according to the same plan. Do you consider this an advantage or disadvantage of the work? Why? What role does “The Tale of Captain Kopeikin” play in “Dead Souls”? Why was it banned by censorship? How does the poem reveal the theme of the people? Do you think Gogol would agree with Nekrasov’s words: More to the Russian peopleNo limits have been set.Is there a wide path in front of him? Name the main themes of lyrical digressions in “Dead Souls”. What is their role in revealing the ideological content of the work?

Lyrical digressions expand the scope of the narrative. They reveal the image of the author - a patriot who believes in the great future of his homeland, in its people. The writer’s subtle observation, wit, and civic courage are revealed in lyrical digressions. Their topics are very diverse: about thick and thin (Chapter I), about the weakness of the Russian person (Chapter II), about the hidden meaning of the image of Chichikov (Chapter XI), about the author’s attitude to life in youth, adulthood and old age (Chapter . VI), about the attitude of readers towards the novelist and satirical writer (Chapter VII).

A special place in revealing the ideological content of the poem is occupied by the author’s reflections on the fate of the runaway peasants Plyushkin and “Rus-troika”, which affirm the writer’s faith in the future of Russia.

What elements of the poem's composition can you name after reading the first chapter?

Already in the first chapter we find two elements of composition - exposition and plot. The exposition presents a description of the city, an introduction to provincial officials, some surrounding landowners, and, of course, the reader’s acquaintance with Chichikov himself. Chichikov's acquaintance with the landowners and agreement to pay them visits is already the beginning of the plot action.

What helped you find the line between exposition and plot?

There is practically no boundary between exposition and plot. Both of these compositional elements are closely fused with each other. As happens in many literary works, when the same episodes introduce the reader to the setting of the future action and at the same time outline its starting points.

One of the researchers of Gogol’s work claims that the writer’s details are “soldered into the plot.” As an example, the wheel is given, which the men talk about at the very beginning. It would seem like nothing. You immediately forget about it. But the wheel fails Chichikov on the road. The researcher claims that when the wheel appears for the second time, we can talk about the Wheel of Fortune, known from mythology. Is he right?

The researcher is right. “Dead Souls” is a kind of transformation of a picaresque adventure novel, the dynamics of the plot development in which was based on the idea of ​​​​the vicissitudes of Fortune (fate). The Wheel of Fortune failed Chichikov more than once in his enterprises both before and after his main adventure with the “negotiations” of dead souls.

Name the landowners who gave Chichikov the opportunity to carry out his “negotiation”. Tell us about who you are most interested in. Gogol himself will help you. Use the plan according to which the writer created these images: description of the estate and house, portrait, dialogue about the sale of dead souls, parting with the hero.

Chichikov was given the opportunity to carry out his “negotiation” by Manilov, Korobochka, Sobakevich and Plyushkin. It’s hard to say who might interest me the most - all landowners, like artistic images, are bright, colorful, and meaningful stories can be written about all of them. Let's take, for example, Korobochka, which Chichikov ends up with by chance. The interesting thing is that she is the only woman - a landowner. There is an opinion, spread by some researchers, that the development of agriculture on the estates was delayed because many of them were in the hands of women, usually widows or unmarried daughters. Mostly ladies without education and experience either entrusted management to hired persons or clerks, or through their inept actions led the estate to ruin. The poorly educated Korobochka ran the household herself and was quite successful. In her district, she could not be called a small estate, because she owned eighty male souls.

Arriving at night, Chichikov was able to notice that “just by the barking of a dog... one could assume that the village was decent.” The furnishings of the room were old: the walls were hung with paintings of some kind of birds, old small mirrors with dark frames in the form of curled leaves between the wallpaper. Behind every mirror there was either a letter, or an old deck of cards, or a stocking. There was a wall clock with flowers painted on the dial. The bed that the maid prepared for Chichikov, with fluffed feather beds, was also distinguished by its thoroughness and ancient taste. She was so high that he had to stand on a chair to climb onto her, and then she sank beneath him almost to the floor. In the morning he noticed that not only paintings with birds hung on the wall, but also a portrait of Kutuzov. From the window, the guest saw something similar to a chicken coop with a huge number of birds and all sorts of domestic animals, “a pig and his family appeared right there.” Behind it stretched spacious vegetable gardens with cabbage, onions, potatoes and other household vegetables. In the garden there were apple trees and other fruit trees, covered with nets from sparrows and magpies. “For the same reason, several effigies were built on long poles with outstretched arms; one of them was wearing the cap of the mistress herself.” Behind the vegetable gardens were peasant huts, which showed the contentment of the inhabitants, “for they were properly maintained: the worn-out planks on the roofs were replaced with new ones everywhere; the gates were not lopsided anywhere,” in the barns there were new carts, or even two at a time.

Korobochka herself had the typical appearance of a landowner mother who holds her head somewhat to one side, constantly complains about the crop failure, but puts money in colorful bags - one in rubles, in another fifty rubles, in the third quarters - and puts them in the drawers of the chest of drawers.

