Satirical depiction of reality in the auditor. Satirical depiction of officials in Gogol's comedy The Inspector General

The comedy "The Government Inspector" is one of the best works of N.V. Gogol. The plot of the comedy was suggested to him by A. S. Pushkin. Grateful to Pushkin, Gogol claimed that his comedy would be "funnier than the devil." Laughter really pervades every episode, every scene of the comedy. However, this is a special kind of laughter, laughter through tears, revealing laughter. Gogol takes the action of comedy beyond the framework of an anecdotal incident. In the comedy The Inspector General, he created a gallery of incredibly funny characters. However, they all turned out to be easily recognizable types of people. This was confirmed even by Tsar Nicholas. After one meeting with provincial officials, he said to the provincial marshal of the nobility: "I know them ..." - and then added in French that he saw them at the performance of Gogol's "Inspector General".

Gogol really painted not just officials of a single county town. He created collective, typical images.

So, the head of the city is Anton Antonovich Skvoznik-Dmukhanovsky. The mayor is dishonest, robs merchants without a twinge of conscience, indulges lawlessness, does not fulfill his official duties, cheats, and wastes government money. The city under the leadership of Anton Antonovich is mired not only in lawlessness, but also in mud. Around garbage, drunkenness, immorality. The mayor turns out to be a fool when he finds out that Khlestakov is not an auditor at all, and he himself is not the future father-in-law of a high-ranking Petersburg official. Anton Antonovich is funny. Gogol mercilessly castigates embezzlement, corruption, abuse of office. In the person of Skvoznik-Dmukhanovsky's wife and daughter, the author ridicules empty coquetry and stupidity.

About Judge Lyapkin-Tyapkin, the writer already in his “Remarks for Messrs. Actors” ironically remarks that he read “five or six books”, and Khlestakov in his letter calls the judge a man of bad taste. By the nature of his service, Lyapkin-Tyapkin is called upon to administer justice. But instead, he breaks the law himself - he takes bribes, which he speaks openly about. Lyapkin-Tyapkin turns a blind eye to many judicial disturbances. For example, on geese with goslings, bred in the front. He just doesn't have time to do it. The judge does not fulfill his official duties, he prefers to "follow hares" and visit Dobchinsky's wife. The trustee of charitable institutions Strawberry - a big "slicker and rogue"; he is very helpful and fussy. With extraordinary promptness, Strawberry offers Khlestakov to put his denunciation of his recent friends on paper. It seems that in return he hopes to receive forgiveness of his own sins, and the trustee of charitable institutions has a lot of them: the sick go around in dirty caps, instead of habersup cabbage is always and everywhere for lunch, expensive medicines are not used anywhere. The money allotted for charitable purposes goes straight into Strawberry's pocket.

Postmaster Shpekin "simple-minded to the point of naivety." This author's definition is full of sarcasm. Shpekin loves to read other people's letters, and he leaves the ones he likes as a keepsake, so that later he can read aloud to his friends at his leisure.

V. G. Belinsky in one of his letters to Gogol called the "Inspector" "a corporation of various service thieves and robbers", and this assessment is very fair. The characters of the comedy are well aware of their sins and turn out to be so frightened by the news of the arrival of the auditor and the possible exposure that they mistake an ordinary petty official for an inspector from the capital.

Khlestakov is a young man of about twenty-three, somewhat stupid and "without a king in his head." Already in this description sounds a caustic author's mockery. Khlestakov is an ordinary helicopter, reveler, fanfaron. He blows his father's money into the wind, thinks only of pleasures and outfits. In addition, it is a tireless liar. He is on friendly footing with the "himself" head of the department, they even wanted to make him a collegiate assessor, he lives in the mezzanine. Already this lie makes those present numb, and Khlestakov enters into real excitement and simply chokes on his enchanting fantasies: he is closely acquainted with Pushkin, he writes himself; well-known works belong to him, the state council is afraid of him, he will soon be promoted to field marshals ... Without thinking about the consequences, Khlestakov begins to openly molest the mayor's wife and daughter and even promises to marry both. He does not think about his words or his actions.

