Many critics and literary scholars note that the main string of Gogol’s work is laughter through tears. Both laughter and tears are caused by the ugly social structure of Russia. In his comedy “The Inspector General,” the writer deeply revealed the vices and shortcomings of the bureaucratic world, exposing the entire rotten system of Russia. It is not for nothing that after the first performance of The Inspector General, Nicholas I said: “What a play! Everyone got it, and I got it more than anyone else.”

What does Khlestakov and the mayor have in common - these seemingly completely different people? Different in age, social status, mental development and, finally, character? What do the tall, well-fed, important Skvoznik-Dmukhanovsky and the small, puny, “stupid” Khlestakov have in common?

Both of them are representatives of the bureaucratic world, endowed with all the negative qualities characteristic of this world. The mayor began his service from the lower ranks, gradually making a career. Khlestakov is also a minor St. Petersburg official. Both are vain and ambitious. But the mayor is “a man created by circumstances,” the embodiment of common sense, dexterity, and cunning calculation, while Khlestakov is a careless and frivolous, an empty braggart, a man “without a king in his head.” Despite this difference, they have a lot in common. Both are hypocrites, dishonest people. \

The mayor in the city entrusted to him behaves like a district king. He not only shamelessly takes bribes from merchants and townspeople, but also calmly pockets the money allocated by the state for the construction of the church, not at all caring about the prosperity of the city. Mistaking Khlestakov for the expected auditor, he displays extraordinary “diplomatic abilities”: pandering to the “state person,” he deftly “screws” Khlestakov into four hundred rubles instead of two hundred. Having learned that Khlestakov is asking for his daughter’s hand in marriage, the mayor immediately makes plans about how he will live in St. Petersburg, and over time, having such a son-in-law, he will be able to “get into generals.” At first Khlestakov doesn’t even realize who he is mistaken for. He lives for the present moment and devotes himself entirely to the “pleasantness” of the new situation. And his main quality - vanity, the desire to show off, to show off - is manifested in full measure. He inspiredly composes fables about his situation in St. Petersburg. A little official, he takes special pleasure in portraying a strict boss, “scolding”, like a mayor, his subordinates, establishing proper order. And just like the mayor, he loves to take bribes, even from his future father-in-law.

Everything that Khlestakov tells about St. Petersburg high society, all the pictures of a brilliant life that he unfolds - everything corresponds to the most cherished dreams and aspirations of the mayors, strawberries, Shpekins, Bobchinskys and Dobchinskys, their ideas about “real life”.

Ivan Aleksandrovich Khlestakov is the very soul of all bureaucratic Nikolaev lackeys and the ideal person in this society.

Thus, both of these people - Khlestakov and the mayor Anton Antonovich Skvoznik-Dmukhanovsky, are close in spirit. Both are lackeys by nature, vain and ambitious people, liars and bribe takers who use their official position for selfish purposes.

Gogol brilliantly debunked the sycophancy, fraud, and embezzlement that were typical of Russia of his time.

What do Khlestakov and the mayor have in common in N.V.’s comedy? Gogol's "The Inspector General"?

The main characters of the comedy N.V. Gogol's "The Inspector General" is, without a doubt, the mayor and Khlestakov.

In the work, these heroes act as opponents. The mayor mistakes Khlestakov for an auditor sent to their district town for an inspection. Skvoznik-Dmukhanovsky’s task is to hide “traces of his activities” from Khlestakov, because things in the city are going badly. The city is rife with bribery, theft, corruption, and arbitrariness. Anton Antonovich knows this very well, so he does everything to “butter up” the inspector - with the help of bribes to force him to turn a blind eye to all the violations in the city.

Khlestakov, in turn, is initially afraid of the mayor, because he believes that he will send him to prison for non-payment of debts at the hotel. And later, realizing who he is mistaken for, the hero begins to take advantage of the generosity of the mayor and officials and deceive them.

At the end of the comedy, the “struggle” between the mayor and Khlestakov reaches its peak: “I mistook an icicle and a rag for an important person! There he is now singing bells all over the road! Will spread the story all over the world.”

It seems that Skvoznik-Dmukhanovsky and Khlestakov are completely different people. However, if you look closely, they have a lot in common.

Both heroes are excellent at adapting to the situation. Thus, Skvoznik-Dmukhanovsky treats his subordinates condescendingly; he is often rude and unfair with them: “Shh! such club-toed bears - their boots are knocking! It just falls down, as if someone were throwing forty pounds off a cart! Where the hell is taking you?

But with his superiors, Anton Antonovich is very polite and attentive. Mistaking Khlestakov for an auditor, Skvoznik-Dmukhanovsky is very polite and obsequious to him. He tries to please Ivan Aleksandrovich in everything, to predict his slightest desire, so that the “auditor” is satisfied.

The same goes for Khlestakov. Let us remember how he treats his servant Osip (“Ah, he was lying on the bed again?) or the tavern servant (“Well, master, master... I don’t care about your master! What’s going on there?”). And the hero talks to the mayor in a completely different way: “On the contrary, if you please, it’s my pleasure. I feel much more comfortable in a private house than in this tavern.”

