Describing the central character of his work, N.V. Gogol completely rejected any specific details, comparisons and certainty.

The entire portrait of Pavel Chichikov is based on average characteristics and opinions: the hero himself, who considers himself attractive, and those around him, who also find his appearance pleasant.

Characteristics of the appearance, clothing and manners of Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov

Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol about the portrait of Pavel Chichikov

• "Not handsome, but not bad-looking either ...";
• "You can't say old, but not too young either."

Why does he avoid specific descriptions? Why does it give the hero a certain facelessness?

Probably, in order to show all of us - the readers - that such "Chichikovs" live among us, but it is not at all easy to recognize them.

Chichikov is diverse, he can pretend to be whoever he wants, and that is why, by definition, he cannot have clear and expressive features.

It is interesting that even talking about Chichikov's childhood, Nikolai Vasilyevich refrains from mentioning the child's appearance, dwelling only on a general idea of ​​the beginning of his life.

The appearance of the protagonist

And yet, what do we know for certain about the appearance of the hero?

Chichikov is a middle-aged man; the owner of a round face, a beautiful chin.

The chin is the subject of special pride of the main character. He never misses an opportunity to brag about it, emphasizing that it is absolutely round.

Chichikov is always perfectly shaven; his cheeks are snow white.

He cares a lot about his appearance:

• Uses expensive foreign soap;
• Ensures that no hairs stick out from the nose;
• Smells with cologne.

His figure is somewhat plump, but, on the whole, not bad for his age.

Attention to his own appearance, a man disposes of the fair sex, who see in his appearance something "majestic", "Mars".

Moreover, some of the ladies readily believe that Chichikov is none other than Napoleon.

Clothes, manners of P. Chichikov

If the figure of the protagonist is not quite ideal, his demeanor and posture more than compensate for external shortcomings.

Chichikov is doing very well; he has no equal in the ability to make the right impression.

His face has such an expression that serves as a pass to absolutely any place. Pavel Ivanovich charms, disposes to himself in just a couple of minutes.

As for the clothes of the character, he prefers an elegant tailcoat, quality shirts, excellent accessories and sturdy shoes.

3 things that he does not part with in his many travels - a tailcoat, a good carriage, a casket. These things are with the hero throughout the entire poem.

Summing up, it should be said that for Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov, appearance is no less important than authority and reputation.

Recently, researchers have been paying close attention to the study of the artistic worlds of writers and individual works. In addition, there is an intensive development of textual studies - the linguistics of the text. The object of this direction is such categories of artistic text as space, time, the image of the hero, the image of the author, etc. The poetics of the hero's portrait in the poem by N.V. Gogol's "Dead Souls" as one of the aspects of the image of the hero of a work of art was not specifically described from the point of view of textual studies, therefore, the appeal to the topic of portrait characteristics in Gogol's work can be considered relevant.

The dictionary of literary terms defines a literary portrait as follows: “... the image of the hero's appearance as a means of characterizing him. A portrait is a kind of description that creates a stable, stable complex of human traits ... ", through the description of the appearance, the author seeks to reveal the inner world and character of the hero, in addition, the portrait illustrates the sides of the hero's nature, which are the most important to the author in this character. The main task in the field of portrait drawing is defined here as comprehending the essence of character, the ability to find the main thing, to get to the core and convey it in a portrait. Then the portrait acquires its true purpose in art, being both a clue to the character of the hero, and a means of artistic depiction of the wealth and diversity of life, which has found its concrete manifestation in an individual person.

