The Inspector-General

by Nikolai Gogol from 1836

About

Gogol's 1836 masterpiece of satirical comedy is one of the funniest and most perfectly constructed plays in the Russian tradition: a provincial town's corrupt officials mistake a passing nobody for a government inspector, and their frantic attempts to bribe him and conceal their crimes escalate into pure farce. Tsar Nicholas I reportedly laughed throughout, missing the satire completely. The play's final frozen tableau — the corrupt officials confronting the real inspector's arrival — is one of theater's great coups de théâtre. It established satirical comedy as a central mode of Russian drama and influenced everything from Bulgakov to Soviet absurdism.

Translated from the original Russian.

Comedy Satire Romantic Sardonic Absurd Farcicalen

The Inspector-General

Characters: 34
Words: 17.5k
Acts: 5
Duration: ~2 hr 11 min

Characters

#CharacterPlayerLines

1

IVAN ALEKSANDROVICH KHLESTAKOV

—

206

2

Governor

—

151

3

ANNA ANDREYEVNA

—

85

4

ARTEMY FILIPPOVICH ZEMLIANIKA

—

42

5

OSIP

—

39

6

MARYA ANTONOVNA

—

37

7

AMMOS FIODOROVICH LIAPKIN-TIAPKIN

—

35

8

POSTMASTER

—

34

48 sections

17.5k words

#TitleWords

Act I

1

Act I Scene I

1.6k11:38

2

Act I Scene II

5514:08

3

Act I Scene III

1.1k8:14

4

Act I Scene IV

1230:55

5

Act I Scene V

3192:24

6

Act I Scene VI

3282:28

Act II

7

Act II Scene II

2611:57

8

Act II Scene IV

2161:37

9

Act II Scene V

1711:17

10

Act II Scene VI

3172:23

11

Act II Scene VII

340:15

12

Act II Scene VIII

6755:04

13

Act II Scene IX

870:39

14

Act II Scene X

2391:48

Act III

15

Act III Scene I

2031:31

16

Act III Scene II

6384:47

17

Act III Scene III

1901:26

18

Act III Scene IV

1741:18

19

Act III Scene V

4823:37

20

Act III Scene VI

1.2k9:11

21

Act III Scene VII

970:44

22

Act III Scene VIII

1711:17

23

Act III Scene IX

2181:38

24

Act III Scene X

4633:28

25

Act III Scene XI

1401:03

Act IV

26

Act IV Scene I

3692:46

27

Act IV Scene III

2271:42

28

Act IV Scene IV

2511:53

29

Act IV Scene V

2361:46

30

Act IV Scene VI

4553:25

31

Act IV Scene VII

4733:33

32

Act IV Scene VIII

910:41

33

Act IV Scene IX

2802:06

34

Act IV Scene X

6314:44

35

Act IV Scene XI

4623:28

36

Act IV Scene XII

3112:20

37

Act IV Scene XIII

1661:15

38

Act IV Scene XIV

1941:27

39

Act IV Scene XV

4013:00

40

Act IV Scene XVI

3592:42

Act V

41

Act V Scene I

6865:09

42

Act V Scene II

2792:06

43

Act V Scene III

570:26

44

Act V Scene IV

440:20

45

Act V Scene V

590:27

46

Act V Scene VI

170:08

47

Act V Scene VII

6304:44

48

Act V Scene VIII

8196:09

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