1. Features of the story by N. V. Gogol "The Nose"- realism and fantasy
2. Satirical Features of the story by N. V. Gogol "The Nose" .

3. The meaning of the image of the Nose-official.

N.V. Gogol is considered to be one of the founders of Russian realism. However, realism in the works of this writer is very often intertwined with fantastic images full of deep meaning. Let us recall his “Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka”, the story “Viy”, the terrible images of which are associated with ancient pagan mythology, “Portrait” and even the well-known “Overcoat”, where the ghost of an official appears, tearing off his overcoats. The story "The Nose" is also a bizarre mix real life Russia of the 19th century and fabulous phantasmagoria, somewhat reminiscent of Odoevsky's stories.

However, behind the fantastic story of the missing nose lies a merciless satire that satirizes human vices. Showing the family life of the barber Ivan Yakovlevich, Gogol demonstrates his lack of will and fear of his wife, his untidiness, not forgetting to mention his drunkenness, moreover, as a completely natural phenomenon: "Ivan Yakovlevich, like any decent Russian artisan, was a terrible drunkard."

We find typical views on marriage as a profitable deal and a way to get rich in the following lines: “Major Kovalev was not averse to getting married; but only in such a case, when two hundred thousand capital happens for the bride. Gogol ridicules the greed of his hero, his fear of gossip, his ignorance and empty vanity - traits that are very common among bureaucrats. In the Newspaper Expedition, where Major Kovalev came to announce his disappearance, he behaves as if he is more afraid that his acquaintances will become aware of his misfortune and they will ridicule him: “No, why the surname? I can't tell her. I have many acquaintances: Chekhtareva, a state councilor, Palageya Grigorievna Podtochyna, a staff officer ... Suddenly she finds out, God forbid! You can simply write: collegiate assessor, or, even better, a major. But after all, in his situation it is much more important to find the nose as soon as possible, and not to ask such questions - who will say what!

comical Features of the story by N. V. Gogol "The Nose"- this is the hero’s reasoning about the reasons for the disappearance of the nose: “Major Kovalev, considering all the circumstances, suggested that it was almost the closest thing to the truth that the fault of this should be none other than the staff officer Podtochina, who wanted him to marry her daughter ... The staff officer, probably out of revenge, decided to spoil it and hired some witches-women for this ... ". It should be noted that such an assumption is not even particularly logical. After all, even if Podtochina decided to resort to the help of “witches-women”, then she would rather prefer that they bewitch him to her daughter, and not deprive the potential groom of the nose.

Features of the story by N. V. Gogol "The Nose"- this is a thoughtless servility that dominates the minds of people. He shows the different sides of this moral ulcer, when behind the uniform they sometimes do not make out who is in front of you - a nose or a person.

Ivan Yakovlevich's fear of the police is one of the illustrations of the omnipotence of the bureaucracy in Russia. To the common man it was always difficult to prove something to officials, regardless of whether he was right or wrong. Therefore, "the idea that the police will find his nose and blame him" completely upset the unlucky barber.

We find the same reverence for the rank in Kovalev's desire to be called a major without fail: “He had only been in this rank for two years and therefore could not forget him for a minute; and in order to give himself more nobility and weight, he never called himself a collegiate assessor, but always a major.

But the motif of servility in Russia reaches its highest sound in the scene of Kovalev's conversation with his own nose. The grotesqueness and outward fantasticness of this episode only emphasize its true meaning. Kovalev has no doubt that in front of him is his own nose; and yet he is shy in front of him, because the chip at his nose is higher than his: “How to approach him? thought Kovalev. - By everything, by the uniform, by the hat it is clear that he is a state adviser. The devil knows how to do it?

In a fantastic story about an unprecedented incident - the escape of the nose - Gogol masterfully reveals the idea of ​​\u200b\u200bthe moral short-sightedness of most people who are accustomed to seeing only the rank, but not the one who wears it. Through the lips of a policeman who brought Kovalev his nose, the author says the following words, which express the main idea of ​​the story: “... it is strange that I myself took him at first for a gentleman. But fortunately, I had glasses with me, and I immediately saw that it was a nose. After all, I am short-sighted, and if you stand in front of me, then I only see that you have a face, but neither nose nor beard, I will not notice anything. My mother-in-law, that is, my wife’s mother, also does not see anything.”

Fortunately for the hero of the story, the policeman put on his glasses. But glasses are needed not only for him alone - glasses of impartiality, which allow you to see a person, and not his rank.

Nikolai Gogol's story "The Nose" is one of the most famous works writer. This absurdist story was written in 1832-1833.

Initially, the Moscow Observer magazine refused to print this work, and the author decided to publish it in the Sovremennik magazine. Gogol had to hear a lot of cruel criticism addressed to him, so the story was subjected to significant changes several times.

What is the story "The Nose" about?

The story "The Nose" consists of three parts and tells about an incredible incident that happened to a collegiate assessor Kovalev. The Nose begins with the fact that one morning a St. Petersburg barber discovers that there is a nose in his bread, and subsequently realizes that this nose belongs to his client, Major Kovalev. All subsequent time, the barber tries to get rid of his nose by any possible means, but it turns out that he constantly drops his ill-fated nose and everyone around him constantly points it out to him. The barber was able to get rid of him only when he threw him into the Neva.

Meanwhile, the awakened Kovalev discovers the loss of his own nose, and somehow covering his face, goes in search of him. Gogol shows us how a collegiate assessor diligently searches for his nose all over St. Petersburg, and his feverish thoughts about how terrible it is to be in such a position and not be able to appear to people he knows in front of his eyes. And when Kovalev finally meets his nose, he simply does not pay attention to him, and no requests from the major to return to his place have no effect on the nose.

The protagonist tries to advertise the missing nose in a newspaper, but the editorial office refuses him because such a fantastic situation could harm the reputation of the newspaper. Kovalev even sends a letter to a lady friend, Podtochina, accusing her of stealing his nose in retaliation for his refusal to marry her daughter. In the end, the police warden brings the nose to its owner and tells him how hard it is to catch the nose, which was about to go to Riga. After the caretaker left main character He tries to put his nose back, but it doesn't work. And then Kovalev falls into terrifying despair, he understands that life is now meaningless, because without a nose he is nobody.

The position of a person in society

It was the absurdity and fantastic nature of the plot that caused such abundant criticism of the writer. But it should be understood that this story has a double meaning, and Gogol's intention is much deeper and more instructive than it seems at first glance. It is thanks to such an incredible plot that Gogol manages to draw attention to an important topic at that time - the position of a person in society, his status and the dependence of the individual on him. From the story it becomes clear that the collegiate assessor Kovalev, who for greater importance called himself a major, devotes his whole life to his career and social status, he has no other hopes and priorities.

Kovalev loses his nose - something that, it would seem, cannot be lost for no apparent reason - and now he cannot appear in a decent place, in secular society, at work and in any other official institution. But he fails to agree with the nose, the nose pretends that it does not understand what its owner is talking about and ignores it. With this fantastic plot, Gogol wants to emphasize the shortcomings of the then society, the shortcomings of thinking and consciousness of that layer of society to which the collegiate assessor Kovalev belonged.

(literary research)

“They talked a lot about me, analyzing some of my sides, but they did not determine my main being. Only Pushkin heard him. He always told me that no other writer had this gift to expose the vulgarity of life so vividly, to be able to outline the vulgarity of a vulgar person in such force that all that trifle that escapes the eye would flash big into the eyes of everyone. Here is my main property ... "
N.V. Gogol. Fragment from the "Author's confession".
1.
Now, in our modern times, there is no definite opinion on the subject of the content of Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol's strange story "The Nose". The phantasmagoric story remains a mystery of the Russian classical literature. Indeed, what exactly did the author mean? For the most part, the reader recognizes a certain transcendent nature of the content of the narrative and is inclined to believe that the work is STRANGE.

There is a work in which the author quite seriously sees some Freudian meaning, subconscious motives, and deals only with the characterization of the main character - Platon Kovalev. There is a work that reveals the intricate folk popular popular meaning of the story - silly, they say, traditional ... The school curriculum interprets the story as satirical and critical: they say, the state is a police state, in which all the characters wear masks, which even the author, N.V. Gogol tries on himself - the mask of a sort of simpleton in bewilderment ... There is a work that does not solve the problems of the story, but puts them, but how: puts Kovalev's nose in one row - and laughter and sin (and let the author of this work not be offended by me) - with Jesus Christ!

However, in my opinion, anything could be given to the school curriculum, but not The Nose. This, I think, is by no means a textbook work. I even dare to suggest that this is not a work at all, but an encryption of the work. A real work - the work that Gogol knew for sure - will never be published and will not be recognized.
The only serious, in my opinion, literary study on a given topic was presented only by Professor Olga Georgievna Dilaktorskaya, whose work reflects all the everyday aspects of the story: why the date of the loss of the nose is March 25, and why Kovalev's meeting with the nose takes place in the Kazan Cathedral, and not in any other temple, and many, many other questions of everyday, modern story character. The study is complete and detailed, but even in it the respected author left questions to which he did not find an answer. For example, “Both the barber’s strange signboard and the nose strangely found in bread, which are not connected in any way in the external plot action, correlate with each other ...”, and “A meek barber, according to Praskovya Osipovna, is a “beast”, “swindler”, “ robber”, “drunkard”, a thunderstorm of noses, according to the policeman - a “thief” and a criminal. In this context, the phrase on its sign "and the blood is opened" takes on another meaning. With all the evidence, the barber's non-involvement in the story of the missing nose is called into question. At the same time, there are no hints in the text of the story about how the barber could participate in the misadventure with the major's nose.

I have the courage to argue. There are such hints in the story. And the barber is not without reason a robber. He is really directly involved in all the events with the nose and Kovalev. The barber is really a thief, really a swindler. And its sign is not just like that. And Kovalev's nose can be found precisely in baked bread and nowhere else. And all Gogol's contemporaries knew what he was talking about. But then the rules of decency in society were. There were topics that were not discussed, about which only hints are possible. Topics such as this one with "The Nose".

I offer my version.
The phantasmagoric plot presented by the author hides another plot - real and understandable, hidden by the author for some reason - in this I agree with the respected professor Dilaktorskaya. And there must be good reasons. For example, a refusal to publish... Why not?... After all, Shevyrev and Pogodin "wrapped up" the publication of "The Nose" with the characteristic "dirty, vulgar and trivial." Somewhere they saw this dirt and vulgarity, which are not mentioned in the text? But Pushkin published with pleasure. And why would it?
It is clear that the version is among many and is a so-so version. What if you can prove it?
In general, I see at least two reasons in favor of this version.

The first is the identity of the author. Gogol is the bearer of Ukrainian culture, national character and subtle humour. The man is ironic, intelligent, keenly observant. These qualities may indicate remarkable talent and rare invention. After all, Chichikov is his hero, for example. Which was thrown to him by the same Pushkin. And to write about the collection of dead souls - you have to guess, huh? And it is unlikely that "The Nose" stands alone in this list... All Gogol's works are written in the style of observation, reportage, and the author does not hide his opinion anywhere. Well, what should be different, you ask, "Nose"?