The action of the comedy takes place in an ordinary county town. Gogol does not give him a name, emphasizing by this that he painted Russia in miniature, that such customs are common throughout the Russian side. Everywhere, according to the writer, they steal, cheat, mess around, take and give bribes, and this is especially bitter. Gogol does not make laugh, but cruelly ridicules, castigates the vices of contemporary society. But how could he know that in the lines of his comedy the reader of the twenty-first century will painfully recognize and modern Russia where the draft-Dmukhanovskys, Lyapkins-Tyapkins, strawberries rule the ball? ..

The Inspector General is a comedy that shows in a satirical way how inaction and irresponsibility can lead a person and a city to complete decline. Each character is described in the work brightly and unusually, exaggerated and funny. satirical image officials in the comedy "The Government Inspector" is no coincidence. Each of them is shown very sharply and ironically, and it is due to this that the effect is achieved when the comedy raises very important and global issues.

What is satire

Satire in literature is used to ridicule certain vices. In comedy, satire is called upon, with the help of humor, irony, sarcasm, to expose what is negative and negative in life. With the help of humor, the reader understands how scary the described event really is. Sharp and bright images, which are difficult to meet in real life, provide an opportunity to look at the world differently. All the vices that are not always visible at first glance in an ordinary person are obvious here. With the help of satire, the author emphasizes and ridicules the phenomenon that he considers unacceptable in real life. But, unfortunately, the reality is such that it is in reality that satire draws its origins.

Images of officials

In The Inspector General, each image is described very clearly and vividly. All officials represent certain vices, which in total add up to a picture of the complete destruction of the city. In any of them, hyperbolized qualities are combined. However, none of them are evil.

For all officials in the "Inspector" are characteristic common features. All of them are exemplary family men. All of them take bribes, and accordingly, they are not shy or afraid to give them. Each of them fawns over the higher authorities. In an attempt to please any of the officials forgets and loses himself. In general, each of them is a good-natured person who does not wish harm to anyone. It's just that none of them is responsible for their own position and failure to fulfill their duties. From the fact that each of them allows himself to live and work in this way, the city turns into a dump, where dirt and devastation reign.

Speaking surnames

It is noteworthy that in Gogol's comedy each surname clearly describes its character, his attitude to work and life. For example, judge Lyapkin-Tyapkin refers to his work as “Tyap-lyap”, Strawberry is as round and sugary as a berry, the surname Shpekin comes from the word “bacon”, which means “informer”, “secret agent”. It is these surnames that help create a satirical image of each of the officials.

In the life of such people, it would seem, it is almost impossible to meet, because their images are exaggerated. But in fact, if you look closely, each of them can be seen in real people. Even today, many years after the comedy was written, all these vices exist in real life. People still evade their duties, shift responsibility onto the shoulders of others, fawn over superiors, try to serve a superior during any check. It is important to understand that only by working according to honor can results be achieved.

Gogol notes that the system itself made officials like that. But even today officials take bribes, cover up criminals, and avoid responsibility for their decisions and inaction.

This article will help you write an essay “The image of officials in the comedy “The Inspector General”, give a description of the satire and a satirical description of each of the characters in the comedy, draw conclusions and compare the images of the official with the current situation.

Artwork test

Theme of the lesson: "Comedy"Inspector": Russian bureaucracy in the satirical image of N.V. Gogol"

Epigraphs of the lesson:

The Inspector General is a whole sea of ​​fear.”

Yu.Mann

Khlestakov plays the main role in the action.

All other faces revolve around him,

like planets around the sun.

Y. Mann.

Goals:

1. educational : work on the artistic features of the play; fear of the auditor as the basis of comedic action.
2. Developing: development of analytical skills of students.
3. Nurturing: formation of positive moral orientations.

Methodological techniques: reading individual episodes of comedy, analytical conversation, presentation, analysis of artists' drawings for the play, literary dictation.

Equipment: presentation “Inspector General”, drawings for a comedy, a plate with Khlestakov’s characteristics.

During the classes:

Organizational moment.

Teacher:

Which do we study his work?

Read the 1st epigraph to the lesson. slide

How do you understand the words of the modern literary critic Yuri Mann?(the sea of ​​fear is the fear of punishment, loss of position)

Read the 2nd epigraph to the lesson. Who are these planets?(officials) The meaning of this epigraph during the lesson we will analyze, we will refer to these statements and not only to these. (Hence our lesson topic: write it down and epigraphs)

1. Examination homework (knowledge of the text). Test. Slide . Demonstration of the presentation with questions:

- determine what kind of literature the comedy "The Inspector General" belongs to.

