The originality of Gogol's dramatic solutions lies in the fact that the place of the ideal in the conflict of The Inspector General remains vacant. At first glance, the exclusion of the personified image of virtue from the plot should relieve the dramatic tension of the action, but this does not happen; the main ideological and thematic emphasis is transferred from the opposition of antagonistic forces to the revelation of the discrepancy between the ideal of behavior declared by society, rationally organized, meaningful, and the vulgarity, vulgarity of life characters, the content of which is reduced exclusively to selfish needs. The classic tendency to contrast the negative with the positive is revised by the author. Gogol does not simply change the component antitheses. The subjects of artistic development are officials, considered not only as valuable characters in their own right, but also as figures that generalize social types by the very fact of their existence, exposing the bureaucratic system and so far from the ideal that laughter turns out to be the most effective form their perceptions. The life of the city is immersed in a state of arbitrariness and lawlessness. Confront this world with a concrete, actual position positive character would mean creating another classical drama, in the denouement of which someone’s blood would definitely be shed - so deeply rooted is the vice in the consciousness and existence of the characters. The author understands that a possible ethical antagonist-accuser will be little different from the already known to culture personifications of the ideal and the loud polemics it initiates can be resolved exclusively in a tragic manner. Gogol makes a thematically bold decision, contrasting the image of fictitious retribution with the emblems of criminal everyday life. The result is an impressive self-exposure of grotesque characters. Fear prompts officials to seek salvation by revealing both the secrets of others and their own, thereby exposing the depravity of social practice. The viewer and reader become witnesses to farcical scenes of self-justification, bribery, and hypocrisy. The little things of everyday life, in particular social life, so reminiscent Russian Empire generally. One of the central places in the conflict is occupied by the image of Khlestakov, who involuntarily, perhaps, does not fully understand who he is mistaken for. There are known theatrical and literary versions, according to which Khlestakov guesses about his “auditor” status. But they contradict Gogol’s given characters; This is where the comic lies - the emptiest man, the personification of stupidity triumphs over social wisdom. The highly experienced mayor Skvoznik-Dmukhanovsky was punished not by Khlestakov, but by the relapses of social relations that reigned in Russia.
so that there is no harassment for travelers and all noble people... Khlestakov (at first he stutters a little, but towards the end of his speech he speaks loudly). But what can I do?.. It’s not my fault... I’ll really pay... They’ll send it to me from the village. Bobchinsky looks out of the door. He is more to blame: he serves me beef as hard as a log; and the soup - God knows what he splashed in there, I had to throw it out the window. He starved me for days on end... The tea is so strange: it stinks of fish, not tea. Why am I... Here's the news! Mayor (timid). Sorry, it's really not my fault. The beef at my market is always good. They are brought by Kholmogory merchants, people who are sober and of good behavior. I don't know where he gets this from. And if something goes wrong, then... Let me invite you to move with me to another apartment. Khlestakov. No I do not want to! I know what it means to another apartment: that is, to prison. What right do you have? How dare you?.. Yes, here I am... I serve in St. Petersburg. (Being cheerful.) I, I, I... Mayor (to the side). Oh my God, so angry! I found out everything, the damned merchants told me everything! Khlestakov (bravely). Even if you’re here with your whole team, I won’t go! I'm going straight to the minister! (He hits the table with his fist.) What are you doing? What do you? Mayor (stretched out and trembling with his whole body). Have mercy, don't destroy! Wife, small children... don’t make a person unhappy. Khlestakov. No I do not want! Here's another! What do I care? Because you have a wife and children, I have to go to prison, that’s great! Bobchinsky looks out the door and hides in fear. No, thank you humbly, I don’t want to. Mayor (trembling). Due to inexperience, by golly due to inexperience. Insufficient wealth... Judge for yourself: the government salary is not enough even for tea and sugar. If there were any bribes, it was very small: something for the table and a couple of dresses. As for the non-commissioned officer's widow, a merchant, whom I allegedly flogged, this is slander, by God, slander. My villains invented this: they are such a people that they are ready to encroach on my life. Khlestakov. What? I don't care about them. (In thought.) I don’t know, however, why are you talking about villains and about some non-commissioned officer’s widow... A non-commissioned officer’s wife is completely different, but you don’t dare flog me, you’re far from that... Here's another! Look at you!.. I will pay, I will pay money, but now I don’t have it. The reason I'm sitting here is because I don't have a penny. Mayor (to the side). Oh, subtle thing! Where did he throw it? what a fog he brought in! Find out who wants it! You don’t know which side to take. Well, just try it at random. (Aloud.) If you definitely need money or something else, then I’m ready to serve this minute. My duty is to help those passing by. Khlestakov. Give me, lend me! I'll pay the innkeeper right now. I would only like two hundred rubles or even less. Mayor (bringing up pieces of paper). Exactly two hundred rubles, although don’t bother counting. N.V. Gogol "The Inspector General"
