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The Inspector General

First published: 1836
Pages: 121

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3 h 30 min · 7 parts

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Translator's Introduction
15:24
Characters of the Play and Directions for Actors
7:34
Act 1
34:39
Act 2
31:21
Act 3
36:44
Act 4
48:52
Act 5
35:38

The Inspector General (1916) is a public domain work.

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About this book

When word reaches a shabby provincial town that a government inspector is arriving in secret, the crooked mayor and his officials panic and mistake Khlestakov, a penniless, boastful clerk stranded at the local inn, for the dreaded official. They shower him with bribes and flattery, and the empty-headed Khlestakov happily plays along, borrowing money and courting the mayor's wife and daughter before slipping away just ahead of the truth. Gogol's 1836 comedy skewers the greed, cowardice, and vanity of small-town officialdom, and its famous frozen closing scene still lands. It caused an uproar at its premiere and remains one of the great satirical plays. Free PDF and EPUB editions are available here.

About the author

Nikolai Gogol

Nikolai Gogol (1809-1852) was a Russian writer of Ukrainian birth and one of the first great masters of Russian prose. He mixed grotesque comedy, satire, and the supernatural across his plays, stories, and the novel Dead Souls before a deepening religious crisis darkened his final years.