"The Captain's Daughter" is a historical work. And history, as you know, can be addressed in different ways.
It can be assumed that only costumes, technical means, fashion, interior and objects change in history, while the psychology of people remains unchanged. This is what Lion Feuchtwanger thought (Fig. 2), and in his historical novels, which take place either at the beginning of the Christian era or in the 18th century, he wrote about his contemporaries.
Rice. 2. Lion Feuchtwanger ()
You can go into history, as in emigration. The present time is so boring and bad that turning to history becomes a kind of outlet, an attempt to take a breath of fresh air. Perhaps this largely explains Lermontov's "Song about Tsar Ivan Vasilyevich" (Fig. 3). Remember the famous lines from Borodin:
Yes, there were people in our time.
Once people were strong, brave, bright. Now "it's sad to look at our generation."
Rice. 3. M.Yu. Lermontov ()
There is a completely conscious desire to find parallels in the past with the present. In 30-40 years. In the twentieth century, in Soviet literature and in Soviet cinema, an appeal to the time of Ivan the Terrible and Peter I was extremely popular. It is clear that this appeal contained (not openly expressed, but caught) an order to justify Stalin's despotism, Stalin's terror. In this sense, the appeal to Ivan IV and Peter I was completely transparent.
The Captain's Daughter was published in the 4th volume of the Sovremennik magazine for 1836. See what the first publication of Pushkin's novel looked like (Fig. 4).
Rice. 4. The first publication of "The Captain's Daughter" ()
“You must have heard about the indignations of Novgorod and old Rus'. Horror. More than a hundred generals, colonels and officers were slaughtered in Novgorod settlements with all the subtleties of malice. The rebels flogged them, beat them on the cheeks, mocked them, plundered their houses, raped their wives. Fifteen healers killed. He escaped alone with the help of the sick lying in the infirmary. Having killed all the chiefs, the rebels chose others for themselves.
Rice. 5. P.A. Vyazemsky ()
This is just one single private manifestation of Pushkin's interest in the people and in the popular revolt, which generally distinguishes the 30s. our first poet.
Back in 1825, Pushkin was interested in Stepan Razin. In the early 30s. Pushkin receives permission to work in the archives. February 17, 1832 M.M. Speransky sent Pushkin a gift from Nicholas I - "The Complete Collection of the Laws of the Russian Empire". In the 20th volume of this collection, the verdict on the death penalty for the traitor-rebel and impostor Pugachev and his accomplices was reprinted with the addition of an announcement about the forgiven criminal.
Among the names of active participants in the disturbances was the name of Mikhail Shvanvich. In the final version of the story, this historical character turned into Shvabrin. Initially, Pushkin was interested in the figure of a nobleman who goes over to the side of the insurgent peasants. Initially, it was supposed to be a character similar to Dubrovsky's. But the more Pushkin knew about this (and in 1833 Pushkin had already familiarized himself with the materials on the secret expedition of the military collegium), the clearer it became to him that this plan could not be realized. Look at the quote from Pushkin's remarks about the rebellion, written for Nicholas I (Fig. 6):
“All the black people were for Pugachev. Only the nobility was openly on the side of the government. Their benefits were too opposite."
Rice. 6. Nicholas I ()
A nobleman could go over to the side of the insurgent, rebellious peasantry only as Shvabrin - a traitor, a traitor, a man without honor. Such a major change in the idea of the novel occurred in the course of work. Moreover, in the course of work on The Captain's Daughter, Pushkin writes Dubrovsky, The History of the Pugachevsky Rebellion, prints it (with the help of Emperor Nicholas I). And only in 1836 the volume of Sovremennik was published already with a work of art - with The Captain's Daughter.
A rough introduction to the novel, written in 1833, looks like this:
“My dear friend Petrusha, I often told you some incidents of my life and noticed that you always listened to me with attention, despite the fact that it happened to me, perhaps for the hundredth time, to retell one thing. Some questions I never answered you, promising to satisfy your curiosity in time. But I did not dare to fulfill my promise. I begin my notes for you, or rather a sincere confession, with the full assurance that my confessions will serve your benefit. Of course, your father did not cause me such grief as your parents suffered from you. He always behaved decently and good-naturedly. And it would be better if you were like him.
Further it is said that Petrusha is like his grandfather, not very obedient and not very good-natured in his youth. But that's not what matters. And not even that this introduction largely coincides with the introduction to the published notes of Alexander Ilyich Bibikov, one of the commanders-in-chief of the troops that pacified the Pugachev rebellion. Here, the same thing is important for Pushkin as in the 1835 poem “I visited again” - the presence of a connection between three generations. As in a poem: here he is in the possessions of his grandfather; here he is; and the poem ends with a reference to the grandchildren:
“... I will not see your mighty late age,
When you outgrow my pets
And you will block their noisy head.
But let my grandson…”
This connection between generations, something that Lermontov was clearly deprived of, is extremely important for Pushkin. That's why the father is so important. In fact, this is where the novel begins:
“Who is his father? - asked in the epigraph - My father Andrei Petrovich Grinev ".
At the end of 1820s. Pushkin refers to the figure of Peter. The question of who can show Russia the way, who can signify the right move of the country, for Pushkin, especially after the defeat of the Decembrists, was extremely relevant. And Peter is a hero who embodies not his own will (the willful heroes Mazepa and Karl are forgotten by history), but an objective will, the will of history.
In The Captain's Daughter, Pushkin chooses a milestone, a turning point. This is a peasant uprising, the Pugachev rebellion (Fig. 8). This is a problem of the people and the nobility, their relations. Pushkin shows two worlds, two ways. Everyone has their own truth. The nobility has its own truth, Catherine, the legitimate ruler, has her own truth. And there is, as Yuri Mikhailovich Lotman wrote in his wonderful article, the peasant tsar and the rebel peasants have their own truth. These two worlds, each of which has its own poetry, its own law, its own right, are at enmity. This is very important for Pushkin, because the "History of the Pugachev Rebellion" (and this is precisely the historical research that Pushkin was doing in parallel with work on the "Captain's Daughter") became a warning to the tsar, to the nobles: the people are a formidable force, and God forbid again a civil war, a war between the two main classes of Russia.
Rice. 8. Pugachev rebellion ()
The English wizard, sorcerer (as he was called) Walter Scott (Fig. 9) gained pan-European fame during his lifetime with his historical novels.
Rice. 9. Walter Scott ()
The first trace, influence or careful reading of Walter Scott is Pushkin's unfinished novel Peter the Great's Arap, where a historical figure is shown in private life.
For a historical novel by Walter Scott, it is important that fictitious people are in the foreground, and historical ones are in the background. From the very beginning, it is important to emphasize that Walter Scott and Pushkin have a fundamentally different interest or method.
Walter Scott is extremely fond of descriptions: castles, costumes, dishes - all the details of a bygone era. Moreover, he likes to give such a small historical sketch at the beginning of the novel or in the middle: what was happening at that time in Scotland, in England (religious wars, rivalry between kings, etc.). Pushkin practically does not have this. For example, the 14th chapter "Judgment":
“Then they took me to prison and left me alone in a cramped and dark kennel, with bare walls and a window blocked by an iron grate.”
Tolstoy, after reading The Captain's Daughter, will say:
"Take Pushkin Goals Somehow."
