Chichikov The town of N.
The arrival
Into the dull provincial town of N. rolls the affable, well-dressed Chichikov, who within days has flattered every official and made himself the toast of local society. Gogol opens on the smug, gossiping bureaucracy of provincial Russia, a world so hollow that a charming nobody with a mad scheme can become its favourite guest.
The opening chapters
inspired by The unnamed provincial town of N., where Chichikov charms the officials, is Gogol's satirical everytown drawn from the district capitals of Russia; sited in the provinces of the setting.
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