Traditionally, the scientific concept of artistic portrait includes the description of appearance, facial features, facial expressions, gestures, clothing, etc. In this work, the scope of the concept of "artistic portrait" in the context of the work of N.V. Gogol will be expanded. In general, speaking about the gallery of types created by Gogol, it is worth noting that the theme of the portrait is very close to the theme of the objective, material world, or rather, it is included in it as an aspect. In Gogol's work, the images of characters are determined not only by the aforementioned characteristics, but also by such important moments as the location and furnishings of the house; fleeting, seemingly insignificant remarks of an attentive author about the details of the characters' everyday life, for example, heaps of ash neatly laid out by Manilov on the windowsill; things accompanying the character, for example, the famous box of Chichikov and others. The thing bears the imprint of the person to whom it belongs, so often an inanimate object and a person come closer. One thus helps to understand the other. In addition, a thing detail has the ability to both characterize the portrait of the hero and express the author's attitude towards him. Completely new possibilities in the use of material details, one might even say their new function, opened up in the work of Nikolai Gogol. Under his pen, the world became a relatively independent object of the image. A.B. Esin believes that the thing in Gogol's work does not so much recreate the character of the hero or the social environment, but is interesting to the writer in itself, largely regardless of its connection with a specific person. For the first time in world literature, Gogol realized that by studying the world of things as such, the material environment of a person, one can understand a lot not only about the life of this or that person, but about the way of life in general. This explains the redundancy of Gogol's detailing.

The systematization of portraits by the object of the image allows us to trace what is important for the writer, but what he pays special attention to within the category of the artistic image and its specific aspect - the portrait. First of all, we would be interested in the components of the concept of "portrait" traditionally distinguished in science, that is, facial features, clothing, facial expressions, gestures, behavioral moments, postures, etc. Taking into account the specifics of N.V. Gogol's work, one should begin to consider the characters from the point of view of the presence or absence of their portrait characteristics.

N.V. Gogol avoids describing the faces of some characters. So, for example, oddly enough it sounds, in the poem "Dead Souls" the main character - Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov - is somehow very impersonal, and if we carefully read the text of the poem, we will never see his portrait - it is erased, blurred and the reader gets an idea of ​​his appearance from the descriptions of his gestures, facial expressions, speech and reviews of other characters about him. Indeed, in the literature it is accepted that the portrait is given at the first acquaintance with the character; here the reader is confronted with an "average" gentleman:

"... not handsome, but not bad-looking, neither too fat, nor too thin, one cannot say that he is old, however, and not so that he is too young ..." If we are talking about Chichikov's face, then these are, as a rule, episodes of the character's preparation for any enterprise, for example, a trip to Manilov - the hero shaved himself in such a way that "... the cheeks became a real atlas in the reasoning of smoothness and gloss ..."; or the expression of any emotions, for example, in the episode of Chichikov's gathering for the ball: “... It took a whole hour just to look at the face in the mirror. I tried to convey to him many different expressions: now important and sedate, now respectful, but with a certain smile, now simply respectful without a smile ... ”Against the background of such a deliberate lack of specific portrait characteristics of Chichikov, the author proposed a different way of knowing the hero. A person who has read the poem, without referring to the details of the character's portraits, will easily be able to form his own idea of ​​the appearance of Pavel Ivanovich. By what means does the author achieve such an effect and why is the main character and, at the same time, the connecting compositional link of the poem so impersonal, that is, does not have its own striking features of appearance? Perhaps this blurring is a sign of the character's typification, it gives an idea of ​​Chichikov as an example of "honest" acquisition and that all the possibilities of this new phenomenon are just beginning to unfold. There is another version of why there are no portrait characteristics of the main character in the poem. Gogol created an image that Dostoevsky, for example, put on a par with Onegin and Pechorin in the skill of the image, in the degree of typification, and in this one cannot but agree with the great writer. Chichikov is so elusive, so different depending on the circumstances that it often seems to the reader that he is facing some other person. Gestures, facial expressions, and description of clothing work to create such an impression, and clothing as a detail of a portrait has its own special meaning and at the same time complements the portrait as a whole. The procedure of dressing up Chichikov, which is most often repeated in the poem, illustrates the thesis about the elusiveness of the hero's traits. Now he changes his shirt, then the tailcoat, then the Scottish costume for the European one - all this gives an important characteristic to the character: he is fickle, he is overcome by a craving for changing places, circumstances, appearance.

