What role does this scene play in the development of the plot of the play?
Read the text fragment below and complete tasks B1-B7; C1-C2.
Mayor. It is my duty, as the mayor of the city here, to see to it that there are no harassments to those passing by and to all noble people...
Khlestakov (At first he stutters a little, but by the end of the speech he speaks loudly). But what can I do?.. It's not my fault... I really will cry... They will send me from the village.
Bobchinsky looks out of the door. He is more to blame: he gives me beef as hard as a log; and the soup - he the devil knows what he splashed there, I had to throw it out the window. He starved me for whole days... The tea is so strange: it stinks of fish, not tea. Why am I... Here's the news!
Mayor (timid). Sorry, it's not my fault. I always have good beef in the market. Kholmogory merchants bring them, sober people and good behavior. I don't know where he gets this from. And if something is wrong, then ... Let me suggest that you 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. (Cheers up.) I, I, I...
Mayor (to the side). Oh my God, you're so angry! I learned everything, the damned merchants told me everything!
Khlestakov (brave). Yes, here you are even here with your whole team - I won’t go! I'm going straight to the minister! (Bangs his fist on the table.) What do you? What do you?
Mayor (stretching and trembling all over). Have mercy, do not lose! Wife, little children... don't make a man 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 fine!
Bobchinsky looks out the door and hides in fright. No, thank you very much, I don't want to.
Mayor (trembling). Inexperience, by golly, inexperience. Insufficiency of the state ... If you please, judge for yourself: the state salary is not enough even for tea and sugar. If there were any bribes, then just a little: something on the table and for a couple of dresses. As for the non-commissioned officer's widow, engaged in the merchant class, 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. (Thinking.) I don’t know, but 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 to flog me, you are far from that ... Here it is! Look what you are!.. I will pay, I will pay money, but now I don't have any. I'm sitting here because I don't have a penny.
Mayor (to the side). Oh, subtle thing! Ek where tossed! what a fog! Find out who wants! You don't know which side to take. Well, give it a try. (Aloud.) If you definitely have a need for money or something else, then I am ready to serve this minute. My duty is to help passers-by.
Khlestakov. Give, lend me! I'll pay off the innkeeper right now. I would only like two hundred rubles, or at least even less.
Mayor (holding papers). Exactly two hundred rubles, though don't bother counting.
N. V. Gogol "Inspector"
Explanation.
Each of the heroes of the comedy "The Inspector General", alarmed by the news of a possible revision, behaves in accordance with his character and his actions against the law. The mayor comes to the tavern to Khlestakov, believing that he is the auditor. In the first minutes, both are frightened: the mayor thinks that the visitor is not satisfied with the order in the city, and Khlestakov suspects that they want to take him to prison for non-payment of accumulated bills. This scene reveals the essence of two characters: the cowardice of Khlestakov and the highly experienced resourcefulness of the mayor. The comedy of the first meeting of the mayor and Khlestakov in the tavern is built on a mistake that provokes fear among the characters, the fear is so strong that both do not notice obvious contradictions. From this scene, a comic story of an absurd relationship between the officials of the county town and the petty swindler Khlestakov is tied up.
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. Not without reason, after the first performance of The Inspector General, Nicholas I said: “Well, what a play! Everyone got it, but I got it more than anyone. ”
What makes Khlestakov and the mayor related - these, it would seem, such completely different people? Different in age, social status, mental development and, finally, character? What do the tall, well-fed, dignified 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 inherent in this world. The mayor began his service from the lower ranks, gradually making a service career. Khlestakov is also a petty Petersburg official. Both are vain and ambitious. But the mayor is “a man created by circumstances”, the embodiment of common sense, dexterity, cunning calculation, while Khlestakov is a careless and frivolous, 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 county 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. Having mistook Khlestakov for the expected auditor, he shows extraordinary "diplomatic abilities": obsequious to the "state person", he deftly "screws" Khlestakov instead of two hundred rubles four hundred. Upon learning that Khlestakov is asking for the hand of his daughter, the mayor immediately makes plans for how he will live in St. Petersburg, and over time, having such a son-in-law, he will be able to "get into the generals." Khlestakov at first does not even guess who they take him for. He lives in the present moment and gives himself entirely to the "pleasantness" of the new situation. And his main quality - vanity, the desire to show off, to splurge - manifests itself in full measure. He inspiredly composes fables about his situation in St. Petersburg. A small official, he takes special pleasure in portraying a strict boss, who, like a mayor, scolds his subordinates, putting things in proper order. And just like the mayor, he loves to take bribes, even from his future father-in-law.
Everything that Khlestakov tells about Petersburg high society, all the pictures of a brilliant life that he unfolds - everything corresponds to the most cherished dreams and aspirations of the mayor, strawberry, Shpekin, Bobchinsky and Dobchinsky, their ideas about "real life".
