Diary of a Madman by Nikolai Gogol. Short summary

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The work is written in the form of a diary of the official Poprishchin. He gradually goes insane and ends up in a madhouse.

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The work is written in the form of a diary of Aksentiy Ivanovich Poprishchin, a petty official and nobleman. At the very beginning he describes his life, his desire to find a special vocation.

He talks about the work he dislikes. He particularly dislikes how he, a nobleman, is pushed around by his superior. He considers Poprishchin to be absent-minded and uncollected.

Next, he writes about his feelings for the headmaster’s daughter. Then he slowly begins to lose his mind — talking to her doggie, Meji. In addition, he thinks he has letters from Meji to another dog.

After a few days, he finally loses his mind. Poprishchin begins to think of himself as the king of Spain. His writings become more and more fantastic; he invents new numbers of the month. Poprishchin is taken to an insane asylum, but he believes he has arrived in Spain. At the end of the diary, the entries completely lose their meaning.