Features of composition in N. Gogol's comedy The Inspector General

UMK ed. V. Ya. Korovina; Literature 8th grade.

Goal: to develop skills in text analysis, highlighting compositional elements; summarize the material from previous lessons; develop independent work skills; cultivate sensitivity to words.

Equipment: textbooks, cards, dictionary.

	Lesson stage		Teacher activities	Student activities
	Organizational moment and goal setting		Introduces the topic and objectives of the lesson	They set themselves the goal of completing all tasks and achieving a high grade.
	Independent work on text analysis and completing tasks with monosyllabic and detailed answers		Organizes independent work, guides, provides individual assistance	Analyze the text independently and answer questions
	Conversation. Analysis compositional structure comedies. Answers on questions.		Organizes a conversation.	Exchange opinions and observations.
	Reflection		Summarizes the conversation, analyzes the table of achievements	Compare the obtained result with the expected one
	Individual homework		Try to put yourself in the shoes of the heroes (Khlestakov and the mayor) in this difficult situation.	Those interested sign up.

Transcript.

I. Organizational moment and goal setting.

U.:. Today we will talk about the compositional features of N.V. Gogol’s comedy “The Inspector General”. The plot of the work is based on the commotion among officials awaiting the auditor, and their desire to hide their “sins” from him. Thus it was determined compositional feature like absence in it central character. Do you agree with this opinion? We have to think about this question and answer others. We work with multi-level cards. The first level A involves answering questions with a grade of “3”, level B - “4”, level C - “5”. Put in the margins the mark you want to receive. We'll compare at the end of the lesson. I wish you all success!

II. Working with cards.

Level A.

1.How is the genre of a work determined?

2.Name and comment on the epigraph to the comedy.

3.Who owns these words: “Why are you laughing? Are you laughing at yourself!”? How do you understand them?

Level B.

1.What is the premise of a comedy? (Critics believe that the first act has two connections: Chmykhov’s letter and the appearance of Dobchinsky and Bobchinsky with the news of the arrival of the imaginary auditor.)

2.Where and when does the climax occur?

3.What do you think is the ending of the comedy?

4. Is it possible to determine the main character of the work? Explain your opinion.

Level C.

1. How could you finish the work? Explain the role of the "silent stage".

III. Conversation on issues.

IV. Reflection.

U.: Look at the table of achievements. Are you satisfied with the result?

V. Individual homework.

U.: I offer the following task to those who wish: try to put yourself in the place of the heroes (Khlestakov and the mayor) in this difficult situation. What would you do?

Municipal educational institution "Tatar gymnasium No. 2 named after. Sh. Marjani" Kazan

Sharipova Zilya Nurgalievna

The famous and interesting Gogol comedy “The Inspector General” has an unusual for that time literary composition. The main difference is that it does not give a detailed history of all those actions that lead to the main event, which is reflected in the comedy and underlies the entire artistic narrative. In literature, the absence of background is called exposition. Some researchers believe that as such an exposure for Gogol's comedy“The Inspector General” can be taken as a small digression into the comedy of the author himself - “Notes for Gentlemen Actors.” But this fact is not confirmed by anything, so all this remains at the level of speculation and conjecture.

What can you learn from this author’s digression even before you start reading Gogol’s entire comedy? In this short narrative, the author describes in more detail the characters of his characters, allowing the actors to understand them to the end and then correctly and competently play them on stage. There's another one distinguishing feature Gogol's comedy: the whole action of the work begins immediately with the plot, and it is already contained in the phrase of the Mayor, who informs the city officials about the purpose for which he has gathered them. And then the Mayor says that an auditor should soon come to the city, and this news is very unpleasant, both for him and for all city officials. One phrase, but already from it a lot becomes clear and the reader can only wait to see what the outcome of this whole action will be.

Main driving force Gogol's comedy, which helps the action develop quickly, replacing them, is the fear of city officials. It is so strong among them that it is easy for them to see an auditor in a passing petty official. But Khlestakov had long shown himself in the city, living in the most seedy tavern in the city. By the way, as the story progresses, the reader learns that he has been living there for two weeks now, but he has nothing to pay. Therefore, he cannot move further, since he does not have enough funds for this. But no one even thinks about this; the fear of the mayor and his assistant officials turns out to be much stronger. It is he who has such a strong effect on officials county town that everyone is trying to serve the imaginary auditor, without even seeing that he is on a completely different level. Officials are afraid of exposure, and this fear pushes them to rash actions that look stupid and funny in the course of Gogol's narrative.

