Genre
A short story
Setting and Context
Russia, Saint-Petersburg, the middle of the XIX century
Narrator and Point of View
The narrator is a third-person, but at some moments Gogol reveals himself as a narrator.
Tone and Mood
Comic and tragic tone is combined in the story, as two story lines are described in parallel.
Protagonist and Antagonist
The protagonist is an artist Piskarev, and the antagonist is a lieutenant Pirogov.
Major Conflict
The main conflict is that of how dreams may differ from reality, and that people who cannot reconcile with this reality are destined to end tragically.
Climax
The climax comes almost in the end when Gogol concludes that Nevsky Prospekt can not be trusted, as it hides all the insidiousness of life.
Foreshadowing
As in most works of Gogol brilliance of descriptions foreshadow the appearance of the ugly side of an object. This is what happens in the story – a beautiful start ends in death.
Understatement
The person’s attempts to be happy are understated and from the very beginning are destined to failure.
Allusions
The story alludes to the main avenue of Saint Petersburg, its shops, churches, and other places of interest. Also, such writers as Schiller and Hoffman are mentioned in the story.
Imagery
The main imagery of the story is an image of Nevsky Prospekt, which is an iconic area of the city.
Paradox
The main paradox stands in the unfairness of life; people with clear hearts end in death, and corrupted ones continue living their trouble-less life.
Parallelism
The love affairs of Piskarev and Pirogov are described in parallels.
Metonymy and Synecdoche
“how many feet have left their mark on it” (feet is a metonymy for people)
“English Joneses and French Coqs walk arm in arm with the charges entrusted to their parental care” (English Joneses and French Coqs is metonymy for teachers)
Personification
N/A