In addition, both Anton Antonovich and Khlestakov do not hesitate to take bribes and deceive. So, Ivan Aleksandrovich took money from all the officials, allegedly begged for a loan, a huge amount of money, knowing that he would not return it. And we learn that the mayor takes bribes from city residents and his subordinates at the very beginning of the comedy: “... you, like everyone else, have sins, because you are a smart person and don’t like to miss what’s in your hands ..."

But even these seemingly completely immoral people have their own secret dreams. And they are associated with their high position in society. It turns out that the mayor dreams of becoming a general, having all the privileges of a general, enjoying respect and glory: “Why do you want to be a general? - because if you go somewhere, couriers and adjutants will gallop ahead everywhere: “Horses!” And there at the stations they won’t give it to anyone, everything is waiting: all these titular officers, captains, mayors, but you don’t give a damn.”

Khlestakov also dreams of being a “high-flying bird” - all his “lies” to officials and the mayor’s family say exactly this. The hero dreams of being someone significant, deserving respect, universal veneration and reverence.

However, both heroes are deceived in their hopes - we understand that they will never get what they dream of. The dreams of Khlestakov and the mayor turn out to be broken and unfulfilled.

Thus, both heroes of the comedy “The Inspector General” are united by the fact that they are “people of the system” - the evil that reigns in the country. Gogol shows how this immoral and anti-spiritual system disfigures people, turns them into nonentities capable of any baseness. This system kills the soul in people, making them deeply unhappy.

Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol's comedy "The Inspector General" was a resounding success among the democratically minded public and sharp rejection by those who saw themselves in the characters.
Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol managed to create truthful images of almost real-life heroes. The brightest in the gallery of comedy images are Gorodnichy and Khlestakov. Despite the age difference, they are very similar. Both are scammers. But if Skvoznik-Dukhanovsky is wise with experience, an inveterate bribe-taker and embezzler, then Khlestakov is one of the young and early. Despite his young age, he had already managed to corrupt his soul with idleness, drunkenness and a real hatred of work. Khlestakov is perhaps worse than the mayor. Tom had to achieve everything in life himself. In his old age, he rose to the rank of mayor and now wants to get the greatest benefit from his service.

Khlestakov is a nobleman by birth, the path to education and service for the good of the fatherland are open to him, but he preferred an idle and riotous life. In a small work, Gogol was able to bring out typical characters that for many years became common names for bribe-takers, slackers and liars. No wonder this creation of Gogol is called immortal.

feeling. This spring gave the audience a meeting with a real masterpiece. More than 160 years have passed since then, but the comedy “The Inspector General” has not lost its relevance and its sound today. You don't have to look far for examples. Let's remember the negative heroes of popular "police" TV series - what about Gogol's heroes, who only became more cold-blooded and cruel?

Gogol himself noted that Khlestakov is the most difficult character in the play. In his recommendations for the actor who played this role, Gogol reveals the character of this character quite deeply. Khlestakov accomplished all his exploits in the district town completely unintentionally. Khlestakov can be compared to a ballet dancer - moving through the space of the play, he enlivens the course of the entire action and acts as a real engine for the plot development of the comedy. Khlestakov brilliantly played the role of an auditor in front of district officials, only by the middle of the fourth act he began to understand that he was being taken for a somewhat “statesman.” How does the false auditor feel about this? It seems nothing.

Khlestakov’s behavior amazes all officials of the district city. In their opinion, the auditor is very cunning and resourceful and you need to keep an eye out for him. It is characteristic that it never occurred to anyone that Khlestakov was simply a desperate liar. IN
In each of the situations created, he behaves like a brilliant actor. One can imagine how difficult it was for the theater actor who played the role of Khlestakov for the first time - an actor playing an auditor.
Khlestakov should not be regarded as an evil or cruel person. By himself, he is completely harmless, and those around him can make anything out of him: even an incognito person from St. Petersburg, and even with a secret order, or even an insignificant metropolitan official. The uniqueness of Khlestakov’s character, or rather, lack of character, lies in the fact that he has virtually no memory of the past and no thought about the future. Khlestakov is focused on the present moment, and within this minute he is able to achieve the highest artistry. He changes his appearance with ease and even some grace. Among district officials completely drawn from life, this completely fictional character makes an unforgettable impression. We can probably say that for district officials such a terrible event as the arrival of an auditor from the capital was like a kind of holiday: creepy, but interesting. Khlestakov is scary to them and arouses their admiration simply because he does not look at all like a person capable of cruelly punishing the guilty.

Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol knew well the life of petty St. Petersburg officials, which allowed him to give an exaggerated and collective type of superficially educated fanfare in the image of Khlestakov. Khlestakov gladly uses, for the sake of the beauty of the style, poorly understood French words picked up from someone, cliches of the fiction of that time. At the same time, vulgar expressions are also found in Khlestakov’s speech. Gogol made Khlestakov’s remarks abrupt: this character is spiritually poor and completely unable to focus his attention on anything. Gogol's contemporary Apollo Grigoriev gave a characterization of this character: “Khlestakov, like a soap bubble, inflates under the influence of favorable circumstances, grows in his own eyes and the eyes of officials, becomes bolder and bolder in boasting...”

