What is the image of the city in the auditor. The city in N.V. Gogol’s comedy “The Inspector General”

The events of N.V. Gogol’s comedy “The Inspector General” take place in 1831 in a certain provincial town. As the mayor said about him, “Yes, from here, even if you ride for three years, you won’t reach any state.” This is an ordinary city, no different from other cities.

There is no order in this city: in hospitals, doctors walk dirty, the sick “look like blacksmiths” and smoke strong tobacco, and the doctors don’t even care about them: “if he dies, he will die like that, if he recovers, then he will recover anyway,” in in the courthouse, the watchmen raise geese and dry clothes, the assessor is always drunk, “he smells as if he had just come out of a distillery,” and the judge writes a memorandum in such a way that “Solomon himself will not decide what is true in it and what is not.” not true". IN educational institutions When explaining the material, teachers either make grimaces or talk very emotionally, that is, they set a bad example for the students. And the streets are dirty, “I forgot that near that fence there were forty carts of all sorts of rubbish piled up.”

But also people live It's not easy in this city. Especially merchants, whom officials rob in every possible way. The mayors take everything they see. And he also “completely killed the merchants by standing around.” But not only the mayor was unfair to the merchants, but also to many others. For example, the mayor ordered a married man to be turned into a soldier (and this is not according to the law) and to deprive his wife of her husband. Although the man should have taken the tailor’s son instead, his (the tailor’s) parents bribed the mayor. Or a completely innocent person, namely a non-commissioned officer, was flogged, and, moreover, for a mistake they were also forced to pay a fine. This is the image county town.

And the top of this city, which should be an example to follow, consists of bribe takers. For example, the mayor. He is the most important among the officials. Mayor bribe taker and swindler. And also a stupid, low, arrogant and vain person. He has only one desire to clean up everything that his eyes see. By the end of the comedy, he has become more susceptible to deception, and he, who was previously not easy to deceive, becomes possible.

Judge Lyapkin - Tyapkin is also a bribe-taker, but he takes bribes with greyhounds. He is a freethinker, very significant, a rogue and an atheist.

In N.V. Gogol’s comedy “The Inspector General,” the district town is the prototype of any other city. Gogol was dissatisfied with the authorities for their injustice towards the people and non-compliance with the laws, as well as their endless bribes, and created a parody of a modern county town.

Therefore, N.V. Gogol’s comedy “The Inspector General” is a parody of a modern provincial town.

The image of the city in the comedy “The Inspector General” is created from the characters’ replicas, because there are no author’s characteristics in the plays. What do we learn about the life of the city?

She's pretty gloomy. Residents of the city form a certain class hierarchy. At the top of the pyramid, naturally, is the mayor, below are the officials: judge, trustee of noble institutions, superintendent of schools, postmaster, and even lower are city landowners, police officers. Below are the merchants.

They have money, but do not have rights, they are not allowed into the “upper strata”. And those who do not have money are completely powerless and unprotected.

Women also have their own pyramid. At its top is the mayor’s wife, she periodically quarrels with her daughter, seeing her as a rival, and Marya Antonovna is more worried about Strawberry’s daughter. There is also the mechanic Poshlepkina, who is an example of absolute lawlessness.

How to evaluate a state of affairs in which the idea of equality of all people before the law and before God is violated?

In addition, we learn from the heroes’ remarks about the blatant violations that officials commit in their activities

- “city fathers”.

The city was given money to build a church, the money was spent, and the church did not begin to be built.

People are not treated in hospitals, they are poorly fed, they “recover like flies” (that is, they die).

Domestic geese and goslings were bred in the courts. The judge openly says that he takes bribes, but he justifies himself by saying that he takes bribes with greyhound puppies.

The teachers “make faces at students,” the mayor fears that “Mr. Inspector will take this personally.” Nobody cares about the state of education, where children are taught by crooks.

To summarize, the picture really seems scary. It is interesting that the mayor discusses these issues as worthy of correction, but nothing more. This means that he himself is involved in violations no less than others. These people just cover for each other.

The population “confuses” the mayor. “They had a hard time with me,” he says. This means that he was immeasurably annoyed and did not take good care of the citizens of his city. The mayor is afraid of denunciation and gives orders to read the letters of the townspeople. Again a violation of rights.

