"Inspector": analysis. Gogol, "The Government Inspector": Characteristics of the Heroes. Analysis of Gogol's comedy inspector What is the meaning of Gogol's last action inspector

If you plan to write an essay on the comedy "The Government Inspector", be sure to consider the background of this work. Nikolai Gogol took up his pen in 1835, marking the beginning of comedy. However, Gogol learned the plot of The Inspector General while talking with Alexander Pushkin. It was he who gave the clue to the main idea. Although the premiere of The Inspector General had already taken place in 1836 - Moscow and St. Petersburg applauded the new creation of the famous Russian writer, Gogol corrected the text for a very long time. Only in 1942 the work was completely finished.

Let's make a brief analysis of the comedy "The Government Inspector". This play was absolutely innovative, because Nikolai Gogol wrote a comedy for the first time, where there is no love plot, but at the same time it was sharply social and topical. Of course, it is clear that Khlestakov is courting women, who were Anna Andreevna and Maria Antonovna, but this is by no means a love line, but a parody of lofty feelings and romantic relationships. Be sure to take this into account when preparing an essay on the "Inspector".

The problems of the comedy "The Inspector General"

In any serious work there is a problematic, that is, the author indicates the problems to which he wants to draw the reader's attention and encourage them to think about their solution. The problems are clearly visible in the classical works of Russian literature, such as, for example, in the comedy "The Inspector General", the analysis of which we are now doing.

There are three main aspects to highlight here:

• Reverence - officials, small and large, want recognition and veneration. And people are ready to give them this tribute in return for personal gain.
• Bribes to officials - both giving bribes and taking them is immoral.
• The moral decline of society - morality is a measure of the moral state of a person. What entails the decline of morality in society?

Gogol reflects these problems especially vividly in his work. Include issues in the essay on the comedy "The Inspector General".

Main analysis

The theme of the play "The Government Inspector" Gogol decided to choose such vices of mankind as: hypocrisy, duplicity, vulgarity, envy, ignorance and bribery. All this set of qualities can be united by the theme of bureaucracy. Indeed, people in positions of power, to say the least, do not set a proper example of behavior. They behave viciously and do not see anything wrong in it. Getting a bribe was in order. However, as soon as a high-ranking person appears, they try to cover up their sins.

Making an analysis of the comedy "The Inspector General", we understood the main theme, but what became the main idea of ​​the play? There is an idea that sooner or later a person will receive retribution for his crimes, and sometimes this retribution will be reflected in a spiritual sense, but this does not make it more forgiving.

The essay on the comedy "The Inspector General" should reflect a terrible picture of society - most people are only interested in their own well-being and the opportunity to profit at the expense of others. The meaning of life is lost, and vulgarity and greed have become the foundations of society. For example, mayors. He believes that it is possible to do such things, because then I will go to church and atone for sins. What a moral fall!

It can be seen that inside the officials understand their venality and that it is bad to do this. But it’s easier to persuade your conscience, to cover up so that you don’t get caught, and continue to eat your already fat cheeks. Consider Lyapkin-Tyapkin. He doesn't want to take bribes like usual. He takes them in the form of greyhound puppies, and reassures himself and others with the words that this, they say, is a different matter.

conclusions

The analysis of the comedy "The Inspector General" would be incomplete if we did not emphasize the idea of ​​a cheap replacement of true human values ​​with ideas about rank. What is meant? Khlopov, superintendent of schools, has the following opinion: when I talk to someone with a higher rank, "there is no soul, the tongue gets stuck." He does not revere the person, but the position, or "rank." And all this affects the fact that officials believe in the false words of Khlestakov.

In his work, Gogol managed to reflect the life of the whole country. We read about the court, and about public education, and about hospitals, and about mail with the police. Your essay on the comedy "The Government Inspector" must certainly include conflicts. There are two conflicts in the play:

• The conflict is external - it is visible in relations where Khlestakov is on the one hand, and officials are on the other.
• The conflict is internal - the bureaucratic elite and the people.

