Captain's daughter. Analysis of the work “The Captain's Daughter” (A
Russian poet, playwright and prose writer, who laid the foundations of the Russian realistic movement, critic and literary theorist, historian, publicist; one of the most authoritative literary figures of the first third of the 19th century.
Pushkin in his work, which is an artistic encyclopedia of Russian reality, not only supported some of the ideas of the Decembrists, but also touched upon the fundamental social problems of his time: autocracy and the people, the individual and the state, the tragic loneliness of the advanced noble intelligentsia of the Golden Age.
Even during Pushkin’s lifetime, his reputation as the greatest national Russian poet developed. Pushkin is considered as the founder of the modern Russian literary language.
"Captain's daughter"
Historical novel (or story) by A. S. Pushkin, the action of which takes place during the uprising of Emelyan Pugachev. First published without indicating the author's name in the 4th book of the Sovremennik magazine, which went on sale in the last decade of 1836.
« Captain's daughter"belongs to the range of works with which Russian writers of the 1830s responded to the success of Walter Scott's translated novels. Pushkin planned to write a historical novel back in the 1820s (see "Arap of Peter the Great"). The first of historical novels on a Russian theme, “Yuri Miloslavsky” by M. N. Zagoskin (1829) was published. Grinev’s meeting with the counselor, according to Pushkin scholars, goes back to a similar scene in Zagoskin’s novel.
The idea for a story about the Pugachev era matured during Pushkin’s work on a historical chronicle - “The History of the Pugachev Rebellion.” In search of materials for his work, Pushkin traveled to Southern Urals, where he talked with eyewitnesses of the terrible events of the 1770s. According to P. V. Annenkov, “the compressed and only apparently dry presentation he adopted in “History” seemed to find a complement in his exemplary novel, which has the warmth and charm of historical notes,” in a novel “that represented the other side of the subject - the side of the morals and customs of the era."
The story was published a month before the author’s death in the Sovremennik magazine he published under the guise of notes from the late Pyotr Grinev. From this and subsequent editions of the novel, for censorship reasons, a chapter about the peasant revolt in the village of Grineva was released, preserved in a draft manuscript. Until 1838, there were no printed reviews of the story, but Gogol noted in January 1837 that it “produced a universal effect.”
"Captain's daughter" characters
Pyotr Andreevich Grinev- A 17-year-old teenager, enlisted in the Semyonovsky Guard Regiment since childhood; during the events described in the story, he was an ensign. It is he who leads the story for his descendants during the reign of Alexander I, peppering the story with old-fashioned maxims. The draft version indicated that Grinev died in 1817. According to Belinsky, this is an “insignificant, insensitive character” that the author needs as a relatively impartial witness to Pugachev’s actions.
Alexey Ivanovich Shvabrin – Grinev’s antagonist is “a young officer of short stature with a dark and distinctly ugly face” and hair that is “pitch black.” By the time Grinev appeared in the fortress, he had already been transferred from the guard for a duel five years ago. He is reputed to be a freethinker, knows French, understands literature, but at the decisive moment he betrays his oath and goes over to the side of the rebels. In essence, a purely romantic scoundrel (according to Mirsky’s remark, this is generally “Pushkin’s only scoundrel”).
Marya Ivanovna Mironova -“a girl of about eighteen, chubby, ruddy, with light brown hair combed smoothly behind her ears,” the daughter of the commandant of the fortress, who gave the title to the whole story. “I dressed simply and sweetly.” To save his lover, he goes to the capital and throws himself at the feet of the queen. According to Prince Vyazemsky, the image of Masha fits into the story “pleasant and light shade" - as a peculiar variation on the theme of Tatyana Larina. At the same time, Tchaikovsky complains: “Maria Ivanovna is not interesting and characterful enough, for she is an impeccably kind and honest girl and nothing more.” “The empty place of every first love,” echoes Marina Tsvetaeva.
Arkhip Savelich - the stirrup Grinevs, from the age of five assigned to Peter as an uncle. Treats a 17-year-old officer like a minor, remembering the order to “look after the child.” “A faithful servant,” but devoid of moral servility - directly expressing uncomfortable thoughts in the face of both the master and Pugachev. The image of a selfless servant is usually considered to be the most successful in the story. In his naive worries about the hare's sheepskin coat, traces of the type of comic servant characteristic of the literature of classicism are noticeable.
Vasilisa Egorovna Mironova - the commandant's wife, “an old woman in a padded jacket and with a scarf on her head,” the owner of the only serf girl, Palashka. She has a reputation as a “very brave lady.” “She looked at the affairs of the service as if they were her master’s, and managed the fortress as accurately as she ruled her house.” She preferred to die next to her husband rather than leaving for the safety of the provincial town. According to Vyazemsky, this image of marital fidelity is “successfully and faithfully captured by the master’s brush.”
“The Captain's Daughter” summary of the story
The novel is based on the memoirs of the fifty-year-old nobleman Pyotr Andreevich Grinev, written by him during the reign of Emperor Alexander and dedicated to the “Pugachevism,” in which the seventeen-year-old officer Pyotr Grinev, due to a “strange combination of circumstances,” unwittingly took part.
