Gogol N. V. - Romantic realism of the early works of N. V. Gogol

The idea for a series of stories about Ukraine arose from N.V. Gogol, apparently, in 1829. His letters to his relatives date back to this time with a request to inform them “about the customs of the Little Russians.” The information sent to him was recorded by Gogol in the notebook “The Book of All Things” and then used in his stories.
Work on "Evenings" continued for several years. First, the first book of stories “Evenings on a farm near Dikanka, published by the beekeeper Rudy Panko” appeared, and then the second part came out.
Gogol's book was highly appreciated by A. S. Pushkin, which influenced the first critical reviews of "Evenings". Pushkin wrote to the publisher of “Literary Supplements to the Russian Invalid”: “I just read Evenings near Dikanka.” They amazed me. This is real gaiety, sincere, relaxed, without affectation, without stiffness. And in places what poetry! What sensitivity! All this is so unusual in our current literature that I still haven’t come to my senses. I congratulate the public on a truly fun book, and I sincerely wish the author further success. For God's sake, take his side if journalists, as usual, attack the indecency of his expressions, bad taste, etc.
The humor and poetry of Gogol’s stories were also noted by Pushkin in his review in Sovremennik of the second edition of “Evenings”: “Everyone was delighted with this lively description of the singing and dancing tribe, these fresh pictures of Little Russian nature, this gaiety, simple-minded and at the same time crafty. How amazed we were.” Russian book that made us laugh, we, who had not laughed since the time of Fonvizin, We were so grateful to the young author that we willingly forgave him for the unevenness and irregularity of his style, the incoherence and implausibility of some of the stories..."
V. G. Belinsky in his reviews invariably noted the artistry, fun and folk character of “Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka.” In “Literary Dreams” he wrote: “Mr. Gogol, who so sweetly pretended to be a beekeeper, is one of the extraordinary talents. Who doesn’t know his “Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka”? How much wit, gaiety, poetry and nationality are in them!”
In the article “On the Russian Tale and the Stories of Mr. Gogol,” Belinsky again returned to his assessment of “Evenings”: “These were poetic essays of Little Russia, essays full of life and charm. Everything that the nature of beauty can have, the rural life of common people is seductive, everything, that the people can have the original, the typical, all this shines with rainbow colors in these first poetic dreams of Mr. Gogol. It was youthful, fresh, fragrant, luxurious, intoxicating poetry, like the kiss of love.”
After reading “Arabesques” and “Mirgorod”, Belinsky started talking about realism as the distinctive character of Gogol’s work. Belinsky pointed out that the book incorrectly drew the attention of readers only to Gogol’s humor, without affecting his realism. He wrote that in Gogol’s “Evenings on a Farm”, in the stories “Nevsky Prospekt”, “Portrait”, “Taras Bulba” the funny is mixed with the serious, sad, beautiful and lofty. Comicism is by no means the dominant and outweighing element of Gogol’s talent. His talent lies in the amazing fidelity of his depiction of life in its elusively diverse manifestations. You can’t see only the comic, the only funny in Gogol’s creations...
The realism of “Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka” was noted by Belinsky later: “The poet himself seems to be admiring the originals he created. However, these originals are not his invention, they are not funny at his whim; the poet is strictly faithful to reality in them. And therefore every face speaks and he acts in the sphere of his life, his character and the circumstances under the influence of which he is, and not one of them is condemned: the poet is mathematically faithful to reality and often draws comic features, without any pretense to make people laugh, but only obeying his instinct, to his own tact of reality."

The idea for a series of stories about Ukraine arose from N.V. Gogol, apparently, in 1829. His letters to his relatives date back to this time with a request to inform them “about the customs of the Little Russians.” The information sent to him was recorded by Gogol in the notebook “The Book of All Things” and then used in his stories.
Work on “Evenings” continued for several years. First, the first book of stories “Evenings on a farm near Dikanka, published by the beekeeper Rudy Panko” appeared, and then the second part came out.
Gogol's book was highly appreciated by A. S. Pushkin, which influenced the first critical reviews of “Evenings.” Pushkin wrote to the publisher of “Literary Supplements to the Russian Invalid”: “I just read Evenings near Dikanka.” They amazed me. This is real gaiety, sincere, relaxed, without affectation, without stiffness. And in places what poetry! What sensitivity! All this is so unusual in our current literature that I still haven’t come to my senses. I congratulate the public on a truly fun book, and I sincerely wish the author further success. For God's sake,