It is interesting to note this fact about the comedy: when Gogol started working on it, he swore to Pushkin that it would turn out "funnier than the devil," and so it happened. Emperor Nicholas I also watched the staged play. He expressed his opinion about her with the words: "Everyone got it. And I got it the most." A summary of the "Inspector" also read on our website.

You have read the analysis of the comedy "The Inspector General" by Nikolai Gogol, we hope that it will help you in preparing an essay or just thinking after reading the work.

The Inspector General is an immortal comedy by Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol. From the moment of writing, they did not stop reading it and putting it on stage, because the problems that the author revealed in the work will never lose their relevance and will resonate in the hearts of viewers and readers at all times.

Work on the piece began in 1835. According to legend, wanting to write a comedy, but not finding a story worthy of this genre, Gogol turned to Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin for help in the hope that he would suggest a suitable plot. And so it happened, Pushkin shared a “joke” that happened either to himself or to a familiar official: a person who came to a certain city on business was mistaken by local authorities for an auditor who arrived with a secret assignment to follow, find out, report. Admiring the talent of the writer, Pushkin was sure that Gogol would cope with the task even better than him, he was looking forward to the release of the comedy and supported Nikolai Vasilyevich in every possible way, especially when he was thinking of quitting the work he had begun.

For the first time, the comedy was read by the author himself at the evening at Vasily Andreevich Zhukovsky's in the presence of several acquaintances and friends (including Pushkin). In the same year, The Inspector General was staged at the Alexandrinsky Theatre. The play outraged and alerted with its "unreliability", it could be banned. Only thanks to the petition and patronage of Zhukovsky, it was decided to leave the work alone.

At the same time, Gogol himself was dissatisfied with the first production. He decided that neither the actors nor the public had received The Inspector General correctly. This was followed by several explanatory articles by the writer, giving important indications to those who really want to delve into the essence of comedy, correctly understand the characters, and play them on stage.

Work on the "Inspector General" continued until 1842: after making numerous edits, it acquired the form in which it has come down to us.

Genre and direction

The Inspector General is a comedy, where the subject of the story is the life of the Russian bureaucracy. This is a satire on the manners and orders established among people belonging to this circle. The author skillfully uses elements of the comic in his work, supplying them with both plot twists and turns and the system of characters. He cruelly ridicules the current state of society, either openly ironically about the events that illustrate reality, or veiledly laughing at them.

Gogol worked in the direction of realism, the main principle of which was to show "a typical hero in typical circumstances." This, on the one hand, made it easier for the writer to choose the topic of the work: it was enough to think about what issues are burning for society at the moment. On the other hand, this posed a difficult task for him to describe reality in such a way that the reader recognizes it and himself in it, believes the author’s word, and himself, plunging into the atmosphere of disharmony of reality, realizes the need for change.

About what?

The action takes place in a county town, which naturally has no name, thus symbolizing any city, and therefore Russia as a whole. Anton Antonovich Skvoznik-Dmukhanovsky - the mayor - receives a letter that says about the auditor, who at any moment can come to the city incognito with a check. The news literally puts on the ears of all residents who have anything to do with bureaucratic service. Without thinking twice, the frightened townspeople themselves find a contender for the role of an important official from St. Petersburg and in every possible way try to flatter him, to appease the high-ranking person, so that he will condescendingly treat their sins. The comicality of the situation is added by the fact that Ivan Aleksandrovich Khlestakov, who made such an impression on those around him, does not guess until the last minute why everyone is behaving so courteously with him, and only at the very end begins to suspect that he was mistaken for some other, throughout apparently important person.

A love conflict is also woven into the outline of the general narrative, also played out in a farcical manner and built on the fact that the young ladies participating in it, each pursuing their own benefit, try to prevent each other from achieving it, and at the same time the instigator cannot choose one of two ladies.

