The Government Inspector

“Solomon himself couldn’t sort out true from false in a law report.”

The Judge is the designated head of all legal matters in the small town. Like the other civic leaders, however, he is corrupt and ineffective. Under his watch, the court has become a chaotic mess. The Judge himself cannot discern truth from falsity in his own court, which speaks to the nature of justice in the corrupt province. Corruption erodes the nature of truth itself, so much so that even the justice system cannot determine what is true and what is not.

“Those swindlers—I bet they’re already hard at it concocting petitions against me.”

The Mayor is a pompous man. His arrogance leads him to accuse the shopkeepers of conspiring against him. In his mind, he is unfairly persecuted by a group of untrustworthy business owners. As evidenced by the previous scenes, however, the Mayor is evidently corrupt and unremorseful about exploiting the shopkeepers, turning the shopkeepers into a symbol of the effects of corruption on ordinary Russians (See: Symbols & Motifs).

“What a rotten, filthy town this is!”

The Mayor complains about the hard work he must do to cover up his corruption. He curses the townspeople for not following the rules and, in doing so, he explicitly ignores his hypocrisy. The “rotten, filthy town” (261) is a product of his own corruption, not the people whom he is exploiting. They are only following in his casual disregard for morals or laws, echoing his immorality. This infuriates the Mayor, who evidently believes that he should not be beholden to the rules which govern the lives of everyone else.

“It’s all because of you, it’s all your fault.”

Anna here criticizes Maria for her vanity. Much like her husband, Anna is a hypocrite. She criticizes Maria for seeking out male attention while also seeking out male attention herself. The similarity between husband and wife suggests that hypocrisy is not limited to individuals. It is a social sickness, the symptom of a weak and corrupt society.

“Let’s face it, if you’ve got a job to do, damn well do it.”

Osip complains that his master, Khlestakov, does not want to do any work. Osip, who is forced to work while his master embraces a lazy lifestyle, is critical of Khlestakov’s attitude. The irony of his statement is that Khlestakov will soon have a job of sorts. He will be a makeshift government inspector, throwing himself into the role with more enthusiasm than his actual job. Khlestakov is more willing to pretend to work than he is to actually work, even before he knows that he can use his deceit to secure money.

“Sat down for quarter of an hour, and cleaned me out. All the same, I wouldn’t half mind another bash at him.”

The arrogance of Khlestakov is evident in the manner in which he talks about the circumstances in which he lost all his money, illustrating The Dangers of Delusion. He was soundly beaten in cards, to the point where he suspects the infantry captain may have been cheating. Nevertheless, he is convinced that he possesses the skill and intellect to defeat the man. Nothing has changed about Khlestakov; he has gained no new insight or skill. Instead, he is convinced that he just needs one more chance to prove himself, thereby revealing the delusion and arrogance which led to him losing all his money in the first place.

“Look at the rubbish they’re feeding me!”

Khlestakov complains about the food he is given at an inn where he has thus far refused to pay for anything. He blames everyone around him before he blames himself, shirking his responsibilities and his debts by criticizing and diminishing everything. He claims the food is terrible and not worthy of his money, then quickly devours everything when anyone suggests that he go without. Khlestakov, like most of the people he meets, is a pompous liar.

“I’ll tell him straight to his face.”

When he believes the Mayor is still a potential threat, Khlestakov talks loudly about his defiant attitude. He assures his own servant that he will stand up to the supposed tyranny. When the Mayor enters, however, this bombast is gone. Khlestakov is fearful of jail, no matter what he tells Osip. Fortunately for Khlestakov, he encounters someone more corrupt and foolish than himself. His greatest stroke of luck is meeting so many people like him.

“And if there were a few bribes, they were nothing of any consequence: something for the table, or a piece of cloth for a coat.”

Here, both the Mayor and Khlestakov are scared that they will finally get their comeuppance. In an ironic twist, both presume the other man to be an honest actor and—while excusing their own actions—talk so loudly that they ignore each other’s confessions. The Mayor admits to taking bribes, while Khlestakov readies his excuses about why he cannot pay his hotel bill. Combined, these blunt admissions of guilt suggest that neither man is deserving of outwitting the other, as both are guilty of perpetuating The Impact of Corruption.

“Why the prison? I’d much rather look over the charitable institutions.”

When he is given the tour of the town, Khlestakov turns down the offer to see the prison. The Mayor is unaware of how much Khlestakov genuinely believed that he might be sent to prison just a scene before and now Khlestakov does not want to be reminded of his recent fear. Instead, he asks to view the charitable institutions. This is an ironic choice, given that he will soon turn the civic leaders of the town into his own private charity.

“Well, so maybe it is Dobchinsky, I can see him now, so what are you arguing about?”

Anna is quickly proved wrong when Dobchinsky approaches the house, but she is unwilling to concede defeat to her daughter. She blames Maria for trying to undermine her mother’s authority. Like everyone else in the town, her ego prevents her from acknowledging any instance where she might be wrong, reflecting The Dangers of Delusion.

“Here, on the other hand, we think of little else but how to earn the approval of our superiors by our vigilance and good example.”

The Mayor brags about the vigilance of himself and his people, when in reality, they vigilantly dedicate their lives to their own personal enrichment at the expense of everyone else. The Mayor is not wrong, but he is describing a rotten culture rather than the exemplary society that is implied by his words.