(drama, because the characters are characterized only by speech);

- match the characters and their characteristics: slide

Answers: slide

• 1. 1
• 2. 6
• 3. 4
• 4. 2
• 5. 7
• 6. 3
• 7. 5

Literary dictation: slide

1. “I seemed to have a presentiment: today I dreamed all night about some two unusual rats. Really, I've never seen anything like it: black, unnatural size! They came, sniffed - and went away.(Governor, Anton Antonovich)

2. “... you want to eat so much and there is such a rattling in your stomach, as if a whole regiment blew trumpets. Here we will not reach, and only, home! ... finned expensive money, my dear, now he sits and twisted his tail ... "(Osip)

3. “Why not? I saw myself, passing by the kitchen, there was a lot of preparation. And in the dining room this morning, two short people were eating salmon and a lot of other things.(Khlestakov)

4. “Fi, mama, blue! I don’t like it at all: both Lyapkina-Tyapkina wears this, and Zemlyanikin’s daughter also wears blue. No, I'd rather wear color." (Mayor's daughter, Marya Antonovna)

5. (entering and stopping, to himself). “God, God! Carry it out safely; and so he breaks his knees. (Aloud, stretching out and holding his sword with his hand.) I have the honor to introduce myself: a judge of the local county court, a collegiate assessor ... "(Ammos Fedorovich Lyapkin-Tyapkin, judge)

6. “Very possible. (After a pause.) I can say that I do not regret anything and zealously fulfill my service. (Moves closer with his chair and speaks in an undertone.) Here the local postmaster does absolutely nothing: all affairs are in great neglect, parcels are delayed ... The judge also ... keeps dogs in public places and behavior ... the most reprehensible. (Artemy Filippovich Strawberry, trustee of charitable institutions)

7. “(hitting his forehead). How am I - no, how am I, you old fool? I survived, stupid sheep, out of my mind! .. I have been living in the service for thirty years ... I deceived scammers over scammers ... I deceived three governors! ... "(Mayor)

8. “Of course. They ran like crazy from a tavern: “I came, I came and I don’t make money ... We found important bird!» (Luka Lukich Khlopov, superintendent of schools)

9. “An official who arrived from St. Petersburg by personal order demands you to come to him at once. He's staying at a hotel."(gendarme)

Check yourself. Slide.

2 . Analysis of the 4 action of the comedy: (Appeal to the 2nd epigraph)

“Khlestakov plays the main role in the action. All other faces revolve around him, like the planets around the sun.

Y. Mann.

What are the planets that revolve around the sun?(planets are officials who revolve around the sun-Khlestakov, Khlestakov for them is the sun on which their well-being depends)

Let's look at the names of the heroes: their names speak for themselves.

Let us now turn to Khlestakov, whom Mann compares with the sun: (Phenomena V, p. 47, 2nd act) How does this monologue fit Khlestakov?

Let's move on to the analysis of the 4th act and analyze the scenes where the officials gather in the mayor's house. (P.162 textbook) Slide

With what intentions did they gather in the mayor's house the next day? (They look for the best form of presentation to the “auditor” and strive to find The best way give a bribe to a distinguished guest)

Vocabulary work. slide

Give a lexical interpretation of the word"bribe".

(A bribe is money or material values given to an official as a bribe, as payment for actions punishable by law.)

Why do you think Gogol does not use the word “bribe” anywhere, but replaced it with vernacular“slip ”, so officials say to themselves, but out loud “give a loan”? (to say “bribe” is to admit oneself guilty, doing something wrong or not doing it at all. And of course they don't even admit it to themselves..) For example, remember the postmaster: he read the letter, speaks about it aloud, but does not consider it a crime ... "

What details indicate that bribes are commonplace?

(Discuss how bribes are given and how they are taken)

Who is the first to offer to "slip"? (Judge) The purpose of these bribes?

(Protect, protect your department from audits)

Phenomenon 3.p. 163 textbook (reading and analysis)

Read the words of Ammos Fedorovich “aside”.(“And the money is in the fist, but the fist is all on fire”, “it’s like hot coals under you”, “now I’m on trial”, “Well, it’s all over - gone! gone!”)