Main characters and their characteristics

Ivan Alexandrovich Khlestakov

This is a petty official from St. Petersburg, returning home to his parents and mired in debt. “The role of the one who is taken by the frightened city for the auditor is the most difficult of all,” Gogol writes about Khlestakov in one of the articles in the appendix to the play. An empty and insignificant person by nature, Khlestakov circles a whole city of rogues and swindlers around his finger. The main assistant to him in this is the general fear that has seized the officials who are mired in official “sins”. They themselves create an incredible image of the almighty auditor from St. Petersburg - a formidable person who decides other people's destinies, the first of the first in the whole country, as well as the metropolitan thing, a star of any circle. But such a legend must be able to support. Khlestakov brilliantly copes with this task, turning every passage thrown in his direction into a fascinating story, so impudently ridiculous that it is hard to believe that the cunning people of the city of N could not figure out his deceit. The secret of the "auditor" is that his lies are pure and naive to the extreme. The hero is incredibly sincere in his lies, he practically believes in what he tells. This is probably the first time he has received such overwhelming attention. They really listen to him, listen to his every word, which leads Ivan to complete delight. He feels that this is the moment of his triumph: whatever he says now, everything will be received with admiration. His fantasy takes flight. He doesn't realize what's really going on here. Stupidity and bragging do not allow him to objectively assess the real state of affairs and realize that these mutual admirations cannot continue for a long time. He is ready to stay in the city, taking advantage of the imaginary benevolence and generosity of the townspeople, not realizing that the deceit will soon be revealed, and then the fury of officials circled around the finger will not have a limit.

Being a loving young man, Khlestakov drags himself immediately behind two attractive young ladies, not knowing who to choose, whether the mayor's daughter or his wife, and throws himself in front of one, then in front of the other on his knees, which wins the hearts of both.

In the end, gradually beginning to guess that all those gathered take him for someone else, Khlestakov, surprised at such an occasion, but without losing courage, writes to his friend the writer Tryapichkin about what happened to him, and offers to ridicule his new acquaintances in the relevant article. He joyfully paints the vices of those who accepted him complacently, those whom he managed to decently rob (accepting exclusively on loan), those whom he gloriously turned their heads with his stories.

Khlestakov is a “deceitful, personified deception” and at the same time this empty, insignificant character “contains a collection of many of those qualities that are not found in insignificant people,” which is why this role is all the more difficult. You can find another description of the character and image of Khlestakov in the format of an essay.

Anton Antonovich Skvoznik-Dmukhanovsky, mayor

"The rogue of the first category" (Belinsky)

Anton Antonovich is a smart person who knows how to manage affairs. He could have been a good mayor if he had not taken care of his pocket first of all. Deftly settling in his place, he carefully looks at every opportunity to grab something somewhere and never misses his chance. In the city he is considered a swindler and a bad manager, but it becomes clear to the reader that he earned such fame not because he is angry or ruthless by nature (he is not like that at all), but because he put his own interests much higher than others. Moreover, if you find the right approach to it, you can enlist its support.

The mayor is not mistaken about himself and does not hide in a private conversation that he himself knows everything about his sins. He considers himself a pious person, for he goes to church every Sunday. It can be assumed that some remorse is not alien to him, but he still puts his weaknesses above it. At the same time, he is kind to his wife and daughter, he cannot be reproached with indifference.

In the arrival of the auditor, the mayor is more likely to be frightened by surprise than by the inspection itself. He suspects that if you properly prepare the city and the right people for the meeting of an important guest, and also take into circulation the official from St. Petersburg, then you can successfully arrange a business and even win something for yourself here. Feeling that Khlestakov is succumbing to influence and coming into a good mood, Anton Antonovich calms down, and, of course, there is no limit to his joy, pride and flight of his imagination when it becomes possible to intermarry with such a person. The mayor dreams of a prominent position in St. Petersburg, of a successful party for his daughter, the situation is under his control and turns out as well as possible, when it suddenly turns out that Khlestakov is just a dummy, and a real auditor has already appeared on the threshold. It is for him that this blow becomes the most difficult: he loses more than others, and he will get it unlike more severely. You can find an essay that describes the character and image of the mayor in the "Inspector General".

Anna Andreevna and Maria Antonovna

The main female characters of the comedy. These ladies are the mayor's wife and daughter. They are extremely curious, like all bored young ladies, hunters of all city gossip, as well as big coquettes, love when others are passionate about them.

