Where is the beginning and end? Plot and compositional features of the comedy by N.V. Gogol "The Inspector General"

Immoral and ignorant district governors mistake a St. Petersburg official who happened to be passing through their city for a real auditor, whose appointment they already knew.

The whole goal, all the aspirations of the mayor, whose frightened imagination made Khlestakov the personification of the punitive power of the law, are aimed at inclining this power in his favor and thus avoiding punishment for criminal acts.

There is a struggle that reveals various moments state of mind hero. But this struggle is comic: it is waged against an imaginary force, it depicts negative sides reality, that is, the world of vulgar, petty passions, vulgar egoism.

From the theory of dramatic poetry it is known that in order to express the idea of ​​struggle and present the characters in their mutual relationship, the playwright must choose a moment in the life of his characters in which its entire essence and meaning could be expressed. Such a moment in Gogol's comedy is the arrival of the inspector.

The entire movement of the play is based on this moment, all the details of the action are dedicated to it, none of which seems superfluous, because it has one or another relation to the main event, i.e., to the appearance of the auditor.

Most characters characters are clarified at the same moment: the arrival of the auditor illuminated the entire past life of the district leaders, full of untruth and arbitrariness, and completely revealed their real feelings and passions. Hence the remarkable unity of action, according to which Gogol’s comedy should be classified as an exemplary dramatic work.

There are no leaps in it, everything consistently develops from one general idea, and every single moment of action is imbued with remarkable naturalness, complete agreement with life’s truth.

The Inspector's premise has its own characteristics. Usually the plot is taken in the sense of a love affair. But Gogol departed from the usual method of playwrights, guided by considerations expressed by him in the words of one of the characters in “Theater Travel.”

“It’s time to stop relying so far on this eternal premise. It's worth taking a close look around. Everything changed a long time ago in the world. Now the drama is more strongly tied to the desire to get an advantageous place, to shine and outshine, at all costs, the other, to avenge neglect, for ridicule. Don’t they now have more power, money capital, and a profitable marriage than love?”

In addition, according to Gogol, the plot of a comedy should embrace all faces, and not just one or two, touch on what worries, more or less, all the characters.

This character is what distinguishes the plot of the Inspector General, where each individual person takes an active part in the general endeavor. The ending of the comedy seemed artificial to some.

But, according to Belinsky’s fair remark, the end of the comedy should take place where the mayor finds out that he was punished by a ghost, and that he will be punished by reality, and therefore the arrival of the gendarme with the news of the arrival of the true auditor perfectly ends the play and gives it its entirety and all the independence of a special, self-contained world.

The author did not include some scenes of the fourth act in printed publications. Among them is Scene VIII, in which Dr. charitable institutions Gibner manages not to give a bribe to Khlestakov. Why was such a plot excluded by the author?
As you know, in scene I of the fourth act, Dr. Gibner did not participate, the judge, Strawberry, the postmaster, Luka Lukich, Dobchinsky and Bobchinsky stood in a “semicircle” and agreed on how to behave with Khlestakov, how to “slip” him money.

If you read in the faces of all Khlestakov’s meetings with officials who came to him one by one, then you can see how Khlestakov becomes impudent from scene to scene. He directly addresses Dobchinsky and Bobchinsky, without any preamble about the “strange incident” that happened on the road, with the question: “You don’t have any money?.. Borrow a thousand rubles,” but he agrees to 65 rubles and sends them away.

Next there was supposed to be a scene with Dr. Gibner, but Gogol removed it from the printed edition. Why? Doctor Gibner, who did not understand Russian, was not prepared for this meeting by the frightened officials, and was not present in the mayor’s house. All his phrases are given in German, in them one can feel respect for the visiting auditor, but not fear, he does not “shake his body”, does not feel “on hot coals”, like a judge and postmaster, does not hold prepared money in his fist. Dr. Gibner behaves calmly with a person who is “authorized by power,” and Khlestakov cannot shout to him, like Strawberry: “Hey you! As you?" Khlestakov is forced to politely thank the doctor for the cigar (Gibner didn’t have any money: “No money... no money. Sehen Sie!”)

