Description of the city in the white nights. Central City Children's Library named after

Dostoevsky's story "White Nights" tells the story of two young people suffering from unrequited love. The main characters of “White Nights” are the dreamer and Nastenka, who met during the White Nights of St. Petersburg and began to meet in a friendly manner. The dreamer fell in love with a girl, and Nastenka tells him about her love for another person. The dreamer silently loves the girl, dreaming of her love. The writer’s work is written in the genre of sentimentalism and naturalism; in “White Nights” the heroes are social, they belong to a cohort of little people who depend on reasons and circumstances.

Characteristics of the heroes of “White Nights”

Main characters

Minor characters

This list contains brief description characters and characteristics of heroes from F. M. Dostoevsky’s story “White Nights”, which can be used to write an essay in literature lessons.

Work test

A young man of twenty-six years old is a petty official who has been living for eight years in St. Petersburg in the 1840s, in one of the apartment buildings along the Catherine Canal, in a room with cobwebs and smoky walls. After his service favorite activity- walks around the city. He notices passers-by and houses, some of them become his “friends”. However, he has almost no acquaintances among people. He is poor and lonely. With sadness, he watches as the residents of St. Petersburg gather for their dacha. He has nowhere to go. Going out of town, he enjoys the northern spring nature, which looks like a “sick and sick” girl, who for one moment becomes “wonderfully beautiful.”

Returning home at ten in the evening, the hero sees a female figure at the canal grate and hears sobbing. Sympathy prompts him to make an acquaintance, but the girl timidly runs away. A drunk man tries to pester her, and only a “bough stick”, which ends up in the hero’s hand, saves the pretty stranger. They talk to each other. The young man admits that before he knew only “housewives,” but he never spoke to “women” and therefore is very timid. This calms down the fellow traveler. She listens to the story about the “novels” that the guide created in his dreams, about falling in love with ideal fictional images, about the hope of someday meeting in reality with worthy of love girl. But now she’s almost home and wants to say goodbye. The dreamer begs for new meeting. The girl “needs to be here for herself,” and she does not mind the presence of a new acquaintance tomorrow at the same hour in the same place. Her condition is “friendship”, “but you can’t fall in love.” Like the Dreamer, she needs someone to trust, someone to ask for advice.

On their second meeting, they decide to listen to each other's "stories". The hero begins. It turns out that he is a “type”: in the “strange corners of St. Petersburg” live “neuter creatures” like him - “dreamers” - whose “life is a mixture of something purely fantastic, ardently ideal and at the same time dull prosaic and ordinary " They are afraid of the company of living people, as they spend long hours among “magical ghosts,” in “ecstatic dreams,” and in imaginary “adventures.” “You speak as if you are reading a book,” Nastenka guesses the source of the plots and images of her interlocutor: the works of Hoffmann, Merimee, W. Scott, Pushkin. After intoxicating, “voluptuous” dreams, it can be painful to wake up in “loneliness”, in your “musty, unnecessary life.” The girl feels sorry for her friend, and he himself understands that “such a life is a crime and a sin.” After the “fantastic nights,” he already “has moments of sobering that are terrible.” "Dreams survive", the soul wants " real life" Nastenka promises the Dreamer that now they will be together. And here is her confession. She is an orphan. Lives with an old blind grandmother in a small house of her own. Until the age of fifteen I studied with a teacher, and two last year sits, “pinned” with a pin to the dress of her grandmother, who otherwise cannot keep track of her. A year ago they had a tenant, a young man of “pleasant appearance.” He gave his young mistress books by V. Scott, Pushkin and other authors. He invited them and their grandmother to the theater. I especially remember the opera " Barber of Seville" When he announced that he was leaving, the poor recluse decided on a desperate act: she gathered her things in a bundle, came to the tenant’s room, sat down and “cryed in three streams.” Fortunately, he understood everything, and most importantly, he managed to fall in love with Nastenka. But he was poor and without a “decent place”, and therefore could not get married right away. They agreed that exactly a year later, having returned from Moscow, where he hoped to “arrange his affairs,” the young man would wait for his bride on a bench near the canal at ten o’clock in the evening. A year has passed. He has been in St. Petersburg for three days already. He is not at the appointed place... Now the hero understands the reason for the girl’s tears on the evening of their acquaintance. Trying to help, he volunteers to deliver her letter for the groom, which he does the next day.

Because of the rain, the third meeting of the heroes occurs only through the night. Nastenka is afraid that the groom will not come again, and cannot hide her excitement from her friend. She dreams feverishly about the future. The hero is sad because he himself loves the girl. And yet, the Dreamer has enough selflessness to console and reassure the despondent Nastenka. Touched, the girl compares the groom with a new friend: “Why is he not you?.. He is worse than you, even though I love him more than you.” And he continues to dream: “Why aren’t we all like brothers and brothers? Why the most best man always seems to be hiding something from the other and is silent from him? Everyone looks like that, as if he is harsher than he really is...” Gratefully accepting the Dreamer’s sacrifice, Nastenka also shows concern for him: “you are getting better,” “you will fall in love...” “God grant you happiness with her.” ! In addition, now her friendship is with the hero forever.

