Act 3, Scenes 5 and 6 Summary

Scene 5 - The Mayor and Khlestakov come in, followed by the other officials. Khlestakov talks about how impressed he was with the hospital and saying that no-one in any other towns he visits ever shows him anything. The Mayor says in other towns, officials are too busy lining their own pockets to do their jobs well, set a good example and take care of visitors. Khlestakov talks about how much he enjoyed his lunch, which conversation reveals was served in the hospital and which leads the Warden of Charities to talk about how things have improved immensely in all the charitable institutions since he took charge. This in turn leads the Mayor to talk about how difficult his job is, how many things he's responsible for improving, and how that improvement is its own reward, saying he doesn't care...