Gogol removes this scene not only because Doctor Gibner’s words require translation on stage, but most importantly because in this scene, compared to the previous ones, Khlestakov behaves completely differently. This violates Khlestakov’s line of behavior and the content of the subsequent monologue: “There are a lot of officials here. It seems to me, however, that they take me for a statesman. That's right, I let them get dirty yesterday. What a fool! I’ll write about everything to Tryapichkin in St. Petersburg...”

Where is the ending in comedy?

Although the third act of the comedy “The Inspector General” is the climax, the tension in the development of the action does not subside, as mentioned above, it only slows down somewhat in the first phenomena (Khlestakov’s meetings with officials and merchants).

In subsequent appearances, Khlestakov appears in new role- passionately in love with both Anna Andreevna and her daughter Marya Antonovna, to whom he offers his hand and heart. The hero's emptiness and frivolity are especially evident in these scenes. The news that the horses are ready forces the groom to say goodbye to his new relatives: “to go to his uncle for one day, and back tomorrow.”

The last fifth act finds the mayor in a state of complacency and, most importantly, triumph. In phenomenon I, his secret dreams, his views on life and his position as mayor are especially clearly revealed. Now he will live in St. Petersburg and, thanks to his son-in-law, who “goes to the palace every day,” will become a general. He invites officials with their wives and other guests to his house to tell them that he is not marrying off his daughter. common man, “and for something that has never happened in the world, that can do everything, everything, everything, everything!”

And the mayor, like Khlestakov, strives to play a role higher than that in reality - he already feels like a general and has no doubts about the realization of his dream. The mayor “indulges in exuberant joy,” writes Gogol in the already named article “A warning for those who would like to play “The Inspector General” properly,” “at the mere thought of how his life will now rush, how he will distribute places, demand at stations horses and make them wait in the front mayors, put on airs, set the tone.” And at this moment of triumph for the mayor and his wife, the denouement of the comedy comes (scene VIII) - the postmaster rushes in with a printed letter and announces to everyone gathered that the official, whom everyone took for an auditor, was not an auditor. The mayor and all the officials present cannot recover from the surprise. The officials, led by the mayor, were not deceived, but were deceived themselves, mistaking the “icicle, rag” with a St. Petersburg physiognomy and in a private dress for an auditor. It turned out that each of the officials “returned” him three to four hundred rubles. “How did we really make such a mistake?” - asks the judge. “Killed, killed, completely killed,” says the mayor in despair.

How much anger and what fury is felt in the words addressed by the mayor to himself (this is also emphasized by the author’s remarks): he hits himself on the forehead, in his hearts, in a frenzy, shakes his fist at himself, knocks his feet on the floor in anger. He blames himself for the fact that he mistook the “helicopter”, “icicle” for an auditor: “... he deceived swindlers on swindlers, swindlers and rogues such that they are ready to rob the whole world, he cheated on them. He deceived three governors!..” “Why are you laughing? “You’re laughing at yourself!..” - this famous remark of the mayor is addressed to the hall, to the seated audience.

He does not blame Khlestakov, he blames himself and those who first started the rumor about the auditor who had already arrived in the city. The culprits have been discovered - these are Bobchinsky and Dobchinsky, “city gossips, damned liars.” Everyone surrounds them, scolding and reproaching them. At this moment, a gendarme appears (he is not even listed among the characters in the poster) and informs the confused audience about the arrival of an auditor by personal order from St. Petersburg. This sudden announcement becomes for everyone, especially for the mayor, akin to a thunderclap, and his situation becomes “truly tragic.” The words of the gendarme complete the action of the comedy, and “the whole group, having suddenly changed their position, remains petrified” (author’s remark). What follows is a “silent scene.”

