The Government Inspector (Student Editions) - Softcover

Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0413773213 ISBN 13: 9780413773210

Publisher: Methuen Drama, 2003

Synopsis

Widely held to have led the realist revolution in Russian drama, Nikoliai Gogol (1809-1852) liberated comedy from a tradition of didacticism and sentimentality. The Government Inspector, his masterpiece, created such a furore when it was first performed in 1835 that Gogol was driven into exile.

In this classic satire on human vanity, the corrupt, self-serving officials of a small town in Tsarist Russia mistake a penniless clerk from Moscow for a government inspector. Through the wild inventiveness of Gogol's comic fantasy the play becomes a celebration of the grotesque and absurd elements in human nature and remains one of the greatest comedies of all time.

METHUEN DRAMA STUDENT EDITIONS are expertly annotated texts of a wide range of plays from the modern and classic repertoires. A well as the complete text of the play itself, this volume contains:

- an introduction outlining the plays themes, context and performance history
- the full text of the play
- extensive textual notes
- questions for further study.

About this title

About the Author

Nikolai Gogol (1809-1852) won fame as a short story writer, and in 1836, his satirical comedy The Government Inspector created such a furore that Gogol left Russia to settle in Rome, in self-imposed exile. Religious mania in his later years contributed to his early death in Moscow.

Edition details

• Publisher: Methuen Drama
• Publication date: 2003
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0413773213
• ISBN 13: 9780413773210
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 192
• Editor: Nick Worrall, Non Worrall