has never quitted the stage. Gogol wrote to a friend: "On the opening
night I felt uncomfortable from the very first as I sat in the
theatre. Anxiety for the approval of the audience did not trouble me.
There was only one critic in the house--myself--that I feared. I heard
clamorous objections within me which drowned all else. However, the
public, as a whole, was satisfied. Half of the audience praised the
play, the other half condemned it, but not on artistic grounds."

"Revizor" is one of the best-constructed comedies in any language; for
not only has it a unified and well-ordered plot, but it does not stop
with the final fall of the curtain. Most plays by attempting to finish
up the story with smooth edges, leave an impression of artificiality
and unreality, for life is not done up in such neat parcels. The
greatest dramas do not solve problems for us, they supply us with
questions. In "Revizor," at the last dumb scene, after all the mirth,
the real trouble is about to begin; and the spectators depart, not
merely with the delightful memory of an evening's entertainment, but
with their imagination aflame. Furthermore, "Revizor" has that
combination of the intensely local element with the universal, so
characteristic of works of genius. Its avowed attempt was to satirise
local and temporal abuses; but it is impossible to imagine any state
of society in the near future where the play will not seem real. If
Gogol had done nothing but write the best comedy in the Russian
language, he would have his place in literature secure.*

*The first production of "Revizor" in America (in English) was given
by the students of Yale University, 20 April, 1908. For all I know to
the contrary, it was the first English production in the world. It was
immensely successful, caused subsequent performances elsewhere, both
amateur and professional, and attracted attention in Russia, where a