The second reason is the story itself. Omitting the delusional content of the source, one can try to find the true voice of the author in all this. Hint. After all, if he really encrypted, then he left the “key”. So, you can try to find this notorious "key" in the story, which will reveal the secret meaning of all this nonsense. Dirty, vulgar, trivial meaning, which lay on the surface for some, and which amused Alexander Sergeevich so much, if we recall his "word of the publisher." Well, more on that below.
In fact, there were several interesting places in the text that you can “hook on”, so to speak.

First of all, final word the author, of course. I dare to cite it in the necessary abbreviation in order to illuminate main point, and anyone can read this part of the story in its own interest:
“This is the story that happened… Now only… we see that there is a lot of implausibility in it… a supernatural separation of the nose and its appearance in different places in the form of a state adviser – how did Kovalev not realize that it was impossible to apply to a newspaper expedition and announce a nose?. But it's indecent, embarrassing, not good! And again - how did the nose end up in baked bread and how did Ivan Yakovlevich himself? .. no, I don’t understand this at all! But what is strange, what is most incomprehensible of all, is how authors can take such plots. I confess that this is completely incomprehensible ... First of all, there is absolutely no benefit to the fatherland ... but nevertheless, with all that, although, of course, one can admit both one and the other, and the third ... well, and where are there no inconsistencies? .. And all the same, as you think about it, in all this, really, there is something. Say what you like, but such incidents in the world are rare, but they do happen.

Why would the author end up asking the reader questions? It is very similar to fixing questions to the material covered, isn't it? If we assume - purely hypothetically - that the answers to these questions do exist, then the author left them in the text. Where else? And when you find these answers, you can see the true meaning of the story. Q.E.D.

Clever, ironic Nikolai Vasilyevich warns the reader that, as the author, he knows for sure that in the presented version the work will not be understood and appreciated: some will say that this cannot be in the world, others will assume one thing, then another, then the third. He foresees reproaches: “how can authors take such plots”, and with a sly smile, nevertheless, declares: that such things do exist in the world. Rarely, but there are. So he knows what he's talking about. And the point is not at all in miracles, but in something else, hidden from the eyes. After all, it is not the noses that, in fact, come to life and leave their owners, right? So, did you really set the riddle? So encryption? All in all it turns out that it is. Then - what? How to parse and decipher a bunch of absurdities and absurdities that happen to the main character throughout the story?

Before embarking on an analysis of the work, I strongly advise the reader to brush up on the original text. Since this is a very tedious business - to give direct text in quotation marks, to make a footnote to it at the bottom of the page, and, in general, it is simply useful to re-read the classics sometimes. Especially THIS one.
One thing is certain: a hero. The main character is real. It remains to find a way in which one plot - real and mysterious, the author hid in another - awkward and illogical.

There are not so many ways to believe. The language cipher is immediately swept aside - the work is complete and coherent.
An allegory can be assumed, but then why so many strange and unnecessary details: from a shaggy, like a lapdog, horse on which Kovalev rushes to a newspaper expedition - to a detailed description of the costumes of the characters participating in the story. Although the allegory takes place in some places - for example, a passing story about a stealing treasurer in the form of a black poodle.
But there are really a lot of details.
Kovalev himself is described to the rings and prints on his fingers, which he wears with pleasure (although why would the reader know this?), while the barber Ivan Yakovlevich for some reason emphasizes foul-smelling hands twice (although his hands do not participate in events). In a word, the theatrical principle “if a gun hangs on the wall, then it will definitely shoot” does not work at all in this case. More. Events are transmitted in general, and details - in detail. For some reason, before returning his nose to Kovalev, the bright light of a candle is accentuated, breaking through the door cracks in a dark room. Well, why all these details if their action does not develop in the story? They seem tedious and superfluous, distracting from the course of events. There can be two explanations for this unfortunate fact.

So there is a second option. What if it is just these details that carry the main semantic load of what is happening? What if Nikolai Vasilyevich hid the true meaning of the story in them? I mean, he did it all on purpose. Maybe if you unravel the meaning laid down by the author in detail, then the solution will appear right there? But what if these details are something like symbols that mean something?

Or maybe it’s true, it’s all a dream… After all, what are the endings of each action: “but here again everything that happens is hidden by fog, and what happened next is decidedly unknown.” Maybe… But there is a “But”. Would a writer as strict with his work as Gogol, who " Dead Souls“Rewrote several times, and burned their second volume, considering it unworthy of publication, to get dirty with retelling some dream, when he considered his “Dikanka” frankly weak?
Hardly. Even from the point of view of the layman, there is no sense in such an undertaking, and the literary interest is doubtful. In addition, shortly before the release of The Nose, Pushkin had already “plowed” the field of “dreams and dreams”, giving out The Undertaker, in which the main character simply dreamed of all the terrible events. Therefore, by the way, Gogol reworked the ending of The Nose - so as not to repeat, so to speak, in ideas. After all, Gogol is a strong and tenacious writer to write out human characters. And if he took such a plot, then - for a reason. So, there is a hitch.
But what if the hitch lies in some twisted plot?
When, for example, at the everyday level, sleep events can be deciphered into life events, then why cannot life events be encrypted by dream events? Why not? O.G. came close to this option. Dilaktorskaya, but did not develop the topic.

In connection with this assumption, I recall the reflection of one Chinese philosopher who dreamed of himself as a butterfly, and now does not know for sure whether he is a butterfly who dreamed that she was a philosopher ... or he is a philosopher who dreamed that he was a butterfly ...

Such a line-up of events would be very much in the spirit of Gogol. Here, he would definitely enjoy both the encryption process and the reaction of the narrow-minded and empty-spoken public. As, in fact, it happened. Such a plot would have greatly amused Pushkin, who in general was a great lover of all sorts of literary jokes and hooliganism. What kind of epigrams are there, they cannot be compared with a large-scale hoax of society.
Indeed, the idea is simple to genius. And only the lazy at that time did not solve dreams. It was customary to tell them to each other and solve them. How simple it turns out: unravel Major Kovalev's worries AS a dream, and you won't need either one, or the other, or the third (which, by the way, happened with the interpretations, as Nikolai Vasilievich suggested).
And the true meaning will be revealed.
What is it like to turn reality into a dream, huh?! Here's an idea, an idea! Having established the truth, we will only have to return things to their true position - to where they were before Gogol turned them into sleepy symbols.
Well, let's turn to the ancient Slavic traditions, the symbolism of sleep, which has been developing for centuries and which was used by Gogol, like his grandmothers and great-grandmothers before him, which we now use with the same ease.
2.
"It was, friends, Martin Zadek, Head of the Chaldean sages, Fortune teller, interpreter of dreams";
A.S. Pushkin. "Eugene Onegin".
The story is about a collegiate assessor Kovalev, who arrived in St. Petersburg after serving in the Caucasus. There, in just a couple of years, he received the title of collegiate assessor, which characterizes him as a courageous, adventurous and intelligent person. Indeed, where else can you get a quick promotion and salary, if not in a zone of paramilitary conflict? This guy definitely doesn't have the courage. His "fast" assessorship gave him incomparably greater prospects in civilian life than those that he would have received by honestly studying at the university. Who would be Major Kovalev now, in our time? It turns out that he is a provincial, a contract soldier of the Caucasian war, where he received a “quick” title. And now, as then, he would have come at the end of his term of service to conquer the capital. Then - Petersburg, now - Moscow ... "as needed, namely, to look for a place decent to one's rank: if possible, then a vice-governor, and not that - an executioner in some prominent place." Guba is not a fool, in a word. Well, yes, only cities take courage. After all, for something he was given the title SO FAST ...
And why shouldn't he dream and make such plans - after all, the first half of his plan was a success: he has the rank of major, the time saved on teaching - that is, youth. He has a romantic image of a hero and a good name as a defender of the fatherland. Plus a strong provincial grip. Well, it's natural...
This is what Major Kovalev essentially represents.
And after all, how did Nikolai Vasilyevich emphasize: “A Caucasian collegiate assessor ... after all, collegiate assessors who receive this title with the help of academic certificates cannot be compared with those collegiate assessors who receive their title in the Caucasus. But Russia is such a wonderful land ... " Indeed, wonderful ... And nothing changes in it ...

Well, let's get back to our sufferer major. As already mentioned, the description of the major's appearance contains a lot of small and unnecessary, at first glance, details: “... the collar of his shirt-front is always extremely clean and starched ... sideburns go to the middle of the cheek and ... reach the nose. Major Kovalev wore a lot of carnelian seals with coats of arms, and those on which it was carved: Wednesday, Thursday, Monday, etc.

And if we try to translate the description of Kovalev's image into sleepy symbols - so if we had a dream, and we would guess: why did we see so many different rings on his hands ... and why is his collar starched ... How do we see ourselves in a dream in a new attire, and in the morning we are already waiting for changes in reality or news.
This is the logic we apply.
For fidelity, let's turn to the modern story of Martyn Zadeka's dream book and the symbolic system of Evgeny Petrovich Tsvetkov. The latter’s research in this area seems to me the most complete and reliable, or something ... if we can talk about reliability in such a matter as solving dreams ... however, he mentioned in one of his comments that his research is based, among other things, on Old Russian dream books , whose symbols were used, perhaps, by all Gogol's contemporaries, like Nikolai Vasilyevich himself, which is confirmed by other sources.

So, according to the dream book, a COLLAR in a dream is a sign of prestige and social security. Kovalev's collar is not only always clean, but also starched - that is, it is artificially strengthened. This means that the social position of Kovalev is the same. He is clean, prestigious and stable in the eyes of others. Whiskers mean profit (148) in the dream book - how else could a military officer with such a grip ...

Even with such a superficial overlay of symbols on the image, dubbing of the direct descriptions of the character given by the author in the text is visible. But it could be a coincidence, why not. So you can check further.

And then Kovalev wakes up in the morning and first of all looks in the mirror, and in it he sees that there is no nose on his face. According to Tsvetkov - MIRROR - to look into it - as you can see, this is the attitude around you (196), and according to Martyn Zadek (hereinafter - M.Z.) - marriage, and losing the NOSE in a dream - to divorce or death (150) , or at a loss (M.Z). However, having an idea of ​​​​the aspirations of Major Kovalev, it is easy to guess that the loss of a good name or reputation for him is like death, since he has nothing but a good name and reputation as a glorious hero, and it is on them that he relies in order to succeed in life.
For him, success = life. So if society turns away from him, he will lose his future. His social death will come, which for him is worse than physical, so, probably. In this context, his desperate exclamation is organic, which looks very strange in the text: “the nose disappeared for nothing, for nothing, wasted in vain, not for a penny!” (III, 64). According to Martyn Zadeka, who was popular in Gogol's time, it turns out that at one fine moment Kovalev found out that he had suddenly lost a profitable marriage.

