Discuss the significance of genre in one of the literary works we have read and in the corresponding film adaptation The Government Inspector.

Student No. 7119404

Discuss the significance of genre in one of the literary works we have read and in the corresponding film adaptation – The Government Inspector.

Nikolay Vasilyevich Gogol is widely regarded as one of the best Russian writers in history, and his influence can be seen within the works of several other great Russian writers such as Dostoyevsky, Chekhov and Petrov. His play ‘The Government Inspector’ caused a furore following its first performance in 1836, forcing Gogol to take up voluntary exile for the following twelve years. Several film adaptations have been made of the play, though they are usually only loosely based on the plot. The 1949 film ‘The Inspector General’ directed by Henry Koster is one of these adaptations, citing the Gogol play as an influence. Genre plays an important role in both Gogol’s play and in the corresponding film adaptation, prompting discussion of its effect in both versions.

‘The Government Inspector’ is a satirical comedy of errors, the original idea of which was supposedly conceived by Pushkin, who claimed he had once been mistaken for a government inspector in the provinces. Gogol took this simple anecdote of Pushkin’s and made it into a five-act play, satirising the extreme level of bureaucracy in Tsarist Russia. The plot of the play revolves around a corrupt group of officials in an unnamed town mistaking the identity of a pompous low-ranking official from St Petersburg, labeling him with the badge of government inspector despite a distinct lack of supporting evidence. The play is a comedy of situation; the situation being mistaken identity, both for the townspeople and for Khlestakov, with the townspeople mistaking Khlestakov’s identity, and Khlestakov at first misinterpreting their hospitality as typical. A great deal of miscommunication between characters leads to the townspeople treating low-ranking traveling official Khlestakov like a king, whilst he simply laps it up rather than correcting their mistake upon realisation. On a few occasions, Khlestakov almost gives himself away as a fraud, though the other characters fail to notice. As De Jonge perfectly encapsulates in ‘Nineteenth Century Russian Literature’, “So obsessed with his own problems is each character that he is unable to grasp what the other is saying.”. With the plot laid down, the notion of genre in the play may now be explored.

The genre of ‘The Government Inspector’ is comedy, more specifically satire. During the 19th Century, the period in which the play was written, Russia was an extremely hierarchical society and the bureaucracy could be very petty. According to Duffield White, the play includes all of Russia’s social estates: peasants, poor townspeople, merchants, landowners, provincial bureaucrats, the superintendent of schools, the director of charitable institutions, the postmaster and lower-ranking provincial functionaries, with the only social estate missing being the clergy. This means the play can be seen as almost a cross-section of society at the time, and adding to the fact the town the play is set in is unnamed, could almost be applied anywhere the reader desired. The play focuses on the entire debacle around the mistaken identity of Khlestakov, involving a great number of characters who all end up tied up in the situation in one way or another. The play is satirical from the very beginning, when the Mayor first announces the imminent arrival of a government inspector. Rather than considering the town’s faults and how to rectify them, the Mayor launches a plan of action to cover up the corruption. One by one he tells the officials of the town what they must do to hide the town’s failings for the inspection, and not once do any of the officials object to these plans, showing that every last one of them is in on it. The subject of rank is extremely prominent in the play, showing the hyper consciousness of rank at the time of writing. Some of the most negative aspects of Khlestakov’s personality, such as not paying for anything upon arrival, are interpreted by the town officials as demonstrative of his rank. When Bobchinsky and Dobchinsky tell the Mayor about Khlestakov, Dobchinsky confirms his identity by saying “He must be. Hangs around the town. Never pays cash. Who else could he be?” (Act One, Scene One) The officials have no real reason to believe Khlestakov is the government inspector, they merely label him in a desperate act. The satire continues throughout the play, with the bad traits of the town officials’ characters shown at every opportunity.

According to Vyacheslav Ivanov, ‘The Government Inspector’ has many parallels with Greek comedies. He saw the similarities between the ways Greek comedies presented personal relationships as part of a collective life, embracing a whole self-contained and self-sufficient microcosm and Gogol’s play. The collective persona used within the play, that being focusing on no one single character, rather the group of characters as a whole, is comparable to that of the Greek comedy.

Another comedic aspect within the play ‘The Government Inspector’ is the use of names with double meanings. Some of the names are “comic without being crudely explicit” whilst ...

