St. Petersburg: The Myth and the City Explained in Pushkin’s “The Bronze Horseman” and Gogol’s “Nevsky Prospect”

690 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Essay on russian culture

St. Petersburg: The Myth and the City Pushkin’s “The Bronze Horseman” and Gogol’s “Nevsky Prospect” allow a deeper view into the history and lifestyle of St. Petersburg. Both stories exhibit the ambivalence that exists in many aspects of St. Petersburg. “Nevsky Prospect” gives us a view of the city of St. Petersburg. The majority of the story takes place on Nevsky Prospect, which appears to be a central place in St. Petersburg. This location gives readers insight into the daily lives and different types of people of the city. Being the center of the commercial and cultural life of the city, it attracts people from different classes and countries. People from all walks of life convene there to go about their daily activities, and immigrants find themselves there for like reasons. A view of Nevsky Prospect becomes provides a window into a miniature version of St. Petersburg. The story opens with a larger picture of the life on Nevsky Prospect with all its richness and complexity. Then, in the second part, Gogol follows two characters who give readers insight into the detailed lives of the people who roam the city, enabling us to see the darkness behind the colorful picture painted in the first part. We experience the city in two ways: First as an onlooker, walking the streets and becoming familiar with the general city; then the view is shifted, and readers venture into its depths and watch how individuals lead their lives. In the opening the narrator gives a short summary of life on Nevsky Prospect, examining how life flows on Nevsky Prospect at different times of the day, the kinds of people who pass through at what time, how they dress depending on their professions and socio-economic statuses. This is the first way S... ... middle of paper ... ...s a gloomy place harboring mystery and misery. The main character, Evgeny, finds himself in the midst of a great flood. He was contemplating his future, his life with a woman named Parasha, when this flood interrupts his life. When it ceases, Evgeny makes his way through St. Petersburg finding vast amounts of destruction. Parasha’s home nowhere to be found, and people beginning to try and put the pieces back together. There is a great contrast between the grand city discussed in the introduction of the poem, and the ruin the strikes after the flood. As Evgeny begins to go mad, it raises questions of the meaning the poet is attempting to convey. Was he angered by the destruction of Russian traditions in the founding of the city of St. Petersburg, or was he in alignment with Peter the Great’s vision, seeing it as a necessary evil to advance Russia as a world power.

Show More
Related

  • Summary Of Pulse By Josephine Birdsell

    940 Words  | 2 Pages

    The author illustrates the “dim, rundown apartment complex,” she walks in, hand and hand with her girlfriend. Using the terms “dim,” and “rundown” portrays the apartment complex as an unsafe, unclean environment; such an environment augments the violence the author anticipates. Continuing to develop a perilous backdrop for the narrative, the author describes the night sky “as the perfect glow that surrounded [them] moments before faded into dark blues and blacks, silently watching.” Descriptions of the dark, watching sky expand upon the eerie setting of the apartment complex by using personification to give the sky a looming, ominous quality. Such a foreboding sky, as well as the dingy apartment complex portrayed by the author, amplify the narrator’s fear of violence due to her sexuality and drive her terror throughout the climax of the

    Read More

  • The Role Of The Gogolian Narrator

    526 Words  | 2 Pages

    The role of the Gogolian narrator is an unassuming revealer of what is hidden in the world. Revelations can be the world’s evils, morality, or a nation’s ultimate purpose. Gogol’s narrator is merely a puppet of his imagination and is kept within certain boundaries. Sometimes the narrator’s lack of transparency can make a story seem like a parable or folk tale like in “The Nose” and “Nevsky Prospect.” We can see this in what limited information the narrator is allowed to reveal to the reader and I will examine this theme in Gogol’s “Nevsky Prospect,” “The Nose,” and Dead Souls.

    Read More

  • Commentary on David Brandenberger´s National Bolshevism Stalinist Mass Culture and the Formation of Modern Russian National Identity

    1339 Words  | 3 Pages

    Sarah Davies*2(P11) observes that “there was little notion of what Russianness meant for ordinary workers and peasants.”(P23) What was missing from most Russian people was their sense of heritage, the pride in knowing where they came from and where they were going. They needed history a...