In general, the motive of changing clothes performs an important function: changing clothes is identified with a change in the essence of a person. Whenever Chichikov appears in new clothes, an illusory feeling of ignorance of this person arises, each time a new feature of his character becomes open and visible, although every time this person remains a mystery.

Clothing is not only a kind of decoration for the hero, but also to some extent a clever method of anticipating the events of the poem. An attentive reader will certainly notice that before Chichikov's collapse at the ball occurred, his great-bear greatcoat, in which he went to buy dead souls, suddenly turns into a bear covered with brown cloth. Or one more example, connected with preparations for the ball and the reception of preliminaries of events with insignificant details: the famous coat of Chichikov of cowberry color with a spark "beaten" on a wooden hanger. In addition to this detail, the collapse of Chichikov's career also portends the overcoat, which replaced the bear coat. It is also worth noting that after the completion of Chichikov's "activity" the dressing process ceases to be mysterious and solemn - he began to do everything quickly, without thoroughness and previous pleasure.

Above, we mentioned that not only clothing, in the absence of a description of appearance, creates an idea of ​​the hero. Facial expressions, gestures, the ability to behave in society and demeanor are also important in the image of Chichikov. Observations of his facial expressions show that here, too, our hero is fluid, diverse, elusive. In addition, he knows how to manage himself, that is, to control the expression of his face. so, visiting Manilov "... Chichikov raised a few eyebrows when he heard such a somewhat Greek name ... but tried to bring his face back to his usual expression at the same time ..." shower, Chichikov “... opened his mouth with amazement. Noticing that, in fact, such indifference to the grief of others is indecent, he sighed and immediately said that he was sorry ... ”It is interesting to note that the author repeatedly emphasizes that his hero knew how to convey a pleasant expression to his face. In our opinion, it is worth remembering one more episode that speaks volumes. Before informing Manilov about the purpose of his arrival, Chichikov "... it is not known why he looked back ..." Here a comic scene took place: Chichikov looked back to check if anyone was listening to their conversation, just as he would delay a little later while not wanting to talk about the purchase to Nozdryov in the presence of his son-in-law Mizhuyev, Manilov looks around, feeling a certain mystery, solemnity, secrecy.

Only being alone with himself, Chichikov can give free rein to his emotions: "... suggestions, considerations and estimates wandered over his face and were evidently very pleasant, for every minute they left behind tears of a satisfied smile ..."

All these techniques allow us to conclude that Chichikov knows what he wants and uses all possible means to achieve his goals. The author himself says that Chichikov - “... with his charming qualities and techniques knows, in fact, the great secret to please.

Thus, the connection between man and the material environment in the work of N.V. Gogol is very significant and this makes it possible to talk about the unique originality of his portrait characteristics. The peculiarity of the Gogol hero is that his external accessories are inseparable from his personal qualities. The material environment can also signal the psychological state of the hero. Some researchers believed that the author's use of the “material clutter” technique was due to the fact that the characters in the poem could not be linked by relationships based on love, as was most often the case in novels. They had to be revealed in other connections, for example, economic, which made it possible to bring together these people, so different and at the same time so close to each other.

In describing the image of the protagonist, the author does not give clear details, comparisons, and certainty. The portrait of Chichikov in Gogol's poem "Dead Souls" is practically absent: only averaged characteristics and a mention that the character himself found himself "attractive" and, in the opinion of others, had a pleasant appearance.

Uncertainty and averaged character characteristics

Describing Chichikov's appearance, Gogol uses the following expressions: “not handsome, but not bad-looking, neither too thick nor too thin; one cannot say that he is old, but not so that he is too young either. " Thanks to this technique, the hero acquires a faceless, indefinite appearance, with this the author hints that the Chichikovs live among us, you need to be able to see them.

Chichikov has many faces, by nature he is a chameleon, so clear expressive features of his appearance are not suitable for such a character. Even the chapter about Pavlusha's childhood does not help to reveal the external features of the character: the author only gives an idea of ​​the beginning of Chichikov's life, but does not give any details of the child's appearance.

