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 chance. 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.

Summary of the lesson on the poem by N. V. Gogol "Dead Souls".

(grade 9)

Subject: “My heroes follow one after another…” Images of Korobochka and Nozdryov.

Target: analyze the images of Korobochka and Nozdrev.

Tasks:

to reveal the methods of describing the characters of the landlords, the internal logic of creating images;

to teach the ability to determine the principles of typification of social phenomena;

engage students in research work.

Lesson structure:

1 . organizational stage.

2. Checking homework.

3. Theme announcementand lesson objectives.

4. Repetition of the past.

5. Work in notebooks.

6. Summing up the lesson.

7. Homework.

During the classes

1. Organizational stage.

1. Preparing students for work in the classroom.

2. Mutual greetings between teacher and students.

3. Visual control of readiness for the lesson.

2. Checking homework.

3. Theme announcement and lesson objectives.

The theme of our lesson: "Images of the Box and Nozdryov." We continue to work on the analysis of literary images, we will try to understand the author's satirical position, which permeates the entire work.

4. Repetition of the past. (Chapter II, Manilov)

At the last lesson, we met the first landowner Chichikov visited - Manilov. We agreed that we would characterize the landowners according to a certain plan:

a) description of appearance (portrait);

b) the nature of the landowner;

V)features of behavior and speech;

G)relationships with others;

e)description of the estate;

f) the outcome of the transaction.

Do not forget that Gogol, drawing the life of contemporary Russia, follows the path of careful study of trifles, shows them close-up, exaggerates, because he sees in them an expression of the essence of the surrounding reality. This is the so-called artistic detail.

5. Work in notebooks.

Analysis literary image. Box.

In the chapter on Korobochka we shall see a different type of character, which, at first sight, differs from that of Manilov; because, following our plan, we will not be able to immediately find character traits in the text, artistic details, which would confirm the obvious satirical orientation.

But this is the peculiarity of a talented work: with the help of artistic research, we learn to be smart readers. So, let's turn to our tables.

( “The hostess came in, an elderly woman, in some kind of sleeping cap, put on hastily, with a flannel around her neck, one of those mothers, small landowners who cry over crop failures, losses and hold their heads a little to one side, and meanwhile they are gaining a little money in variegated pouches” (the portrait merges with the character). “She was dressed better than yesterday - in a dark dress and no longer in a sleeping cap, but everything was also tied around her neck.” The unexpected guest took Nastasya Petrovna by surprise, in the morning she appeared in a more decent form. The flannel around her neck speaks of her age, her secluded home lifestyle in the wilderness.)

b) the nature of the landowner.( Gogol does not hide the irony regarding her mental abilities: she thought, opened her mouth, looked almost with fear. "Well, the woman seems to be strong-browed!" A different and respectable, and even statesman man, but in reality it turns out perfect box . As he hacked something into his head, then nothing could overpower him; no matter how you present him with arguments, clear as day, everything bounces off him, like a rubber ball bounces off a wall. The essence of Korobochka's character is especially visible through the dialogic speech of the characters. The dialogue between Korobochka and Chichikov is a masterpiece of comedy art. This conversation can be called a dialogue of the deaf.)

V)(The box is “one of those mothers, small landowners who cry for crop failures, losses” (this is how she characterizes her), and this is perfectly reflected in her speech. “Yes, trouble, times are bad, so last year there was such a crop failure that God keep it." "What a pity, really, that I sold honey to merchants so cheaply."

Korobochka's speech reflects her stupidity and ignorance, fear of the new, unusual, fear of the offer to sell dead souls: "Really, I don't know, because I've never sold the dead;". “It has never happened to sell me the dead”; "Right, I'm afraid. At first, so as not to incur a loss somehow.

Sometimes Korobochka's speech reveals the extreme primitiveness of her thoughts, reaching some kind of childish naivety. “Do you want to dig them out of the ground?” she asks Chichikov about the dead. Or in another place: “Or maybe they’ll need it somehow on the farm for the occasion.” In Korobochka's speech there are many colloquial words and expressions: salty, theirs, twist, small fry, something, manenko, maybe, with which you sip some tea; I won’t take it for granted; apply to prices; I won’t clean up everything, what should I do, etc. It is known what a magical effect the word “nobleman” had on Korobochka, which made her unlock the gate even at a late hour and let in Chichikov, who had lost his way, to spend the night.)

