"The Nose" is a satirical, absurdist short story written by Nikolai Gogol between 1832 and 1833.
In "The Nose," Gogol seeks to show the image of an empty and bombastic man, Kovalev, who loves appearances, high social status, and favor from his superiors. Kovalev discovers he has lost his nose, an important part of his appearance, without which he cannot appear in an official institutions, in a secular society, or for a stroll along Nevsky Prospekt. For Kovalev, who primarily focuses on a successful career in his life, it is a tragedy. The nose in the story symbolizes Kovalev's vapid, outward-facing decency, which, as it turns out, can exist without any inner personality. Through the case of Kovalev, Gogol effectively makes fun of society in which high position and rank are appreciated much more than personality.
The first outline of the story refers to the end of 1832 or early 1833, and its rough draft was completed no later than August 1834. In 1835, Gogol began the final processing of the story, intending to put it in The Moscow Observer. On March 18, 1835, he sent the manuscript to Moscow. However, "The Nose" did appear in The Moscow Observer. According to the testimony of some critics, they rejected the story as "dirty, vulgar and trivial." It was instead first published in 1836 by Pushkin in the third issue of The Contemporary.
The story "The Nose" was subjected to harsh and repeated criticism, and as a result, a number of parts in the story were reworked by the author For example, a meeting with Major Kovalev with his nose was moved from the Kazan Cathedral in Gostiny Dvor, and the ending of the story was changed several times.
