Nikolai Gogol was born in the Poltava province. There he spent his childhood and youth, and later moved to St. Petersburg. But the history and customs of his native land continued to interest the writer throughout his entire career. "Evenings on a farm near Dikanka", "Viy" and other works describe the customs and mentality of the Ukrainian people. In the story "Taras Bulba" the history of Ukraine is refracted through the lyrical creative consciousness of the author himself.
The idea of "Taras Bulba" came to Gogol around 1830. It is known that the writer worked on the text for about 10 years, but the story never received a final revision. In 1835, the author's manuscript was published in the Mirgorod collection, but already in 1842 another edition of the work was published. It should be said that Gogol was not very pleased with the printed version, not considering the amendments made as final. Gogol rewrote the work about eight times.
Gogol continued to work on the manuscript. Among the significant changes, one can notice an increase in the volume of the story: three more chapters were added to the original nine chapters. Critics note that in the new version, the characters have become more textured, vivid descriptions of battle scenes have been added, and new details from life in the Sich have appeared. The author proofread every word, trying to find the combination that would most fully reveal not only his talent as a writer and the characters of the characters, but also the uniqueness of the Ukrainian consciousness.
The history of the creation of "Taras Bulba" is really interesting. Gogol responsibly approached the task: it is known that the author, with the help of newspapers, turned to readers with a request to transfer to him previously unpublished information about the history of Ukraine, manuscripts from personal archives, memoirs, and so on. In addition, among the sources one can mention the “Description of Ukraine” edited by Beauplan, “The History of the Zaporizhian Cossacks” (Myshetsky) and lists of Ukrainian chronicles (for example, the chronicles of Samovydets, G. Grabyanka and Velichko). All the information gathered would look unpoetic and unemotional without one incredibly important component. The dry facts of history could not fully satisfy the writer, who sought to understand and reflect in the work the ideals of the past era.
Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol greatly appreciated folk art and folklore. Ukrainian songs and thoughts became the basis for creating the national color of the story and the characters of the characters. For example, the image of Andriy is similar to the images of Savva Chaly and the apostate Teterenka from the songs of the same name. Everyday details, plot moves and motifs were drawn from the thoughts. And, if the orientation to historical facts in the story is beyond doubt, then in the case of folklore, some clarification needs to be given. The influence of folk art is noticeable not only at the narrative, but also at the structural level of the text. So, in the text you can easily find vivid epithets and comparisons (“like a grain ear cut with a sickle ...”, “black eyebrows, like mourning velvet ...”).
The appearance of trinity, characteristic of fairy tales, in the text of the work is associated with trials, as in folklore. This can be seen in the scene where, under the walls of Dubno, Andriy meets a Tatar woman who asks a young Cossack to help a lady: she may die of hunger. This is receiving a task from an old woman (in the folklore tradition, usually from Baba Yaga). The Cossacks have eaten everything cooked, and his brother is sleeping on a bag of supplies. Kozak tries to pull the bag out from under the sleeping Ostap, but he wakes up for a moment. This is the first test, and Andriy passes it with ease. Further tension increases: Andria and the female silhouette are noticed by Taras Bulba. Andriy stands "neither dead nor alive", and his father warns him against possible dangers. Here Bulba Sr. simultaneously acts both as an opponent of Andriy and as a wise adviser. Without answering his father's words, Andriy moves on. The young man must overcome another obstacle before meeting his beloved - to walk through the streets of the city, seeing how the inhabitants are dying of hunger. It is characteristic that Andrii also meets three victims: a man, a mother with a child, and an old woman.
In the pannochka's monologue, there are also rhetorical questions that are often found in folk songs: “Am I not worthy of eternal regrets? Is not the mother who gave birth to me unhappy? Did not the bitter share fall on me? The stringing of sentences with the union "and" is also characteristic of folklore: "And she lowered her hand, and put the bread, and ... looked into his eyes." Thanks to the songs, the artistic language of the story itself becomes more lyrical.
