Good and Evil in N. Gogol's story "Portrait" Gogol called his story "Portrait"

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Good and evil in the story of N.V. Gogol "Portrait"

Gogol called his story "Portrait". Is it because the portrait of the usurer played a fatal role in the fate of his heroes, artists, whose fates are juxtaposed in two parts of the story? Or because the author wanted to give a portrait of modern society and a talented person who dies or is saved despite hostile circumstances and humiliating properties of nature? Or is it a portrait of art and the soul of the writer himself, trying to escape the temptation of success and prosperity and purify his soul by high service to art?
Probably, this strange story of Gogol has a social, moral and aesthetic meaning, there is a reflection on what a person, society, art is. Modernity and eternity are so inextricably intertwined here that the life of the Russian capital of the 30s of the 19th century goes back to biblical reflections on good and evil, on their endless struggle in the human soul.

Nikolai Gogol's story "Portrait" consists of two interrelated parts.
The first part of the story tells about a young artist named Chartkov. Seeing in the shop a strange portrait of an old man with piercing eyes, Chartkov is ready to give up the last two-kopeck piece for him. Poverty does not take away from him the ability to see the beauty of life and enthusiastically work on his sketches. He reaches for the light and does not want to turn art into anatomical theater and expose the "disgusting person" with a knife-brush. He rejects artists whose "nature itself ... seems low and dirty", so that "there is nothing illuminating in it." Chartkov buys a portrait and takes it to his poor house. At home, he examines the portrait better, and sees that now not only the eyes, but also the whole face are alive, it seems as if the old man is about to come to life. The young artist goes to bed, and he dreams that the old man has crawled out of his portrait, and shows a bag in which there are many parcels of money. The artist discreetly hides one of them. In the morning, he actually discovers money. What happens to the main character next? As soon as the money, miraculously dropped out of the portrait frame, gives Chartkov the opportunity to lead a scattered social life, enjoy prosperity, wealth and fame, and not art, become his idol. Chartkov hired a new apartment, ordered a commendable article about himself in the newspaper and began to paint fashionable portraits. Moreover, the similarity of portraits and
customers - minimal, as the artist embellishes faces and removes flaws. Money flows like a river. Chartkov himself wonders how he could earlier attach so much importance to similarity and spend so much time working on one portrait. Chartkov became fashionable, famous, he was invited everywhere. The Academy of Arts asks him to express his opinion on the works of one young artist. Chartkov was going to criticize, but suddenly he sees how magnificent the work of the young talent is. He understands that he once traded his talent for money. But the shock experienced by Chartkov from the beautiful picture does not awaken him to a new life, because for this it was necessary to abandon the pursuit of wealth and fame, to kill evil in himself. Chartkov chooses a different path: he begins to expel talented art from the world, buy up and cut magnificent canvases, and kill good. And this path leads him to madness and death.

What was the reason for these terrible transformations: the weakness of a person before temptations or the mystical witchcraft of a portrait of a usurer who gathered the evil of the world in his scorching gaze?

Evil touches not only the success of Chartkov, who is subject to temptations, but also the father of the artist B., who painted a portrait of a usurer who looked like a devil and who himself became an evil spirits. And "a strong character, an honest straight person", having painted a portrait of evil, feels "incomprehensible anxiety", aversion to life and envy of the successes of his talented students. He can no longer paint good, his brush is guided by an "impure feeling", and in the painting intended for the temple "there is no holiness in their faces."

Seeing self-interest, insignificance, "earthiness" of people, the writer is indignant and preaches. The artist, the father of the narrator of the second part B., redeeming the evil he committed by painting a portrait of the usurer, goes to a monastery, becomes a hermit and reaches the spiritual height that allows him to paint the nativity of Jesus. Having taken monastic vows, he bequeathed to his son to find and destroy the portrait. He says: "He who contains talent must be the purest soul of all."

The proximity of the first and second parts in Gogol's "Portrait" is intended to convince the reader that evil can take over any person, regardless of his moral nature. And it will always be that way. After all, the portrait disappears. Evil walks around the world, finding new victims ...