    Read More

  • One Day In the Life of Ivan Denisovich: A Comparison of the Film and Novel

    2237 Words  | 5 Pages

    In describing the setting, the general locale is the prison in the coldest part of Russia- Siberia, geographically but socially depicting the social circumstances in the prison, but draws analogies to the general social, political and economic circumstances of Russia during the Stalinist era (form 1917 revolution up to 1955). The symbolic significance of the novel and the film (genres) reflects experiences, values and attitudes of the Russian society. The genres reflect the origins of the Russian social disorders and massive counts of political misgivings which watered down real communism in Russia. We are constantly reminded of the social and cultural heritage and originality of Russian ethnic groups through those different levels of meanings

    Read More

  • Immunity to Nihilism in Turgenev's "fathers and Sons"

    653 Words  | 2 Pages

    Though throughout the novel, the only consistent nihilist is Bazarov, a reader notes how both the generation of the fathers and the generation of the sons are affected by his influence and by nihilistic views. With examination, one can attribute the profundity of

    Read More

  • The Creation of a Revolutionary in Russia

    787 Words  | 2 Pages

    Edward Dunes’ life as a revolutionary during Russia’s transition from a Tsarist state to that of a Marxist-Socialist regime, was propagated by many situational influences/factors stemming from his families relocation from Riga to Moscow. As a young boy in Riga, Dunes’ thirst for books along with a good educational elevated his potential to be a highly skilled worker. Dune’s childhood education coupled with factory life in Moscow along with a subsequent influential individual in his life with his father’s heavy labor socialist views, molded Dune into the Bolshevik revolutionary he became.

    Read More

  • Vadim Aleksandrovich Glebov's The House On The Embankment

    1900 Words  | 4 Pages

    Glebov was raised near the House on the Embankment, a large and elegant government building where many honorable Soviet citizens lived. Although he was always near the admirable building, he was raised in the shade of the building with his family in a small apartment “in which had been born” (200). Young Glebov knew several classmates who had lived at this house, and he envied their lifestyle. The envy that he experienced as a child continued to be a driving force throughout his

    Read More

  • Day In The Life Of Ivan Denisovich

    920 Words  | 2 Pages

    The novel: A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich (written by Alexander Solzhenitzyn), tells the story of a Russian soldier’s life in a Siberian labor camp around the time of World War II. The protagonist in the story, Ivan, better known as “Shukhov”, is wrongly accused of committing treason and is sentenced to full 10 years of imprisonment in the camp. Throughout the story, the author makes vivid references to help the reader identify with the setting, climate, and overall feeling of what Ivan must deal with on a day-to-day basis. This helps the reader to better understand the points and the reality of what it was like living in one of these camps.

    Read More

  • Imagery In Lady With Lapdog, By Anton Chekhov

    1314 Words  | 3 Pages

    It captures the emotions left in the hearts of these characters. In the novel, Gurov’s imagery differentiates between young romance and the connections of lasting love. One of the main sceneries of the story takes place in the beautiful resort town of Yalta. According to Chekhov’s novel, Yalta is described as “The water was a warm, tender purple, the moonlight lay on its surface in a golden strip” (2). Yalta is an exciting place for new, colorful, and youth romance to begin. Another part of the novel’s setting are the confined homes of both Anna and Gurov. Where gray haunts their homes in their monotonous days away from each other. Chekhov mentions, “He sat up in bed, covered by the cheap gray quilt, which reminded him of a hospital blanket, and in his vexation he fell to taunting himself” (10). The reoccurrence of the gray description of the homes of Gurov and Anna while they are in despair when away from each other, with the colorful images of Yalta and the emotions of happiness when they are together, show how the separation in setting is important to the emotions of the characters. At the resort with Anna, Gurov’s day are full of passion, excitement and a carefree lifestyle similar to the youth of society. While away from her, Gurov savors the precious instants of her company. “Anna Sergeyevna did not come to him in his dreams, she accompanied him everywhere, like his shadow, following him

    Read More

  • Masculinity In Nikolai Gogol's Petersburg Tales

    919 Words  | 2 Pages

    Nikolai Gogol was a prominent dramatist, novelist, and short story writer in 19th century Russia. Born in Ukraine, much of Gogol’s writing was satirical of the Russian government during his time. Gogol wrote short stories, plays, poems, novels and more. Through Gogol’s writing prominent themes arise. These themes are relevant to and occur throughout Gogol’s short stories in his Petersburg Tales. Masculinity is shown through the character’s constant need to increase their social standing and their inability to cope with the reality of their positions and how they internalize this. Gogol’s short stories acknowledge the protagonist's dilemmas with their masculinity that emerge from the societal and continue to the individual level.