It is no coincidence that Gogol refers to history. Being an educated person, Gogol understood how important the past is for a particular person and people. However, Taras Bulba should not be regarded as a historical story. Fantasy, hyperbole and idealization of images are organically woven into the text of the work. The history of the story "Taras Bulba" is notable for its complexity and contradictions, but this in no way detracts from the artistic value of the work.
Artwork test
The history of the creation of the story "Taras Bulba"
Gogol's work on "Taras Bulba" was preceded by a thorough, in-depth study of historical sources. Among them, one should mention Beauplan's "Description of Ukraine", Myshetsky's "History of the Zaporizhian Cossacks", handwritten lists of Ukrainian chronicles - Samovydets, Velichko, Grabyanka, etc.
But these sources did not fully satisfy Gogol. He lacked a lot in them: first of all, characteristic everyday details, living signs of the time, a true understanding of the past era. Special historical studies and chronicles seemed to the writer too dry, sluggish and, in fact, did little to help the artist to comprehend the spirit of folk life, characters, and the psychology of people. In 1834, in a letter to I. Sreznevsky, he wittily noted that these chronicles, which were created not in the hot pursuit of events, but “when memory gave way to oblivion,” remind him of “the owner who nailed the castle to his stable when the horses were already stolen" (X, 299).
Among the sources that helped Gogol in his work on Taras Bulba was another, most important one: Ukrainian folk songs, especially historical songs and thoughts.
Gogol considered the Ukrainian folk song to be a treasure trove for historians and poets who want to "extract the spirit of the past century" and comprehend "the history of the people." Gogol drew historical information from annalistic and scientific sources, the factual details he needed regarding the specific events of the Duma, and the songs gave him something much more significant. They helped the writer to understand the soul of the people, their national character, living signs of their way of life. He extracts plot motifs from a folk song, sometimes even whole episodes. For example, the dramatic story about Mosiah Shila, who was captured by the Turks and then deceived them and rescued all his comrades from enemy captivity, was inspired by Gogol by the well-known Ukrainian thought about Samoil Kishka. Yes, and the image of Andriy was created under the undoubted influence of Ukrainian thoughts about the apostate Teterenko and the traitor Savva Chal.
Gogol takes a lot in folk poetry, but he takes it as a writer, sensitive and receptive to its artistic structure, with his own attitude to reality, to the material. The poetics of the folk song had a huge impact on the entire artistic and visual system of Taras Bulba, on the language of the story.
A vivid pictorial epithet, a colorful comparison, a characteristic rhythmic repetition - all these techniques strengthened the pasted sound of the story's style. “Am I not worthy of eternal complaints? Is not the mother who gave birth to me unhappy? Was it not a bitter fate for me? Are you not my fierce executioner, my ferocious fate? (II, 105). Or: “Curls, curls he saw, long, long curls, and a breast like a river swan, and a snowy neck, and shoulders, and everything that was created for crazy kisses” (II, 143). The unusually emotional, lyrical coloring of the phrase, as well as all its other artistic features, creates a feeling of organic closeness of the manner of Gogol's narration to the style of a folk song.
In the story, the influence of the epic-song technique of common comparisons is felt: “Andriy looked around: Taras is in front of him! He was shaking all over and suddenly became pale... So a schoolboy, carelessly raising his comrade and receiving a blow from him on the forehead with a ruler, flares up like fire, wildly jumps out of the shop and chases after his frightened comrade, ready to tear him to pieces. , and suddenly comes across a teacher entering the class: in an instant, the mad impulse subsides and impotent rage falls. Like him, in an instant, Andriy's anger disappeared, as if it had not happened at all. And he saw before him only one terrible father ”(II, 143).
The comparison becomes so extensive that it grows as if into an independent picture, which in fact is not at all self-sufficient, but helps to more concretely, more fully, deeply reveal the character of a person or his state of mind.