Let's sum up a little. A certain provincial careerist (after all, he is in the capital out of necessity), with a reputation as a hero and the ability to deal with people, comes to conquer a big city, where he quickly acquires prestigious acquaintances (after all, every day he WALKED ALONG NEVSKY PROSPECT, and this is to make new acquaintances (138 ) Nevsky is not a simple street, but the main city street - it is not in vain that Gogol emphasizes this fact. They accept him, everything should move towards the fact that he will soon marry a rich woman, get some kind of chair and calm down. But one day they suddenly stop accepting him, he is discussed on every corner, someone has spread indecent rumors about him that society does not forgive.In a word, there will be no marriage!

That's what I think this story is about.
And nobody's noses have anything to do with it.
And the name should be something like "Reputation", or "Good Name". This is how the NOSE turns out. But - let's not delude ourselves. After all, even now we are not immune from some simple coincidences. And then you still need to confirm the assumptions, otherwise ... why is it all?

There are questions.
For example, this: why, in fact, such a prudent and thoughtful Kovalev suddenly lost his good name one day? After all, by and large, his reputation is all he has. Everything in his life revolves around one goal: it is profitable to marry. And then all the doors will open for him, and life will be arranged forever. Therefore, he does not miss a single skirt, each time hoping for a marriage arrangement. Marriage is his only path to high society. Where did he go wrong then? Why?

Or here's another: the barber Ivan Yakovlevich from Voznesensky Prospekt. After all, it was he who discovered the Major's nose in his baked bread, and then threw it into the river. What kind of character is he real history Kovalev? What is his real second bottom, huh? Gogol characterizes him as follows: "A terrible drunkard ... the tailcoat was piebald ... the collar was shiny, and instead of three buttons only strings hung." Kovalyov used to shave with him, and often pointed out to the barber about his eternally stinky hands. And what can all this mean? According to the dream book DRUNK, DRUNKER - guilty, bad news, accusations (209), shame, trouble (M, Z,). The same fact was already established by the police, who exposed the barber of fraud with noses, returning to Kovalev the lost dignity of the face in a rag, blaming the barber for everything. But this is in the final. We are dealing with the author's application of the character. It means that he really is terribly guilty of the whole story from its very beginning.

It remains to be seen how. FRAC is piebald, in spots - his conscience, relationships with others, and also - failures in business (205). Well, what does the WASHED COLLAR mean - let's guess the first time - the lack of prestige and the unimportance of the social element. One more detail: BUTTONS - to lose - a stupid position (205). In pre-revolutionary Russia, the department of service was really determined by the type of buttons. Their absence on a tailcoat can be regarded as a lack of service, duties. BUTTONS also mean income, prosperity, but in our case it is the same thing: no service - no income. And the smell from the hands is a classic: "unclean" - we are talking about a dubious person. What happens? Ivan Yakovlevich is a shameless loser in a stupid position, a "scapegoat". And then - his trade - the barber - means cutting and shaving. He has an inscription above the door: “And they open the blood” - of course, the author's joke: they say, it’s like letting blood go - “opens it.” That is, he will cut while he cuts or shaves (always drunk, after all). According to the dream book, CUT - to be dishonored, betrayal (237), and SHAVING - to losses (M, Z). The conclusion suggests itself: the true, real occupation of Ivan Yakovlevich is really extremely doubtful: this comrade specializes in betrayal and introduction to losses, trades in dishonor - what could it be?
Maybe - blackmail, or a slander? Where is the evidence?
Let's go to the text. Everything is logical and complete there, otherwise Gogol would not be Gogol. After all, who could come up with such a thing? Surely an exceptionally intelligent person, endowed with an excellent sense of humor, which was the author. After all, Gogol received the post of adjunct professor world history St. Petersburg University, without having a higher education, so to speak? That's it.

However, let us return to Ivan Yakovlevich. So, one morning at breakfast, our barber cut the white bread into two halves and found a nose in the middle, in which he recognized the nose of our protagonist. After some confusion, he threw him, wrapped in a rag, into the river near St. Isaac's Bridge. The overseer noticed the machinations and seemed to begin to inquire what was being done, and why ... but suddenly "the incident is completely covered by fog, and what happened next, absolutely nothing is known"

In general, fresh soft white BREAD in a dream - to wealth, profit and new opportunities, and if there is something inside, then through this income and wait (211), (M.Z). That is, it seems to be a confirmation of our assumption about the type of fishing of Ivan Yakovlevich by blackmail. Indeed, how else to call this craft, if a person finds someone else's reputation and good name as the core of his wealth? That is, one fine day our barber suddenly became the owner of some compromising information about Major Kovalev. But what kind of information could a professional blackmailer and gossip get about the major?
There are two or three circumstances in mind in the story, which Gogol mentions in passing.
The first is the major's love for all kinds of rings and seals, which he wore in abundance with pleasure: remember the carnelian and other seals, and even those with the names of the days of the week?
According to the dream book, RINGS of any kind as an ornament are a symbol of connection and relationships (158). For example, in a dream, losing a ring means separation, and finding it means a connection or an offer (M.Z). Yes, and in reality, losing a ring is a bad omen, so that's it ... It would be logical to assume that Kovalev's abundance of rings is a sign of many connections and relationships with women. And the pleasure with which he wore them indicates, apparently, that the guy liked to brag about his victories, did not hide them. After all, the first thought when he saw himself in the mirror without a nose, what was it? About the fact that he will not be able to appear in the world (and he must marry!) And the second? That he has many familiar ladies, some of whom he is not averse to hanging around. Yes, and the author clearly indicated: the major was not averse to marrying, only he wanted a bride not anyhow, but with a dowry. And not anyhow, but not less than two hundred thousand. And as long as one was not nearby, the major does not refuse even one-day connections: remember, seals with the names of the days of the week: Wednesday, Thursday, Monday? This is what one-day connections are. That is, we can assume his trips to prostitutes. Why not? Well, what decent secular woman of the 19th century would agree to a one-day relationship, which the whole Nevsky would know about in the morning (after all, he wore seals in plain sight, with pleasure)?

There is a direct reference in the text to these Kovalev trips to the girls:
“A decent person will not be torn off buta,” declares a private bailiff, “there are a lot of all kinds of majors in the world who. . . dragging around all sorts of obscene places ”(III, 63). And Gogol, using his author's word, confirms his full agreement with the opinion of the private bailiff: "That is, not in the eyebrow, but right in the eye!" (III, 63).
Like, what did you want, major, for your behavior? If you lived like a human, and you would have a human reputation...
It is strange why the researchers of the "Nose" did not pay attention to these words ...
This may be the reason for the exposure. Kovalev is an officer, a hero. Dear member of society, and suddenly - prostitutes. Not good…

Second circumstance. It was as if there was a connection with a certain young lady, whom the major sailed and abandoned and categorically did not want to marry - we learn about this from the episode with his letter to her mother, staff officer Podtochina. By the way, this letter was written by Kovalev after the accusation of the barber blackmailer. Another interesting episode is the appearance of a policeman in Kovalev's house.
The third circumstance is the meaning of sleepy symbols according to Martyn Zadek, which Gogol's contemporaries were so fond of: the nose disappeared - the marriage was upset, found in bread - through this wealth received. It's that simple.

It is noteworthy that Ivan Yakovlevich has a strained relationship with the police, which he encounters at least twice. For the first time - when our hairdresser tried to throw someone else's nose into the river. Considering that NOS is Kovalev's marriage, on which he made the main bet in life, Kovalev's life itself, his reputation, and RIVER - speeches, conversations (M.Z), then he was attracted just at the moment when he "leaked" confidential information about the major to the masses, so to speak. That is, he was caught spreading rumors about a respected person. This place is described in detail, and there is even an interesting conversation between the barber and the overseer. The warden is trying to find out what Ivan Yakovlevich is doing, and he, in turn, offers him a bribe in the form of free service: they say, “salt” to you that I will find out completely free of charge ... Like, did they call an informant? It is not known how they ended up there, because it was at that moment that everything was covered in darkness ... That's it ... That is, the fact of trouble with the police is clearly indicated by the author. From this moment on, our swindler completely leaves the story and appears only at the end, when the policeman personally returned his good name to Kovalev and said that the culprit of the incident had been found, which seems completely illogical in the context of the story. And this happens precisely at the moment when Kovalev himself has already despaired of correcting the situation. After all, despite the established fact of guilt, it remains unclear why information about the rampant and immoral behavior of Major Kovalev received such a negative public response. But if we impose a dream meaning on the canvas of these phantasmagoric events, then everything immediately falls into place. Here is a loser and a blackmailer who declares publicly: why am I worse than others? There - the hero of the Caucasian war, collegiate assessor Kovalev - visits the "ladies" and does not hide it, deceived the girl, but refuses to marry, boasts of victories over noble women! And at the same time he makes a rich marriage! Why, you ask, am I worse than him? The fact that I don’t have a shoulder strap and don’t have a service?! Here's how the events unfolded roughly according to the decoding.

I apologize for a slight digression and return to the letter sent by Kovalev Podtochina in a moment of despair. This letter is the last, extreme step that Kovalev decides to take, before “submitting a complaint.” Indeed, despite the fact that the culprit of the leapfrog was found, Kovalev's position did not improve. He is still not accepted (the nose does not stick). These are the circumstances under which he writes to the staff officer in the hope that she will not agree to return his good name without a fight without a serious need to marry her daughter. He DOES NOT UNDERSTAND why he is not accepted. He is sure that all this is because of the girl who told her mother about their relationship and now they are compromising him in order to force him to marry. In the context of the story, this letter looks strange, by the way: moreover, some kind of daughter .... Where did she come from when there was no hint of her anywhere. Now it's clear where.
Well, what is next with his daughter, with our major? With her mother, to be precise, who is accused by Kovalev of terrible deceit - to marry! What more! In a letter, he declares to her that under no circumstances will he marry her daughter, that he will rather sue for the return of his good name!
Podtochina did not enter at all, what is the matter with Kovalev. From her answer, it is clear that, firstly, her daughter did not pass him, and secondly, that this woman is simple-hearted and incapable of meanness at all. And therefore, one cannot be guilty of the mess, which Kovalev immediately came to after reading her letter.
But he continues to DO NOT UNDERSTAND why he is not accepted. Although - what is easier, pray tell? Well, trips to prostitutes came out, a secret relationship with some girl, noble mistresses (do we remember carnelian seals?) - well, and what's wrong with that ?! He is a military officer, a hero, for what reason - it is impossible ?! Such is Platon Kuzmich Kovalev in his reflections. He will never understand that his behavior is immoral, that the honor of a girl has a price and is compromised by HIS mercy, that ties with prostitutes are shameful, and everything, EVERYTHING that he likes, must be hidden, and in no case should he brag about it. This is public opinion, quite justified. After all, even today the reason for the resignation of one high-ranking Russian prosecutor was precisely the video filming with “girls” with whom “a person very similar to the prosecutor” “came off”. So here it is.

