Gogol's Dead Souls, his first and only novel, is perhaps more important in a biographical and historical context than in simply a literary one. While the content of Dead Souls has its own resonance, according to Nabokov (the prime source of analysis on Gogol), and is pertinent to the development of Russian literature, the production of Dead Souls, with its intentions, aspirations, struggles, defeats and fiery end, has as much to be mined as the novel itself.

Gogol revered Pushkin in all senses of the word, and his admiration was such that he asked him for literary ideas. That Pushkin gave Gogol the idea for Dead Souls is not just a myth. It is fact. This link between two extremely important Russian writers of that age is indicative of a general sentiment towards the present state of their culture - one that strives both to articulate its illnesses as well as revive itself. What also occurred was Pushkin's response at having read a early draft of the first chapter, when he infamously exclaimed, "God, how sad our Russia is!". Gogol was dismayed by Pushkin's apparent lack of understanding, that somehow he had missed the point - that his characters were only caricatures. What Gogol may not have realized is that in itself is still tragic in its own right.

Critics now deem Dead Souls to be a 'mock -epic', but its during its conception Gogol's intention was to create the actual Russian Don Quixote, a Gogolian Odyssey. Ironically, it turned out to be Gogolian Hell - for himself, not only his attempts to mimick Dante's trilogy. Along with this vision, Gogol also considered Dead Souls to be an epic poem, or a novel in verse, as a title on the original cover indicates. Gogol also envisioned the trilogy to be the a part of the redemption of Russian society, transformative by example of the eventual redemption of Chichikov. And even with all this, Gogol saw the completion, or the victory, that this novel would bring as the solidifying fact verifying his creative genius. His overwhelming investment in this novel and the project it was to be was so closely linked with his creative self-conception that as it failed, he himself physically failed. Click here to read the biography.