“I’ve never picked up a card in my life, I don’t even know how to play any of these card games.”

The Mayor lies about whether he is interested in playing cards. Despite his protestations to Khlestakov, the other civic leaders know that he is lying. In effect, the Mayor is gambling after a different fashion. He is risking his status and his freedom to deceive the man he believes to be a government inspector. The constant stream of lies resembles a bluff at the gambling table and everyone present is atrocious at guessing their opponents’ true intentions.

“Do you know, once they took me for the Commander-in-Chief.”

As Khlestakov drinks wine, he begins to exaggerate his status. At this stage, he is not yet sure why he is receiving such a warm reception from the Mayor. As the wine loosens his lips, however, he is fortunate that his braggadocious inventions fall in line with the Mayor’s mistakes. Ironically, he exaggerates his status even further, joking that someone once mistook him for a “Commander-in-Chief” (286) to an audience of people who have mistaken him for a government inspector. The townspeople are so desperate to believe him, however, that they are unable to see through the lie, with their naivety illustrating The Contrasts Between Town and Country.

“I just saw in him a man of breeding and culture, and I don’t care a straw about his rank.”

Anna’s statements about Khlestakov reveal the extent of her lies and reinforces The Contrasts Between Town and Country. She believes Khlestakov to be a high-ranking government official and she has credulously believed his lies about his elevated status in St. Petersburg society. Though she discards the idea that she might be in thrall to his (fake) status, she is patently wrong. He is not a man of breeding and culture; he is not a man of a high rank. She likes him because he flirted with her and because she is impressed by the absurd lies he has told her. Rather than stating her modesty, Anna is only revealing her own credulous delusion.

“Now take me, I’m only a serf, but he always sees to it that I’m well treated.”

While Khlestakov convinces the town that he is a government inspector and welcomes them to flatter and bribe him, his servant runs a parallel scheme. Earlier in the play, Khlestakov evidently cared little about how Osip was treated. When Osip is questioned by the Mayor, however, he puts his own self-interest first. He mimics his employer’s lies, inviting their flattery and bribery. Like everyone else in the play, Osip shows that he is not above self-interest.

“There’s nothing like hospitality, especially when it’s provided out of the goodness of people’s hearts and not with some ulterior motive.”

Khlestakov shows himself to be just as open to delusion as everyone else. When the townspeople begin to flatter him, he knows that they have somehow mistaken his identity. By Act IV, however, he has convinced himself that they are treating him well because they are good people who happen to recognize his goodness. His aside, delivered without irony, deliberately ignores the way in which every character in the play is operating with an ulterior motive.

“Yes, there is something in my eyes that strikes fear into people’s hearts.”

The more time Khlestakov spends in the town, the more his ego feeds on the other characters’ fear and aids The Dangers of Delusion. In St. Petersburg, he is a lowly figure who commands no respect. He enjoys the fear he is able to instill in weak, corrupt men like the Inspector of Schools as it makes him feel important. They are not afraid of him because they respect him, however, but because they fear that their crimes will be exposed. Khlestakov mistakes fear for respect and guilt for admiration.

“Just let me run into that double-dealing captain now. We’ll see who gets the upper hand now!”

Khlestakov’s fortunes have changed since he came into the town. He has seized his opportunity and made the most of the situation by soliciting as many bribes as possible. Even as his fortune increases beyond his wildest expectations, he is unwilling to learn any lessons. His first thought is to track down the infantry captain who won all his money and challenge the man to another game of cards. This small thought illustrates that Khlestakov will not be able to hold on to his ill-gotten gains for very long.

“He’s not at all particular, either: he’ll take any old rubbish! Prunes that have sat in the barrel for seven years, that even my assistant wouldn’t touch, and he eats them by the handful.”

When Khlestakov finally meets the shopkeepers, he is shown another side of the Mayor. For all the bluster and self-importance, the Mayor is a remarkably petty individual. He has committed all his sins and lost the respect of the townspeople for the sake of a barrel of near-rotten prunes. Rather than making himself rich, he is corrupting the town for the sake of a relatively small amount of personal enrichment. His corruption is barely even worth the risk of getting caught. He and his fellow civic leaders are remarkably unambitious, petty, and pathetic.

“Oho, just you wait, I’m going to make it sticky for those toads, those snakes in the grass with their petitioning and informing.”

After learning that his daughter is engaged to Khlestakov, the Mayor’s first instinct is to gloat. More important than his daughter is his own supposed elevation in status. He summons the shopkeepers and tells them that he will soon have his revenge. He will punish them for their “petitioning and informing” (321), even though their actions—as evidenced by everything which has happened in the play—are entirely justified.

“I hope it chokes you!”

When the Mayor summons the civic leaders, his stated aim is to celebrate his daughter’s engagement. In reality, he wants to gloat. While the civic leaders initially offer their congratulations and support, they cannot hide their bitterness and jealousy. Beneath the prominent compliments, they seethe toward him and hope his success chokes him. They will not need to wait long before his apparent happiness crumbles into nothing.

“But this is impossible, Anton, he’s betrothed to our Masha.”

Anna is slow to realize the extent to which her husband’s corruption has been exposed. Even as the civic leaders read out the letter, detailing the various insults laid against them by the fake government inspector, she is still deluding herself into believing that Maria will be married to an important person, reflecting The Dangers of Delusion.