A main character so stupid and ignorant that he does not immediately understand why the attitude towards him suddenly changes and everyone shows great zeal to serve him. Even his servant begins to understand this faster than the master himself. But most highest point The development of all actions in Gogol’s narrative becomes the scene when Khlestakov begins to lie and it can no longer be stopped. Gogol shows this as the culmination of his work. The author ironically describes how a man from a low class of officials tries to prove to everyone that he occupies a high place. And with each phrase of the main character it becomes higher and higher, and there are more lies. The imaginary auditor sees how city officials are listening to him and is ready to lie even more just to remain in the spotlight.

Finally, he achieves his glory, stands at its pinnacle, and does not see it at all, and does not want to notice it himself, that his own words differ, that it is impossible to arrange them into some kind of logical chain. And the more Khlestakov drinks, the higher his pedestal becomes. He triumphs and enjoys the fact that people are finally listening to him and, the strangest thing, they believe him. But in the comedy, the denouement is the moment when everyone: both the mayor and his officials read the letter, which was written by Khlestakov themselves. He writes to his friend a certain Tryapichkin and tells what interesting adventure happened to him. This is how the truth is revealed and this is the outcome of the entire Gogol event.

Everyone learns that Khlestakov is not an inspector, and the way he describes in his letter the society of the county town where he spent some time amuses even the officials themselves. Just not those about whom they begin to read the description. And here everyone clearly realizes that they, people who consider themselves smart, mistook the auditor himself insignificant person. Are they surprised how everyone was able to mistake him for an auditor? But Gogol’s mastery is emphasized by the fact that at the end of his play he inserts a “silent scene”, which gives the work a certain peculiarity in composition.

And when all the heroes are fascinated by the revealed truth, a gendarme appears who informs the mayor and city officials that he has arrived in their dirty county town a real auditor. This completes the action, as if creating a circle. After all, now the city society in power is returning to its previous state again, and they are overcome by fear. And this is a kind of Gogolian hint that now all residents of the county town who did not do their work will face retribution. That is why the dramatic skill of Nikolai Gogol was so highly valued, who wrote in a completely new way the most original work of Russian literature, which became a treasure of the Russian theater.

In the comedy “The Inspector General” 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 in the county town, find out what kind of order there is, 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 masters theater,” 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 all the characters in the comedy were immediately set in motion. 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 Governor 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 and visit charitable institutions, district school, prison. In a word, it is active. Let us note here the comedy in the development of the conflict. “From the point of view of 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 fooled the Governor, 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 making this up 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 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's “Silent Scene” 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 an unusual incident, an “anecdote”, but it allows one to deeply reveal public relations and connections. The main character is not present in either the first or the last act of The Inspector General: he is not present in both the beginning and the denouement. Climax in development real conflict also happens 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 clashes, but a general, social principle. Gogol is not in the play goodies. The ideal disappears into the subtext of the writer. This is an idea, a 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.

Gogol's "The Inspector General" is an amazing and special comedy in every sense. It is also unusual when it comes to composition. Of course, many things seemed unusual in that era, but now everything seems normal and familiar. Nothing can surprise anyone anymore.

For example, contemporaries found such a “sharp” beginning of the comedy very strange. No explanations to you about what the situation is, heroes. Immediately one starts talking about some kind of auditor. (And when this happens in the auditorium, it seems as if this news is being communicated to the audience in the theater. Like, now a theater auditor will arrive and start checking everyone! You might get scared... But this is good - involvement.)

And it’s funny that Khlestakov, as the main character, is not a villain. The officials themselves impose on him an “honorable” role, which is difficult for him to refuse in his position. It looks like officials are fighting with windmills. And all this happens in their little world, because there are not so many characters. Each has its own almost caricatured character, a “speaking” surname. In general, even the background - the life of the city is very miserable. Gossip, stupidity, superstitions are everywhere.

The highest point of the plot can be called the mayor's dream. That is, he already sees himself in St. Petersburg, rich and significant. He seems to feel unlimited power over the little people. But the viewer and reader understand that all this is deception and nonsense!