"Taras Bulba" has a long and complex creative history. It was first published in 1835 in the Mirgorod collection. In 1842, in the second volume of his "Works," Gogol placed "Taras Bulba" in a new, radically altered edition. Work on this work continued intermittently for nine years: from 1833 to 1842. Between the first and second editions of Taras Bulba, a number of intermediate editions of some chapters were written.
There is one very remarkable feature in the writer's appearance of Gogol. Having written and even printed his work, he never considered his work on it finished, continuing to tirelessly improve it. That is why the works of this writer have so many editions. Gogol, according to N.V. Berg, said that he rewrote his works up to eight times: “Only after the eighth correspondence, without fail with his own hand, the work is completely artistically finished, reaches the pearl of creation” “Gogol in the memoirs of his contemporaries”, p. 506..
Gogol's interest in Ukrainian history after 1835 did not weaken at all, and sometimes even acquired a special acuteness, as it happened, for example, in 1839. "Little Russia<йские>songs with me, ”he tells Pogodin in mid-August of this year from Marienbad. “I stock up and try as much as possible to breathe in the old days” (XI, 240-241). Gogol at this time reflects on Ukraine, its history, its people, and new creative ideas excite his mind. At the end of August of the same year, he wrote to Shevyrev: “The times of the Cossacks are becoming clear and passing in poetic order before me, and if I do nothing of this, then I will be a big fool. Whether the songs of Little Russia, which I now have at hand, inspired them, or the clairvoyance of the past came to my soul by itself, only I feel a lot of things that rarely happen now. Bless!" (XI, 241).
Gogol's increased interest in history and folklore in the autumn of 1839 was connected with the Shaved Mustache drama he had planned from Ukrainian history, as well as with the work on the second edition of Taras Bulba. I had to turn again to the rough drafts of the new edition written at different times, rethink a lot anew, eliminate some contradictions that accidentally crept in. battalion, etc. Intensive work continued for three years: from the autumn of 1839 to the summer of 1842.
The second edition of Taras Bulba was created simultaneously with Gogol's work on the first volume of Dead Souls, that is, during the writer's greatest ideological and artistic maturity. This edition has become deeper in its idea, its democratic pathos, more perfect in artistic terms.
The evolution that the story has undergone is extremely characteristic. In the second edition, it has significantly expanded in its scope, becoming almost twice as large. Instead of nine chapters in the first edition, there are twelve chapters in the second. There are new characters, conflicts, situations. The historical and everyday background of the story was significantly enriched, new details were introduced in the description of the Sich, battles, the scene of the election of the koshevoy was rewritten, the picture of the siege of Dubno was greatly expanded, etc.
The most important thing is elsewhere. In the first, "Mirgorod" version of Taras Bulba, the movement of the Ukrainian Cossacks against the Polish gentry was not yet comprehended on the scale of the nationwide liberation struggle. It was this circumstance that prompted Gogol to radically work on the Persian work of the entire work. While in the "Mirgorod" edition "many strings of the historical life of Little Russia" remained, according to Belinsky, "untouched", in the new edition the author exhausted "the whole life of historical Little Russia" (VI, 661). The theme of the people's liberation movement is revealed here more vividly and more fully, and the story takes on the character of a folk-heroic epic to an even greater extent.
The battle scenes acquired a truly epic scope in the second edition.
To the well-trained, but disunited army of the Polish gentry, in which everyone is responsible only for himself, Gogol contrasts the close, iron, imbued with a single impulse system of the Cossacks. The writer's attention is almost not fixed on how this or that Cossack fights. Gogol invariably emphasizes the unity, commonality, and power of the entire Zaporizhian army: “Without any theoretical concept of regularity, they marched with amazing regularity, as if coming from the fact that their hearts and passions beat in one beat with the unity of universal thought. None separated; this mass was not torn anywhere. It was a spectacle, Gogol continues, which could be adequately conveyed only by a painter's brush. The French engineer, who fought on the side of the enemies of the Sich, “threw the wick with which he was preparing to light the cannons, and, forgetting, beat in his palms, shouting loudly:“ Bravo, Monsieur Zaporogi! (II, 329).