1. What is the theme of the comedy “The Inspector General”?
The comedy "The Inspector General" is a comedy of manners. Its topic is bribery and corruption of officials; the author satirically depicts various abuses in the bureaucratic environment, as well as Khlestakov’s frivolity and dishonesty.

2. Who was the first to report the auditor? Why did everyone believe this message? Who is Khlestakov: a petty official and insignificant person or significant person? How does he appear in conversations with officials, merchants, the mayor’s wife and daughter?
For the first time they learned about the auditor from a letter received by the Governor and, since the auditor could already arrive and live in the city incognito, the eccentric and stupid gossips Dobchinsky and Bobchinsky mistook the Strange Visitor for the auditor, who turned out to be Khlestakov. Everyone believed their guess because they were very scared. In reality, Khlestakov is an insignificant and empty person, a talker and a braggart who does not know how to do anything, but knows how to benefit from the mistakes of officials. He quite cleverly adapts to his interlocutors and impresses everyone. He behaves freely with officials, boasts in front of ladies, and pretends to be a boss with merchants.

3. Where is the beginning and end of the comedy? Did Khlestakov want to deceive the officials and townspeople?
The plot of a comedy is an episode in which the prerequisites for the development of the plot are laid. IN in this case, it seems to me that this is the moment when Bobchinsky and Dobchinsky report that they saw the auditor.
The denouement is the moment when the plot comes to its conclusion. This is an episode of reading Khlestakov’s letter, from which it becomes clear to everyone that he is not an auditor.

4. Why are the landowners Dobchinsky, Bobchinsky and the mayor being deceived? Read and comment on the scene at the inn. For what reason do officials believe Khlestakov in the “scene of lies”? Remember and tell or read this scene out loud. What is the role of stage directions in comedy?
The landowners are deceived because they are stupid, they are captured by the sensation and want to be involved in it, and Khlestakov behaves atypically. The mayor believes them out of fear. For example, he takes all Khlestakov’s words about prison personally: Khlestakov is afraid that he will be sent to prison for not paying the innkeeper, and the Governor himself is afraid of prison for bribery. Wanting to avoid arrest, Khlestakov lies that he is a respected official, and the Mayor takes this as a hint that he is the auditor.
In the "lying scene" all the officials are very scared because they think that the drunk will tell the truth. They have never met such selfless liars as Khlestakov. He seems to believe himself. In addition, everyone is very afraid of him, because they all broke the law. The stage directions show how at first they did not dare to sit down, and then jumped up and shook with horror.

5. What did the news of the arrival of a new auditor mean and who is this new auditor - an official or the conscience of each character? Read this scene and prepare a detailed answer to this question.
The news of the arrival of a new auditor - the real one - meant the end of a career for each of the officials, and perhaps even prison. Everyone was already dumbfounded by their revealed mistake, and then there was a real auditor. The mayor says: “Killed, completely killed!” That was probably everyone's feeling.
I think this is a real auditor: people like, for example, Strawberry can hardly have a conscience. It seems to me that this is not conscience then, but fear of punishment, because if officials had a conscience, they would not behave this way. The same Zemlyanika stole from sick people, hired a doctor who doesn’t understand a word of Russian: it’s not surprising that all the patients “get better like flies.” Something like human feelings is visible in Gorodnichy, he even says words that Gogol himself would like to say: “Why are you laughing? You’re laughing at yourself!” He speaks these words not so much to officials, but to all of us. Because the auditor is not the conscience of officials, but ours.

6. Read the definitions of the main stages of plot development. What comedy scenes do you think correspond to these stages? (exposition, beginning, climax, resolution)
The exhibition is a reading and discussion of the letter received by the Mayor.
The beginning is a message from the landowners that they have found the auditor and the conversation of the Governor with him.
The climax is the scene where the Mayor boasts that he is leaving for St. Petersburg.
The denouement is the reading of Khlestakov’s letter.