Gogol called his story "Portrait". Is it because the portrait of the usurer played a fatal role in the fate of his heroes, artists, whose fates are juxtaposed in two parts of the story? Or because the author wanted to give a portrait of modern society and a talented person who dies or is saved despite hostile circumstances and humiliating properties of nature? Or is it a portrait of art and the soul of the writer himself, trying to escape the temptation of success and prosperity and purify his soul by high service to art?
Probably, this strange story of Gogol has a social, moral and aesthetic meaning, there is a reflection on what a person, society, art is. Modernity and eternity are so inextricably intertwined here that the life of the Russian capital of the 30s of the 19th century goes back to biblical reflections on good and evil, on their endless struggle in the human soul.

Nikolai Gogol's story "Portrait" consists of two interrelated parts.
The first part of the story tells about a young artist named Chartkov. Seeing in the shop a strange portrait of an old man with piercing eyes, Chartkov is ready to give up the last two-kopeck piece for him. Poverty does not take away from him the ability to see the beauty of life and enthusiastically work on his sketches. He reaches for the light and does not want to turn art into anatomical theater and expose the "disgusting person" with a knife-brush. He rejects artists whose "nature itself ... seems low and dirty", so that "there is nothing illuminating in it." Chartkov buys a portrait and takes it to his poor house. At home, he examines the portrait better, and sees that now not only the eyes, but also the whole face are alive, it seems as if the old man is about to come to life. The young artist goes to bed, and he dreams that the old man has crawled out of his portrait, and shows a bag in which there are many parcels of money. The artist discreetly hides one of them. In the morning, he actually discovers money. What happens to the main character next? As soon as the money, miraculously dropped out of the portrait frame, gives Chartkov the opportunity to lead a scattered social life, enjoy prosperity, wealth and fame, and not art, become his idol. Chartkov hired a new apartment, ordered a commendable article about himself in the newspaper and began to paint fashionable portraits. Moreover, the similarity of portraits and
customers - minimal, as the artist embellishes faces and removes flaws. Money flows like a river. Chartkov himself wonders how he could earlier attach so much importance to similarity and spend so much time working on one portrait. Chartkov became fashionable, famous, he was invited everywhere. The Academy of Arts asks him to express his opinion on the works of one young artist. Chartkov was going to criticize, but suddenly he sees how magnificent the work of the young talent is. He understands that he once traded his talent for money. But the shock experienced by Chartkov from the beautiful picture does not awaken him to a new life, because for this it was necessary to abandon the pursuit of wealth and fame, to kill evil in himself. Chartkov chooses a different path: he begins to expel talented art from the world, buy up and cut magnificent canvases, and kill good. And this path leads him to madness and death.

What was the reason for these terrible transformations: the weakness of a person before temptations or the mystical witchcraft of a portrait of a usurer who gathered the evil of the world in his scorching gaze?

Evil touches not only the success of Chartkov, who is subject to temptations, but also the father of the artist B., who painted a portrait of a usurer who looked like a devil and who himself became an evil spirits. And "a strong character, an honest straight person", having painted a portrait of evil, feels "incomprehensible anxiety", aversion to life and envy of the successes of his talented students. He can no longer paint good, his brush is guided by an "impure feeling", and in the painting intended for the temple "there is no holiness in their faces."

Seeing self-interest, insignificance, "earthiness" of people, the writer is indignant and preaches. The artist, the father of the narrator of the second part B., redeeming the evil he committed by painting a portrait of the usurer, goes to a monastery, becomes a hermit and reaches the spiritual height that allows him to paint the nativity of Jesus. Having taken monastic vows, he bequeathed to his son to find and destroy the portrait. He says: "He who contains talent must be the purest soul of all."

The proximity of the first and second parts in Gogol's "Portrait" is intended to convince the reader that evil can take over any person, regardless of his moral nature. And it will always be that way. After all, the portrait disappears. Evil walks around the world, finding new victims ...