Pyotr Andreevich recalls his childhood, the childhood of a noble undergrowth, with slight irony. His father Andrei Petrovich Grinev in his youth “served under Count Minich and retired as prime minister in 17.... Since then he lived in his Simbirsk village, where he married the girl Avdotya Vasilievna Yu., the daughter of a poor nobleman there.” There were nine children in the Grinev family, but all of Petrusha’s brothers and sisters “died in infancy.” “Mother was still pregnant with me,” recalls Grinev, “as I was already enrolled in the Semyonovsky regiment as a sergeant.”
From the age of five, Petrusha is looked after by the stirrup Savelich, who was granted him the title of uncle “for his sober behavior.” “Under his supervision, in my twelfth year, I learned Russian literacy and could very sensibly judge the properties of a greyhound dog.” Then a teacher appeared - the Frenchman Beaupré, who did not understand “the meaning of this word,” since in his homeland he was a hairdresser, and in Prussia he was a soldier. Young Grinev and the Frenchman Beaupre quickly got along, and although Beaupre was contractually obligated to teach Petrusha “French, German and all sciences,” he soon preferred to learn from his student “to chat in Russian.” Grinev's education ends with the expulsion of Beaupre, who was convicted of dissipation, drunkenness and neglect of the duties of a teacher.
Until the age of sixteen, Grinev lives “as a minor, chasing pigeons and playing leapfrog with the yard boys.” In his seventeenth year, the father decides to send his son to serve, but not to St. Petersburg, but to the army to “sniff gunpowder” and “pull the strap.” He sends him to Orenburg, instructing him to serve faithfully “to whom you swear allegiance,” and to remember the proverb: “Take care of your dress again, but take care of your honor from a young age.” All the “brilliant hopes” of young Grinev for a cheerful life in St. Petersburg were destroyed, and “boredom in a deaf and distant side” awaited ahead.
About Renburg
Approaching Orenburg, Grinev and Savelich fell into a snowstorm. A random person met on the road leads the wagon, lost in the snowstorm, to the sweeper. While the wagon was “quietly moving” towards housing, Pyotr Andreevich had a terrible dream, in which fifty-year-old Grinev sees something prophetic, connecting it with the “strange circumstances” of his future life. A man with a black beard is lying in Father Grinev’s bed, and mother, calling him Andrei Petrovich and “the planted father,” wants Petrusha to “kiss his hand” and ask for a blessing. A man swings an ax, the room fills with dead bodies; Grinev stumbles over them, slips in bloody puddles, but his “scary man” “kindly calls out,” saying: “Don’t be afraid, come under my blessing.”
In gratitude for the rescue, Grinev gives the “counselor,” dressed too lightly, his sheepskin coat and brings him a glass of wine, for which he thanks him with a low bow: “Thank you, your honor! May the Lord reward you for your virtue.” The appearance of the “counselor” seemed “remarkable” to Grinev: “He was about forty years old, average height, thin and broad-shouldered. His black beard showed some gray; the lively big eyes kept darting around. His face had a rather pleasant, but roguish expression.”
The Belogorsk fortress, where Grinev was sent from Orenburg to serve, greets the young man not with formidable bastions, towers and ramparts, but turns out to be a village surrounded by a wooden fence. Instead of a brave garrison there are disabled people who do not know where the left and where the right side is, instead of deadly artillery there is an old cannon filled with garbage.
And van Kuzmich Mironov
The commandant of the fortress, Ivan Kuzmich Mironov, is an officer “from soldiers’ children”, an uneducated man, but honest and kind. His wife, Vasilisa Egorovna, completely manages it and looks at the affairs of the service as her own. Soon Grinev becomes “native” for the Mironovs, and he himself “imperceptibly ‹…› became attached to a good family.” In the Mironovs’ daughter Masha, Grinev “found a prudent and sensitive girl.”
Service does not burden Grinev; he is interested in reading books, practicing translations and writing poetry. At first, he becomes close to Lieutenant Shvabrin, the only person in the fortress close to Grinev in education, age and occupation. But soon they quarrel - Shvabrin mockingly criticized the love “song” written by Grinev, and also allowed himself dirty hints regarding the “character and customs” of Masha Mironova, to whom this song was dedicated. Later, in a conversation with Masha, Grinev will find out the reasons for the persistent slander with which Shvabrin pursued her: the lieutenant wooed her, but was refused. “I don’t like Alexei Ivanovich. He’s very disgusting to me,” Masha admits to Grinev. The quarrel is resolved by a duel and the wounding of Grinev.
Masha takes care of the wounded Grinev. The young people confess to each other “the inclination of their hearts,” and Grinev writes a letter to the priest, “asking for parental blessing.” But Masha is homeless. The Mironovs have “only one soul, the girl Palashka,” while the Grinevs have three hundred souls of peasants. The father forbids Grinev to marry and promises to transfer him from the Belogorsk fortress “somewhere far away” so that the “nonsense” will go away.