How does the judge feel when giving a bribe? ( Fear )

How does he bribe?

Who else gives bribes?(all)

How are they doing? (they enter and address Khlestakov solemnly, they are worried: Luka Lukich is lighting a cigarette from the wrong end)

It lends comedy pathos

vocabulary work. Slide.

Here comedy turns into tragedy, that is, the pathos of comedy changes. Give a lexical interpretation of the word "pathos".

PATHOS . (Inspiration, uplift, enthusiasm)

Write the new word in your notebook and memorize its meaning.

Does Khlestakov understand why they give him money? ( Not )

How do Dobchinsky and Bobchinsky behave with Khlestakov? (They give him little money, they are not afraid of him, like others, but one of them - Dobchinsky - has an affair with Khlestakov)

Let's go back to section 2.

Now it has become clearer to you how the planets - officials revolve around Khlestakov. What can you say about officials?

Let's write the conclusion in a notebook (slide): "Confusion, fear, awe are characteristic of all officials, each of them gives a bribe in his own way, which is reflected in their speech, actions and remarks."

Appearance 12-14. Page 168-171 tutorial

- Is there a love story in comedy? ( Not ). Why do you think so? (because Khlestakov's main weaknesses are money, women and lies. In all this, he cannot deny himself, if there is even the slightest opportunity.).

Love is a high feeling, but this is not here. Did he fall in love with someone? ( no . In dealing with the ladies, Khlestakov feels confident._

And his explanation with mother and daughter isparody of a love affair.

Slide. Notebook: " There is no love story in comedy, but there is a parody of a love affair.)

How officials find out that Khlestakov is not an auditor? Page 177 textbook

Why don't they want to catch up with him? (They are afraid that others will find out about it, and they will become a laughingstock)

Conclusion in the image of Khlestakov:

- Khlestakov better or worse than officials?(same as them)

3. Drawings for the "Inspector" and their analysis: Slide.

Give a brief description and analysis of what is depicted.

(If you have time: which episode did you like? Why? (The meaning of the silent scene and reading by roles of episodes of the choice of children)

4. Summing up

Look at the captions for the lesson. The expression "sea of ​​fear" is your way ... ..(fear of punishment, loss of position).

"...like the planets around the sun..."(Khlestakov for them is the sun, on which their well-being depends)

And what do you think the “new” auditor will be for them? Do you have confidence that an honest auditor has arrived? And what will happen next? (Perhaps what happened, and you will have to give bribes again. Or, he will not take them and then they will lose their places). Both are scary for officials.

Is comedy old?

Are the questions that worried Gogol 200 years ago relevant?

Why is bribery dangerous? (Bribery is considered one of the most dangerous and at the same time one of the most common manifestations of corruption. Bribery is the most typical manifestation of corruption, the most dangerous criminal phenomenon that undermines the foundations of state power and management)

5. Grades for work in the lesson:

(name all grades, mark the work of each)

6. Homework: Slide. 1. Determine what the skill of N.V. Gogol the comedian is.

2. Prepare an expressive reading of any comedy scenes.

Comedy "Inspector General": Russian bureaucracy in the satirical image of N.V. Gogol" Khabibullina Ilsoyar Ilgizovna Teacher of Russian language and literature I qualification category MBOU "Novokurmashevskaya OOSh" Aktanyshsky municipal district of the Republic of Tatarstan

The Inspector General is a whole sea of ​​fear.” Yu. Mann “Khlestakov plays the main role in the action. All other faces revolve around him, like the planets around the sun. Yu. Mann Theme of the lesson: Comedy "Inspector General": Russian bureaucracy in the satirical image of N.V. Gogol

Determine what kind of literature the comedy "Inspector General" belongs to * Drama * Epic * Lyric Drama

Compare the characters and their characteristic characteristics: 1. The mayor 1. “a smart man in his own way” 2. The wife of the mayor 2. “smarter than his master” 3. Khlestakov 3. “very helpful and fussy” 4. Osip 4. “young man , somewhat stupid" 5. Lyapkin-Tyapkin 5. "Ingenuous to the point of naivety" 6. Strawberries 6. "Provincial coquette" 7. Postmaster 7. "... who read 5-6 books"

Check yourself 1. The mayor 1. “A smart person in his own way” 2. The wife of the Mayor 6. “Provincial coquette” 3. Khlestakov 4. “A young man, somewhat stupid” 4. Osip 2. “Smarter than his master” 5. Lyapkin- Tyapkin 7. "... who read 5-6 books" 6. Strawberries 3. "very helpful and fussy" 7. Postmaster 5. "simple-minded to the point of naivety"

1. “I seemed to have a presentiment: today I dreamed all night about some two unusual rats. Really, I've never seen anything like it: black, unnatural size! They came, they sniffed, and they went away.”