Take his side if journalists, as usual, attack the indecency of his expressions, bad taste, etc.”
The humor and poetry of Gogol’s stories were also noted by Pushkin in his review in Sovremennik of the second edition of Evenings: “Everyone was delighted with this lively description of the singing and dancing tribe, these fresh pictures of Little Russian nature, this gaiety, simple-minded and at the same time crafty. How amazed we were at the Russian book, which made us laugh, we who had not laughed since the time of Fonvizin! We were so grateful to the young author that we willingly forgave him for the unevenness and irregularity of his style, the incoherence and implausibility of some of the stories...”
V. G. Belinsky in his reviews invariably noted the artistry, fun and folk character of “Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka.” In “Literary Dreams” he wrote: “Mr. Gogol, who so sweetly pretended to be a beekeeper, is one of the extraordinary talents. Who doesn’t know his “Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka”? There is so much wit, gaiety, poetry and nationality in them!”
In the article “On the Russian story and the stories of Mr. Gogol,” Belinsky again returned to his assessment of “Evenings”: “These were poetic essays of Little Russia, essays full of life and charm. Everything that nature can have that is beautiful, the rural life of common people that can be seductive, everything that a people can have that is original, typical, all of this shines with rainbow colors in these first poetic dreams of Mr. Gogol. It was youthful, fresh, fragrant, luxurious, intoxicating poetry, like the kiss of love.”
After reading “Arabesques” and “Mirgorod”, Belinsky started talking about realism as the distinctive character of Gogol’s work. Belinsky pointed out that the book incorrectly drew the attention of readers only to Gogol’s humor, without affecting his realism. He wrote that in Gogol’s “Evenings on a Farm”, in the stories “Nevsky Prospekt”, “Portrait”, “Taras Bulba” the funny is mixed with the serious, sad, beautiful and lofty. Comicism is by no means the dominant and outweighing element of Gogol’s talent. His talent lies in the amazing fidelity of his depiction of life in its elusively diverse manifestations. You can’t see only the comic, the only funny in Gogol’s creations...
The realism of “Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka” was noted by Belinsky later: “The poet himself seems to be admiring the originals he created. However, these originals are not his invention, they are not funny at his whim; the poet is strictly faithful to reality in them. And therefore, every person speaks and acts in the sphere of his life, his character and the circumstances under the influence of which he is. And not a single one of them is condemned: the poet is mathematically faithful to reality and often draws comic features, without any pretense to make people laugh, but only submitting to his instinct, his tact to reality.”

1. CONTENTS INTRODUCTION CHAPTER 1 “PORTRAIT” CHAPTER 2 “DEAD SOULS” CHAPTER 3 “SELECTED PLACES FROM CORRESPONDENCE WITH FRIENDS” § 1 “Woman in the Light” § 2 “About...
2. Gogol began working on the superfiction of “Evenings on a Farm...” soon after arriving in St. Petersburg. After graduating from the Nizhyn Gymnasium of Higher Sciences, he came to the capital, dreaming of “making life...
3. The novel “Quiet Don” by Sholokhov is a monumental work of Russian literature of the twentieth century. The book depicts the life of the Don Cossacks during the First World War, the 1917 revolution...
4. (1809 - 1852) (1809-52), Russian writer. Gogol's literary fame was brought to him by the collection “Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka” (1831-32), rich in Ukrainian ethnographic and folklore material, marked by romantic...
5. GOGOL Nikolai Vasilievich, Russian writer. Gogol's literary fame was brought to him by the collection "Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka", rich in Ukrainian ethnographic and folklore material, marked by romantic moods,...
6. The story “The Night Before Christmas” also belongs to the cycle “Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka”. The events in the story are unusual, fantastic, like a fairy tale. The narrative is thoroughly imbued with the spirit...
7. Gogol’s literary fame was brought to him by the collection “Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka” (1831-1832), rich in Ukrainian ethnographic and folklore material, marked by romantic moods, lyricism and humor. Stories...
8. In every book, the preface is the first and at the same time the last thing; it either serves as an explanation of the purpose of the essay, or as a justification and response to critics. But...
9. In general, N.V. Gogol’s work developed in the direction from romanticism to realism, but this development was not schematic: romantic and realistic tendencies interacted closely...
10. We encounter elements of fantasy and grotesque in the works of Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol in one of his first works, “Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka.” The writer subordinated...
11. The image of a servant in Russian literature of the 19th century based on the works of A. S. Pushkin, N. V. Gogol, I. A. Goncharov. Contents Introduction Chapter I The Image of a Servant...
12. ...Will the time come (Come what you want!). When will the people not carry Blucher and my foolish lord, Belinsky and Gogol from the market? N. Nekrasov The works of Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol...
In “Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka” Gogol often resorts to fantasy, introducing devils and witches into his stories. But his fiction is of a special kind: it has more often...