Compared with the interest in details (Tolstoy believed that contemporary literature is distinguished by an interest in details), Pushkin's stories are really barren. It is always an action, not a description. Very few epithets, very few landscapes, interiors:
"I entered a fairly large hall."
One can imagine how another writer would describe this courtroom.
Against this background, exceptions are always very noticeable:
“I entered a clean room, decorated in the old fashioned way. In the corner stood a cupboard with dishes, on the wall hung an officer's diploma behind a framed glass. Around him were lubok pictures depicting the capture of Kosterin and Ochakov. So is the choice of the bride and the burial of the cat.”
This is a quote from Chapter III. Both the pictures and the plots of these pictures are very important here. All this has already become the subject of separate works and separate studies.
Consider one more example of a frankly unused occasion for descriptions. Do you remember that Masha Mironova stops at the last station before St. Petersburg, Sofia station (in fact, even at that time, in 1774, this postal station did not exist). And the wife of the stationmaster tells Masha everything about Catherine: at what time did the empress usually wake up; ate coffee; strolled; what nobles were at that time with her; that she deigned to speak yesterday at her table; who received in the evening. In a word, Anna Vlasovna's conversation was worth several pages of historical notes and would be precious for posterity. But Pushkin deliberately does not write them.
In the novels of Walter Scott there are some features that, it would seem, completely coincide with Pushkin's moves, techniques in The Captain's Daughter. For example, in "Ivanhoe" the Black Knight (unknown, unrecognized) turns out to be King Richard the Lionheart. And in The Captain's Daughter, both Pugachev and Ekaterina appear at first unrecognized. Just as in Walter Scott's Quentin Dorward, the humble citizen turns out to be King Louis. And in the novel "Rob Roy" and in the novel "Waverley" the old resolute fathers of the heroes act, reminiscent of Andrei Petrovich Grinev.
The novel "Rob Roy" is a note received from a third party. The basis of The Captain's Daughter is Grinev's notes, handed over by one of his grandsons to the publisher, since the publisher is interested in the era described in these notes.
In the second chapter of the novel "Waverley", the main character Edward, promoted to officer, says goodbye to his family and goes to the regiment. Uncle's parting words are clearly close to the words of old Grinev (i.e., to the epigraph of the entire novel):
As far as duty and honor permit, avoiding danger, they warn against friendship with gamblers and libertines.
In the eleventh chapter, the hostess intervenes in a quarrel between young people. It looks like this:
“How by your grace you kill each other,” she exclaimed, boldly rushing between opponents and deftly covering their weapons with her plaid, “and blacken the reputation of a good widow when there are enough free places in the country for a duel.”
Remember how Vasilisa Yegorovna orders the swords to be taken away from Shvabrin and Grinev and locked in a closet.
These are far from all the coincidences and echoes of the Pushkin novel and the novels of Walter Scott. There were even articles called "Pushkin's Plagiarisms", "Where Pushkin Got His Own". The meaning of such a comparison is that the genius takes its toll where it sees. It's not about the details, it's not about the details. It's about the architecture, how it's put together, how it works. To see the general plan when there is nothing accidental.
Pushkin destroyed almost all drafts of The Captain's Daughter. Nevertheless, we can see some options from the first publication, to see how Pushkin works on the text, how he removes what at first seems to him, obviously, successful, how he enters what he had not seen before. Then we will understand that it is not a matter of intersections, not of roll calls. These roll calls are important, as they are signals: remember how Walter Scott has it in this novel, but it will be different for me.
The second most important quality in The Captain's Daughter is hidden in the very text of this novel: Grinev talks about his family notes. This is a family chronicle.
Initially, Pyotr Andreevich Grinev addressed his grandson Petrusha. The "Captain's Daughter" was preceded by an introduction, where Petrusha Grinev, who had already grown old, told his grandson how useful it was to read his confession - his notes. Pushkin is not interested in historical descriptions, but in historical characters. The siege of Orenburg is mentioned, witnessed by Grinev (he defended, defended Orenburg), which belongs to history, and not to family notes.
The History of the Pugachev Rebellion was published in 1835 and consisted of two parts. The first is text with notes. The second part is the documentary materials used by Pushkin and which he decided to publish in his research.
From the point of view of the completeness of the use of the material, modern historians consider Pushkin's work irreproachable. Pushkin traveled to the Orenburg province, to those places that were captured by the Pugachev rebellion. A question arises, which is still being discussed, disputed, on which there is no consensus and, probably, never will be: what is Pushkin's attitude to what he depicted in the "History of the Pugachev Rebellion"? This is very convincingly written in the book by Georgy Alexandrovich Lesskis (Fig. 10), which is called "Pushkin's Way to Literature" (1993). Lessis writes:
“How can we understand the position of the author? Pushkin avoided any kind of direct judgments. First of all - the vocabulary to which he resorts, describing this or that phenomenon. It turns out that when Pushkin talks about government troops, he uses the wordsdetachment, battalion, Column. When he talks about Pugachev's troops, he uses words likegang, crowd. He calls Pugachev either by his last name, orCossack, Don Cossack. From himself, he always calls himimpostor. APeterIIIorsovereignonly in quotes.
Lesskis goes on to say that for the second time Pushkin refers to the theme of the Time of Troubles - unrest(for the first time - in "Boris Godunov"). And in Russian history, Georgy Alexandrovich believes, despotism and anarchy constantly alternate. Their anarchy again grows despotism, which, with the growth of contradictions between the ruler and the people, ends, turns, breaks off with turmoil, anarchy, and reappears.
Rice. 10. G.A. Lesskis () The phrase from the letter of Alexander Ilyich Bibikov to Denis Ivanovich Fonvizin is very important:
“Pugachev is not important. What matters is the general indignation.”
They understood that it was not about Pugachev himself. Pushkin, even in The History of the Pugachev Rebellion, says:
"Only the leader was missing - the leader was found."
That is, Pugachev does not mean anything by himself, he is needed only as a name in order for this already overdue indignation to take place. Speaking of Pugachev, Pushkin most often uses the word the villain. Pushkin himself never calls the Pugachev uprising an uprising - a revolt, a rebellion, an indignation. It's very interesting how he uses the word treason. The Cossacks who took part in the rebellion are all traitors, because they were supposed to serve the empress, but Pushkin speaks of treason only in relation to the nobles who went over to the side of the rebels.
And in The Captain's Daughter,- continues Georgy Alexandrovich, - Pushkin uses the same words (gang, rebellion, rebellion, rebels, crowd) as in the History of the Pugachev rebellion. The only thing is that Pugachev is written differently.
Quote from Georgy Aleksandrovich Lesskis:
"Pugachev in The Captain's Daughter is not a real person, but an artistic image of a Russian robber."
There is another interesting passage from the final chapters of The Captain's Daughter. Grinev says:
“I will not describe our campaign and the end of the war. I'll say it briefly."
This rejection of the descriptive part is peculiar to Pushkin's prose and only to it. You won't find anything like it in any of his contemporaries.
Pushkin is extremely interested in the role of personality in history. Even in Boris Godunov, contemporaries were surprised to note that the title character Boris appears in only nine scenes out of twenty-three. His antagonist, False Dmitry, and even less so. The question arises: who is the main character? In the same way, in The Captain's Daughter, Pushkin, depicting the Pugachev rebellion, bringing Pugachev to the fore, and in the last chapter Catherine, focuses primarily on the inner world of Petrusha Grinev and his relationship with Masha Mironova.