Khlestakov, who appeared so unexpectedly, becomes a wonderful entertainment for them. He brings news from the high society of the capital, tells many amazing and amusing stories, and most importantly, shows interest in each of them. Mother and daughter are trying in every possible way to achieve the location of a delightful dandy from St. Petersburg, and, in the end, he woo Maria Antonovna, which her parents are very happy about. Everyone is starting to make bright plans for the future. Women do not realize that the wedding is not included in his plans, and in the end both, as well as all the inhabitants of the city, end up with nothing.

Osip

Khlestakov's servant is not stupid and cunning. He understands the situation much faster than his master and, realizing that things are not going well, advises the master to leave the city as soon as possible.

Osip understands well what his owner needs, always take care of his well-being. Khlestakov himself clearly does not know how to do this, which means that he will be lost without his servant. Osip also understands this, so sometimes he allows himself to behave familiarly with the owner, is rude to him, keeps himself independent.

Bobchinsky and Dobchinsky

They are city landlords. Both are short, round, "extremely similar to each other." These two friends are talkers and liars, the two chief gossips of the city. It is they who take Khlestakov for an auditor, which misleads all other officials.

Bobchinsky and Dobchinsky give the impression of being funny and good-natured gentlemen, but in fact they are stupid and, in fact, just empty talk.

Other officials

Each official of city N is remarkable in some way, but nevertheless they first of all make up the general picture of the bureaucratic world and are of interest in the aggregate. They, as we shall see later, have all the vices of people in important positions. Moreover, they do not hide it, and sometimes they are even proud of their actions. Having an ally in the person of the mayor, the judge, the trustee of charitable institutions, the superintendent of schools and others freely do any arbitrariness that comes to their mind, without fear of reprisal.

The announcement of the arrival of the auditor horrifies everyone, but such "sharks" of the bureaucratic world quickly recover from the first shock and easily come to the simplest solution to their problem - bribing a terrible, but probably the same dishonest auditor. Delighted by the success of their plan, the officials lose their vigilance and composure and are completely defeated at the moment when it turns out that Khlestakov, who was treated kindly by them, is nobody, and the real high-ranking person from St. Petersburg is already in the city. The image of the city N is described.

Themes

1. Political themes: arbitrariness, nepotism and embezzlement in power structures. The provincial city N falls into the author's field of vision. The absence of a name and any territorial indications immediately suggests that this is a collective image. The reader immediately gets acquainted with a number of officials living there, since it is they who are of interest in this work. These are all people who completely abuse power and use official duties only in their own interests. The life of the officials of the city N has developed for a long time, everything goes on as usual, nothing violates the order they created, the basis of which was laid by the mayor himself, until there is a real threat of trial and reprisal for their arbitrariness, which should just about fall on them by the auditor. we talked about this topic in more detail.
2. social theme. Along the way in the comedy affected the topic of human stupidity, manifesting itself in different ways in different representatives of the human race. So, the reader sees how this vice leads some of the heroes of the play into various curious situations: Khlestakov, inspired by the opportunity to become who he would like to be once in his life, does not notice that his legend is written with a pitchfork on the water and he is about to be exposed ; the mayor, at first frightened to the core, and then faced with the temptation to go out among the people in St. Petersburg itself, is lost in the world of fantasies about a new life and is unprepared for the denouement of this extraordinary story.

Problems

The comedy is aimed at ridiculing the specific vices of people who have a high position in the service. Residents of the city do not disdain either bribery or embezzlement, they deceive ordinary inhabitants, rob them. Self-interest and arbitrariness are the eternal problems of officials, so the "Inspector General" at all times remains a relevant and topical play.

Gogol touches not only on the problems of an individual class. He finds vices in every inhabitant of the city. For example, in noble women we clearly see greed, hypocrisy, deceit, vulgarity and a tendency to betrayal. In ordinary townspeople, the author finds slavish dependence on the masters, plebeian narrow-mindedness, a willingness to crawl and fawn for the sake of momentary gain. The reader can see all sides of the coin: where tyranny reigns, there is no less shameful slavery. People put up with such an attitude towards themselves, they are satisfied with such a life. In this unjust power draws strength.

