Life and customs of provincial Russia in N. V.’s comedy

Gogol N.V.

Essay on a work on the topic: Life and customs of provincial Russia (based on Gogol’s comedy “The Inspector General”)

How much do we have good people,

But as much as there is chaff, from which

The good ones have no life.

Take them to the stage! Let everyone see

People! Let them laugh!

Oh, great thing!

N.V.Gogol

What is Russia like in miniature - a city from which “even if you ride for three years, you won’t reach any state.”? “There is a tavern on the streets, uncleanliness!” Near the old fence, “near the shoemaker,. all sorts of rubbish was piled on forty carts.” Church at charitable institution, “for which the amount was allocated five years ago, construction began, but burned down.” A depressing picture.

How is life for the “merchants” and “citizens”? Some were robbed, some were flogged, some had bruises on their cheekbones from Derzhimorda’s zeal; the prisoners are not fed, the hospitals are stinking, unclean, and the sick “are all recovering like flies.”

And it’s all due to the extreme cynicism of actions and arbitrariness of the “pillars of the city” - those who, by virtue of their public duty, are called upon to resist lawlessness and care for the welfare of the townspeople. However, the conical effect in the play is precisely based on the discrepancy between the actions of the heroes and their social calling. The mayor, for example, proudly announces: “I have been living in the service for thirty years! He deceived three governors!” The judge echoes him: “I tell you frankly that I take bribes, but with what bribes? Greyhound puppies. This is a completely different matter.” The postmaster, having listened to the order: “to print out every letter a little,” naively admits: “I know, I know, don’t teach this, I do this not so much out of precaution, but more out of curiosity: “I love to die to know what’s new in the world.” .

So, complete unscrupulousness, selfish calculation, abuse of official position - this is what forms the basis of the consciousness and activity of the “masters of life”. But most importantly, Gogol will remove the veil of secrecy from bribery - the most dangerous and widespread vice of the huge bureaucratic apparatus of Russia. It’s not for nothing that during the Mayor’s monologue “Why are you laughing? You’re laughing at yourself!” the actor Shchepkin came close to the ramp and threw these words into the prim stalls, where many prototypes of Gogol’s heroes sat, among whom, according to Mikhail Semenovich himself, were half “takers” and half “givers.”

And yet, embezzlement, bribery, robbery of the population - all these inherently terrible phenomena - are shown by Gogol as everyday and completely natural. According to Anton Antonovich’s deep conviction, “there is no person who does not have some sins behind him,” who would miss what “floats into his hands.”

And now there is an “incognito” auditor in the city - an unexpectedly looming danger for all officials, but especially for the Mayor. After all, the first demand is from the father of the city, and his sins are more serious: “not only fur coats and shawls, and bags of goods from merchants are floating into our hands, but also the state treasury, funds allocated for the improvement of the city, and social needs. And this cannot be corrected with a quick order: “you cannot remove mountains of garbage, you cannot cover empty spaces and ruins with straw, you cannot build a church, and most importantly, you cannot force all the offended to be silent.”

But the whole point is that it’s not an auditor who lives in the hotel, but a pathetic “elistrate” who squandered his money in St. Petersburg. According to the laws of the conical, Gogol gives his hero a terrifying surname, derived from the word lash - to hit with a backhand. And the officials are trembling. The mayor himself did not recognize the “wick”, “dummy”. The even more frightened Anton Antonovich perceives every remark of the frightened Khlestakov in a completely different sense. However, everything was decided by a repeatedly tested remedy - a bribe. She confirmed the idea that the game went according to all the rules. Now I would like to get the guest drunk and find out everything completely. Which of the auditors refused a tasty treat!

In the end, events turn out in such a way that the auditor “field marshal” is already Anton Antonovich’s son-in-law and the patron of the family. The viewer is convinced that extraordinary ease of thought is not characteristic of Khlestakov alone. She takes the Governor and his wife to St. Petersburg, where Anton Antonovich is going to “kill” the rank of general by eating hazel grouse and smelt. And Anna Andreevna’s room should have “such an aroma that it is impossible to enter.” And the newly-minted general is already triumphant, before whom everyone trembles and trembles: titular, mayor. Despite the fact that the Mayor had just experienced a panic attack upon learning that the merchants had complained about him, he is immensely happy. After all, now this fear will creep through others in front of his person. It's tempting to see those trembling and trembling! Contempt for inferiors and subservience to higher ranks is what forms the basis of relationships in the bureaucratic world. Therefore, the scene of congratulations to the Gorodnichy family on their newfound happiness is depicted by Gogol as a parade of hypocrisy, envy and arrogance.