It is important that there is no special place for love in this satire. Usually a play is not complete without a love affair, but here the mayor’s daughter’s “love” for Khlestakov itself is a comedy.

It’s also interesting that the composition seems to be twisted into a ring. In the finale, again, there is news about the auditor, but this time a real one. And the silent scene that has become a classic! And it’s not just that everyone freezes, but in poses that reflect their emotions. In addition, according to Gogol’s plan, this scene should last a couple of minutes. (If only the audience didn’t go to the wardrobe while the actors tried to show despair with their pose.)

It is interesting that with the appearance of The Inspector General, one Kharkov playwright, who had previously created a comedy like this. Apparently, the time has come for such works!

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The features of “The Inspector General” as a comedy include:

1. absence positive types, what kind of reasoners were in the comedies of the 18th century, what Griboedov’s Chatsky was like. However, Gogol himself found that his comedy had a positive, noble face, namely laughter; but underneath this face hides, in fact, the author himself, who exposed his unsightly heroes to universal ridicule.
2. Another feature of the comedy is the absence in it of a love affair, which was previously considered an almost inevitable part of any play.
3. This feature is associated with the special nature of the plot of the entire comedy. Gogol himself says about this: “Comedy should knit itself, with its entire mass, into one big common knot. The plot should embrace all faces, not just one or two, touch what worries more or less all the actors..."

In this regard, Gogol chose the plot of the comedy extremely successfully: the news about the auditor really touches the quick of all the removed persons, produces a general shock, and forces everyone to involuntarily show their character.

The very fact that they so easily fell into deception sufficiently characterizes the persons removed; This reflected the restless state of their conscience, the consciousness of their misdeeds, the fear of legal punishment, which, as it were, blinds them and forces, in the mayor’s words, “to mistake an icicle or a rag for an important person.”

The setting in “The Inspector General” is a provincial provincial town, from which, as one of the characters in the comedy says, “even if you drive for three years, you won’t get to any state.”

The time of action can be easily determined from the words of the judge ( actor in comedy). This is the beginning of the 30s.

The characters in the comedy are mainly officials who came from the ranks of the nobility, but there are others next to them social groups: city landowners, merchants, townspeople, etc.

The author of the comedy was faced with the question of why the bureaucratic apparatus works so ugly and criminally in different corners of Russia. Answering this question, Gogol unfolds his picture before us. He connects officials with merchants, with townspeople and, developing the action, takes the moment when “unpleasant news” falls on the heads of officials about the impending arrival of an auditor “incognito”, “with a secret order.”

As if struck by thunder, the officials fuss, get lost, and are overcome by boundless fear: after all, they were sure that no auditor’s eye would look into such a wilderness as their little town.

This moment of receiving the news, which created a movement in the ranks of officials, calling them to a series of actions, is the beginning of the comedy. The plot is followed by a chain of events that paints a very interesting struggle for us. The whole thing is built on the self-deception of officials: in essence, they are fighting a ghost and, thanks to this, find themselves in extremely comical situations. Nevertheless, the struggle continues, increasing and increasing in its intensity.

The struggle reaches its highest point in the scene of Khlestakov's matchmaking. Officials are confident that the audit will end successfully and are celebrating. However, the celebration turns out to be premature. Khlestakov’s letter to a St. Petersburg friend, opened by the postmaster, opens the officials’ eyes to everything that happened, and they feel like “fools.”

We call this moment the denouement. However, Gogol does not end the comedy at this point: it is not enough for him to leave the officials “in the cold,” he wants to punish them for all the lies so that their repetition becomes impossible. Hence the last scene with the gendarme, which brings the rogue officials into complete stupor.

In the comedy "The Inspector General" the action takes place not in the capital and not among the highest officials, but in the outback. The characters belong to the provincial small fry, who only dream of the rank of general in a sweet dream. But here too, Gogol achieves very great results thanks to the unusually artistic execution of the task.

The plot of the comedy is that in a certain small county town, a young official from St. Petersburg accidentally passing through is mistaken for an important person who has come to inspect the county. Everything in the town was in commotion. All officials are vying with each other to cover up their sins and bring their subordinate institutions into proper shape, and most importantly, to appease an important person with bribes. They, of course, succeed completely, and at the moment when they are already celebrating their victory, not a fictitious, but a real auditor appears.