In January 1852, Gogol confessed his sexual orientation to a bigoted priest, Father Matthew Konstantinovsky, who prescribed abstinence from sleep and food, so as to cleanse Gogol's "inner filth." Gogol obeyed. He died of starvation on February 21, despite the ministrations of his friends. His death at the age of forty-three was hastened by doctors, who in order to help him, bled him profusely and subjected him to treatments that were physical tortures.

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Conclusion

Much of Gogol's work was misread in the nineteenth century, when he was regarded as a photographic realist, the originator of the humanitarian and realistic trend in Russian literature. His complexity and originality were first noticed by the writers (rather than the critics) of the early and mid-twentieth century, such as Andrei Bely, Aleksei Remizov, and Vladimir Nabokov.

Although his influence on Dostoevsky was enormous, Gogol's genuine impact on Russian writers came in the twentieth century, after his powerful imagination and unique perception of reality were truly understood.

Since the eleventh century, Russian literature has included treatments of homosexual themes.

A cultural crossroads between Asia and Europe, Russia has a long, rich, and often violent heritage of varied influences and stark confrontations in regard to its patterns of same-sex love.

One of the masters of French nineteenth-century fiction, Balzac provocatively includes both lesbian and gay male characters in his novels.

An eminent professor and translator as well as a drama critic and playwright, Eric Bentley--whether writing from inside or outside the closet--has consistently supported the representation of same-sex desire in the theater.

Jean Genet's work has left a powerful legacy to post-modernity and remains a provocation to questions of gay identity.