After this letter, life became unbearable for Grinev, he falls into gloomy reverie and seeks solitude. “I was afraid of either going crazy or falling into debauchery.” And only “unexpected incidents,” writes Grinev, “which had an important influence on my whole life, suddenly gave my soul a strong and beneficial shock.”
1773
At the beginning of October 1773, the commandant of the fortress received a secret message about the Don Cossack Emelyan Pugachev, who, posing as “the late Emperor Peter III,” “gathered a villainous gang, caused outrage in the Yaik villages and had already taken and destroyed several fortresses.” The commandant was asked to “take appropriate measures to repel the aforementioned villain and impostor.”
Soon everyone was talking about Pugachev. A Bashkir with “outrageous sheets” was captured in the fortress. But it was not possible to interrogate him - the Bashkir’s tongue was torn out. Any day now, residents of the Belogorsk fortress are expecting an attack by Pugachev,
The rebels appear unexpectedly - the Mironovs did not even have time to send Masha to Orenburg. At the first attack the fortress was taken. Residents greet the Pugachevites with bread and salt. The prisoners, among whom was Grinev, are led to the square to swear allegiance to Pugachev. The first to die on the gallows is the commandant, who refused to swear allegiance to the “thief and impostor.” Vasilisa Egorovna falls dead under the blow of a saber. Grinev also faces death on the gallows, but Pugachev has mercy on him. A little later, from Savelich, Grinev learns “the reason for mercy” - the chieftain of the robbers turned out to be the tramp who received from him, Grinev, a hare sheepskin coat.
In the evening, Grinev is invited to the “great sovereign.” “I have pardoned you for your virtue,” Pugachev says to Grinev, “Do you promise to serve me with zeal?” But Grinev is a “natural nobleman” and “sworn allegiance to the Empress.” He cannot even promise Pugachev not to serve against him. “My head is in your power,” he says to Pugachev, “if you let me go, thank you, if you execute me, God will be your judge.”
Grinev’s sincerity amazes Pugachev, and he releases the officer “on all four sides.” Grinev decides to go to Orenburg for help - after all, Masha, whom the priest passed off as her niece, remained in the fortress in a severe fever. He is especially concerned that Shvabrin, who swore allegiance to Pugachev, was appointed commandant of the fortress.
But in Orenburg, Grinev was denied help, and a few days later rebel troops surrounded the city. Long days of siege dragged on. Soon, by chance, a letter from Masha falls into the hands of Grinev, from which he learns that Shvabrin is forcing her to marry him, threatening otherwise to hand her over to the Pugachevites. Once again Grinev turns to the military commandant for help, and again receives a refusal.
Blogorsk fortress
Grinev and Savelich leave for the Belogorsk fortress, but near the Berdskaya settlement they are captured by the rebels. And again, providence brings Grinev and Pugachev together, giving the officer the opportunity to fulfill his intention: having learned from Grinev the essence of the matter for which he is going to the Belogorsk fortress, Pugachev himself decides to free the orphan and punish the offender.
On the way to the fortress, a confidential conversation takes place between Pugachev and Grinev. Pugachev is clearly aware of his doom, expecting betrayal primarily from his comrades; he knows that he cannot expect “the mercy of the empress.” For Pugachev, like an eagle from a Kalmyk fairy tale, which he tells Grinev with “wild inspiration,” “than to feed on carrion for three hundred years, it is better to drink living blood once; and then what God will give!” Grinev draws a different moral conclusion from the fairy tale, which surprises Pugachev: “To live by murder and robbery means for me to peck at carrion.”
In the Belogorsk fortress, Grinev, with the help of Pugachev, frees Masha. And although the enraged Shvabrin reveals the deception to Pugachev, he is full of generosity: “Execute, so execute, favor, so favor: this is my custom.” Grinev and Pugachev part on a friendly basis.
Grinev sends Masha to his parents as a bride, while he himself, out of “duty of honor,” remains in the army. The war “with bandits and savages” is “boring and petty.” Grinev’s observations are filled with bitterness: “God forbid that we see a Russian rebellion, senseless and merciless.”
The end of the military campaign coincides with the arrest of Grinev. Appearing before the court, he is calm in his confidence that he can justify himself, but Shvabrin slanderes him, exposing Grinev as a spy dispatched from Pugachev to Orenburg. Grinev is convicted, disgrace awaits him, exile to Siberia for eternal settlement.
Grinev is saved from shame and exile by Masha, who goes to the queen to “beg for mercy.” Walking through the garden of Tsarskoye Selo, Masha met a middle-aged lady. Everything about this lady “involuntarily attracted the heart and inspired confidence.” Having found out who Masha was, she offered her help, and Masha sincerely told the lady the whole story. The lady turned out to be an empress who pardoned Grinev in the same way as Pugachev had pardoned both Masha and Grinev.
Source – All masterpieces of world literature in summary. Plots and characters. Russian literature XIX century and Wikipedia.
Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin - “The Captain's Daughter” - summary of the story updated: October 31, 2016 by: website
Pushkin's interest in the history of Russia always showed itself very clearly; most of all, the poet was attracted by the theme of popular uprisings, which were led by Emelyan Pugachev and Stenka Razin. The result of the poet's reworking folk songs his lyrical songs became about Stepan Razin folk hero. The poet devoted a lot of time to collecting and processing information concerning Pugachev’s personality. This interest was due to the fact that at the same time a wave of peasant uprisings took place across Russia. Pugachev's personality was ambiguous, collecting and analyzing historical facts about him, Pushkin tried to figure out what kind of “villain” and “rebel” he was. The result of painstaking and many years of work on “The History of Pugachev” was Pushkin’s story “The Captain’s Daughter”, in which the author vividly depicted the events of the times of “Pugachevism”. On our website you can read the story “The Captain's Daughter” in its entirety, without abbreviations, and prepare to analyze this work.
A painstaking study of historical materials helped Pushkin reliably recreate the pictures of a bloody war and a peasant revolt, terrible in its mercilessness (“God forbid that we see a Russian revolt, senseless and merciless!”). The main character of the story “The Captain's Daughter” is Pyotr Grinev, a young man who is sent to serve in the Belogorsk fortress. On the way, he meets Emelyan Pugachev, not knowing that in front of him is the same robber about whom there are so many rumors; in gratitude for his help during a snowstorm, Grinev gives him a hare sheepskin coat. Peter, having arrived at the fortress, falls in love with Masha, the daughter of the commandant, she reciprocates his feelings, but Grinev’s parents refuse to accept their son’s choice. As a result of a duel with Shvabrin, Peter is wounded. At this time, the flames of rebellion flare up. Pugachev and his army capture the fortress and execute the nobles who refused to swear allegiance to him. Peter's colleague, Shvabrin, goes over to the side of the rebels. Masha's parents become victims of the invaders. Grinev is saved from execution by Pugachev himself, who recognizes him as the one who gave him the sheepskin coat. He is released because he honestly explains to Pugachev that he cannot break his oath and go over to his side. He goes to Orenburg and fights on the side of the government. Later, he has to return to the fortress to save Masha from Shvabrin’s claims; he succeeds with the help of Pugachev. A former colleague denounces Grinev to government troops, and he is arrested. But thanks to Masha, who went to the empress herself for pardon, the imprisonment did not last long. The young people return to the Grinev estate and get married.
After reading the novel by Alexander Pushkin, the reader remains fascinated by the image of the villain Pugachev, who on the pages of the story sometimes looks fair, wise and sincere. This bloody time in the history of Russia is described in great detail by the writer; one feels a terrible hopelessness from the futility of this terrible rebellion. Even the most noble goals do not justify such robbery, as a result of which many innocent people suffered. “The Captain's Daughter,” according to most literature programs, is included in the list of works that are studied in the 8th grade. The result of working with the story should be the fulfillment creative work on speech development. To become more familiar with the work, just read the summary. But to fully appreciate the book, you need to read it in its entirety. On our website you can download and read all chapters of the story. There is also the opportunity to read the text of the work by A.S. Pushkin online, no registration or payment required.
Pushkin first published the historical story “The Captain's Daughter” in 1836. According to researchers, the work is at the intersection of romanticism and realism. The genre is not precisely defined - some consider “The Captain’s Daughter” to be a story, others – a full-fledged novel.
The action of the work takes place during the uprising of Emelyan Pugachev and is based on real events. The story is written in the form of memoirs of the main character Pyotr Andreich Grinev - his diary entries. The work is named after Grinev’s beloved Marya Mironova, the captain’s daughter.
Main characters
Petr Andreich Grinev – main character story, nobleman, officer on whose behalf the story is told.
Marya Ivanovna Mironova- daughter of captain Mironov; “a girl of about eighteen, chubby, ruddy.”
Emelyan Pugachev- the leader of the peasant uprising, “about forty, average height, thin and broad-shouldered,” with a black beard.
Arkhip Savelich- an old man who was Grinev’s teacher from an early age.
Other characters
Andrey Petrovich Grinev- father of Pyotr Andreich, retired prime minister.
Ivan Ivanovich Zurin- an officer whom Grinev met in a tavern in Simbirsk.
Alexey Ivanovich Shvabrin- an officer whom Grinev met in the Belogorsk fortress; joined Pugachev's rebels, testified against Grinev.
Mironov Ivan Kuzmich- captain, Marya’s father, commandant in the Belogorsk fortress.
Chapter 1. Sergeant of the Guard
The father of the main character, Andrei Petrovich Grinev, retired as prime minister, began to live in his Simbirsk village, and married the daughter of a local nobleman. From the age of five, Petya was sent to be raised by the eager Savelich. When the main character turned 16 years old, his father, instead of sending him to St. Petersburg to the Semenovsky regiment (as previously planned), assigned him to serve in Orenburg. Savelich was sent along with the young man.
On the way to Orenburg, in a tavern in Simbirsk, Grinev met the captain of the hussar regiment, Zurin. He taught the young man to play billiards and offered to play for money. After drinking the punch, Grinev got excited and lost a hundred rubles. The distressed Savelich had to repay the debt.