7. It is known that Nicholas 1, after the first performance of the play, said: “What a play! Everyone got it, and I got it more than anyone else!” And Gogol exclaimed: “Everyone is against me!” How can we explain the indignation of all classes by the play?
Everyone was offended by the comedy because people of all classes were depicted satirically. Under the guise county town All of Russia is depicted.

"THE AUDITOR'S DENOUGH",

a dramatic sketch, which is a kind of afterword to “The Inspector General”. First published: Gogol N.V. Works. T. 5. M., 1856. The second edition of R. R. was published: Gogol N. V. Works. 10th ed. T. 6. M.; St. Petersburg, 1896.

Gogol intended to include R.R. in the supposedly cheap edition of The Inspector General for the benefit of the poor. On October 12/24, 1846, he wrote to S.P. Shevyrev: “The Inspector General” should be published in its full form, with the conclusion that the viewer himself did not think of deducing. The title should be like this: “The Inspector with the Denouement. Comedy in five acts, with a conclusion. Op. N. Gogol. Fourth edition, expanded, for the benefit of the poor." Gogol reported the same thing on October 21 (November 2), 1846, to Countess A. M. Vielgorskaya: “The Inspector General will be played in St. Petersburg and Moscow in a new form, with the addition of its ending or conclusion, at a benefit performance of our first two comic actors . By the day of the performance, the play will be printed in a separate book with the addition of its hitherto unknown ending. It will be sold for the benefit of the poor and may be sold in large quantities, therefore, bring significant strength." However, R.R. was not permitted by theater censorship, and the publication did not take place. In 1847, Gogol created the second edition of R.R., but during the playwright’s lifetime it was never staged.

M. S. Shchepkin, in whose benefit performance Gogol initially intended to stage R. R., having read the play, wrote on May 22, 1847 to Gogol: “Upon recovery, having read your ending of The Inspector General, I was furious with myself, with my myopic view , because until now I have studied all the heroes of “The Inspector General” as living people; I saw so many things that were familiar, so dear, I became so accustomed to Gorodnichy, Dobchinsky and Bobchinsky during the ten years of our rapprochement that to take them away from me and everyone in general would be an unconscionable act. What will you replace them with? Leave them to me as they are. I love them, I love them with all their weaknesses, just like all people in general. Don’t give me any hints that these are not officials, but our passions; no, I don’t want this alteration: these are people, real living people, among whom I grew up and almost grew old. You see, what a long-standing acquaintance. You have gathered several people from the whole world into one gathering place, into one group, I have become completely related to these people, and you want to take them away from me. No, I won't give them to you! I won’t give it while I exist. After me, turn me into goats; and until then I will not give up Derzhimorda to you, because he is dear to me too. Here main reason my silence, and now how did all this come out? - I really don’t know; Maybe all this is nonsense, a lie, but all this has already been expressed; Well, so be it! Around July 10th Art. 1847 Gogol responded to M. S. Shchepkin: “Your letter, kind Mikhail Semenovich, is so convincing and eloquent that even if I really wanted to take away from you the mayor, Bobchinsky and other heroes with whom, you say, you got along like with relatives by blood, then even then I would have returned them all to you again, perhaps even with the addition of an extra friend. But the point is that you seem to have misunderstood last letter my. I precisely wanted to read “The Inspector General” so that Bobchinsky would become even more Bobchinsky, Khlestakov Khlestakov, and in a word - everything that he should be. I meant the alteration only in relation to the play that concludes “The Inspector General.” Do you understand this? I handled this play so awkwardly that the viewer must certainly draw the conclusion that I want to make an allegory out of The Inspector General. That's not what I mean. “The Inspector General” is “The Inspector General,” and applying it to oneself is an indispensable thing that every viewer must do from everything, even not from “The Inspector General,” but which it is more appropriate for him to do about “The Inspector General.” This is what had to be proven regarding the words: “Is my face crooked?” Now everything remains the same. And the sheep are safe, and the wolves are well-fed. An allegory is an allegory, and “The Inspector General” is “The Inspector General.” It is strange, however, that our meeting was not a success. Once in my life the desire came to read “The Inspector General” properly, I felt that I would have read it really well, but I didn’t succeed. Apparently, God does not tell me to do theater. Please take note of one remark regarding the mayor. The beginning of the first act is a little cold for you. Don’t forget also: the mayor has a certain ironic expression in moments of annoyance, as, for example, in the words: “So, apparently, it’s necessary. Until now we have approached other cities; Now it’s our turn.” In the second act, in a conversation with Khlestakov, much follows more games in the face. There are completely different expressions of sarcasm here. However, this is more noticeable in the latest edition, published in the Collected Works.”

