Korobochka Nastasya Petrovna - widow-landowner, collegiate secretary; the second (after Manilov and before Nozdrev) "saleswoman" dead souls. Chichikov comes to her (ch. 3) by chance: the drunken coachman Selifan misses many turns on his way back from Manilov. The "darkness" of the night, the thunderous atmosphere accompanying the visit to Nastasya Petrovna, the frighteningly serpentine hissing of the wall clock, K.'s constant memories of her dead husband, Chichikov's confession (already in the morning) that on the third day she had been dreaming of the "cursed" devil - All this makes the reader wary. But Chichikov's morning meeting with K. completely deceives the reader's expectations, separates her image from the fabulously fantastic background, completely dissolves it in everyday life. The most important thing also works for the “experience” of the image positive quality K., which became her negative and all-consuming passion: commercial efficiency. Each person for her is, first of all, and only, a potential buyer.

A small house and a large courtyard of K., symbolically reflecting her inner world, - neat, strong; new tess on the roofs; the gate did not squint anywhere; feather bed - up to the ceiling; flies everywhere, which in Gogol always accompany the frozen, stopped, internally dead modern world. The limiting lag, slowing down of time in the space of K. is also indicated by a hissing clock like a snake, and portraits on the walls “in striped wallpaper”: Kutuzov and an old man with red cuffs, which were worn under Tsar Pavel Petrovich. Only in the 2nd volume will the era of the generals of 1812 come to life - General Betrishchev seems to come off one of the portraits hanging on the walls of many characters in the 1st volume. But so far, the “general’s portraits”, clearly left over from K.’s late husband, indicate only that the story ended for her in 1812 (Meanwhile, the action of the poem is timed to the time between the seventh and eighth “revisions”, i.e., censuses , in 1815 and 1835 - and is easily localized between 1820, the beginning of the Greek uprising, and 1823, the death of Napoleon.)

However, the "fading" of time in the world of K. is still better than the complete timelessness of Manilov's world; at least she has a past; some, albeit funny, hint at a biography (there was a husband who could not fall asleep without scratching his heels). K. has character; slightly embarrassed by Chichikov’s offer to sell the dead (“Do you really want to dig them out of the ground?”), immediately begins to bargain (“After all, I have never sold the dead”) and does not stop until Chichikov, in anger, promises her the devil , and then promises to buy not only the dead, but also other "products" under government contracts. K. - again unlike Manilov - remembers his dead peasants by heart. K. is dumb: in the end she will come to the city to make inquiries about how much the dead souls are now going, and thereby completely ruin Chichikov's reputation, already shaken. However, even this stupidity with its certainty is better than Manilov's emptiness - neither smart nor stupid, neither good nor evil.

Nevertheless, the very location of the village of K. (away from the main road, on a side branch of life) indicates its "hopelessness", the "futility" of any hopes for its possible correction and revival. In this she is similar to Manilov - and occupies one of the lowest places in the "hierarchy" of the heroes of the poem.

Among the landowners visited main character Gogol's poem Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov in search of his unusual acquisition, there was one woman.

The image and characteristics of the Box in the poem " Dead Souls” allow you to imagine how they lived in the deep, hidden territories of Russia of the past, way of life and traditions.

The image of the heroine

Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov came to the landowner Korobochka by accident. He lost his way when he tried to visit Sobakevich's estate. Terrible bad weather forced the traveler to ask for an overnight stay in an unfamiliar estate. The rank of a woman is a collegiate secretary. She is a widow living on her estate. There is some autobiographical information about the woman. It is not known if she has children, but it is certain that her sister lives in Moscow. Korobochka is going to her after Chichikov's departure. The old landowner maintains a small household: about 80 souls of peasants. The author describes the hostess and the peasants living in the village.

What is special about the character of the heroine:

The ability to save. A small landowner puts the money into bags, puts them in a chest of drawers.

Stealth. Nastasya Petrovna does not talk about her wealth. She pleads, trying to arouse pity. But the purpose of this feeling is to raise the price of the product offered.

Courage. The landowner confidently goes to court with requests to solve her problems.

The box sells what its peasants are busy with: honey, feathers, hemp, lard. The woman is not surprised by the desire of the guest to buy the souls of people who have gone to the afterlife. She is afraid to sell cheap. Faith and unbelief intertwined in the landowner. Moreover, two opposite feelings are connected so tightly that it is difficult to determine where the line is. She believes in God and the devil. The landowner lays out the cards after the prayer.