This bright, but somewhat theatrical episode then underwent a significant evolution. It unfolds into a larger battle scene, epic in its breadth. In the first edition, the French engineer, about whom it is said that he "was a true artist in his soul," admires the beauty of the Cossack system, which, in unison, rushes to the bullets of the enemy. In the second edition, the battle itself is depicted in detail, and the foreign engineer marvels not at the formation of the Cossacks, but at their “unprecedented tactics” and at the same time utters a completely different phrase: “Here are the brave fellow Cossacks! This is how others should fight in other lands!” (II, 135).
The image of Taras Bulba is being seriously reworked: it becomes socially more expressive and psychologically whole. If in the "Mirgorod" edition he quarreled with his comrades because of the unequal division of booty (II, 284) - a detail that clearly contradicted the heroic character of Taras Bulba - then in the final text of the story he "quarreled with those of his comrades who were inclined towards the Warsaw side, calling them serfs of the Polish pans” (II, 48). We find a similar strengthening of the ideological emphasis in a number of other cases. For example, in the "Mirgorod" edition: "In general, he (Taras. - S. M.) was a big hunter before raids and riots" (II, 284). In the final edition of 1842, we read: “Restless forever, he considered himself the legitimate defender of Orthodoxy. Arbitrarily entered the villages, where they only complained about the harassment of tenants and the increase in new duties on smoke ”(II, 48). Thus, from a "hunter for raids and riots" Taras Bulba turns into a "legitimate" defender of the oppressed people. The patriotic sound of the image is enhanced. It is in the second edition that Taras makes his speech about "what our partnership is."
Andriy's image is also undergoing some important changes. It acquires a perceptibly greater psychological certainty. Gogol manages to overcome the well-known schematic and one-line character previously inherent in the image of Andrii. The inner world of his experiences becomes more capacious and complex. His love for a Polish woman is now not only more deeply motivated, but also gets a brighter emotional, lyrical coloring.
In working on the final text of Taras Bulba, Gogol undoubtedly took into account the artistic experience of Pushkin's historical prose. It was in the second edition that the story acquired that realistic fullness and completeness of the poetic form that distinguishes this great work of Russian classical literature.
Taras Bulba became a symbol of courage and love for the motherland. The character, born from a pen, has successfully taken root in cinema and even in music - opera performances based on Gogol's story have been staged in theaters around the world since the end of the 19th century.
Character Creation History
The story "Taras Bulba" Nikolai Gogol gave 10 years of his life. The idea of an epic work in the genre of a historical story was born in the 1830s and already in the middle of the decade adorned the Mirgorod collection. However, the literary creation did not satisfy the author. As a result, it survived eight edits, and cardinal ones.
Nikolai Vasilyevich rewrote the original version right up to changing the storylines and introducing new characters. Over the years, the story grew fat by three chapters, the battle scenes filled with colors, and the Zaporizhzhya Sich acquired small details from the life of the Cossacks. They say that the writer verified every word so that it more accurately conveyed the atmosphere and characters of the characters, while striving to preserve the flavor of the Ukrainian mentality. In 1842, the work was published in a new edition, but it was still corrected until 1851.
The story of Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol "Taras Bulba", which is part of the cycle of stories "Mirgorod" (2 parts), was written in 1834. This is one of the most outstanding Russian historical works in the fiction of that time, distinguished by a large number of characters, the versatility and thoughtfulness of the compositions, as well as the depth and capacity of the characters' characters.