Gogol promised Pushkin that the comedy would be “funnier than the devil,” laughter permeates every episode and scene of the comedy. However, by showing not private individuals, but officials in whose hands power over people lies, Gogol deduces stage action beyond the scope of an anecdotal incident. His cheerful, but sharp and stern word fights for a person’s high calling, an intelligent, noble life. I recall the words of Chernyshevsky: Gogol “was the first to present us to us in our present form. The first taught us to know our shortcomings and abhor them.”

gogol/revizor6 History of the people and the laws of language development. Questions of method in linguistics. How to write school essay. Book prefaces - a collection of essays and

Residents of the city N (Based on the play by N. Gogol “The Inspector General”)

“In The Inspector General,” Gogol later recalled, “I decided to collect in one pile everything bad in Russia that I knew then, all the injustices... and laugh at everyone at once.”

The writer’s focus is on the fictional provincial town of N., from where, according to the mayor, “even if you ride for three years, you won’t reach any state.” The action in the comedy takes place in the 30s of the 19th century. All kinds of abuses of power, embezzlement and bribery, arbitrariness and neglect of the people were characteristic features the then bureaucracy. And these negative phenomena public life could be observed throughout the country. Therefore, the district town of N., which is not on the map, is a generalized image of Russia.

The composition of the population of this city is the same as in the whole of that time. Russian state. There are officials, nobles, merchants, and ordinary townspeople here.

Among the bureaucrats who make up the main group of characters in The Inspector General, there is not a single positive person. Moreover, in the play we're talking about not about the individual shortcomings of individual representatives of the bureaucracy. Gogol portrays them as vicious in general. While characterizing the entire bureaucratic class, the author did not ignore its main feature - a penchant for veneration of rank. To Khlestakov’s question: “Why are you, gentlemen, standing?”, the mayor, who himself knows how to humiliate a person, obsequiously answers: “The rank is such that you can still stand.” In general, all officials talk to Khlestakov “at length.” When Khlestakov intimidated the officials with his imaginary importance, they “shake with fear,” and the mayor, speechless, barely pronounces: “And va-va-va... va... Va-va-va... procession.”

The mayor's tyranny is limitless. He embezzles money intended for the construction of the church. Imitating him in embezzlement and despotism, the trustee of charitable institutions, Zemlyanika, believes that an ordinary person “if he dies, he will die anyway; “If you get well, then you will get well,” and instead of eating oatmeal soup, he gives the sick only cabbage. The judge, confident that in his papers “Solomon himself would not decide what is true and what is not true,” turned the judicial institution into his own fiefdom.

Very interesting speech characteristic city officials. The speech of the trustee of charitable institutions is flattering, florid and pompous and bureaucratic: “I do not dare to disturb with my presence, to take away the time allocated for sacred duties...” The vocabulary and intonations of the judge are determined by the claims of a smug ignoramus to intellectuality. “No, I’ll tell you, you’re not the one...” The speech of the school superintendent reflects his extreme timidity and fear: “I’m timid, your blah...preos...shine...” The postmaster’s phraseology is a clear evidence of his stupidity: “What am I? How are you, Anton Antonovich? He is meager in thoughts and words, often gets confused and leaves out phrases.

Gogol also paints a negative picture of the nobility of the city of N. So, for example, Bobchinsky and Dobchinsky are slackers, gossips and liars. Emphasizing the complete facelessness of the landowners, Gogol gives them the same names (Peter), patronymics (Ivanovich) and similar surnames (Bobchinsky - Dobchinsky). The landowners' vocabulary is extremely poor and primitive. They make abundant use of introductory (or similar) words (“yes, sir,” “entogo,” “please see”) and connect phrases using coordinating conjunctions (“And not having found Korobkin... and not having found Rastakovsky”). To Khlestakov’s question: “Have you hurt yourself?” Bobchinsky answers tongue-tiedly: “Nothing, nothing, sir, without any insanity.”

The nobility is also represented in the images of the mayor's wife and daughter. Anna Andreevna is very cutesy and mannered. It seems to her that she looks more like a society lady when she says: “Oh, what a passage!” WITH important look she says: “If I’m not mistaken, you are making a declaration about my daughter,” and then expresses herself very colloquially: “She ran in like a mad cat.” The essence of her character was perfectly defined by the mayor himself, calling her a “ratchet.”

