Library
materials
MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND SCIENCE OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION
Federal state budget educational institution
higher professional education
"Voronezh State Pedagogical University»
on Russian literature and culture (XI- XIX V.)
Topic: Features artistic structure comedy
N.V. Gogol “The Inspector General”.
2nd year students, s/o
Faculty of Humanities
Dereglazova Anastasia Evgenievna
Voronezh, 2015
A look at the work of N.V. Gogol in the play “The Inspector General”…………………………..3
The history of the comedy “The Inspector General”……………………………………………...4
The structure and composition of the comedy……………………………………………………………..5
Role literary work N.V. Gogol “The Inspector General”………………………12
References………………………………………………………………………………13
1. A look at the work of N.V. Gogol in the play "The Inspector General"
“The Inspector General” was a stunning blow to the very foundations of the Nicholas regime. It was not without reason that the play aroused, even in its original, relatively harmless version, the fury of the ruling mob. For those who were a little smarter in the reactionary camp, it was not difficult to understand that with its external vaudeville good nature, anecdotal plot and other “softening” qualities, “The Inspector General” was a cruel blow precisely to the foundations of the existing system.
It would seem that the play had a lot of data so that it could pass for a vaudeville-type comedy. The emphasized anecdotal nature of the incident that formed the basis of the plot seemed to indicate the exclusivity, almost even the improbability of what was depicted in the play.
Nemirovich-Danchenko V.I. in his famous article about “The Inspector General,” he noted that even the most brilliant dramatic writers sometimes needed several scenes in order to “start the play.” In “The Inspector General”, one first phrase of the mayor - and a whirlwind began, the play was already abruptly tied up. Moreover, it is tied tightly, in one knot, “with its entire mass,” by the fates of all the main characters.
The most complete expression artistic harmony and Gogol saw absolute perfection of poetic form in Pushkin’s work. A distinctive feature of his skill, he believed, was “the speed of description in extraordinary art to signify the entire subject with a few features.” Pushkin’s brush, says Gogol, “flies.” He attached very important importance to the laconicism and energetic rhythm of the narration. aesthetic principle. Nothing harms art more than “verbosity” and “eloquence.” A true artist strives for the internal capacity of the word, which is achieved, first of all, by its accuracy. This is, for example, Pushkin’s lyrics: “There are few words, but they are so precise that they mean All" .
Gogol, in turn, strove for a similar ideal in his own work. Here is one example that quite clearly reveals the directions of his artistic searches. The famous first phrase of the mayor - amazing in its brevity and expressiveness - went through a complex creative crucible and underwent a long evolution before becoming what we know it.
Gogol, in essence, did not want to offend anyone with the “Inspector General”. But from the pleasure of overturning and turning reality around, he How the artist also could not refuse. Moreover, according to the law of comedy, it is not just some small a sinner who has nowhere to fall, he is so low costs, but authorities and persons of fairly high rank. King Lear must become a jester. The higher and wider the ranks humor takes, all the better both for art and for the reconciliation and enlightenment that it promises to the viewer. If you collect everything great on earth and at once laugh at everything, then you have to wait, the blessed ones will come time. Swinging at the princes of men, comic art stands at the gates of heaven... So Gogol, without thinking about anything bad, made a tunnel with the “Inspector General” and he himself ended up with the “Inspector General” into a trap - to undermine ranks and foundations.
Subsequently, he extricated himself for a long time, proving, firstly, that light the laughter of his comedy elevates and reconciles, inspiring love even to bearers of evil, and secondly, that this laughter is socially useful, arousing horror, indignation and rousing people to fight against evildoers. We see that the ends do not meet. In the second point disappears there is already a broad and kind interpretation of laughter, and a satirical lesson unusual for Gogol’s comedy, but acquired by him later, appears. Such bitterness was not observed in him at the time of the creation of “The Inspector General” (and therefore the first point of justification, it seems, is closer to the truth).
But no matter how bright and conciliatory this laughter may be, it still diverges from life on a larger scale and hence is necessarily subject to suspicion on the part of the powers that be and every practical, sensible person. Laughter as such cannot coexist with reality in its habits, customs, in its solid and serious regularity.
“Firstly, there is absolutely no benefit to the fatherland; secondly... but secondly there is no benefit either.”
Because laughter, especially when it has reached such degrees as it happened in The Inspector General, is a violation of all orders developed by life in a dull and stubborn struggle, of all stability in the world, and, without attempting any undermining, in itself already concludes something socially dangerous. Art is already in the seed, in the creation of the image, in conflict with the image human life, although his laughter is not out of malice, but from the fullness of consciousness that everything in this world is beautiful and extraordinary. Art is criminal by its nature, craving not a way of life, not a way of life, but exceptions and violations. Without them, you see, he can’t even sit and write a silver key in The Inspector General, and no matter how much the authors try to maintain decency, just by the number of pages devoted in art to murder and unrest, deceptions, forgeries and all sorts of disorder, it’s clear where it's leaning...