History of creation
The idea to write a large-scale historical story about the feat of the Zaporizhzhya Cossacks came to Gogol in 1830, he worked on the creation of the text for almost ten years, but the final editing was never completed. In 1835, the author's version of the story "Taras Bulba" was published in the 1st part of "Mirgorod", in 1942 a slightly different edition of this manuscript was published.
Each time, Nikolai Vasilievich remained dissatisfied with the printed version of the story, and made corrections to its content at least eight times. For example, there was a significant increase in its volume: from three to nine chapters, the images of the main characters became more vivid and textured, more vivid descriptions were added to the battle scenes, the life and life of the Zaporizhzhya Sich acquired new interesting details.
(Viktor Vasnetsov's illustration for Gogol's Taras Bulba, 1874)
Gogol very carefully and meticulously proofread the written text in an effort to create that unique combination that perfectly reveals his talent as a writer, penetrating into the depths of the characters' characters, showing the unique self-consciousness of the entire Ukrainian people as a whole. In order to understand and convey in his work the ideals of the era he describes, the author of the story, with great enthusiasm and enthusiasm, studied a variety of sources that described the history of Ukraine.
To give the story a special national flavor, which was clearly manifested in the description of life, the characters' characters, in bright and juicy epithets and comparisons, Gogol used works of Ukrainian folklore (thoughts, songs). The work was based on the history of the Cossack uprising of 1638, which hetman Pototsky was instructed to suppress. The prototype of the protagonist Taras Bulba was the chieftain of the Zaporizhzhya Army Okhrim Makukha, a brave warrior and ascetic of Bohdan Khmelnitsky, who had three sons (Nazar, Khoma and Omelko).
Analysis of the work
Story line
The beginning of the story is marked by the arrival of Taras Bulba with his sons to the Zaporozhian Sich. The father brings them in order to, as they say, “smell the gunpowder”, “gather the mind of reason”, and having hardened in battles with enemy forces, they become real defenders of their homeland. Finding themselves in the Sich, young people almost immediately find themselves in the very epicenter of developing events. Without even having time to really look around and get acquainted with local customs, they are called up for military service in the Zaporizhzhya army and go to war with the gentry, which oppresses the Orthodox people, trampling on their rights and freedoms.
The Cossacks, as courageous and noble people, loving their homeland with all their hearts and sacredly believing in the vows of their ancestors, could not but interfere in the atrocities committed by the Polish gentry, they considered it their sacred duty to defend their Fatherland and the faith of their ancestors. The Cossack army sets out on a campaign and bravely fights against the Polish army, which far outnumbers the Cossack forces both in terms of the number of soldiers and the number of weapons. Their strength is gradually drying up, although the Cossacks do not admit it to themselves, so great is their faith in the struggle for a just cause, fighting spirit and love for their native land.
The battle near Dubno is described by the author in a peculiar folklore style, in which the image of the Cossacks is likened to the image of the legendary heroes who defended Russia in ancient times, which is why Taras Bulba asks his brothers three times “if they have gunpowder in their powder flasks”, to which they also answered three times: “Yes, father! The Cossack strength has not weakened, the Cossacks still do not bend! Many warriors find their death in this battle, dying with words glorifying the Russian land, because dying for the Motherland was considered the highest valor and honor for the Cossacks.
main characters
Ataman Taras Bulba
One of the main characters of the story is the Cossack ataman Taras Bulba, this experienced and courageous warrior, along with his eldest son Ostap, is always in the forefront of the Cossack offensive. He, like Ostap, who was already elected chieftain by his brothers at the age of 22, is distinguished by remarkable strength, courage, nobility, strong-willed character and is a real defender of his land and his people, his whole life is devoted to serving the Fatherland and his compatriots.
Eldest son Ostap
A brave warrior, like his father, who loves his land with all his heart, Ostap is captured by the enemy and dies a heavy martyr's death. He endures all tortures and trials with stoic courage, like a real giant, whose face is imperturbable and stern. Although it hurts his father to see his son's torment, he is proud of him, admires his willpower, and blesses him for a heroic death, because it is worthy only of real men and patriots of their state. His Cossack brothers, who were taken prisoner with him, following the example of their chieftain, also with dignity, and with some pride, accept death on the chopping block.
