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. Gogol emphasizes …show more content…
Because the men were so dutiful to their jobs, they would take whatever job was given to them without true consideration of what that job was. This being the case, men were reduced to lowly jobs such as sharpening pencils. They put so much emphasis on their jobs and position in society and being the ideal man that they attempt to rationalize their jobs and become mere vessels for them. They think they are important and create alternate realities in order to cope with the reality they are living in. In “The Diary of a Madman” we see the protagonist already on his downward spiral to his alternate reality. Poprischin is a titular councilllor who is reduced to sharpening pencils. Gogol writes him, as the title suggests, a madman. It is because Poprischin knows he will never be anyone of importance that he loses his sense of reality and creates his own. It is only in his madness that he gains the greatness he could never achieve otherwise. “This day-is a day of the greatest solemnity! Spain has a king. He has been found. I am that king” (Gogol 294). Poprischin creates himself to be what he isn’t and goes mad because of it. In “The Nose” the collegiate assessor Kovalev, loses his nose. It is seemingly not cut off or removed in any forceful way; one day it just disappears. Kovalev’s loss of his nose is another representation of his insecurity
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.
The short story, “Ivan Fyodorovich Shponka and His Aunt”, explicates the life of a man named Ivan Fyodorovich Shponka. We see him briefly in his young years, followed by his life in the army, and his return to the farm where his strong characterized aunt resides. We can see immediately that this man lives in constant cleanliness and dutiful paranoia; these are some of his desires that he wishes to exhibit to others. We can also see his fears, which reside in the confiscation of his masculinity and independence. This short story has many elements that resemble others in the Nikolai Gogol collection.
The following paper will focus on one of the most characteristically types of work for Chekhov: “The Lady and the Pet Dog”. Our aim is to portrait the character of Dmitry Dmitrich Gurov, in the context of the story, extracting those elements that are characteristic for the period in which Chekhov wrote the story.
Dostoyevsky's writing in this book is such that the characters and setting around the main subject, Raskolnikov, are used with powerful consequences. The setting is both symbolic and has a power that affects all whom reside there, most notably Raskolnikov. An effective Structure is also used to show changes to the plot's direction and Raskolnikov's character. To add to this, the author's word choice and imagery are often extremely descriptive, and enhance the impact at every stage of Raskolnikov's changing fortunes and character. All of these features aid in the portrayal of Raskolnikov's downfall and subsequent rise.
...ry Russian Literature. Having such signature literary techniques also makes him either easily loved or hated by audiences. Regardless of whether the reader enjoys Dead Souls, Gogol's digressions create an intended tone, aestheticism, humor, intimate narration, social criticism, and entertainment.
Gogol is not completely cut off from his roots and identity. He tries to reject his past, but it makes him stranger to himself. He fears to be discovered. With the rejection of Gogol’s name, Lahiri rejects the immigrant identity maintained by his parents. But this outward change fails to give him inner satisfaction.
Without people in the world to call him Gogol, no matter how long he himself lives, Gogol Ganguli will, once and for all, vanish from the lips of loved ones, and so, cease to exist. Yet the thought of this eventual demise provides him no sense of victory, no solace. It provides no solace at all…
Dostoevsky’s St. Petersburg is a large, uncaring city which fosters a western style of individualism. As Peter Lowe notes, “The city is crowded, but there is no communality in its crowds, no sense of being part of some greater ‘whole.’” Mrs. Raskolnikov initially notices a change in her son marked by his current state of desperate depression, but she fails to realize the full extent of these changes, even after he is convicted for the murder. The conditions and influences are also noticed by Raskolnikov’s mother who comments on the heat and the enclosed environment which is present throughout the city. When visiting Raskolnikov, she exclaims "I'm sure...
“Sanity is a madness put to good uses,” George Santayana stated in his The Essential Santayana: Selected Writings. Sometimes one must go mad in order to be sane, or the sane world they live in is surrounded by madness. Once one reaches rock bottom, reality becomes so much clearer. For example, in Shakespeare’s Hamlet, one of the main characters, Ophelia, is under the influence of many powerful men in the Danish Court. She has loved, obeyed and trusted these men who have always influenced her life. Unfortunately, for Ophelia, once she realizes the sincerity about these men, it leads to madness and ultimately destroys her. Yet, it finally opens up her eyes to see the ugly truth and her madness to make her actually very sane.
“Notes from Underground” was published in 1864 as a feature presentation of his first 1860 issue “The Epoch”. “Notes from Underground” was written by the author during a time when he faced many challenges in his life. Dostoyevsky faced failure in the publishing of his first journal “Time”, his financial position was becoming weaker and embarrassing. Moreover, his wife was dying and his conservatism was eroded leading to a decline in his popularity with the liberal reading Russians and consequently, he became the focus of attack by the radical and liberal press (Fanger 3). Therefore, this research seeks to find how the author presents the aspect of “underground man” and how he approached Charles Darwin’s thoughts of man in “Origin of the Species”.
The arena for this ideological contest is Petersburg, full of slums, revolutionary students and petty titular councilors. Scientifically and artificially constructed in the midst of marshland, the city itself is a symbol of the incompatibility of logical planning with humankind's natural sensibilities. The city did not grow randomly or organically, but entirely by czarist decree. Nonetheless, it is a dank and depressing place to live, at least for those in the vicinity of Haymarket Square, where the story takes place. Joseph Frank, Dostoevsky's biographer, says of ...
Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoyevsky is considered by many to be the pinnacle in a great line of Russian authors who wrote in the 19th century. Gogol, Tolstoy, Lermontov, Pushkin, Chekhov: these writers, like many greats the world round, concerned themselves not only with their art, but with its affect on their society; Gogol, for example, is said to have gone insane while working on his masterpiece, Dead Souls, obsessing himself with the idea that he could bring about the resurrection of his country through his tale. Eventually becoming disillusioned with the task he had set himself, Gogol burnt much of the manuscript and renounced all his worldly possessions, going on to lead an ascetic life until his death from starvation. While Dostoyevsky did not go to such extremes, he also intended to provide a salvation for his country, which he saw was headed down a dangerous path. This salvation was to take the form of The Brothers Karamazov and 'the Church as a positive social ideal was to constitute the central idea of the new novel...'
Gogol’s dual identity makes it hard to find his calling since he becomes surrounded by fake versions of himself. He feels as if “he’s cast himself in a play, acting the part of twins, indistinguishable to the naked eye yet fundamentally different”(?). This analogy Gogol experiences highlights the different identities inside of Gogol which allows him to be someone different. However, he never finds the right contrast and
The man is peculiar because of his lack of self-respect, his sadistic and masochistic tendencies, and his horrible delight in inflicting emotional pain on himself and others. Almost instantly, the reader is forced to hate this man. He has no redeeming values, all of his insights into human nature are ghastly, and once he begins the narrative of his life, the reader begins to actively hate and pity him. The reader is forced to ask why Dostoyevsky would bother writing about this troubling man and his problems. The answer is that Dostoyevsky does not believe in the norms society sets for people.
In both Anton Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard and Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House the subversion of perception and the insubordination of supposedly inferior characters has massive implications on the overall message of the play. These mechanisms bring to light a multitude of questions about the correctness of social norms and the future of both Russian and Norwegian society. They are powerful reminders of ever-changing society and the nature of human relationships, and they leave the reader at once confused and motivated for change.