After The Inspector General, Gogol could not laugh. More precisely, he did this with the remnants of his past concussions. The laughter of the “Inspector General” paralyzed him. The beginning of paralysis is already noticeable in the silent scene that crowns the comedy. As soon as the Mayor said: “Why are you laughing? “You’re laughing at yourself!..”, a paroxysm seemed to set in in the development of the comic, and when, having laughed to our heart’s content and clapped our hands, we looked again at the stage, we were horrified to discover among the frozen figures the author of the world comedy. He no longer laughed, but seemed to freeze with his face distorted from petrified laughter in some unnatural pose. Finally, trying to overcome the numbness that had come over him with The Inspector General, Gogol exposed his “inner cage” to everyone with an invitation to make sure of his honest intentions.
2. The history of the comedy "The Inspector General"
The first idea of “The Inspector General” dates back to 1834. The surviving manuscripts of Gogol indicate that he worked on his works extremely carefully: from what has survived from these manuscripts, it is clear how the work in its completed form known to us grew gradually from the initial outline, becoming more and more complicated with details and finally reaching that amazing artistic completeness and vitality with which we know them at the end of a process that sometimes lasted for years.
It is known that the main plot of The Inspector General, like the plot of Dead Souls, was communicated to Gogol by Pushkin; but it is clear that in both cases the entire creation, from the plan to the last details, was the fruit of Gogol’s own creativity: an anecdote that could be told in a few lines turned into a rich work of art.
“The Inspector General” seems to have especially evoked in Gogol this endless work of determining the plan and details of execution; exists whole line sketches, in whole and in parts, and the first printed form of the comedy appeared in 1836. The old passion for the theater took possession of Gogol to an extreme degree: comedy did not leave his head; he was languidly fascinated by the idea of coming face to face with society; he tried with the greatest care to ensure that the play was performed in accordance with his own idea about characters and action; The production encountered various obstacles, including censorship, and finally could only be carried out by the will of Emperor Nicholas.
“The Inspector General” had an extraordinary effect: the Russian stage had never seen anything like it; the reality of Russian life was conveyed with such force and truth that although, as Gogol himself said, the matter was only about six provincial officials who turned out to be rogues, the whole society rebelled against him, which felt that it was a matter of a whole principle, a whole order life, in which it itself resides.
But, on the other hand, the comedy was greeted with the greatest enthusiasm by those best members of society who were aware of the existence of these shortcomings and the need to expose them, and especially by the young literary generation, who saw here once again, as in the previous works of their favorite writer, a whole revelation, a new, the emerging period of Russian art and Russian public.
On April 19, 1836, the comedy premiered on stage Alexandria Theater, in which the emperor himself, Nicholas I, was present. Gogol was depressed by what he saw: the idea of the comedy was not understood by either the actors or the audience, nothing was extracted from the deep meaning embedded in the play. The comedy was mistaken for ordinary light vaudeville. It was necessary to explain things to both the actors and the audience. Gogol writes articles explaining the idea of “The Inspector General”: “An excerpt from a letter written by the author after the first performance of “The Inspector General” to a writer,” “Theatrical tour after the presentation of a new comedy,” “A warning for gentlemen actors,” “The denouement of “The Inspector General.”
In his “comments” to the comedy “The Inspector General,” Gogol noted that in order to discover the character of each character, the involvement of all participants in the play is required. “The plot should embrace all faces, not just one or two, touch on what worries more or less everyone characters. Every hero is here; the flow and progress of the play produces a shock to the entire machine: not a single wheel should remain rusty and not included in the work,” wrote Gogol in “Theater Road”.
3. Structure and composition of comedy.
The structure of the comedy "The Inspector General"
The comedy was written not as an ordinary story (text divided into chapters), but as a script for production. The comedy reads very well in this style: less descriptions, more action (dialogue). Unlike ordinary works, where descriptions of characters appear only when they are encountered by the reader, descriptions of the characters are written on the first pages of the comedy. The absence of such “interrupting factors” allows you to fully enjoy reading and not be distracted. In addition, it is quite easy to imagine the scene and the characters in your mind - the scene is described at the beginning of the action or somewhere in the middle, and at the beginning of each phenomenon we only observe that someone has come or left. In addition, this makes it easier not only to read the comedy, but also to stage it in the theater - you don’t need to think about where it’s best to stage this or that action, everything is already described in the text, the actors just have to play the role correctly.
Composition of the comedy “The Inspector General”
The first phrase of the comedy, uttered by the mayor, is the plot:
“I invited you, gentlemen, in order to tell you some unpleasant news. An auditor is coming to see us.”