Household of Nastasya Petrovna

A lonely woman manages better than the men encountered in the poem. The description of the village does not frighten, like in Plyushkin, it does not surprise, like in Manilov. The gentlemen's house is neat. It is small but strong. Dogs greet guests with barks and warn their owners. The author describes the houses of the peasants:

  • huts are strong;
  • scattered scattered;
  • are constantly being repaired (the worn-out tes is changed to a new one);
  • strong gate;
  • spare carts.

Korobochka looks after her house and the huts of the peasants. In the estate, everyone is busy with business, there are no those who wander between the houses. The landowner knows exactly when, for which holiday bacon, hemp, flour or cereals will be ready. Despite her narrow-minded mind, the seeming stupidity of Nastasya Petrovna is businesslike and lively, aimed at profit.

village peasants

Chichikov examines the peasants with interest. These are strong living men and women. There are several characters in the village. Each in a special way complements the image of the hostess.

The maid Fetinya masterfully fluffs the feather beds, making them so cozy that the guest slept longer than usual.

The yard peasant woman opened the gate at night, not being afraid of uninvited guests. She has a hoarse voice and a strong figure, hidden under the coat.

The yard girl Pelageya shows Chichikov the way back. She runs barefoot, which makes her feet covered in mud and look like boots. The girl is uneducated, and for her there is not even an understanding of right, left. She shows with her hands where the cart should go.

Dead Souls

The peasants who sell Korobochka have amazing nicknames. Some of them complement the characteristics of a person, others are simply invented by the people. All the nicknames are in the memory of the hostess, she sighs and regretfully lists them to the guest. The most unusual:

  • Disrespect-Trough;
  • cow brick;
  • Wheel Ivan.

The box takes pity on everyone. The skillful blacksmith burned down like coal on a drunk. All were nice workers, it is difficult to add them to the list of Chichikov's nameless purchase. Dead souls Boxes are the most alive.

character image

There is a lot of typical stuff in the description of the Box. The author believes that there are many such women in Rus'. They don't evoke sympathy. Gogol called the woman "club-headed", but in her there is no difference from the stiff, educated aristocrats. Korobochka's frugality does not evoke affection; on the contrary, everything in her household is modest. Money settles in bags, but does not bring novelty to life. Around the landowner a huge number of flies. They personify stagnation in the soul of the hostess, in the world around her.

The landowner Nastasya Petrovna Korobochka cannot be changed. She chose the path of hoarding, which does not make sense. The life of the estate takes place away from real feelings and events.

In the third chapter of the poem "Dead Souls" N.V. Gogol introduces the reader to the landowner Nastasya Petrovna. The characteristic of the Box helps the author to gradually realize the idea of ​​his work, moving from innocent images to more insignificant ones.

How Chichikov found out about the landowner

The protagonist went to another landowner - Sobakevich, but on the way at night his chaise got lost, and he accidentally falls into the possession of Korobochka.

portrait characteristic

Box - a woman in a "sleeping cap, put on hastily, with a flannel around her neck." The external description of the Box in the poem "Dead Souls" is laconic. The author does not give detailed characteristics, depriving the heroine of her face to show the typicality of this image.

Environment

Despite the fact that Chichikov calls Korobochka's possessions a "good village", he understands that he is in a "decent wilderness". The estate is located far from the city, there is not a single rich landowner nearby.

Korobochka is a good housewife, she pays great attention to housekeeping. She has a lot of household utensils, various fruits and varieties are grown in the garden. The houses of the peasants are in good conditions.

Lifestyle

However, such features of Korobochka's life lead the reader to the conclusion that she lives only at home, other things do not interest her. It is limited by handmade frames. Trying to accumulate as much as possible, she is ready to sell everything she has. This clearly shows the real character of the heroine. Everything connected with the image of the Box is the first stage of stinginess.

Deal with Chichikov

A special role is played by the episode of buying dead souls from Korobochka. The landowner, having learned that Chichikov is a "purchaser", begins to offer him various goods. It speaks of the desire for profit. She says with regret that she has already sold honey to other merchants, for which Chichikov, most likely, would have given more.

When the main character says what exactly he is ready to buy, Korobochka cannot understand for a long time: how can one sell already deceased souls? She is confused because she has never sold dead souls, so she does not know the price of them. Because of this, the heroine hesitates, fearing to sell too cheap, although she understands that the deal "seems to be profitable."

