Is Gogol’s Diary of a Madman coinciding with the description of Schizophrenia?

By Dr Ruwan M Jayatunge MD

"I am destined by the mysterious powers to walk hand in hand with my strange heroes," "viewing life in all its immensity as it rushes past me, viewing it through laughter seen by the world and tears unseen and unknown by it."- Nicolai Gogol

(April 21, Ontario, Sri Lanka Guardian) The Ukrainian novelist Nicolai Gogol published his sardonic tale Diary of a Madman (Zapiski sumasshedshego) in 1834 which describes the inner psychic conflict of a person named Axenty Ivanovich Poprishchin who seems to be suffering from schizophrenia a mental illness that is characterized by distorted thinking, hallucinations and reduced ability to feel normal emotions.

Modern descriptions of schizophrenia, starting with Kraepelin's laborious work and in 1878 Emile Kraepelin coined the term dementia praecox gaudily describing the clinical picture of Schizophrenia. In 1911 Eugene Beuler first used the term schizophrenia elucidating the major symptomatology such as blunted emotions, disordered thoughts, and loss of awareness. Paradoxically before Emile Kraepelin or Eugene Beuler in 1834 Nicolai Gogol epitomized the inner world of a schizophrenic patient via his short story Diary of a Madman.


Schizophrenia is characterized by profound disruption in cognition and emotion, affecting the most fundamental human attributes: language, thought, perception, affect, and sense of self. Also the sufferers experience a numerous features such as hallucinations, delusions, apathy, lack of emotion, poor social functioning disorganized thoughts, difficulty in concentrating and memory problems.

As described in Gogol’s short story Poprishchin is a civil servant in his 40s. Poprishchin experiences bizarre events when he sees two dogs talk to them in Russian. According to another entry Poprishchin thinks that he is the substitute for the King Ferdinand VII of Spain. Poprishchin has persistent delusions, disorganized behavior and occupational dysfunction.

Diary of a Madman is an inner turmoil of a man with a conflict in his perceptions .The story follows in a diary entry format and the entries reveal that Poprishchin goes in to gradual slide into insanity. It is an extraordinary sketch of psychopathology.

Up to this time Spain had been somewhat of a mystery to me. Their native customs and court etiquette are really most peculiar. I don’t understand, I really do not understand them. Today they shaved my head even though I shrieked as loud as I could that I didn’t want to be a monk. And I have only a faint memory of what happened when they poured cold water over my head.

(from Diary of a Madman )

Poprishchin’s story mixed with humor, sadness, and tragedy and explicates the gradual personality deterioration and how he struggles with his disintegrating psyche. Gogol dives in to Poprishchin ’s mind and vibrantly presents the bizarre events that he experienced.

I hadn’t been there more than a minute when I heard a faint little voice: “Hello, Medji!” Well, I never! Who was that talking?… What was going on, for heaven’s sake? Then I saw Medji sniffing round a little dog following the two ladies. “Aha,” I said to myself, “it can’t be true, I must be drunk.” But I hardly ever drink. “No Fidèle,” I told myself, “you’re quite mistaken.” With my own eyes I actually saw Medji mouth these words: “I’ve been, bow wow, very ill, bow wow.” Ah, you nasty little dog! I must confess I was staggered to hear it speak just like a human being.

(from Diary of a Madman)

Another entry from Poprishchin’s diary gives a clear clue of the distorted cognition that he experienced.

But afterwards, when I’d time to think about it, my amazement wore off. In fact, several similar cases have already been reported. It’s said that in England a fish swam to the surface and said two words in such a strange language the professors have been racking their brains for three years now

(from Diary of a Madman)

Following entry symbolizes Poprishchin’s apparent delusions…..


I did write to you, Fidèle. Polkan couldn’t have delivered my letter.” I’d stake a month’s salary that that was what the dog said. Never in my life have I heard of a dog that could write. Only noblemen know how to write correctly. Of course, you’ll always find some traders or shopkeepers, even serfs, who can scribble away: but they write like machines – no commas or full stops, and

(from Diary of a Madman)

Gogol was the founder of the critical realism in Russian literature. His influence greatly benefited to Nabokov and Dostoevsky. Ironically Gogol too experienced schizophrenic symptoms later in his life. He became a prisoner of a fanatical religious ideology. He gave up his literary career. Just as his fictional character Poprishchin Gogol had an intra psychic conflict. He burnt the part two of the manuscript of Dead Souls. In the final days he refused his meals became a victim of insanity. Gogol died in 1852 disregarding his literary legacy. Gogol’s fall and redemption represents Gogol’s view of the tragedy and absurdity of life.