Meaning

The meaning of the comedy was laid down by Gogol in the folk proverb chosen by him as an epigraph: "There is nothing to blame on the mirror if the face is crooked." In his work, the writer talks about the pressing problems of his country of his contemporary period, although more and more readers (each in his own era) find them topical and relevant. Not everyone meets the comedy with understanding, not everyone is ready to admit the existence of a problem, but they are inclined to blame the people around them, circumstances, life as such, but not themselves, for the imperfection of the world. The author sees this pattern in his compatriots and, wishing to fight it with the methods available to him, writes The Inspector General in the hope that those who read it will try to change something in themselves (and, perhaps, in the world around them) in order to prevent trouble and outrages on their own, but by all possible means to stop the triumphant path of dishonor in a professional environment.

There are no positive characters in the play, which can be interpreted as a literal expression of the author's main idea: everyone is to blame for everyone. There are no people who would not take a humiliating part in atrocities and riots. Everyone contributes to injustice. Not only officials are to blame, but also merchants who give bribes and rob the people, and ordinary people who always get drunk and live in bestial conditions on their own initiative. Not only greedy, ignorant and hypocritical men are vicious, but deceitful, vulgar and stupid ladies. Before criticizing someone, you need to start with yourself, reducing the vicious circle by at least one link. This is the main idea of ​​the "Inspector".

Criticism

The writing of The Inspector General caused a wide public outcry. The audience took the comedy ambiguously: reviews followed both enthusiastic and indignant. Criticism took opposite positions in evaluating the work.

Many of Gogol's contemporaries sought to analyze the comedy and draw some conclusion about its value for Russian and world literature. Some found it rude and harmful to read. So, F.V. Bulgarin, a representative of the official press and a personal enemy of Pushkin, wrote that The Inspector General is a slander of Russian reality, that if such morals exist, it is not in our country, that Gogol portrayed a Little Russian or Belarusian city and so nasty that it is not clear how can he hold onto the globe.

O.I. Senkovsky noted the talent of the writer, believed that Gogol had finally found his genre and should improve in it, but the comedy itself was not so complacently received by the critic. Senkovsky considered the author's mistake to mix something good, pleasant in his work with the amount of dirt and meanness that the reader eventually encounters. The critic also noted that the plot on which the entire conflict rests is unconvincing: such seasoned scoundrels as officials of the city of N could not be so gullible and allow themselves to be led into this fateful delusion.

There was a different opinion regarding Gogol's comedy. K.S. Aksakov stated that those who scolded the Inspector General did not understand his poetics and should read the text more carefully. As a true artist, Gogol hid his real feelings behind ridicule and satire, but in reality his soul was rooting for Russia, in which in fact there is a place for all the characters of the comedy.

Interestingly, in his article The Inspector General, a comedy, Op. N. Gogol "P.A. Vyazemsky, in turn, noted the complete success of the stage production. Recalling accusations of implausibility against comedy, he wrote about the psychological causes of the phenomena described by the author as more significant, but he was also ready to admit that what had happened was possible from all other points of view. An important note in the article is the episode about the attacks on the characters: “They say that not a single intelligent person is seen in Gogol's comedy; not true: the author is smart.

V.G. himself Belinsky highly appreciated The Inspector General. Oddly enough, he wrote a lot about Gogol's comedy in the article "Woe from Wit." The critic carefully examined both the plot and some of the characters of the comedy, and its essence. Speaking about the genius of the author and praising his work, he admitted that everything in The Inspector General was excellent.

It is impossible not to mention critical articles about the comedy of the author himself. Gogol wrote five explanatory articles to his work, as he considered that it was misunderstood by actors, spectators, and readers. He really wanted the public to see in The Inspector General exactly what he showed, to perceive it in a certain way. In his articles, the writer gave instructions to the actors on how to play roles, revealed the essence of some episodes and scenes, as well as the general - of the whole work. He paid special attention to the silent scene, because he considered it incredibly important, the most important. Separately, I would like to mention "Theatrical tour after the presentation of a new comedy." This article is unusual in its form: it is written in the form of a play. The spectators who have just watched the performance, as well as the author of the comedy, are talking to each other. It contains some clarifications regarding the meaning of the work, but the main thing is Gogol's answers to criticism of his work.