Gogol laughs evilly at his heroes, sometimes making them look like complete fools. So, for example, the judge, clearly at odds with elementary logic, sees the reason for the assessor’s characteristic alcoholic smell in the fact that “his mother hurt him a little when he was a child, and since then he smells a little like vodka.” When asked by the mayor what he thinks about the arrival of the auditor, the postmaster declares: “... there will be a war with the Turks... It’s the Frenchman who is crap.” The trustee of charitable institutions boasts: “Since I took over, it may even seem incredible to you - everyone is getting better like flies.” We understand the depth of the author's irony by remembering famous saying- “Dying like flies.”

We also see the merchants in the play. Merchants, accustomed to giving bribes, come to Khlestakov “with a body of wine and sugar loaves.” Just like the officials of the city of N., merchants are always ready to deceive. They are afraid of the mayor’s anger and his disfavor, so they always try to please him.

When depicting minor figures, like Derzhimorda and Gibner, Gogol uses only social-typical features that absorb individual ones. Derzhimorda is extremely rude and despotic.

But why does Gogol paint a non-commissioned officer’s wife? As a victim of police brutality? Of course, but not only. Otherwise, she, like other residents of the city, would not have been exposed to general ridicule. She is not concerned about restoring justice or protecting her human dignity. Like her offender, who, as we know, “is a smart man and does not like to miss what comes into his hands,” she, too, is trying to benefit from the insult inflicted on her. “And for his mistake they ordered him to pay a fine. I have no reason to give up my happiness,” she tells Khlestakov. Thus, the non-commissioned officer, unfairly flogged behind the stage, morally flogs, that is, humiliates herself, in front of the audience, confirming the justice of the seemingly absurd words of the mayor: “She flogged herself.”

Gogol refused to include in the play positive hero, since it would soften satirical image the social environment he depicts would weaken the general meaning of his comedy. The only honest and noble face acting throughout the comedy is the author's laughter. In Gogol’s understanding, social comedy, in contrast to the entertaining comedy that dominated the Russian stage at that time, was supposed to arouse indignation in the viewer against “society’s deviation from the straight road.” In “The Inspector General,” the author, by his own admission, decided to collect “in one pile everything that is bad in Russia.” That is why among the residents of the city of N. there is not a single decent person. Before us are selfish and greedy officials, dishonest merchants, rude and ignorant ordinary people.

How many good people do we have?
but as much as there are chaff, from which
for whom there is no good life...
Take them to the stage! Let everyone see
people! Let them laugh!
Oh, laughter is a great thing!
N.V.Gogol

