“In decisive moments, a Russian person will find what to do without going into long-range reasoning. "
". in a lazy and sluggish voice, as if, according to the Russian expression, he was pulling a collar on a horse with pliers. »
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". Deciding to go to a bank means being exposed to the unknown. "(Chichikov about playing cards)
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". They came up with a diet, treat with hunger! Because they have a German liquid nature, they imagine that they can cope with the Russian stomach. »
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". No! whoever has a fist cannot straighten into a palm! But straighten your fist with one or two fingers, and it will come out even worse. "
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". And a person could stoop to such insignificance, pettiness, and disgustingness! could have changed so much! And does this seem true? Everything seems to be true, anything can happen to a person. »
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". you can’t read anything in the cold, unfeeling features of inhuman old age. »
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". where the governor is, there is a ball, otherwise there will be no proper love and respect from the nobility. »
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". it is difficult to even understand how this mortal works: no matter how the news goes, as long as it is news, he will certainly tell it to another mortal. »
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". No matter how stupid the words of a fool are, sometimes they are enough to confuse an intelligent person. "
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". Go and get along with the man! does not believe in God, but believes that if the bridge of his nose itches, he will certainly die. »
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- ". And it turned out to be clear what kind of creature man is: he is wise, intelligent and intelligent in everything that concerns others, and not himself. "
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". Out of ten sides, it is enough to have one stupid side in order to be considered a fool over nine good ones. »
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". how deeply ingrained into Slavic nature was something that slipped only through the nature of other peoples"
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'. Of course, it is difficult, troublesome, scary [. ] Well, after all, man is given a mind for something. "
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- ". But he is wise who does not disdain any character, but, fixing an inquiring gaze on it, probes it to its original causes. "
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". And so the money that would improve things to some extent goes to various means to bring oneself into oblivion. »
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“those who think not about not doing bad things, but about not being told that they are doing bad things. »
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". He called ambition the force that pushes a person forward, without which you cannot motivate him to action. »
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". This is what he called the highest degree of intelligence. To preserve, in the midst of any sorrows, the high peace in which a person should forever abide - that’s what he called mind. "
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". if a friend invites you to his village fifteen miles away, it means that there are thirty faithful to her. »
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- These were quotes from the poem “Dead Souls” by N.V. Gogol: aphorisms, catchphrases, wise sayings from the work.
Quotes from the poem Dead Souls (50 quotes)
In the chaise sat a gentleman, not handsome, but not bad-looking either, neither too fat nor too thin; One cannot say that he is old, but not that he is too young.
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He who is captivated by beauty does not see shortcomings and forgives everything; but whoever is embittered will try to dig out all the rubbish in us and put it out so brightly that you will inevitably see it.
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In decisive moments, a Russian person will find something to do without going into further considerations
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- I confess that I like the police chief more than anyone else. Some sort of direct, open character; There is something simple-hearted in his face.
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Don’t hang out with your comrades, they won’t teach you any good; and if it comes to that, then hang out with those who are richer, so that on occasion they can be useful to you.
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In the chaise sat a gentleman, not handsome, but not bad-looking either, neither too fat nor too thin; One cannot say that he is old, but not that he is too young.
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The Russian people express themselves strongly! And if he rewards someone with a word, then it will go to him and his descendants.
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The day, it seems, was concluded with a portion of cold veal, a bottle of sour cabbage soup and a sound sleep for the entire pump, as they say in other parts of the vast Russian state.
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- Do you really think that I would take money for souls that have in some way ended their existence?
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And in the global chronicle of humanity there are many entire centuries that, it would seem, were crossed out and destroyed as unnecessary.
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We all have a small weakness to spare ourselves a little, but we will try better to find some neighbor on whom to take out our frustration.
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I know them all: they are all scammers, the whole city there is like this: the scammer sits on the scammer and drives the scammer.
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God alone could have said what Manilov’s character was. There is a kind of people known by the name: so-so people, neither this nor that
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- You are afraid of a deeply fixed gaze, you are afraid to fix a deep gaze on something, you like to glance at everything with perplexed eyes.
Quotes about Chichikov
Chichikov is the most cunning person in N.V. Gogol’s work “Dead Souls”. He is so smart and insightful that he uses his talents solely for the sake of his own enrichment. Who knows, maybe in Chichikov we are able to see ourselves.
Interesting quotes about Chichikov can be found on our website. This hero of the work sometimes behaves so directly that even from one phrase of the author one can get an understanding of what kind of person he is.
...one cannot say that he is old..., but also...not too young...
He argued... somehow extremely skillfully...
...a subtle person who acts for sure...
...of course, Chichikov is not the first handsome man, but he is the way a man should be, that if he were a little fatter or fuller, it would not be good...
.. waking up very early in the morning, washing, drying himself from head to toe with a wet sponge, which was done only on Sundays... shaving in such a way that his cheeks became a real satin in terms of smoothness and gloss..