G)relationships with others. (Korobochka, an old-fashioned feudal landowner living in a “decent wilderness”, keeps the elementary principles of landowner hospitality and shows in the scene with Chichikov the features of cordiality necessary for her environment. Hence her appeal to Chichikov: “my father”, “father”. She graciously turns to Chichikov with suggestions: “Would you like to drink tea, father?” “Here, sit down, father, on this sofa.” “Isn’t it necessary to rub your back with something?” “Is there anything else you need?” At night, she wishes the guest “good night”, in the morning she graciously greets: “Hello, father. How did you rest?" Korobochka knows all her peasants who have died since the last revision tale; knows who was what kind of master, laments that the people died all the artisan.)

e)description of the estate.( The room was hung with old striped wallpaper; pictures with some birds; between the windows there are small antique mirrors with dark frames in the form of curled leaves; behind every mirror there was either a letter, or an old pack of cards, or a stocking. In the morning ... now I noticed that not all of the paintings were birds: between them hung a portrait of Kutuzov and a written oil paints some old man with red cuffs on his uniform, as they sewed under Pavel Petrovich. The narrow courtyard was full of birds and all sorts of domestic creatures. Turkeys and chickens were innumerable. The chicken coop was blocked by a wooden fence, behind which stretched spacious vegetable gardens with cabbage, onions, potatoes, light and other household vegetables. Apple trees and other fruit trees were scattered here and there in the garden. The village is a source of honey, bacon, hemp, which Korobochka sells. She also trades with peasants. )

e) the result of the transaction.( Stupidly, unshakably, with conviction, Korobochka does her job - sells, eats, sleeps, saves, saves, saves ... It is characteristic that the very trade in "dead souls" did not bother her: she is ready to trade in the dead, only she is afraid to sell too cheap. It is characterized by tedious slowness and caution. She went to the city to find out how much they sell now " dead souls”. It turns out that landlord thrift can have the same inhuman meaning as mismanagement. )

Analysis of the literary image. Nozdrev.

The gallery of dead souls is continued in Nozdrev's poem.

a) description of appearance (portrait).( Like other landowners, he is internally empty, age does not concern him: “Nozdryov at thirty-five years old was the same perfect as he was at eighteen and twenty: a hunter for a walk.” Medium height, very well-built fellow with full ruddy cheeks, teeth as white as snow, and sideburns as black as pitch. He was fresh as blood and milk; health seemed to spurt from his face. Chichikov notices that one of Nozdryov's whiskers was smaller and not as thick as the other (the result of another fight).

b) the nature of the landowner.( Nozdryov is a rubbish man, Nozdryov can lie, add, dissolve the devil knows what, some more gossip will come out. Passion for lies and card games largely explains the fact that not a single meeting, where Nozdryov was present, could do without “history”.)

V)features of behavior and speech.( Almost all of his speech is empty chatter, sheer lies. "I alone drank seventeen bottles of champagne in the course of dinner." “In this field of the Rusaks, such a death that the earth is not visible; I myself caught one by the hind legs with my own hands. It is noted in the speech of Nozdryov, who rotates among the reveling officers, "echoes" of the "army" language: "how they drank"; "Bordeaux calls simply a burdashka"; "you will be cruelly taken aback"; "in the mouth.. . as if the squadron had spent the night. The following features are characteristic of Nozdryov’s speech: abrupt transitions from one feeling to another, for example, he says to Chichikov: “You are a pig for this, a kind of cattle breeder! Kiss me, soul, death loves you." Sketchy, unfinished sentences, showing that his words can't keep up with his flying thoughts.)

G)relationships with others.( Everyone had to meet a lot of such people. They are called broken fellows, they are known even in childhood and at school for good comrades, and for all that they are very painfully beaten. They soon get acquainted, and before you have time to look back, they already tell you "you". Friendship will start, it seems, forever: but it almost always happens that the one who makes friends will fight with them that same evening at a friendly feast. They are always talkers, revelers, reckless people, prominent people. His marriage did not change him at all, especially since wife soon went to the next world, leaving two children who he decidedly did not need. The children were looked after by a cute nanny. He could not sit at home for more than a day. The closer someone got along with him, the more likely he was to piss everyone off: he spread a fable, more stupid than which it is difficult to invent, upset a wedding, a trade deal, and did not at all consider himself your enemy; on the contrary, if chance brought him to meet with you again, he treated you again in a friendly manner and even said: “You are such a scoundrel, you will never come to me.”)