Chapter 2. Counselor
On the way, Grinev dozed off and had a dream in which he saw something prophetic. Peter dreamed that he came to say goodbye to his dying father, but in bed he saw “a man with a black beard.” The mother called the man Grinev’s “planted father” and told him to kiss his hand so that he would bless him. Peter refused. Then the man jumped up, grabbed an ax and started killing everyone. The scary man affectionately called: “Don’t be afraid, come under my blessing.” At that moment Grinev woke up: they arrived at the inn. In gratitude for his help, Grinev gave the counselor his sheepskin coat.
In Orenburg, Grinev was immediately sent to the Belogorsk fortress, to the team of Captain Mironov.
Chapter 3. Fortress
“The Belogorsk fortress was located forty miles from Orenburg.” On the very first day, Grinev met the commandant and his wife. The next day, Pyotr Andreich met officer Alexei Ivanovich Shvabrin. He was sent here “for murder” - he “stabbed a lieutenant” during a duel. Shvabrin constantly made fun of the commandant’s family. Pyotr Andreich really liked Mironov’s daughter Marya, but Shvabrin described her as “a complete fool.”
Chapter 4. Duel
Over time, Grinev found in Marya a “prudent and sensitive girl.” Pyotr Andreich began to write poetry and once read one of his works dedicated to Marya and Shvabrin. He criticized the verse and said that the girl would prefer “a pair of earrings” instead of “tender poems.” Grinev called Shvabrin a scoundrel and he challenged Pyotr Andreich to a duel. The first time they failed to get along - they were noticed and taken to the commandant. In the evening, Grinev learned that Shvabrin had wooed Marya last year and was refused.
The next day, Grinev and Shvabrin fought again. During the duel, Pyotr Andreich was called out by Savelich who ran up. Grinev looked back, and the enemy struck him “in the chest below the right shoulder.”
Chapter 5. Love
All the time while Grinev was recovering, Marya looked after him. Pyotr Andreich invited the girl to become his wife, she agreed.
Grinev wrote to his father that he was going to get married. However, Andrei Petrovich replied that he would not give consent to the marriage and would even arrange for his son to be transferred “somewhere far away.” Having learned about the answer from Grinev’s parents, Marya was very upset, but she did not want to get married without their consent (particularly because the girl was without a dowry). From then on she began to avoid Pyotr Andreich.
Chapter 6. Pugachevism
News arrived that “Don Cossack and schismatic Emelyan Pugachev” had escaped from the guard, gathered a “villainous gang” and “caused outrage in the Yaik villages.” It soon became known that the rebels were going to march on the Belogoro fortress. Preparations have begun.
Chapter 7. Attack
Grinev did not sleep all night. Many armed people gathered at the fortress. Pugachev himself rode between them on a white horse. The rebels broke into the fortress, the commandant was wounded in the head, and Grinev was captured.
The crowd shouted “that the sovereign was waiting for the prisoners in the square and was taking the oath.” Mironov and Lieutenant Ivan Ignatyich refused to take the oath and were hanged. Grinev faced the same fate, but Savelich at the last moment threw himself at Pugachev’s feet and asked to release Pyotr Andreich. Shvabrin joined the rebels. Marya's mother was killed.
Chapter 8. Uninvited Guest
Marya hid the priest, calling her her niece. Savelich told Grinev that Pugachev was the same man to whom Pyotr Andreich gave the sheepskin coat.
Pugachev summoned Grinev to his place. Peter Andreich admitted that he would not be able to serve him, since he was a “natural nobleman” and “sworn allegiance to the empress”: “My head is in your power: if you let me go, thank you; if you execute, God will be your judge; but I told you the truth.” The sincerity of Pyotr Andreich struck Pugachev, and he let him go “on all four sides.”
Chapter 9. Separation
In the morning, Pugachev told Grinev to go to Orenburg and tell the governor and all the generals to expect him in a week. The leader of the uprising appointed Shvabrin as the new commander in the fortress.
Chapter 10. Siege of the city
A few days later news came that Pugachev was moving towards Orenburg. Grinev was given a letter from Marya Ivanovna. The girl wrote that Shvabrin was forcing her to marry him and was treating her very cruelly, so she asked Grinev for help.
Chapter 11. Rebel settlement
Having received no support from the general, Grinev went to the Belogorsk fortress. On the way, they and Savelich were captured by Pugachev’s people. Grinev told the leader of the rebels that he was going to the Belogorsk fortress, because there Shvabrin was offending an orphan girl - Grinev’s fiancée. In the morning, Pugachev, together with Grinev and his people, went to the fortress.
Chapter 12. Orphan
Shvabrin said that Marya is his wife. But upon entering the girl’s room, Grinev and Pugachev saw that she was pale, thin, and the only food in front of her was “a jug of water covered with a slice of bread.” Shvabrin reported that the girl was Mironov’s daughter, but Pugachev still let Grinev go with his lover.
Chapter 13. Arrest
Approaching the town, Grinev and Marya were stopped by guards. Pyotr Andreich went to the major and recognized him as Zurin. Grinev, after talking with Zurin, decided to send Marya to her parents in the village, while he himself remained to serve in the detachment.