2. “... you want to eat so much and there is such a rattling in your stomach, as if a whole regiment blew trumpets. We won’t get there, and that’s all, home! ... I’ve screwed up the expensive money, my dear, now he’s sitting and his tail is tucked up ... "

3. “Why not? I saw myself, passing by the kitchen, there was a lot of preparation. And in the dining room this morning, two short people were eating salmon and a lot of other things.

4. “Fi, mama, blue! I don’t like it at all: both Lyapkina-Tyapkina wears this, and Zemlyanikin’s daughter also wears blue. No, I'd rather wear color."

5. (entering and stopping, to himself). “God, God! Carry it out safely; and so he breaks his knees. (Aloud, stretching out and holding his sword with his hand.) I have the honor to introduce myself: a judge of the local county court, a collegiate assessor ... "

6. “Very possible. (After a pause.) I can say that I do not regret anything and zealously fulfill my service. (Moves closer with his chair and speaks in an undertone.) Here the local postmaster does absolutely nothing: all affairs are in great neglect, parcels are delayed ... The judge also ... keeps dogs in public places and behavior ... the most reprehensible.

7. “(hitting his forehead). How am I - no, how am I, you old fool? I survived, stupid ram out of my mind!... I have been living in the service for thirty years... I deceived swindlers over swindlers... I deceived three governors!...»

8. “Of course. They ran like crazy from a tavern: “I came, I came and I don’t make money ... We found an important bird!”

9. “An official who arrived from St. Petersburg by personal order demands you to come to him at once. He stayed at a hotel."

9. Gendarme 8. Luka Lukich Khlopov, superintendent of schools 7. Governor, Anton Antonovich 6. Artemy Filippovich Strawberry, trustee of charitable institutions 5. Ammos Fedorovich Lyapkin-Tyapkin, judge 4. Daughter of the mayor, Marya Antonovna 3. Khlestakov 2. Osip 1. Governor, Anton Antonovich

Dictionary work Bribe - money or material values ​​given to an official as a bribe, as payment for actions punishable by law

Vocabulary Paphos - inspiration, uplift, enthusiasm

Confusion, fear, awe are characteristic of all officials, each of them gives a bribe in his own way, which is reflected in their speech, actions and remarks. Conclusion

In a notebook: There is no love plot in comedy, but there is a parody of a love affair

Provincial town Khlestakov's letter Officials discuss Khlestakov's letter

Celebration of the Mayor. Conversation with merchants Declaration of love

Khlestakov and Strawberry Collapse of the Governor

silent scene

1. Determine what the skill of N.V. Gogol as a comedian is. 2. Prepare an expressive reading of any comedy scenes. Homework

In October 1835, N.V. Gogol began to create his own, perhaps the best comedy - the comedy "The Government Inspector". A little earlier, in a letter to A. S. Pushkin, Gogol asked him to suggest some new plot, a “purely Russian anecdote”, promising that he would make a comedy out of it, which would turn out to be “funnier than the devil”. Pushkin shared with Gogol one of his stories - an anecdote about a passing ordinary official, taken in the provinces for an important person. In December 1835, the comedy was completed, and the following year it was staged at the Alexandrinsky Theater in St. Petersburg. She enjoyed extraordinary success; Nicholas I himself watched it with great pleasure and noted that “everyone got it” in the play, and most of all he.

What made the audience laugh? First of all - the characters of the comedy. Gogol showed incredibly funny and at the same time extremely reliable, recognizable types of people. Before us appear not just individual officials of a certain provincial town, but whole collective images. Each of them is funny in its own way and typical in its own way.