However, Kovalev is a provincial in the bad sense of the word. The capital for him is a symbol of a beautiful life. And this is exactly how he sees the beautiful life he leads. And amorous victories are its indispensable attribute. It is important for him that everyone knows what a macho and hero he is, not only in the Caucasus mountains. He does not see the boundaries of moral and immoral behavior. It is not surprising that such a character as Ivan Yakovlevich also learned about his exploits. Well, he leaked his opinion to the people. And he got caught by the police, because he has no protection either in service or in income. Like this.
Well, yes, letters are letters, but the city has been buzzing all this time. The unpleasant story of the conqueror of ladies' hearts is discussed at every corner. It is not for nothing that at this point in the story the major's nose is seen either on Nevsky Prospekt or in Juncker's shop. Entire crowds are going to look at the nose of Major Kovalev, and no one is interested in where his owner, Kovalev, is at that moment. But CROWD (137), CRUSH (180), WIDE STREETS, SQUARE (136) - it's all the same: news, scandals, public hearings, obstacles and public outcry.
Nose - A good name in connection with the upset marriage of Major Kovalev is now in full view: discussed, condemned, considered through a magnifying glass moral values: Wow, they say, a war hero, an officer, an assessor and - such a vile, vile. How can such a person have such merits. So it turns out that the major turned out separately, and his ranks and regalia - separately.

Interesting from the point of view of some issues of morality is the meeting of Kovalev in the temple with his own nose. CHURCH - to pray in it - fortunately in all matters, to enter - remorse, the temple - well-being (138). Here the author declared the climax of the story, the moment of truth for both the protagonist and the reader. Kovalev, in his social vacuum due to the loss of his reputation, suddenly realizes and sees clearly that a GOOD NAME is an independent value. Remember - the Nose in the temple "prayed with an expression of the greatest piety", and Kovalev shoots his eyes at the girls.
Remember their dialogue? The nose then answered Kovalev:
-You are mistaken, sir, I am on my own. Moreover, there can be no close relationship between us. Judging by the buttons of your uniform, you must serve in another department.
How everything immediately becomes clear, isn't it? It is now easy to translate this phrase:
-Your GOOD NAME is now on its own. There is nothing in common between you. Judging by you, you do not deserve it in the way you study.
This is the sentence Gogol issued to his hero.

Now we know exactly what signs a GOOD NAME has from the point of view of Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol. To do this, carefully examine the suit of the Nose and explain what's what.
I will not re-quote the source - the work is small, and the reader himself, if he wants, will find both the scene in the church and the description of the Nose's costume.
Well then. Again - COLLAR - high, standing: a strong social position. A HAT with a plume - profit (161) (and this is also the dream of Kovalev himself: the rank of state councilor). A UNIQUE embroidered with gold is a privilege in this interpretation.
That is, a GOOD NAME brings Kovalev EVERYTHING that he dreamed of, if he understood it right away. But no ... He's all for the women ... That's the result.

The conflict becomes transparent and understandable to the end: take care of the dress from the new, and honor - from a young age. Honor, it turns out, is an independent and independent value. A good name, reputation - this turns out to be something without which you will not get anything in life, you will not fulfill a single desire. They are life itself. It is interesting in this vein to recall that in Ancient Egypt the nose was also considered a symbol of the transition from life to death in some way. A philosophical question arises: what, then, should be considered death at all? Kovalev, for example, the loss of honor of a respectable citizen is tantamount to death. The plot is interesting, isn't it? It is not for nothing that Gogol indicated this discovery in the temple: after all, it is true, everything is from God. But even in the house of God, our fellow still shoots with his eyes at pretty girls. Uncorrectable. Not understanding what is happening, he continues to suffer quite sincerely in his isolation: “... out there and a friend ... the court adviser is coming ... out and Yarygin, the clerk in the Senate ... out and another major who received an apprenticeship in the Caucasus ... "Everyone, they say, is the same as me ... They live the same way ... they are no different from me ... Y-yes. Are different. They are silent about all this. They do not want to "get into history."

However, let's go further. After all, the story must have another turn. What is our major doing next? How is he going to get his good name back? He is looking for support. He rushed to the chief of police, but he, of course, did not receive him. After that, he took a cab and desperately shouted to him: straight ahead! - but immediately faced with a choice: to the right or to the left? In theory, I should have gone straight to the Deanery Council (and where else would such a scoundrel be?), but I decided to go on a newspaper expedition. Translating from Russian into Russian, he decided to declare in the newspaper about his misfortune and strong indignation about this: Well, I went to the girls! Well, "threw" the young lady! And what?! He is a hero, he has merits, regalia, a title in the end - what, he has no right ?! And do not dare to discuss!
Well, is it really so? After all, this would actually be a scandal of morals: I will behave as I please - even if with women - what's wrong with that ?! I'm a hero! I have merit! Oh ... Scandal, in a word. For this reason, he received a refusal from the newspaperman. He was bluntly told that such announcements would damage the newspaper's reputation. In addition, there was already a similar announcement: they say, a black-haired poodle ran away. The poodle later turned out to be the treasurer. Brad, fantasy? Not at all. A DOG is a friend, a reliable person, if she ran away (in a dream) - to loss, and also black wool - bad news, losses (142). So it turns out that they entrusted the person with funds, relied on him, and he, the dog, ran away! So everything is simple and clear. So both the dog and the nose are solid allegories ...

Well, Nikolai Vasilyevich, how are we solving your joke on the sly?
After the rejection of the editorial office, Kovalev, not having a salty slurp, went to a private bailiff - to look for legal justice, but he, so to speak, sent him (well, there is no nose and that's it). What do you want, major? Your behavior is not regulated by law. But it's not encouraged, either.
Having received a turn from the gate everywhere, the major only began to think that the matter was in women! And he wrote a letter to Podtochina. But even here, I didn't guess. The deceived girl did not hand it over to her mother - she also has a Good Name, and she values ​​\u200b\u200bit it.
And so he ends up at home alone, in the dark. DARKNESS according to the dream book - difficulties and uncertainty (140). He thinks the thought is bitter, the barber's shave recalls (not unreasonably), after which all his adventures began. And then his thoughts were interrupted by "a light that flashed through all the holes of the doors." It was Ivan who lit the Candle and walked with it to the owner in the dark, "brightly illuminating the whole room."

A few minutes later the chief of police appeared and returned Kovalyov's nose. I wonder what Ivan has to do with a candle, why? And then, I think that this "extra" detail is an accent, Gogol's clue to the cipher. Because a CANDLE lit in a dream - according to Martyn Zadek - in general to marriage! And - exactly to good luck in a hopeless case (205). Isn't that what Kovalyov's case is like? And the LIGHT from the cracks through the closed doors is good luck despite the obstacles from people (129). And if the LIGHT is bright - this is definitely a great success, and the sick (like a noseless major) - to recovery (139). That is, Gogol makes it clear with this detail that although there will be more obstacles, now everything will definitely grow together with Kovalev (in the literal sense). The rumor spreader is captured and declared guilty. The police found out that our barber is generally a criminal person, he loses his occupation (which is natural) and was shifted from Voznesenskaya to Sezzhuya. This is also natural, isn't it?
So, the culprit of the rumors has been caught, the major's civic reputation has been restored (the nose has grown in the end), and the major even "shines" marriage again, but! Now - if "so simple, for love."

Dirty story, in a word, it turns out. So the answer was found, what is the reason for encryption. Who will publish this? With such material on a newspaper expedition - you can’t ...
No wonder V. G. Belinsky exclaimed about the hero of the "Nose": "He is not Major Kovalev, but Majors Kovalev." In the critic's definition, not just the concept of typing is singled out, but typing raised to a power.
And he knew exactly what he was talking about.

N.G. Chernyshevsky, arguing with those literary critics who compared Gogol the science fiction writer with Hoffmann, pointed out that, unlike the latter, Gogol did not invent anything, but only used well-known plots. “With Hoffmann,” Chernyshevsky wrote, “Gogol has not the slightest resemblance: one himself invents, independently invents fantastic adventures from purely German life, the other literally retells Little Russian legends (“Viy”) or well-known anecdotes (“The Nose”). The fact that for Chernyshevsky, as well as for contemporaries of the story in general, was a well-known anecdote, for generations of literary critics arguing about the sources of the story "The Nose", is a historical mystery. We are talking about the tradition of popular popular art: simple-plot pictures with plain explanatory text. Only Gogol “wrapped this picture in a rag” - he wrapped it with a second meaning, which was also transparently understandable to all his contemporaries, which some rejected because of the subtlety of their instincts - like Shevyrev and Pogodin, for example.
And this indecent meaning amused others - like, for example, Pushkin.
As proof, I will cite this well-known fact: the first drafts of the story "The Nose" date back to the end of 1832 or the beginning of 1833, and its draft version was completed no later than August 1834. In 1835. Gogol began to finalize the story, intending to publish it in Moscow Observer, a journal that was started in Moscow by Gogol's friends S.P. Shevyrev and M.P. Pogodin, and in which Gogol was going to take an active part. On March 18, 1835, he sent the manuscript to Moscow, accompanying it with a letter to Pogodin: "I am sending you a nose (...) If in the case your stupid censorship is tied to the fact that the nose cannot be in the Kazan Church, then perhaps you can I don't think she's gone out of her mind to that extent... However, The Nose never appeared in The Moscow Observer: according to Belinsky's later testimony, Shevyrev and Pogodin rejected the story as "dirty, vulgar and trivial. "A strange conclusion, given that, firstly, his friends refused him, and secondly, a fairy tale plot: well, the nose was gone, well, the nose was found. Well, what's in this vulgar, vulgar, dirty, trivial? Why refused?

Of course, one must understand all the sarcasm of Pushkin's statement: oh, well, I really didn't agree ... oh, how much fantastic and funny! Oh, how original - to turn his own, Pushkin's idea of ​​describing a dream inside out! Write about a rogue, a womanizer who goes to prostitutes, seduces decent girls, builds a profitable marriage - and with all this - a decent person, respected by society - and no one will notice! SUCH a manuscript really gave Alexander Sergeevich pleasure, who would doubt it. He himself, a lover of epigrams and public provocations, could not help but publish such a large-scale and ambiguous provocation: everyone understands what we are talking, but formally - according to the plot - you can’t find fault. That is why it can be assumed with almost complete certainty that everyone knew the true meaning of The Nose: both Shevyrev and Pogodin, who “wrapped up” the manuscript, and Pushkin, of course, and Belinsky. Who quickly called Kovalev a social phenomenon. So…
3.
Here, in fact, almost everything. We answered the main questions of the author: and why Kovalev did not realize that he could not go on a newspaper expedition - because his behavior scandalized the moral values ​​of society; and how his nose ended up in baked bread - because in this way the author coded the center of the blackmail intrigue; and we even agree that such stories still exist in the world - how they happen! And the rarity, the exclusivity of this story is precisely in the fact that Kovalev came out unscathed: he retained his title, assessorship and connections. Such stories, as a rule, end with resignations at least. Together with the main character, we got an exceptional opportunity to rejoice at such a happy turn of events for him and his return to the camp of the chosen society.