Chichikov through the eyes of others

The hero is presented to the reader as a middle-aged man with a round face (which the hero "loved sincerely") and a beautiful chin, it was this part of the face that Chichikov especially liked about himself. The chin is what the hero boasted to his friends, emphasizing that he is completely round. Pavel Ivanovich's cheeks were always clean-shaven, snow-white. He pays special attention to his appearance: he washes himself with expensive foreign soap, removes the hairs sticking out of his nose, uses cologne. Thanks to such care for appearance and toilet, Pavel Ivanovich favorably stands out among the environment, the ladies find something "majestic" in his image, and in the figure - "Mars" or "military". Our character's figure was a little plump, but quite good for his height and age. In the opinion of the ladies, his physique was in a form where, having replenished at least a little, he would have become unattractive. Some representatives of the secular society even believed the gossip that Chichikov was Napoleon.

Clothes, habits and manners

Chichikov's posture and manners spoke of a special masculinity, sophistication, which overshadowed the flaws in the figure. The ability to hold on, to make an impression - became the hallmark of Pavel Ivanovich. It should be noted that Chichikov's face always had that expression that served as a pass to any place: he knew how to charm, charm, arrange in a matter of minutes. Gogol called this feature “the great secret to please”.

Tailcoat is an obligatory companion of Chichikov, along with shirts made of the best fabric, expensive accessories, and good shoes. Tailcoat, a good carriage and a box are three things that always travel with the hero, they permeate the entire story. For the hero, appearance is as important as authority and reputation. He cares about the latter as zealously as about his beloved chin.

The material of the article about the appearance and inner world of the character will help prepare for the literature lesson, write test, creative work on the topic.

Product test

1 slide

The image of Chichikov in N. V. Gogol's poem "Dead Souls" Chichikov is the main character of N. V. Gogol's poem. Gogol

2 slide

Portrait of Chichikov Not handsome, but not bad-looking, neither too fat nor too thin; one cannot say that he is old, but not so that he is too young.

3 slide

4 slide

Chichikov's clothes The gentleman took off his cap and unwound from his neck a woolen, rainbow-colored kerchief, which the spouse prepares with his own hands, supplying decent instructions on how to wrap himself up, and to the single - probably I can't say who does, God knows, I never wore such kerchiefs ... Then he put on a shirt front in front of the mirror, plucked out two hairs that had come out of his nose and immediately after that he found himself in a lingonberry tailcoat with a spark.

5 slide

Manners and speech The newcomer somehow managed to find himself in everything and showed himself an experienced socialite. Whatever the conversation was, he always knew how to support it. He argued, but somehow extremely skillfully, so that everyone saw that he argued, and meanwhile he argued pleasantly. He never said: “you went,” but: “you deigned to go,” “I had the honor to cover your deuce,” and the like. He spoke neither loudly nor softly, but exactly as he should. In short, wherever you turn, he was a very decent person.

6 slide

Origin: The dark and humble origin of our hero. His parents were nobles, but pole or personal - God knows. Life at the beginning looked at him somehow sourly and unpleasantly ... not a friend, not a comrade in childhood!

7 slide

Father's instructions Father's instructions, in accordance with which the hero built his whole life: “Look, Pavlusha, study, do not be foolish and do not hang around, but most of all please the teachers and bosses ... Do not run around with your comrades, they will not teach you good; and if it comes to that, so hang out with those who are richer, so that on occasion they can be useful to you ... Most of all, take care of a penny, this thing is the most reliable in the world, a penny will not give out, no matter what kind of trouble you are. "

8 slide

Studying at the school: Already here Pavlusha showed talents "from the practical side": He suddenly realized and understood the matter and behaved in relation to his comrades in exactly the way that they treated him, and he not only never, but even sometimes, hiding received the treat, then sold it to them.