At the end of February, Zurin's detachment set out on a campaign. After Pugachev was defeated, he again gathered a gang and went to Moscow, causing chaos. “Gangs of robbers were committing crimes everywhere.” “God forbid we see a Russian rebellion, senseless and merciless!”
Finally Pugachev was caught. Grinev got ready to visit his parents, but a document arrived about his arrest in the Pugachev case.
Chapter 14. Court
Grinev arrived in Kazan by order and was put in prison. During the interrogation, Pyotr Andreich, not wanting to involve Marya, kept silent about why he was leaving Orenburg. Grinev’s accuser, Shvabrin, argued that Pyotr Andreich was Pugachev’s spy.
Marya Ivanovna was received by Grinev’s parents “with sincere cordiality.” The news of Pyotr Andreich's arrest shocked everyone - he was threatened with lifelong exile to Siberia. To save her lover, Marya went to St. Petersburg and stopped in Tsarskoe Selo. During her morning walk, she got into conversation with an unfamiliar lady, told her her story and that she had come to ask the Empress for Grinev’s pardon.
On the same day, the Empress's carriage was sent for Marya. The Empress turned out to be the same lady with whom the girl had spoken in the morning. The Empress pardoned Grinev and promised to help her with her dowry.
According to no longer Grinev, but the author, at the end of 1774 Pyotr Andreich was released. “He was present at the execution of Pugachev, who recognized him in the crowd and nodded his head to him.” Soon Grinev married Marya. “The manuscript of Pyotr Andreevich Grinev was delivered to us from one of his grandchildren.”
Conclusion
In the historical story “The Captain's Daughter” by Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin, both the main and minor characters. The most controversial figure in the work is Emelyan Pugachev. The cruel, bloodthirsty leader of the rebels is portrayed by the author as a person not devoid of positive, somewhat romanticized qualities. Pugachev appreciates Grinev’s kindness and sincerity and helps his lovers.
The characters that contrast with each other are Grinev and Shvabrin. Pyotr Andreich remains true to his ideas to the last, even when his life depended on it. Shvabrin easily changes his mind, joins the rebels, and becomes a traitor.
Test on the story
To test your knowledge after reading summary stories - take the test:
Retelling rating
Average rating: 4.4. Total ratings received: 14429.
Pyotr Grinev was born in the Simbirsk village (essay about him). His parents are Prime Major Andrei Petrovich Grinev and Avdotya Vasilievna Yu. Even before Peter was born, his father enrolled him in the Semenovsky regiment as a sergeant. The boy was on leave until the end of his studies, but it was conducted extremely poorly. The father hired Monsieur Beaupre to teach the young master French, German languages and other sciences. Instead, the man learned Russian with the help of Peter and then everyone began to do their own thing: the mentor - to drink and walk, and the child - to have fun. Later, the boy's father kicked Monsieur Beaupre out of the yard because he was pestering the maid. No new teachers were hired.
When Peter turned seventeen, his father decided that it was time for his son to enter the service. However, he was sent not to the St. Petersburg Semenovsky regiment, but to Orenburg, so that he could smell gunpowder and become a real man, instead of having fun in the capital. Stremyanny Savelich (his characterization), who was granted the uncle Peter when he was still a child, went with his ward. On the way we made a stop in Simbirsk to buy the necessary things. While the mentor was solving business issues and meeting with old friends, Peter met Ivan Zurin, the captain of the hussar regiment. The man began to teach the young man to be a military man: to drink and play billiards. After this, Peter returned to Savelich drunk, cursed the old man and greatly offended him. The next morning, the mentor began to lecture him and tried to persuade him not to give back the lost hundred rubles. However, Peter insisted on repaying the debt. Soon the two of them moved on.
Chapter 2: COUNSELOR
On the way to Orenburg, Pyotr Grinev was tormented by his conscience: he realized that he had behaved stupidly and rudely. The young man apologized to Savelich and promised that this would not happen again. The man replied that it was his own fault: he should not have left his ward alone. After Peter’s words, Savelich calmed down a little. Later, a snowstorm overtook the travelers and they lost their way. After some time we met a man who told us which way the village was. They drove off, and Grinev dozed off. He dreamed that he returned home, his mother said that his father was dying and wanted to say goodbye. However, when Peter came in to him, he saw that it was not his dad. Instead, there was a man with a black beard who looked at him cheerfully. Grinev was indignant, why on earth would he ask for a blessing from a stranger, but his mother ordered him to do so, saying that this was his imprisoned father. Peter did not agree, so the man jumped out of bed and waved his ax, demanding to accept the blessing. The room was filled with dead bodies. At that moment the young man woke up. Later, he connected many events of his life with this dream. After resting, Grinev decided to thank the guide and gave him his hare sheepskin coat against Savelich’s will.
After some time, the travelers arrived in Orenburg. Grinev immediately went to General Andrei Karlovich, who turned out to be tall, but already hunched over with old age. He had long white hair and a German accent. Peter gave him a letter, then they had lunch together, and the next day Grinev, by order, went to his place of service - to the Belogorsk fortress. The young man was still not happy that his father had sent him to such a wilderness.