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Another comedic aspect within the play ‘The Government Inspector’ is the use of names with double meanings. Some of the names are “comic without being crudely explicit” whilst others are more direct in their approach. Zemlyanika, for example, the name of the charity commissioner, means ‘wild strawberry’, an entertaining name, and Lyapkin-Tyapkin, the judge, whose name translates into English as ‘slap-dash’ or ‘higgledy-piggledy’, suggesting some of his character traits. This is a common feature of Gogol’s works, and is also present in his ‘Petersburg Tales’ stories, in which the characters are also named accordingly, or sometimes ironically. Though this probably does not occur to non-Russian speaking readers, it is of course intentional and used by Gogol to create an opinion of a character merely from their name. Bobchinsky and Dobchinsky, though their names do not mean anything in particular, are comedic characters. Their surnames are strikingly similar, and they share the same forename and patronymic: Pyotr Ivanovich. The pair is basically a double act within the play, and are very entertaining, as well as being an example of Gogol’s use of doubles within his work.

Overall, the key genre within the play ‘The Government Inspector’ is satire. The work plays on the extreme hierarchy at its time of writing, mocking the Tsarist regime and its petty bureaucracy. The suggestions Gogol was making about the political system were rather daring, and it is interesting that he himself chose to go into exile, rather than be forced. The play displays many common satirical elements, and is an extremely intelligent piece of writing, using several methods to cement its genre.

The 1949 film ‘The Inspector General’ is a musical comedy loosely based on Gogol’s play ‘The Government Inspector’, and stars Danny Kaye in the main role as Georgie, who replaces Khlestakov. In the film credits, it is stated that ‘The Inspector General was “suggested by the play by Nikolai Gogol.”. The film only shares the same simple plot outline as the original play, and is relocated outside of Russia to the town of Brodny, located in an unnamed country under Napoleon’s rule. Apparently, when Gogol asked pushkin for a subject to write a comedy on, he asked for an ‘authentic Russian anecdote’, so it is interesting that the story was moved out of Russia for the film. Despite satire being the main source of comedy in the play, the filmmakers decided to take a more obvious, slapstick approach. Had the film decided to take on the high level of satire in Gogol’s original work, it would have been difficult to transfer the setting to another country, and the Western audience it was intended for may not have understood it.

The film clearly presents itself within the comedy genre, yet is definitely also a musical, showcasing Danny Kaye’s talents for singing and dancing several times. According to Stanley Solomon, musicals derive their aesthetic appear from their “relationship to the classical standards for art and beauty – rhythm, harmony, proportion and clarity”. This makes for an interesting parallel with Vyacheslav Ivanov’s interpretation of ‘The Government Inspector’ as similar to Greek comedies mentioned earlier. The film is laden with the typical themes of the musical, with Georgie ending up as a hero and finding romance with Lisa, the maid, in a lovely happy ending. Georgie’s role as the main character is a shining example of the theory outlined by Stanley Solomon, that “The heroes of musicals, the performers, may act deviously in complicated situations, but since they are by nature good people, they will eventually get in touch with their better selves and their natural characteristics will emerge.” This is shown at the start when Georgie tries to give a poor woman with a sick husband her money back, after she has bought the false product ‘Yakov’s Golden Elixir’ from him. This is also demonstrated when Yakov, his former colleague, shows up in Brodny and persuades him to keep tricking the townspeople into believing he is an inspector general, which he does in order to buy back the church organ and right the wrongs of the town officials. Both situations show Georgie acting deviously, first marketing a false product to the vulnerable, and second lying to the town of Brodny, but these are both resolved due to Georgie’s kind nature. The film also has a happy ending for everyone, unlike the original play, typical of the comedy musical. This could be considered an example of Stanley Solomon’s observation: “If the musical is not done well, the inner development might not be clear, and in such a case the happy ending may seem to be just tagged on.” The ending of the film shows the arrival of the real inspector general, and is fairly rushed, managing to fit in two potential executions within a matter of minutes, both resolved leaving everyone happy, except perhaps the Mayor, who is demoted in order that Georgie usurp him. This happy ending could be seen as being ‘tagged on’ as Georgie being made Mayor of Brodny is quite a surprise, and is fairly sudden.

