The Diary of A Madman February 17, 2011

'The Diary of a Madman' is based on Nikolai Gogol's darkly comic 1853 short story centered on the life of a minor civil servant, Poprischin, in the repressive era of Nicholas I. Written in first-person, diary entry format, the story follows the protagonist's yearning for a senior official's daughter and his elaborate delusions, among them his imagined royal status and communication between animals. Only as Poprischin descends into madness does he attain a measure of greatness. The story satirizes state bureaucracy in 1830s St. Petersburg and relates an average man's quest for individuality in an indifferent world.