Chapter 3: FORTRESS
Pyotr Grinev and Savelich arrived at the Belogorsk fortress, which did not inspire a warlike appearance. It was a frail village where disabled people and old people served. Peter met the inhabitants of the fortress: captain Ivan Kuzmich Mironov, his wife Vasilisa Egorovna, their daughter Masha and Alexei Ivanovich Shvabrin (his image is described), transferred to this wilderness for murder in a duel with a lieutenant. The guilty military man first came to Grinev - he wanted to see a new human face. At the same time, Shvabrin told Peter about the local inhabitants.
Grinev was invited to dinner with the Mironovs. They asked the young man about his family, talked about how they themselves came to the Belogorsk fortress, and Vasilisa Egorovna was afraid of the Bashkirs and Kyrgyzs. Masha (her detailed description) had been shuddering from gun shots until then, and when her father decided to fire a cannon on her mother’s name day, she almost died of fear. The girl was of marriageable age, but her dowry included only a comb, a broom, an altyn of money and bath accessories. Vasilisa Egorovna ( female images described) was worried that her daughter would remain an old maid, because no one would want to marry a poor woman. Grinev was prejudiced towards Masha, because before that Shvabrin had described her as a fool.
Chapter 4: DUEHL
Soon Pyotr Grinev got used to the inhabitants of the Belogorsk fortress, and he even liked life there. Ivan Kuzmich, who became an officer from the children of soldiers, was simple and uneducated, but honest and kind. His wife ran the fortress as well as her own home. Marya Ivanovna turned out to be not a fool at all, but a prudent and sensitive girl. The crooked garrison lieutenant Ivan Ignatyich did not at all enter into a criminal relationship with Vasilisa Yegorovna, as Shvabrin had said before. Because of such nasty things, communication with Alexei Ivanovich became less and less pleasant for Peter. The service did not burden Grinev. There were no inspections, no exercises, no guards in the fortress.
Over time, Peter liked Masha. He composed a love poem for her and let Shvabrina appreciate it. He strongly criticized the essay and the girl herself. He even slandered Masha, hinting that she visited him at night. Grinev was indignant, accused Alexei of lying, and the latter challenged him to a duel. At first the competition did not take place, because Ivan Ignatich reported the intentions of the young people to Vasilisa Yegorovna. Masha admitted to Grinev that Alexey was wooing her, but she refused. Later, Peter and Alexei fought a duel again. Because of Savelich’s sudden appearance, Grinev looked back, and Shvabrin stabbed him in the chest with a sword.
Chapter 5: LOVE
On the fifth day after the accident, Grinev woke up. Savelich and Masha were nearby all the time. Peter immediately confessed his feelings to the girl. At first she did not answer him, citing the fact that he was ill, but later gave her consent. Grinev immediately sent his parents a request for a blessing, but his father responded with a rude and decisive refusal. In his opinion, Peter had gone crazy. Grinev Sr. was also indignant about his son’s duel. He wrote that, having learned about this, his mother fell ill. The father said that he would ask Ivan Kuzmich to immediately transfer the young man to another place.
The letter horrified Peter. Masha refused to marry him without the blessing of his parents, saying that then the young man would not be happy. Grinev was also angry with Savelich for interfering with the duel and reporting it to his father. The man was offended and said that he ran to Peter to shield Shvabrin from his sword, but old age got in the way, and he did not have time, and did not inform his father. Savelich showed his ward a letter from Grinev Sr., where he cursed because the servant did not report the duel. After this, Peter realized that he was mistaken and began to suspect Shvabrin of the denunciation. It was beneficial for him that Grinev be transferred from the Belogorsk fortress.
Chapter 6: PUGACHEVSHCHINA
At the end of 1773, Captain Mironov received a message about the Don Cossack Emelyan Pugachev (here is his name), who was posing as the late Emperor Peter III. The criminal gathered a gang and destroyed several fortresses. There was a possibility of an attack on Belogorskaya, so its inhabitants immediately began to prepare: to clean the cannon. After some time, they seized a Bashkir with outrageous sheets that foreshadowed an imminent attack. Torture did not work because his tongue was torn out.
When the robbers took the Nizhneozernaya fortress, capturing all the soldiers and hanging the officers, it became clear that the enemies would soon arrive at Mironov. For the sake of safety, my parents decided to send Masha to Orenburg. Vasilisa Egorovna refused to leave her husband. Peter said goodbye to his beloved, saying that his last prayer would be for her.
Chapter 7: ATTACK
In the morning the Belogorsk fortress was surrounded. Several traitors sided with Pugachev, and Marya Mironova did not have time to leave for Orenburg. The father said goodbye to his daughter, blessing her for marriage with the person who would be worthy. After the capture of the fortress, Pugachev hanged the commandant and, under the guise of Peter III, began to demand an oath. Those who refused suffered the same fate.
Peter saw Shvabrin among the traitors. Alexey said something to Pugachev, and he decided to hang Grinev without an offer to take the oath. When young man They put a noose around his neck, Savelich convinced the robber to change his mind - he could get a ransom from the master's child. The mentor offered to hang himself instead of Peter. Pugachev spared both. Vasilisa Egorovna, seeing her husband in the noose, started screaming, and she was also killed, hit on the head with a saber.
