3 h 26 minAudiobook8 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if a whole town’s guilty conscience turns a penniless stranger into the most powerful man in the room?
A letter warns the mayor, Anton Antonovich Skvoznik-Dmukhanovsky, that a hidden inspector may expose his town’s corruption. Then gossip points to a stranger at the inn. In Nikolai Gogol’s five-act comedy, The Inspector-General, officials with plenty to hide rush to protect their posts, their comfort, and themselves.
The stranger is Ivan Alexandrovich Khlestakov, a young clerk from Saint Petersburg with no money and no idea what he has walked into. Suddenly, people feed him, flatter him, and treat his words as important. As their fear meets his vanity, a simple mistake grows into a sharp comedy of power and self-deception.
What you’ll discover
- A town ruled by fear Watch guilty officials mistake their own worst fears for proof of a stranger’s authority.
- An unlikely man of importance Meet Khlestakov as the town’s mistaken respect carries a penniless clerk into sudden comfort.
- Courtesy with a hidden purpose Follow officials whose polite visits conceal a scramble to buy the visitor’s good opinion.
- Dreams beyond the small town Meet Anna Andreyevna, whose hunger for grandeur draws her toward the supposedly important guest.
- Someone who sees the danger Follow Osip, the worldly servant who wants his master to move on before trouble comes.
Who will love it
For readers who love sharp comedy, officials caught up in rumour, and short plays that can be read in one sitting.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A letter warns of a hidden inspector
- A penniless clerk is taken for the inspector
- Flattery teaches Khlestakov to play the part
- Bribes arrive one official at a time
- Two women compete for the visitor's attention
- What the play is about and how it works
Who’s who
- Anton Antonovich Skvoznik-DmukhanovskyThe mayor of the town, a bribe-taker who is terrified of being exposed and wants to keep his post and his comfort.
- Ivan Alexandrovich KhlestakovA young, idle, penniless clerk from Saint Petersburg, stuck at an inn, who is carried along by the town's mistaken respect.
- Anna AndreyevnaThe mayor's wife, vain and eager for grandeur, who dreams of a better life in the capital.
- Marya AntonovnaThe mayor's young daughter, pretty and easily impressed, who attracts the visitor's attention.
- OsipKhlestakov's sly, worldly servant, who sees the danger of the situation and wants his master to move on.
- Bobchinsky and DobchinskyTwo small landowners, almost alike, who love gossip and are the first to spread the news of the stranger.
- Ammos Fyodorovich Lyapkin-TyapkinThe town judge, who takes gifts from litigants and runs his courtroom as a sort of farm.
- Artemy Filippovich ZemlyanikaThe charity commissioner, who runs the hospital carelessly and tells tales about his colleagues.
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- Large-print eBook
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- Audiobook
- 3 h 26 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 8 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
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- Large print paperback
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- Large print hardcover
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Der Revisor
by Nikolai Wassiljewitsch Gogol · 1836
A frightened town mistakes a penniless clerk for a secret inspector, putting its corrupt officials in a panic.
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From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1 of 6
A letter warns of a hidden inspector
The play opens in the house of the mayor, Anton Antonovich Skvoznik-Dmukhanovsky, in a remote district town. He has called the town officials together to share bad news. A letter from a friend tells him that an inspector is on his way from the capital, travelling in secret. The inspector will examine how the town is run.
The officials are alarmed, and with good reason. The judge, Ammos Fyodorovich, keeps a hunting whip in the courtroom and takes gifts from people who come before him. The charity commissioner, Artemy Filippovich, runs a hospital where the patients are fed badly and nobody keeps proper care. The school superintendent, Luka Lukich, is a timid man afraid of everything. The postmaster, Ivan Kuzmich, reads other people's letters for pleasure.
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What is The Inspector-General about?
It is a comedy about a provincial town whose corrupt officials mistake a penniless young clerk for a secret inspector from the capital. Their fear and flattery spin the mistake out of control.
Who is Khlestakov in The Inspector-General?
Khlestakov is a young, idle minor clerk from Saint Petersburg who is stuck in the town without money. He does not plan to deceive anyone, but he goes along with the role the officials give him.
When was The Inspector-General written and is it based on a true story?
Gogol wrote it in the mid 1830s and it was first staged in 1836. It is fiction, but the idea of a traveller mistaken for an official was suggested to Gogol by the poet Pushkin.
The author
Nikolai Gogol
1809–1852 · Ukrainian-born Russian novelist
Nikolai Vasilevich Gogol (1809–1852) was a Russian writer born in what is now Ukraine. He lived in Saint Petersburg and Rome and died in Moscow. He wrote plays, stories, and novels. His works include The Inspector-General (1836), Taras Bulba (1835), The Overcoat (1842), and Dead Souls (1842).
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