In the dialogue about the sale of dead souls, Korobochka is depicted sharply satirically: on the one hand, Gogol emphasizes her religiosity and fear of evil spirits, on the other, her economic and trading savvy, reaching the point of extreme stupidity. Like Sobakevich, she remembers the deceased peasant workers with kindness. And even the persuasion that Chichikov exempts Nastasya Petrovna from paying taxes for the revision souls (the losses from this greatly upset her) does not convince her that these souls are worth nothing and do not have any material benefit.

In the dialogue, Korobochka shows herself to be a good expert on the price situation for natural products - honey, hemp, etc. and persistently offers them instead of dead souls, the prices of which are unknown to her.

The comic effect is created by Chichikov’s situations that evoke Korobochka’s mystical fear, for example, the proposal to use the dead instead of scarecrows in the garden and the desire to see the devil (“The power of the godfather is with us! What passions are you talking about!” said the old woman, crossing herself,” “The devil, the landowner was incredibly frightened "). She gives in, frightened by Chichikov's "abuses" and hoping that he will become her buyer in the future ("don't forget about contracts"). Chichikov agreed to everything just to get rid of her now. Korobochka's persistence psychologically exhausts Pavel Ivanovich. With all his ability to behave, adapting to his interlocutor, as discussed in this chapter, he has to “sweat” thoroughly in order to conclude an agreement with her on “negotiation”.

Korobochka’s speech is interesting. It combines folk expressions, which speaks of her constant communication with the serfs (hog, tea, buttered up the host, sip some tea, addresses father, my father, etc.) and expressions from the Holy Scriptures.

When parting with the owner of the estate, Gogol, through the mouth of Chichikov, usually gives a final characteristic, aphoristically and aptly expressed. The box is called club-headed. However, Gogol expands this generalization and thus typifies her image. “Is it really a great abyss separating her from her sister, inaccessibly fenced by the walls of an aristocratic house with fragrant cast-iron staircases, shining copper, mahogany and carpets, yawning over an unread book in anticipation of an acutely intelligent and social visit, where she will have the opportunity to show off her intelligence and to express the fixed thoughts that, according to the laws of fashion, occupy the city for a whole week, thoughts not about what is happening in her house and on her estates, confused and upset thanks to ignorance of economic affairs, but about what political revolution is being prepared in France, what direction it has taken fashionable Catholicism." Gogol, as if reassuring his hero and urging him not to be angry with Korobochka, notes in passing: “he is a respectable and even a statesman’s man, but in reality he turns out to be a perfect Korobochka.”

Select a chapter dedicated to one of the landowners and explain the role of landscape descriptions in it.

Landscape descriptions in the chapters about landowners indicate the condition of the estate, as well as the character and habits of the owner. In the answer to the previous question, we talked about Korobochka’s management style - unpretentious, not following fashion, but solid and strong for an estate with an average number of souls, generating a certain income thanks to the practical savvy of the hostess. The landscape on Manilov's estate is of a romantic nature: a two-story stone house on the Jura, the slope of the mountain was covered with trimmed turf, two or three flower beds with lilac and yellow acacia bushes scattered in English, five or six birch trees, a gazebo with the characteristic inscription "Temple of the Solitary reflections,” a pond covered with greenery, “which... is not unusual in the English gardens of Russian landowners.” Below there are about two hundred log huts, which, for a reason still unknown to us, Chichikov began to count. This landscape corresponds to the dreamy mood of Manilov and his wife, and also suggests that they did not do housework.

Gogol's poem is written in a very bright language, rich in various artistic techniques. Find epithets in one of the chapters (of your choice) and try to characterize them. They can be close to folklore, they can be metaphorical, they can be hyperbolic.

For example, the epithet non-existent replaces dead. Manilov, trying to express himself as nobly as possible, when Chichikov offered to set a price for him, refused to take the money, citing the fact that they had, in some way, ceased to exist. This extended epithet produces a comical impression. The expanded epithet for the word “negotiation” also sounds comical and even grotesque - it does not correspond to civil regulations and further views of Russia. So Manilov asks floridly, softly defining what is an adventure. But the “education” and “most pleasant” impression that the guest makes make him believe that formalizing the purchase of dead souls will not harm the future views of Russia. The word “sacred” sounds blasphemous as an epithet to the word “duty” in the mouth of Chichikov in the context of his machinations.

Remember the two comparisons in the poem: man was as annoying as a fly, and people died like flies. Remember what these comparisons were related to. What is the difference between their content and the nature of the use of comparison?

The image of a fly is used repeatedly as a comparison in Dead Souls. Thus, in the first chapter, the writer compares officials in black tailcoats with heaps of flies scurrying around refined sugar during the hot July summer. Reflecting on Chichikov's adaptability to the characters of his interlocutors, Gogol paints a portrait of an official, the ruler of the chancellery, who sits important among his subordinates, like Prometheus, and before his superiors behaves like a fly. The comparison of Prometheus and a fly speaks of opportunism as a quality of Russian bureaucracy. If in the first two cases the comparison is of a comic nature, then the expression “people are dying like flies,” which characterizes the state of affairs on Plyushkin’s estate, already emphasizes the tragic situation of the Russian serf peasantry, who are completely dependent on the “dead souls” of the landowners and officials who govern Russia .