It remains to summarize in general terms and finally find out what Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol really wanted to convey to us and, most importantly, why he encrypted and hid the true course of events.
Of course, the real title of the story is something like "The Tale of a Good Name" or "Reputation". And its content is by no means more nonsense, and not a phantasmagoria, and not a dream, and not the fruit of a strange fantasy.
This is a story-reflection about the true and false values, about delusions and discoveries, about losses and gains of the soul. It turns out that you can be beautiful, smart, brave, have success with women, money and connections - you can have all the benefits of the world and rely on your exclusivity and - make a mistake. Because the main wealth of life is completely different: respect for public opinion, moral principles based on love. Sincerity and honesty with people - whether they are men or women. And - love itself, around which the intrigue of the whole action revolves. These ephemeral categories, which cannot be put in your pocket or tasted, are the basis for the fulfillment of our desires. Any desire. Especially if you are smart, handsome, and brave on top of everything else. This ephemeral filling of the soul was not enough for Kovalev. After all, even a newspaperman - and he cares about the reputation of the publication, that's how it is.

What Kovalev was really lucky with was with the barber, since he was made a scapegoat (a loser, what to take from him). So it turns out that the mediocre loser started a rumor about Kovalev, stole from him a brilliant future in the form of a profitable marriage - “thief, swindler, villain”, buried his reputation with his own hands - and he suffered for his words: it turned out - he slandered noble man. After all, from the point of view of society - who is he - Ivan, how is he ... And who is Kovalev ... So that's it ... Kovalev will not see a rich bride. But they didn’t refuse the houses either - it’s not his fault! They talked him out! It is rare for anyone to be lucky in such stories. Rare luck, rare. The plot is interesting and really worthy of the book. Only “you can’t write about it so directly ... it’s not good ... awkward ...” Gogol knew what he wrote about, he knew everything. And now our officials are not very eager to advertise their amorous connections. Well, yes, this was already discussed ... such an eternal story. Oh, eternal.

On this occasion, there is a remark by M.Yu. Lermontov in "Princess Ligovskaya": "Oh! Our history is a terrible thing; nobly or lowly you acted, right or wrong, could avoid or could not, but your name is involved in history ... anyway, you lose everything: the location of society, careers, friends ... nothing can be worse than this, no matter how this story ends !.. You forced to talk about yourself for two days. Suffer for twenty years for this!.. In our country, a declared bribe taker is received very well everywhere: he is justified with the phrase: and! who does not do this!.. A coward is treated kindly everywhere, because he is a meek fellow, but mixed up in history! - O! he has no mercy: his mothers say of him: “God knows what kind of man he is!”, and the fathers add: “Scoundrel!”

That's the whole point, isn't it? Major Kovalev, as a provincial, did not know, and could not know the rules of "light", so he got caught. So he does not understand why Yarygin walks, as if nothing had happened; and a collegiate assessor like himself... And all because they know the rules of the game, but he doesn't. Therefore, he will not see more profitable bride - "God knows what kind of person he is" ...

But here again the question arises. Yes, our hero had a hard time without a nose. But why rejoice if our hero is still in the end, in the literal sense, left with a nose? That is, in reality - with nothing. He will no longer be able to marry a rich woman - Ivan Yakovlevich, although accused of all sins, nevertheless buried Kovalev's reputation (he buried his nose). Kovalev will not have two hundred thousand. Yes, and the coveted chairs no longer shine for him. Now he is only out of love - as before ... And he is happy, like a child! This is strange. Although ... After all, he could lose everything, even the opportunity to simply live in the capital (what to do in it if they are driven from everywhere like a dog). And it all ended simply with the cessation of social prospects. But this story was forgiven him - it was not his fault! - and accept again. That's luck so luck! God be with them, with prospects, the girls, after all, remained! Some - let it go for him! This is how Platon Kuzmich remained with his nose and completely happy.

Conclusion.

The idea of ​​encrypting a dirty and obscene plot with sleepy symbols is simple and ingenious. Only how could Nikolai Vasilyevich know that someday people would stop solving dreams.
But he knew for sure that, once he found out the true content of his fantastic story, people “would become indecent, awkward, not good!” Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol had great fun writing this puzzle ... And Alexander Sergeevich, judging by his word from the publisher, also received complete pleasure from this whole idea. And if they could only assume that performances would be staged based on this story... and films would be made... Ha-ha-ha... They could just as well film Nostradamus's quatrains... well, really, it's funny.
Nikolai Vasilyevich has long been gone from the world. But even now, 200 years later, human values do not change. More and more new kovalevs come to conquer the capital, and nothing changes under the sun. And Gogol chuckled, probably with his sly Ukrainian smile: well, have you eaten it? Weak to figure out what I wanted to convey to you?
It's not weak anymore. Guessed. And your story doesn’t fit into the school curriculum, oh ... it’s not in vain that they encrypted it ...

Footnotes:
1. DIAGNOSIS - GENIUS. V.F. Chizh, Konstantin Kedrov "Gogol's Disease", M., "Republic"
2. Rovinsky, SOBR. Op. in 5 volumes. The picture and text of "Adventures about the Nose" are placed in the five-volume collection of Rovinsky under number 183 (Rovinsky I, pp. 420-422; ill. 1). It also contains information about three editions of this picture. The first was made at the Akhmetyevskaya factory by master Chuvaev and belongs to the second half of the 18th century. The second came out in the 1820s and 1830s, and the third in the 1830s and 1840s. The second and third contained minor changes.
3. Tearing off all and sundry masks. Lesson-study based on the novel by N. V. Gogol "The Nose". Galina Ivanovna Perfilyeva, teacher of Russian language and literature.
4. Bulletin of SamSU, 2003, Spec. Issue, L.P. Rassovskaya, “The blasphemous works of Pushkin and Gogol (“Gavriliada” and “The Nose”)” An important feature of the story has long been noted - the absence of any explanation not only of the main event, but also plot conflicts. And in fact, how did the nose disappear from Kovalev's face, and what does the barber Ivan Yakovlevich have to do with it if he shaved the major two days before; how did it get into the bread and why was it not baked in it; who and in what capacity - a nose or a person - pulled him out of the river; how simultaneously coexist, without merging, nose and man; how to explain the "incorruptibility" of the nose for two weeks before rejoining the circulatory system of its owner's body? (...) If we analyze their sound, then the hidden logic of the development of the action is revealed - parodic. The Annunciation is a holiday that for many centuries was considered not the holiday of Mary, but the holiday of Jesus, as the first day of its existence, the initial moment in the history of the incarnation of God, i.e. earthly life of the Savior. In his attempt at incarnation, Mr. Nos dispensed with his mother, and his symbolic "father" was Kovalev. Having passed the initiation and becoming an official, he wanted to go on a journey (like Christ at the beginning of his mission), but was captured and deprived of his human status, but his “body” remained incorruptible, and on Easter Sunday he was reunited with his “father” (ascended) ". page 13
5. Russian literature. - 1984. - No. 1. P. 153 - 166, O.G. Dilactorskaya. Fantastic in the story of N.V. Gogol's "Nose"
6. Belinsky, full. SOBR. Soch., vol. 3, M., 1953, p. 105
7. Sovremennik magazine, M., 1836, No. 3, reprint ed.