This phrase gives such a powerful impetus that events begin to unfold very quickly. Main factor, because of which all the fuss begins, is the fear of officials before the auditor. The preparations of officials for the arrival of the auditor reveal to us the true picture of city life. By the way, a picture of a city is an exposition; according to the rules of composition, it should be before the opening, but here the author used the technique of compositional inversion.
So, what instructions does the Mayor give to officials?
Artemy Filippovich advises to “put in order” charitable institutions: put clean caps on the sick, make inscriptions about the disease above the beds “in Latin or in some other language,” and in general, it is desirable that there be fewer patients, otherwise “they will be classified as evil.” carelessness or lack of art of healing.” Ammos Fedorovich should pay attention to public places: drive out geese, etc. from those places where petitioners appear.
The picture of the city is quite clear. But why doesn’t the Mayor demand that his subordinates really restore order, even if only on the occasion of the arrival of an auditor? Why does he advise getting away with “minor amendments”?
The answer is pronounced by the Mayor himself: “There is no person who does not have some sins behind him. It’s already been arranged this way by God himself...” This is what officials are counting on! The auditor will simply turn a blind eye to the visible and invisible shortcomings of the city. And they will help him close his eyes: either with money, or dinners, or maybe both. Who would refuse this?!
Officials treat their own sins calmly, sincerely believing that these are not sins, but sins - it happens to everyone!
It even has its own philosophy. “What do you think, Anton Antonovich, are sins? Sins are different from sins. I tell everyone openly that I take bribes, but with what bribes? Greyhound puppies. This is a completely different matter!” - says Judge Lyapkin-Tyapkin. Strawberry, together with Christian Ivanovich, chose an excellent way to treat patients: “the closer to nature, the better; We don’t use expensive medicines,” that’s why the sick recover “like flies.” These two words are the final verdict on local medicine. The postmaster passionately wants to know what the townspeople write in their letters, and he opens other people’s letters not out of precaution, “but more out of curiosity.”
The innovation of the play is that in the comedy there is no honest hero who would expose all the disorders, the inspector who appeared in the person of Khlestakov was completely invented by officials - this is what is called a “mirage intrigue”, and the beginning of this intrigue is the appearance on stage of two landowners - Bobchinsky and Dobchinsky, who, hurrying and interrupting each other, noting a bunch of unnecessary details, give away the main thing - the auditor in the city, and for two weeks already. The mayor, in horror, clutches his head and gives the last orders: bring the sword and hat from the room, take the tens (a police officer chosen from the city residents, from each of the ten houses) and distribute brooms to clear those places, where will he go auditor.
What kind of person torments all the city officials so much with his mystery and omnipotence? How do women feel about him? Here another mirage arises - the inaccessible capital, which so beckons and attracts. Marry Field Marshal of St. Petersburg! Blessings not only to one lady, but also to all her relatives and friends! After Khlestakov’s matchmaking with Marya Antonovna, amazed and not believing in his happiness, the Mayor says:
“...What birds you and I have become now! Eh, Anna Andreevna? High flying, damn it! The cavalry will be hung over your shoulder..." Anna Andreevna is not far behind, having already decided where she will live and that in her room “there will be an aroma so that you cannot enter, and you only need to close your eyes.”
And so, the inspector, appeased in every possible way (act 4, phenomena 1-7), who proposed marriage to the mayor’s daughter, practically brings to life the mirages that the officials imagine. But the “auditor” is leaving and before leaving he sends a letter to a friend. The postmaster could not escape such a temptation as opening and reading this letter. To please others, he began to read the letter in front of everyone. This moment can be called the culmination of the entire comedy. Everything was striving for exactly this. All cards are revealed. The officials' shock is growing very quickly. Just the information that it was not an auditor drove them crazy. Further in the letter it was written about each official separately. As soon as they talked about any official, he immediately felt unwell. After reading the letter, they began to scold themselves for not recognizing the substitution, that this person could not be an official, that they had been deceived by themselves. They began to understand that all this time Khlestakov was simply laughing at them and that all his words meant nothing.
But this is not the end. The gendarme appears with the news:
“An official who arrived by personal order from St. Petersburg demands you to come to him this very hour. He was staying at a hotel"
and the silent scene that follows is the main denouement, giving a completely different meaning to the play, turning the comedy into a tragic farce. The following picture appears before us:
“The mayor is in the middle in the form of a pillar with outstretched arms and his head thrown back. By right side his wife and daughter, with the movement of their whole body rushing towards him; behind them is the postmaster, who has turned into question mark, addressed to the audience; behind him is Luka Lukic, lost in the most innocent way; behind him, at the very edge of the stage, are three ladies, guests, leaning against one another with the most satirical expression on their faces, directly related to the mayor’s family. By left side mayor: Strawberry, tilting his head slightly to one side, as if listening to something; behind him is a judge with outstretched arms, crouching almost to the ground and making a movement with his lips, as if he wanted to whistle or say: “Here’s to you, grandma, and St. George’s Day!” Behind him is Korobkin, who addressed the audience with a narrowed eye and a caustic allusion to the mayor; behind him, at the very edge, are Dobchinsky and Bobchinsky, with their hands moving towards each other, their mouths open and their eyes bulging at each other. The other guests remain just pillars.”
