disgust for Andrey over his deal with the painting is at least partially replaced with pity. In this way, Gogol demonstrates that though individuals can be flawed, redemption is still possible, albeit in a manner that the reader may not have been expecting. Other Petersburg texts, such "Diary of a Madman" and Notes from Underground, followed similar patterns. Reception The Academic American Encyclopedia cited the work as an example of the "conflict between Gogol's idealistic strivings and his sad, cynical view of human propensities". First published in Arabesques, the story was received unfavorably by critics, and Gogol returned to the story, reworking it for the 1842 publication. Simon Karlinsky believes that the second version of the story, with its differing epilogue, works better within the context of the story, but writes that the work, while "a serious treatment of an important social problem", is "too slender a theme" to support the central thrust of the work, an attempt to portray "the great mystical concept of the Antichrist". Legacy Gogol's work has influenced the literature that followed. Adrian Wanner writes that Gary Shteyngart's work, ‘Shylock on the Neva’, is a modern-day writing of ‘The Portrait.' The main plot of ‘Shylock on the Neva’ is the same as that of ‘The Portrait’. There is a wealthy St Petersburg man who asks a painter to do his portrait in order to fulfill his desire to be immortalized in art. Some critics have argued that humor is lacking in ‘The Portrait’, Adrian Wanner argues that in rewriting the story, Shteyngart was attempting to ‘Gogolize’ his own tale. Adaptations A silent film from 1915 by Ladislas Starevich. The story was the basis of an opera by Mieczysław Weinberg, The Portrait, composed in 1980. The story was adapted for BBC Radio in 2002 as part of the BBC Radio 4 comedy series Three Ivans, Two Aunts and an Overcoat with the title "The Mysterious Portrait" and starred Stephen Moore. This adaptation concludes with Chartkov arrogantly defying the image in the painting and paying a terrible price. References External links Портрет, Online text (Russian) from public-library.ru The Portrait - Official Film Website Short stories by Nikolai Gogol 1835 short stories Gothic short stories Short stories adapted into films