8. “Gogol himself believed that only Dead Souls would solve the riddle of his existence. “I decided firmly not to reveal anything from my spiritual history (...), - he wrote in the “Author's confession”, - in the confidence that when the second and third volumes come out “ dead souls”, everything will be explained by them and no one will make a request: what is the author himself?..” Vladimir Voropaev on the 150th anniversary of the death of N.V. Gogol's article "Schemer broken in spirit". Bulletin of the UOC, 01.04.2002.
9. “While working on The Nose, Gogol remade the ending of the story: initially, the fantastic nature of the events described in it was motivated by Major Kovalev’s dream. The change in ending was most likely caused by the appearance in the "Northern Bee", No. 192 of August 27, 1834, signed "R. M." reviews of Pushkin's story, which criticized as extremely outdated the motivation of fantasy by sleep, used in The Undertaker. Reworking the end of The Nose, Gogol took into account the remark of "R. M." and at the same time parodied his review. When published, the story suffered significantly from censorship: Kovalev's meeting with Nos was moved from the Kazan Cathedral to Gostiny Dvor, a number of sharp satirical statements were eliminated. In the collected works of Gogol in 1842, "The Nose" was placed in the third volume, among other stories related to the St. Petersburg theme. At the same time, the ending of the story was once again revised. The well-known critic of the 1940s and 1950s, Apollon Grigoriev, called The Nose a "deep fantastic" work in which "a whole life is empty, aimlessly formal, (...) restlessly moving - stands in front of you with this swaggering nose - and, if you know it, this life - and you cannot not know it after all those details that unfold before you great artist", then the" mirage life "causes in you not only laughter, but also chilling horror." The authors of the article M.N. Virolainen and O.G. Dilaktorskaya
Published according to the edition: "Russian fantastic prose
era of romanticism", Publishing House of the Leningrad University
10. “Gogol, as we remember, chose a peculiar technique for presenting the fantastic, as if twisting the generally accepted one - a dream similar to reality. In any case, the motive of sleep (perhaps as a vestige of the first edition) is tangible in the story. Kovalev, in connection with the fantastic disappearance of his nose, is delirious in reality as in a dream: “This, right, is either a dream, or just a daydream. . . The Major pinched himself. . . This pain completely assured him that he was acting and living in reality. . ." (III, 65). The motif of reality, like a dream, permeates the entire plot of the story. O.G. Dilactorskaya. The story of N.V. Gogol's "The Nose" (everyday fact as a structural element of fiction), Bulletin of Leningrad State University, 1983, issue 3
11. At the end of the second chapter of Zhuangzi is one of the most famous fragments: Once Zhuang Zhou dreamed that he was a butterfly fluttering in the air and pleased with himself. He did not know that he was Zhuang Zhou. Suddenly he woke up and realized that he was Zhuang Zhou. Only he did not know who he was - whether Zhuang Zhou, who dreamed that he was a butterfly, or he was a butterfly, who dreamed that he was Zhuang Zhou. But there is a difference between Zhuang Zhou and a butterfly! This is what is called the transformation of ten thousand things! Zhuang Zhou Born: 4th c. BC, Died: III c. BC, Main works: "Zhuangzi".
12. With the help of popular prints, interest in the interpretation of dreams through "dream books" was strongly supported, one of which (Martyn Zadeki) will be commemorated in "Eugene Onegin". In a more educated society, fortune-telling has long been turned into secular fun, into salon entertainment. Interesting in this regard is a French book of the 15th century, published according to the manuscript by A. Bobrinsky and characterized by A. N. Veselovsky in the Vestnik Evropy for 1886. Such is the fate of many other fortune-telling: from a serious, albeit naive desire to know the world and fate - to cultural experience in the form of slight superstition, entertainment, play.
13. Code of Laws of the Russian Empire. SPb., 1835, p. 105.
14. See the text "Nose"
15. See the text "Nose"
16. See the text "Nose"
17. “By the way, the well-known dream book of Martyn Zadeki was also referred to as “Ancient and new everlasting fortune-telling oracle, found after the death of one hundred and six-year old man Martin Zadek, by which he recognized the fate of everyone through the circles of human happiness and misfortune, with the addition of a Magic Mirror or the interpretation of dreams; also the rules of Physiognomy and Palmistry, or Sciences, how to recognize by the composition of the body and the location of the hand or the traits of the properties and the fate of the male and female with the application of his own Zadek predictions of the most curious incidents in Europe, justified by the event, with the addition of Hocus Pocus and funny riddles with riddles " (M., 1814). Yu. M. Lotman rightly points out the possibility that this book was in Pushkin's library. Lotman Yu. M. Roman A. S. Pushkin "Eugene Onegin": Commentary. L., 1983. P. 277. Fundamental electronic library "Russian literature and folklore", V.V. Golovin, p. 186. (http://feb-web.ru/feb/pushkin/serial/v91/v91-181-.htm)
18. With the help of popular prints, interest in the interpretation of dreams through "dream books" was strongly supported, one of which (Martyn Zadeki) will be commemorated in "Eugene Onegin". In a more educated society, fortune-telling has long been turned into secular fun in salon entertainment. Interesting in this regard is a French book of the 15th century, published according to the manuscript by A. Bobrinsky and characterized by A.N. Veselovsky in Vestnik Evropy for 1886. Such is the fate of many other fortune-telling: from a serious, albeit naive desire to know the world and destiny - to a cultural experience in the form of light superstition, entertainment, games. Smirnov Vasily. Folk divination in the Kostroma region. Essay and texts, Kostroma, 1927.
19. “The trustee of the St. Petersburg educational district, Prince M.A. Dondukov-Korsakov, invited him (Gogol - approx. O.A. Savina) to the Imperial St. Petersburg University. On July 24, 1834, Gogol received the post of adjunct professor in the department of general history, and in the autumn of that year he began lecturing for second-year students "according to his own notes" - first on the history of the Middle Ages (4 hours a week), and then on ancient history(2 hours a week) ... Gogol at that time was a very young man, "although already with a name in literature, but without any academic title, who did not prove either knowledge or abilities for the department - and what department - university!" . It is not surprising, therefore, that in the teaching environment his appointment was perceived with disapproval. “This can only be done in Russia, where patronage gives the right to everything,” A.V. Nikitenko noted on this occasion, not without reason, literary critic, professor of literature at St. Petersburg University ... At the end of 1835, Gogol left the university, noting in a letter to M.P. Pogodin that the time spent there was "years of infamy." None of the grandiose scientific works he conceived saw the light of day - because it was never written. E.V. Kardash,
Candidate of Philological Sciences, Researcher at the Department of Pushkin Studies
IRLI (Pushkin House) RAS, St. Petersburg University Journal, No. 7, April 29, 2009
20. “… Skuratov was in charge of the case against Sibneft…
The investigations were halted when Prosecutor General Yuri Skuratov was removed from office after apparently falling into the standard "woman" trap. A videotape was circulated showing a middle-aged man resembling an Attorney General in bed with two young women. The video was of poor quality, and therefore the features of the man's face could not be seen with confidence, but in terms of physique he really did resemble Skuratov. Dominic Kennedy, "The Times", UK, 11/12/2004, Translation: "InoSMI.Ru"
21. Pray according to Tsvetkov’s dream book - fortunately in all matters, and in general they say among the people - “what you prayed for in a dream, you were touched in reality.” Indeed, marriage would give Kovalev happiness in all matters ...
22. One of the aspects of Inpu was embodied in the god Upuat. The form of Upuat was interpreted as leading, opening the way. In the book Amduat, in the description of the first hour of the night, Upuat is placed on the prow of a boat of millions of years. The boat of millions of years symbolized the journey of the soul through the river of countless lives and deaths. The path of the earth is a reflection of the path of heaven, the path through the Milky Way, which the Egyptians called the winding stream. One of the basic principles in Ancient Egypt was the principle of change and the principle of rhythm, which, when combined, give the principle of cyclic changes. And the elements of the boat Sektet, respectively, the bow, hull and stern formed a semantic unity with the phases of the cosmic cycle. At the same time, the boat itself symbolized the way to overcome this inconstancy. Site "World Religions"
23. Belinsky V. G. Full. coll. soch., vol. 3. M., 1953, p. 105.
24. (Chernyshevsky 1953, p. 141)
25. Full SOBR. Op. Gogol, letter to Pogodin dated March 18, 1835.
26. Belinsky V. G. Full. coll. soch., vol. 3. M., 1953, p. 105.
27. Lermontov, SOBR. Op. in 4 volumes, v.4, M., 1969, p. 130
28. Russian writers of the 19th century about their works. M., New school, 1995, pp. 45-59
Literature:
1. Gogol N.V. Full. coll. cit., vol. III. [M.-L.], 1938, p. 53. Further references to this edition are given in the text.
2.O.G. Dilactorskaya. The story of N.V. Gogol's "The Nose" (everyday fact as a structural element of fiction), Bulletin of Leningrad State University, 1983, issue 3
3. O.G. Dilactorskaya. The Fantastic in Gogol's Nose, Russian Literature, 1984.
4. E.P. Tsvetkov "Dream Interpretation", Moscow, TID "Continent-Press", 2000.
5. M.Yu. Lermontov Collected works in 4 volumes, vol. 4, Ogonyok Library, ed. True, 1969.
6. The newest dream interpreter that tells the truth-womb. M., 1829.
7. Rovinsky. Collection of Op. in 5 volumes, v. 1
8. Belinsky. Full SOBR. Soch., vol. 3., M., 1953.
9. Russian writers about their works. Moscow, New school, 1995.
10. Chernyshevsky, M., 1953.
11. Bulletin of SamSU, Spec. Issue, L.P. Rassovskaya "The blasphemous works of Pushkin and Gogol ("Gavriliada" and "The Nose")
12. Dream Interpretation of Martyn Zadeki, ed. Matyukhina Yu.A., Eksmo, 2008.
13. Literary magazine "Russian Life", St.-Fri., 2005, article by Yuri Nechiporenko "Around Gogol"
14. K.G. Jung "Analytical Psychology", M., 1999.
15. Journal "St. Petersburg University", No. 7, April 29, 2009
16. Lotman Yu. M. Roman A. S. Pushkin "Eugene Onegin": Commentary. L., 1983.
17. Fundamental electronic library "Russian literature and folklore", V.V. Golovin, “SEVERAL RUSSIAN BOOKS
FROM THE PUSHKIN LIBRARY
To the deciphering of the inventory of books not preserved in the library»
18. Smirnov Vasily. Folk divination in the Kostroma region. Essay and texts, Kostroma, 1927.
19. "The Times", UK, 11/12/2004, Translation: "InoSMI.Ru"

Researchers of the work of N.V. Gogol point to the ambiguity of the image of the nose, and at the same time, its phallic symbolism is obvious. It was obvious to Gogol's contemporaries: according to Belinsky, it is known that the publication of the story in the Moscow Observer did not take place because the magazine considered it "dirty" (in another place - "vulgar and trivial"). We can say that the writer's work on the eve of his departure abroad in the summer of 1836 was to some extent "provocative". Most of his works of this period seem to deliberately offend the reader. Although the nose can be interpreted quite frivolously, but, judging by the numerous literary and magazine publications of that period, its “reputation” was not so odious that its use as an independent character alone made it possible to interpret the story as an obscene anecdote.

Comparing the available complete draft version of the story and the version published in Sovremennik, one can see that the story initially looked much less ambiguous, and Gogol deliberately “oversalted” the text in preparation for printing. Several, at first glance, insignificant details have been added to the story (primarily, at its beginning), setting the reader up for a very definite perception. In Praskovya Osipovna's scolding about the nose found in the bread, the husband's accusation of sexual weakness slips through. These words are unexpected. One more detail: waking up, Kovalev wants to look at the pimple that jumped up on his nose yesterday. Just as Kovalev's sideburns point to his nose (“these sideburns run down the very middle of his cheek and straight up to his nose”), so the pimple is designed to draw attention to this detail of his face. The draft manuscript says that a pimple popped up on his forehead. Transferring it to the nose, Gogol makes this detail "working", now the disappearance of the nose is already perceived as a consequence of a pimple that jumped up on it the day before. Further, in the scene of Kovalev's explanation in a newspaper expedition about the missing nose, there is a clause: “Just judge, really, how can I be without such a noticeable part of the body?” (This clause - "bodies" instead of "face" - was noted by I. D. Ermakov.) The hero is in despair, since the absence of a nose, in his opinion, becomes an insurmountable obstacle to the appearance of familiar ladies in society. Finally, a very voluminous episode is inserted into the story - a doctor's visit to Kovalev, in relation to which his special commitment to hygiene and freshness is emphasized - as opposed to a hint of Kovalev's bad (dirty) illness. Such a predetermined perception suggests that the author is trying to distract the reader from true meaning works.

Usually, researchers consider it most likely that the nose serves as a symbol of the hero's social existence. For some reason, Kovalev is sure that the absence of a nose will harm his plans in getting the long-awaited "place". However, at the same time, he does not feel any service or career blunders behind him. He is inclined to see the source of troubles in his love affairs. In this context, the loss of a nose can be interpreted as a loss of reputation. The heroine of the novel by F. V. Bulgarin "Peter Ivanovich Vyzhigin" Lisa Yaroslavskaya, having learned about the loss of her good name, in the first moments experiences similar feelings - a lack of understanding of what happened, confusion, fear (Bulgarin F. V. Ivan Vyzhigin. - M., 2002. S. 519-520). In Kovalev’s lamentations about the loss, a phrase slips through, which is key to understanding the story: “... Without a nose, a person - the devil knows what: a bird is not a bird, a citizen is not a citizen; just take it and throw it out the window!” (Collected works in 14 volumes. B.M., 1937-1952. Volume III. S. 64. Further volume and page numbers are indicated in brackets).

According to Dahl, a citizen in the Russian Empire was a representative of a social community (“every person or person that makes up a people, land, state”). Whatever is meant by "nose" - the loss of this is not capable of making a "non-citizen" out of a person. The loss of citizenship rights, as a rule, did not mean the loss of citizenship in general, but only its change. The state is interested in each of its subjects, and the loss of civil status is a predominantly one-way process initiated by the individual himself. First of all, this is due to the renunciation of civic duties, unwillingness to obey existing regulations and laws, and as a result, the need to hide, the renunciation of one's own identity, first of all, on one's own behalf. In the Russian Empire, with its total system of police control, a person could not exist without an identity document outside the line of residence, where he was known by sight. At all times - and when the signs of its owner fit into the passport, equally later, when a photographic image was pasted there - the name was the basis of identification. People who hide their name were called "Ivans who do not remember kinship." They either used someone else's name, or fell out of the state bureaucratic mechanism. If you reverse cause and effect, then the loss of a name (literally) deprives a person of the status of a citizen. For Kovalev, who perceives himself only within the framework of the existing system, the idea that he can cease to be part of it is truly terrible. Service career was not least associated with the achievement of fame in certain circles. The "man without a name" could not count on a good official position.

