Diary of a Madman, The Portrait, The Overcoat

First published in Gogol’s collection “Arabesques” in 1835, with the subtitle “Fragments from the Notes of a Madman.” The story was written in 1833–1834.

“Notes of a Madman” should be considered alongside Gogol’s unfinished plan, his comedy “The Inspector-General (Vladimir of the Third Degree)” about an ambitious clerk and careerist dreaming of an order. Judging by drafts and accounts of contemporaries about the play’s plot, the comedy’s hero, as a result of the officials’ trickery, is met with failure—then he goes mad, imagining himself to be Vladimir of the Third Degree. Apparently, after the failure of the comedy—unfinished mainly for censorship reasons—its main themes and images moved over into the story.

For the first time, the story “The Portrait” was printed in “Arabesques” in 1835. Gogol worked on “The Portrait” between 1833 and 1834. In 1841–1842, the author radically revised the story, and “The Portrait” was published in “Sovremennik” in 1842 already in the new edition (this second edition is presented to the reader).

“The Overcoat” is one of the greatest literary works devoted to the fate of “the little man.” The tragedy of his life in the crowd of a big, loud, teeming city looks especially painful, leaving behind a bitter aftertaste in the soul.
The narrative begins with a story about the birth of the main character—Akaky Akakievich Bashmachkin. When the time came for him to get a position, he secured a job in one of the Petersburg offices and received the rank of titular councillor. From then on, all his life is copying papers. Akaky Akakievich treats his work with love: long evenings he sits bent over the documents brought from the office, and, when going to sleep, he anticipates new assignments.
One day, an unforeseen event disrupts the orderly course of his life: examining his only overcoat, he notices tears, takes it to a tailor, and receives a categorical refusal to repair the garment. The overcoat, patched many times, is no longer fit to wear.
Akaky Akakievich becomes a hostage to his dream—a brand-new overcoat for eighty rubles. He dreams of it as something Unfathomable that could change his life for the better. But once he gets it, will he become happier?