CONFLICT external and internal. External: between Khlestakov as an auditor and city officials. The relationships between the characters are based on misunderstandings, and not on deep contradictions between them. This side of the conflict is very important for general construction works. Internal: between the authorities and the people. Gogol strives to show that all abuses and extremes do not correspond to the ideal of man and society. The author’s most important artistic task was to tear off the mask from “well-intentioned persons.” IMAGE SYSTEM Character traits officialdom: .Bribery: a) Lyapkin-Tyapkin takes bribes with greyhound puppies, b) Letter from a friend of the mayor: “Since I know that you, like everyone else, have sins, because you are a smart person and don’t like to let things go, what floats into your hands.” c) The scene of giving bribes to Khlestakov. Embezzlement: a) Strawberries: “The closer to nature, the better, we don’t use expensive medicines. The man is simple: if he dies, he will die anyway; if he gets well, then he’ll get well too,” b) The church, which was torn apart piece by piece. Gross arbitrariness: a) The attitude of the mayor towards the merchants. “He’ll come to the shop and, whatever he gets, he’ll take everything... But if you try to contradict him, he’ll send a whole regiment to your house to billet,” b) Attitude towards the locksmith and the non-commissioned officer, c) The postmaster opens letters. “I do this not so much out of precaution, but more out of curiosity: I love to know what’s new in the world.” The only positive hero of comedy is laughter.
Slide 12 from the presentation “The Comedy by N.V. Gogol “The Inspector General””Dimensions: 720 x 540 pixels, format: .jpg. To download a slide for free to use in class, right-click on the image and click “Save Image As...”. You can download the entire presentation “The Comedy by N.V. Gogol “The Inspector General”.ppt” in a zip archive of 565 KB in size.
“International Conflicts” - Project characteristics. "Psychology of international conflict: national models of conflict behavior." Tasks. Scientific and practical significance. Behavior is expressive (reflects individuality and has no purpose) and functional (goal-oriented). Practical use at the current stage. Genealogy research.
“The problem of conflict” - Causes of conflicts. Needs. Conflict Management. Compromise, participation, deal. Differences and discrepancies Needs Perception Power Values and principles Feelings and emotions. Are my expectations realistic? Look to the future and learn from the past. Problems of the evasive approach. Problems of the settling approach.
“Conflicts in society” - 20th century. Max Weber (1864–1920). History of conflictology. New time. Thomas Hobbes (1588–1679). Sigmund Freud (1856–1939). Conflictology is developing as an independent science. Conflicts are characteristic of all levels of social life - politics, economics, culture. XXI Century. Ralf Dahrendorf (b. 1929). (Conflictology as a scientific direction).
“Conflict Management” - Department of “State, Municipal and Corporate Governance”. Causes of conflicts. Consequences of conflicts. Personal methods conflict management. Sources of conflicts. Structural methods of conflict management. Lecture questions: Own interests. Levels of conflict. Diagnosis of conflicts.
Essay plan
1. Introduction. Originality artistic structure comedies.
2. Main part. The plot and compositional originality of The Inspector General.
— Exposition in the plot of a comedy.
- The beginning.
— Heroes-messengers. Development of action.
— Gorodnichy’s first acquaintance with Khlestakov. Development of action.
— The third and fourth acts of the comedy. Development of action in a real conflict and climax episodes in a “mirage” intrigue.
- Fifth act. The climax and denouement of the play/
3. Conclusion. Gogol's innovation.
In the comedy N.V. Gogol acts as an innovative playwright. He overcomes the traditional techniques of the poetics of classicism, the techniques of vaudeville, moves away from the traditional love affair, turning to satirical image society, a city growing into a grandiose symbol Russian state. “I wanted to collect everything bad in Russia in one pile and at one time... laugh at everyone,” wrote N.V. Gogol. Let's try to analyze the plot and compositional structure of the work.
The author's originality lay in the fact that the exposition in the comedy follows the plot. The plot of the play is the first phrase of the Governor: “... an auditor is coming to us.” And only after that we plunge into the atmosphere of life county town, we’ll find out what the rules are there and what local officials do. We will learn here some details: how the residents of charitable institutions are kept, what rules are established by the judge “in public places,” what happens in educational institutions..