The answer left the guest

The story "Portrait" was written by Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol in 1842. The author uses a traditional motive: money, Wealth in exchange for a soul. It touches upon many problems: the struggle between good and evil in the soul of a person, the power of money over a person, but the most important one is the problem of the purpose of art (true and imaginary art). The story consists of two parts, each of which has an artist.
The first part tells about the young painter Chartkov. This is a very talented, but at the same time, a poor person. He admires the talent of great artists; he is offended by the fact that fashionable artists who paint their pictures receive a lot of money, and he has to sit in poverty. But then a strange story happens to him. One day he went into an art shop and saw an unusual portrait. The portrait was very old and showed an old man in an Asian costume. The portrait greatly mesmerized Chartkov. The old man drew him to himself; his eyes were especially expressive - they looked at him as if he were real. The young artist, without expecting it, bought this painting. After that, a strange situation happened to Chartkov: at night he had a dream that the old man got out of the picture and showed him a bag of money. This suggests that our young artist longs for wealth and fame, there is already something demonic in his soul. Then, waking up, he finds money for a willow tree, which would be enough for him for three years. Chartkov decides that it is better to spend them on canvases and paints, that is, for the benefit of his talent. But he is attracted by temptation: he breaks down and begins to buy many things he does not need, rents an apartment in the city and buys fame for himself in the form of a commendable article in the newspaper. He betrayed himself, his talent, became arrogant; he pays no attention to people who once occupied an important place in his life, including the teacher, who gave him advice: “You have talent; it would be a sin if you ruin it. Make sure that you do not leave a fashionable painter ... ". The article in the newspaper made a splash: people ran to him, asking him to draw their portrait, demanding this or that. Chartkov changed his heart and soul. Now he drew not so naturally, more similar to the person being portrayed, and so as his clients asked: "one demanded to portray himself in a strong, energetic turn of his head; the other with his inspired eyes raised upward; the guards lieutenant demanded that Mars be seen in his eyes ..." After that, the artist's opinion completely changes, he is surprised how he could earlier attach so much importance to similarity and spend so much time working on one portrait: “This person who has been digging for several months over a picture, for me, is a worker, not an artist. I had talent. The genius creates boldly, quickly ..., argued that the former artists had too much dignity attributed, that all of them before Raphael painted not figures, but herrings ... Mikel-Angel is a braggart ... ”. Chartkov becomes a fashionable and famous rich man. The secret of his success is simple - catering to selfish orders and a departure from genuine art. One day he was asked to give his opinion on the work of a young artist. Chartkov was going to criticize his paintings, but suddenly he sees how magnificent the work of the young talent is. And then he realizes that he has exchanged his talent for money. It was then that envy of all artists seizes him - he buys up and spoils their paintings. Soon he goes mad and dies.

Good and evil in the story of N.V. Gogol "Portrait"

Gogol called his story "Portrait". Is it because the portrait of the usurer played a fatal role in the fate of his heroes, artists, whose fates are juxtaposed in two parts of the story? Or because the author wanted to give a portrait of modern society and a talented person who dies or is saved despite hostile circumstances and humiliating properties of nature? Or is it a portrait of art and the soul of the writer himself, trying to escape the temptation of success and prosperity and purify his soul by high service to art?
Probably, this strange story of Gogol has a social, moral and aesthetic meaning, there is a reflection on what a person, society, art is. Modernity and eternity are so inextricably intertwined here that the life of the Russian capital of the 30s of the 19th century goes back to biblical reflections on good and evil, on their endless struggle in the human soul.