    Read More

  • Nihilism in Turgenov's Fathers and Sons

    1686 Words  | 4 Pages

    Turgenov’s Fathers and Sons has several characters who hold strong views of the world. Pavel believes that Russia needs structure from such things as institution, religion, and class hierarchy. Madame Odintsov views the world as simple so long as she keeps it systematic and free from interference. This essay will focus on perhaps the most interesting and complex character in Fathers and Sons: Bazarov. Vladimir Nabakov writes that "Turgenov takes his creature [B] out of a self-imposed pattern and places him in the the normal world of chance." By examining Bazarov this essay will make this statement more clear to the reader. Using nihilism as a starting point we shall look at Bazarov’s views and interpretations of science, government and institution. Next we will turn to the issue relationships. Finally we examine Bazarov’s death and the stunning truths it reveals. These issues combined with the theme of nihilism will prove that chance, or fate is a strong force which cannot easily be negated. Nihilism as a concept is used throughout Fathers and Sons. To gain a better understanding of the ideas behind this term let’s look at what Bazarov says on the subject. "We base our conduct on what we recognize as useful... the most useful thing we can do is to repudiate – and so we repudiate" (123). The base concept of nihilism is to deny or negate, and as we learn later in the same paragraph, to negate everything. With this ‘destruction’ of everything from science to art there is no building for nihilists, as Bazarov says "That is not our affair" (126). Nihilists view the current structure of society as concerned with such trivialties as ‘art’ and ‘parliamentism’ while ignoring real life issues such as food, freedom, and equally. Nihilists are aware of these social woes and hence mentally deny to recognize any of the present authority or institutions which only serve to perpetuate a myth. Bazarov agrees with the statement that nihilism "confine[s] [oneself] to abuse" (126). "... I don’t believe in anything: and what is science—science in the abstract? There are sciences as there are trades and professions, but abstract science just doesn’t exist" (98). For Bazarov anything that is not tangible and concrete doesn’t exist. Psychology, quantum mechanics, neurochemistry would be scoffed at by Bazarov. It seems peculiar that Bazarov would say, "... nowadays we laugh at medicine in general, and worship no one," (197) while at the same time he pursues a career as a doctor.

    Read More

  • How does Anton Chekov use symbolism to comment on political and social changes in feudal Russia in “The Cherry Orchard”?

    1044 Words  | 3 Pages

    In Anton Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard, a unconventional but beautiful family heirloom is used as the focal point of the Ranevsky family crisis, bringing into focus everything from the changing political systems in late-19th-century Russia to the fall of the serf-feudal social structure to the family’s own emotional turmoil. The sale of the Ranevsky’s cherry orchard seems at first a very personal tragedy for the family and represents the loss of their memories and proud past, yet Chekhov is able to magnify this calamity and make it applicable to all of Russia; it is his method of foreshadowing. The loss of this prized symbol of the Ranevsky’s represents the loss of Russia imperial age as whole and its progression into the Bolshevik era, despite Chekhov never being alive to witness it. Ultimately however, Chekhov remains ambivalent about this change, and not only utilises the cherry orchard to illustrate this but a variety of contrasting characters that symbolise the old and new Russia.

    Read More

  • What Is The Use Of Satire In Nikolai Gogol's The Overcoat

    1680 Words  | 4 Pages

    Nikolai Gogol has been widely recognized as one of the most inspiring and remarkable authors of the Russian Empire and the one who produced an enormous impact on literary work of countless contemporaries and successors, both in the Tsarist Russia and abroad. Particularly, Gogol’s literary legacy is praised for his exceptional ability to deploy humor as a means of expression and the way to convey the message. In this respect, the short story The Overcoat written during the St. Petersburg period of Gogol’s activity is a very important work which balances between tragic and humorous elements and presents a brilliant specimen of satire. In this work, Gogol builds up the powerful criticism of the contemporary Russian society with its social hierarchy,

    Read More

  • Russian Culture: A look at its Religion and Art

    1222 Words  | 3 Pages

    ... story but it also reflects Russian society. This, however, isn’t why many Russians still continue to hold this piece of literature as central to their culture. Although, it tells of their heritage and society, it is the simple genius of the structure of the novel of –14-line stanza form-and his lyrics, which are complex and meticulous but are written with such ease that they appear effortless, simple, and natural.

    Read More

  • The American Life in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain

    555 Words  | 2 Pages

    The overall simplicity of life in St. Petersburg is present throughout the novel and elaborated quite a lot. Life was innocent and simple in the time and very diverse due to it being the south for example, “White, mul...

    Read More

More about St. Petersburg: The Myth and the City Explained in Pushkin’s “The Bronze Horseman” and Gogol’s “Nevsky Prospect”

Open Document