And finally the fourth night. The girl finally felt abandoned “inhumanly” and “cruelly.” The dreamer again offers help: go to the offender and force him to “respect” Nastenka’s feelings. However, pride awakens in her: she no longer loves the deceiver and will try to forget him. The “barbaric” act of the tenant sets off moral beauty friend sitting next to him: “You wouldn’t do that? Wouldn’t you throw someone who would come to you on her own into the eyes of shameless mockery of her weak, stupid heart?” The dreamer no longer has the right to hide the truth that the girl has already guessed: “I love you, Nastenka!” He doesn’t want to “torment” her with his “selfishness” in a bitter moment, but what if his love turns out to be necessary? And indeed, the answer is: “I don’t love him, because I can only love what is generous, what understands me, what is noble...” If the Dreamer waits until the previous feelings completely subside, then the girl’s gratitude and love will go to him alone. Young people joyfully dream of a future together. At the moment of their farewell, the groom suddenly appears. Screaming and trembling, Nastenka breaks free from the hero’s hands and rushes towards him. Already, it would seem, a fulfilling hope for happiness, for true life leaves the Dreamer. He silently looks after the lovers.

The next morning the hero receives happy girl a letter asking for forgiveness for her unwitting deception and with gratitude for his love, which “cured” her “broken heart.” One of these days she is getting married. But her feelings are contradictory: “Oh God! If only I could love you both at once!” And yet the Dreamer must remain “eternally a friend, brother...”. Again he is alone in a suddenly “old” room. But even fifteen years later he remembers his life with tenderness. short-lived love: “May you be blessed for the minute of bliss and happiness that you gave to another, lonely, grateful heart! A whole minute of bliss! Is this really not enough for even a person’s entire life?..”

1 of 33

Presentation on the topic:

Slide no. 1

Slide description:

Slide no. 2

Slide description:

Slide no. 3

Slide description:

Description Study the phenomenon of white nights; Collect information relevant to the chosen topic from various sources; Research, analyze information; Determine the duration of white nights; Calculate the position of the Sun above the horizon and investigate the length of white nights in Cherepovets for 2010.

Slide no. 4

Slide description:

Slide no. 5

Slide description:

Slide no. 6

Slide description:

What are white nights? White nights are nights during which natural illumination never becomes too low, that is, the entire night consists only of twilight. Near the polar circles (from their outer side), this phenomenon is observed near the solstice (in the northern hemisphere - in June, in the southern hemisphere - in December).

Slide no. 7

Slide description:

Where are white nights observed? The definition of white nights depends on the definition of twilight. If we accept the definition of civil twilight, then white nights can be observed at a latitude of at least 60°, although they are also spoken of at slightly lower latitudes; however, there is no generally accepted definition. At latitudes above the Arctic Circle, white nights are observed during one to three weeks before the polar day and after it ends. Where there is no polar day, white nights are observed near the solstice, during those more nights, the higher the latitude of the area, and the highest illumination of the night is observed on the night of the solstice.

Slide no. 8

Slide description:

White nights in Russia The most famous Russian city Where white nights are observed is St. Petersburg. Other cities (listed from the darkest and shortest to the lightest and longest white nights): Cherepovets, Vologda, Berezniki, Magadan, Nizhnevartovsk, Khanty-Mansiysk, Nefteyugansk, Surgut, Syktyvkar, Petrozavodsk, Yakutsk, Ukhta, Arkhangelsk, Severodvinsk. White nights can also be observed in those cities where the polar day is observed: Murmansk, Norilsk, Vorkuta - 2-3 weeks before the onset of the polar day and the same amount after its end.

Slide no. 9

Slide description:

White nights beyond the territory of Russia Throughout the countries: Finland, Iceland, Greenland, Antarctica. In most of the territory: Sweden, Norway, Canada. In a smaller part of the territory: Estonia (north), Great Britain (Orkney and Shetland Islands in Scotland, as well as South Orkney Islands in Antarctica), USA (almost all of Alaska, with the exception of the southern regions).

Slide no. 10

Slide description:

White nights in St. Petersburg Officially, white nights in St. Petersburg last from June 11 to July 2; the period of very light nights lasts from May 25-26 to July 16-17. White Nights are a unique symbol of St. Petersburg: various festivals and folk festivals. The image of "White Nights" is widely used in art and literature.

Slide no. 11

Slide description:

Slide no. 12

Slide description:

Slide no. 13

Slide description:

Slide no. 14

Slide description:

White nights at the poles in the North and South Poles white night observed continuously for about 15-16 days before sunrise and the same amount after sunset. In the North it is approximately from March 3 to 18 and from September 26 to October 11, in the South - from March 23 to April 7 and from September 7 to 21.