As for ‘The Inspector General’ portraying the genre of comedy, the film mostly utilises the medium of slapstick to gain laughs. At almost every available opportunity, physical comedy is present, such as Danny Kaye’s facial expressions as Prince Ahmed during the ‘Yakov’s Golden Elixir’ scene, and when Georgie gets his fingers stuck in his violin strings at the party nearer the end of the film. The physical comedy almost always involves Danny Kaye’s character of Georgie, and shows what a simple character he is. He can barely get anything right, which is entertaining, as the town officials still believe he is an inspector general despite all of this, and the audience is in on the joke. It is also entertaining in a more basic way, in that it simply creates laughter among the audience. John Howard Reid describes the setting of the film as ‘unusual’ and states that it features some ‘bizarre’ moments, such as the scene where Danny Kaye’s character sings the song ‘Arrogant, Elegant or Smart?” It could be said that since the location was moved from Russia to an unknown European country, that it may as well have been moved somewhere completely different, to less confuse the viewer.

Overall, ‘The Inspector General’ is a fairly typical example of a musical comedy, and fits into the genre well. The film contains several of the features Stanley Solomon outlines as typical of the musical, and uses comedy constantly throughout. Though differing greatly from the play from which it is derived, the basic plot taken from it is utilised well and makes for an entertaining watch.

In conclusion, both the play ‘The Government Inspector’ and the film it inspired, ‘The Inspector General’, are key examples of their genres. The play is extremely intelligent and satirical, poking fun at the over-the-top hierarchical system in Tsarist Russia, an aspect that makes Gogol one of the best-loved Russian writers in history. The film, though choosing to avoid most of Gogol’s satirical attributes, and relocating ‘an authentic Russian anecdote’ away from Russia, is a good example of a musical comedy. Despite their differences, both versions have their own individual attractions, and conform well to genre expectations.

Bibliography:

Erskine, T.L. et al, Video Versions: Film Adaptations of Plays on Video (Santa Barbara: Greenwood Press, 2000),

Fennell, J. ed., Nineteenth Century Russian Literature: Studies of Ten Russian Writers (London: Faber and Faber, 1973)

Fusso, S., Meyer, P., eds., Essays on Gogol: Logos and the Russian Word (Evanston, IL, 1992)

Gogol, N.V., adapted by Adrian Mitchell, The Government Inspector (London: Methuen, 1985)

Howard Reid, J., More Movie Musicals (Online publisher Lulu.com, 2006), p. 86.

Leach, R., Borovsky, V., A History of Russian Theatre (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999)

Maguire, R.A. ed., Gogol from the Twentieth Century: Eleven Essays (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1995)

Peace, R., The Enigma of Gogol: An Examination of the Writings of N. V. Gogol and their Place in the Russian Literary Tradition (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009)

Solomon, S.J., Beyond Formula: American Film Genres (New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1976)

The Inspector General. Dir. Henry Koster. Warner Bros. Pictures. 1949.

Richard Peace, The Enigma of Gogol: An Examination of the Writings of N. V. Gogol and their Place in the Russian Literary Tradition (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009), p. 1.

Robert Leach, Victor Borovsky, A History of Russian Theatre (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999), p. 98.

See note 2 above, p. 99.

See note 1 above, p.177.

A. De Jonge, ‘Gogol’, in John Fennell ed., Nineteenth Century Russian Literature: Studies of Ten Russian Writers (London: Faber and Faber, 1973), p. 110.

Duffield White, ‘Khlestakov as Representative of Petersburg in The Inspector General’, in Susanne Fusso and Priscilla Meyer, eds., Essays on Gogol: Logos and the Russian Word (Evanston, IL, 1992), p.90.

Nikolai Gogol, adapted by Adrian Mitchell, The Government Inspector (London: Methuen, 1985), p.10.

Vyacheslav Ivanov, ‘Gogol’s Inspector General and the Comedy of Aristophanes’ in Robert A. Maguire ed., Gogol from the Twentieth Century: Eleven Essays (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1995), p. 201.

Richard Peace, The Enigma of Gogol: An Examination of the Writings of N. V. Gogol and their Place in the Russian Literary Tradition (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009), p. 153.

Thomas L. Erskine et al, Video Versions: Film Adaptations of Plays on Video (Santa Barbara: Greenwood Press, 2000), p. 167.

Robert Leach, Victor Borovsky, A History of Russian Theatre (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999), p. 100.

Stanley J. Solomon ‘Singing and Dancing: The Sound of Metaphor’ in Beyond Formula: American Film Genres (New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1976), p. 64.

Thomas L. Erskine et al, Video Versions: Film Adaptations of Plays on Video (Santa Barbara: Greenwood Press, 2000), p. 65.

Stanley J. Solomon ‘Singing and Dancing: The Sound of Metaphor’ in Beyond Formula: American Film Genres (New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1976), p. 66.

John Howard Reid, More Movie Musicals (Online publisher Lulu.com, 2006), p. 86.