Think about examples of hyperbole that you remember while reading. Could you distinguish hyperboles from Gogol's works from hyperboles in the works of other writers? What could help you with this?

Each writer has his own style of using figurative and expressive means, including hyperbolization. The chapter about Plyushkin, for example, is built on hyperbole. The image of a heap located in a landowner's house and collected from rubbish picked up on the road is hyperbolic. The appearance of the old man, whom Chichikov takes either for the housekeeper or for the housekeeper, is hyperbolically comical. Here hyperbole merges with the grotesque in the aspect of combining the ugly with the funny and gives the description an element of tragedy.

M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin often used hyperboles. We are familiar with his tales. In them, hyperbole takes on a fantastic connotation. The generals who find themselves on a desert island are so unadapted to life that they do not know how bread is made; they think that rolls grow on trees. The hyperbolic submission of a man who, while free, allows himself to be exploited and even tied with a rope so that he does not run away is fantastic.

Try to create a dictionary of the most typical words and expressions of Nozdryov or Manilov, Sobakevich or Korobochka. What, besides the words characteristic of each of them, could be placed in it?

Manilov's dictionary may include words characteristic of him, giving a "sugariness" and cloyingness to his behavior, such as do me a favor, I humbly ask, let me not allow this, darling, most kind, courteous and pleasant person, most worthy, spiritual pleasure, name day hearts, chance brought happiness, kind (appeal to the clerk), etc. Manilov often repeats the word education, brilliant education, which he values ​​​​in his interlocutor or in the people he is talking about, clearly exaggerating its level due to the feeling of his own lack of education. No other characters in the poem talk about education or being educated. Thus, the neutral word used by Manilov somewhat deepens the characterization of his image.

The poem "Dead Souls" is a lyric epic work. This is its shortest definition. Until now, you have read and listened to poems that were written in verse, their lyric-epic nature was obvious to you and, probably, did not raise doubts. However, the lyrical and epic principles merge in many prose works. Highlight the elements of epic and lyrical in Gogol's poem.

Chichikov's arrival in the provincial town, the plot associated with visiting landowners with the aim of buying "dead souls", the exposure of the hero, the background of the hero - the epic elements of the work. Chichikov's author's digressions and reflections about the peasants, "Eh, the Russian people! They don't like to die their own death!", about "two travelers and two writers, youth and old age", about the "Russian Troika" and others, of which there are many in "The Dead" souls", give the work a lyrical beginning.

V. G. Belinsky called such reflections of the writer “humane subjectivity.”

Compare the lyrical digressions of Pushkin’s novel and Gogol’s poem. What brings them together and what sets them apart?

The patriotic feeling brings us together: love for the country, reflections on its future and present, although the themes of the lyrical digressions of both Pushkin and Gogol are different. At the same time, Gogol’s digressions, in comparison with Pushkin’s, bring civic pathos, although, like Pushkin, the poem contains reflections and memories of youth. In "Eugene Onegin" there are also lyrical passages about art, customs of social life, etc.

The main character of the poem "Dead Souls" is Chichikov. The epic aspects of the work and the development of the storyline are associated with it. At the same time, some literary scholars consider the Author to be a hero. There are reasons for this, because he actively expresses his position in monologues, which are lyrical digressions and reflections. In a lyrical work, the image of the Author can merge with the image of the lyrical hero.

Bulgakov in the list of characters (poster) indicated the following characters: The first in the play; Chichikov Pavel Ivanovich; Secretary of the Board of Trustees; Sex in a tavern; Governor; Governor's wife; Governor's daughter Chairman Ivan Grigorievich; Postmaster Ivan Andreevich; Prosecutor Antipator Zakharyevich; Gendarmerie Colonel Ilya Ilyich; Anna Grigorievna; Sofya Ivanovna; McDonald Karlovich; Sysoy Pafnutievich; Parsley; Selifan; Plyushkin, landowner; Sobakevich Mikhail Semenovich, landowner; Manilov, landowner; Nozdryov, landowner; Korobochka Nastasya Petrovna, landowner... How do you explain the sequence of appearance of these characters in the list of characters?

The First comes to the fore as a commentator, holding together the action of the play. Next comes Chichikov, the main character of the play, and the Secretary of the Board of Trustees, whose role is very significant, since he unwittingly gave the idea for Chichikov’s adventure, and therefore suggested the plot of the poem to Gogol, and the plot of the play to Bulgakov. Then the heroes are divided into city officials, their wives, and the inhabitants of the city. They form a special group in the poster as persons who determine the life of the Russian province. At the same time, it is interesting to note that some characters in Gogol’s poem, who are only mentioned in the text, receive their own voice and some kind of function in the play, for example, McDonald Karlovich and Sysoy Pafnutievich, reminiscent of the famous Bobchinsky and Dobchinsky. Another significant group of characters, following the group of city dwellers, are the landowners with whom Chichikov conspired to buy and sell dead souls. It was the city group, embodying the administrative system of Russia, that created the conditions for the implementation of Chichikov’s adventure.