The silent scene has no clear interpretation. Gogol insisted that actors must “withstand” a silent scene for at least a minute and a half, which for a theatrical performance seems like an eternity. This silent scene is the denouement of the entire comedy. On the one hand, this Last Judgment, which awaits every person after death, this explains the absurdity of the poses in which the heroes are frozen. Here everything small, veiled, purchased is discarded and only the truth of a person’s life that he lived remains; here you can no longer count on the “petty sins” of the auditor, to whom you will have to answer. On the other hand, the arrival of a real auditor implies the appearance of everyone’s Conscience: “Look closely at this city, which is depicted in the play! Everyone agrees that there is no such city in all of Russia... Well, what if this is our soulful city and it sits with each of us? 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 about it 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’s better to revise everything that is in us at the beginning of life, and not at the end of it,” Gogol wrote in “Theater Travel.” Only petrified horror remains on the stage.
However, Gogol believed in the healing power of laughter, “gathering everything that is bad” and showing it to the viewer, the author believes that by seeing it and laughing at it, people will change their lives for the better.
4. Content and disclosure of the essence of the play and the characters of the heroes of “The Inspector General” by N.V. Gogol
“The Inspector General” is a comedy with a clear professional profile, social from beginning to end. Fear of superiors and attraction to higher ranks absorb in her, it seems, everything personal in a person. Man appears here exactly according to Aristotle - as a social animal. Having abandoned the love affair that was making the difference in the theater, Gogol offered her in return a much stronger, as he put it, electricity, contained initially in the news itself - “auditor!” As soon as he uttered this word, everything in his comedy began to run and boil. “Re-visor” sounds in Russian, like “zhe vu zem” in French, like “Hende Hoch” in German. It’s enough to say “auditor” for everything to start immediately. The plot, suggested by Pushkin, as Gogol asked, turned out to be purely Russian, fundamentally Russian leaven. It was she who allowed the text to lie down, exactly to measure, in the bed of classical drama, into a harmonious idea and the form of an “auditor”, although turned inside out, but completely, from the first to the last line, without a trace and without an appendage, running on a single screw , on an inverted uniform. Having stocked himself with the “auditor’s key”, which turns a sleepy city into a disturbed anthill, idle onlookers and bourbons into obliging dancers, Gogol in “Theater Road” could allow himself to hint at the discovery of a universal engine, a magic wand or root, from the touch of which everything is tied and untied by itself , revolutionizing theater arts:
“...They are looking for a private connection and do not want to see a general one. ...No, comedy should knit itself together, with its entire mass, into one big, common knot. The tie should hug all faces, not just one or two,- touch on what worries more or less everyone involved. Every hero is here; the flow and progress of the play produces a shock to the whole machine: not a single wheel should remain rusty and not included in the work.”
In Gogol, according to Russian customs, the plot is filled entirely with social interest, leaving no room for other kinds of passions. By the way, he saw this as our national trait - attachment not to personal reasons, but to the aspirations of society. Indeed, administrative delight takes on even a frivolous form in The Inspector General. In the curves of Gorodnichy, in Bobchinsky’s readiness to run like a cockerel behind a droshky, in the pliable word “labardan, sir,” there is something of love languor. On the other hand, the greed of Gorodnichy’s daughter and wife for a visiting incognito is based on public interest, just like his, Khlestakov’s, amorous approaches and advances. Erotica gives him an extra chance to show off in his position. He crawls under skirts not as a ladies' man, but as an auditor.
Another discovery, no less valuable for the scene, raised by Gogol to unprecedented heights in our time, was that a completely random and unaware of this substitution, a passing beggar, ends up as auditors, thanks to which the figure who inspires horror and provides the action in the play himself in itself is an obvious fiction. Thus, Gogol staked out with his comedy the most promising conflict in the stage sense - the contradiction between speech and the position of the speakers, which is what drama is famous for and maintains as a special kind of literature that finds a place and time on stage to speak out of place. With the appearance of the imaginary auditor, not just an important boss and a clever rogue enters the play, but the very personification of the theater - an involuntary and mutual deception. With The Inspector General, Russian drama celebrates theatricality in its purest, unadulterated form.