Ultimately, the play became an important and integral part of Russian literature and culture.

Interesting? Save it on your wall!

1. Introduction. N. V. Gogol's comedy "The Government Inspector" is rightfully considered one of the highest achievements of Russian literature. Since the first performance on the stage of the Alexandrinsky Theater in 1836, she has not left the Russian and foreign theater scene.

Comedy refers to a special direction, which can be described as "laughter through tears." One of the first reviews of The Government Inspector said: "Yes, it's funny ... but inside it's a grief-sorrow."

2. History of creation. It is a widely known fact that the plot of the comedy was "given" to Gogol by Pushkin. Gogol was already working on "Dead Souls", but, experiencing some creative crisis, he turned to the poet with a request to suggest some "purely Russian anecdote."

Pushkin's plot captivated the writer so much that the comedy was created in two months (October-December 1835). However, Gogol continued to correct and make changes to The Inspector General. Significant corrections were made by him for the reprint of the comedy in 1841. In the final version, The Inspector General was published in 1842.

3. The meaning of the name. "Inspector" is not just the name of the main character of the comedy. This public position for the authorities of a provincial town becomes a symbol of inevitable punishment, innumerable troubles and misfortunes. The mayor and his "accomplices" are so mired in various frauds that they experience real horror before a serious check of their affairs. The auditor personifies a distant higher power, which is likely to punish rather than pardon.

4. Genre. Comedy

5. Theme. The main theme of the work is the social and administrative structure of the entire vast Russian Empire. In a deep sense, "unpleasant news" does not consist in the arrival of the auditor, but in the fact that the entire system of provincial government has long been rotten and does not meet the requirements of the time. Outwardly, everything looks quite safe.

Official documents confirm the mayor's vigilant concern for the welfare of his city. However, when viewed from the inside, you can experience a real shock. The crimes of officials are incalculable: from bribery and theft to outright petty meanness - opening other people's letters by the postmaster. Gogol really struck a blow to the most painful place.

The validity of his criticism was confirmed, on the one hand, by the frenzied popularity of The Inspector General, and on the other, by the furious abuse of those people who are brought out in the comedy. Officials and merchants accused the writer of all mortal sins, claimed that he had nothing sacred. Official F. F. Vigel called the comedy "slander in five acts."

6. Issues. The main problem posed in The Inspector General is the imperfection of Russian provincial government. Local chiefs feel like real petty princes who do not give anyone an account of their actions. A close circle of people closes around the mayor and together with him forms the ruling elite. All the concerns of the authorities are aimed solely at satisfying their own needs. Government money is not used to improve the city and improve the lives of its inhabitants, but disappear into the pockets of "benefactors".

The mayor has a feeling of complete impunity. He knows that he holds the whole city firmly in his fist. The rumor about the arrival of the inspector reveals another side of this problem - the ability of officials to "cover up the traces" of their crimes. The mayor hurriedly gathers officials and gives instructions on how to create the appearance of improvement. In this regard, one outwardly insignificant detail is important. All officials have the idea of ​​bribing the auditor.

The problem has probably been solved this way in the past. Thus, not only the provinces, but the entire Russian bureaucracy is engulfed in bribery. The comical situation with Khlestakov confirms the eternal Russian problem of unquestioning obedience to the highest authorities, which resembles worship before God. Khlestakov was simply taken "on faith". He was not asked to produce the necessary documents. The rumor started by Dobchinsky and Bobchinsky was enough.

7. Heroes. Petty official Ivan Aleksandrovich Khlestakov, mayor A. A. Skvoznik-Dmukhanovsky, judge A. F. Lyapkin-Tyapkin, trustee of charitable institutions A. F. Zemlyanika, superintendent of schools A. A. Khlopov, wife and daughter of the mayor, servant Khlestakov Osip.