The city is not named in the comedy. This makes it possible to argue that the picture painted by Gogol is typical.

Glossary:

image of the city in the comedy The Inspector General
description of the city in the auditor
image of the city in the auditor
auditor description of the city
essay on the image of the city in the comedy The Inspector General

Other works on this topic:

Depiction of the morals of a district town in the comedy by N.V. Gogol’s “The Inspector General” I. Introduction In the comedy “The Inspector General” Gogol strove for very broad generalizations (“I decided to collect into one...
Forgotten by everyone, very far from the magnificent capital and cultural centers, a gray provincial town, whose lethargy was stirred up by the visit of the so-called incognito from St. Petersburg, is presented in a comedy...
The most important tests in a person’s life are the tests of power, money and fame. In Gogol's comedy “The Inspector General” we're talking about about those people who did not pass...
Satirical image officialdom in N.V. Gogol’s comedy “The Inspector General” N.V. Gogol’s comedy “The Inspector General” is considered one of best examples dramaturgy in Russian literature. With my work...

The image of the city in the comedy is quite gloomy. This image arises on the basis of the characters' remarks, since it itself
N.V. Gogol does not provide the author’s description. The so-called “charitable institutions” are a cover for fraud; the sick are not treated and are hardly fed. Despite the fact that the city is small, it has both a prison and a prison, they are half price, and the mayor is clearly proud of this fact; the prisoners are also often not fed. There are charlatans teaching in schools, there is garbage and dirt on the streets. The city was given money to build a church, but construction did not even begin.
The social pyramid of the city is as follows: at the very top is the mayor Skvoznik-Dmukhanovsky, then judge Lyapkin-Tyapkin, trustee of charitable institutions Zemlyanika, superintendent of schools Khlopov, postmaster Shpekin, city landowners Bobchinsky and Dobchinsky, police officers and others. Merchants have no rights, but at least they have the means to pay off their bosses. Those who do not have means are completely powerless people. This can be seen in the scenes of complaints against the mayor and the orders of the mayor himself regarding the attempt to put the city in order.
Women also have their own pyramid. It depends on the situation of the spouses or fathers. The mayor's wife Anna Andreevna envies the youth of her daughter Marya Antonovna and pulls her in every possible way, showing her who is the mistress. She feels it, but for her her main rivals are the daughters of Strawberry, who never appear in the play. Characters such as the locksmith Poshlepkina and the non-commissioned officer's widow are completely powerless.
The members of this pyramid are not satisfied with their position and strive at the first opportunity to draw attention to the shortcomings of their competitors, to somehow bait them. Bobchinsky and Dobchinsky constantly challenge each other clean water, supposedly “reminding” each other about omitted little things, like a torn lining in a pocket, the mayor is called a pig and a scoundrel behind his back, Strawberry informs on everyone to Khlestakov, the mayor points out to everyone how and what to do, reproaching them for sluggishness. As soon as the thought arises that the mayor will become related to the auditor, everyone immediately begins to please, interrupting each other and trying to attract his attention. The mayor's wife is already hovering so much in high spheres, which without hesitation speaks contemptuously of all of them as “just anyone.”
Representatives of the lower classes, taking the opportunity, come to complain about the authorities. When it turns out that this did not help, the merchants humbly ask for forgiveness from the mayor, who, however, perfectly understands that this humility is feigned, which he sarcastically informs the merchants about. The real attitude of the characters towards each other is rarely revealed and, as a rule, behind the scenes. None of them has sincere sympathy for the other, they all envy each other and diligently notice all the mistakes. Until better times.