In total, there are 32 characters in the comedy. Which of them (look again at the poster) came from the pages of Gogol’s poem and which Bulgakov introduced additionally?

Additionally, the First was introduced in the play. From the poem by N.V. Gogol, Chichikov, landowners, officials, and servants came into the play. A number of minor characters, whose presence is only mentioned in the poem, are included in the poster and given specific names, which is explained by the laws of the process of staging a prose work and turning it into a play. So, the governor’s daughter, Sysoy Pafnutievich, and McDonald Karlovich, about whom Gogol says that “had never been heard of,” get their roles.

Which chapters of Gogol's poem were used to create the "Prologue"? What role does “Prologue” play in the composition of a comedy?

To create the text of the "Prologue", an episode from Chapter XI was used (Chichikov's conversation with the secretary and giving a bribe). The compositional role of this dialogue is very important: Bulgakov brings out in the “Prologue” the birth of Chichikov’s plan to get rich by acquiring the souls of dead peasants that exist only on paper. This beginning allows the screenwriter to dynamically build the plot of the play based on the implementation of this plan. For Gogol, it is important to gradually reveal the biography and development of the personality of his hero, therefore the episode of the emergence of a criminal plan is given in the context of Chichikov’s prehistory, included in the composition of the poem after the completion of the adventure. Thus, the “Prologue” in Bulgakov’s play can be considered an exposition.

Compare the first act of Bulgakov's comedy with the text of Gogol's poem. What chapters does it use?

The first act is composed of the following chapters. Firstly, a brief description of Chichikov’s first visit to the governor (Chapter I) is staged, from where the viewer learns about the latter’s passion for embroidery on tulle, about “velvet” roads and about the invitation “to come to him that same day for a house party.” From the same chapter, the play included Chichikov’s introduction to the governor’s wife and his acquaintance with landowners and officials. Some biographical information that could have been reported to the governor was transferred into the first act of Bulgakov’s play from Chapter XI of the poem with emotional exaggerations about his honesty before the law and people (chapters about meetings with landowners). The presentation of the governor's daughter, which takes place in the first act of the play, took place in Gogol's work in Chapter XVIII. The first act also includes visits to landowners and scenes of trading in dead souls (Manilov, Sobakevich). The First's monologue gives an idea of ​​Gogol's lyrical digressions and his thoughts about his homeland. His final remarks about the landowners bring the author's characteristics into the play.

The sequence of Chichikov's visits to the landowners in Bulgakov's play is disrupted compared to Gogol's text. First, planned meetings are depicted, which brings them closer to their first acquaintances at the governor's party.

Prepare a report about one of the landowners, using the text of the comedy. Indicate the similarities and differences with the characters in Gogol's poem.

Everyone will choose a character for their message individually. The differences in the portrayal of landowners in the play and poem are explained by the peculiarities of the dramatic work that Bulgakov created based on Gogol’s prose text. The character's characteristics will be compiled by you on the basis of his dialogues with Chichikov, remarks and some of the First's comments. The poem contains quite a lot of author's descriptions of both the landowner himself and the environment in which he is depicted.

Prepare a report about Chichikov as the main character of the comedy. Try to outline, at least in the most general terms, what the hero of the comedy has lost and gained in comparison with the hero of the poem.

When preparing this message, you should also rely on knowledge of the specifics of the dramatic work. Chichikov's backstory is not given in its entirety, like Gogol's, but was scattered throughout the First's remarks and in the scene with the secretary of the guardianship council. There is a description of the hero’s appearance and details of his life. And this, undoubtedly, impoverishes the idea of ​​Chichikov, but enhances in the eyes of the viewer the entertaining nature of the play, its comedic character, as well as the comedy of the image of the main character.

What is the role of the First in the play? Why, in your opinion, did Bulgakov introduce this character into the comedy?

The role of the First is commentary. Bulgakov was going to make him the host of the play. In a letter to V.I. Nemirovich-Danchenko, the playwright expressed the idea that “the play will become more significant... if the Reader, having opened the performance, leads it in direct and lively movement along with the rest of the characters, that is, takes part not only in the reading, but also in action." This idea did not find support from the director, and as the premiere was being prepared, the role of the First was reduced and relegated to the background.

So, according to Bulgakov’s plan, in the finale of the comedy, when Chichikov, robbed completely by a gendarme colonel and police chief, again drove across Russia, the First tries to awaken the audience’s sympathetic attitude towards themselves, towards the common fate in our country of a poet persecuted by his contemporaries.

What favorite techniques of the satirical writer were fully preserved when dramatizing the poem? What did Bulgakov add from the playwright’s own arsenal?

Bulgakov treats Gogol's text with care and preserves the techniques of the satirical writer in the play, for example, the contrast between Korobochka's religiosity, her constant fear of mystical forces, and her persistent fear of making a mistake when selling dead souls. She does not understand that she is committing a blasphemous act, thereby demonstrating her stupidity. However, she (and this is funny) is characterized by a romantic fantasy. She says that Chichikov broke into her house and forced her to sell the dead. The introduction of the scene of her interrogation with the chairman contributes to the strengthening of the grotesque in the image of Korobochka.