8. Plot and composition. The comedy begins with the news of the arrival of the auditor. The petty official Khlestakov is mistaken for him. Ivan Alexandrovich quickly enters the role. He complements his high opinion of himself with unbridled boasting and lies. Having collected a fair amount of money from officials and wooing the mayor's daughter, Khlestakov leaves on time. The effect of an exploding bomb is produced by the opening of Khlestakov's letter by the postmaster. The next blow for the mayor is the news of the arrival of a real auditor.

9. What the author teaches? Gogol does not cite any moralizing. Its purpose is to show the general public the true face of a Russian official. Judging by the significant public outcry, this goal of the writer was achieved.

Gogol did not find a positive hero in any of the social groups of the comedy. And the bureaucracy, and the merchants, and the city landlords - all appear in a completely naked form, like some kind of abscess, like an ulcer that is corroding Russia. This impression came from the fact that the author of the comedy managed to capture and present in images not random, but essential aspects of contemporary reality.

Behind each image of the comedy, one can see the true face of one or another social group in Nicholas Russia, which also suffered from rampant bureaucratic arbitrariness and predatory merchant merchants. No wonder Herzen regarded The Inspector General as a vivid protest "against the drunken and burdensome administration, against the thieves' police, against the general bad government." “Nettle seed” (that was the name of bureaucracy, clerks for a long time) really was a scourge for the population: both peasants and small towns suffered from it, even merchants suffered ... And although serfdom corroded Russia much deeper, the victims of which were tens of millions of working peasantry, however, Gogol saw no evil in the fortress system; he, as can be seen in The Old World Landowners, embellished serfdom, creating pictures of the peaceful life of serfs under the paternal patronage of good landowners.

Despite the fact that the theme of The Inspector General embraces the relatively narrow world of Russian reality in the 1930s, the world of officials (landlords and merchants are given episodically), the comedy is a work of exceptional artistic and social value.

Gogol's contemporaries acutely felt in the comedy a serious criticism of the bureaucratic-bureaucratic system of government. Around the comedy, passionate disputes flared up. The ruling circles (especially the bureaucracy), seeing their own face in Gogol's mirror, were indignant at the author. Covering their class malice with the interests of the fatherland, allegedly desecrated and slandered by the artist, they tried to reject both the artistic and social value of comedy.

The corrupt critic Bulgarin shouted that “in Russia there are no such morals as Gogol gave in a comedy, that the author’s town is not Russian ... in a comedy not a single clever word is heard, not a single noble feature of the human heart can be seen ...” Another critic from the same rows, Senkovsky, argued that The Inspector General was not a comedy, "but an empty anecdote."

Gogol might not have paid attention to this howl of embittered bureaucrats, to the sweeping denial of any value of comedy, which gathered crowded auditoriums in the theaters of St. Petersburg and Moscow. The success was exceptional, rare. However, something else happened.

When comedy was discussed not by reactionary bureaucrats, but by representatives of the revolutionary camp, who emphasized its enormous revealing power in relation to the autocratic-bureaucratic system, Gogol lost heart. He, the most faithful and devoted defender of the monarchy, was enrolled almost in the revolutionaries. It was really a blow for the artist, he least of all expected it. Didn't he, Gogol reasoned, show in the last scene that not a single untruth, not a single abuse can be hidden from the vigilant tsar's eye, and that sooner or later the well-deserved punishment will fall on the head of all who criminally use the trust of the supreme power?

Thus, we see that the author's intention sharply diverged from the understanding of his comedy by his contemporaries. Gogol wanted to emphasize the moral depravity of people and use it to explain the disorder in management. Readers and viewers saw in the comedy a sharp criticism not of individual officials, but of the entire socio-political system as a whole.

Comedy in Gogol's time really sounded like a signal to reassess the foundations of the socio-political system, awakened a critical attitude towards the management system. Contrary to the intentions of the author, she revolutionized the public consciousness. How did it happen?

It must be understood in this way. Gogol thought that in The Government Inspector he gave a critique of individual, random phenomena of life; meanwhile, being a realist artist, he gave far from accidental phenomena of Nikolaev reality, but the most essential for it. In the comedy, the audience saw the screaming outrages of bureaucratic management.