e)description of the estate. ( In the middle of the dining-room stood wooden goats, and two peasants, standing on them, whitewashed the walls, singing some endless song; the floor was all splattered with whitewash. The village of Nozdryova - in a little over two hours showed absolutely everything, so there was nothing left to show. First of all, they went to inspect the stable, where they saw two mares, one dappled gray, the other brown, then a bay stallion, unprepossessing in appearance, but for which Nozdryov swore that he had paid ten thousand. Empty stalls where there were also good horses before. A goat was seen in the same stable. A wolf cub, who was on a leash, whom Nozdryov feeds with raw meat so that he would be a perfect beast. A pond in which, according to Nozdryov, there were fish of such size that two people could hardly pull out a piece. There are all sorts of dogs in the yard, both thick-dogs and pure-dogs, of all possible colors and stripes. The field, which in many places consisted of tussocks. An office, in which, however, there were no noticeable traces of what happens in an office, that is, books or paper; only sabers and two guns hung - one worth three hundred and the other eight hundred rubles. Turkish daggers. Even lunch consists of dishes that are burnt or, on the contrary, not cooked. ) Chichikov left with nothing. But by no means because he was outraged by the illegality of the deal proposed by Chichikov. He just can't think about it, can't get out beyond the limits of his usual concepts . This expressively sets off the reception mechanical repetition of remarks: “buy a stallion from me”; “Well, then buy dogs”; “so buy a hurdy-gurdy”, etc. Himself the passion with which he offers To Chichikov, all sorts of ways to get "dead souls", from selling a britzka to playing checkers, eloquently convinces not only of Nozdryov's spiritual worthlessness and cynicism, but also of his complete indifference to the fate of his peasants, whether dead or alive - all the same. )

6. Summing up the lesson.

The inner world of Nastasya Petrovna Korobochka is empty and shallow. The soullessness of this landowner is reflected in her pettiness. The only thing that worries Korobochka is the price of hemp and honey. About her late husband, she can only remember that he loved to have a girl scratching his heels on his leg. This is especially manifested by her isolation from people, complete indifference

The third landowner from whom Chichikov is trying to buy dead souls is Nozdryov. This is a dashing 35-year-old "talker, reveler, reckless driver." Nozdryov constantly lies, bullies everyone indiscriminately. He is very passionate, ready to "shat" to the best friend without any purpose. All the behavior of Nozdrev is explained by his dominant quality: "briskness and liveliness of character." This landowner does not conceive or plan anything, he simply does not know the measure in anything.

7. Homework

Prepare a characterization of Sobakevich and Plyushkin.

Work:

Dead Souls

Korobochka Nastasya Petrovna - a widow-landowner, the second "seller" of dead souls to Chichikov. Main feature her character is commercial efficiency. Each person for K. is only a potential buyer.

K.'s inner world reflects her economy. Everything in it is neat and strong: both the house and the yard. It's just that there are a lot of flies everywhere. This detail personifies the frozen, stopped world of the heroine. The hissing clock and the "outdated" portraits on the walls in K.

But such a "fading" is still better than the complete timelessness of Manilov's world. K. at least has a past (husband and everything connected with him). K. has a character: she begins to bargain furiously with Chichikov until she extracts a promise from him, in addition to souls, to buy much more. It is noteworthy that K. remembers all his dead peasants by heart. But K. is dumb: later she will come to the city to find out the price of dead souls, and thereby expose Chichikov. Even the location of the village of K. (away from the main road, away from real life) indicates the impossibility of its 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.

The image of the landowner Korobochka in the poem "Dead Souls"

The third chapter of the poem is devoted to the image of the Box, which Gogol refers to the number of those "small landowners who complain about crop failures, losses and hold their heads somewhat to one side, and meanwhile they are gaining a little money in motley bags placed in chests of drawers!" (or M. and Korobochka are in some way antipodes: Manilov’s vulgarity is hidden behind high phases, behind arguments about the good of the Motherland, while Korobochka’s spiritual scarcity appears in its natural form. The box does not pretend to be a high culture: in all its appearance, a very unpretentious simplicity. This is emphasized by Gogol in the appearance of the heroine: he points to her shabby and unattractive appearance. This simplicity reveals itself in relations with people. The main goal of her life is to consolidate her wealth, incessant accumulation. It is no coincidence that Chichikov sees traces of skillful management on her estate. This household reveals her inner insignificance. She has no feelings except for the desire to acquire and benefit. Confirmation is the situation with the "dead strangles." Korobochka trades peasants with the same efficiency with which she sells other items of her household. For her, there is no difference only one thing scares her in Chichikov's proposal: the prospect of missing something, not taking what can be obtained for "dead souls." Gogol awarded her with the epithet "cudgelhead".) These money are obtained from the sale of a wide variety of nat products. household Korobochka understood the benefits of trading and after much persuasion agrees to sell such an unusual product as dead souls.

The image of the hoarder Korobochka is already devoid of those “attractive” features that distinguish Manilov. And again we have a type in front of us - “one of those mothers, small landowners who ... little by little collect money in motley bags placed in drawers of chests of drawers”. Korobochka's interests are entirely focused on the household. “Strong-headed” and “club-headed” Nastasya Petrovna is afraid to sell cheap by selling Chichikov dead souls. The “silent scene” that occurs in this chapter is curious. We find similar scenes in almost all chapters showing the conclusion of a deal between Chichikov and another landowner. It's special artistic technique, a kind of temporary stoppage of the action: it allows us to show with special convexity the spiritual emptiness of Pavel Ivanovich and his interlocutors. At the end of the third chapter, Gogol talks about the typical image of Korobochka, the insignificance of the difference between her and another aristocratic lady.