Bulgakov added a new ending to the plot, a completely unexpected ending. Real meaning is attached to the phantasmagoric event. A new governor general is appointed to the city. Chichikov is arrested. Threatening him with Siberia, the police chief and the gendarmerie colonel in the “arrest room” fleece him like a stick, take a bribe of thirty thousand from him (“Here it’s all together - ours, the colonel, and the governor general”) and release him. The satirical power in exposing Chichikov and the provincial rulers increases dramatically, as they say, doubling. The viewer is convinced that if such an adventurer and swindler as Chichikov is being robbed completely in the city of N., then both Sobakevich and Chichikov are right when they say about the city rulers “the swindler sits on the swindler and drives the swindler on.”

How are the poem's lyrical digressions used in comedy?

The lyrical digressions of the poem, naturally, are significantly shortened and included in the speeches of the First, as well as in some statements of the hero himself. These are digressions about the road, about youth and old age, which are heard both before and after Chichikov’s visit to Plyushkin’s estate. The story about Captain Kopeikin is interestingly presented in the comedy. It is narrated by the postmaster, who fails to convey the ordeals that Kopeikin experienced in his troubles. And suddenly the real Kopeikin appears, who turned out to be a courier and brought a dispatch about the appointment of a new governor-general. The prosecutor dies.

How are landscapes, interiors, and portraits from Gogol’s text used in the comedy?

In the stage directions, in the dialogue between Manilov and Chichikov, in which chairs should the dear guest sit. Portraits of heroes and the interior appear in the comments of the First, especially before the dialogues in the estates of Plyushkin and Sobakevich. Interesting remarks are heard in the remarks about the changes in Plyushkin’s face when he recalls his years of studying together with the chairman of the chamber. First: “The evening dawn is spreading and a ray falls on Plyushkin’s face” - some bright glimpse of humanity appeared. And the remark of the First: “Oh, a pale reflection of feeling. But the miser’s face, following the moment that the feelings slid across it, became even more insensitive and vulgar.”

Prepare a reading in person from one of the comedy episodes. Participants can give their comments on the depicted episode after the performance.

The scene of the acquisition of dead souls from Manilov is clearly readable. The conversation is conducted in a good-natured manner. Everyone wants to be liked. Chichikov speaks insinuatingly, Manilov tensely tries to insert learned words into his speech, for example, “negotiation,” instead of “deal,” “purchase.”

Compile a short dictionary of the language of one of the characters in the comedy. You can also create dictionaries of two characters and then compare them. If you worked on creating such dictionaries while studying Gogol's poem, then compare them.

Dictionary of Mikhail Semenovich Sobakevich: fool, robbers, dog, pig, gentle face, robber, Gog and Magog, swindler, sellers of Christ, steamed turnips (reviews about people); bargain, skimp, real price, deposit, etc.

Describe the stage directions in one of the comedy acts.

Act two. The stage directions for paintings five, six and seven briefly depict the situation in front of the houses of Plyushkin, Nozdryov, Korobochka, a situation corresponding to the characters and mood of the owners of the house. Neglected, rotten, filled with rubbish - these are the epithets that characterize the condition of Plyushkin’s house and estate. In Nozdryov's house, the interior indicates the owner's riotous character - a saber on the wall, two guns and a portrait of Suvorov. A candle, a lamp, a samovar, a stormy twilight - the situation in which Chichikov finds himself at Korobochka.

Theater lovers can prepare a story about the fate of the comedy "Dead Souls" on the stage of the Moscow Art Theater.

The history of the production of “Dead Souls” on the stage of the Moscow Art Theater was complex and caused Mikhail Afanasyevich a lot of mental suffering. When he entered the theater after Stalin’s phone call, he was offered to stage “Dead Souls” and take part in the production of the play. By that time, 160 staging options had already been proposed. None of them satisfied Bulgakov, and he declared that “Dead Souls” could not be staged, a new dramatic work must be created. They agreed with him and instructed him to do this work. In May 1930 he made the first sketches. He had an idea to show Gogol himself dictating a poem in Rome. However, this idea was immediately rejected. On October 31, the first reading of the dramatization took place in the presence of V. I. Nemirovich-Danchenko. The famous director generally approved of the comedy, but Bulgakov failed to introduce into the play the image of an equal character, somewhat reminiscent of the author. He was considered a reasoner, a commentator, hindering the development of action. Bulgakov insisted. It seemed to him that the First would play a positive role, especially in the scene with Plyushkin, and even wanted to put him into action. An attempt was made to implement this idea, but Kachalov, who was entrusted with the role of the First, was unable to cope with it. I had to take her outside the performance. In addition, director Sakhnovsky oriented the actors towards the grotesque-tragic Gogol, towards a symbolic solution to the theme in the spirit of Vs. Meyerhold, which did not suit Bulgakov. From February 1931, K. S. Stanislavsky became involved in the work on the play, and the performance began to acquire realistic features. However, Stanislavsky also refused the role of the First. In the process of long, exhausting rehearsals, the concept of the staging changed: Stanislavsky had his own vision of “Dead Souls,” and he staged them differently than Bulgakov would have liked.