Ivan Alexandrovich Khlestakov is the very soul of all the bureaucratic servility of Nicholas I and the ideal of a person in this society.
Thus, both of these people - both 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 toadying, eyewash, embezzlement, which were typical for Russia of his time.
No one had ever before him (Gogol) read such a complete pathoanatomical course on a Russian official. With laughter on his lips, he without pity penetrates into the innermost folds of the impure, evil bureaucratic soul. Gogol's comedy The Government Inspector and his poem Dead Souls are a terrible confession of contemporary Russia.
A.I. Herzen
"The Inspector General" is a well-known comedy related to the pen of N.V. Gogol, is considered one of the brightest dramatic works of Russian prose of the 19th century.
Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol continued the traditions of Russian drama in the genre of satire. His comedy The Inspector General succinctly fit into the thematic line laid down by the famous comedies of D.I. Fonvizin "Undergrowth" and A.S. Griboyedov "Woe from Wit".
But, despite the comedy genre, the work "The Government Inspector" is deeply realistic, as it penetrates into the life structure of the small and middle bureaucratic class of the provincial cities of Russia in the second quarter of the 19th century. Penetrating into the very soul, Gogol exposes the world that these people are building, revealing their hidden intentions and characters.
Having barely opened the comedy "The Inspector General", we understand that in addition to the meaning and problems inherent in the work itself, we will deal with characters whose character, whose life priorities are already revealed in their surnames. Each hero of the work has speaking surnames. For example, the surname of a private bailiff: Ukhovertov, - and a county doctor: Gibner.
Thanks to the surnames from the first acquaintance with the characters, we understand who we will deal with in the future. For example, by the name of the county doctor Kh.I. Gibner, it can be judged that almost everyone he treated died. So it looks more like not a surname, but a nickname.
Gogol wrote critical remarks characterizing each of the main acting characters. These remarks help to better understand the character of each hero, their soul and thoughts. For example, what are Ivan Aleksandrovich Khlestakov and Anton Antonovich Skvoznyak-Dmukhanovsky, the mayor? What are they?
Mayor: "Although he is a bribe-taker, he behaves very respectably."
Khlestakov: “Without a king in my head. He speaks and acts without any consideration.
It seems that they are people of the same warehouse, both are drawn to power, they love it when everyone crawls at their feet. At the end of the comedy, Anton Antonovich becomes a braggart of the highest rank, a dreamer (however, like Anna Andreevna, his wife).
“Now we intend to live in St. Petersburg. And here, I confess, there is such an air ... too rustic! .. I confess, a big nuisance ... Here is my husband: there he will receive the rank of general.
This is the limit of their dreams they have reached: Give them Petersburg, he (the mayor) really wants to be a general.
And in act II, phenomenon VIII, see how he tries to pass himself off as a virtue, apparently wanting to suck up to the "auditor" by this.
“I wish you good health! Sorry. It is my duty, as the mayor of the local city, to make sure that there are no harassment to those passing by and to all noble people "...
But what did the “auditor” look like at that time? He thought that they were going to put him in jail for not paying for the hotel, food. And the mayor...
How could he mistake some ragged impostor for such a high person as the Inspector General. This is excusable for Bobchinsky and Dobchinsky, who are positioned in the county town as local fools, gossips. With them and communicate in accordance with these personal qualities: with contempt or patronage. But unlike them, the mayor is a smart enough person, which does not prevent him from being a first-class rogue, and, perhaps, even contributes to his prosperity in roguery. Well, in the house of Anton Antonovich Khlestakov behaved like a real official (a great actor).
“Words fly out of him with inspiration: when ending the last word of a phrase, he does not remember its first word,” wrote V.G. Belinsky.
Well, who, tell me, will not grind nonsense, fearing something. Khlestakov thought that he would be sent to prison, but, on the contrary, he was invited to the house of an important and significant person in the city. Khlestakov gained money, honor, refreshments, which is why even without wine you can come to some kind of half-drunk relaxation.
Gogol in an article about the theater wrote that in his comedy he reflected only one private person, whose name is "Laughter". Laughter, and not at all the auditor, who arrived, by the highest command.
