The Night Before Christmas, The Enchanted Place and Others

The Gogol collection book of novellas “Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka” is the writer’s first serious literary experience that brought him fame.

In the novellas “The Lost Deed” and “A Bewitched Place,” the narration is from the perspective of a sexton of * (the) * church.

From these novellas, included in the collection “Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka,” we learn how the sexton’s grandfather easily meets with the evil (unclean) forces, sometimes even loses consciousness because of them, and now and then manages to win—beating a witch at cards and getting back a cap with a deed.

The novella “The Night Before Christmas” tells the story of the blacksmith Vakula’s love for the beautiful Oksana, and of the incredible trials that the blacksmith had to endure in order to win the favor of the proud beauty. The characters of the novella are fantastic—there are devils and a witch, and the big-bellied Pazyuk—but all these fairy-tale figures fit easily with and coexist alongside the ordinary inhabitants of Dikanka.

Gogol began working on the comedy “The Marriage,” which was initially called “Grooms,” in 1833. In May 1835 he read to M. P. Pogodin excerpts from the play “A Provincial Groom” (the action took place in a village, but the main heroes and plot lines were already outlined). Around the same time, the comedy acquired its final title “The Marriage,” and its setting was moved to St. Petersburg.

In the autumn of 1835 and in the spring of 1836, Gogol intended to have it staged, but after taking on “The Inspector General,” he changed his mind. The play was completed abroad in 1841 for a forthcoming collected works edition. The premiere took place on December 9, 1842 (in St. Petersburg) and on February 5, 1843 (in Moscow, as a benefit performance for M. S. Shchepkin). Both productions were unsuccessful. “The Marriage” was ahead of its time: as later critics recognized, it foreshadowed Ostrovsky’s dramatic style.