The fate of Taras Bulba himself is no less tragic: having been captured by the Poles, he dies a terrible martyr's death, he is sentenced to be burned at the stake. And again, this selfless and brave old warrior is not afraid of such a fierce death, because for the Cossacks the most terrible thing in their life was not death, but the loss of their own dignity, violation of the holy laws of comradeship and betrayal of the Motherland.
Youngest son Andriy
This topic is also touched upon in the story, the youngest son of old Taras, Andriy, having fallen in love with the Polish beauty, becomes a traitor and goes into the enemy camp. He, like his older brother, is distinguished by courage and courage, however, his spiritual world is richer, more complex and contradictory, his mind is more sharp-witted and dexterous, his mental organization is more subtle and sensitive. Having fallen in love with the Polish lady, Andriy rejects the romance of war, the rapture of battle, the thirst for victory and completely surrenders to the feelings that make him a traitor and traitor to his people. His own father does not forgive him the most terrible sin - treason and pronounces a sentence on him: death by his own hand. So carnal love for a woman, whom the writer considers the source of all troubles and creatures of the devil, eclipsed the love for the Motherland in Andriy's soul, not bringing him happiness in the end, and ultimately ruining him.
Quotes
« And I will carry this homeland in my heart, I will carry it until it becomes my age, and I will see if one of the Cossacks will tear it out of there! And everything that is, I will sell, give, ruin for such a homeland!
“Be patient, Cossack, you will be chieftain!”
“Look, what a dad! Everything is old, the dog knows, and also pretends to be "
“Who said that my homeland is Ukraine? Who gave it to me in the homeland? The fatherland is what our soul is looking for, which is sweeter for it than anything.
"The Fatherland is what our soul seeks."Gogol
Features of compositional construction
In this work, the great classic of Russian literature portrayed the confrontation between the Ukrainian people and the Polish gentry, who want to seize the Ukrainian land and enslave its inhabitants from young to old. In the description of the life and way of life of the Zaporizhian Sich, which the author considered a place where “the will and the Cossacks for the whole of Ukraine” develops, one can feel especially warm feelings of the author, such as pride, admiration and ardent patriotism. Depicting the life and life of the Sich, its inhabitants, Gogol in his brainchild combines historical realities with high lyrical pathos, which is the main feature of the work, which is both realistic and poetic.
The images of literary characters are depicted by the writer through their portraits, described actions, through the prism of relationships with other characters. Even a description of nature, such as the steppe through which old Taras and his sons travel, helps to penetrate deeper into their souls and reveal the character of the characters. In the landscape scenes, various artistic and expressive devices abound, there are many epithets, metaphors, comparisons, they give the described objects and phenomena that amazing uniqueness, fury and originality that strike the reader right in the heart and touch the soul.
The story "Taras Bulba" is a heroic work glorifying love for the Motherland, its people, the Orthodox faith, the holiness of the feat in their name. The image of the Zaporizhzhya Cossacks is similar to the image of the epic heroes of antiquity, who harrowed the Russian land from any misfortune. The work glorifies the courage, heroism, courage and selflessness of the heroes who did not betray the holy bonds of camaraderie and defended their native land until their last breath. The traitors of the Motherland are equated by the author with the enemy offspring, subject to destruction without any twinge of conscience. After all, such people, having lost honor and conscience, also lose their souls, they should not live on the land of the Fatherland, which the brilliant Russian writer Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol sang with such great fervor and love in his work.