It would seem that it is difficult to imagine more different characters than Khlestakov and the mayor in N.V. Gogol's comedy The Inspector General. Many of their differences from each other immediately catches the eye. According to their social position, the characters are far apart from each other and, in the normal course of events, should not have met at all. The mayor is a “aged man in the service”, he began his career from the lower ranks and all his life, hard, but steadily climbed the ranks, until he took the main position in the county town. Anton Antonovich firmly established himself in this post, took the whole town into his hands and is not going to cede power to anyone in the near future. Khlestakov, on the contrary, has a small rank, “a simple elit-woman,” in the words of his servant Osip, and even then he could not stay in one of the St. Petersburg offices and, having taken a walk on his father’s money, he was forced to return to the village. The characters of the characters are quite consistent with their position. The mayor behaves solidly, his speech is unhurried and serious, his words are significant. He is an experienced person, he knows how to portray an honest and simple-hearted campaigner, so you won’t immediately guess that this is a big rogue. The mayor is cunning and prudent, he does not stand on ceremony with ordinary people, but he can, if necessary, look courteous. Khlestakov, on the other hand, is an “empty” person, “without a king in his head”, he absolutely does not think about the consequences of his words and thoughts. Khlestakov is driven by a primitive thirst for pleasure, about which he reports quite openly: “After all, you live on that to pluck the flowers of pleasure.” Gogol emphasized that his hero is not at all a clever swindler, but simply an extremely frivolous young man. The appearance of the characters is also quite consistent with their characters. The respectable mayor has short hair and is dressed in a uniform, and Khlestakov spends his last money on a fashionable hairstyle and a “particular dress”, just to throw dust in the eyes of his landlord neighbors. In a word, at first glance, the characters are absolutely different in terms of social status, characters, and appearance. And yet, something unites them, otherwise Khlestakov could not have settled as a dear guest in the mayor’s house and for some time seemed to change places with the “father of the city”. There is, of course, a specific reason for this turn of events - the "unpleasant news" that an auditor from St. Petersburg was to secretly come to the city. However, Khlestakov looks so little like an important official that an experienced mayor should have immediately figured him out. Neither the route from St. Petersburg to the countryside, nor the capital costume could mislead the mayor for a long time. The reason for the protracted misunderstanding lies elsewhere. Let's remember how the characters behave when they first meet. They both tremble in fear of each other, and fear, as you know, has "large eyes." What causes the mutual fear of Khlestakov and the mayor? Khlestakov never thought in advance about responsibility for his actions. In Petersburg, he was engaged not in the service, but in entertainment, spent his father's money in a week and then sent Osip to sell a new tailcoat at the flea market. On the way home, Khlestakov lost completely in cards, and by the time of the meeting with the mayor, he had been living in a hotel on credit for the second week. Naturally, he was afraid of the arrival of an important person, because he thought that he was being arrested and sent to prison. Much more serious are the reasons for the mayor's fear. Already from the first act of the comedy, it becomes clear to us that a high position for Anton Antonovich is a means of illegal enrichment. The mayor shamelessly takes bribes, robs merchants, commits arbitrariness, appropriates state money and takes care not about the performance of his service, but about concealing his crimes. To match the chief and other officials in the city: the judge, who is mainly engaged in hunting, the trustee of hospitals, where people recover "like flies", the postmaster, who reads other people's letters out of curiosity ... Such subordinates only add fear, and do not reassure the mayor. As a result, general fear gives rise to a completely absurd situation: Khlestakov begins to babble some fantastic nonsense about his significance, and officials, led by the mayor, play along with him, imagining that they managed to escape from the auditor. They even rejoice when Khlestakov, more and more impudent, takes bribes from them. Khlestakov himself does not understand well why this is a mayor and officials creep in front of him, the townspeople make some kind of petitions, so that even Osip is forced to notice to the owner that, apparently, he was mistaken for someone else. Heeding the advice of a clever servant, Khlestakov leaves the city, and he manages to blithely propose to the mayor's daughter and receive the blessing of her parents. After the release of the comedy, this type of behavior received the name "Khlestakovism". It is curious that the mayor also becomes infected with " Khlestakovism": after seeing off his future son-in-law, this experienced campaigner suddenly begins to fantasize about the rank of general, orders, social life in St. Petersburg no worse than Khlestakov. The unexpected discovery that Khlestakov is not an auditor, but an "icicle", a "rag" affects the mayor all the more devastatingly. So, we were convinced that, despite the obvious differences between the characters in their social status and characters, they are united by the fear of punishment for dishonest acts. What makes Gorodnichiy and Khlestakov similar is their selfishness, their unwillingness to work conscientiously, their habit of living at the expense of others. Gogol emphasizes that such types are not the exception, but the rule. The mayor, Khlestakov and all the other heroes of the comedy only obey the unjust orders that prevail in Russia. They are accustomed to living by deceit and therefore often find themselves deceived. It was not Khlestakov who outwitted and frightened the mayor and officials, but they themselves became entangled in their own fears and lies.