In a letter to P. S. Popov, he describes the creative process of working on “Dead Souls”: “And I smashed the entire poem to stones. Literally to pieces. In the Prologue, the action takes place in a tavern in St. Petersburg or Moscow, where the Secretary of the Board of Trustees gave Chichikov accidentally got the idea to buy and pawn the dead (look at Vol. I, Chapter XI). Chichikov went to buy and not at all in the same order as in the poem. In the tenth scene, called “cameral” in the rehearsal sheets, the interrogation of Selifan and Petrushka takes place , Korobochki and Nozdryov, a story about Captain Kopeikin, which causes the prosecutor to die. Chichikov is arrested, put in prison and released (by the police chief and gendarme colonel), having robbed him completely. He leaves."

Vladimir Ivanovich was furious. There was a great battle, but still in this form the play went into production, which lasted about two years.

Bulgakov agreed with many of Stanislavsky’s decisions and even admired them, which he wrote to Konstantin Sergeevich about. Thus, he was delighted by the judgment about Manilov: “You can’t say anything to him, ask him anything - he’ll stick right away.”

As Stanislavsky worked on the play, the stage action increased. The role of the First fell out, some scenes were shortened, other scenes were changed. A theatrical version of comedy arose. The premiere took place on November 28, 1932. Such famous actors as Toporkov, Moskvin, Tarkhanov, Leonidov, Kedrov took part in it. It went through hundreds of performances and became a classic of Russian dramatic art.

As a modern researcher of the life and work of M. A. Bulgakov V. V. Petelin writes, “Bulgakov created an independent work, bright, scenic, many actors enthusiastically devoted themselves to the game, because, as they said, the roles were “playable”, there were individual scenes ", were massive, where dozens of actors and actresses were employed... So the theater triumphed in its success. And at the same time, in the play, “everything is from Gogol, not a single word of someone else,” Bulgakov himself repeatedly asserted, and researchers only confirmed the truth of his words." .

Carefully read fragments from Gogol's "Dead Souls". Decide what is in front of you: comparisons or metaphors, and try to prove that you are right: “The noise from the feathers was great and sounded as if several carts with brushwood were passing through a forest littered with a quarter of an arshin of withered leaves”; “Chichikov saw in his hands a decanter, which was covered in dust, like a sweatshirt.” V. Kataev claims that these are metaphors. Is he right?

The question is complex, since a metaphor can still be considered an undifferentiated comparison in which both members are easily seen. Here they are connected by the conjunctions “as if”, “as”, which is typical for comparisons. They can be considered metaphorical comparisons due to the fact that Gogol gave the compared images extreme expressiveness and visibility.

For what reason or set of reasons did Gogol call “Dead Souls” a poem? Why did he sometimes call the same “Dead Souls” a novel in his letters?

“Dead Souls” is called a poem due to the strong lyrical element inherent in this work that accompanies the plot action: interpolated reasoning and lyrical digressions. There are many sad and at the same time dreamily lyrical thoughts about the future of Russia, about its talented people, worthy of a different fate and suffering from stupid and mediocre landowners and officials who control their fate. At the same time, the variety of problems posed in “Dead Souls”, the wide coverage of Russian reality, expressed in the creation of vivid pictures of city and local life, allows us to consider this work a novel.

On June 11, 1842, Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol’s poem “Dead Souls” was published. To be precise, the first edition was called “The Adventures of Chichikov or Dead Souls.” Today, a little over 170 years later, we decided to remember the great writer with a kind word and reflect on several still relevant questions about this amazing work, on the pages of which the picture of Gogol’s contemporary life was so clearly captured.

By the way, copies of this very first edition are still preserved. One of them was recently offered at an antique and used book auction. This volume was presented by the writer Vsevolod Ivanov to the director Alexander Dovzhenko, as, in fact, the dedicatory inscription says. The lot went under the hammer for 350 thousand rubles.

Tell me, brother Pushkin, an anecdote...

Of course, every self-respecting “reader” today knows that the idea for the poem was suggested to Gogol by none other than Pushkin. This is documented in their correspondence dated October 7, 1835, and later, in 1847, Gogol directly writes about the fact of the transfer of the plot in the “Author's Confession.” Researchers have interpreted this in different ways. For example, Yuri Mann wrote about the nature of the “hint” this way: “It lies not in the fact that a joke with dead souls can be realized at all, but in the fact that a great work can be created on its basis...” But what does this mean? Was Gogol’s iconic work invented by Pushkin? Of course not. The fact is that Pushkin told Gogol an anecdote, a funny, modern story about the adventures of a cunning businessman. An anecdote, nothing more.
Pushkin simply gave a clue that not everyone can grab onto, and only Gogol could use it in this way.

