Gogol's Tragedy: The Portrait

I was not able to think of a tragedy in today's modern pop culture; however, I remembered this short story about art called The Portrait written by Nikolai Gogol, a Russian novelist. Although Gogol wrote the story in 1835, the struggle and human flaw portrayed in The Portrait remains universal, transcending time and culture. The story captures the tragic fall of a starving but promising young painter, Chartkov. Without money to pay rent and buy food, he becomes disillusioned with his professor’s advice to improve patiently on his skills instead of wasting his talent by seeking immediate fame and becoming “fashionable artist”. One day, at a local art store he impulsively buys a portrait of an old man with staring eyes that seem alive. In the frame of the artwork, he finds a sack of 1000 gold rubles (Russian currency). At first, he thought of using the money for living expenses so that he can devote all of his time to painting, but inside the tempting voice leads him to impulsively shop for fashionable clothes, gorge in pastries, and rent a magnificent apartment. He starts to paint portraits for rich people and become obsessed with money and fame while the true artists shook their heads when they saw his work. One day, he goes to the exhibition of his peer who has spent years developing brushing techniques and accumulating knowledge of history and greatest art works. Chartkov is speechless at the godly beauty of the work of his peer. The regret of wasting his youth in vain impulse and ruining his talent washes over him. He attempts to revive his potential by painting a fallen angel but each brush stroke comes out dull and rigid. His frustration and rage strip him of humanity as he relentlessly buys and shreds every artwork of genuine talent into pieces. Soon, he dies of terrible illness evoked by madness and rage. Although Chartkov’s rise from poverty to wealth and reputation seem to contradict the fall that is an aspect of tragedy, his downfall is a moral and artistic one. His wealth and reputation are fake, made possible only by sacrificing his soul and passion. Preoccupied with the shallow substances of fortune and public recognition, he abandons his pursuit for genuine art and ruins the best years of his life. He is good because he strives to exploit his talent at first but his impatience and susceptibility to temptation of fast wealth and fame result in his downfall. Gogol’s heart-wrenching depiction made readers feel pity for the decay of Chartkov’s character. The only feature of tragedy that Chartkov fails to fulfill is accepting his fate. Instead, he destroys great works of art and dies of madness and frustration. Still, he does come to the painful realization that he had a talent but he ruined without hesitation. The corruption of Chartkov is universal to humans as we see in celebrities and sometimes even in ourselves. This enduring relatability of Chartkov’s demise makes The Portrait even more tragic.