Nikolai Gogol's story "Portrait" consists of two interrelated parts.
The first part of the story tells about a young artist named Chartkov. Seeing in the shop a strange portrait of an old man with piercing eyes, Chartkov is ready to give up the last two-kopeck piece for him. Poverty does not take away from him the ability to see the beauty of life and enthusiastically work on his sketches. He reaches for the light and does not want to turn art into anatomical theater and expose the "disgusting person" with a knife-brush. He rejects artists whose "nature itself ... seems low and dirty", so that "there is nothing illuminating in it." Chartkov buys a portrait and takes it to his poor house. At home, he examines the portrait better, and sees that now not only the eyes, but also the whole face are alive, it seems as if the old man is about to come to life. The young artist goes to bed, and he dreams that the old man has crawled out of his portrait, and shows a bag in which there are many parcels of money. The artist discreetly hides one of them. In the morning, he actually discovers money. What happens to the main character next? As soon as the money, miraculously dropped out of the portrait frame, gives Chartkov the opportunity to lead a scattered social life, enjoy prosperity, wealth and fame, and not art, become his idol. Chartkov hired a new apartment, ordered a commendable article about himself in the newspaper and began to paint fashionable portraits. Moreover, the similarity of portraits and
customers - minimal, as the artist embellishes faces and removes flaws. Money flows like a river. Chartkov himself wonders how he could earlier attach so much importance to similarity and spend so much time working on one portrait. Chartkov became fashionable, famous, he was invited everywhere. The Academy of Arts asks him to express his opinion on the works of one young artist. Chartkov was going to criticize, but suddenly he sees how magnificent the work of the young talent is. He understands that he once traded his talent for money. But the shock experienced by Chartkov from the beautiful picture does not awaken him to a new life, because for this it was necessary to abandon the pursuit of wealth and fame, to kill evil in himself. Chartkov chooses a different path: he begins to expel talented art from the world, buy up and cut magnificent canvases, and kill good. And this path leads him to madness and death.

What was the reason for these terrible transformations: the weakness of a person before temptations or the mystical witchcraft of a portrait of a usurer who gathered the evil of the world in his scorching gaze?

Evil touches not only the success of Chartkov, who is subject to temptations, but also the father of the artist B., who painted a portrait of a usurer who looked like a devil and who himself became an evil spirits. And "a strong character, an honest straight person", having painted a portrait of evil, feels "incomprehensible anxiety", aversion to life and envy of the successes of his talented students. He can no longer paint good, his brush is guided by an "impure feeling", and in the painting intended for the temple "there is no holiness in their faces."

Seeing self-interest, insignificance, "earthiness" of people, the writer is indignant and preaches. The artist, the father of the narrator of the second part B., redeeming the evil he committed by painting a portrait of the usurer, goes to a monastery, becomes a hermit and reaches the spiritual height that allows him to paint the nativity of Jesus. Having taken monastic vows, he bequeathed to his son to find and destroy the portrait. He says: "He who contains talent must be the purest soul of all."

The proximity of the first and second parts in Gogol's "Portrait" is intended to convince the reader that evil can take over any person, regardless of his moral nature. And it will always be that way. After all, the portrait disappears. Evil walks around the world, finding new victims ...

Gogol is always interesting to read. Even well-known works you start to read and get carried away. And even more so little-known stories. It would seem that he is a serious classical writer, philosopher, but you take his book and you are transported into an interesting world, sometimes mystical, and sometimes the most everyday one. Both are present in the story "Portrait". The author puts his hero in an unprecedented situation: a poor, talented artist suddenly gets everything he dreams of through a mysterious portrait, which he himself buys with his last money from a merchant. He is strangely attracted by the eyes of the one depicted in the portrait. As if a lively look surprises everyone with its strength and terrible believability. On the same night Chartkov sees. strange half-asleep, half-awake. He dreams that the old man depicted in the portrait "stirred and suddenly rested against the frame with both hands. Finally he raised himself on his hands and, sticking out both legs, jumped out of the frames ..." the money does end up in the frame of the portrait. The quarterly one inadvertently touches the frame, and the heavy bundle falls in front of Chartkov. The first thoughts, prompted by reason, were noble: "Now I am provided for at least three years, I can lock myself in a room, work. Now I have paints; for lunch, for tea, for maintenance, for an apartment; interfere and nobody will bother me now; I’ll buy myself a great mannequin, order a plaster torso, shape the legs, put on Venus, buy engravings from the first paintings. to be a glorious artist. " But the long-suffering artist dreamed of something else. "A different voice was heard from within, louder and louder. And when he looked again at the gold, it was not that twenty-two years and ardent youth began to speak in him." Chartkov did not even notice how he bought clothes for himself, "took a ride twice around the city in a carriage for no reason," visited a restaurant, a hairdresser and moved to a new apartment. A dizzying career fell on him. They published about him in the newspaper, and the first customers appeared. -The noble lady brought her daughter to paint a portrait from her. In none of his works Gogol is complete without comic moments. Here is a very apt joke of the lady's admiration for the painting:

"- However, Monsieur Zero ... ah, how he writes! What an extraordinary brush! I find that he has even more expression on his faces than Titian's. Do you know Monsieur Zero?"