The beginning of the real intrigue of the comedy, as we noted above, is the first remark of the Governor. IN AND. Nemirovich-Danchenko, in his article “The Secrets of Gogol’s Stage Charm,” noted Gogol’s extraordinary courage and innovation in creating the plot. “The most wonderful theater masters,” he says, “could not begin the play except in the first few scenes. In “The Inspector General” there is one phrase, one first phrase: “I invited you, gentlemen, in order to tell you the most unpleasant news: an auditor is coming to us,” and the play has already begun. The plot is given, and its main impulse is given - fear." However, it is worth noting that there is no fear here yet. The plot of the play is distinguished by its comedy, satire, and psychologism. The arrival of an auditor is certainly unpleasant news, but the situation is traditional. The mayor has extensive experience in such matters (he deceived two governors). The inspector is coming, but they are not afraid of him yet. The city still holds the initiative in its hands. However, the city has already been set in motion. The mayor energetically gives instructions to officials. Gogol proved himself to be a talented playwright, having come up with such a premise, thanks to which everything was set in motion at once characters comedies. Each of them acts in accordance with his character and his crimes. We also note that the main character himself is not present either in the exposition or in the plot of the play.
Later in the comedy, Bobchinsky and Dobchinsky appear and bring news about the mysterious guest of the tavern. Here Gogol uses the traditional comedic image of herald heroes. Only the news they bring is unconventional. Out of nothing they create the image of an auditor. The arrival of a stranger seems unexpected to them, his behavior is mysterious (he lives, observes, does not announce himself). And this is where confusion begins among officials, fear arises. The scene depicting the messenger heroes is extremely important in the artistic fabric of the play. Some researchers believe that it is a kind of completion of the plot in the real conflict of the play. Other critics (who indicated the presence of two intrigues in the plot - real and “mirage”) see in it the beginning of a “mirage” intrigue. It seems that we can consider this scene as a development of action after the beginning (the Governor’s message) in the real conflict of the play.
The scene of Gorodnichy’s first acquaintance with Khlestakov is built on a very complex comic. This scene is also a development of action in both real and “mirage” conflict. Khlestakov feels fear, believing that he is going to be taken to a debt hole. The mayor believes that his interlocutor is distinguished by cunning and cunning: “What a fog he let in!” The characters do not understand each other, being, as it were, on different wavelengths. But the mayor regards Khlestakov’s entire behavior as some kind of subtle game, the terms of which he quickly accepts. And the seduction of the imaginary auditor begins. To begin with, Anton Antonovich gives him a bribe. This crucial moment in the behavior of the Governor. He overcomes his shyness and feels more confident. The situation is undoubtedly familiar and familiar to him. Then he invites you to live in his house, visit charitable institutions, a district school, and a prison. In a word, it is active. Let us note here the comedy in the development of the conflict. "From point of view common sense the hero leading the action, the attacker, the attacker, should be the auditor, since he is a government official who came to the city with an audit, with an inspection, and Khlestakov does not attack anyone, since he is not an auditor. He turns out to be the target of an attack; by an absurd coincidence, he was mistaken for an auditor, and he repels this attack as best he can. The hero leading the action turns out to be the Mayor. All his actions are based on one desire: to deceive the auditor, create the appearance of prosperity, and not give a single person in the city the opportunity to tell the auditor about malfeasance.<…>All this “on the contrary” will go through all the most important points in the development of the conflict."
The events of the third act also represent a very important stage in the development of the conflict. Khlestakov probably begins to realize that he is being taken for an important government person, and begins to play this role, very naturally. He talks about his life in the capital and lies to such an extent that he completely exposes himself. The scene of lying is the culmination of the hero's self-exposure. However, the Mayor and other officials take the hero’s lies for granted. What is the reason for this behavior? As the researchers note, “fear sets the stage for deception. But Khlestakov’s sincerity deceived him. An experienced rogue would hardly have deceived Gorodnichy, but the unintentionality of Khlestakov’s actions confused him.<…>...In all cases - even in the moment of the most incredible lies - Khlestakov is sincere. Khlestakov is inventing things with the same sincerity with which he previously told the truth, and this again deceives the officials.” What follows is a scene where the imaginary auditor visits local officials - he takes money from everyone. The bribe scene contains a crudely comic turn. The first visitor, the judge, is still embarrassed to offer Khlestakov money: he does it ineptly, with fear. However, Khlestakov resolves the tense situation by asking for a loan. And then he borrows from each of the officials, and the amounts increase from visit to visit. Then follows the scene of Khlestakov’s courtship of the mayor’s daughter and wife. He wooes Marya Antonovna. This scene contains a parody of a love affair. As V. Gippius notes, “the unity of time required a fast pace, but still gave scope within five acts and twenty-four real hours. As if mocking this rule, Gogol fits two explanations, a misunderstanding with rivalry, a proposal and an engagement within the limits of half an act and a few minutes, so that in the last act he can laugh at this “phantom”. Thus, the scenes of lies, bribes and matchmaking are the development of action in the real conflict of the play and at the same time the culminating episodes in the “mirage” conflict.