Slide no. 15

Slide description:

White nights in Cherepovets Calculation table for the position of the Sun above the horizon Cherepovets - largest city Vologda region, the administrative center of the Cherepovets region, one of the few Russian regional cities that surpass the administrative center of its subject of the federation (Vologda) both in population and industrial potential. Population - 310 thousand people. (10/1/2009). Cherepovets agglomeration (Cherepovets district and the city of Cherepovets) - 360 thousand people. Coordinates: 59°08′00″ s. w. 37°55′00″ E. d.

Slide no. 16

Slide description:

Slide no. 17

Slide description:

Slide no. 18

Slide description:

Conclusion The table shows the calculation of the position of the Sun above the horizon from June 9 to July 4, 2010. The sun sets below the horizon at 22:00 and rises at 04:00. The sun reaches its maximum descent below the horizon to -7.77 degrees on June 9 at 00:00 and on July 4 at 01:00, which corresponds to the onset of nautical twilight. The rest of the time corresponds to civil twilight, until the Sun's descent below the horizon exceeds 6-7 degrees. The sinking of the Sun below the horizon even at midnight is not enough that evening and civil twilight turns into morning without night darkness.

Slide no. 19

Slide description:

Why is the night white? As we remember from the lessons of geography and astronomy, the Earth’s axis is tilted, so the Sun illuminates our planet differently - it turns out that in winter the sun’s rays practically do not reach our North, but in summer, on the contrary, the Sun shines almost all day long. St. Petersburg, after all, it is with this city that white nights are associated. This is the merit of our literature - precisely thanks to literary traditions many are ready to consider the white nights an attraction exclusively for us northern capital. However, this is not true. There are white nights in Kazan, Kirov, Arkhangelsk, Pskov, Samara, and Syktyvkar. The southern border of the white nights zone lies at latitude 49º. From the equator to this parallel there are never white nights - it is here and only here that the day is always white and the night is black. At latitude 49º there is one white night a year - June 22. North of this latitude, white nights become lighter, longer and brighter.More…

Slide no. 20

Slide description:

Muscovites can also admire the white nights, but in the capital the nights are not as bright as in St. Petersburg. In Syktyvkar, the white nights are even longer and brighter than in St. Petersburg. And in Arkhangelsk the nights are whiter than in Syktyvkar. The closer to the North, the longer the period of white nights lasts: in St. Petersburg there are 23 white nights during the summer, in Petrozavodsk - 52, and in Arkhangelsk - 77 nights. Near Tiksi Bay, in Yakutia, the Sun does not sink below the horizon from May 12 to August 1. Imagine - more than two months of round-the-clock days! The period of white nights - this phenomenon has a positive effect on the internal, state of mind. I want to love, sing, create, write poetry, live! But this wonderful astronomical phenomenon has a flip side to the coin - the land of white nights in winter turns into a land of black days. Where in summer the sun only briefly hides behind the horizon, there in winter it hardly appears. From childhood, a person acquires the idea of ​​the “correct” change of day and night on Earth: at night it is dark, during the day it is light. However, in fact, the change of light and darkness on our planet is more diverse than children's ideas about it. Our world is complex and mysterious, but at the same time incredibly beautiful!

Slide no. 21

Slide description:

Polar day Polar day is a period when the Sun does not set below the horizon for more than 1 day. Duration: the shortest polar day is almost 2 days and is observed at the latitude of the Arctic Circle - 66°33′ minus the radius of the solar disk (15-16′) and atmospheric refraction (at sea level on average 35′), totaling about 65°43′. The longest period is observed at the poles - more than 6 months. At the North Pole this is approximately from March 18 to September 26, at the South Pole - from September 21 to March 23. It is interesting that, thanks to refraction, the sun shines simultaneously on both poles for several days. The polar day is a consequence of the inclination of the Earth’s equator plane to the ecliptic plane, which is approximately 23°26′. In Russia, the polar day can be observed by residents of the following relatively large cities: Murmansk, Norilsk, Vorkuta.

Slide no. 22

Slide description:

Slide no. 23

Slide description:

Twilight is the part of the day between night and sunrise and between sunset and night, during which the Sun is already (still) below the horizon and invisible, but signs of sunset (dawn) due to scattering are still (already) visible sunlight in the upper layers of the Earth's atmosphere. The surface of the Earth at this time is illuminated by diffuse light and is not completely illuminated. Because the light is unusual and romantic at this time, twilight has long been popular among photographers and artists, who call this period “twilight time.” Formally, twilight is the period of time before sunrise and after sunset during which natural light is provided top layers atmospheres, which, receiving direct sunlight, reflect some of them onto the surface of the Earth.

Slide no. 24

Slide description:

Slide no. 25

Slide description:

Slide no. 26

Slide description:

Slide no. 27

Slide description:

There are civil, navigational and astronomical twilights. WITH scientific point In view, twilight varies depending on the position of the Sun relative to the horizon. Three subtypes of twilight have been established: civil twilight (the lightest, at the end or before its beginning the most visible bright stars), navigational twilight (impossible to read without additional lighting) and astronomical twilight (before or after it is astronomical night: all stars are visible). For comparison, the angular diameter of the Sun is 0.5°. Note: If the Sun is 8.5° below the horizon, the illumination on Earth is the same as at night with a full moon.