Class: 10

Presentation for the lesson

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The purpose of the lesson:

• summarize and expand knowledge about several pages of the writer’s life and work;
• deepen knowledge about romanticism and romantic works of N.V. Gogol;
• to form a sustainable interest in Russian literature, the ability to draw independent conclusions.

Lesson type: combined.

Lesson structure:

1. Teacher's word.
2. Essay on the life and work of N.V. Gogol (student's message).
3. Repetition of knowledge about romanticism and its main features.
4. Conversation on works from the collection “Evenings on a farm near Dikanka”.
5. Conclusion from the conversation.
6. Computer testing.
7. Conclusion on the topic of the lesson.
8. Reflection.
9. Homework.
10. Grading for the lesson.

Methods and types of educational activities, techniques:

• creative reading method (techniques: conversation, expressive reading; activities: listening, looking at illustrations);
• heuristic method (techniques: constructing a system of questions for independent acquisition of knowledge, posing a problematic question; types of activities: selection of material from a work of art, retelling with elements of text analysis, analysis of an episode;
• reproductive method (activities: recording basic concepts, testing).

Forms of work: frontal, group, individual.

Equipment: presentation “N.V. Gogol. "Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka"; collection of N.V. Gogol “Evenings on a farm near Dikanka”; computer testing.

During the classes

1. Teacher's word (introduction to the topic of the lesson, setting goals).

– Today we are talking, perhaps, about one of the most famous and mysterious writers of Russia, whose 200th anniversary we celebrated in 2009 – Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol.

The purpose of the lesson:
– summarize and expand knowledge about several pages of the writer’s life and work;
– deepen knowledge about romanticism and romantic works of N.V. Gogol;
– to form a sustainable interest in Russian literature, the ability to draw independent conclusions. ( Slides 1, 2, 3. Students write down the topic of the lesson in their notebooks.)
– Each person has his own favorite books and writers. For me, one of these writers is Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol: perhaps the most unusual and mysterious writer, a man with a tragic fate, passionately in love with Russia until the end of his days, who believed in his great destiny, who dreamed of devoting all his work to serving the people and the fatherland. Gogol is one of the most controversial writers of Russian literature. Having once been cheerful and life-loving, by the age of forty he turned into a black melancholic, but A.S. Pushkin, having read his story from “Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka” in 1831, appreciated: writers with such a sense of humor are rarely born.
– What is unique and dramatic about N.V. Gogol? We will try to answer this question by turning to some pages of his life. By the end of the lesson, try to answer the question: why did a cheerful, life-loving writer turn into a gloomy, black melancholic?
– Let’s remember some pages of N.V.’s life. Gogol, reflecting the writer’s love of life and contradictions.

2. Implementation of individual homework: student’s message about the life and work of N.V. Gogol.(Slides 4–15).

Teacher: As we see, the life of N.V. Gogol's life since the late 30s has been tragic. But today we are talking about the writer’s earliest works, when Gogol was young, full of strength and creative ideas. These are funny and scary stories told by beekeeper Rudy Panko. The writer puts into his mouth the idea that true poetry is created by the people. In the world of “Evenings...” good triumphs over evil, love triumphs over hatred, beauty triumphs over the ugly.

3. Repetition of knowledge about romanticism and its main features.
– Early Gogol is a romantic. Let us remember what romanticism is, what are the main features of romanticism. (Definition given in presentation, Slide 19):

Teacher: What attracts romantics?

(Students’ answers.) (Slide 20).

Teacher: We have already encountered works of romanticism. Remember and name the works of romanticism.

Student answers: Early lyrics by M.Yu. Lermontov, his poems “Mtsyri”, “Demon”, ballads by V.A. Zhukovsky “Svetlana”, “Lyudmila”, etc.