Because of the fear of making a mistake with the price, Korobochka spends a lot of time. She decides to “postpone” the sale, find out the prices of the deceased, and then sell them. However, Chichikov still manages to get her to conclude a deal in another way. Pavel Ivanovich, promising to buy from her the products grown by her peasants, gives 15 banknotes for the souls.

What does Chichikov think about the heroine

Long attempts to persuade Korobochka tire Chichikov, he feels that he is in sweat, "like in a river." The attitude of the protagonist to Korobochka is conveyed by the following quotes: “Well, the woman seems to be strong-browed!”, “Ek her, what a clubhead!”, “Go and deal with her! I've been sweating, you damned old woman!"

Chichikov compares the heroine with a mongrel, who does not eat hay herself, and does not allow others to do so.

The meaning of the image

So why did N.V. Gogol devote an entire chapter to the image of the Box? In their digressions he proves the typicality of this character. He calls her one of those who "cry for crop failures", while they themselves "gain a little money."

Nastasya Petrovna is limited, she lives in a kind of "box", so the name of the heroine turns out to be speaking. She is fixated on making a profit, and it is for this purpose that she runs the household. The heroine is stupid and uneducated. As the author writes, if Korobochka hacked something on her nose, then this "cannot be overpowered by anything."

The writer knowingly gives such short description appearance of the heroine, it was important for him to emphasize the typicality of this image. He does this in lyrical digressions: "a different and respectable, and even a statesman, but in reality it turns out a perfect Box."

This article will help write the essay “Characteristics of the Box” according to the plan, reveal how to create this female image, will show the meaning of the character in the work, as well as the author's opinion about this type of people.

Artwork test

PortraitN. V. Gogol created five types, five portraits, among which only
one female is the Box. The folklore source of this image is a woman
Yaga.Korobochka - a settled old woman - a landowner, a nondescript grandmother,
who wore every piece of her wardrobe to holes. The box is not
claims to be a high culture: in all its appearance, it is very noticeable
unpretentious simplicity. This is emphasized by Gogol in the appearance of the heroine:
he points to her shabby and unattractive appearance.
This is how it is described in the work:
“... A minute later the hostess entered, a woman
old age, in some kind of sleeping cap,
put on hastily, with a flannel around her neck, one of those
mothers, small landowners who
crying for crop failures, losses and holding their heads
somewhat to one side, but meanwhile they are gaining
a little bit of money in colorful bags,
placed in the drawers of chests of drawers ... "

Portrait of the Box in the poem "Dead Souls"

PORTRAIT OF THE BOX IN THE POEM “THE DEAD
SOULS"
landowner, widow, very
economic and
frugal, elderly
woman. She knows everyone
his peasants, responds
good about them, so she and
different from Manilov.
Korochka's portrait is not so
detailed like portraits
other landlords.
Owner of 80 serfs
shower.

Character

Korobochka Nastasya Petrovna - a widow-landowner, the second "saleswoman"
dead souls to Chichikov. The heroine's surname metaphorically expresses
the essence of her nature, thrifty, distrustful, timid, dull-witted,
stubborn, superstitious. Nastasya Petrovna sees nothing further than her nose,
everything "new and unprecedented" frightens her. In the image of the Box there is a type
dead man in his limitations. To belittle the image
even the main one works. positive trait landowner who became her
passion, - business efficiency. The main goal of her life is strengthening
his wealth, incessant hoarding.
Every person for her is first of all
potential buyer. The box has
character: she begins to haggle furiously with
Chichikov, until he extracts a promise from him,
besides showers, buy a lot more. Remarkably,
that Korobochka remembers all her dead
peasants by heart. The image of the Box is great
symbolizes the Nicholas era, where it was given
the essential importance of compliance with the form, and about
they didn't care where they suppressed the live
soul for the impression of well-being.

Manor Boxes

MANOR BOX
Korobochki Manor is distinguished by its fortress and
satisfaction, it is immediately clear that she is good
hostess. Courtyard with windows
room, filled with birds and "every household
creature"; further visible vegetable gardens with
"household vegetable"; fruit trees
covered with nets from birds, stuffed animals are also visible on
poles - “one of them was wearing a cap
the mistress herself." Peasant huts too
show the prosperity of their inhabitants. In a word,
Korobochka's economy is clearly thriving and
brings enough profit. Yes, and myself
the village is not small - eighty souls.