Slide no. 28

Slide description:

Civil Twilight During civil twilight, the horizon is clearly visible and ground objects are easily distinguishable without the use of artificial light. Civil twilight is the lightest part of twilight, lasting from the moment the Sun appears to set below the horizon until the center of the Sun plunges 6° below the horizon. During civil twilight, it is possible to observe the brightest celestial bodies, for example, Venus (Venus can sometimes be visible during the day in the light of the Sun). It is believed that during this part of twilight open place possible without artificial lighting perform any work. This factor is taken into account in some laws, such as requiring headlights to be turned on after sunset, or treating robbery at this time as night robbery, which is punished more severely in some codes. In such cases, more often than not the “degree period”, a certain period of time is used (usually 30 minutes before dawn/after sunset). Civil twilight can also be described as a period during which, under good conditions, atmospheric conditions there is enough lighting to clearly see ground objects; in the morning at the beginning or in the evening at the end of civil twilight, the horizon line is clearly visible and under good atmospheric conditions the brightest stars are clearly visible. If civil twilight continues throughout the night, then such a night is called white. In summer, north of the Arctic Circle, the Sun does not set below the horizon at all and polar day is observed.

Slide no. 29

Slide description:

Navigational twilight Navigational twilight is a fairly light part of the day when the center of the Sun is below the horizon from 6 to 12 degrees. It is believed that during this part of twilight natural light allows the navigator to navigate by coastal objects when the ship is sailing near the shore. Navigational twilight near the summer solstice continues all night at latitudes greater than 54°, that is, including in Moscow, Kaliningrad, Nizhny Novgorod, Kazan, Omsk, Perm, Yekaterinburg, Novosibirsk, Krasnoyarsk and other cities at these latitudes. Abroad, partially in Kazakhstan, Mongolia, China, Belarus, Poland, Germany, Great Britain, Canada, USA; entirely on the territory of Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Iceland. In the Southern Hemisphere - in southern territories Argentina and Chile. Nevertheless, such lighting is not enough for normal human life (lighting on the street is closer to night than to evening in the classical sense), so the streets settlements need artificial lighting. At the beginning of this type of twilight in the morning, or at the end of it in the evening, under good atmospheric conditions and in the absence of other light sources, the general outlines of ground objects can be distinguished, but complex outdoor operations are impossible to do, and the horizon is unclear. Navigational twilight is also used by the military. The abbreviations BMNT - beginning of morning navigational twilight and EENT - end of evening navigational twilight are used and taken into account when planning military operations. Military units may feel more secure about BMNT and EENT. This was adopted in part due to the experience of the French and Indian War, when soldiers in both camps used these periods of time to attack.

Slide no. 30

Slide description:

Astronomical twilight This is the name of the time when the Sun is from 12 to 18° below the horizon. Most casual observers note that the entire sky is already completely dark even at the very beginning of astronomical twilight in the evening or the end of the morning, and astronomers can easily make observations of celestial bodies such as stars, but weakly scattering objects such as nebulae and galaxies can be clearly visible before or after astronomical twilight. However, for an ordinary observer, astronomical twilight is indistinguishable from night. From observations it is known that evening dawn stops when the Sun drops below the horizon by 18°, while the faintest stars are already visible in the sky, and at the beginning of astronomical twilight in the morning the stars will disappear. However, due to "light pollution" in some areas - mainly in large cities - even 4th magnitude stars will never be visible, almost regardless of twilight. Therefore, at the beginning or end, the distance of the Sun is 108°. In the polar latitudes in summer, dawn occurs all night, during the time when the declination of the Sun is greater (90° - φ) - 18°, where φ means the latitude of the place. The duration t and the declination of the Sun δ, when twilight is shortest, are calculated using the formulas :sin t/2 = sin 9° x sec φsin δ = -tg 9° x sin φ.

Slide no. 31

Slide description:

