Mayor announces to assembled civic leaders that a government inspector is traveling incognito from St. Petersburg to evaluate the town.

Dobchinsky and Bobchinsky rush in to report a suspicious young man from St. Petersburg has been staying at the local inn.

Mayor heads to the inn to confront the man he suspects is the undercover government inspector.

Osip lies on Khlestakov's bed and reveals his master is a broke clerk who gambled away all his money.

Mayor enters Khlestakov's inn room, and both men assume the other poses a serious legal threat to them.

Mayor offers Khlestakov money and invites him to stay at the Mayor's own home instead of the inn.

Mayor escorts Khlestakov on a tour of the town's charitable institutions, including the hospital.

Khlestakov brags wildly at dinner about his lavish lifestyle and powerful connections in St. Petersburg.

Mayor dispatches each civic official to meet privately with Khlestakov and offer a financial bribe.

Khlestakov flirts with Maria and then proposes marriage to her after being discovered on his knees before Anna.

Mayor accepts Khlestakov's marriage proposal and begins planning the family's rise to St. Petersburg society.

Khlestakov departs the town, telling the Mayor he is visiting a wealthy uncle but will return.

Postmaster arrives brandishing an opened letter, announcing that Khlestakov is not a government inspector at all.

Khlestakov's intercepted letter is read aloud to the room, revealing his mocking descriptions of every civic official.

A police officer arrives to announce the real government inspector has arrived and demands to meet everyone immediately.

The play opens as the Mayor of a corrupt provincial town learns a government inspector is traveling incognito from St. Petersburg and gathers his equally corrupt civic leaders in a panic. A young broke clerk named Khlestakov, stranded at the local inn after gambling away all his money, is mistakenly identified as the inspector when the Mayor arrives to investigate. The Mayor showers Khlestakov with hospitality, money, and flattery, while Khlestakov quickly realizes the mistake and takes full advantage of it. Khlestakov collects bribes from every official in town, flirts with both the Mayor's wife and daughter, and eventually proposes marriage to the Mayor's daughter. Just as the Mayor is celebrating his apparent triumph, the Postmaster delivers Khlestakov's private letter that exposes the whole deception to the assembled room. The play ends with the shocking announcement that the real government inspector has now arrived, leaving every character frozen in stunned dread.

The main plot of mistaken identity and its consequences.

Mayor warns each official to hide specific corrupt practices, including removing geese from the courthouse and masking the assessor's vodka smell.

Mayor asks the Postmaster to open and read citizens' letters to gather intelligence about the inspector's arrival.

Anna and Maria impatiently wait at the window and argue about who can identify the approaching figures in the street.

Khlestakov complains loudly about the poor quality of the inn's food despite being unable to pay his bill.

Khlestakov alone contemplates selling his fine St. Petersburg clothes to pay his debts but cannot bear to part with his tailored suit.

Dobchinsky reports to Anna that the supposed inspector appears dignified and refined, almost like a military general.

Anna orders the house stocked with wine and a room prepared to receive their distinguished guest for dinner.

Anna and Maria quarrel over which dress each of them should wear to make the right impression on the inspector.

Mayor and Anna question Osip about Khlestakov's true character and standing in St. Petersburg society.

Mayor orders constables to guard Khlestakov's door and specifically prevent the shopkeepers from gaining entry to the house.

Warden of Charities gossips maliciously to Khlestakov about the corrupt behavior of each fellow civic official.

Shopkeepers crowd outside to deliver a petition to Khlestakov detailing the Mayor's corrupt abuse of power.

The Locksmith's wife and the Sergeant's widow throw themselves at Khlestakov's feet, begging for justice against the Mayor.

Mayor and Anna brag to each other about the extravagant life they expect to lead in St. Petersburg after their daughter's marriage.

Mayor confronts the shopkeepers after learning of the engagement, haughtily warning them to prepare decent wedding presents.

While the Mayor panics about the inspector, he issues frantic orders to each official to conceal their specific corrupt practices and quietly arranges for the Postmaster to intercept citizens' mail. At home, the Mayor's wife Anna and daughter Maria bicker over petty matters while eagerly preparing to receive their distinguished guest. After Khlestakov settles into the Mayor's home, the officials work to manage his access and monitor his behavior, with the Mayor ordering guards to block the troublesome shopkeepers from ever reaching him. Individual officials take turns privately groveling before Khlestakov, while the Warden of Charities uses his moment to maliciously denounce his colleagues. The townspeople who suffer most under the Mayor's rule finally get their moment to petition Khlestakov directly, though their complaints go nowhere. Once the engagement is announced, the Mayor and Anna indulge in fantasies of grandeur, and the Mayor seizes the moment to reassert his dominance over the very shopkeepers who dared challenge him.

The secondary schemes and social comedy surrounding the mistaken inspector.

Judge argues that accepting Borzoi puppies as bribes is morally different from taking cash, exposing the corrupt logic shared by all officials.

Postmaster admits to the Mayor that he already reads everyone's mail out of personal curiosity, normalizing his own illegal behavior.

Waiter tells Khlestakov the landlord plans to report him to the Mayor for failing to pay his inn bill.

Khlestakov panics when Osip announces the Mayor is waiting downstairs, certain he is about to be arrested for his unpaid debts.

Mayor decides Khlestakov's angry, confused denials are a clever attempt to maintain the disguise of an undercover inspector.

Khlestakov realizes during the Mayor's dinner that he has been mistaken for the inspector and begins deliberately embellishing the lie.

Civic leaders scatter from the Mayor's sitting room in panic when they hear a sudden noise from Khlestakov's room above.

Judge accidentally drops his bribe money on the floor during his nervous private meeting with Khlestakov.

Inspector of Schools trembles so badly during his meeting with Khlestakov that his cigar falls from his shaking hands.

Dobchinsky privately asks Khlestakov to use his government influence to legitimize a son born out of wedlock.

Bobchinsky begs Khlestakov to mention his name to the important people in St. Petersburg, including the Tsar himself.

Osip warns Khlestakov that their situation is becoming dangerously exposed and insists they must flee the town immediately.

Anna insists the engagement to Maria must still be valid even after Khlestakov's letter reveals his true identity.

Mayor despairs at being publicly humiliated and turns to the audience to declare that they are laughing at themselves.

Every character on stage freezes in a stunned, motionless tableau as the curtain falls on the real inspector's imminent arrival.

The play's comic engine runs on a series of turning points in which characters reveal their self-serving logic, make catastrophic misjudgments, and gradually become trapped by their own delusions. From the officials' absurd moral gymnastics about bribes to the Postmaster's casual admission of illegal mail-reading, the corrupt foundations of the town are exposed from the very first scenes. The central deception hinges on two pivotal moments: Khlestakov's panicked certainty that he is about to be arrested for debt, and the Mayor's stubborn decision to interpret every confused denial as evidence of a brilliant undercover disguise. Once Khlestakov recognizes the mistake, he leans into the lie with increasing boldness, extracting money from terrified officials one by one while Osip schemes quietly alongside him. Osip eventually forces Khlestakov to flee before the deception fully unravels, but the letter Khlestakov sent to a friend in St. Petersburg exposes every detail of his mockery, leaving the Mayor to confront his humiliation before the audience itself. The play concludes with every character frozen in a silent tableau, paralyzed by the arrival of the real inspector they were never prepared to face.