The Diary of a Madman (Masterplots II: Short Story Series, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Nikolai Gogol
- First Published: 1835
- Type of Plot: Psychological
- Time of Work: The 1830's
- Setting: St. Petersburg, Russia
- Principal Characters: The narrator, His boss, Sophie, Madgie, Fidele
- Genres: Short fiction, Satire
- Subjects: Values, Love or romance, Mental illness, Obsession, Bureaucracy or bureaucrats
- Locales: St. Petersburg, Russia
The Story
“The Diary of a Madman,” told in the first person, purports to be a diary kept by a forty-two-year-old clerk who has a meaningless job in the vast governmental bureaucracy of mid-nineteenth century Russia. His best prospects for advancement are far behind him, and his duties consist of routine tasks such as sharpening his employer's quills or copying information from one departmental form to another. He is unmarried, bored, and treated without kindness or courtesy. “They don’t listen to me, they don’t hear me, they don’t see me,” he realizes late in the...
[The entire page is 1743 words long]
Navigate
- The Diary of a Madman (Masterplots II: Short Story Series, Revised Edition)
- The Diary of a Madman (Magill Book Reviews)
See Also:
Nikolai Gogol (Cyclopedia of World Authors)Nikolai Gogol (Drama)Nikolai Gogol (Short Fiction)Nikolai Gogol (Long Fiction)Nikolai Gogol (Censorship)Nikolai Gogol (Dictionary of World Biography)Theory of Short Fiction (Topical Overview--Short Fiction)
- Add The Diary of a Madman to your favorites