In R.R. Gogol, through the mouth of the First Comic Actor (M.S. Shchepkin), stated: “Take a close look at this city, which is depicted in the play! Everyone agrees that there is no such city in all of Russia: it is unheard of that where we have officials, every single one of them is such monsters: at least two, at least three are honest, but here there is not a single one. In short, there is no such city. Is not it? Well, what if this is our spiritual city and it sits with each of us? No, let's look at ourselves not through the eyes of a secular person - after all, it is not a secular person who will pronounce judgment on us - let's look at least a little at ourselves through the eyes of the One who will call to a confrontation all the people before whom are the best of us, do not forget this, They will lower their eyes to the ground in shame, and let’s see if any of us then has the courage to ask: “Is my face crooked?” So that he would not be as afraid of his own crookedness as he was not afraid of the crookedness of all these officials, which I just saw in a play!.. Those things that are given to us in order to remember them forever should not be old: they must be accepted as news, as if we were hearing them for the first time, no matter who said them to us, - there is no point in looking at the face of the one who says them. No... we shouldn’t be talking about our beauty, but about ensuring that our life, which we are accustomed to revere as a comedy, does not end in such a tragedy as this comedy that we just played did not end. Whatever you say, the inspector who waits for us at the door of the coffin is terrible. As if you don’t know who this auditor is? Why pretend? This auditor is our awakened conscience, which will force us to suddenly and at once look at ourselves with all our eyes. Nothing can be hidden from this inspector, because he was sent by the Named Supreme Command and will be announced when it is no longer possible to take a step back. Suddenly, such a monster will be revealed to you, within you, that your hair will stand up in horror. It is better to revise everything that is in us at the beginning of life, and not at the end of it. Instead of empty ranting about ourselves and boasting about ourselves, let us now visit our ugly spiritual city, which is several times worse than any other city, in which our passions run rampant, like ugly officials, stealing the treasury of our own soul! At the beginning of life, take an auditor and, hand in hand, look at everything that is in us, a real auditor, not a fake one, not Khlestakov! Khlestakov is a clicker, Khlestakov is a flighty secular conscience, a corrupt, deceptive conscience; Khlestakov will be bribed by our own passions that dwell in our souls. With Khlestakov on your arm, you won’t see anything in our soulful city. Look how every official in a conversation with him cleverly turned out and justified himself, he came out almost a saint. Do you think that every passion of ours is no more cunning than any rogue official, and not only passion, even some empty, vulgar habit? He will turn out so cleverly in front of us and justify himself that you will still consider it a virtue and even boast to your brother and tell him: “Look what I have.” wonderful city“How tidy and clean everything is in it!” Our passions are hypocrites, I tell you, hypocrites, because I myself have dealt with them. No, with a flighty secular conscience you won’t see anything in yourself: they will deceive her, and she will deceive them, like Khlestakov’s officials, and then she will disappear herself, so that you won’t find a trace of her. You will remain like the fool of the mayor, who had already rushed into God knows where - and climbed into the generals, and probably began to proclaim that he would become the first in the capital, and began to promise others places - and then suddenly he saw that he was deceived and fooled all around by a boy, a superlative, a helipad, in which there was no resemblance to a real auditor... Not with Khlestakov, but with a real auditor, let’s look at ourselves! I swear, our soulful city is worth thinking about it, as a good sovereign thinks about his state! Noble and strictly, as he expels the covetous from his land, let us expel our spiritual covetous people! There is a remedy, there is a scourge that can drive them out. Laughter, my noble compatriots! Laughter, which all our base passions are so afraid of! Laughter that was created to laugh at everything that disgraces true beauty person. Let's return laughter to its true meaning! Let us take it away from those who turned it into frivolous secular blasphemy over everything, without discerning either good or bad! In exactly the same way as we laughed at the abomination in another person, let us laugh generously at the abomination of our own, whatever we find in ourselves! Not just this comedy, but everything that appears from the pen of any writer laughing at the vicious and base, let us take it directly into our own account, no matter how it was written for us personally: you will find everything in yourself , if only you descend into your soul not with Khlestakov, but with a real and incorruptible auditor... Compatriots! After all, I also have Russian blood in my veins, just like you. Look: I'm crying! Comic actor, I used to make you laugh, now I cry. Let me feel that my career is as honest as any of you, that I serve my land just as you all serve, that I am not some empty buffoon created for the amusement of empty people, but an honest official of the great state of God and aroused laughter in you - not that dissolute laughter with which man laughs at man in the world, which is born from the idle emptiness of idle time, but laughter born from love for man. Together we will prove to the whole world that in the Russian land everything that exists, from small to large, strives to serve the same One, Whom everything should serve in the whole earth, rushing there... upward, to the Supreme eternal beauty!