From the very first lines, the arrival of the “auditor”, like a magic love potion, poured through the veins of the comedy, capturing into its orbit all of reality, the entire mass of performers and extras, whirling and racing the entire stage machine. Everyone rushed to hide. When - as in hide and seek they shout “markers!”, announcing the resumption of the race - a wave reached the audience that they had misidentified the inspector, and everyone, out of fear, having fallen into deception, ceased to understand who was whose and where the raid was - then the intrigue , jumping up, burst into an explosion of play, a true apotheosis of comedic word and deed. “Hurry, hurry, hurry, hurry!” - to this cry of the mayor the curtain falls in the first act, and to the same chorus everything lives in “The Inspector General”, getting confused, interrupting
The play warns from the very beginning, and throughout the text there are words and expressions scattered that speak of the exclusivity of everything that is happening. Khlestakov, according to Gogol, main character plays and the most unusual - not only in character, but also in the role that fell to him. In fact, Khlestakov is not an auditor, but also not an adventurer who deliberately deceives others. It seems that he is simply not capable of a cunning thought out in advance, an adventure; this, as Gogol says in his stage directions, is a young man “without a king in his head,” acting “without any consideration,” possessing a certain amount of naivety and “sincerity.” But it is precisely all this that allows the false auditor to deceive the mayor and his company, or rather, allows them to deceive themselves. “Khlestakov does not cheat at all, he is not a liar by trade,” wrote Gogol, “he himself forgets that he is lying, and he himself almost believes what he says.” The desire to show off, to become a little taller than in life, to play a more interesting role, destined by fate, is characteristic of any person. The weak are especially susceptible to this passion. From a fourth-class employee, Khlestakov grows to “commander-in-chief.” The hero of the analysand experiences his finest hour. The scope of lies stuns everyone with its breadth and unprecedented power. But Khlestakov is a genius at lying; he can easily come up with the most extraordinary things and sincerely believe in it.
Thus, in this episode, Gogol deeply reveals the multifaceted nature of the protagonist: outwardly ordinary, nondescript, empty, a “wizard,” but internally a talented dreamer, a superficially educated fanfare, who in a favorable situation transforms into the master of the situation. He becomes a "significant person" to whom bribes are given. Having gained a taste for it, he even begins to demand rudely from Dobchinsky and Bobchinsky: “You don’t have money?”
One cannot but agree with the poet's opinion. Indeed, in the “scene of lies” Khlestakov is a bubble, inflates as much as possible and shows himself in his true light, only to burst at the denouement - to phantasmagorically disappear, rushing off in three. This episode is truly a “magic crystal” of comedy. Here all the features of the main character, his " acting". The scene allows us to better understand that "extraordinary ease of thought" about which Gogol warned in his remarks to gentlemen actors. Here comes climax the hero's pretense and lies. The prominence of the “scene of lies” represents Gogol’s formidable warning to subsequent generations, wanting to protect them from a terrible disease - Khlestakovism. Its impact on the viewer is great: anyone who has lied at least once in his life will see what excessive lies can lead to. Looking at the image of Khlestakov, you understand how creepy it is to be in the skin of a liar, experiencing a constant fear of exposure.
Returning to the words of the great sage Krylov, I would like to paraphrase an excerpt from another of his fables, “The Crow and the Fox”: “For how many years have they been telling the world that lies are vile and harmful.”
Unfortunately, this vice still finds a corner in people’s hearts today, and the only way to fight lies is by ridiculing them. Gogol understood this well and realized this idea with faith in the “bright nature of man” in the “scene of lies.”
Let's re-read individual scenes and episodes again, take a closer look at the life of a provincial, God-forsaken town, from which “even if you jump for three years, you won’t get to any state.” The patriarchal simplicity of provincial morals forces the mayor to inform officials about the arrival of the auditor without unnecessary diplomacy. It’s funny to listen to the thoughtful opinion of the most “enlightened and free-thinking” person in the city, Ammos Fedorovich Lyapkin-Tyapkin, who explains this visit for political reasons, because Russia wants to wage war. The very comparison of Russian foreign policy and the miserable, petty interests of provincial officials is ridiculous.
The mayor's orders to his subordinates to take urgent measures before the arrival of the auditor immediately give an idea of the state of affairs in the city hospital, court, and schools. There is chaos, dirt, and theft everywhere. So you see patients in dirty caps, smoking strong tobacco, who look very much like blacksmiths. This comparison made by the mayor is funny and sad at the same time, because behind this lies the complete helplessness of unfortunate sick people who are completely dependent on scoundrels and scammers.
An amusing, typically provincial detail about geese and caterpillars scurrying under the feet of visitors to the presence quite transparently hints at the state of justice in the city. The very name of Judge Lyapkin-Tyapkin does not require additional comment. Skvoznik-Dmukhanovsky’s reasoning about school teachers, for example, about the one who, having ascended to the pulpit, always makes a terrible grimace, which can be misinterpreted by Mr. Inspector.
Luka Lukich Khlopov, the deathly frightened superintendent of the district schools, completely agrees with the mayor, recalling how, because of this teacher’s similar behavior, he was reprimanded for instilling free-thinking thoughts in the youth. This is no longer funny, because in Russia of the 30s of the 19th century, depicted in the comedy, progressive, freedom-loving views were mercilessly suppressed and persecuted. This was especially true educational institutions, which were considered breeding grounds for harmful anti-government ideas.
