In one of his essays, N. K. Mikhailovsky touches on some features of the prose of M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin. The main difference between Shchedrin’s style and the manner of F. M. Dostoevsky is, according to the critic, plot reduction and “dedramatization.” In Dostoevsky’s works, suicides, murders and other crimes that occupy a central place in the narrative are described in detail and provided with “a whole arsenal of flashy effects” , and in Shchedrin the same events lose their inherent drama. In later studies devoted to Shchedrin’s work, the plot reduction characteristic of his works is also often emphasized. It is the main technique in the novel “The Golovlevs” and is used by the author to its fullest potential. The dedramatization of the novel's plot brings it closer to the tradition of French naturalism. And it is the discourse of degeneration that is unifying in this case.