The origins of our hero are dark and humble. The parents were nobles, but whether they were official or personal, God knows.
The gentleman took off his cap and unwound a woolen scarf of rainbow colors from his neck.
...the visitor showed such attentiveness to the toilet that has not even been seen everywhere. ... he ordered to wash his face and rubbed both cheeks with soap for an extremely long time...
....To a man without tribe and clan...
The delighted Chichikov gave the order to drive the horses.
...his face, which he loved sincerely and in which, it seems, he found the chin most attractive.
Quotes from the poem “Dead Souls”
Be that as it may, a person's goal is still undetermined unless he has finally placed his feet firmly on a solid foundation, and not on some free-thinking chimera of youth.
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God provided himself with the work of creation as the highest pleasure, and also requires from man that he be the creator of prosperity and the harmonious flow of affairs.
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Look, Pavlusha, study, don’t be stupid and don’t hang around, but most of all please your teachers and bosses.
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Out of ten sides, it is enough to have one stupid one in order to be considered a fool by nine good ones.
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The day, it seems, was concluded with a portion of cold veal, a bottle of sour cabbage soup and a sound sleep for the entire pump, as they say in other parts of the vast Russian state.
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But he is wise who does not disdain any character, but, fixing an inquiring gaze on it, probes it to its original causes.
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If a friend invites you to his village fifteen miles away, it means that there are thirty faithful to her.
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No matter how stupid the words of a fool are, sometimes they are enough to confuse an intelligent person
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There is only one decent person there: the prosecutor; and even that one, to tell the truth, is a pig.
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Last week my blacksmith burned down; he was such a skilled blacksmith and knew metalworking skills.
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Then they did not let in the chairman of the chamber, the postmaster, and thus went through almost all the officials of the city, who all turned out to be the most worthy people.
Quotes about Plyushkin
The theme of stinginess and greed is clear to everyone without exception. And for those who want to see a truly stingy and greedy person, we recommend paying attention to such a person as Plyushkin. This hero of N.V. Gogol’s “Dead Souls” has long gone beyond the common concept of economics.
Special quotes posted on our website will help you get to know this character better. We have plenty of them in order to expose all the stinginess and insignificance of this person in sin.
For a long time he could not recognize what gender the figure was: a woman or a man. She was wearing a completely indefinite dress, very similar to a woman’s hood, on her head was a cap, like that worn by village courtyard women, only one voice seemed to him somewhat hoarse for a woman...
Plyushkin muttered something through his lips, because he had no teeth...
Oh, grandma! Oh, No! […] Of course, woman! …” (Chichikov about Plyushkin’s appearance)
Fraudster... Such a miser that it is difficult to imagine. The convicts live better in prison than he does: he starved all the people to death.
Anyone else would try to find so much bread in grain, flour, and simply in their caches.
He became more unyielding to buyers who came to take away his household goods.
He has 800 souls, but lives and dines worse than my shepherd...
...appeared at the table in a frock coat, although somewhat shabby, but neat.
Plyushkin became more restless and, like all widowers, more suspicious and stingy.
Old, toothless, with a protruding chin, with shifty eyes...
An incomprehensible floor hidden under strange rags.
...with no means or effort it would be possible to get to the bottom of what his robe was made of: the sleeves and upper flaps were so greasy and shiny that they looked like yuft*, the kind that goes into a boot...
He happened to see a lot of all kinds of people […] but he had never seen anything like this...
INTERESTING: Quotes about love.
Quotes from the poem “Dead Souls” (Gogol N.V.)
Quotes from the poem “Dead Souls” (1842) by the Russian writer Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol (1809 – 1852).
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With these words, the men discuss Chichikov’s chaise, on which he drove into the provincial town of NN.
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Chichikov's words from a conversation with Manilov, when he persuades the latter to sell him dead peasants.
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The words of the landowner Manilov, with which he describes the joy of meeting his friend Chichikov, who came to visit him.
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Groundless daydreaming, a passively complacent attitude towards reality (from the landowner Manilov).
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A young old man who loves to look after women (volume I, chapter 8 (about Chichikov)).
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From the last lyrical digression of the poem, about Chichikov’s journey (Part 1, Chapter 11).
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From Chichikov’s story about an episode of his life when his relationship with his boss did not work out.
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The words of Chichikov, who saw a dance at the ball in which the entire provincial secular society was participating.
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The townspeople are discussing whether the peasants bought by Chichikov will take root in the new place in the Kherson province.
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Thoughts of Chichikov, who examines the lists of dead souls he acquired (volume 1, chapter 7).
Analysis of the work
History of creation
Years of writing Dead Souls: 1835–1842. The year of publication of the first volume is 1842. It is generally accepted that the plot of the work was suggested to Gogol by Pushkin.
