Nevsky Prospekt by Nikolai Gogol. Short summary

5 seconds

The writer describes life on Nevsky Prospect by the hour. He then recounts the tragic love of an artist for a prostitute and the ill-fated adventures of his friend the lieutenant.

1 minute

Life on Nevsky Prospect begins in the early morning. At this time, beggars appear here, to whom stale bread is thrown. Until noon, mostly working people walk here. Then governesses walk with children. In the evening, it’s a time for walking and making friends.

At this time, two friends, the painter Piskarev and Lieutenant Pirogov, walk along the avenue. The painter is too shy to get acquainted with the lady he likes. But his friend encourages him. The girl takes him to a brothel. She offers him services, but he runs away.

Every night the young man dreams of the beautiful girl, he dreams of her. He decides to rescue her from her debauchery. But the girl does not want to. In desperation he commits suicide.

Lieutenant Pirogov is courting a married German girl. Her husband notices this and throws the impertinent man out of the shop. The Lieutenant is at first indignant, but quickly calms down and goes to dinner, where he dazzles everyone with his mazurka.