It turns out that history is not created by leaders and kings, as it was commonly thought, but we are ordinary participants, people living private lives.
“When Pushkin started working on The Captain's Daughter, he was interested in such a plot: a nobleman becomes a participant, and sometimes even the leader of a gang of robbers, a popular revolt. This plot was at "Dubrovsky". But the deeper Pushkin dealt with his topic, the more he got acquainted with archival materials, the more he questioned the participants, survivors, witnesses of the events of 60 years ago, the clearer it became to him that the relationship between the nobles and the people could not be different. They were hostile. Pushkin shows the atrocities on both sides: the atrocities of the government troops and the atrocities of the Pugachevites.
There is an extremely important point here. It turns out that if you act formally, according to social logic, according to the logic of class, according to the logic of war, then Pugachev (Fig. 11) should have hanged Grinev, as his assistant Beloborodov advises:
“He doesn’t recognize you as a sovereign, he doesn’t ask you for help. Better yet, order them to take him to the office and light the fire. He must have been sent to us."
Rice. 11. Emelyan Pugachev ()
Pugachev is not acting for any formal benefit. He is able to be merciful, he saves Masha Mironova and lets her and Grinev go home. The same with Ekaterina (Fig. 12): formally, Grinev is a criminal. He must be punished. Ekaterina listens to Masha Mironova (by the way, Masha comes to ask not for justice, but for mercy) and forgives.
Rice. 12. Catherine II ()
That is, there is a cruel logic of social, social, class relations - the logic of war. And there is something that is above this logic. First of all, it is mercy.
Look at the quote by Yu.M. Lotman (Fig. 13):
“For Pushkin in The Captain's Daughter, the right path is not to move from the camp of modernity to another, but to rise above the cruel century, while retaining humanity, human dignity and respect for the living life of other people. This is the true path to the people for him.
Rice. 13. Yu.M. Lotman ()
The problem of honor is already visible in the epigraph to the whole novel:
"Keep honor from a young age."
The whole novel is the formation of Grinev, this is an endless chain of trials in which Grinev remains true to honor.
Bibliography
- Korovina V.Ya. etc. Literature. 8th grade. Textbook in 2 hours - 8th ed. - M.: Education, 2009.
- Merkin G.S. Literature. 8th grade. Tutorial in 2 parts. - 9th ed. - M.: 2013.
- Kritarova Zh.N. Analysis of works of Russian literature. 8th grade. - 2nd ed., corrected. - M.: 2014.
- lit-helper.com().
- Pushkin.niv.ru ().
- Hrono.ru ().
Homework
- Name the historical works of A.S. Pushkin. What is the role of history in the story "The Captain's Daughter"?
- Draw parallels between the work of Pushkin and the novels of Walter Scott. What do the works of these writers have in common, and how do they radically differ?
- How does Pushkin raise the problem of humanity in The Captain's Daughter?
Test
in literature (test)
Option 1.
Level 1 Tasks that allow you to check how much a student can repeat new information.
1. The genre of the work "The Captain's Daughter".
A. Roman
B. Historical chronicle
B. Historical tale
2. In what century does the story "The Captain's Daughter" take place?
A. In the 17th century B. In the 16th century
B. In the 18th century D. In the early 19th century
3. Mark the points at which the action of the story "The Captain's Daughter" takes place.
A. St. Petersburg G. Belogorsk fortress
B. Tatishchevaya fortress D. Orenburg
V. Kazan E. Simbirsk
4. The name of which king did Emelyan Pugachev appropriate for himself?
A. PeterIB. PeterIIIV. PavelIG. IvanIV
5. The work "The Captain's Daughter" is written in the form.
A. Peter Grinev's story to the author
B. Memoirs of Peter Grinev
B. Marya Ivanovna's story
6. Match the names and patronymics so that you get the right combinations for the characters
works: Vasilisa Andreevich
Maria Kuzmich
Ivan Egorovna
Peter Ivanovna
Alexey Ignatievich
Ivanovich
7. Name the key moments of the story. A. Grinev's childhood
B. Buran
B. The execution of Captain Mironov and the rescue of Grinev
D. Conversations between Grinev and Savelich D. Meeting of Masha and the Empress
8. Which of the heroes of the work amazes the reader with mysterious strength, sharpness, poetry of struggle and courage.
A. Captain Mironov B. Pugachev V. Grinev
9. The images of Grinev and Shvabrin are introduced into the narrative according to the principle:
A. Antitheses
B. Mappings
B. Complements
10. “Short stature, with a swarthy face and remarkably ugly, but extremely lively” is a portrait:
A. Zurina B. Pugacheva V. Shvabrina
11. Which chapter is preceded by an epigraph: “At that time, the lion was full, even though he was ferocious from his birth. “Why did you deign to come to my den?” he asked kindly.
A. "Court" B. "Arrest" C. "Attack" D. "Uninvited guest" E. "Rebellious settlement"
12. Note how the epigraphs and the content of the chapters in the story correlate. A. The epigraph precedes the appearance of the hero
B. The epigraph reveals the content of the chapter C. The epigraph serves to reveal the character of the hero and his fate
1. What is the main problem of the story "The Captain's Daughter". A. The problem of love B. The problem of honor, duty, mercy C. The problem of the role of the people in the development of society D. The problem of comparing tribal and service nobility.
2. Correlate the qualities of Pugachev's personality with the episodes in which they appear.
1) Mind, sharpness A) Grinev's release
2) Breadth of nature B) Buran
3) Feeling of gratitude C) Pugachev's trial scene
4) Courage, courage D) The release of Masha Mironova
5) Naivety, weakness for flattery D) Tale of an old Kalmyk woman
6) Love of freedom E) Capture of the Belogorsk fortress
7) Cruelty G) The scene of Grinev's conversation with Pugachev in
rebellious settlement
3. Mark the storyline in which the theme of mercy can be traced.
A. Ekaterina - Masha Mironova
B. Shvabrin - Grinev
V. Pugachev - Grinev
4. He plays a special role in revealing the image of Pugachev. A. Information received by Captain Mironov about the rebel B. Folklore (songs, fairy tales, proverbs and sayings) C. Scene at the military council
5. The tale told by Pugachev to Grinev is :
A. Irony B. Allegory C. Satire
6. How is Savelich shown in the work? A. Downtrodden, mute serfs B. Obedient, slavishly devoted to their masters C. Deep, endowed with self-esteem D. Loving, caring assistant and adviser.7.
7. Mark the correct judgment about the role of insert elements. A. They help to reveal the characters of the characters
B. They predetermine the fate of heroes
B. They make the story interesting
D. They stylize the story as an 18th century document
Test
in literature (test)
Option 2.
Level 1. Tasks that allow you to check how much a student can repeat new information.
1. Mark the correct judgment.
A. "Captain's daughter" - a historical story
B. "The Captain's Daughter" - memoir
V. "Captain's daughter" - a historical story, stylized by the author as a memoir
2. Mark in what period the action of the story "The Captain's Daughter" takes place?
A. At the beginning of the 18th century B. In the middle of the 19th century
B. In the middle of the 18th century D. At the end of the 18th century
3. What is the epigraph to the work "The Captain's Daughter".
A. "We were shooting"
B. "Take care of honor from a young age"
V. "An uninvited guest is worse than a Tatar"
4. Mark the main scene in the story "The Captain's Daughter".
A. St. Petersburg
B. Berdskaya Sloboda
To the Belogorsk fortress
G. Simbirsk province
D. Orenburg province
5. Note on whose behalf the narration is being conducted.
B. Petr Andreevich Grinev G. Several characters
6. Mark the historical persons mentioned in the story.
A. Pugachev V. Prince Golitsyn D. EkaterinaI
B. Count Minich G. Grigory Orlov E. EkaterinaII
7. Mark the military rank of Peter Grinev.
A. Cornet B. Ensign
B. Lieutenant G. Sergeant
8. In the work closest to the people in terms of their property status
cultural level, views on life, on people.