4. Conversation on works from the collection “Evenings on a farm near Dikanka”.

Teacher: Gogol the romantic knows well that the bright world he painted is a fairy tale, a beautiful dream of the people, embodied far from being as beautiful as it is depicted in the book. In reality, talented people are oppressed and deprived of freedom. The writer sees his enemies disgraced only in a dream, but not in reality. That is why sad notes burst into the upbeat tone of “Evenings...”.

In each story, Gogol makes you feel that a dark and terrible power of power stands over the people. An example of this are the words:

“...an assessor with a devilishly woven whip, from whom not a single witch in the world can escape, he knows firsthand how many piglets each woman has and how much linen is lying..." (Slide 21).

“And in “May Night, or the Drowned Woman,” each of the officials can “shackle an ordinary person and punish him approximately.” Let them know what power means. From whom was the head raised, if not from the king?” (Slide 21).

– These are the real living conditions of the people. But in “Evenings...” Gogol speaks about this quietly, in hints. While he is creating a poetic fairy tale, taking readers into the world of a beautiful dream, showing that this is how human life should be. This reveals another feature of romanticism: two worlds (Slide 22):

Duality is a gap between worlds: one world, the best, unearthly, the true spiritual kingdom, is in the soul of the hero, the other, empirical reality, is around him (students write down the definition in their notebooks).

– The collection “Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka” includes several stories.

(Slides 23, 24). Students write down the titles of the stories.

Teacher: You became acquainted with the collection “Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka” in middle school. Look at the illustrations for the stories from the collection “Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka”, recognize the characters of N.V. Gogol. (Slides 16, 17, 25–28). (Students' answers.)

Our task is to recall the plots of the stories and the features of some of them and consider these stories as romantic works, using their example to consider Gogol’s romanticism.

– In groups, you were given the task of reading the stories and preparing answers to questions.

Group 1 questions:

– Tell us about the idea and history of the creation of “Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka.”
– On whose behalf the story is told in the stories included in the collection “Evenings...”. Why did N.V. use this technique? Gogol? (Describe Rudy Panka.)
– How is fantasy intertwined with reality in the story “Sorochinskaya Fair”?
– What folk legend is reflected in the story “The Evening on the Eve of Ivan Kupala”?

Questions of the 2nd group:

– How did the writer’s skill manifest itself when describing the Ukrainian night?
– With the help of what linguistic means did Gogol manage to poeticize the May night?
– The legend told by Levko to his beloved Hanna is miraculously intertwined with the real life of the heroes and has its continuation. How did Levko manage to get permission to marry Hanna?
(Demonstration of a fragment from the film “May Night, or the Drowned Woman.”)
– Which painting by a Russian artist echoes the episode you watched from the film “May Night, or the Drowned Woman”? Tell us about the history of the painting. (Painting by I.N. Kramskoy “Mermaids”. Slide 18, Appendix 2).

Questions of the 3rd group:

– One of the most remarkable works is the story “The Night Before Christmas”, which captures the amazing, special state of the human spirit during these holidays, conveying the national flavor.
How does the fantastic in the story intertwine with the real?
- The boys and girls caroled the night before Christmas. Do you know the origin of the words “kolyada”, “caroling”?
- Look how people celebrated Christmas in the old days, caroling.
(Demonstration of a fragment from the film “The Night Before Christmas.”)
– The collection “Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka” contains not only funny stories sprinkled with humor, but also works that are more serious in content, which touch on pressing social and political issues. One of these works is the story “Terrible Revenge.”
What real historical events are reflected in the story “Terrible Revenge”?
– In his story, Gogol gives beautiful pictures of the Dnieper. For what purpose did the writer include a description of the Dnieper in the story “Terrible Revenge”?

Questions of the 4th group:

– What is the ideological and thematic content of the story “Ivan Fedorovich Shponka and his Aunt”?
– What is the comedy of the story “The Enchanted Place”?
– We looked at the plots and some features of the stories from the collection “Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka.” What do you think Gogol's romanticism is based on?
– What explains Gogol’s interest in folk customs and legends?

5. Conclusion from the conversation.

– Let's go back to the beginning of our lesson and remember the main features of romanticism.
(Slide 29).
– Prove that the stories from “Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka” are romantic works.
– To consolidate and test your knowledge, you are offered computer testing.

6. Computer testing(8 minutes) (Annex 1).

(Testing is performed using 4 options.)