Knowing how much Gogol rewrote, supplemented, altered and again completely rewrote the chapters of the poem, one can imagine what would remain of Pushkin’s sketches. It should be noted that Gogol, apparently throughout the creation of the first volume, retained the feeling that he had to pay some kind of tribute to Pushkin. The tribute is not for the plot or idea, but for the incentive to create a great work. In “The Author's Confession” Gogol writes: “But Pushkin made me look at the matter seriously. He has long persuaded me to take on a large essay...” Writer’s gratitude can already be seen in the genre definition of “Dead Souls”. Gogol called his work a poem. Someone believed that this was just his characteristic mockery of everyone and everything. But why not assume that “Dead Souls” is also called a poem because if Pushkin had written them, then it would certainly have been a poem?

Were there any illustrations?

Contrary to popular belief, the first edition of Gogol's poem did not contain any illustrations at all. A.A. Agin created a series of drawings for the poem, which were supposed to be included in the book, but they were first published only 4 years later, in 1846, in the collection “One Hundred Drawings for N.V. Gogol’s poem “Dead Souls”. Agin’s drawings are considered “classical”. Perhaps this influenced the widespread opinion about the presence of illustrations in the first book.
Subsequently, many artists found inspiration in Gogol's poem and created wonderful collections of illustrations for it. Artists P.M. Boklevsky, V.E. Makovsky, P.P. Sokolov, Marc Chagall. The drawings are talented and cheerful; they still decorate various editions of the poem, published all over the world.

Did Gogol burn it?

The magic of numbers. On June 11, 1842, the first volume of the poem was published, and on February 11, 1852, Gogol burned the second volume. This act was so unjustified and incomprehensible to the writer’s contemporaries, as it remains inexplicable today. The human mind does not sleep and comes up with new and new versions that may, if not explain, then shed some light on this incident.
The first, official version is that Gogol really burned the second volume of Dead Souls. He planned to write a trilogy, as directly evidenced by the notes in the writer’s notebooks.
On the night of February 11-12, Gogol had another attack of his mental illness. Disappointment in the results of his own work, the feeling that he had written something wrong and that he had not reached the required level, had not created the desired images, forced him to throw the manuscript into the fireplace. It is likely that Gogol, who dreamed in the second volume, in his own words, to bring out purer heroes, striving for correct values ​​and ideals, virtuous ones, having failed to do this, he realized that his theory was not correct. That there are no prerequisites for such types in Rus'. And he tried to stop himself. This was the only way he could stop.

According to another theory, which is less probable, but still has the right to exist, Gogol did not write the second volume at all. Apparently, followers of this version believe that for several years the writer only pretended to work painstakingly on the text, without actually creating anything.
According to another version, Nikolai Vasilyevich, whose handwriting is known, thanks to surviving examples, for its ornateness, simply could not make out what he himself had written. Unlikely? Well... it seems that time will no longer judge this dispute, so all versions will remain unconfirmed. Gogol's riddles are such riddles.

Gogol's "Dead Souls" test.
1. Chichikov’s crew - ...
a) tarantass; +b) chaise; c) wagon.
2.Name and patronymic of Chichikov:
a) Pyotr Ivanovich; b) Ivan Petrovich; +c) Pavel Ivanovich.
3. Who we are talking about: “She was not bad-looking, she was dressed to her liking. A pale silk cloth hood sat well on her; her thin small hand hurriedly threw something on the table and clutched a cambric handkerchief with embroidered corners?
a) Box; +b) Manilov’s wife; c) the lady is pleasant in all respects.
4. Which of the heroes of the poem dreamed of “...under the shadow of some elm tree to philosophize about something, to go deeper”?
+a) Manilov; b) Sobakevich; c) Chichikov.
5. The description of whose home is given here: “The room was hung with old striped wallpaper; paintings with some birds, mirrors with dark frames... behind every mirror there was either a letter, or an old deck of cards, or a stocking”?
a) Sobakevich; b) Plyushkin; +c) Box.
6. Name of Chichikov’s servant:
a) Zakhar; b) Osip; +c) Parsley.
7. Which hero of the poem is said to be a “historical person”?
a) Plyushkin; +b) Nozdryov; c) Captain Kopeikin.
8. What was Plyushkin’s nickname?
a) “barefoot”; +b) “patched”; c) “torn”
9. What price did Sobakevich ask for the dead peasants?
a) 50 rubles; +b) 100 rubles; c) 200 rubles.
10. Which of the landowners treated Chichikov to a turkey “the size of a calf, stuffed with all sorts of good things: eggs, rice, livers and who knows what...”?
a) Nozdryov; +b) Sobakevich; c) Box.

test liter dead souls. help me make a test of 20 questions on the knowledge of dead souls.. with answers.. plz!:??? and got the best answer

