The paper is devoted to the poetics of the wedding plot with the failed main ritual event in the
works of N. V. Gogol. This invariant of the archetype of the «sacred marriage» is found in folklore,
defining the poetics of a number of lyrical and lyrical-epic genres such as song, folk ballad,
legend. With Romanticism being focused on folklore, a number of fantastic plots developed their
poetics. The ballads of V. A. Zhukovsky «Ludmila» (the translation of the ballad of Bürger «Lenora
») and «Svetlana» were one of the first experiences of romantic assimilation of the motif of
the dead groom’s return to the bride to be used by Russian poets in 1820s – 1830s. The ballad
tradition with a distinctive motif of rivalry, death of the groom, afterlife faithfulness of the groom
to the bride, triumph of destiny was actualized in the works of Lermontov («Love of the dead»,
«Demon»). In the works of Gogol, the motifs of the failed marriage are in contrast to the romantic
tradition and dramatic development of the events. In the early unfinished novel of Gogol «Ivan
Fyodorovich Shponka and his aunt», an ironic version is planned, with the romantic content of the
marriage plot subjected to travesty. The immersion in the people’s everyday life gives rise to the
motif of the hero’s disagreement with the ritual status of the groom. Shponka is afraid of the very
possibility of marriage, distinguishing him from the heroes-grooms of the other novels of «Evenings
...» where there is a complete agreement with the ritual role. Shponka’s disagreement with
the status of the groom is emphasized by the contrast with the strong-willed and active aunt
Vasilisa Kashporovna who wants to marry her nephew. Ivan Fedorovich being afraid of the wedding
and the wife destroys the possibility of further development of wedding rite. The plot
scheme, typical of the romantic tradition, is rethought in the comic light. The characters do not
want the wedding, but the circumstances are forcing them. The ironic version is developed in the
comedy «Marriage», where the failure of the wedding is associated with the duplication
of the ritual roles and the rivalry between the two matchmakers – Fyokla Ivanovna and
Kochkarev. In later works, the social status of heroes begins to play a significant role, and the
wedding becomes one of the ways of gaining the higher position in society, the direct enrichment.
In «Dead souls», the uniqueness of marriage motifs is related to their entry into the world of the
picaresque novel and the image of Chichikov as groom-rogues. Based on the observations, a conclusion
is made about the development of interest in this plot in the works of Gogol, about the
different genre forms of the embodiment of its content. A comparison with the romantic tradition
reveals the features of the poetics of the author which have not been noted before.
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