7. Conclusion on the topic of the lesson.

Teacher: Today we remembered several pages from the life of N.V. Gogol, they talked about the features of his romantic works. At the beginning of the lesson, I puzzled you with a question: why did a cheerful writer, who created beautiful pictures of Ukrainian life, depicting the brave, noble, beautiful inhabitants of Dikanka, turn into a gloomy, black melancholic?

Student answer: Gogol in “Evenings...” painted a beautiful fairy tale about what life should be and what people should be, he believed in his high destiny, in his great mission: with the help of his creativity to correct society, to make life better, but the reality is rough and ugly . Gogol realized that he would not be able to fix this world, he became withdrawn, tormented himself with religious fasts, fell into despondency and, indeed, turned into a black melancholic.

8. Reflection:

– What new did you learn today? (Slide 30).
– How do you see N.V. Gogol after our conversation today?

Teacher: No matter how controversial the work of N.V. Gogol, for us he will remain a great writer, who glorified Russia with his talent, with which he was passionately and ardently in love until the end of his days. For me, he is one of the most significant and favorite writers. I want you to love and understand his work just as much.

9. Homework. In the next lesson we will continue working on the works of N.V. Gogol. For the next lesson, you must read stories from the collection “Mirgorod”.

10. Grading for the lesson.

The idea for a series of stories about Ukraine arose from N.V. Gogol, apparently, in 1829. His letters to his relatives date back to this time with a request to inform them “about the customs of the Little Russians.” The information sent to him was recorded by Gogol in the notebook “The Book of All Things” and then used in his stories.
Work on "Evenings" continued for several years. First, the first book of stories “Evenings on a farm near Dikanka, published by the beekeeper Rudy Panko” appeared, and then the second part came out.
Gogol's book was highly appreciated by A. S. Pushkin, which influenced the first critical reviews of "Evenings". Pushkin wrote to the publisher of “Literary Supplements to the Russian Invalid”: “I just read Evenings near Dikanka.” They amazed me. This is real gaiety, sincere, relaxed, without affectation, without stiffness. And in places what poetry! What sensitivity! All this is so unusual in our current literature that I still haven’t come to my senses. I congratulate the public on a truly fun book, and I sincerely wish the author further success. For God's sake, take his side if journalists, as usual, attack the indecency of his expressions, bad taste, etc.
The humor and poetry of Gogol’s stories were also noted by Pushkin in his review in Sovremennik of the second edition of “Evenings”: “Everyone was delighted with this lively description of the singing and dancing tribe, these fresh pictures of Little Russian nature, this gaiety, simple-minded and at the same time crafty. How amazed we were.” Russian book that made us laugh, we, who had not laughed since the time of Fonvizin, We were so grateful to the young author that we willingly forgave him for the unevenness and irregularity of his style, the incoherence and implausibility of some of the stories..."
V. G. Belinsky in his reviews invariably noted the artistry, fun and folk character of “Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka.” In “Literary Dreams” he wrote: “Mr. Gogol, who so sweetly pretended to be a beekeeper, is one of the extraordinary talents. Who doesn’t know his “Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka”? How much wit, gaiety, poetry and nationality are in them!”
In the article “On the Russian Tale and the Stories of Mr. Gogol,” Belinsky again returned to his assessment of “Evenings”: “These were poetic essays of Little Russia, essays full of life and charm. Everything that the nature of beauty can have, the rural life of common people is seductive, everything, that the people can have the original, the typical, all this shines with rainbow colors in these first poetic dreams of Mr. Gogol. It was youthful, fresh, fragrant, luxurious, intoxicating poetry, like the kiss of love.”
After reading “Arabesques” and “Mirgorod”, Belinsky started talking about realism as the distinctive character of Gogol’s work. Belinsky pointed out that the book incorrectly drew the attention of readers only to Gogol’s humor, without affecting his realism. He wrote that in Gogol’s “Evenings on a Farm”, in the stories “Nevsky Prospekt”, “Portrait”, “Taras Bulba” the funny is mixed with the serious, sad, beautiful and lofty. Comicism is by no means the dominant and outweighing element of Gogol’s talent. His talent lies in the amazing fidelity of his depiction of life in its elusively diverse manifestations. You can’t see only the comic, the only funny in Gogol’s creations...
The realism of “Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka” was noted by Belinsky later: “The poet himself seems to be admiring the originals he created. However, these originals are not his invention, they are not funny at his whim; the poet is strictly faithful to reality in them. And therefore every face speaks and he acts in the sphere of his life, his character and the circumstances under the influence of which he is, and not one of them is condemned: the poet is mathematically faithful to reality and often draws comic features, without any pretense to make people laugh, but only obeying his instinct, to his own tact of reality."