Duration of twilight The duration of twilight depends on the latitude of the place and the time of year. Please note that in the polar regions, from September to March, civil twilight lasts all night. The duration of twilight before sunrise and after sunset depends greatly on the latitude of the place. In the polar regions, twilight (if it occurs) can last for several hours. At the poles, twilight does not occur for a month before and after the winter solstice. At the poles, twilight can last up to two weeks, while at the equator it can last up to twenty minutes. This is due to the fact that in areas of low geographical latitude the apparent movement of the Sun is perpendicular to the observer's horizon. In addition, the linear speed of rotation of the earth has highest value at the equator and decreases with increasing latitude. Thus, this place on the equator will pass through all twilight zones directly and quickly. When approaching the polar regions, the solar disk will be at a smaller angle and sink below the horizon more slowly, and given point The Earth will pass through different zones less directly and over a longer period of time. In temperate latitudes, twilight is shortest during the equinoxes, lengthening slightly during the winter solstice and much longer in late spring and early summer. In the polar circles in summer, the day is not interrupted by night and twilight lasts literally for weeks (in the polar spring and autumn). On a certain day in early March 2008, the Arctic Circle was at latitude 66° 33’ 42.36. In areas of high latitudes below the Arctic Circle, there are no days without a break in the night, but twilight can last from sunset to dawn. This phenomenon is often called "White Nights". Latitudes above which in certain times twilight can last all night: astronomical - 48° 33' 42", navigation - 54° 33' 42", civil - 60° 33' 42". List of major cities where civil twilight can last all night: Arkhangelsk, Tampere, Umeå, Trondheim, Tórshavn, Reykjavik, Nuuk, Whitehorse and Anchorage; navigation twilight: Petropavlovsk, Moscow, Vitebsk, Vilnius, Riga, Tallinn, Wejherowo, Flensburg, Helsinki, Stockholm, Copenhagen, Oslo, Newcastle upon Tyne, Glasgow, Belfast, Grande Prairie, Juneau, Ushuaia and Puerto Williams; astronomical twilight: Astana, Kyiv, Minsk, Warsaw, Kosice, Zwettl, Prague, Berlin, Paris, Luxembourg, Amsterdam, London, Cardiff, Dublin, Bellingham (Washington), Rio Gallegos and Punta Arenas. Although, in Helsinki, Oslo, Stockholm, Tallinn and St. Petersburg, civil twilight does not actually last all night, even during the solstice. There, during the summer solstice, the sky is noticeably lighter (white nights).

Slide no. 32

Slide description:

The movement of the sun along the ecliptic It is believed that a full astronomical night begins only when the Sun drops 18 degrees below the horizon. Before sunrise, twilight replaces each other in the reverse order: astronomical, navigational, civil. In the southern (or rather, low) latitudes, the Sun during the day descends below the horizon along a steep trajectory and quite quickly passes all three thresholds of twilight. From sunset to astronomical night only an hour and a half passes, or even less. At high latitudes, the Sun approaches the horizon along a gentle trajectory and sinks below it slowly. Moreover, in the summer, even by midnight it does not have time to overcome the twilight zone and immediately begins to rise. That is, a full-fledged astronomical night does not have time to occur. This phenomenon is called white nights.1. At low latitudes, the Sun quickly sinks below the horizon and night falls. In the Northern Hemisphere, the Sun is highest (both at noon and midnight) on the summer solstice, June 21. On this day, at latitudes north of 66.5° the Sun does not set at all - a polar day is observed here. At latitudes from 60.5° to 66.5°, civil twilight continues throughout the night. At latitudes from 54.5° to 60.5° there are navigational latitudes, and up to 48.5° there are days when astronomical twilight lasts all night.

Slide no. 33

Slide description:

2. Beyond the Arctic Circle, the Sun does not fall below the horizon in summer. 3. At the latitude of St. Petersburg, the Sun slowly sinks below the horizon in summer and remains shallow all night - in the twilight zone. So we can say that white nights are typical for most of the territory of Russia. Another thing is where they pay attention. St. Petersburg (59.9° N) is the northernmost city in the world with a population of more than a million people. Combination special conditions lighting with the architecture of the city creates a unique spectacle, thanks to which the white nights are always closely connected with St. Petersburg.

Recognizing that very often we think in clichés is unpleasant, but necessary. For example, what can we say about the work of F.M. Dostoevsky? School program, within the framework of which, most likely, only “Crime and Punishment” was read, develops a reflex: Dostoevsky’s surname evokes memorized phrases in the mind, for example, “internal conflict of the hero”, “mental tossing”, “realism”, “hostile the world around us", "little man". Take Raskolnikov - here is a wonderful example of mental tossing, internal conflict. And how Dostoevsky describes St. Petersburg? “It smelled of lime, dust, stagnant water,” “huge, crowding and oppressive houses...” - that’s the hostile surrounding reality; It’s no wonder you become a murderer in a city like this, right? So you can continue to find confirmation that all these memorized phrases are true; in other most famous works of Dostoevsky - “The Brothers Karamazov”, “The Idiot”, “The Gambler”, “The Teenager” - the same difficult insoluble internal conflicts, a hostile surrounding reality. The triumph of realism in Dostoevsky’s work, in a word.

Is it possible, after such a serious set of terms, to suspect that Dostoevsky wrote something sentimental, even a little childishly naive? Hardly. But that’s what a genius is, to be able to write in completely different directions.

So, 1848 is the date the novel “White Nights” was written. More precisely, a sentimental novel, as the author himself defined the genre. It’s worth making a reservation: it is generally accepted that “White Nights” is a story, but we will follow the author’s lead and in some cases we will call it a sentimental novel. Even the subtitle sounds like this: “From the Memoirs of a Dreamer” - another indication of sentimentalism. The specificity of this direction lies in the fact that the focus is on the inner emotional experiences of the characters, their feelings and emotions. Let's figure out what could be sentimental in this novel by Dostoevsky?