The landowner Korobochka is thrifty, “gaining little by little money”, lives closed in her estate, as if in a box, and her thriftiness eventually develops into hoarding. Limitation and stupidity complete the character of the "cudgel-headed" landowner, who is distrustful of everything new in life. The qualities inherent in Korobochka are typical not only among the provincial nobility.

She owns a subsistence economy and trades in everything that is available in it: lard, bird feathers, serfs. Everything in her house is arranged in the old fashioned way. She neatly stores her belongings and saves money by putting them in bags. Everything works for her. In the same chapter, the author pays great attention to Chichikov's behavior, focusing on the fact that Chichikov with Korobochka behaves more simply, more cheekily than with Manilov. This phenomenon is typical of Russian reality, and, proving this, the author gives lyrical digression about the transformation of Prometheus into a fly. The nature of the Box is especially clearly revealed in the scene of sale. She is very afraid of selling cheap and even makes an assumption, which she herself is afraid of: “what if the dead ones will come in handy for her on the farm?”, And again the author emphasizes the typicality of this image: “Another and respectable, and statesman, even a person, but in reality it turns out a perfect Box” . It turns out that Korobochka's stupidity, her "club-headedness" is not such a rare occurrence.

Korobochka Nastasya Petrovna - widow-landowner, collegiate secretary; the second (after Manilov and before Nozdrev) "seller" of 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.

"Dead Souls" is a classic of Russian literature, a play that famous writer Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol conceived to display a grandiose panorama of the Russian society of officials and landowners, including all its moments, features and paradoxes. Central problem of this work is the inevitable death of the spiritual "component" of people and the flourishing of the very main representatives of the Russian estates of the landlords of those times. The author depicts the internal and external appearance of a strong landownership and venality, and there is also an overt ridicule of the harmful passions of the Russian bureaucracy.

The very title of the work clearly demonstrates its ambiguous meaning. " Dead souls"You can name not only the dead peasants, but also other, actually living characters of the poem. And it is precisely such definitions as miserable, insignificant, empty and, directly, “dead” little souls that N.V. himself gives them. Gogol.

Characteristics of the heroine

Nastasya Petrovna, aka Korobochka, is one of the key characters in Gogol's Dead Souls. She is endowed with the fate of a landowner who has lost her husband; is the second "saleswoman" of the peasants. Her nature is full of greed, in essence, Nastasya Petrovna is a genuine crokhoborka, who sees potential customers-buyers in every passer-by. It was Chichikov who first drew attention to efficiency in trade and undisguised stupidity in life in the guise of this landowner. Despite the fact that Korobochka is not only an impeccable hostess, but also a craftswoman to benefit from everywhere, she did not consider the idea of ​​​​buying “dead souls” at all strange. Moreover, she took the initiative to personally study the current prices for the dead peasants, if only not to sell too cheap and not be left with a nose. Quiet life The box is full only of anxiety about household chores, a "small" household. But who, no matter how Korobochka, is familiar with the prices of products like honey, lard, hemp, and all in order to resell them more profitably.

Korobochka herself knows the dead peasant souls belonging to her by heart. Nastasya Petrovna agreed to conclude the deal agreed with Chichikov only after his promise to purchase her household items.

The central idea of ​​this character is to maximize and increase their already small wealth. Actually, that's why it is called the Box. Nastasya Petrovna has about eighty peasant souls at her disposal, and her life seems to be limited by a thin shell that delimits her small personal world from the real outside world. All the property accumulated by her, the hostess with special care protects and hides everything in bags and chests of drawers. And even taking into account a fair amount of prosperity and abundance in the home, she remains a lover to put pressure on pity and cry over losses. When asked by Chichikov about how things are progressing with neighboring landowners, mentioning both Manilov and even Sobakevich, Korobochka skillfully portrays absolute ignorance of the existence of such personalities, as if she had never even heard their names.

The box is too superstitious representative of the landlord. By the way, she will never doubt that what is hidden on the cards after the prayer has been said will certainly come true.

The image of the heroine in the work

("Chichikov at the Box", artist Alexander Agin, 1846-47)

Nastasya Petrovna can be called a primitive, "poor widow", whose ignorance is displayed in her behavior and manner of speech.

The question arises: perhaps Nastasya Petrovna is just an exceptional person who got lost in the wilderness of the province?

However, the author of the poem regretfully draws a negative answer to the conclusion. “No,” says Gogol, because the squalor inherent in Korobochka, her addiction to money, her desire to cash in on anything, overt self-interest, stupidity and ignorance are key qualities that are not unique to Korobochka, they also correspond to various layers of the ruling classes, their top.

Ultimately, N.V. Gogol writes about Korobochka as a heroine who finds herself on the lowest rung of the endless ladder of perfection of the human appearance, thus emphasizing the typical character of Korobochka's image.