It is known that the only time Gogol had the opportunity to observe a Russian provincial city was in Kursk, where he had to stay for a week due to a crew breakdown. Through the power of literary talent, these impressions turned into images that were mysterious for all of Russia during the time of Nicholas I. It is curious that Nicholas himself confirmed this. On the way from Penza to Tambov, the tsar was injured and was treated for two weeks in Chembar. Having recovered, he wished to see local officials. They say that the sovereign carefully examined those who had come and said to the provincial leader of the nobility: “I know them...” And then added in French that he saw them at the performance of Gogol’s “The Inspector General.” Indeed, Gogol made the officials of the district town the heroes of the comedy. Thanks to a seemingly simple plot device, a passing petty official is mistaken for an auditor - the author reveals the life and customs of not only a provincial staff town, but throughout Russia.
What is Russia like in miniature - a city from which “even if you ride for three years, you won’t reach any state.”? “There is a tavern on the streets, uncleanliness!” Near the old fence, “near the shoemaker, ... all kinds of rubbish were piled on forty carts.” A church at a charitable institution, “for which a sum was allocated five years ago, began to be built, but burned down...” A depressing picture.
How is life for the “merchants” and “citizens”? Some were robbed, some were flogged, some had bruises on their cheekbones from Derzhimorda’s zeal; the prisoners are not fed, the hospitals are stinking, unclean, and the sick “are all recovering like flies.”
And it’s all due to the extreme cynicism of actions and arbitrariness of the “pillars of the city” - those who, by virtue of their public duty, are called upon to resist lawlessness and care for the welfare of the townspeople. However, the conical effect in the play is precisely based on the discrepancy between the actions of the heroes and their social calling. The mayor, for example, proudly announces: “I have been living in the service for thirty years! He deceived three governors!” The judge echoes him: “I tell you frankly that I take bribes, but with what bribes? Greyhound puppies. This is a completely different matter.” The postmaster, having listened to the order: “to print out every letter a little,” naively admits: “I know, I know, don’t teach this, I do this not so much out of precaution, but more out of curiosity: “I love to die to know what’s new in the world.” .
So, complete unscrupulousness, selfish calculation, abuse of official position - this is what forms the basis of the consciousness and activity of the “masters of life”. But most importantly, Gogol will remove the veil of secrecy from bribery - the most dangerous and widespread vice of the huge bureaucratic apparatus of Russia. It’s not for nothing that during the Mayor’s monologue “Why are you laughing? You’re laughing at yourself!” the actor Shchepkin came close to the ramp and threw these words into the prim stalls, where many prototypes of Gogol’s heroes sat, among whom, according to Mikhail Semenovich himself, were half “takers” and half “givers.”
And yet, embezzlement, bribery, robbery of the population - all these inherently terrible phenomena - are shown by Gogol as everyday and completely natural. According to Anton Antonovich’s deep conviction, “there is no person who does not have some sins behind him,” who would miss what “floats into his hands.”
And now there is an “incognito” auditor in the city - an unexpectedly looming danger for all officials, but especially for the Mayor. After all, the first demand is from the father of the city, and his sins are more serious: “not only fur coats and shawls, and bags of goods from merchants are floating into our hands, but also the state treasury, funds allocated for the improvement of the city, and social needs. And this cannot be corrected with a quick order: “you cannot remove mountains of garbage, you cannot cover empty spaces and ruins with straw, you cannot build a church, and most importantly, you cannot force all the offended to be silent.”
But the whole point is that it’s not an auditor who lives in the hotel, but a pathetic “elistrate” who squandered his money in St. Petersburg. According to the laws of the conical, Gogol gives his hero a terrifying surname, derived from the word lash - to hit with a backhand. And the officials are trembling. The mayor himself did not recognize the “wick”, “dummy”. The even more frightened Anton Antonovich perceives every remark of the frightened Khlestakov in a completely different sense. However, everything was decided by a repeatedly tested remedy - a bribe. She confirmed the idea that the game went according to all the rules. Now I would like to get the guest drunk and find out everything completely. Which of the auditors refused a tasty treat!
In the end, events turn out in such a way that the auditor “field marshal” is already Anton Antonovich’s son-in-law and the patron of the family. The viewer is convinced that extraordinary ease of thought is not characteristic of Khlestakov alone. She takes the Governor and his wife to St. Petersburg, where Anton Antonovich is going to “kill” the rank of general by eating hazel grouse and smelt. And Anna Andreevna’s room should have “such an aroma that it is impossible to enter.” And the newly-minted general is already triumphant, before whom everyone trembles and trembles: the titular, the mayor... Despite the fact that the Mayor has just experienced panic fear upon learning that the merchants complained about him, he is immensely happy. After all, now this fear will creep through others in front of his person. It's tempting to see those trembling and trembling! Contempt for inferiors and subservience to higher ranks is what forms the basis of relationships in the bureaucratic world. Therefore, the scene of congratulations to the Gorodnichy family on their newfound happiness is depicted by Gogol as a parade of hypocrisy, envy and arrogance.
Gogol promised Pushkin that the comedy would be “funnier than the devil,” laughter permeates every episode and scene of the comedy. However, by showing not private individuals, but officials in whose hands power over people lies, Gogol takes the stage action beyond the scope of an anecdotal incident. His cheerful, but sharp and stern word fights for a person’s high calling, an intelligent, noble life. I recall the words of Chernyshevsky: Gogol “was the first to present us to us in our present form... The first taught us to know our shortcomings and to abhor them.”

The main character of N. V. Gogol’s play “The Inspector General” is the district town of N. This collective image, which includes both the city itself and its inhabitants, their morals, customs, views on life, etc.
The work is preceded by an epigraph taken by the playwright from folklore: “There is no point in blaming the mirror if your face is crooked.” Thus, the author warns readers that everything he described is the truth, and not fiction or, especially, slander.