A. Petr Grinev's family
B. Captain Mironov's family
V. Shvabrin
9. Indicate the title of the chapter in which Peter Grinev meets Pugachev. A) "Sergeant of the Guard" C) "Pugachevshchina" B) "Uninvited Guest" D) "Counselor"
10. Who owns the statement "God forbid to see a Russian rebellion, senseless and merciless ..."? A) To the author B) Savelich B) EkaterinaIID) Petr Grinev
11. Whose portrait is this? “She was in a white morning dress, a night cap and a shower jacket. She seemed to be forty years old. Her face, full and ruddy, expressed importance and calmness, and blue eyes and a slight smile had an inexplicable charm ... "
A. Masha Mironova B. Vasilisa Egorovna V. EkaterinaII G. Anna Vlasyevna
12 . “His face had an expression rather pleasant, but roguish. Hair cut in circle » - this is the portrait:
A. Grineva B. Pugacheva V. Shvabrina
Level 2. Tasks that allow you to check how much the student understood and learned to apply new knowledge.
1. What is the meaning of the name "The Captain's Daughter"? Masha Mironova - this is A. The only female character in the work B. The ideological and artistic center of the work C. Beloved of Peter Grinev D. The daughter of a deceased Russian officer
2. Correlate the motives of behavior with the characters in their relationship with Pugachev
A. Grinev B. Shvabrin
1) cowardice, 2) fear, 3) honesty, 4) deceit, 5) contempt, 6) respect, 7) honor
3. Mark the storyline in which the theme of honor and dignity can be traced.
A. Pugachev - Grinev
B. Grinev - Shvabrin
V. Grinev - Savelich
4. Mark the correct interpretation of the meaning of Captain Mironov's phrase: “Well, that's enough! Go, go home; Yes, if you have time, put a sundress on Masha.
A. Yes, if you have time, put a sundress on Masha.
B. Yes, if you have time, put on Masha all the best.
V. Yes, if you have time, dress Masha as a peasant woman.
5. Match the elements of the composition and the elements of the development of a love story.
A) exposure
1) the scene of the duel with Shvabrin, letter from the father
B) tie
2) the release of Grinev, marriage to Masha
B) climax
3) Petrusha's childhood in the family estate
D) denouement
4) Grinev's acquaintance with the main character of the novel
6. What features of the Russian national character are shown by A.S. Pushkin in the image of Pugachev? A. Mind, sharpness C. Daring, breadth of nature B. Laziness, inactivity D. Memory for kindness, gratitude
7. For what purpose is Petrusha's dream introduced into the novel? A. Characterizes Grinev B. Foreshadows the development of relations between two characters
B. Characterizes Pugachev G. Emphasizes the bloodthirstiness of Pugachev.
Right answers
Option 1.
Level 1
1. Correct answer:IN Score - 1 point
2 . Correct answer:B Score - 1 point
3. Correct answers:A, C, D, D, E Score - 1 point
4. Correct answer:B Score - 1 point
5. Correct answer: B Score - 1 point
6. Correct ratios: Score - 1 point
Vasilisa Egorovna
Maria Ivanovna
Ivan Ivanovich
Ivan Kuzmich
Ivan Ignatievich
Pyotr Andreevich
Alexey Ivanovich
7. Correct answers: B, C, D Score - 1 point
8. Correct answer: B Score - 1 point
9. Correct answer: A Score - 1 point
10. Correct answer: IN Score - 1 point
11. Correct answer: D Score - 1 point
12. Correct answer: B Score - 1 point
Level 2
1. Correct answer: B Score - 2 points
2. Correct ratios: Score - 3 points
1. B (for 6-7 correct combinations)
2. D Score - 2 points
3. A (for 4-5 correct combinations)
4. E Score - 1 point
5. F (for 2-3 correct combinations)
6. D
7. In
3. Correct answers: A, B Score - 2 points 4. Correct answer: B Score - 2 points 5. Correct answer: B Score - 2 points 6. Correct answer: G Score - 2 points 7. Correct answers: A, B Score - 2 points 8. It was important for Pushkin to reveal the character of Pugachev as an artistic image, which required a different approach to historical events. Correct answer to this question evaluated from 1 to 3 points
Option 2.
Level 1 1. Correct answer: IN Score - 1 point 2 . Correct answer: G Score - 1 point3. Correct answer: B Score - 1 point 4. Correct answer: IN Score - 1 point 5. Correct answer: B Score - 1 point 6. Correct answers: A, B, C, E Score - 1 point 7. Correct answer: IN Score - 1 point
8. Correct answer: B Score - 1 point
9. Correct answer: G Score - 1 point
10. Correct answer: G Score - 1 point
11. Correct answer: IN Score - 1 point
12. Correct answer: B Score - 1 point
Level 2
1. Correct answer: B Score - 1 point 2. Correct ratios: Score - 2 points
A: 3, 6, 7
B: 1, 2, 4, 5
3. Correct answers: A, B Score - 2 points 4. Correct answer: IN Score - 2 points 5. Correct ratios: Score - 4 points
1. B (1 point for each correct combination)
2. G
3. A
4. B 6. Correct answers: A, B, G Score - 2 points
7. Correct answer: B Score - 2 points 8. Genres of oral folk art used in the story of A.S. Pushkin: a fairy tale, songs, proverbs and sayings. The tale demonstrates Pugachev's mind, love of freedom, expresses the author's position. The songs recreate the historical setting. Sayings and proverbs serve to characterize the characters. 2»)
15 to 20 points
The topic has been satisfactorily3 »)
21 to 26 points
The topic is well understood4 »)
27 to 30 points
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"The Captain's Daughter" is a historical work. And history, as you know, can be addressed in different ways.
It can be assumed that only costumes, technical means, fashion, interior and objects change in history, while the psychology of people remains unchanged. This is what Lion Feuchtwanger thought (Fig. 2), and in his historical novels, which take place either at the beginning of the Christian era or in the 18th century, he wrote about his contemporaries.
Rice. 2. Lion Feuchtwanger ()
You can go into history, as in emigration. The present time is so boring and bad that turning to history becomes a kind of outlet, an attempt to take a breath of fresh air. Perhaps this largely explains Lermontov's "Song about Tsar Ivan Vasilyevich" (Fig. 3). Remember the famous lines from Borodin:
Yes, there were people in our time.
Once people were strong, brave, bright. Now "it's sad to look at our generation."
Rice. 3. M.Yu. Lermontov ()
There is a completely conscious desire to find parallels in the past with the present. In 30-40 years. In the twentieth century, in Soviet literature and in Soviet cinema, an appeal to the time of Ivan the Terrible and Peter I was extremely popular. It is clear that this appeal contained (not openly expressed, but caught) an order to justify Stalin's despotism, Stalin's terror. In this sense, the appeal to Ivan IV and Peter I was completely transparent.
