Nikolai Gogol began working on the story "Nevsky Prospekt" in 1831, and published it in the "Arabesque" collection four years later. This work belongs to the cycle of St. Petersburg novels of Gogol, which included also "The Overcoat", "Portrait", "Notes of the Madman", "Nose", "Carriage". The author from different sides captured the features and customs of the Russian capital. In addition to satirical exposing the vices of society, every work of the St. Petersburg cycle has a "little man" who desperately struggles for the right of decent life.
"Nevsky Prospekt" consists of three parts. The first part is a real city, familiar to every inhabitant of the capital. In the second part we have a bizarre space of illusions, in which two stories develop. Gogol, as it were, accidentally snatches two young people out of the crowd and sends them to love adventures. The third part of the story is a peculiar metaphysical experience of the perception of Nevsky Prospekt and Petersburg as a whole.
The story begins with a description of the main metropolitan highway. Gogol calls Nevsky "the universal communication of Petersburg." Here during the day thousands of people pass, followed by the writer with interest and draws readers into their reflections. For Gogol, this avenue is the main character in action: with its face, manners, habits, character.
The heroes of the story are Lieutenant Pirogov and the artist Piskarev. They are not friends, because they are completely different in their perception of the world. And Gogol skillfully emphasizes this antagonism: one is a comic character, the other is a tragic figure. Pirogov - arrogant and self-confident careerist, for whom the main thing in life is to curry favor, to achieve a secured position in society. For this, he is ready to marry an unloved woman profitably, to overcome many moral obstacles. Pirogov arrogantly refers to those who are below his rank, and blindly imitates everything that is in fashion with the chosen audience. The lieutenant does not think about problems, he seeks only pleasure from life. Quite another is an artist Piskarev. He is a naive romantic, thin and vulnerable. "Shy, timid, but in his heart he had a spark of feeling, ready to turn into a flame," - so characterizes Gogol his character. In every woman Piskarev sees the Muse, because he admires them and worships them.
One day, while walking along Nevsky Prospekt, friends met charming strangers and embarked on an adventure: the artist followed the brunette, immediately falling in love with her, and the lieutenant chose a blonde, counting on a fleeting intrigue.
The artist's choice turned out to be a girl from a brothel, behind the "heavenly image" of which was a vulgar and stupid nature. But the image does not give the young talent peace. To see the girl even in a dream Piskarev begins to take opium. Following the dictates of the heart, the artist finds his beauty again and offers her an honest and simple life, but she only laughs in response. Piskarev is shocked and crushed. He locked himself in his room, where a week later he was found with a cut throat. "So died, the victim of insane passion, poor Piskarev, quiet, timid, modest, childish-simple-minded, wearing a spark of talent, perhaps over time, would flare wide and bright," Gogol complains.
His friend Pirogov did not even come to the funeral, because at that time he was going through his adventures. His lady of heart was the wife of the German tinsmith Shiller. The self-confident lieutenant long enough achieved an arrangement of the beauty. When the desired goal was close, Shiller came in and Pirogov was brutally punished and thrown out into the street. Pirogov in a rage showered the tinsmith and his friends with curses and threatened them with Siberia. But then he went into the pastry shop, ate pies and read the newspaper, calmed down and simply forgot about the unpleasant incident.
That's how these stories ended in different ways: the talented and promising Piskarev became a victim of an insane passion, and the cynic and careerist Pirogov got off with a slight fright. Two different adventures unite the lost finale: the heroes never got the "what seemed to be prepared all their strengths." Nevsky Prospect can not be trusted, because there is a solid deception. Such a disappointing conclusion makes Nikolai Gogol, warning the reader about the wrong side of a beautiful life and its hidden cunning. The author's sad reflections about the unrealisability of human hopes complete this unusual story.
In "Nevsky Prospekt" Gogol first attempted to combine the funny and tragic, high and low, holy and vulgar. In the future, this expressive artistic technique will become the main in his work.
