This statement of women fully cements the fear of women and their portrayal as deceitful tricksters that is consistent throughout Nevskii prospekt. The narrator refers to the women in a bitter tone, warning the reader against them. The women are portrayed in a dehumanised manner. Keeping in mind the female characters until now have also served as instruments of deception, leading Piskaryov and Pirogov into their traps, women continue to be reduced to a collective symbol for the traps bringing men to their downfall through manipulating their sexual desires. The betrayal present throughout the story has not only come from Nevskii prospekt itself, but also from women. Given what Gogol has said earlier regarding the Devil ‘зажигает лампы для того только, чтобы …show more content…
It is as if the city of St Petersburg is suffering an apocalypse, rather than a change from day to night. Gogol’s use of the dark as a time of deception and sin is conventional (‘когда ночь сгущенною массою наляжет на него’). However, he uses light as part of the deception as well, turning it into a weapon of the Devil (‘и когда сам демон зажигает лампы для того только, чтобы показать все не в настоящем виде.’) Gogol’s message about the lights of Nevskii prospekt at night is clear – to go into the light will lead to one’s downfall – as has been emphasized earlier in the story through Piskaryov’s tragic tale. Nevskii prospekt is illustrated as a space contradictorily influenced by both natural and artificial, though ruled by supernatural, demonic forces on the whole, which lie in wait for man. Through this, Gogol intends to highlight his interpretation of St Petersburg as a city that, while extravagant and fascinating at first glance, is, in fact, merely a deceptive ruse hiding demonism and