So, the mayor Anton Antonovich Skvoznik-Dmukhanovsky is “already old in the service and a very intelligent person in his own way”, who has gone through the entire career ladder and knows all the rules, knows how to take bribes and deftly give them. Judge Lyapkin-Tyapkin has read "five or six books" and is therefore considered almost a freethinker and a Jacobin. The trustee of charitable establishments, Strawberry, despite his thickness and external slowness, is a big “slicker and rogue”; he is very helpful and fussy, likes to report on his colleagues. Postmaster Shpekin is a "simple-minded to the point of naivety" who loves to read other people's letters and even keeps the ones he likes as a keepsake and reads them aloud to his friends. The main character of the comedy - Khlestakov - is a young man of about twenty-three, somewhat stupid and "without a king in his head." As we can see, without exception, all the characters in the comedy are characterized by the author in a very sarcastic way. Gogol widely uses the technique of "speaking" names. What are only the names of local policemen: Ukhovertov, Derzhimorda, Svistunov. And Judge Lyapkin-Tyapkin; and Dr. Gibner, obviously his surname is formed from the verb "to perish."

The plot of the comedy is also extremely funny. Officials, frightened by the news of the arrival of a secret auditor, take the petty official Khlestakov for an important bump. They curry favor with him, please him in every possible way, give him money. And this despite the fact that Khlestakov himself, almost until the end of the action, does not understand why he was given such honors. He is not his appearance, does not in the least resemble a real auditor. Khlestakov, it seems, behaves very stupidly, constantly blurts out, betrays his true position: he is on a friendly footing with the “himself” head of the department, they even wanted to make him a collegiate assessor; he lives on the fourth floor in tenement house where only minor officials settled. After dinner, intoxicated with wine and universal respect, Khlestakov begins to boast without restraint: he is closely acquainted with Pushkin himself; writes himself; well-known works belong to him; the state council is afraid of him, soon he will be promoted to field marshal ... Any person could immediately “bite” Khlestakov; but the officials are so frightened that they take his outright lies at face value and do not suspect anything until the very end - until the reading of Khlestakov's letter. Why is this happening? Because each of the officials feels certain “sins” behind him. The characters of the comedy are "a corporation of various official thieves and robbers," as V. G. Belinsky wrote in one of his letters to Gogol. The mayor, for example, shamelessly steals government money and robs the population. He overlaid local merchants with a kind of tribute; receives offerings from them and only sees to it that everyone receives according to their rank. "Look! You don’t take it according to order!” - he scolds the quarterly, who instead of the two arshins of cloth laid down "according to the rank" took much more from the merchant.

Judge Lyapkin-Tyapkin openly admits that he takes bribes, but with greyhound puppies, and this, as it were, is not considered a bribe. And the Governor himself seeks, when meeting with the “auditor” Khlestakov, first of all to give him a bribe and rejoices when he takes the money. We can say that this has already become the norm in the city. But Gogol does not accidentally choose this unremarkable county town for the action of the comedy; thus, he seemed to emphasize that such customs are common throughout the state, and in this city, as in a drop of water, all of Russia was reflected. Such governors, judges, trustees, postmasters were in every small and great city Russian Empire; and therefore Gogol's laughter is bitter laughter: he was hurt and ashamed to see all this.

In The Inspector General, Gogol appears as an innovative playwright. He was the first to show the Russian reality on the stage so reliably. This is a realistic comedy, although it contains elements of a typical “comedy of manners” and “situation comedy”. But for the writer it was important not to make the viewer laugh, but to ridicule certain vices of society. It is no coincidence that the writer took the proverb “There is nothing to blame on the mirror if the face is crooked” as an epigraph to the play. And the dramatic conflict in comedy is not love, as usual, but social. Gogol violates the traditions of "classical" comedy and creates a new, realistic Russian comedy, which was developed in the work of Ostrovsky and Chekhov.

In October 1835, N.V. Gogol began to create his own, perhaps the best comedy - the comedy "The Government Inspector". A little earlier, in a letter to A. S. Pushkin, Gogol asked him to suggest some new plot, a “purely Russian anecdote”, promising that he would make a comedy out of it, which would turn out to be “funnier than the devil”. Pushkin shared with Gogol one of his stories - an anecdote about a passing ordinary official, taken in the provinces for an important person. In December 1835, the comedy was completed, and the following year it was staged at the Alexandrinsky Theater in St. Petersburg. She enjoyed extraordinary success; Nicholas I himself watched it with great pleasure and noted that “everyone got it” in the play, and most of all he.