The Captain's Daughter was published in the 4th volume of the Sovremennik magazine for 1836. See what the first publication of Pushkin's novel looked like (Fig. 4).
Rice. 4. The first publication of "The Captain's Daughter" ()
“You must have heard about the indignations of Novgorod and old Rus'. Horror. More than a hundred generals, colonels and officers were slaughtered in Novgorod settlements with all the subtleties of malice. The rebels flogged them, beat them on the cheeks, mocked them, plundered their houses, raped their wives. Fifteen healers killed. He escaped alone with the help of the sick lying in the infirmary. Having killed all the chiefs, the rebels chose others for themselves.
Rice. 5. P.A. Vyazemsky ()
This is just one single private manifestation of Pushkin's interest in the people and in the popular revolt, which generally distinguishes the 30s. our first poet.
Back in 1825, Pushkin was interested in Stepan Razin. In the early 30s. Pushkin receives permission to work in the archives. February 17, 1832 M.M. Speransky sent Pushkin a gift from Nicholas I - "The Complete Collection of the Laws of the Russian Empire". In the 20th volume of this collection, the verdict on the death penalty for the traitor-rebel and impostor Pugachev and his accomplices was reprinted with the addition of an announcement about the forgiven criminal.
Among the names of active participants in the disturbances was the name of Mikhail Shvanvich. In the final version of the story, this historical character turned into Shvabrin. Initially, Pushkin was interested in the figure of a nobleman who goes over to the side of the insurgent peasants. Initially, it was supposed to be a character similar to Dubrovsky's. But the more Pushkin knew about this (and in 1833 Pushkin had already familiarized himself with the materials on the secret expedition of the military collegium), the clearer it became to him that this plan could not be realized. Look at the quote from Pushkin's remarks about the rebellion, written for Nicholas I (Fig. 6):
“All the black people were for Pugachev. Only the nobility was openly on the side of the government. Their benefits were too opposite."
Rice. 6. Nicholas I ()
A nobleman could go over to the side of the insurgent, rebellious peasantry only as Shvabrin - a traitor, a traitor, a man without honor. Such a major change in the idea of the novel occurred in the course of work. Moreover, in the course of work on The Captain's Daughter, Pushkin writes Dubrovsky, The History of the Pugachevsky Rebellion, prints it (with the help of Emperor Nicholas I). And only in 1836 the volume of Sovremennik was published already with a work of art - with The Captain's Daughter.
A rough introduction to the novel, written in 1833, looks like this:
“My dear friend Petrusha, I often told you some incidents of my life and noticed that you always listened to me with attention, despite the fact that it happened to me, perhaps for the hundredth time, to retell one thing. Some questions I never answered you, promising to satisfy your curiosity in time. But I did not dare to fulfill my promise. I begin my notes for you, or rather a sincere confession, with the full assurance that my confessions will serve your benefit. Of course, your father did not cause me such grief as your parents suffered from you. He always behaved decently and good-naturedly. And it would be better if you were like him.
Further it is said that Petrusha is like his grandfather, not very obedient and not very good-natured in his youth. But that's not what matters. And not even that this introduction largely coincides with the introduction to the published notes of Alexander Ilyich Bibikov, one of the commanders-in-chief of the troops that pacified the Pugachev rebellion. Here, the same thing is important for Pushkin as in the 1835 poem “I visited again” - the presence of a connection between three generations. As in a poem: here he is in the possessions of his grandfather; here he is; and the poem ends with a reference to the grandchildren:
“... I will not see your mighty late age,
When you outgrow my pets
And you will block their noisy head.
But let my grandson…”
This connection between generations, something that Lermontov was clearly deprived of, is extremely important for Pushkin. That's why the father is so important. In fact, this is where the novel begins:
“Who is his father? - asked in the epigraph - My father Andrei Petrovich Grinev ".
At the end of 1820s. Pushkin refers to the figure of Peter. The question of who can show Russia the way, who can signify the right move of the country, for Pushkin, especially after the defeat of the Decembrists, was extremely relevant. And Peter is a hero who embodies not his own will (the willful heroes Mazepa and Karl are forgotten by history), but an objective will, the will of history.
In The Captain's Daughter, Pushkin chooses a milestone, a turning point. This is a peasant uprising, the Pugachev rebellion (Fig. 8). This is a problem of the people and the nobility, their relations. Pushkin shows two worlds, two ways. Everyone has their own truth. The nobility has its own truth, Catherine, the legitimate ruler, has her own truth. And there is, as Yuri Mikhailovich Lotman wrote in his wonderful article, the peasant tsar and the rebel peasants have their own truth. These two worlds, each of which has its own poetry, its own law, its own right, are at enmity. This is very important for Pushkin, because the "History of the Pugachev Rebellion" (and this is precisely the historical research that Pushkin was doing in parallel with work on the "Captain's Daughter") became a warning to the tsar, to the nobles: the people are a formidable force, and God forbid again a civil war, a war between the two main classes of Russia.
Rice. 8. Pugachev rebellion ()
The English wizard, sorcerer (as he was called) Walter Scott (Fig. 9) gained pan-European fame during his lifetime with his historical novels.
Rice. 9. Walter Scott ()
The first trace, influence or careful reading of Walter Scott is Pushkin's unfinished novel Peter the Great's Arap, where a historical figure is shown in private life.
For a historical novel by Walter Scott, it is important that fictitious people are in the foreground, and historical ones are in the background. From the very beginning, it is important to emphasize that Walter Scott and Pushkin have a fundamentally different interest or method.
Walter Scott is extremely fond of descriptions: castles, costumes, dishes - all the details of a bygone era. Moreover, he likes to give such a small historical sketch at the beginning of the novel or in the middle: what was happening at that time in Scotland, in England (religious wars, rivalry between kings, etc.). Pushkin practically does not have this. For example, the 14th chapter "Judgment":
“Then they took me to prison and left me alone in a cramped and dark kennel, with bare walls and a window blocked by an iron grate.”
Tolstoy, after reading The Captain's Daughter, will say:
"Take Pushkin Goals Somehow."
Compared with the interest in details (Tolstoy believed that contemporary literature is distinguished by an interest in details), Pushkin's stories are really barren. It is always an action, not a description. Very few epithets, very few landscapes, interiors:
"I entered a fairly large hall."
One can imagine how another writer would describe this courtroom.
Against this background, exceptions are always very noticeable:
“I entered a clean room, decorated in the old fashioned way. In the corner stood a cupboard with dishes, on the wall hung an officer's diploma behind a framed glass. Around him were lubok pictures depicting the capture of Kosterin and Ochakov. So is the choice of the bride and the burial of the cat.”
This is a quote from Chapter III. Both the pictures and the plots of these pictures are very important here. All this has already become the subject of separate works and separate studies.
Consider one more example of a frankly unused occasion for descriptions. Do you remember that Masha Mironova stops at the last station before St. Petersburg, Sofia station (in fact, even at that time, in 1774, this postal station did not exist). And the wife of the stationmaster tells Masha everything about Catherine: at what time did the empress usually wake up; ate coffee; strolled; what nobles were at that time with her; that she deigned to speak yesterday at her table; who received in the evening. In a word, Anna Vlasovna's conversation was worth several pages of historical notes and would be precious for posterity. But Pushkin deliberately does not write them.