Composition

The romanticism of “Evenings...” is, first of all, a manifestation of deep interest in the peculiarities of the national mentality, spirituality and identity of Ukrainian history, national artistic thinking, drawing the original characters of individuals, which determined the Christian-philosophical concept of human existence. Gogol’s mystical romanticism, from the origins of which the fantastic realism of many writers of the 20th age (O. Dovzhenko, G. Bulgakov, Ch. Aitmatov, Garciamarques) would later be determined, crossed out the idyllic ideas about Ukraine that had developed in literature by that time.

Gogol's attention will focus on social, ethical, spiritual, historical problems that will not leave the writer until the end of his life: this is the intervention of evil spirits in the fate of a person, who often makes it helplessly tragic, brings cruel retribution to the seduced sinner for committing a step, for excessive gullibility and temptation by curiosity, the desire to equip earthly life with illusory luxuries, often obtained through the blood and grief of others.

The story of Basavryuk, associated with evil spirits (it is the “evil spirits” that insidiously harm a person, leading to the death of the soul, that the author shows excessive attention to), known in “Evenings...” under the title “The Evening on the Eve of St. John the Kupala”. The work, built on a mythological plot, conveys the romantically tragic story of farm laborer Peter Bezrodny, handsome and helpless, seemingly hopelessly in love with the daughter of a rich Cossack Korzh Sidorka. The girl reciprocates the boy’s feelings (the love of a poor farm laborer for daughters from wealthy families has often been a leading theme in folklore; over time, T. Shevchenko will turn to it in his poems, Marko Vovchok in “Folk Stories”, etc.), but they cannot to unite destinies, and Sidorka’s father drives Peter away.

A soul catcher quickly appears - Basavryuk, associated with the devilish evil spirits, invites the young man to find the treasure on the night of Ivan Kupala, when the fern blooms. Then a mystically terrible scene follows on the blood: in order to get the dream-covered treasure with golden ducats, Petro, at the behest of the old witch, is forced to take over the head of an innocent child, who turned out to be Sidorka’s six-year-old brother Ivan, stolen by the gypsies. It was this boy who relayed the tearful, frank stories of Peter’s older sister.

Yesterday's farmhand becomes rich, acquiring a treasure with blood, but loses the memory of that ominous night. Life with Sidorka and wealth do not bring happiness. Petro suffers from forgotten and unsolved mysteries - secrets of torment and confusion. The sinner, lost in search of happiness, recognizes the cause of his mental illness in the old healer, who turned out to be the ill-fated witch who once twisted the boy onto the step.

The denouement is tragic and philosophically metaphorical: the house, and all the property, and the treasure ooze blood, going to dust, since a person cannot create well-being in a compromise with the devil, nevertheless, on the suffering and grief of his neighbors (the idea of ​​rational evil, so inspired in Goethe’s “Faust” and interpreted by the brilliant German poet as an excuse, never brought any good in life: by the way, the real Doctor Faustus, an alchemist and occultist-warlock, was found lying prostrate in a ditch, with a knife in his back).

Gifted with the talent of a great satirist in drawing contemporaries disfigured by demonism, a society itself deformed by sin, in individual stories from “Evening...” (“The Evening on the Eve of Ivan Kupala”, “Terrible Vengeance”), Gogol is deeply tragic in reproducing the struggle between good and evil, attempts to captivate the devil human soul.

Unlike Goethe, who in “Faust” to some extent embodied the idea of ​​fear of the power of an invisible enemy and therefore reworked the tragic ending of the story about the alchemist and the warlock from folk legends, obviously reassuring not so much the reader as himself, young Gogol his the fantasies of romance and mysticism focus on the terrible danger of demonism, which harms openly, aggressively, covertly insidiously at all stages of human history, embodying, as a rule, the anti-national, aggressive aspirations of foreign, anti-Orthodox worlds (in the writer’s works, evil spirits are associated with infidels, Catholics, Jews, etc.).