Researchers note the existing literary - and not only literary - tradition, in which such a loss is associated with the loss of a part of the hero's "I". Mirror reflection, shadow, image, etc. are closely associated with a person's personality. Having lost his soul (ceasing to be an individual), a person turns into an outcast. The loss of a nose is extremely significant for Kovalev, but hardly anyone wants to interpret it as the loss of a soul, although Gogol wrote that his “subject was always a person and the soul of a person” (XIII, 336-337). However, there is one more thing, which, to paraphrase Gogol a little, is almost the same as the person himself - this is his name. It represents the social essence of a person and serves for his indirect personification. Dahl: "With the name Ivan, without a name - a blockhead." Kovalev, having lost his nose, also loses the ability to pronounce his name. In a newspaper expedition: “Let me know what is your last name? - No, why the surname? I can't say it" (III, 60). Although, judging by the letter to Podtochina, he retained the ability to sign with his own name (i.e., a certain connection with him, which makes it possible to reunite later; power over the “shadow” of the name) remained with him. Perhaps Gogol's belief that the "word" (printed word) can fix everything is reflected here.

The fact that the “nose” is a metaphor for the name is almost openly stated in the story: “And the runaway was your courtyard man?” - “What, courtyard man? That wouldn't be such a big scam! Ran away from me… nose…” “Um! which strange last name! And this Mr. Nosov robbed you of a large sum?” - “Nose, that is ... you don’t think so! Nose, my own nose has gone nowhere. The devil wanted to play a trick on me!” (III, 60). Name loss (loss of control over one's own " outer man”) is not a mystical thing at all, so the absence in the story is understandable. evil spirits, the refusal to explain everything that happened as a dream is also understandable. Making the loss of a name literal, Gogol translates a completely ordinary social phenomenon into the category of absurd and fantastic.

One of the main motives of the story is recognition. Kovalev recognizes his nose (as part of his face) by a pimple that has jumped up “yesterday” on the left side. However, as Yu. V. Mann notes, it is more surprising that he recognizes his nose in the form of a high-ranking person: why, when he saw “a gentleman in a uniform”, “Kovalev decided that it was his nose in front of him?” (Mann Yu. V. Gogol's work: meaning and form. - St. Petersburg, 2007. P. 77). A very witty explanation of this is contained in a proverb from the Dahl collection: “A person does not recognize himself in person, but knows his name.” Indeed, if the nose had come out even in the form of a double of Kovalev, then there could not have been instant recognition, and the Nose, in its appearance, was “by itself”. The name is the same as a person, but not identical to him. And the difference between the "nose" and its owner illustrates this very clearly. Not being an inseparable part of its owner, the name can literally act independently of its owner, sometimes completely disobeying his will (“arbitrariness of the nose” according to Yu. V. Mann).

Unlike the soul, the name cannot be called any frequently encountered character in literature. Although some examples do exist. In the book of the prophet Isaiah it is written: “Behold, the name of the Lord comes from afar, His anger burns, and His flame is strong, His mouth is full of indignation, and His tongue is like a consuming fire, and His breath is like an overflowing stream that rises even to the neck, to scatter the nations to exhaustion” (Isaiah 30:27-28). Where the name of God is given anthropomorphic features, and only the functionally necessary are brought to the fore. A very curious literary pattern is found in a letter from P. A. Vyazemsky to V. A. Zhukovsky dated December 13, 1832: ripples in the eyes, sounds in the ears, boils on saliva; he spit on his own behalf, secretly and silently assumes another name, for example, his boss, signs some important paper under this name, which is used and produces significant consequences; he is put on trial for this unintentional falsehood, and so on ”(Russian archive. 1900. Book 1. P. 367). For comparison, we can quote from the novel by F. V. Bulgarin "Pyotr Ivanovich Vyzhigin" (1831): "It used to be that Romuald Vikentievich, trying a pen, sometimes secretly wrote his last name with different ranks and looked with a smile at the signature with a hook," real state councilor Shmigaily". Finally, he gradually lost the habit of this innocent pleasure. He began to try his pen on the saying: “Vanity of vanities and all kinds of vanity” (Bulgarin F. V. Ivan Vyzhigin. —
M., 2002. S. 359).

The reasoning of the heroine from Lewis Carroll's fairy tale “Through the Looking-Glass” (1871) is also curious: “I wonder if I, too, will lose my name? I wouldn't want that! If I remain without a name, they will immediately give me another one, and probably some terrible one! And I'll start looking for the one who picked up my old name. That will be funny! I will advertise in the newspaper that I have lost a dog: “Lost name by nickname …”, here, of course, there will be a pass … “Copper collar around the neck ". And everyone I meet, I will call out: “Alice!” - suddenly someone will respond ”(Carroll L. Adventures of Alice in Wonderland. Through the mirror and what Alice saw there, or Alice in the looking glass. In the lane of N. M. Demurova. - M., 1978. S. 145-146 ). Here, surprisingly, there is the one who “picked up” the name, and the announcement in the newspaper about the loss, and even the “dog”. A classic example of a name acting as a literary character is the historical anecdote about lieutenant Kizhe, published by V. Dahl in 1870 in a collection of stories about the times of Paul I. The story is not as absurd as it might seem at first glance. At one time, it was common practice to enroll noble children in the service, so that by the age of majority they had time to serve the desired rank. For a long time, the name "passed" the service, and not a real person. This topic was close to the family of the writer himself. “In 1797 Af<анасий>D<емьянович>I thought, according to the old noble custom, to enroll my Vasyuta in the guard so that he served the ranks and lived at home, but received a notification from the city of Voronchevsky that now new orders had begun and it was no longer possible to acquire ranks in this way ”(Chagovets V.A. Family chronicle of the Gogols // In memory of Gogol. - Kiev, 1902. Section III. P. 30). However, in reality, life was not so harsh. The later service of Vasily Afanasyevich consisted in the fact that he was listed in excess of the set at the Little Russian post office. P. Shchegolev wrote that this service was “nominal”, he was not even included in the lists of the post office (Shchegolev P. Father of Gogol // Genealogy of Gogol. - M., 2009. P. 165). In 1799, Vasily Afanasyevich was promoted from provincial secretary to titular adviser, and in 1805 he retired with the rank of collegiate assessor.

Knowing Gogol's character, one can assume that the fog cast by him in the course of the story ("here the incident is completely covered with fog") is intended to hide something purely personal, intimate. The nose is a striking distinguishing feature of the author himself. Contemporaries singled it out as the most expressive detail of Gogol's appearance, interpreters - as his means of communication with the outside world. V. Nabokov, in his work on Gogol, wrote that "the nose was the most sensitive and conspicuous feature of his appearance." The writer himself paid special attention to this "outstanding" detail of his appearance, deliberately exaggerating its "merits". Researchers pay attention to the literary and artistic tradition of the story: its connection with the prose of Western romantics, newspaper and magazine materials, popular literature. However, the writer's choice of such a subject suggests that there is also a share of autobiography in the story. The first thing that happened to Gogol upon his arrival in Petersburg was that he got frostbite on his nose. V. I. Shenrok conveys this moment according to the memoirs of A. S. Danilevsky: “As we approached St. Petersburg, the impatience and curiosity of young travelers increased every hour.<…>Both young people were overcome with delight: they forgot about the frost and, like children, kept leaning out of the carriage and rising on tiptoe to get a better look at the capital they had never seen before.<…>Gogol could not come to his senses at all; he was terribly worried and paid for his ardent passion in the most prosaic way, catching a runny nose and a slight cold, but a particularly offensive nuisance for him was that, having frostbitten nose, he was forced to sit at home for the first days. He almost fell into bed, and Danilevsky was frightened for him, fearing that he would become seriously ill. From all this, delight quickly turned into a completely opposite mood ... ”(Shenrok V.I. Materials for the biography of Gogol. - M., 1892. - T. 1. - P. 152).Thus, from the very beginning, the nose has a direct influence on the plot of Gogol's "Petersburg story".

The nose (beak) is hallmark the whole class of birds. Thanks to the Ukrainian form, the basis of the writer's surname is not hidden by the ending, and the meaning of the word is perceived quite vividly, literally. Gogol himself diligently emphasized the "bird" meaning of his surname, including in his works (in the last lines of the second edition of Taras Bulba - "the proud gogol quickly rushes"; for comparison: Ivan Ivanovich was mortally offended by Ivan Nikiforovich because he called him a gander, considering himself dishonored by this "obnoxious" name). According to the memoirs of Nestor Kukolnik, to the question of one of his friends, who was surprised that he suddenly turned from Yanovsky into Gogol: “But what does gogol mean?” - the writer answered quite succinctly: “Drake” (Kukolnik N.V., Orlai I.S. (From a memorial book) // Vinogradov I.A. Gogol in memoirs, diaries, correspondence of contemporaries. - M., 2011. T. 1. S. 551). Having adopted the name of a bird, Gogol tried to make others see something birdlike in his figure, meaning, first of all, his nose. This deprived the surname of its main function - to indicate a connection with the clan. The difference between a given name (nickname) and a surname is that the surname does not reflect the individuality of its owner. The writer made every effort to turn the word "Gogol" into a personal name for himself. This was reflected in correspondence with friends, where he often limited his signature to only one surname.

The presence of the author's connection with the subject of the story is determined by Gogol himself. This is clearly demonstrated by the title page of the manuscript, on which they depict a mixture of bird and human noses. The connection between them is created by the “bird name” of the writer (cf. “family nose”), in addition, the image of a bird is on the coat of arms of the Gogol family. From the description of the draft manuscript: “At the top of the first page, in the place of the title, it is written with large gaps between the words: ‘this nose of this’” (see III, 651), which can be interpreted in different ways, including: the nose of a person - bird nose. The writer considered it necessary to demonstrate this relationship: when the story was published, Platon Kovalev's lamentations were supplemented with a noteworthy phrase that without a nose, a person "a bird is not a bird." The biographical background of the story becomes quite clear only after considering it. creative history from the appropriate angle.

NOTES

1. Complaints about the story, voiced by Belinsky, lead somewhat away from true reason failure. The editors of the Moscow Observer, inviting Gogol to cooperate, focused primarily on his Little Russian works - only by that time they were basically known. "Nose" obviously did not fit into the general concept of the created magazine. Gogol's proposals for its publication, expressed in letters to Pogodin, were not taken into account in any way. The presence of parallels with works of uncensored creativity could influence the perception by contemporaries of the story precisely as “dirty”. An example is the tragedy Milikris, or Durnosov and Farnos, attributed to Ivan Barkov. The connection between the nose and the phallus is a technique common to the entire work. The intrigue of the work - Farnos depriving his happier rival in his claim to the hand of Milikrisa of male power - is a direct parallel to Kovalev's thought that he was deprived of his nose through the "witness women".

2. First of all, here we have in mind the play "The Inspector General" and the article "On the Movement of Journal Literature in 1834-35". The same can be said about some other works (“Nevsky Prospekt”, “Notes of a Madman”, etc., here we should also include the story “Laundress”, which has not come down to us).

3. Kovalev's nose disappeared, most likely after one of these visits. The loss was discovered on Friday. On Thursdays, he visited the State Councilor Chekhtareva. In addition, in the course of the action it turns out that the Nose has the same rank as Chekhtareva's husband.