In the novels of Walter Scott there are some features that, it would seem, completely coincide with Pushkin's moves, techniques in The Captain's Daughter. For example, in "Ivanhoe" the Black Knight (unknown, unrecognized) turns out to be King Richard the Lionheart. And in The Captain's Daughter, both Pugachev and Ekaterina appear at first unrecognized. Just as in Walter Scott's Quentin Dorward, the humble citizen turns out to be King Louis. And in the novel "Rob Roy" and in the novel "Waverley" the old resolute fathers of the heroes act, reminiscent of Andrei Petrovich Grinev.
The novel "Rob Roy" is a note received from a third party. The basis of The Captain's Daughter is Grinev's notes, handed over by one of his grandsons to the publisher, since the publisher is interested in the era described in these notes.
In the second chapter of the novel "Waverley", the main character Edward, promoted to officer, says goodbye to his family and goes to the regiment. Uncle's parting words are clearly close to the words of old Grinev (i.e., to the epigraph of the entire novel):
As far as duty and honor permit, avoiding danger, they warn against friendship with gamblers and libertines.
In the eleventh chapter, the hostess intervenes in a quarrel between young people. It looks like this:
“How by your grace you kill each other,” she exclaimed, boldly rushing between opponents and deftly covering their weapons with her plaid, “and blacken the reputation of a good widow when there are enough free places in the country for a duel.”
Remember how Vasilisa Yegorovna orders the swords to be taken away from Shvabrin and Grinev and locked in a closet.
These are far from all the coincidences and echoes of the Pushkin novel and the novels of Walter Scott. There were even articles called "Pushkin's Plagiarisms", "Where Pushkin Got His Own". The meaning of such a comparison is that the genius takes its toll where it sees. It's not about the details, it's not about the details. It's about the architecture, how it's put together, how it works. To see the general plan when there is nothing accidental.
Pushkin destroyed almost all drafts of The Captain's Daughter. Nevertheless, we can see some options from the first publication, to see how Pushkin works on the text, how he removes what at first seems to him, obviously, successful, how he enters what he had not seen before. Then we will understand that it is not a matter of intersections, not of roll calls. These roll calls are important, as they are signals: remember how Walter Scott has it in this novel, but it will be different for me.
The second most important quality in The Captain's Daughter is hidden in the very text of this novel: Grinev talks about his family notes. This is a family chronicle.
Initially, Pyotr Andreevich Grinev addressed his grandson Petrusha. The "Captain's Daughter" was preceded by an introduction, where Petrusha Grinev, who had already grown old, told his grandson how useful it was to read his confession - his notes. Pushkin is not interested in historical descriptions, but in historical characters. The siege of Orenburg is mentioned, witnessed by Grinev (he defended, defended Orenburg), which belongs to history, and not to family notes.
The History of the Pugachev Rebellion was published in 1835 and consisted of two parts. The first is text with notes. The second part is the documentary materials used by Pushkin and which he decided to publish in his research.
From the point of view of the completeness of the use of the material, modern historians consider Pushkin's work irreproachable. Pushkin traveled to the Orenburg province, to those places that were captured by the Pugachev rebellion. A question arises, which is still being discussed, disputed, on which there is no consensus and, probably, never will be: what is Pushkin's attitude to what he depicted in the "History of the Pugachev Rebellion"? This is very convincingly written in the book by Georgy Alexandrovich Lesskis (Fig. 10), which is called "Pushkin's Way to Literature" (1993). Lessis writes:
“How can we understand the position of the author? Pushkin avoided any kind of direct judgments. First of all - the vocabulary to which he resorts, describing this or that phenomenon. It turns out that when Pushkin talks about government troops, he uses the wordsdetachment, battalion, Column. When he talks about Pugachev's troops, he uses words likegang, crowd. He calls Pugachev either by his last name, orCossack, Don Cossack. From himself, he always calls himimpostor. APeterIIIorsovereignonly in quotes.
Lesskis goes on to say that for the second time Pushkin refers to the theme of the Time of Troubles - unrest(for the first time - in "Boris Godunov"). And in Russian history, Georgy Alexandrovich believes, despotism and anarchy constantly alternate. Their anarchy again grows despotism, which, with the growth of contradictions between the ruler and the people, ends, turns, breaks off with turmoil, anarchy, and reappears.
Rice. 10. G.A. Lesskis () The phrase from the letter of Alexander Ilyich Bibikov to Denis Ivanovich Fonvizin is very important:
“Pugachev is not important. What matters is the general indignation.”
They understood that it was not about Pugachev himself. Pushkin, even in The History of the Pugachev Rebellion, says:
"Only the leader was missing - the leader was found."
That is, Pugachev does not mean anything by himself, he is needed only as a name in order for this already overdue indignation to take place. Speaking of Pugachev, Pushkin most often uses the word the villain. Pushkin himself never calls the Pugachev uprising an uprising - a revolt, a rebellion, an indignation. It's very interesting how he uses the word treason. The Cossacks who took part in the rebellion are all traitors, because they were supposed to serve the empress, but Pushkin speaks of treason only in relation to the nobles who went over to the side of the rebels.
And in The Captain's Daughter,- continues Georgy Alexandrovich, - Pushkin uses the same words (gang, rebellion, rebellion, rebels, crowd) as in the History of the Pugachev rebellion. The only thing is that Pugachev is written differently.
Quote from Georgy Aleksandrovich Lesskis:
"Pugachev in The Captain's Daughter is not a real person, but an artistic image of a Russian robber."
There is another interesting passage from the final chapters of The Captain's Daughter. Grinev says:
“I will not describe our campaign and the end of the war. I'll say it briefly."
This rejection of the descriptive part is peculiar to Pushkin's prose and only to it. You won't find anything like it in any of his contemporaries.
Pushkin is extremely interested in the role of personality in history. Even in Boris Godunov, contemporaries were surprised to note that the title character Boris appears in only nine scenes out of twenty-three. His antagonist, False Dmitry, and even less so. The question arises: who is the main character? In the same way, in The Captain's Daughter, Pushkin, depicting the Pugachev rebellion, bringing Pugachev to the fore, and in the last chapter Catherine, focuses primarily on the inner world of Petrusha Grinev and his relationship with Masha Mironova.
It turns out that history is not created by leaders and kings, as it was commonly thought, but we are ordinary participants, people living private lives.
“When Pushkin started working on The Captain's Daughter, he was interested in such a plot: a nobleman becomes a participant, and sometimes even the leader of a gang of robbers, a popular revolt. This plot was at "Dubrovsky". But the deeper Pushkin dealt with his topic, the more he got acquainted with archival materials, the more he questioned the participants, survivors, witnesses of the events of 60 years ago, the clearer it became to him that the relationship between the nobles and the people could not be different. They were hostile. Pushkin shows the atrocities on both sides: the atrocities of the government troops and the atrocities of the Pugachevites.
There is an extremely important point here. It turns out that if you act formally, according to social logic, according to the logic of class, according to the logic of war, then Pugachev (Fig. 11) should have hanged Grinev, as his assistant Beloborodov advises:
“He doesn’t recognize you as a sovereign, he doesn’t ask you for help. Better yet, order them to take him to the office and light the fire. He must have been sent to us."
Rice. 11. Emelyan Pugachev ()
Pugachev is not acting for any formal benefit. He is able to be merciful, he saves Masha Mironova and lets her and Grinev go home. The same with Ekaterina (Fig. 12): formally, Grinev is a criminal. He must be punished. Ekaterina listens to Masha Mironova (by the way, Masha comes to ask not for justice, but for mercy) and forgives.