The influence of the comedy "The Inspector General" on Russian society was enormous. The surname Khlestakov began to be used as a common noun. And Khlestakovism began to be called any unrestrained phrase-mongering, lies, shameless boasting combined with extreme frivolity. Gogol managed to penetrate into the very depths of the Russian national character, extracting from there the image of the false inspector - Khlestakov. According to the author of the immortal comedy, every Russian person becomes Khlestakov at least for a minute, regardless of his social status, age, education, and so on. In my opinion, overcoming Khlestakovism in oneself can be considered one of the main ways of self-improvement for each of us.

The mayor gives the last instructions: “... hastily sweep away the old fence... and put up a straw pole so that it looks like the layout,” remove the garbage, which “is piled on forty carts,” and most importantly, if the visiting official asks: “Are you satisfied?” is it?”, answer: “We are happy with everything, your honor.” At the same time, he himself exclaims: “What a nasty city this is!”

But the most unpleasant thing is that the auditor must come incognito, that is, every new person in the city can be suspected. The choice falls on the first visitor who comes across, who checks into a local hotel. Before Khlestakov appears on stage, we learn everything about him from his servant Osip. This is a collegiate registrar (“a simple Elistra-Tishka”), who ran away from St. Petersburg for the second month: “He squandered some expensive money, my dear, now he sits with his tail curled and doesn’t get excited.” Having checked into the hotel, Khlestakov had already managed to taste the “delights” of local life. Therefore, he cannot understand what kind of delegation led by the mayor came to him. As a result, “both look at each other in fright for several minutes, their eyes bulging.” Khlestakov and the mayor are deathly afraid of each other - this is evidenced by the remarks: “timid”, “brave”, “stretched out and trembling with the whole body”, etc.
But how everything changes when Khlestakov finally realizes what is happening! He calls on all his uncontrollable imagination to help and tries to make the most of the current situation. He happily accepts bribes, hypocritically pretending that he is taking a “loan.” He charms the mayor’s wife and daughter, who are so stupid that they easily fall for this bait: “Oh, how nice!” - says one, “Oh, cutie!” - exclaims another.
Khlestakov lies so inspiredly that he almost begins to believe in his own inventions. Officials, trembling with fear of the “formidable auditor,” do not even think about whether this could actually happen.

Khlestakov proposes to Marya Antonovna (the mayor cannot even believe in such happiness). However, the horses are ready, and the happy groom is about to leave: “For one minute only... for one day to see my uncle - a rich old man; and back tomorrow.”
Khlestakov leaves, and then it turns out that it was not the auditor at all. Moreover, it turns out in the usual way for local morals: the postmaster, as usual, opened Khlestakov’s letter. After reading the letter, from which the officials learned what Khlestakov really thought about them, after searching for the culprits of everything that happened, what should have happened happened: a real auditor arrived.

The comedy ends with a silent scene. And for some reason it seems that at that moment not only the heroes of the play froze - all of Russia froze before the crushing truth thrown in its face by the brilliant Master.

"Gogol Portrait"- Group 2 worked on the topic “The Theme of Petersburg in the Story. After all, the portrait disappears. Results of students' research work. Stages and timing of the project. Methodological goals. Educational topic: N.V. Gogol “Portrait”. Portrait! Presentation Booklet Publication. Find out what a true artist should be - according to Gogol.

“Works of N.V. Gogol”- Svetly, 2009. Lesson plan: “The Night Before Christmas.” M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin. Autograph. Municipal educational institution secondary school No. 5. Gymnasium of Higher Sciences (N.V. Gogol studied here from 1821 to 1828). 1842 - 1855 - the last period. 3rd period. Make a comparative description of Ostap and Andriy.

"Gogol Overcoat"- Fantasy in the story. The Gogolian direction in art began to be called the natural school. Performance by a group of “artists”.) Traditions and innovation in Gogol’s depiction of the “little man”. F.M. Dostoevsky (Prepared by O.I. Sigareva). Understand Gogol, and with this help our lives and ourselves. Motto: “We all came out of Gogol’s “The Overcoat.”

“The Story “Portrait”” - The artist’s father. Description of the appearance of the moneylender. Advice from the artist's father. Problem of choice. Communication of councils. Unsuccessful attempt. Comrade Chartkov. The appearance of Christ to the people. Gerard Dou. Material for the lesson. Money. Hyperlink. Role in society. Moneylenders. Etymology of the word "art". Dictionary entry. Portrait. The problem of true art.

"Gogol's Comedies"- Which of the landowners fed Chichikov very well? A. At the Sberbank rate B. 2 times less than the requested amount C. Free D. At a discount. What was the name of one of Manilov's children? G. No matter how much you twist the rope, there will be an end. A. Comedy B. Novel C. Poem D. Story. B Khlestakov himself let it slip. Which landowner gave his wife a toothpick case?