Subject
The morals of officials and landowners, the vices of society and human life in Rus' in the first half of the 19th century.
Issues
- Obstacle to Russia's development:
- bribery and embezzlement of officials;
- parasitism, infantilism of the nobility;
- the slave status of the peasants.
- The immorality of many representatives of the upper class (landowners, serving nobility, holding positions of major officials).
- Cruelty, ingrained in the consciousness of the majority by everyday life: people are sold, lost at cards.
Idea
The original idea of the work is to show Rus' as a whole. In the course of his work, Gogol narrowed the idea to an exposure of social mores, vulgarity and lack of spirituality of the landowner class. Gogol’s goal is not just to expose vices, but to force people to look at themselves from the outside, to help them see how rude, petty, uninteresting and immoral they are.
Composition
The composition of the first volume is circular, since at the beginning and end of the story Chichikov rides in a chaise. At the beginning he enters the city of NN, at the end he urgently leaves it after everything that happened.
The composition has three parts:
- portrait chapters (2–6), they give types of landowners;
- the city and officials (chapters 1.7–10), the troubles with registering deeds of sale, rumors in the city about Chichikov are described;
- backstory of the main character (chapter 11).
Thus, the composition of the poem consists of three circles - landowners, city life, and the story of the main character. They are united by the image of the road along which, carried away by his scam, Chichikov constantly moves.
Genre
The genre, as defined by the author, is a prose poem. Most literary scholars tend to consider Dead Souls a novel.
At first, Gogol planned to write “Dead Souls” in the genre of an adventurous picaresque novel. The desire to give the work historical truthfulness prompted the author to think about the realistic method. Humor, irony and satire on the pages of Dead Souls give the right to call the novel a comedy. Many lyrical digressions and the richness of the Russian language add rare poetry to the prosaic text. The author rightly called his work a poem.
“Dead Souls” is one of the great works of Russian classical literature. Classic is always modern. The vices of human nature and society, ridiculed by Gogol, are relevant to this day. A person does not change, he remains with the same sins, and seeing them is useful for him to think about his ugliness.
The main idea of the poem
In the seventh chapter, Chichikov thinks about what the dead people he bought were like. He mentally revives them and gives free rein to his imagination. In this question, Chichikov’s soul was revealed. The author assumes its purification. This means that everyone can be resurrected in soul. The possibility of the moral rebirth of a dead soul is the main idea of the poem.
On a larger scale, Gogol believed in Russia and connected its future with the moral resurrection of the people. The writer notes the spiritual strength of the peasant character, pays tribute to the working man, despite the fact that the work is dedicated to Chichikov’s scam, his closeness to the vicious bureaucracy. The description of the negative aspects of life and morals has the goal of ridiculing and condemning dead souls, which will help the reader rise higher, and with him the whole country.
Quotes from the book “Dead Souls”
Out of ten sides, it is enough to have one stupid side in order to be considered a fool over nine good ones.
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There are people who have a passion to spoil their neighbor, sometimes for no reason at all.
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It’s a wonderful thing in the world: what’s funny will instantly turn into sadness if you just stand in front of it for a long time, and then God knows what will pop into your head.
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. if a friend invites you to his village fifteen miles away, it means that there are thirty faithful to her.
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Lord God! What an immense distance between the knowledge of light and the ability to use this knowledge!
Curious facts about the history of the creation of the poem
There is a legend that the plot of the poem was suggested by Pushkin. But most likely there was no direct clue. The plot developed from a letter from Pushkin to his comrade Pletnev. In it, the poet wrote about his upcoming marriage and about the dowry that he formed after mortgaging two hundred souls.
The concept of “Dead Souls” was grandiose. Gogol took Dante’s “Divine Comedy” as a model for his work. The writer wanted to lead his heroes through hell, purgatory and heaven, like Dante’s, in earthly life.
The first volume is the hell of feudal Russia. The second volume is purgatory. Gogol broke down on it and, as they say, burned it. Paradise - the third volume remained in the plans.
In the second volume, Chichikov's soul became a battlefield between good and evil. In the third volume, he was a hero who had to repent and take the path of good.
Film adaptations
The great work has been filmed many times.
For the first time - in 1909 by director Pyotr Chardynin. The film-play “Dead Souls” by Leonid Trauberg was filmed in 1960, based on the dramatization by Mikhail Bulgakov (1930). In 1969, a film-play by Alexander Belinsky was shot on Leningrad Television.
In the 70s, two animated films based on the plot of “Dead Souls” (Boris Stepantsev) were shot.
Perhaps the most successful version of “Dead Souls” in cinema is the film by Mikhail Schweitzer with Alexander Kalyagin in the title role (1984).
Pavel Lungin directed a film based on “Dead and Souls” (2005). In 2019, a free adaptation of the poem took place in the television series “Gogol”. In the 2021 series (G. Constantinople), Gogol’s images are introduced into modern Russia.