It would seem difficult to imagine more different characters than
Khlestakov and the mayor in N. V. Gogol's comedy "The Government Inspector". A bunch of
their differences from each other immediately catches the eye. In my own way
social position, the heroes are far apart from each other and
in the normal course of events, they should not occur at all. Mayor
- "older in the service" man, he began his career
from the lower ranks and all his life hard, but steadily climbed
career ladder, until he took the main position in the county
city. Anton Antonovich firmly established himself in this post, tidied up
to the hands of the whole town and no one is going to soon
give up power. Khlestakov, on the contrary, has a small rank, "elis-
a simple spender, ”in the words of his servant Osip, and even then he couldn’t
stay in one of the St. Petersburg offices and, after taking a walk
on his father's money, forced to return to the village.
The characters of the characters are quite consistent with their position. Mayor
behaves solidly, his speech is unhurried and serious, his words
significant. He is an experienced man, knows how to portray an honest and ingenuous
campaigner, so you won’t immediately guess that this is a big
rogue. The mayor is cunning and prudent, with ordinary people he does not
on ceremony, but can, if necessary, appear courteous. Khlestakov
but the “emptiest” person, “without a king in his head”, he is absolutely
does not think about the consequences of his words and thoughts. Khlestakov is driven
primitive desire for pleasure, which he reports completely
openly: "After all, you live on that to pluck the flowers of pleasure."
Gogol emphasized that his hero is not at all a clever swindler,
but just a frivolous young man to the extreme.
The appearance of the characters is also quite consistent with their characters.
The respectable mayor has short hair and is dressed in a uniform, and Khlestakov
spends the last money on a fashionable hairstyle and "particular
dress”, just to throw dust in the eyes of the neighboring landowners.
In a word, at first glance, the characters are completely different and socially
position, and in character, and in appearance. And still
something unites them, otherwise Khlestakov could not have settled on
the rights of a dear guest in the mayor's house, and for a while, as if
swap places with the "father of the city". There is, of course, a specific
the reason for this turn of events is the “unpleasant news” that
that an auditor from St. Petersburg should secretly come to the city. However
Khlestakov looks so little like an important official that an experienced
the mayor should have immediately bitten him. Neither route from St. Petersburg
into the village, nor the capital's costume could not be introduced for a long time
misled the mayor. Cause of the ongoing misunderstanding
lies in another.
Let's remember how the characters behave when they first meet. They are both
tremble with fear of each other, and fear, as you know, has “eyes
great." What causes the mutual fear of Khlestakov and the mayor?
Khlestakov never thought in advance about the responsibility for
their actions. In Petersburg, he was engaged not in the service, but in entertainment,
spent his father's money in a week and then sent Osip
sell a new tailcoat at the flea market. On the way home Khlestakov
lost completely in cards and by the time of the meeting with the mayor already
the second week he lived in a hotel on credit. Naturally he was scared
the arrival of an important person, because he decided that he was being arrested and sent
to jail.
Much more serious are the reasons for the mayor's fear. Already from the first
comedy action, it becomes clear to us that a high position
for Anton Antonovich - a means of illegal enrichment.
The mayor shamelessly takes bribes, robs merchants, creates arbitrariness,
appropriates public money and cares not about execution
service, but about concealing their crimes. To match the boss and the rest
officials in the city: a judge who deals primarily
hunting, trustee of hospitals where people recover "like flies",
a postmaster who, out of curiosity, reads other people's letters ... Such subordinates
only add to fear, and do not reassure the mayor.
As a result, general fear gives rise to a completely absurd situation:
Khlestakov begins to babble some fantastic nonsense
about their significance, and officials, led by the mayor, play along
him, imagining that they managed to escape from the auditor. They even rejoice
when Khlestakov, more and more impudent, takes bribes from them. Khlestakov himself
does not understand well why it is the mayor and officials creep
in front of him, the townspeople make some petitions, so
even Osip is forced to remark to the owner that, apparently, he was mistaken for
someone else's. Heeding the advice of a clever servant, Khlestakov
leaves the city, and manages to blithely propose
daughter of the mayor and receive the blessing of her parents. Like
type of behavior received after the release of the comedy title
"Khlestakovism". It is curious that the mayor also becomes infected with "Khlestakovism
": after seeing off the future son-in-law, this experienced campaigner suddenly
begins to fantasize about the rank of general, orders, secular
life in Petersburg is no worse than Khlestakov. The more destructive
on the mayor's unexpected discovery that Khlestakov did not
auditor, but "icicle", "rag".
So, we are convinced that, despite the obvious differences between the heroes
in social status and characters, they are united by fear of
punishment for dishonest acts. Gorodnichiy and Khlestakov makes
similar to their selfishness, unwillingness to work conscientiously, habit
live at the expense of others. Gogol emphasizes that such types are not
exception, but the rule. Gorodnichiy, Khlestakov and all other heroes
comedies only obey those unjust orders that
reign in Russia. They are accustomed to living by deceit and therefore they themselves often
are deceived. This is not Khlestakov outwitted and scared
mayor and officials, and they themselves are confused in their own
fears and lies.
