Gogol, The Inspector General
Note on Russian names: Familiar address in Russian consists of two names, the given name (like Ivan) and a patronymic, formed from the father's given name (like Ivanovich). For men, the patronymic ends in -ich, for women in -vna. Even married couples preserved the formality of using both. Servants and one's own children will usually be addressed only with the given name. The surname was rarely used (i.e., Mr. Smith would be a rarity); if someone possessed a title or a position, that was used instead by the person's inferiors in rank.
1. What important information do we learn in Act I, Scene I? what does the rest of the Act add to our information?
2. Look carefully at Act II, Scene 8: what strategies and techniques used by Gogol create comic effects here?
3. What point is Gogol making through the posturing in Act III, Scene 6?
4. Describe the relationship between mother and daughter.
5. What human foibles are satirized? (see especially Act IV)
6. How much social reality do you sense lies behind the satire? What is exaggerated and what seems to have been "real"?
7. Compare the Chief (Anton Antonovich) in V,1 and V,8. Is his character consistent here? why or why not?
8. Note the play's structure: where is the true "middle" of the play (what scene)? how does this compare to the location of the play's climactic scene? What important action takes place between the two?