A man inclined to idealize the Little Russian historical antiquity, Gogol, probably wrote the story "Taras Bulba" with special love. The modern life of Ukraine seemed to him gray and boring, there was no room for the scope of his imagination, there were no “interesting” people in a romantic taste. Apparently, Gogol did not see anyone here except "existents" who vegetate in an unconscious life. This shortcoming (the lack of goals in life by people, their misunderstanding of its meaning) always especially outraged Gogol. That is why he was more interested in the past of Little Russia, at a time when she lived a stormy historical life, when the life of every Cossack was full of “meaning”, when there were no vulgar hated by him, but there were “fighters” for their homeland, for faith. That is why, when composing his Taras Bulba, Gogol probably rested his soul, the gray reality of the surrounding life did not hinder his imagination, and it freely created heroic images and pictures that elevate the soul. Thanks to this, Gogol managed to create a historical "epic of the Cossacks" in his story. In fact, the scope of his work in this story is purely epic, he managed to embody an entire era of folk history in the grandiose appearance of Taras; in the face of his hero, he managed to capture the bright national features of his people. In some particulars of this story (descriptions, comparisons), Gogol rises to the methods of epic creativity.
However, E. A. Kotlyarevsky, evaluating Gogol's "Taras Bulba" from this point of view, calls the author "not a historian, but the compiler of a new epic, from which he sometimes even borrows turns."
Taras Bulba with sons Ostap and Andriy. Illustration by S. Ovcharenko for Gogol's story
But this remark is hardly entirely true: being a poet-artist who was inspired by folk legends and songs and from there brought his insight into the spirit of the people, into its forces and heroes, Gogol, of course, at the same time, was a historian. Interest in history of Little Russia he was something organic: among his youthful experiences, we already meet the beginning of a story from the life of the Cossacks; these Cossacks constantly appear in his “Evenings”, either rising to the heroic image of Pan Danila (in the story “Terrible Revenge”), or descending to the comical outlines of Chub in The Night Before Christmas, etc. Like a real historian, Gogol peered into the reasons who created the Cossacks, and tried to evaluate the consequences that inevitably followed from this complex phenomenon. We know that Gogol even intended to write an extensive history of Little Russia; in his "Arabesques" characterizing "Little Russian songs", he talks a lot about the historical conditions that created the heroic scope of the Russian soul, expressed in the formation of the Zaporozhian Sich. Yes, and in the story "Taras Bulba" more than once Gogol deviates towards history, he explains many facts from the life of his heroes by the conditions of the life of that time. As a historian, Gogol conscientiously studied the past of Ukraine and according to scientific works, and according to sources, and according to folk works, and according to the notes of his contemporaries. If, nevertheless, he misunderstood a lot in the past of Little Russia, if he introduced a bit of fiction into Taras Bulba, then this is still a small fault, in the then state of science, even the history of great Russia was not yet interpreted in any satisfactory way.
Gogol's main mistake as a historian was that he introduced a romantic coloring into the historical life of Ukraine: he presented such "colonels" as Bulba as some kind of feudal knights who have their own "regiments", they themselves decide questions of war and peace. Here, most of all, the shade of literary fiction is noted - forgivable, however, to a novelist. At that time, the colonels were "elected" and did not have the power over their regiment that the landlords later acquired over their serfs. Thus, Gogol transferred the relationship of the masters to the serfs into the history of the 15th century, arbitrarily giving these relations a feudal character, which was a mistake. It is obvious that romantic literature, with its castles, feudal lords and autocratic medieval barons, had, in this respect, an excessive influence on Gogol and distorted the historical fidelity of his story. The same tendency to give the Cossacks the character of a knightly order is also outlined in the depiction of the life of the Zaporozhian Sich.
Romanticism prevented Gogol from correctly presenting the psychology of some of the characters. If Taras and his son Ostap are impeccably drawn, then Andriy is completely false. The Cossack of the rude XV century is presented as some kind of "romantic lover", with the most subtle moods of an elegant, sensitive soul. But the historical value of the story, despite the presence of a share of literary fiction, is still great. AT