Under the influence of criticism from M. S. Shchepkin and his other friends, R. R. Gogol redid this ending in the second edition. There, the First Comic Actor specifically commented on the final silent scene of The Inspector General: “It seemed to me that this was my soulful city, that the last scene represents last scene life, when conscience makes you suddenly look at yourself with all your eyes and be afraid of yourself. It seemed to me that this real auditor, about whom one announcement at the end of the comedy brings such horror, is our real conscience that meets us at the door of the coffin.”

The reasons why R.R. did not receive permission from theatrical censorship were outlined in November 1846 by A.M. Gedeonov in a letter to P.A. Pletnev: “As for the play itself, then according to the accepted rules when Imperial theaters, excluding any kind of approval of the artists - by the artists themselves, and especially a wedding on stage, in this regard, she cannot be allowed to perform.” On November 21, 1846, Pletnev informed Gogol: “Your play “The Inspector’s Denouement” was allowed through, but only for publication, and not for performance, because, according to the rules of our directorate, artists have no right to crown their comrade on stage...”

Shortly before his death, on November 5, 1851, Gogol read to Moscow actors in the house of A.P. Tolstoy, whose performance in the play did not satisfy him. I. S. Turgenev, who was present at the reading, recalled: “Gogol... announced that he was dissatisfied with the actors’ performance in The Government Inspector, that they had “lost their tone” and that he was ready to read the entire play to them from beginning to end... Gogol read excellently... It seemed Gogol only cares about how to delve into the subject, which is new to him, and how to more accurately convey own impression. The effect was extraordinary - especially in comic, humorous places; it was impossible not to laugh - a good, healthy laugh; and the creator of all this fun continued, not embarrassed by the general gaiety and, as if internally choking on it, to immerse himself more and more in the matter itself, and only occasionally, on the lips and around the eyes, the master’s sly smile trembled slightly. With what bewilderment, with what amazement Gogol said famous phrase mayor about two rats (at the very beginning of the play): “They came, sniffed and went away.” He even looked around us slowly, as if asking for an explanation for this amazing incident. It was only then that I realized how completely incorrect, superficial, and with what desire only to quickly make people laugh, “The Inspector General” is usually played out on stage.” Gogol tried to make it clear to those present that R.’s task is much deeper than to make people laugh, that the play is primarily aimed at inducing the audience to self-criticism. That is why he read the funniest passages seriously, but because of this he only intensified the comic effect. There are few actors capable of revealing the inner tragedy in Gogol's laughter.