Answer from Yergey Kuksenkov[guru]
1. What is the genre of the book Dead Souls?
answer: Poem
2. Who was the first person Chichikov visited in the city of NN?
answer: to the governor
3. Whose manor house is this: “... the room was hung with old striped wallpaper; paintings with some birds;... behind every mirror there was either a letter, or an old deck of cards, or a stocking”?
answer: Box
4. Which of the heroes of the poem the author depicted with biographical details
Answer: Plyushkin and Chichikov
5. Which of the heroes did the author intend to lead through life's trials and lead to spiritual rebirth in the following volumes of the work?
Answer: Chichikova and Plyushkina
6. To whom did N.V. Gogol address in the lines of this letter: “Do me a favor, give me some kind of story, at least something funny or not funny, but a purely Russian joke”?
Answer: To A. S. Pushkin
7. To whom in the poem “Dead Souls” do the words belong: “Take with you on the journey, emerging from soft youthful years into stern, embittering courage, take with you all human movements, do not leave them on the road, you will not pick them up later! ”
Answer: to the author
8. Who is the author of the following statement: “Not a single writer has yet had this gift to expose the vulgarity of life so clearly, to be able to outline the vulgarity of a vulgar person with such force, so that all the little things that escape the eye would flash large in the eyes of everyone”
Answer: V. G. Belinsky
9. What words characterize
Chichikov, the main character of the work?
Answer: “knight of a penny”, “Pretty nice person!” , Among dogs “just like a father among a family”
10. What trope did the author use: “Rus! Rus! I see you, from my wonderful, beautiful distance I see you: poor, scattered and uncomfortable in you... But what incomprehensible, secret force attracts you to you? »
Answer: epithet
11. What words,
refer to the characteristics of the Box
Answer: motley bags, ripped cloak, I have tea, I’ll wait a little, maybe, so hot, my father, saints, passions, rested.
12. N.V. Gogol used various comic means to describe landowners. Which of them did he apply to the description of Plyushkin?
Answer: Grotesque
13. In the chapters dedicated to landowners, N.V. Gogol uses the same sequence of episodes. Restore this sequence
Answer: Landscape, estate, interior, portrait, lunch, transaction
14.Remember the items that belonged to Nozdryov.
Answer: Checkers, a stolen puppy, a brown mare, Turkish daggers, cards, a barrel organ, a pipe with a pouch and a mouthpiece, empty stalls, a saber and two guns, a stallion, rods
15. An undoubted requirement of the genre
"Dead Souls" is:
Answer: Equality of lyrical and epic principles
16. What motive is associated with the image of the author?
Answer: Road motif
17. Whose portrait is this: “He was as fresh as blood and milk; health seemed to be dripping from his face.”
Answer: Nozdrev
18. Who is the Author of “Dead Souls”?
Answer: Narrator and lyrical hero
19. What is Chichikov’s “dead souls” Scam based on?
Answer: Stagnation of the Russian bureaucracy
20. Why did N.V. Gogol arrange Chichikov’s visit to the landowners in exactly this sequence: Manilov, Korobochka, Nozdrev, Sobakevich, Plyushkin?
Answer: Heroes are arranged according to the degree of degradation, death.

1. According to what plan N.V. Gogol characterizes the landowners in the poem “Dead Souls”?

General view of the estate, the state of the farm, the manor's house and its interior, portrait and characteristics of the landowner, reaction to Chichikov's proposal.

2. What is the consistency in the depiction of the degradation of landowners in the poem by N.V. Gogol's "Dead Souls"?

Manilov, Korobochka, Nozdrev, Sobakevich, Plyushkin.

3. What role does the road motif play in N.V.’s poem? Gogol's "Dead Souls"?

It is the connecting link of the plot, enhances the dynamism of the poem, and unites time and space.

4. Why did Chichikov buy dead souls?

In order to put them in the guardianship council as alive and get money, get rich.

5. Why N.V. Gogol introduces the parable of Kif Mokievich and Mokiya Kifovich into the poem “Dead Souls”?

Shows writers who turn a blind eye to shortcomings, just so as not to wash their dirty linen in public.

6. As suggested by N.V. Gogol to construct the poem “Dead Souls”?

The poem was supposed to consist of three parts, like Dante's Divine Comedy. The three volumes of Dead Souls were supposed to correspond to the three parts of the Divine Comedy. The first volume would reflect the hell of modern reality, the second would include positive images and the hero would go through purgatory, the third would depict a harmonious society - paradise.

7. To what genre can “Dead Souls” by N.V. be classified? Go-golya? Why?

The poem, like the poems of Homer, depicts the whole of Russia on an epic scale; The plot was based on Dante's poem "The Divine Comedy"; Lyrical digressions occupy a large place.

8. What are the features of the composition of N.V.’s poem? Gogol's "Dead Souls"?

The action takes place in time and space, which is achieved using the road motif; the work includes lyrical digressions, inserted episodes, and an inserted story; The landowners' gallery is built on the principle of revealing gradation.

9. What is the significance in revealing the ideological meaning of N.V.’s poem? Gogol's "Dead Souls" has "The Tale of Captain Kopeikin"? Material from the site

The insert story is indirectly related to the plot, but it expands the idea of ​​bureaucratic bureaucracy. It completes the idea of ​​the first volume and includes reflections on real and imaginary patriotism, on the insecurity of the defender of the fatherland - an honored hero, on the contradictions in the life of Russia.

10. What is the specific and metaphorical meaning of the title of N.V.’s poem? Gogol's "Dead Souls"?

Specifically, peasants were called dead souls, who, according to official documents, were considered alive before the next census (censuses were carried out every five years), but died in the period between censuses; metaphorical - dead souls are officials, landowners who make up the soulless world of Russia.