It is characteristic that in “Terrible Revenge” (almost the strongest story of the cycle, which outlines the author’s mystical fantasy in the comprehension of good and evil on the tablets of the Cossack history of the struggle for faith, family, national Christian values), the author may not yet achieve the Orthodox understanding of the Supreme - God's Judgment, since God appears in him as the executor of the desire, vengeful and sadistic, of the Cossack Ivan, who became a victim of his own brother Peter, seduced by wealth and envy. And the Supreme Judge, who embodies love and mercy, is able to forgive even the greatest sinners, however... if they are at rest, they are aware of their temptation to break in: so was the thief forgiven by Christ, crucified on the right side, the thief who recognized God's truth.

In “Terrible Vengeance,” there is no repentance of sinners (they are part of the damned generation of the tenth generation and seem to be programmed for sin: often playing out imaginary repentance with an insidious purpose, these messengers of hell deceive the gullible and bring another, even greater disaster), therefore the representative of the last damned generation is the father Catherine (she appears in the work as a zealous Christian, a faithful wife and mother) in essence, and deprived of the right to choose between good and evil: even the schema-monk is forbidden to pray for him...

A sorcerer from a cursed family disappeared for a long time in foreign Busurman lands and turns to his once abandoned daughter (he once treacherously killed her mother) in Ukraine in order to bring misfortune to the family, the people, and the Cossacks, the defender of the faith and the Fatherland. He hates and seeks to get rid of his son-in-law Danil, a true defender of faith and honor, and inclines his daughter Catherine, through a soul summoned in a dream by witchcraft, to the unloved, and this is precisely one of the biggest crimes. The sorcerer, by insidious deception, wins the mercy of his own daughter (she releases the criminal from prison) and brings enemies to Ukraine.

The Cossacks, led by Danil Burulbash, bravely defend themselves, but they meanly and dishonestly kill the sorcerer’s father-in-law with a shot. Over time, the unrepentant sinner, having failed to win the love of his own daughter by deception, kills both her little child and herself. And then he will be thrown into the abyss by a powerful horseman, as a performer of the Supreme Providence...

Actually, the insidious sorcerer in “Terrible Vengeance” is a certain measure of the personifications of the enemy forces of the native Christian land, clan and people, the embodiment of the devilish ideas of betrayal, the origins of which are directly in the clearly hidden mercantilism and envy. Gogol rejects Goethe's optimism in the interpretation of evil, which can be used, behind the statements of the German classic, for good. Basavryuk from “The Evening on the Eve of Ivan Kupala”, the sorcerer father from “Terrible Vengeance”, various evil spirits in insulting witches, characterists from other stories bring troubles under the guise of good intentions. Even the devil, saddled by Vukol, fulfills the will of the blacksmith only out of compulsion (in hagiographical retellings there are tales about how holidays could force the evil spirit to transfer them to other places; by the way, the student Thomas Brutus proves the witch to death, although later, seduced by curiosity, he dies himself).

The sorcerer God wants to force the holy elder to evoke mercy for himself in “Terrible Vengeance,” but, committing another blood feud, he himself fails, since he is not capable of saving the soul through his own repentance. And it is characteristic that much later, not without the influence of Gogol, combining mythological and legendary motifs with specifically historical collisions, the Ukrainian writer Aleksey Storozhenko will create the story (unfinished) “Mark is Cursed” - actually an adventurous tale about the great sinner Mark, who committed a terrible crime: he lived with his own sister, who gave birth to a child from him, then killed his own mother, sister and child, for which he was forced to carry the heads of close people over his shoulder as a difficult burden - the burden was eased when the sinner did good deeds, first of all defending his native land from the Polish gentry enslavers. Thus, the hero of Storozhenko’s adventurous story mitigates his past sins with valor in honor of his homeland, bearing the burden of a kind of Ukrainian “Eternal Jew.” Gogol’s sorcerer with “Terrible Vengeance” is always in solidarity in his actions and deeds with the enslavers, whom he brings to his native land, being associated with anti-national, anti-Christian forces.

It is characteristic that in “Terrible Vengeance,” covered in a romantic aura of holiness, real uncompromising patriots of Ukraine emerge. This is the victorious Cossack leader Danil Burulbash, his faithful djura Stetsko, brother-in-arms Esaul Vorobey. They resist the satanic destructive force of evil that shrouded their native land: Gogol’s patriotism is always associated with the defense of the Orthodox faith from foreign expansion.

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