Comic and fearful in «The fair at Sorochyntsi» by Nikolai Gogol

The article reviews «The Fair at Sorochyntsi» which is the first short story in the collection «Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka» by Nikolai Gogol. Three groups of characters are distinguished: comic, idealized and demonic heroes. The features of the portrait image of comic characters are described: comic gestures, emphasis on physiology. The author shows the obligatory connection of these characters with a sense of fear and, in general, with the world of the fearful. The genetic connection of silent scenes with the romantic formula «mute and immovable» and pantomimic tableau has been clarified. In the portrayal of the young heroine Paraska, Gogol pays tribute to the tradition of depicting female heads «tete d’expression» and to the romantic principle of «the soul of the face». Attention is paid to the concepts «mirror» and «dance».