Article menu:

It often happens that it is not enough for us to know about the actions or opinions of another person, we want to have a complete picture of him, even when his external data do not in any way affect his type of activity or have nothing to do with the subject of discussion. This pattern has its own reasons. Often, peering into a person's face, we try to lament something intimate, something that he does not seek to talk about. Therefore, the appearance of any character has an important place for comparing his characteristics and actions.

Who is Chichikov

Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov is a former official of a “prudently chilled character”.
Until the last chapter of the work, many facts of the biography and origin of Pavel Ivanovich remain hidden for us, we can guess about some points based on their hints of the hero, and only after reading the last pages, we learn the true picture.

Chichikov of common origin. As he himself says "without clan and tribe." And this is not an exaggeration. His parents were really ordinary people, this fact confuses Pavel Ivanovich, but, nevertheless, in some moments he makes mention of this in society, referring to the fact that such a position in society will help to win over the landowners and they will become more accommodating. Despite his ignoble origin, Pavel Ivanovich managed to become a man of "brilliant education", but "Chichikov did not know French at all" (this is the privilege of aristocrats). Especially he was given the exact sciences, he quickly and easily make calculations in his mind - "he was strong in arithmetic."

Passion for hoarding money

The judgment that the events that occurred in childhood properly affect the character, the process of formation of the principles and moral foundations of a person, has long passed from the category of assumptions to the category of axioms. We find confirmation of this also in Chichikov.

After working as a collegiate official for a while, he resigned and began in earnest to look for a way to get rich. By the way, the idea of ​​the need to improve his financial situation never left Pavel Ivanovich, despite the fact that it originated in him from an early age.

The reason for this was the ignorant origin of the protagonist and the poverty experienced in childhood. This is confirmed in the last paragraphs of the work, where the reader can observe a picture of the departure of the young Chichikov to study. Parents warmly and anxiously say goodbye to him, give advice that would help their son take a more advantageous position in society:

“Look, Pavlusha, study, do not be foolish and do not hang around, but most of all please your teachers and bosses. Do not hang out with your comrades, they will not teach you good; hang out with those who are richer, so that on occasion they can be useful to you. Do not treat or treat anyone, take care and save a penny: this thing is the safest thing in the world. A comrade or friend will cheat you and in trouble will be the first to betray you, but a penny will not betray you, no matter what kind of trouble you are. You can do everything and destroy everything in the world with a penny. "

Gogol does not depict in detail the life of Pavel's parents - several facts snatched out do not give a complete picture, but Nikolai Vasilyevich manages to gain an understanding from his readers that his parents were honest and respectable people. They have felt the whole burden of earning a piece of bread and do not want their son to work hard as well, and therefore give him such unusual recommendations.

Chichikov tries to follow the advice of his parents with all his might. And therefore, he manages to achieve significant results, but not as high as he wanted.

He learned to make money and save it, denying himself everything he could. True, his earnings were based on an unfair and insidious way: in his behavior with classmates, he was able to arrange the situation in such a way that “they treated him, and he, hiding the received treats, then sold them to them”. “He did not have any special abilities for any science,” but he could skillfully craft, for example, he made a bullfinch out of wax and was able to sell it at a good price. He knew how to communicate with animals, he had a talent for animal training. Pavlusha - caught a mouse and taught her several tricks: she "stood on its hind legs, lay down and got up on orders." We also managed to sell such a curiosity for a decent amount.

Gogol does not speak about how the death of his father influenced Chichikov. The only thing he tells the reader is that after his father Pavel got "four irrevocably worn sweatshirts, two old frock coats padded with merlushka, and an insignificant amount of money." And he adds a sarcastic comment - his father happily gave advice on the subject of enrichment, but he himself could not save anything.

His further life proceeded according to the same principle - he stubbornly saved up money - "everything that did not respond to wealth and contentment made an impression on him that was incomprehensible to him." But an economical life does not allow him to accumulate a lot of capital, and this fact upsets him very much - he decides to enrich himself in any way. Over time, the loophole was found and Chichikov is in a hurry to take advantage of it, trying to enrich himself by fraudulent means. To do this, he travels to the villages and tries to buy up "dead souls" from local landowners, so that later, passing them off as real people, sell them at a better price.

