Sumnjivo lice / Pokojnik

In the first period of his dramatic work, Nušić was influenced by the Russian writer Nikolai Vasiljevic Gogol. The writer himself talks about this in the preface to the comedy "Suspicious Face", which he originally called "nudity in two acts". Gogol's famous drama "The Auditor" inspired the writer of "Suspicious Face", but he connected the dramatic plot with our circumstances and nature. He does not criticize the bureaucratic apparatus of Serbia at the time with the same ferocity and sharpness as Radoje Domanović does in his satires, but still strongly enough to portray Obrenović's government in the right light.

The comedy "Deceased" is the last satirical comedy written by Nušić at the age of 70. And in it he strongly condemns the society in which hypocrisy, immorality and adultery reign.

The comedy wants to show that an individual, Pavle Marić, has no chance to fight against the authorities and capital. It is easier to prove to society that a living man is dead, than Paul succeeds in proving that he is alive.

The comedy is divided into a prelude and three acts, and the time of the action is indefinite.

The characters are, again, metaphors for society and corrupt government, but unlike the comedy Suspicious Face, here the characters are representatives of a society in which power is held by only a few educated people, but people with dubious morals. Along with the main character Pavlo Marić, there are characters of his wife Rina, friends Novaković, Spasoj, Ljubomir and other civil servants. The comedy ends in defeat, the main character fails to take revenge for the injustice done and leaves defeated.