Rice. 12. Catherine II ()
That is, there is a cruel logic of social, social, class relations - the logic of war. And there is something that is above this logic. First of all, it is mercy.
Look at the quote by Yu.M. Lotman (Fig. 13):
“For Pushkin in The Captain's Daughter, the right path is not to move from the camp of modernity to another, but to rise above the cruel century, while retaining humanity, human dignity and respect for the living life of other people. This is the true path to the people for him.
Rice. 13. Yu.M. Lotman ()
The problem of honor is already visible in the epigraph to the whole novel:
"Keep honor from a young age."
The whole novel is the formation of Grinev, this is an endless chain of trials in which Grinev remains true to honor.
Bibliography
- Korovina V.Ya. etc. Literature. 8th grade. Textbook in 2 hours - 8th ed. - M.: Education, 2009.
- Merkin G.S. Literature. 8th grade. Tutorial in 2 parts. - 9th ed. - M.: 2013.
- Kritarova Zh.N. Analysis of works of Russian literature. 8th grade. - 2nd ed., corrected. - M.: 2014.
- lit-helper.com().
- Pushkin.niv.ru ().
- Hrono.ru ().
Homework
- Name the historical works of A.S. Pushkin. What is the role of history in the story "The Captain's Daughter"?
- Draw parallels between the work of Pushkin and the novels of Walter Scott. What do the works of these writers have in common, and how do they radically differ?
- How does Pushkin raise the problem of humanity in The Captain's Daughter?
ESSAY
What eternal problems are raised by A.S. Pushkin
in the story "The Captain's Daughter"?
At the heart of the story "The Captain's Daughter" A.S. Pushkin lies the peasant uprising led by E. Pugachev - one of the main historical events of the XVIII century. But, since this is a work of art, the author can use not only the facts of history, he creates his own world, his heroes, his own history. And, of course, like any other writer, A.S. Pushkin puts a special meaning into his creation, reproduces eternal problems in it.
The story raises the issue of honor and duty. On the example of P. Grinev and A. Shvabrin, we see that young people look at these values differently. Pyotr Grinev throughout the story proves to us how important honor, duty and dignity are. He is an officer, so he cannot afford to sully his name, but at the same time, the young man is ready to disobey orders in order to fulfill his duty. Even P. Grinev considers gambling debt obligatory, therefore he gives away most of his money, which his parents gave him for the service. Shvabrin, on the other hand, neglects both his honor and his duty. He is ready for any deceit, revenge and toadying. He does not have a sense of duty. Shvabrin cannot defend his Motherland. He is guided only by his own benefit and revenge. The epigraph to the story is the proverb: "Take care of the dress again, and honor from youth." Thus, A.S. Pushkin from the very beginning draws the reader's attention to the importance of honor. In my opinion, duty and honor are values that should be a priority for every person, otherwise the principles of morality in society are undermined.
Another issue in this work is the problem of fidelity. It can be viewed from several sides, on the same heroes: P. Grinev and A. Shvabrin. Pyotr Grinev was always faithful to Masha Mironova and, in spite of everything, selflessly rushed to save her and was with her until the very end. But one should not forget about loyalty to one's Motherland. Pyotr Grinev opposed the rebels Pugachev like other officers of the Belogorsk fortress, but in order to save his beloved, he had to resort to cunning and negotiate with the rebel. Because of this, on a tip from A. Shvabrin, senior officers decided that Grinev had betrayed the Motherland, was in collusion with Pugachev. In fact, everything is not so, he tried with all his might to protect what was dear to him. And A. Shvabrin was easily able to betray his homeland and, having joined Pugachev, became the head of the Belogorsk fortress. He also reported on P. Grinev about treason, so that he would be arrested. Shvabrin does not have a drop of bright feelings in his soul, only lies move him. He even tries to get love. Forcibly, the young man wanted to marry Masha Mironov to himself, not paying attention to the desires of the girl. So, loyalty is another valuable quality of a person that can manifest itself in everything, and A. Shvabrin is not faithful to himself, or to others, or to love, or to the Motherland.
The problem of "fathers and children" is also relevant for the story. Petrusha Grinev was brought up by a strict father. The turning point in the upbringing of a boy is his growing up. The father, despite all his connections, thanks to which he could provide his son with a place in St. Petersburg, sends Petrusha to the Belogorsk fortress. And all this in order for the young man to feel all the hardships of a real service that could raise a man from a mischievous boy. Pyotr Grinev could not disobey his father, because he respected him very much and wanted to prove that he could achieve everything himself. Parents always worried about their son and, wishing him only the best, forbade him to marry Masha Mironova. However, Peter continues to do what he decided. He sends Masha, together with Savelich, to his home with a request to take in an orphan. Parents can't refuse him. But with all this, the girl still has to prove that she is worthy of Peter's love. Thus, there is a confrontation in the relationship between parents and children. But the family is an important part of the life of any person, these are people who will always help and support. Masha Mironova, having lost her parents, finds a new family.
And these are far from all the problems that A.S. Pushkin raises in the story "The Captain's Daughter". The same questions are raised in many works by other Russian classics. I believe that this work remains relevant even after so many years, because it reveals important life problems.
The Captain's Daughter is a historical novel, written in the form of a memoir, which tells about a peasant uprising led by the fugitive Cossack Yemelyan Pugachev, who pretended to be the miraculously saved Peter III. The novel occupies a special place in the work of A. S. Pushkin. The fact is that this topic was considered taboo for a long time, and historians practically did not deal with it. Pushkin showed great interest in the theme of the peasant uprising, but at first he was faced with an almost complete lack of materials. Then he himself goes to the Orenburg region, asks the surviving participants, spends a long time in the archives. In fact, Pushkin became the first historian to objectively reflect the events of this harsh era.
The problem of honor and duty The main problem of the story - the problem of honor and duty, as evidenced by the epigraph to the work - a Russian folk proverb: "Take care of honor from a young age." All characters show these qualities in different ways. So, Pyotr Grinev, in spite of everything, does not violate the oath given to the Empress, protects and patronizes Marya Ivanovna Mironova, who later became his wife. Shvabrin, on the contrary, at the first opportunity goes over to the side of Pugachev, not sharing his views and not wanting to delve into the problems of the people, into the reasons that prompted him to go to the uprising. The serf servant Savelyich is completely devoted to his young master and remembers the order of the old man Grinev to watch his son without taking his eyes off. Captain Mironov, Marya's father, commandant of the Belogorsk fortress, fights Pugachev to the last and honestly fulfills his duty.
Petr Grinev does not receive a good education in childhood, lives “undergrowth, chasing pigeons”. However, in the story he appears as an honest and noble person. Grinev refers to the advanced and best people precisely by his moral qualities, and not by education. He, despite all the difficulties and mistakes, fulfills the covenant of his father: he preserves honor from a young age. Although Pyotr Grinev more than once finds himself in the hands of Pugachev and accepts his mercy, he never violates the military oath, even when it may threaten his life, the hero never betrays himself and the people who depend on him. He remains in the service even when he frees Marya Ivanovna from captivity and can go home to see his parents. And if Grinev the father speaks of honor, first of all, as the honor of a nobleman and officer, then Grinev the son knows how to expand the concept of honor to its universal and civil meaning.