Gogol depicts the life of a typical city, of which there were many throughout Russia. It is no coincidence that he does not give it a specific name. The author has in mind a certain city, of which there are many examples. We learn that it is located in the very outback (“from here, even if you ride for three years, you won’t reach any state”). The “set” of officials leading the city is completely typical: a judge, a trustee of charitable institutions, a superintendent of schools, a postmaster. And all this, like a little king, is ruled by the mayor.
The author shows us the life of all spheres of the city, how they are managed. And we understand that everything here is absolutely typical for Russia and is relevant today.
It is important that we get a fairly complete picture of the county town. In our head we have an idea of it as an architectural object. The main action of the play takes place in the mayor's house. In addition, we are transported to the tavern where the imaginary auditor stopped. From the remarks and words of the characters, we get an idea of the meager furnishings in Khlestakov’s room.
In addition, from the characters’ dialogues we learn other information about the city: about the bridge, about the old fence near the shoemaker, about that and near this fence “a lot of rubbish is piled up,” about the booth where pies are sold. We also know that in the city there is a school, government offices, a post office, a hospital, and so on. But all this is in an abandoned and deplorable state, because officials do not care about this at all. They are primarily interested in their own benefit. Based on this, all city management is built.
In addition to the bureaucracy, N. is also inhabited by other classes. The auditor, giving orders, speaks about citizenship, clergy, merchants, and philistines. From the very beginning, we learn that all these classes suffer oppression and insults from officials: “What did you do with the merchant Chernyaev - huh? He gave you two arshins of cloth for your uniform, and you stole the whole thing. Look! You’re not taking it according to rank!”
We get to know representatives of different classes directly. They all come with requests to the “official” Khlestakov. First, the merchants “beat him with their foreheads.” They complain about the mayor, who “inflicts such insults that it is impossible to describe.” It is important that merchants are ready to give bribes, but “everything must be in moderation.”
In addition, a locksmith and a non-commissioned officer’s wife come to Khlestakov. And they also complain about the mayor, who does whatever he wants in the city. And nothing dictates him - neither the law nor his conscience.
Thus, we understand that all city residents, regardless of their social and financial situation, has one thing in common - the brazen outrages of officials.
We are convinced of them throughout the play. The very first sin of the mayor and his charges is bribery and theft. All officials care only about their pockets, thinking little about the inhabitants of the city. Even at the very beginning of the play, we see how the sick are treated in N., how children are taught, how justice works there. Patients in the city are “dying like flies,” public places are a mess and dirty, school teachers are drunk every day, and so on. We understand that city residents are not considered people - this is just a means to live well and fill your wallet.
But the officials themselves are not happy with life in N. We see that the mayor, like his family, dreams of St. Petersburg. That's where real life! And Khlestakov, with his fictitious stories, awakens these dreams in Skvoznik-Dmukhanovsky, makes him hope.

The period of Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol’s creativity coincided with the dark era of Nicholas I. After the suppression of the Decembrist uprising, all dissidents were brutally persecuted by the authorities. Describing reality, N.V. Gogol creates brilliant, full of life realities literary works. The theme of his work is all layers of Russian society - using the example of the morals and everyday life of a small county town. Gogol wrote that in The Inspector General he finally decided to gather together all that was bad in Russian society, which he saw and laughed at everything at once. Gogol made the officials of an ordinary district town the heroes of the comedy. Thanks to a seemingly simple plot device (a minor official passing by is mistaken for an auditor), the author vividly and colorfully describes the types and characters, their habits - in general, a description of Russia in miniature - a city from which you can ride for three years, but so You can’t get to any state. “There is a tavern on the streets, uncleanliness!” Near the ancient fence, which is located near the shoemaker, “all kinds of rubbish were piled on forty carts.” Even the church, which is located at a charitable institution, for the construction of which money was allocated five years ago, began to be built, but then burned down, and it still stands. How is life for the “merchants” and “citizens”? Here some are robbed, some are flogged by an official, some are beaten due to Derzhimorda’s hard work. In prisons, prisoners are not fed, hospitals are dirty, and the sick “all get better like flies.” Having learned that the arrival of the auditor is coming, officials immediately try to restore at least some order in the city.

Their actions come down to window dressing, to observing only external decency (removing the hunting arapnik that was hanging in the presence, cleaning and clearing only the street along which the arriving inspector will travel). “As for the internal order... I can’t say anything... There is no person who does not have some sins behind him. This is how God himself arranged it,” says the mayor. Gogol shows the reader that life in a particular city directly depends on the attitude of officials towards their service. Those who, by virtue of their duty, are called upon to resist violations of the law and take care of the welfare of the townspeople, are mired in bribery, drunkenness, gambling and gossip. The mayor proudly declares: “I have been living in the service for thirty years! He deceived three governors! “The judge is not far behind him: “I tell you frankly that I take bribes... With greyhound puppies. This... is a different matter.” Even the postmaster was ridiculed by Gogol.

When he is given instructions to lightly open all the letters, he naively admits: “I do this not so much out of precaution, but more out of curiosity: I love to know what’s new in the world.” All the images created by Gogol in the comedy “The Inspector General” embody typical features, characteristic of officials from Nikolaev Russia. Vulgar, two-faced, poorly educated - the most “educated” of the comedy characters is Judge Lyapkin-Tyapkin. He has read as many as five or six books in his entire life, so he is considered the most “well-read” and “somewhat free-thinking.” Unscrupulousness, self-interest, various abuses of official position - these are the morals county officials. It is interesting that embezzlement, bribery, robbery of the population - all these terrible social vices - are shown by Gogol as everyday and even natural phenomena.