Appearance and character traits

Pavel Ivanovich is a stately man of middle age and “pleasant appearance”: “neither too fat nor too thin; one cannot say that he is old, but not so that he is too young. "

Everything in it is in moderation - if it were a little fuller - it would be overkill and significantly spoil it. Chichikov himself also finds himself attractive. In his opinion, he has a beautiful face with an unusually beautiful chin.

He doesn't smoke, doesn't play cards, doesn't dance, and doesn't like driving fast. In fact, all these preferences are associated with avoiding financial costs: tobacco costs money, to this is added the fear that "the pipe is drying", you can lose a lot at cards, in order to dance, you first need to learn this, and this one is also a waste - and this does not impress the protagonist, he tries to save as much as possible, because "a penny opens any doors."

The fact that Chichikov has an ignoble origin allowed him to outline for himself the ideal of a person close to high society (he knows perfectly well what, in addition to financial and social status, distinguishes aristocrats, which primarily catches the eye and impresses people).

First of all, Chichikov is an indisputable pedant and sissy. He is very principled in terms of hygiene: when it was necessary to wash, he “rubbed both cheeks with soap for an extremely long time”, wiped the whole body with a damp sponge, “which was done only on Sundays,” zealously destroyed the hair that had come out of his nose. This makes an unusually positive impression on the county landowners - they are very surprised by such habits, I consider them a sign of high society.

The next qualities that distinguish him noticeably from the crowd are knowledge and understanding of the basics of psychology and the ability to flatter a person. His praises always know when to stop - there are not many and not a few - just enough so that a person does not suspect deception: "he very skillfully knew how to flatter everyone."

On duty and, considering the origin, Chichikov witnessed various scenes, he was able to study the types of behavior of different people and now in communication he easily found the key to the trust of any person. He perfectly understood what, to whom and in what form it was necessary to say in order for a person to stop treating him with distrust: he, "who knew in fact a great secret, will like him."

Chichikov is a man of exceptional upbringing and tact in communication. Many find him charming, he possesses "charming qualities and techniques", and his behavior in society admires: "he did not like to allow himself in any case familiar treatment."

His efforts in the field of flattery are not in vain. The landowners, and the governor of the city N himself, will soon speak of him as a man of the purest thoughts and aspirations. He is an ideal for them, an example to follow, everyone is ready to vouch for him.

But still, Chichikov does not always manage to find the key to the hearts of the bosses and the aristocracy. The stumbling block was the new chief, appointed "in the place of the former mattress, a military man, strict, an enemy of bribe-takers and everything that is called untruth." He immediately did not like Chichikov, and no matter how hard he tried, Pavel Ivanovich "could not get in the way, no matter how hard he tried."

He was careful with women, because he knew that they were too destructive for men: "their eyes are such an endless state, into which a man drove - and remember what they called." In general, it was not difficult for him to distance himself - romantic impulses were alien to him, he could find women beautiful, but things did not go beyond these comments.

Like any other native of ordinary people, he carefully treats all the attributes of secular life - he carefully folds letters and papers, monitors the condition of his clothes and stroller - everything in him must be impeccable. He must give the impression of a successful and promising person, so he always has a clean, rather expensive suit and a "beautiful spring small chaise."

He thinks that any flaws, even the smallest, can deal a significant blow to his reputation.

In the story, justice prevails - Chichikov's deception is revealed. He has no choice but to leave the city.

Thus, the Image of Chichikov is one of the examples when the fiction of a writer gives the reader a unique basis for analyzing various problems of society. This is an indisputable fact, the character of the story has taken root in society so much that all global deceivers have been called by his name. The image itself is not devoid of positive character traits, but their number and significance against the general background of the image do not give the right to speak of Pavel Ivanovich as a positive person.

You may also be interested in