Who is this Zero? - asked the artist.

Monsieur Zero. Oh, what a talent! "

One joke conveyed the level and interests of a secular society. With great interest and not yet lost talent, the artist began to paint a portrait. He conveyed to the canvas all the shades of a young face, and did not miss some yellowness and a barely noticeable blue shadow under the eyes. But the mother didn't like it. She objected that it could only be today, and usually the face is striking with a special freshness. Having corrected the shortcomings, the artist noted with chagrin that the individuality of nature had also disappeared. Still wanting to express what he noticed in the girl, Chartkov transfers all this to his old sketch of Psyche. Ladies, on the other hand, are delighted with the "surprise" that the artist came up with the idea of ​​portraying her "in the form of Psyche." Unable to convince the ladies, Chartkov gives the portrait of Psyche. The society admired the new talent, orders were poured into Chartkov. But this was far from what gives the painter the opportunity to develop. Here Gogol also gives free rein to humor: "The ladies demanded that mainly only the soul and character be depicted in portraits, so that sometimes they do not adhere to the rest, round off all corners, alleviate all flaws and even, if possible, avoid them altogether ... Men were also One demanded to portray himself in a strong, energetic turn of his head; the other - with his inspired eyes raised upward; the guards lieutenant demanded that Mars be visible in his eyes; so that the hand rests on a book on which it would be written in clear words: “Always stood for the truth.” And now, over time, Chartkov becomes fashionable, but, alas, an empty painter. through a fantastic plot, the author shows what fame and wealth can create with a person. It is not necessary to buy a magical portrait to become a slave. Part of the story, Chartkov warns the professor, his mentor: “You have talent; it will be a sin if you destroy him. Make sure that a fashionable painter does not come out of you. ”Gradually, creative aspiration, awe are disappearing. The artist, busy with balls and visits, barely sketches the main features, leaving the students to finish painting. , their daughters and girlfriends. ”On the pedestal, which used to be occupied by painting, a passion for gold perched. Gold became everything for Chartkov. It would fill his life completely, if not for one event. The Academy of Arts invited the famous Chartkov to evaluate a painting by a Russian artist brought from Italy. The picture he saw so impressed the celebrity that he could not even express the prepared dismissive judgment. The painting was so beautiful that it stirred up a stale past in it. Tears choked him, and without a word, he ran out of the hall. The sudden illumination of a ruined life blinded him. Realizing that he will never return the killed talent, the departed youth, Chartkov becomes a terrible monster. With sinister greed, he begins to buy up all worthy works of art and destroy them. This becomes his main passion and his only occupation. As a result, the insane and sick artist dies in a terrible fever, where everywhere he fancies a portrait of an old man. Terrible eyes from the portrait look at him from everywhere ...

But another hero, which is mentioned only in the second part of the story, acts differently. This young artist meets a very unusual person, a money lender, who asks to paint his portrait. Rumors about the usurer are very mysterious. Everyone who contacted him was bound to get into trouble. But the artist still undertakes to paint a portrait. The similarity with the original is striking, the eyes seem to be looking from a portrait. And now, having painted the moneylender, the artist realizes that he will no longer be able to paint pure images. He understands that he portrayed the devil. After that, he goes to the monastery forever to purify himself. As a hoary old man, he reaches enlightenment and, taking up the brush, is already able to paint the saints. Giving instructions to his son, he himself speaks like a saint: "A hint of the divine, the heavenly is enclosed for man in art, and for that one it is already above everything ... Sacrifice everything to him and love him with all your passion, not passion breathing earthly lust , but a quiet heavenly passion: without it a person has no power to rise from the earth and cannot give wonderful sounds of tranquility. For in order to calm and reconcile everyone, a high creation of art descends into the world. " Nevertheless, the story does not end optimistically. Gogol allows the portrait to continue its fateful journey, warning that no one is immune from evil.