Village

The inner world of the Box reflects her
economy. She has a "pretty little village."
Everything in it is neat and strong: both the house and the yard.
The closeness of the Box is emphasized, its
narrow-mindedness and stubbornness, pettiness,
animal limited interests
exclusively on their own. Her
Gogol gave the neighbors the names Bobrov,
Svinin. Even the location of the village
Boxes (away from the main road, in
away from real life) points to
the impossibility of correcting it and
revival. On the farm
"turkeys and chickens were innumerable." By
folklore tradition birds mentioned
in connection with the Box (turkeys, chickens, magpies,
sparrows, doves), symbolize stupidity,
senseless hassle.

House

A small house and a large yard The boxes symbolically display
her inner world is neat, strong; and everywhere the flies that Gogol has
always accompany the frozen, stopped, internally dead
the world. The hissing clock and the "outdated" portraits on
walls in Korobochka's house.
“... The room was hung with old
striped wallpaper; pictures with some
birds; small old windows
mirrors with dark frames
curled leaves; behind every mirror
either a letter or an old deck was laid
cards, or stocking; wall clock with
painted flowers on the dial ... ".
Things in the house Boxes, with one
hand, express her naive idea of
magnificent beauty, and on the other - her hoarding and
limited range of home entertainment
(fortune-telling on cards, darning, embroidery and
cooking).

Cabinet Boxes

BOX CABINET
humble rooms,
quite old,
a few pictures
old
striped Wallpaper,
clock on the wall
mirrors.

Korobochka's speech in the poem "Dead Souls"

THE SPEECH OF THE BOX IN THE POEM "DEAD SOULS"
The box was already old and not
always thinking fast
in order to answer her
I thought for a long time at first.

10. Deal

"Cudgelhead" Box understands the benefits of trading and agrees
True, after much persuasion. She's afraid to sell cheap when selling the dead
souls, she fears that Chichikov would deceive her, wants to wait, so that "somehow not incur a loss", maybe these showers will come in handy in the household.
After all, "the product is so strange, completely unprecedented" - at first she thinks that
Chichikov intends to dig the dead out of the ground. The box is going
slip hemp or honey instead of dead souls to Chichikov. The prices for these
she knows the products.
She, in addition to the desire to acquire and extract
favor, no feelings. Box sells
peasants with such efficiency, with which
sells other household items.
For her there is no difference between animated and
inanimate being. Doubts (not
did she sell out?) force her
go to the city to find out the real
the price of such a strange product. Nastasya is coming
Petrovna in a tarantass that looks like a watermelon. This
another analogue of her image, along with a chest of drawers,
casket and pouches full of money.

11. Box's attitude to selling dead souls

RELATIONSHIP OF THE BOX TO SALE
DEAD SOULS
When Chichikov
offered to sell her
their dead souls,
she didn't at first
understand how they can
sell at all
they are dead.
box as well
was surprised as
Manilov, who
Chichikov suggested
deal.

The poem "Dead Souls" by N.V. Gogol invites its readers to plunge into a huge variety of completely different and unlike characters. One of the most striking and important characters is the landowner Korobochka, her image is revealed in the third chapter of the work.

The first meeting of the protagonist of the poem, Chichikov, and Korobochka happens quite by accident, when Pavel Ivanovich loses his way to Sobakevich due to bad weather. Chichikov arrives at Korobochka's estate, in a village away from the main road, and stays with her for the night, and this is how they get to know each other.

She was an elderly woman, in shabby clothes, completely devoting her life to the household that she runs on her estate. Despite the fact that she has only 80 peasant souls at her disposal, her estate boasts a good condition: strong and well-groomed houses, strong and healthy men.

Korobochka lives by selling products produced on her estate, such as honey and hemp. She earns quite a lot on this, she tries to profit from everything, she has enough for a comfortable life, nevertheless, the landowner likes to complain about life, show down and underestimate her wealth. The box is mercenary, greedy, stingy, because it did not feed the guest from the road., distrustful and shows excessive suspicion towards people. Nevertheless, Korobochka, in her prosperous household, shows hospitality when she gives Chichikov clean clothes, launders dirty ones, sends a girl to scratch his heel and fluff up a pillow.