Is it not that “the mayor is as stupid as a gray gelding”, “the postmaster is a scoundrel, he drinks bitter”, “the overseer of the charitable establishment Strawberry is a perfect pig in a yarmulke”, “the superintendent of the schools is rotten through with onions”, “judge Lyapkin-Tyapkin in the strongest degree of bad manners"... All these characteristics from the letter of the also empty little man Khlestakov are evil, but true. The officials of this provincial town wear masks and are terribly afraid that someone will see their true nature. It is fear that makes them mistake the dummy Khlestakov for an auditor. And not to see his lies behind your own deceitful essence.
To grasp the mechanism of the play, where no one before Gogol had collected so much evil at once, did not immerse the whole city into the darkness, from which no auditors can free oneself, one can analyze the plots of the play, the actions and remarks of the characters.
Firstly, there is no one here who has truly suffered from the authorities and social disorder. There is no virtue here, everyone here is moderately vicious, and therefore, in fact, we have nothing to worry about. Merchants-arshinniks are the first thieves and, plucked by the Governor, they immediately become overgrown.
It’s a pity, a human pity only for the perpetrators of lawlessness, who end up in an extremely unpleasant situation at the end of the comedy. And most of all, of course, I feel sorry for Gorodnichy:his fall is the most terrible of all, although, of course, it is also the funniest of all.
Secondly, in perceiving the play (for the sake of close empathy) it is necessary to abandon the later layers on it, whether in the form of criticism, indignant at the state of affairs in Russia, or in the form of the author’s tricks to justify himself backdating, turning irresponsible laughter onto the legal path. It is especially difficult to protect yourself from the sensitive influence that the play has on reading “ Dead Souls"under the brand of Gogol's subsequent and dominant work, as if created as a direct continuation of The Inspector General. The comedy involuntarily adapts itself to a huge formation that is essentially alien to it, and in its proximity it fades, freezes, and is cluttered with things, cabinets, as in the Sobakevich estate, among which it is no longer possible to see a human face.
This tendency manifested itself very clearly in the production of Meyerhold, who framed “The Inspector General” in the condensed materiality and stuffiness of “Dead Souls.” Meyerhold's directorial direction (not to mention many other, less talented interpretations and productions) was aimed at every possible condensation of matter, which squeezed the soul and air out of luminous body comedies. “The Inspector General” was placed under the pressure of Gogol’s monstrous still lifes.
5. Role work of art N.V. Gogol "The Inspector General"
In its creative overflow, The Inspector General surpasses Gogol, who, having written it in an unprecedentedly short time, then remained chained to it for many years and kept coming up with explanations and notes for The Inspector General, a whole forest of supports, buttresses, typed them on new volume- theatrical journeys, denouements, amendments to his irrepressible comedy. The long-term comments he composed, which sometimes do not go anywhere, also indicate the unbearable task of understanding what was written in the end of his hasty play.
In art since ancient times, it has been noted that the plot-forming, structural forms are roles and positions that come into strange contradiction with the proven way of life, but not this way of life itself. That is, art selects from life not general rules, but violations of the rules and begins with removing everyday life from a state of balance, gravitating towards the sphere of the forbidden, unusual, lawless. Art begins with a miracle, and in the absence of one, it begins with deception, forgery, betrayal, loss and crime. That is why the aesthetic fact (in its search for a shocked harmony) is accompanied by tears and laughter, and at its very base the sisters - tragedy and comedy - are located on either side. Laughter in broad meaning is the true symptom or impulse of art, its original definition. In this capacity, it penetrates and washes with itself any poetic creation, being, as it were, the pre-cause and eternal accompaniment of creativity. Secretly, every artist laughs, every image of him is ridiculous.
In Gogol, “artist” and “comedian” merged into one. Laughter, in its external manifestations, served for him as an indicator of feeling, vitality and poetic strength, and coincided directly with the work of writing and form-making. All his emotional strings, be they gloomy or lyrical, are connected to a comic nerve, which is invariably mixed into his creative sighs and tears.
Speaking about the characters in his comedy, Gogol called her the only honest hero - laughter. Indeed, the play is full of funny situations, unexpected situations, comic mistakes, ironic remarks, sarcastic characteristics. Even the plot of the comedy is based on the fact that officials, frightened by the news of the arrival of a powerful auditor, mistake the empty and insignificant Khlestakov for him. This mistake in the finale of the comedy creates a grotesque situation when the cunning, rude and despotic mayor himself becomes a victim of deception. The words of the mayor, full of impotent rage, that he “deceived swindlers on swindlers,” “even deceived three governors,” evoke laughter. The auditorium is shaking with laughter, and the mayor throws a murderous remark at the audience: “Why are you laughing? Are you laughing at yourself!..” These words invite us to seriously think about what makes us laugh so merrily at a performance of Gogol’s comedy.