Summary: what is “White Nights” about?

The plot centers on the relationship between two people - the narrator and Nastenka. They completely accidentally cross paths during a night walk in St. Petersburg and, as it turns out, are kindred spirits- dreamers. They open up to each other, and the girl shares with him a story about her lover, who went to Moscow for a year, and now should return for her, but still does not come. The narrator volunteers to help her, delivers the letter, and waits with her for the arrival of her lover, who ultimately arrives. Everything is going as well as possible, but... This is where sentimentalism begins. The hero is in love with Nastenka and, as you might guess, unrequitedly. That's why a large share the narrative is occupied by a description of his feelings, thoughts and emotions in climax— the moment of waiting for the heroine’s lover.

Why did Dostoevsky call the novel sentimental?

The manner of describing these feelings evokes a clear association with another sentimental work - “Suffering young Werther» Goethe. However, “White Nights” by Dostoevsky and “Werther” by Goethe, even in the basis of the plot, have much in common - love triangle, Where main character turns out to be rejected.

It is worth noting that in “White Nights” the writer does not make the hero’s experiences dramatic - in Werther Goethe, internal emotions are much more complex and impulsive, they lead to a tragic ending - suicide. In the novel, F.M. Dostoevsky mental anguish do not lead to a tragic end; on the contrary, the narrator, even having suffered a love failure, is grateful to fate at least for the short happiness that befell him. It turns out that the hero of this sentimental novel is in some harmony with himself. Is Dostoevsky's hero in harmony with himself? It's unusual, but it's true.

The image of St. Petersburg in the story “White Nights”

However, the genre of sentimentalism in this novel is predetermined not only by the plot, but also by the nature of the characters and the manner of narration. The narrator becomes the embodiment of sentimentalism - this is noticeable from the first lines of the work, when the routine life of the hero, his relationships with other people and St. Petersburg are described. What is characteristic is that he perceives his city as a living being, all people as his acquaintances. The hero’s mood changes his perception native land- one more characteristic feature sentimentalism. True, usually the authors sentimental works connect the inner experiences of characters with images of nature - an example of this is the already mentioned Werther. Here the role of landscape is played by St. Petersburg.

The very description of St. Petersburg is also not at all characteristic of Dostoevsky; the Petersburg of White Nights is not at all the same as in his other works. Usually St. Petersburg is the embodiment of vices, the same hostile surrounding reality that the heroes are forced to confront. Here the city acts as the narrator’s friend, his interlocutor; the narrator loves him, enjoys his spring. Petersburg responds to the narrator's inner experiences, but does not become hostile. In this work of Dostoevsky, the problem of the external world is completely absent, which is not usual. We don't know anything about social status heroes, they themselves do not see the reason for their failures as something in the outside world. The focus is only on the inner world.

Language features in the work

It is also impossible not to pay attention to the manner of speech of the heroes - how internal monologues, and dialogues - which is not at all typical for the heroes of the realist Dostoevsky. It is full of various metaphors, it is characterized high style. The sentences are long and detailed. There are a lot of statements with a pronounced emotional overtones.

It is thanks to this nature of speech that the image of the heroes becomes clear to us. They both feel sensitively and are careful about the feelings of others. Emotional, very often excited. From their dialogues it becomes clear that they are able to pay attention to insignificant details, which become very significant to them. Their conversations contain a lot of loud phrases and promises. The heroes are quite radical in matters relating to feelings , They throw around words like “forever”, “love”, “happiness”. Their thoughts about the future, love and friendship sound childishly naive. But that’s why they are both dreamers.

The image of Nastenka in the novel “White Nights”

So what are they, these sentimental heroes, atypical for Dostoevsky? We see Nastenka, of course, only through the eyes of the narrator. The narrator is in love with a girl, so in many ways he may idealize her image. However, she, just like him, is isolated from the outside world, although not of her own free will, but at the whim of her grandmother. Such isolation, however, made the heroine a dreamer. For example, sometimes in her dreams she even went as far as marrying a Chinese prince. The girl is sensitive to the experiences of others, and when she learns about the narrator’s feelings for her, she worries that she could have hurt his feelings with some careless phrase. Nastenka dives headlong into feeling, her love is pure, unshakable, like that of any dreamer. Therefore, when she is visited by doubts whether her lover will come to her, she so childishly, so helplessly tries to give up these feelings, replace love with hatred, build happiness with another, that is, with the narrator. Such convinced, naive love is also characteristic of sentimentalism; in realism everything can be complex and confusing, such as the relationship between Prince Myshkin and Nastasya Filippovna, but in sentimentalism everything is simple - either you love it or you don’t.