The landowner Korobochka collects and stores rubbish, her whole life is a continuous hoarding, mustiness reigns in her estate. Also, the interior of her house seems to Chichikov quite old-fashioned, as if he had frozen somewhere in time. Nastasya Petrovna believes in both God and the devil, sometimes she guesses on cards. When Chichikov wakes up, he sees a lot of flies, which once again emphasizes old age. Little is known about Korobochka's family, that she is a widow and has no children. In the process of communicating with the landowner, Chichikov begins to lose his temper, he wants to leave her estate as soon as possible in order to get rid of her.

Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol calls the landowner an oakhead, because after selling dead souls to Pavel Ivanovich, she goes to the city to find out the true price in order to find out if she was deceived.

In general, representing one of the most vivid images, Nastasya Petrovna is an ordinary and simple landowner.

Option 2

The poem is presented in the form of a trip of the main character across Russia, where she is shown with all her hardships and problems. The author showed motherland with all its hardships, revealed the cause of the plight of the Russian people and, with the help of satire, exposed the flaws of the existing system. We see how Chichikov, making a trip to the southern provinces, wants to cheaply buy up dead serfs in order to get rich fraudulently and not work.

He visits various landowners, among whom Korobochka stands out especially, who is a wealthy landowner, ready to trade in whatever her heart desires, including dead peasants.

The stupid Nastasya Petrovna thinks that she will need to dig up the dead from the graves, and this does not stop her. She intends to do everything in order to only receive a reward. Chichikov, from the first minute, understanding the nature of the woman, immediately began to talk with her more freely than with Manilov. He even yelled at her when Korobochka listened to him distractedly. After all, one thing revolves in her thoughts, so as not to give away the dead cheaply, and the rest did not bother at all.

Korobochka is a powerful lady, she lives by subsistence farming, and at the same time understands how money is obtained. The intellect of its development wishes to leave the best. She can tell how to protect trees with ripe fruits from birds, but why this had to be done, she cannot explain. All of her appearance to say that she is not only stupid, but also sloppy. In addition, it is full of superstitions. The box believes in fortune-telling and all the evil spirits that may appear in the house after midnight. Yes, and in her speech slip different words, human religious.

Her whole house is like a box in which there are many old things. When you look at her, you are surprised how greedy Nastasya Petrovna is. She does not have her own children, and there are no relatives to whom all affairs and property can be transferred, and who had to be introduced to society. And still, she wants more and more capital.

Box's useless hoarding is almost ominous. She saves money for their own sake, is not even afraid to put the dead on sale - just so as not to miscalculate. All her coins are laid out in different colorful bags, which she takes out and counts them every day. Her circle of interests is also small. Basically, she communicates only with those people with whom she consults on matters of conducting trade.

Slowly, Gogol will lead us to how the desire to get rich, the accumulation of capital by any means, the endless exploitation of the peasants kill the soul of the landowners. They lose their human form. In the image of Korobochka, he showed new features of capitalist society.

Composition about the landowner Korobochka

Gogol's poem can be read at various levels, the author has invested many different semantic layers in his creation. If you look at Korobochka superficially, then we have a satire on stupidity and a patriarchal way of life, a parody of the limited personality and excessive practicality, a heroine who surprises with her own simplicity.

Gogol emphasizes the simplicity of Korobochka in her speech, which is full of simple and even primitive expressions and, as it were, naively naked. Only children or poorly educated people can speak like that without any hesitation. The landowner is not distinguished by an exalted mind, but she has quite valuable practical knowledge, these details are also noted, for example, nets that preserve fruit trees.

Thus, Gogol describes the figure of a mundane people, a common people without romanticization. These people can actually be absurd and rude, sit and argue where the wheel will roll, know how to buy and sell more profitably. This people does not represent anything other than their own little world and is not going to get out of there, mired in the swamp of a banal and primitive existence.

If you look at Korobochka in the context of the symbolic series offered by the author, then this heroine appears as a kind of mystical figure that personifies such mystical heroes as Baba Yaga. A trip to Korobochka is associated for Chichikov with images of death and afterlife experience. Before his arrival, he falls into the ground (an image of a burial), when he wakes up, flies sit on his face (like on a corpse), and if you follow the text, Gogol gives similar hints in almost every phrase.

The box, like a magical old woman from Russian fairy tales, lives in the outskirts and is associated with otherworldly forces. In such a reading, lamentations, omens in which she believes (guessing on cards, for example) and interior details (for example, fortune-telling cards) receive a completely new reading and become peculiar attributes of a sorceress.

Also, Korobochka is the only female landowner and her figure stands out from the general outline of the landowners, making her image more interesting and unique.

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