What made the audience laugh? First of all - the characters of the comedy. Gogol showed incredibly funny and at the same time extremely reliable, recognizable types of people. Before us appear not just individual officials of a certain provincial town, but entire collective images. Each of them is funny in its own way and typical in its own way.

So, the mayor Anton Antonovich Skvoznik-Dmukhanovsky is “already old in the service and a very intelligent person in his own way”, who has gone through the entire career ladder and knows all the rules, knows how to take bribes and deftly give them. Judge Lyapkin-Tyapkin has read "five or six books" and is therefore considered almost a freethinker and a Jacobin. The trustee of charitable establishments, Strawberry, despite his thickness and external slowness, is a big “slicker and rogue”; he is very helpful and fussy, likes to report on his colleagues. Postmaster Shpekin is a "simple-minded to the point of naivety" who loves to read other people's letters and even keeps the ones he likes as a keepsake and reads them aloud to his friends. The main character of the comedy - Khlestakov - is a young man of about twenty-three, somewhat stupid and "without a king in his head." As we can see, without exception, all the characters in the comedy are characterized by the author in a very sarcastic way. Gogol widely uses the technique of "speaking" names. What are only the names of local policemen: Ukhovertov, Derzhimorda, Svistunov. And Judge Lyapkin-Tyapkin; and Dr. Gibner, obviously his surname is formed from the verb "to perish."

The plot of the comedy is also extremely funny. Officials, frightened by the news of the arrival of a secret auditor, take the petty official Khlestakov for an important bump. They curry favor with him, please him in every possible way, give him money. And this despite the fact that Khlestakov himself, almost until the end of the action, does not understand why he was given such honors. He does not at all resemble a real auditor either by his appearance or behavior. Khlestakov, it seems, behaves very stupidly, constantly blurts out, betrays his true position: he is on a friendly footing with the “himself” head of the department, they even wanted to make him a collegiate assessor; he lives on the fourth floor in an apartment building, where only minor officials settled. After dinner, intoxicated with wine and universal respect, Khlestakov begins to boast without restraint: he is closely acquainted with Pushkin himself; writes himself; well-known works belong to him; the state council is afraid of him, soon he will be promoted to field marshal ... Any person could immediately “bite” Khlestakov; but the officials are so frightened that they take his outright lies at face value and do not suspect anything until the very end - until the reading of Khlestakov's letter. Why is this happening? Because each of the officials feels certain “sins” behind him. The characters of the comedy are "a corporation of various official thieves and robbers," as V. G. Belinsky wrote in one of his letters to Gogol. The mayor, for example, shamelessly steals government money and robs the population. He overlaid local merchants with a kind of tribute; receives offerings from them and only sees to it that everyone receives according to their rank. "Look! You don’t take it according to order!” - he scolds the quarterly, who instead of the two arshins of cloth laid down "according to the rank" took much more from the merchant.

Judge Lyapkin-Tyapkin openly admits that he takes bribes, but with greyhound puppies, and this, as it were, is not considered a bribe. And the Governor himself seeks, when meeting with the “auditor” Khlestakov, first of all to give him a bribe and rejoices when he takes the money. We can say that this has already become the norm in the city. But Gogol does not accidentally choose this unremarkable county town for the action of the comedy; thus, he seemed to emphasize that such customs are common throughout the state, and in this city, as in a drop of water, all of Russia was reflected. Such governors, judges, trustees, postmasters were in every small and great city of the Russian Empire; and therefore Gogol's laughter is bitter laughter: he was hurt and ashamed to see all this.

In The Inspector General, Gogol appears as an innovative playwright. He was the first to show the Russian reality on the stage so reliably. This is a realistic comedy, although it contains elements of a typical “comedy of manners” and “situation comedy”. But for the writer it was important not to make the viewer laugh, but to ridicule certain vices of society. It is no coincidence that the writer took the proverb “There is nothing to blame on the mirror if the face is crooked” as an epigraph to the play. And the dramatic conflict in comedy is not love, as usual, but social. Gogol violates the traditions of "classical" comedy and creates a new, realistic Russian comedy, which was developed in the work of Ostrovsky and Chekhov.