In the fifth act we have a culmination in the development of real intrigue - this is the scene of Khlestakov's exposure. The mayor triumphs: he not only managed to hide his affairs from the auditor, but also almost became related to him (this scene is also the culmination of the development of the “mirage” intrigue). However, his triumph is overshadowed by the arrival of the Postmaster with a letter that reveals the true state of affairs. The scene of reading Khlestakov’s letter is the culmination of a real conflict and at the same time the denouement of a “mirage” intrigue. However, the comedy does not end with this episode. This is followed by the appearance of a gendarme, who announces the arrival of a real auditor. This scene represents the resolution to the real conflict of the play. Thus, the plot action returns to where it began. Gogol has received various interpretations from critics. One of its interpretations: a real auditor has finally arrived and the city will face a real, fair punishment. Another version: the arriving official is associated with heavenly punishment, which all the characters in the comedy fear.
Thus, N.V. Gogol is an innovator in the development of dramatic techniques and in depicting the conflict. In his comedy, he almost completely abandoned the love affair. Love triangle Marya Antonovna - Khlestakov - Anna Andreevna is defiantly parodic. The plot is based on unusual case, an “anecdote,” but one that allows one to deeply reveal public relations and connections. Main character is not present in either the first or the last act of “The Inspector General”: it is not present in both the beginning and the denouement. The climax in the development of the real conflict also occurs without Khlestakov. The dynamics of “The Inspector General” follow a certain rule - “he already wants to reach, to grab with his hand, when suddenly he goes crazy.” This applies equally to the Governor, to his ambitious hopes, and to Marya Antonovna, to her love aspirations. The basis of the play’s action is not personal conflicts, but general social origin. Gogol has no positive characters in the play. The ideal disappears into the subtext of the writer. This is the idea moral criterion, from the standpoint of which the author evaluates social vices. According to Gogol, laughter is the only positive face of comedy. These are the main features of the poetics of Gogol the playwright.
1. Lyon P.E., Lokhova N.M. Literature: For high school students and those entering universities: Tutorial. M., 2002, p.210.
2. Mann Yu.V., Samorodnitskaya E.I. Gogol at school. M., 2008, p. 97.
3. Bogomolova E.I., Zharov T.K., Kedrova M.M. Literature manual. M., 1951, p. 151., p. 152.
4. Mann Yu.V., Samorodnitskaya E.I. Gogol at school. M., 2008, pp. 118–119.
5. Gippius V. Gogol. L., 1924, p. 99.
N.V. Gogol’s comedy “The Inspector General” was first staged in 1836. The audience liked the play so much that it firmly entered the repertoire. national theater. Satire on Russian bureaucracy first half of the 19th century century turned out to be comprehensive and absorbed primordially Russian features, so even a change of eras is not able to affect the relevance of this work.
Gogol was the first Russian classics created dramatic work, where there is neither a conflict based on love nor the personality of the hero himself. The innovative conflict of his comedy is of a social nature. All characters represent a collective hero. These include provincial officials headed by the mayor, spouses and children of bureaucrats, townspeople, merchants and other inhabitants of a small town.
All these characters are united by anxiety: a secret auditor from St. Petersburg itself should be welcomed into the city. The district officials need to somehow hide their idleness. Along the way
As the plot develops, the scope of events expands and it’s not difficult to guess that similar vicissitudes could occur in any of Russian cities, including the capital.
In the image of a minor official who accidentally found himself in the city, the author showed Khlestakovism, born of the existing class-bureaucratic system. The essence of the unfolding conflict is that the “city fathers” are fighting with a ghost created in the imagination. The limited Khlestakov, who lost to smithereens, managed to deftly deceive the experienced mayor and other officials. Moreover, everything happened by itself, thanks to the innocence of the young rake who was mistaken for another. If he had deliberately gone on an adventure, it would not have been successful.
The general fear of the inspector played an important role in the unfortunate mistake. This is what the conflict in the work is based on. Fear fetters, does not allow critical thinking even in moments when Khlestakov “carries away” with lies that even an unenlightened person cannot believe.
The originality of Gogol's play is added by the absence positive hero. The ideal is formed on the basis of negativity: denunciation and denial of existing realities.
(No ratings yet)
Other works on this topic:
- Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol’s comedy “The Inspector General” was first staged on stage in 1836 and since then has forever entered the repertoire of the Russian national theater. Satirical...
- N.V. Gogol, when writing the comedy “The Inspector General,” used an ironic manner of narration, which is characteristic of all his work. The meaning of the title of this work lies in Gogol’s ironic attitude...
- What epigraph prefaces N.V. Gogol’s comedy “The Inspector General”? A. Take care of your honor from a young age b. There is no point in blaming the mirror if your face is crooked. And hurry up to live, and...