Shvabrin The complete contrast to Grinev in the work is Shvabrin, a secularly brilliant but superficially educated officer exiled to the Belogorsk fortress for “murder”, where he does not see a single “human face” except Grinev. No one loves him in the fortress. Masha Mironova, for whom he is wooing, refuses him. He tries to take revenge on her by telling Grinev stories about the girl. As soon as Pugachev appears in his fate, he goes over to the side of the rebels. He deeply despises the people, fears and hates Pugachev. Shvabrin remains true to himself to the last, forcing Marya Ivanovna to marry him. When he is exposed, he does everything to interfere with the happiness of Pyotr Andreevich and the poor girl, and later, having “repented” before the state, betrays Grinev, giving false evidence against him in court.
Uncle Savelich , Grinev's serf, assigned to watch over the "master's child". For him to look after and follow the young master everywhere is a duty and an obligation. He, no matter what happens, accompanies his master everywhere, protecting him from all kinds of misfortunes. Upon learning that Grinev lost a hundred rubles to Zurin, he sincerely worries that the old man Grinev can condemn him for his inattentive attitude towards his son. He considers it his duty to keep an eye on Peter. Savelich is angry with him for giving the hare sheepskin coat to the vagabond counselor, without even considering the opinion of the uncle. Whatever he does, his sincere devotion to his master is constantly felt.
Ivan Kuzmich Mironov , father of Marya Ivanovna, dies at the hands of Pugachev, while also showing a high understanding of honor and duty. Until the last minute, he remains faithful to the oath given to him, and even to the question, the answer to which decides his fate, he, “exhausted from the wound, gathered his last strength and answered in a firm voice:“ You are not my sovereign, you are a thief and an impostor, listen, you !”
So, the problem of honor and duty is central in the historical story "The Captain's Daughter". Each of the heroes acts in accordance with his understanding of these high qualities.
Masha also turns out to be worthy of respect, Shvabrin forces her to choose: either she will marry him, or he will give her to the robbers (who will most likely kill her). It should be noted that she prefers death; it is later that she is saved from this fate.
Mercy problem The word “mercy” appears already in the second paragraph: “Mother was still my belly, as I was already enrolled in the Semenovsky regiment as a sergeant, by the grace of the major of the guard, Prince B. The prince’s mercy turns for Grinev into the need to obey someone else’s decision - he is sent to the wilderness. The next case of mercy, beneficence is the episode with the sheepskin coat. In response, the counselor-Pugachev promises: "I will not forget your favors for a century." Here "mercy" is a payment for a service and prepares the possibility of a new, counter "mercy". In gratitude for Grinev's service, Pugachev saves his life ("Our Father has mercy on you," they told me.) And then lets him go - "have mercy so mercy." , who fought on the side of Pugachev. The service that the constable rendered to Grinev could be called invaluable, if not for one circumstance - leaving the Belogorsk fortress, Grinev refused in favor of the constable from the fifty rubles granted to him by Pugachev. As in the case of the sheepskin coat, it turned out to be a saving act donation, which created a situation of unpaid debt.
Grinev and Pugachev render each other mutual services during their trip to Orenburg
Pugachev reproduces Grinev's favor
Grinev again provides the same type of service in relation to Pugachev's subordinate
he renders a service to Grinev
"Tales of Belkin"(autumn 1830, Boldino.).
In Belkin's Tales, Pushkin expanded the circle of his observations. In "The Undertaker" he outlined the mores of the urban philistinism, in "The Stationmaster" for the first time he showed in the person of Samson Vyrin a humiliated person, a petty official, whose miserable fate arouses the pity of the reader.
It can be said about Belkin's Tales, as well as about all of Pushkin's poetry in general, that they aroused "good feelings" in the people and contributed to this social progress.
Remarkable also in Belkin's Tales is the mastery of the story - economical, fast, not dwelling on details. The interestingness of the plot, secrets that are revealed only towards the end, unexpected but deeply justified outcomes - all this continuously maintains the interest of readers and makes the stories extremely exciting. Thus, the richness of social content in Pushkin's stories is combined with elegance and harmony of form.
In the first two stories - "The Shot" and especially in "The Snowstorm" - romantic hobbies characteristic of noble youth are depicted. The main theme of "The Shot" is the question of the duel, which was a widespread fashion among the nobility in the early 20s of the 19th century. Participation in duels was considered some kind of heroism, it was a style of romantic behavior. All this is reflected in the Shot, which is based on Pushkin's observations during his stay in exile in Chisinau in the early 1920s.
Marya Gavrilovna, the heroine of the story "The Snowstorm", is completely dominated by "romantic" moods, borrowed from the French novels on which she was brought up. "Romantic imagination" and pushed her to agree to flee from her parents' house and to a secret marriage with a poor army ensign, to whom rich parents do not want to marry her. This is the same "county young lady with a French book in her hands" as Tatyana in the first chapters of the novel "Eugene Onegin", but only without the depth and seriousness of Tatyana, without her independence, determination, moral strength and that "Russian soul" that constitutes the main beauty of Tatiana.
Marya Gavrilovna's feelings are rather superficial. It is not known how serious her love for Vladimir was and whether this was the result of a passion for French novels, to which there is an ironic hint in the story: “Marya Gavrilovna was brought up on French novels and, consequently, was in love.”
But there is one thing that introduces a serious note into the ironic picture of the provincial landlord life: this is the war of 1812-1814, which is included in the action of the story. It describes the general patriotic enthusiasm that gripped all the Russian people when the troops returned from abroad with glory: “An unforgettable time! Time of glory and delight! How strongly the Russian heart beat at the word Fatherland! How sweet were the tears of rendezvous!”
In the story "The Undertaker" we enter from the military and landlord world into the environment of small Moscow artisans and merchants.
In this small world, they are only interested in profits. Undertaker Adrian can't wait for the death of the merchant Tryukhina on Razgulyai and is worried that other undertakers, taking advantage of his relocation from Basmanna to Nikitskaya Street, will intercept his rich funeral. Adrian treats the dead like customers, consumers of his products. He is not interested in what kind of people they were in life. And even in a dream, when they come to congratulate him on his housewarming, the hero distinguishes them only in terms of profit or loss from the funeral.
The main feature of Pushkin's prose in general and Belkin's Tales in particular is the conciseness and simplicity of presentation, from which you cannot omit a single word, because every word is in place and necessary. Pushkin avoids any unnecessary embellishments. Every little thing is characteristic of him - it leads to something, is connected with everything else. So, for example, the shot-through walls in the “poor mud hut” where Silvio lives speak of the severity of his temper, of his pastime, of the secret goal he aspires to: “The walls of his room were all riddled with bullets, all in wells, like honeycombs bees." And then, when describing the departure of Silvio, when the moment comes for the realization of what he has been preparing for for years: “All his goods have already been packed; only bare, shot through walls remained.
Pushkin never goes into detailed explanations of the actions of his heroes, but he always guesses with his brilliant artistic instinct how such and such a person should act due to his individual qualities, social skills and other reasons. And he guesses unmistakably, so that without any explanation, we immediately feel the living truth, we see living people with all their contradictions.
Belkin's Tale was a turning point in the history of Russian fiction. They were followed by other prose works by Pushkin: "Dubrovsky", "The Queen of Spades", "The Captain's Daughter", which reflected Russian life even more truthfully, even wider and deeper.
Pushkin was an innovator both in poetry and prose. From him comes the entire further development of Russian artistic prose, which reached an unprecedented ideological and artistic flowering in the 19th century.