4. The nameless doctor, during the examination of Kovalev, several times snaps his thumb “in the same place where the nose used to be.” His inability to put his nose in place is illustrated by the following saying: "Failure - healers often click on the nose" (Berezaisky V.S. Funny dictionary, which serves as an addition to the anecdotes of the Poshekhonians. - St. Petersburg, 1821. P. 15).

5. It should be noted here that by the end of the story, Gogol reduces this theme to nothing. Kovalev suddenly decides that the disappearance of the nose has nothing to do with his amorous adventures. After correspondence with Podtochina, who was trying to marry Kovalev to his daughter (from Dahl: “A mosquito won’t undermine a good matchmaker”), he comes to the conclusion that his suspicions about her are groundless. According to the doctor, he also appears to be perfectly healthy. Apparently, for the same purpose, the scene was excluded from the finale of the story, where Kovalev, who had just come to his senses after everything that had happened, asked the servant if “one girl” had asked him.

6. Regarding the unusual use of this epithet by Gogol: I. D. Ermakov, when quoting, uses a more suitable word in one place: “a bird is not a bird, a person is not a person” (Ermakov I. D. From the article “Nose” // Gogol in Russian Criticism: An Anthology, Moscow, 2008, p. 359).

7. Another meaning - a city dweller, a tradesman - Kovalev would hardly try on himself.

8. A. D. Sinyavsky, speaking about the magic of the name in Gogol, about the “resurrection of the dead”, in the scene when Chichikov pronounces the names of the dead peasants listed in the lists, wrote: “The name, we see, becomes a tool for reviving a person with all his material environment, becomes, as it were, the bearer of the soul itself, in which, in accordance with its sound face, a body, portrait, psychology, fate, language, road grows, and now a whole crowd is making noise, gossiping and torturing over a bundle of miserable receipts. How could this element of animated names and nicknames, this secret writing of Gogol, not spread from Chichikov's chest to the entire text of the poem! (Abram Terts. In the shadow of Gogol. - M., 2003. P. 359).

9. Vinogradov V. V. wrote about the peculiar “homonymy” present in the story, when the word “nose” moves into the category of a person, superimposed on the image of a gentleman in the rank of a state councilor (Vinogradov V. V. Poetics of Russian literature. - M., 1976 pp. 32). Further, the researcher notes that in the final version of the story, “the combination of the words “master” and “nose” is destroyed<автором>, because it too quickly established a relation to the word “nose” as a surname ... ”(Ibid., p. 34).

10. The name is closely related to Platonic "ideas". Therefore, apparently, it is not at all accidental that the main character of the story received the name Plato. The material analogue of an idea has the same name as the idea itself. Imyaslavie, which asserts that the name of God is God himself, refers to Plato in that the names of things existed before their appearance. We find the everyday expression of this thought in one of Dahl's proverbs: "The son was not born, and they gave him a name."

11. An example is taken from the book of Fr. Dmitry Leskin "Metaphysics of the Word and Name in Russian Religious and Philosophical Thought" (St. Petersburg, 2008, p. 41).

12. Yu. Lotman, finding the coincidence of a number of features of this “plot” with the story “Notes of a Madman”, believed that he could become known to Gogol through V. A. Zhukovsky (Lotman Yu. In the school of the poetic word. - M., 1988. S. 304).

13. In Yu. N. Tynyanov's story, the situation with Lieutenant Kizhe is sharpened to the limit and approaches Gogol's phantasmagoria. The "life" of the second lieutenant is oversaturated with events and turns out to be very active.

14. A. D. Sinyavsky, discussing the biographism of Gogol’s prose, wrote: “Gogol’s images are mostly produced directly from Gogol and can be considered as a legitimate piece of his spiritual flesh, that is, his “nose”” (Abram Tertz. In the shadow of Gogol. - M., 2003. S. 387). Gogol himself, using the same image, expresses himself in a completely opposite way. On November 23, 1844, he wrote to A. M. Vielgorskaya: “You are looking for me in my writings in vain, and, moreover, in the previous ones: they simply deal with those people who are the subject of the story. You think that my nose is so long that it can stick out even in stories written back in those times when I was still a boy, a little out from behind the school bench ”(XIV, 375). The correspondence refers to "Evenings on the Farm", but these words could serve as a lively replica to this article.

15. There are several dates for the cover of the story "The Nose". In the "Description of the materials of the Pushkin House" exhibited "B. etc.", i.e. without a date (Description of the materials of the Pushkin House. Issue I. N. V. Gogol. - M.- L., 1951. S. 12.). In the catalog "Gogol Museum" the cover is attributed to 1842 (Gogol Museum. Exhibition catalog for the 200th anniversary of the birth of N.V. Gogol. - St. Petersburg, 2009. P. 102, 191). Apparently, this is the date when the sheet could be at the disposal of the writer. Leaving abroad in 1842, he left many draft manuscripts with Konstantin Aksakov. At the direction of E. Dmitrieva, the drawing (which is a sheet torn from a notebook) was presented by Gogol to Shchepkin (Dmitrieva E. E. N. V. Gogol in a Western European context: between languages ​​and cultures. - M., 2011. P. 204 ). The most correct seems to be the dating proposed in the book “Drawings of Russian Writers” - the thirties of the nineteenth century (Drawings of Russian writers of the 18th - early 20th centuries. Compiled by R. Duganov. - M., 1988. P. 114). The cover design most likely refers to the pre-print period of the story, that is, it was created before the writer's departure abroad in 1836.

16. Here is another curious parallel, "bird-like", to F. V. Bulgarin's feuilleton "Civil Mushroom" (see III, 651). Talking about the existence of the name of his hero, Bulgarin cites a historical anecdote about the Platonic man. "Diogenes, in the full collection of the Academy, to the question of Plato: what isHuman ? answered:featherless bipedal animal ” (“Northern Bee” No. 213, September 21, 1833). (By the way, perhaps this anecdote is another reason why Gogol endowed Kovalev with the name of a Greek philosopher.) In this regard, the author gives his hero Foma Fomich Openkov the following characteristic: he is a man, “i.e. e. a bipedal animal, only not without feathers, but on the contrary,with feathers and in additionwith ink ”, referring to its bureaucratic and clerical nature.

Nose (disambiguation)

"Nose"- a satirical absurdist story written by Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol in 1832-1833.

Plot

Collegiate assessor Kovalev - a careerist, who calls himself a major for greater importance - suddenly wakes up in the morning without a nose. In place of the nose is a completely smooth place. " God knows what, what rubbish! he exclaims, spitting. - At least there was already something instead of a nose, otherwise nothing! ..» He goes to the chief police chief to report the loss, but along the way he unexpectedly meets his own nose in an embroidered gold uniform, a hat of a state adviser and with a sword. The nose jumps into the carriage and heads to the Kazan Cathedral, where he prays devoutly. Amazed Kovalev - behind him. Shy, the collegiate assessor asks the nose to return, but he, with all the importance inherent in a conversation with a junior rank, declares that he does not understand what is at stake and slips away from the owner.

Kovalev goes to the newspaper to advertise the missing nose, but they refuse him, fearing that such a scandalous announcement will damage the reputation of the publication. Kovalev rushes to the private bailiff, but he, being out of sorts, only declares that they won’t tear off a decent person’s nose if he doesn’t drag around the devil knows where.

Heartbroken, Kovalev returns home, and an unexpected joy happens: a police officer suddenly enters and brings in a nose wrapped in a piece of paper. According to him, the nose was intercepted on the way to Riga with a fake passport. Kovalev is immensely happy, but prematurely: the nose does not want to stick to its rightful place, and even the invited doctor cannot help. Only many days later, in the morning, the nose again appears on the face of its owner, it is also inexplicable how it disappeared. And Kovalev's life returns to its normal course.

Story Ideas

The nose in the story symbolizes empty outward decency, an image that, as it turns out, may well exist in St. Petersburg society without any inner personality. And what's more, it turns out that an ordinary collegiate assessor has this image as much as three ranks higher than the personality itself, and flaunts in the uniform of a state councilor, and even with a sword. On the contrary, the unfortunate owner of the nose, having lost such an important detail of his appearance, is completely lost, because without a nose "... you will not appear in an official institution, in a secular society, you will not walk along Nevsky Prospekt." For Kovalev, who, above all in life, strives for a successful career, this is a tragedy. In The Nose, Gogol seeks to show another Petersburg, which is hidden behind beautiful streets and avenues. Petersburg, where empty and pompous people live, who love external showiness, chasing high status and favor of higher ranks. The city where social status and rank are valued much more than the person who possesses them. Any citizen of a higher rank than a collegiate assessor, who was main character"Nose", aroused respect in St. Petersburg society, and all the rest simply went unnoticed. Gogol will develop these themes in his next works.

History of creation

In 1835, the Moscow Observer magazine refused to publish Gogol's story, calling it "bad, vulgar and trivial". But, unlike The Moscow Observer, Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin believed that in the work "so many unexpected, fantastic, fun and original", that he persuaded the author to publish the story in the Sovremennik magazine in 1836.

The story "The Nose" was subjected to severe and repeated criticism, as a result, a number of details in the work were altered by the author: for example, Major Kovalev's meeting with the Nose was moved from the Kazan Cathedral to Gostiny Dvor, and the ending of the story changed several times.

Literary excursion

• The barber, who found his nose in baked bread, lives on Voznesensky Prospekt, and gets rid of it on St. Isaac's Bridge.
• Major Kovalev's apartment is located on Sadovaya Street.
• The conversation between the major and the nose takes place in the Kazan Cathedral.
• A flowery waterfall of ladies pours down the sidewalk of Nevsky Prospekt from Policeman to Anichkin Bridge.
• Dancing chairs danced on Konyushennaya Street.
• According to Kovalev, it is on the Voskresensky Bridge that vendors sell peeled oranges.
• Students of the Surgical Academy ran to look at the nose in the Tauride Garden.
• The major buys an order ribbon in Gostiny Dvor.
• The “twin nose” of the St. Petersburg version is located on Andreevsky Spusk in Kyiv.

Screen adaptations

• "Nose" . Directed by Rolan Bykov. The movie follows the content of the book pretty closely.

"Nose" in the works of other authors

• Opera "The Nose" by D. D. Shostakovich (1928)
• The story inspired Gianni Rodari to write the tale "How the nose ran away" (Il naso che scappa):

• In Nikolai Dezhnev's story "Reading Gogol", the role of the "Nose" is played by the male reproductive organ.
• The story was illustrated by, among others, Leon Bakst and David Lynch.
• Monument "Nose of Major Kovalev", St. Petersburg. Architect V. B. Bukhaev. Sculptor R. L. Gabriadze. Installed in October 1995 on the facade of the house: Prospect Rimsky-Korsakov, 11 Pink granite. Height 40 cm
• Vasily Aksyonov: “Saying where we came from, I remember how Andrei Voznesensky once said that we did not come from The Overcoat, but from Gogol's Nose. “You, Vasya,” he said, “came out of the left nostril, and I came out of the right.” (Vasily Aksyonov: I am a Moscow emigrant. Rossiyskaya Gazeta - Chernozem Region No. 3890 of October 4, 2005)