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Vetlovskaya V.E. Gogol – comedian // Rus. lit. - 1990. - No. 1. - P. 6-33.
Voitolovskaya E.L. Comedy N.V. Gogol "The Inspector General". A comment. – Leningrad: Enlightenment, 1971. – 270 p.
Dokusov A.M., Marantsman V.G. Comedy N.V. Gogol's "The Inspector General" in school study: A manual for teachers. - 2nd ed. - L: Education, 1975. – 190 p.
Zaretsky V.A. On the meaning of the ending artistic system"The Inspector General": Conflict and the author's view // The author's problem in fiction. - Izhevsk, 1974. - Issue. 1. - pp. 87-100.
Kuleshov V.I. Grotesque plot of "The Inspector General" // Kuleshov V.I. Sketches about Russian writers. - M., 1982.- pp. 73-76.
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Gogol's idea found brilliant implementation in his comedy, defining its genre as a socio-political comedy. The driving force in “The Inspector General” is not a love affair, not events in private life, but phenomena public order. The plot of the comedy is based on the commotion among officials awaiting the auditor and their desire to hide their “sins” from him. Thus, it was determined that compositional feature comedy, as the absence of a central character; such a hero in “The Inspector General” became, in Belinsky’s words, “a corporation of various official thieves and robbers,” the mass of bureaucrats. This officialdom is given primarily in his official activities, which, naturally, entailed the inclusion in the play of images of the merchants and philistines.
“The Inspector General” is a broad picture of the bureaucratic rule of feudal Russia in the 30s. Brilliant writer, Gogol, painting this picture, managed to write every image included in it in such a way that he. without losing its individual originality, at the same time it represents a typical phenomenon of the life of that time.
The mayor is a convinced bribe-taker: “This is how God himself arranged it, and the Voltaireans are in vain speaking against it. He is an embezzler: he constantly embezzles government money.
The goal of his aspirations is “over time... to become a general.” Why does he need this? “According to the concept of our mayor,” says Belinsky. - to be a general means to see in front of you humiliation and meanness from the lower ones. In communicating with his subordinates, in relation to the population of the city, he is self-confident, rude and despotic: “Whoever is dissatisfied, then I will give him such displeasure ...”; “Here I am, the channeler...”; “What samovar-makers, arshinniks...” Such rude shouts and abuse are typical of the mayor.
But he behaves differently in front of his superiors. In a conversation with Khlestakov, whom he mistook for an auditor, the mayor tries to show himself as an executive official, he says, peppering his speech with expressions accepted in the bureaucratic circle: “In other cities, I dare to report to you, city governors and officials care more about their own, that is, benefit, except in order to earn the attention of the authorities through decorum and vigilance.”
The second person in the city is Judge Lyapkin-Tyapkin. Unlike other officials, he is a representative of the elected government: he was elected as a judge by the will of the nobility.” Therefore, he behaves more freely with the mayor, allowing himself to challenge the hundred. He is considered a "freethinker" and an educated man in the city, having read five or six books.
“The Inspector General” is a truly folk comedy. The images of the comedy are typical, the behavior of each character is vitally motivated, their words and actions reveal their characters. And although Gogol depicted the world of provincial officials in The Government Inspector, the depth of the writer’s penetration into reality was so amazing that viewers and readers of the comedy immediately saw in it an image of all of Russia - its bureaucratic system.
That is why the production of “The Inspector General” caused a whole storm of indignation and indignation on the part of bureaucratic circles, serf owners and the reactionary press. The progressive public highly appreciated Gogol's comedy.
Gogol's "The Inspector General" is an amazing and special comedy in every sense. It is also unusual when it comes to composition. Of course, many things seemed unusual in that era, but now everything seems normal and familiar. Nothing can surprise anyone anymore.
For example, contemporaries found such a “sharp” beginning of the comedy very strange. No explanations to you about what the situation is, heroes. Immediately one starts talking about some kind of auditor. (And when this happens in auditorium, it seems as if this news is being communicated to the audience in the theater. Like, now the theater auditor will come and check everyone! You might be scared... But that’s good – participation.)
And it’s funny that Khlestakov is like main character and is not a villain. The officials themselves impose on him an “honorable” role, which is difficult for him to refuse in his position. It looks like officials are fighting with windmills. And all this happens in their little world, because there are not so many characters. Each has its own almost caricatured character, a “speaking” surname. In general, even the background - the life of the city is very miserable. Gossip, stupidity, superstitions are everywhere.
The highest point of the plot can be called the mayor's dream. That is, he already sees himself in St. Petersburg, rich and significant. He seems to feel unlimited power over the little people. But the viewer and reader understand that all this is deception and nonsense!