The image of the city in the comedy is quite gloomy. This image arises on the basis of the characters' remarks, since it itself
N.V. Gogol does not provide the author’s description. The so-called “charitable institutions” are a cover for fraud; the sick are not treated and are hardly fed. Despite the fact that the city is small, it has both a prison and a prison, they are half price, and the mayor is clearly proud of this fact; the prisoners are also often not fed. There are charlatans teaching in schools, there is garbage and dirt on the streets. The city was given money to build a church, but construction did not even begin.
The social pyramid of the city is as follows: at the very top is the mayor Skvoznik-Dmukhanovsky, then judge Lyapkin-Tyapkin, trustee of charitable institutions Zemlyanika, superintendent of schools Khlopov, postmaster Shpekin, city landowners Bobchinsky and Dobchinsky, police officers and others. Merchants have no rights, but at least they have the means to pay off their bosses. Those who do not have means are completely powerless people. This can be seen in the scenes of complaints against the mayor and the orders of the mayor himself regarding the attempt to put the city in order.
Women also have their own pyramid. It depends on the situation of the spouses or fathers. The mayor's wife Anna Andreevna envies the youth of her daughter Marya Antonovna and pulls her in every possible way, showing her who is the mistress. She feels it, but for her her main rivals are the daughters of Strawberry, who never appear in the play. Characters such as the locksmith Poshlepkina and the non-commissioned officer's widow are completely powerless.
The members of this pyramid are not satisfied with their position and strive at the first opportunity to draw attention to the shortcomings of their competitors, to somehow bait them. Bobchinsky and Dobchinsky constantly expose each other, supposedly “reminding” each other of omitted little things, like a torn lining in a pocket, the mayor is called a pig and a scoundrel behind his back, Zemlyanika denounces everyone to Khlestakov, the mayor tells everyone how and what to do , reproaching for sluggishness. As soon as the thought arises that the mayor will become related to the auditor, everyone immediately begins to please, interrupting each other and trying to attract his attention. The mayor’s wife already soars in high spheres that without hesitation she speaks contemptuously of all of them as “just anyone.”
Representatives of the lower classes, taking the opportunity, come to complain about the authorities. When it turns out that this did not help, the merchants humbly ask for forgiveness from the mayor, who, however, perfectly understands that this humility is feigned, which he sarcastically informs the merchants about. The real attitude of the characters towards each other is rarely revealed and, as a rule, behind the scenes. None of them has sincere sympathy for the other, they all envy each other and diligently notice all the mistakes. Until better times.

What is the image of the city in “The Inspector General”? How is the pyramid of this city built (citizenship, merchants, officials, city landowners, mayor)? How is the same pyramid of their female half of characters formed? How are the characters of this pyramid revealed?

The city in The Inspector General, therefore, is a phenomenon of complex artistic topography, combining obvious features of the underworld, the other world (the plan of future " Dead souls") with much less obvious signs of a heavenly city, which, judging by the text, worried the author, confused, I believe, by the predominance of a purely material city, where a person cannot be saved. Gogol first looked for a way out in the judgments of “Theatrical Travel,” written hot on the heels of “The Inspector General”: “Is everything, down to the slightest bend of the soul, vile and demon honest man Don’t they already paint the image of an honest man?”; “In the hands of talent, everything can serve as an instrument for the beautiful, if only it is guided by the lofty thought of serving the beautiful” (V, 143-144).
Translated into the language of artistic topography, this meant: doesn’t the underworld city where the characters rightfully find themselves testify to the height of the ideal that every person should follow? What is the terrible cry of the Mayor: “You’re laughing at yourself!”? The fact that everyone is like this, the whole world, all of Christianity is corrupted, and here there remains hope for the city of heaven, there is nothing more. Partly reminiscent of the logic of the book of the prophet Amos - after all, the name of a judge is associated with him, and the prophet is the same judge: “... only you have I recognized from all the tribes of the earth, therefore I will punish you for your iniquities” (3:1). This contains a hint of the chosenness of the Russian people, which Gogol will say quite openly in the second edition of “The Denouement...”.

Just as in Khlestakov the author wanted, as he admitted, to combine disparate movements in one person (IV, 101; “Excerpt from a letter written by the author shortly after the first presentation of “The Inspector General” to one writer”), so in the city the features of the underworld and the heavenly are combined Jerusalem. Gogol generally saw such heterogeneity human existence. Once, while walking with A. O. Smirnova in Rome, he showed her frescoes Sistine Chapel. “...We admired with him the pictures of the Last Judgment. One sinner was drawn either to heaven or to hell.<...>“Here is the story of the secrets of the soul,” Gogol said. “Each of us, a hundred times a day, is either a scoundrel or an angel.”2