In "The Portrait", Gogol deviates quite a bit from his conventional writing style; instead of adopting a humorous, even absurd style, he takes a fairly serious tone that is uncommon in his other works. Part of the reason for this change was the underlying purpose behind this piece; unlike his other stories, which had some serious elements but were generally defined by their amusing tone, "The Portrait" was written partly to serve a form of social commentary.[13] The piece was published in a collection of stories called Arabesques; in addition to "The Portrait", Arabesques contained darker works including "Diary of a Madman".[14] Loosely, scholars have grouped literary works that are focused on the failings of society (such as Arabesques) during the mid to late 1800s as Petersburg Texts. Dostoevsky is generally considered to be the most influential author of these texts, but many others contributed to them, including Gogol.
Part of the reason Gogol felt the need to write stories showcasing the true nature of Saint Petersburg and the toxic atmosphere the city (and indeed, the country) bred was that he himself had lived there; he worked briefly there as a government clerk and was struck by “the utter lack of social interaction” among his colleagues at the time.[15] Gogol disapproved of the way in which workers focused solely on advancing in the civil servant system and conveyed this disapproval through his writing: He uses the character of Andrey as a vehicle to highlight the vices posed by greed and fortune that is achieved without actually working for it.[13] Though Andrey is able to attain immediate wealth and fame because of the agreement he makes with the painting, he is eventually driven mad by the talent of other artists and pays the price for his ruthless pursuit of societal advancement.[13] In terms of the city itself, Gogol noted that Saint Petersburg was remarkably bare of organic feeling, and as a result his depiction of it differed from those of authors such as Pushkin in that there was very little geometry depicted in the city. Famous landmarks such as the city's parks and trees were absent in his portrayal of Saint Petersburg in "The Portrait" as Gogol instead emphasized the grim, crowded appearance of its stores and buildings.[13]
In terms of the structure of the piece, Gogol did adhere to a set of guidelines generally shared with other Petersburg texts. Most prominently, "The Portrait" was grounded in a theme that reflected an underlying social problem, in this case being greed and the desperate pursuit of advancement.[15] In addition, by the end of the story we are able to at least partially sympathize with the main character. Andrey ultimately regretted his decision to make the deal with the portrait and expresses remorse over it. As he reaches the end of his life and his sanity gradually gives way, he begins to destroy artwork without discrimination, and our initial disgust for Andrey over his deal with the painting is at least partially replaced with pity.[13] 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.[13]