It is important that there is no special place for love in this satire. Usually a play is not complete without a love affair, but here the mayor’s daughter’s “love” for Khlestakov itself is a comedy.
It’s also interesting that the composition seems to be twisted into a ring. In the finale, again, there is news about the auditor, but this time a real one. And the silent scene that has become a classic! And it’s not just that everyone freezes, but in poses that reflect their emotions. In addition, according to Gogol’s plan, this scene should last a couple of minutes. (If only the audience didn’t go to the wardrobe while the actors tried to show despair with their pose.)
It is interesting that with the appearance of “The Inspector General,” one Kharkov playwright, who had previously created a similar comedy, was indignant. Apparently, the time has come for such works!
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The theme of good and evil is as old as time. For a long time, these two radically opposite concepts have been fighting for the right to triumph over each other.
The famous and interesting Gogol comedy “The Inspector General” has an unusual for that time literary composition. The main difference is that it does not give a detailed history of all those actions that lead to the main event, which is reflected in the comedy and underlies the entire artistic narrative. In literature, the absence of background is called exposition. Some researchers believe that as such an exposition for Gogol’s comedy “The Inspector General,” one can take a small digression in the author’s own comedy, “Notes for Gentlemen Actors.” But this fact is not confirmed by anything, so all this remains at the level of speculation and conjecture.
What can you learn from this author’s digression even before you start reading Gogol’s entire comedy? In this short narrative, the author describes in more detail the characters of his characters, allowing the actors to understand them to the end and then correctly and competently play them on stage. There's another one distinguishing feature Gogol's comedy: the whole action of the work begins immediately with the plot, and it is already contained in the phrase of the Mayor, who informs the city officials about the purpose for which he has gathered them. And then the Mayor says that an auditor should soon come to the city, and this news is very unpleasant, both for him and for all city officials. One phrase, but already from it a lot becomes clear and the reader can only wait to see what the outcome of this whole action will be.
Main driving force Gogol's comedy, which helps the action develop quickly, replacing them, is the fear of city officials. It is so strong among them that it is easy for them to see an auditor in a passing petty official. But Khlestakov had long shown himself in the city, living in the most seedy tavern in the city. By the way, as the story progresses, the reader learns that he has been living there for two weeks now, but he has nothing to pay. Therefore, he cannot move further, since he does not have enough funds for this. But no one even thinks about this; the fear of the mayor and his assistant officials turns out to be much stronger. It is he who has such a strong effect on officials county town that everyone is trying to serve the imaginary auditor, without even seeing that he is on a completely different level. Officials are afraid of exposure, and this fear pushes them to rash actions that look stupid and funny in the course of Gogol's narrative.
And the main character is so stupid and ignorant that he does not immediately understand why the attitude towards him suddenly changes and everyone shows great zeal to serve him. Even his servant begins to understand this faster than the master himself. But most highest point The development of all actions in Gogol’s narrative becomes the scene when Khlestakov begins to lie and it can no longer be stopped. Gogol shows this as the culmination of his work. The author ironically describes how a man from a low class of officials tries to prove to everyone that he occupies a high place. And with each phrase of the main character it becomes higher and higher, and there are more lies. The imaginary auditor sees how city officials are listening to him and is ready to lie even more in order to remain in the spotlight.
Finally, he achieves his fame, stands at its peak, and does not see at all, and does not want to notice, that his own words are different, that they cannot be lined up in some kind of logical chain. And the more Khlestakov drinks, the higher his pedestal becomes. He triumphs and enjoys the fact that people are finally listening to him and, the strangest thing, they believe him. But in the comedy, the denouement is the moment when everyone: both the mayor and his officials read the letter, which was written by Khlestakov themselves. He writes to his friend a certain Tryapichkin and tells what interesting adventure happened to him. This is how the truth is revealed and this is the outcome of the entire Gogol event.
Everyone learns that Khlestakov is not an inspector, and the way he describes in his letter the society of the county town where he spent some time amuses even the officials themselves. Just not those about whom they begin to read the description. And here everyone clearly realizes that they, people who consider themselves smart, mistook the most insignificant person for an auditor. Are they surprised how everyone was able to mistake him for an auditor? But Gogol’s mastery is emphasized by the fact that at the end of his play he inserts a “silent scene”, which gives the work a certain peculiarity in composition.
And when all the heroes are fascinated by the revealed truth, a gendarme appears who informs the mayor and city officials that a real auditor has arrived in their dirty county town. This completes the action, as if creating a circle. After all, now the city society in power is returning to its previous state again, and they are overcome by fear. And this is a kind of Gogolian hint that now all residents of the county town who did not do their work will face retribution. That is why the dramatic skill of Nikolai Gogol was so highly valued, who wrote in a completely new way the most original work of Russian literature, which became a treasure of the Russian theater.