The image of the main character (narrator) in the novel “White Nights”

The type of St. Petersburg dreamer is a kind of superfluous person, unadapted to reality and not needed by the world. He has a lot in common with his Nastenka. True, the narrator is perhaps an even greater dreamer than she. His detachment from the world is not forced, like the heroine’s, but “voluntary.” No one forced him to such a reclusive lifestyle. He reacts sensitively to his beloved’s emotions and is afraid of hurting or offending her. At the moment when he realizes that his love is unrequited, he does not feel negative feelings towards her at all, and also continues to love her tenderly. There is no internal conflict in his soul whether to love Nastenka or not.

At the same time, one cannot help but notice that the narrator has absolutely no connection with the outside world. He even makes St. Petersburg seem a little fictitious. The heroine, on the contrary, seems to be striving to break out of this alienation. In many ways, her fiancé becomes her connection to the outside world.

Themes in the novel "White Nights"

One of the central themes is, of course, love. But, what is typical for sentimentalism, this is a story of unrequited and, at the same time, sublime love. The heroes themselves attach unprecedented importance to this feeling.

But despite the fact that the plot revolves around love story, other topics are raised here besides love. Dreamers, as Nastenka and the narrator call themselves, are different from those around them. This is how the theme of loneliness appears in the novel. The characters suffer from their isolation from other people. That's why, perhaps, they got along with each other so easily. Nastya says that she had a friend, however, she also left for Pskov. What is life like for a young girl in the company of only her grandmother? Therefore, her fiancé is a saving thread from this world of loneliness. The narrator is even more lonely than Nastenka. At the same time, he does not dare to try to avoid this loneliness, even his acquaintance with the heroine is just lucky chance. The young man is so lonely that he imagines every passerby to be his acquaintance, or, what is even more absurd, he talks to houses. When the girl asks him to “tell his story,” he admits to her that a dreamer like him doesn’t seem to live, his life is not filled with anything.

The idea of ​​Dostoevsky's "White Nights"

This is probably also why he becomes so attached to Nastenka. She is his only interlocutor, his salvation from this loneliness that is familiar to him. Communication with her, her attachment to him, becomes the only thing in this world that matters for the hero. When he realizes that it is not he who will get Nastenka’s love, he withdraws into himself; the city and everything that surrounds it seem to become duller and older in his eyes. He himself grows dim and old. If this had been a character familiar to Dostoevsky, perhaps disappointment would have been followed by hatred of Nastenka. But he also continues to love her, purely and reverently, wishing her only the best. Or the hero could become disillusioned with life, like Svidrigailov, for example, and commit suicide. But this does not happen either - the hero says that for the sake of this short-lived happiness it was worth living. “A whole minute of bliss! But is this not enough even for a human life?..” This phrase contains idea of ​​the work. The idea of ​​happiness: what does it consist of and how much happiness can one person require in his entire life? Due to the fact that Dostoevsky’s hero is sentimental, he is grateful to fate for these few nights. These are probably the memories he will live with for the rest of his life. later life and will be happy that he managed to survive it. This will be enough for him.

What is the difference between White Nights and other works by Dostoevsky?

This sentimental novel by Dostoevsky, due to its genre, is radically different from his others, more famous works. A completely different, non-hostile St. Petersburg. Completely different heroes - sensitive, simple, loving, dreamy. A completely different language - metaphorical, sublime. A completely different range of problems and ideas: not thinking about the problems of a little person, for example, or about the application of any philosophical ideas, but about the loneliness of dreamers, the transience and value of human happiness. This sentimental novel reveals to us a completely different Dostoevsky; Dostoevsky is not gloomy, but light and simple. But in some ways this great Russian author remains true to himself: even despite the external lightness and simplicity of the work, the writer touches on important philosophical issues. Questions about love and happiness.

Interesting? Save it on your wall!

F.M. Dostoevsky writes the story "White Nights" in recent months in the autumn of 1847, soon, already in 1848, the work was published by the journal Otechestvennye zapiski.

Previously, the writer was already interested in the topic of “St. Petersburg dreamers”; in 1847, he wrote several feuilleton articles on this topic, which were included in the large feuilleton “Petersburg Chronicle”. But Dostoevsky published these articles almost anonymously, signing the feuilletons with the letters “F.M.” Later, critics established that part of the material from the feuilleton was included in the story “White Nights” - a description of the life of the heroes, their characteristics.

The story is dedicated to A.N. Pleshcheev, a friend of Dostoevsky's youth, and some critics argue that Pleshcheev became the prototype of the main character. Some, however, object that the image of the main character is the image of the youngest Dostoevsky, and it is no coincidence that the author narrates in the first person, hinting at autobiography.

Analysis of the work

Genre features, composition, content of the story

The writer accompanies the story with two subtitles: “ Sentimental novel" and "From the Memoirs of a Dreamer." Both subtitles indicate that the story belongs to certain genre And literary movement. The first - directly, the second - indirectly, because the common method of presentation in sentimental literature becomes exactly diary entries, memories, retrospectives. The writer calls the story a novel, also based on sentimentalist views. For the same reasons, the main character of the story does not have a name; the author simply calls him “Dreamer.”

