The Inspector General is a comic, satirical play by 19th century Russian playwright and novelist Nikolai Gogol. Its plot concerns the arrival of a stranger to a small provincial town. The stranger is presumed to be an important government inspector, and thus pampered farcically by the corrupt local authorities. The local notables however get a different reward than the one they expect....

The original title of the book is 'the Revizor', this being the title of such an inspector in the Tsarist times.

The Inspector General is also the title of a movie very loosely based on the premise of the original play and starring Danny Kaye as the eponymous "inspector". Unlike the play, this film has a happy ending and makes the mistaken inspector general into a hero. No such morality in the original play however. Gogol was to much a pessimist for that.

The play seems to be the clear inspiration for the "Hotel Inspector" episode of John Cleese's comedic television series Fawlty Towers.

In The Netherlands famous Dutch comedian Andre van Duin made his own Dutch version of 'the inspector general' called 'De Boezemvriend' (meaning bosom friend, best buddy) playing in The Netherlands in Napoleon's time.

The play has been translated in all European languages and is still a popular one to play as it deals with everyday life hypocrisy and corruption of the rich and better people in society.

Quotes

"Alexander of Macedon was a hero, it is true. But that's no reason for breaking chairs."

External links

• Full text translated by Thomas Seltzer from Project Gutenberg