Gogol, as you know, created the comedy “The Examiner” using the idea presented by Pushkin. The prototype of the impostor-auditor was a real historical figure - a certain Pavel Svinin. The difficult and interesting task - to put together and ridicule the Russian mechanism of provincial power - was pursued by the comedy written by Gogol, The Inspector General.
The heroes of the work are typical contemporaries of the author of “Dikanka”: the city mayor Skvoznik-Dmukhanovsky, who takes large bribes and knows everything about everyone; Judge Lyapkin-Tyapkin, "administering justice" based on personal gain and "turning the law like a drawbar"; the chronically cowardly caretaker of the Khlopov school, "rotten with a bow," afraid of both the authorities and his subordinates; unscrupulous trustee of charitable institutions of Strawberries (in which people in hospitals died like flies); unscrupulous postmaster Shpekin, opening the envelopes and reading letters "out of curiosity." The whole essence of the activity of the authorities: externally - fussy chores, deeper - bribery, theft showed N.V. Gogol. The “Examiner” also clearly defines what motivates these people to work together. Everything is extremely simple - the mechanism of fear of losing the “place” launched by the mayor. After all, everything is known about everyone. Each "sits on its sixth." It is amazing that Anton Antonovich himself (the mayor), breaking the law more than others, sincerely considers himself a bearer of morality and a believer.
The petty, insignificant official Khlestakov, despised even by his servant Osip, accidentally stayed at a hotel in the provincial city. He follows in Saratov to his father. His career successes are not brilliant. The father, obviously, is going to make his son “suggestion” and “reset” his career. But the twenty-three-year-old blockhead loses pocket money, remaining "on the beans." At this time, notebook gossipers and talkers, landowners Bobchinsky and Dobchinsky, spurred by a selfish desire - the first to “figure out” the inspector who arrived in the city, decide, by virtue of their stupidity, that Khlestakov is the auditor.
Gogol shows how they manage to convince even the city official of this. Next begins the circus. Khlestakov, realizing who they take him for, decides on a desperate deceit, introducing himself as an auditor from the capital. The young man is not burdened by either mind, conscience, or decency. He lies with inspiration and selflessness about his high ties and patrons. He asks high officials, starting with a city manager, for a loan. Those willingly give them, not even assuming their return, considering the amount transferred to Khlestakov a banal next bribe. When the young rogue, wooing to the daughter of the mayor, at the same time "knocks wedges" to his wife - the culmination of the
theater of the absurdity of the comedy "The Examiner" is achieved. Gogol, however, does not bring the matter to a wedding. The deceiver, obeying the wise servant of Osip, escapes from the soon exposure, grabbing the money.
At the end of the play, the character of Skvoznik-Dmukhanovsky “speaks the bitter truth” already through the lips of the author, saying the key phrase that the anecdotal situation described in the comedy is the Russians laughing at themselves. The work ends with the famous scene of “dumbfounding” of the provincial beau monde from the news received about the arrival of a real auditor in the city.
Is the Inspector Modern? Gogol, by the way, has long been familiar to Israeli theatergoers. The real success in the production of comedy came after the localization of the plot and its complete transfer to the soil of this country. Israeli directing proceeds from the fact that the classical playwright Gogol gave the main thing - the instrument for staging the play, but modern city officials, judges, trustees of institutions - are much more sophisticated than the original ones shown by the writer. Therefore, the production is done in modern colloquial language, using slang. Success exceeded all expectations. The internal potential inherent in the idea of ​​Gogol, later allowed the author of the Israeli performance to write the script for the whole series, which also turned out to be in demand.