However, in terms of genre, “White Nights” is, of course, not sentimentalism in its pure form, but rather “sentimental naturalism”, because both the place and the characters are quite real, moreover, they are deeply social and belong to the category of “little people” glorified by Dostoevsky. But in the story “White Nights” there are traces of utopianism, because the heroes turned out to be too pure, too sterile, too honest in their feelings.

The epigraph to the story was I. Turgenev’s poem “Flower”, lyrical hero who picks a flower growing peacefully in the shade of the trees and pins it to his buttonhole. Turgenev reasons: beautiful flowers do not grow for momentary pleasures (read - people live), but a person takes them with an imperious hand, plucks them and dooms them to quick death (read - seduces, first loves and extols, then leaves). Dostoevsky somewhat reinterprets Turgenev’s statement, making it a question: « …Or was he created in order to stay at least for a moment in the neighborhood of your heart?” That is, Dostoevsky comes to the conclusion that sometimes touching love, walking along the edge of unfulfilled happiness is the whole of life, you can devote yourself to this single memory, as the Dreamer does.

Compositionally, the story consists of 5 chapters, 4 chapters are dedicated to nights in St. Petersburg, the last one is called “Morning”. The construction is symbolic: romantic nights are the stages of the protagonist’s successive falling in love with main character, stages of his development, and at the end he, morally perfect, stands on the threshold of his morning - epiphany. He has found love, but unrequited, therefore, on the morning of his insight, he gives up his love to another, gets rid of dreams and, experiencing a real feeling, does a real deed.

Morning simultaneously dispels empty hopes and breaks off a series of wonderful meetings; it becomes the beginning and end of the hero’s drama.

Plot of the story

Plot of the story: the young man on whose behalf the story is told came to St. Petersburg 8 years ago. It works, but free time looks at cityscapes and dreams. One day he saves a girl on the embankment who is being pursued by a drunk. The girl tells the Dreamer that she is waiting on the embankment for her lover, who was going to come for her exactly a year ago, having made an appointment for these days. The girl waits for him for several days, but he does not come, and despair begins to overcome her. The dreamer communicates with Nastenka, takes it upon himself to deliver the letter to her lover, and he himself falls in love with the girl. Nastenka also falls in love, and they are even planning to get married, when suddenly the former lover appears again and takes Nastenka away. A cold, dank St. Petersburg morning comes, and the Dreamer feels sobering and devastated.

Main characters

The main character of the story is the Dreamer - the author’s favorite image of a lonely person, completely isolated from the outside world and living in a vicious circle of his dreams.

The Dreamer is a 26-year-old resident of St. Petersburg. He is educated, but poor, has certain prospects, but has no worldly desires. He serves somewhere, but does not get along with colleagues and others around him - for example, women. He is not interested in the everyday side of life, nor money, nor girls; he is constantly immersed in illusory romantic dreams and during periods of contact with others, he experiences a painful feeling of alienation to this world. He compares himself to a dirty kitten, not needed by anyone in the world and experiencing reciprocal resentment and enmity. However, he would not be irresponsible if they needed him - after all, people are not disgusting to him, he would be ready to help someone, he is capable of empathy.

The dreamer is a typical “little man” ( social status, inability to act, immobility, invisibility of existence) and “ extra person"(he feels himself like this, despising only himself for his uselessness).

The main character, the 17-year-old girl Nastenka, is contrasted with the Dreamer as an active, acting character. Despite her outward fragility and naivety and young age, she is stronger than the Dreamer in the search for happiness. The writer uses many words with diminutive suffixes - “eyes”, “hands”, “pretty”, emphasizing the childishness and spontaneity of the image, its playfulness, restlessness, like a child. By the habits of a child, by the heart it is - real woman: skillfully uses the help of an adult man, but at the same time, having clearly recognized his sensitive and indecisive nature, stubbornly does not notice his feelings. At a critical moment, however, when it becomes clear that her lover has abandoned her, she quickly orients herself and finally notices these very feelings. At the moment of the appearance of a potential husband, he again looks at the Dreamer’s feelings as friendly participation. However, should we blame the girl for her fickleness? In the end, she faithfully waited for her main happiness for a whole year, and there is no insincerity in the fact that she almost went over to the Dreamer - the life of a lonely, fragile girl in a large and hostile St. Petersburg is difficult and dangerous, she needs support and support.

Nastenka writes a letter to the Dreamer, in which she thanks him for participating in her story. Having received the letter, the Dreamer does not feel sad - he sincerely wishes happiness to the girl and, repeating the idea of ​​the epigraph, says that a whole minute of bliss with Nastenka is what is enough for a lifetime.

Dostoevsky's contemporaries saw French utopian ideas, which they were all passionate about. The main thesis of the utopians of the 1840s was the desire for silent feat, sacrifice, and renunciation of love in favor of other people. Dostoevsky was deeply devoted to these ideas, which is why the type of love he describes is so ideal.