Chapter 8: UNINVITED GUEST
Pugachev and his comrades celebrated the capture of another fortress. Marya Ivanovna survived. Popadya Akulina Pamfilovna hid her at home and passed her off as her niece. The impostor believed. Having learned this, Peter calmed down a little. Savelich told him that Pugachev was the drunkard who met him on the way to his place of service. Grinev was saved by the fact that he then gave the robber his sheepskin coat. Peter was lost in thought: duty required him to go to a new place of service, where he could be useful to the Fatherland, but love tied him to the Belogorsk fortress.
Later, Pugachev called Peter to his place and once again offered to enter his service. Grinev refused, saying that he had sworn allegiance to Catherine II and could not take his words back. The impostor liked the honesty and courage of the young man, and he let him go on all four sides.
Chapter 9: SEPARATION
In the morning, Pyotr Grinev woke up to the beat of drums and went out to the square. Cossacks gathered near the gallows. Pugachev released Peter to Orenburg and told him to warn about the imminent attack on the city. Alexey Shvabrin was appointed the new head of the fortress. Grinev was horrified to hear this, because Marya Ivanovna was now in danger. Savelich decided to make a claim to Pugachev and demand compensation for damage. The impostor was extremely indignant, but did not punish him.
Before leaving, Peter went to say goodbye to Marya Ivanovna. From the stress she suffered, she developed a fever, and the girl lay delirious, not recognizing the young man. Grinev was worried about her and decided that the only way he could help was to quickly reach Orenburg and help liberate the fortress. When Peter and Savelich were walking along the road to the city, a Cossack caught up with them. He was on a horse and holding the second one in the reins. The man said that Pugachev gave Grinev a horse, a fur coat from his shoulder and a yard of money, but he lost the latter on the way. The young man accepted the gifts, and advised the man to find the lost funds and take them for vodka.
Chapter 10: SIEGE OF THE CITY
Pyotr Grinev arrived in Orenburg and reported to the general the military situation. A council was immediately convened, but everyone except the young man was in favor of not attacking, but waiting for an attack. The general agreed with Grinev, but stated that he could not risk the people entrusted to him. Then Peter remained to wait in the city, occasionally making forays beyond the walls against Pugachev’s people. The robbers were much better armed than the warriors of the legitimate government.
During one of his forays, Grinev met sergeant Maksimych from the Belogorsk fortress. He gave the young man a letter from Marya Mironova, who reported that Alexei Shvabrin was forcing her to marry him, otherwise he would reveal to Pugachev the secret that she was the captain’s daughter and not the niece of Akulina Pamfilovna. Grinev was horrified by Marya’s words and immediately went to the general with a repeated request to march on the Belogorsk fortress, but was again refused.
Chapter 11: REBEL SLOBODA
Finding no help from the legitimate authorities, Pyotr Grinev left Orenburg to personally teach Alexey Shvabrin a lesson. Savelich refused to leave his ward and went with him. On the way, the young man and the old man were caught by Pugachev’s people, and they took Peter to their “father.” The leader of the robbers lived in a Russian hut, which was called a palace. The only difference from ordinary houses was that it was covered with gold paper. Pugachev always kept two advisers with him, whom he called enarals. One of them is the fugitive corporal Beloborodov, and the second is an exiled criminal Sokolov, nicknamed Khlopushka.
Pugachev became angry with Shvabrin when he learned that he was hurting the orphan. The man decided to help Peter and was even happy to learn that Marya was his fiancée. The next day they went together to the Belogorsk fortress. Faithful Savelich again refused to leave the master's child.
Chapter 12: ORPHAN
Arriving at the Belogorsk fortress, the travelers met Shvabrin. He called Marya his wife, which seriously angered Grinev, but the girl denied this. Pugachev was angry with Alexei, but pardoned him, threatening to remember this offense if he committed another one. Shvabrin looked pathetic, kneeling. Nevertheless, he had the courage to reveal Marya’s secret. Pugachev’s face darkened, but he realized that he had been deceived in order to save an innocent child, so he forgave and released the lovers.
Pugachev left. Marya Ivanovna said goodbye to the graves of her parents, packed her things and went to Orenburg along with Peter, Palasha and Savelich. Shvabrin's face expressed gloomy anger.
Chapter 13: ARREST
The travelers stopped in a city not far from Orenburg. There Grinev met an old acquaintance Zurin, to whom he once lost a hundred rubles. The man advised Peter not to marry at all, because love is a whim. Grinev did not agree with Zurin, but understood that he had to serve the empress, so he sent Marya to her parents as a bride, accompanied by Savelich, and he himself decided to remain in the army.
After saying goodbye to the girl, Peter had fun with Zurin, and then they set out on a hike. At the sight of the troops of the legitimate government, the rebellious villages came into obedience. Soon, under the Tatishcheva fortress, Prince Golitsyn defeated Pugachev and liberated Orenburg, but the impostor gathered a new gang, took Kazan and marched on Moscow. Still, after some time, Pugachev was caught. War is over. Peter received leave and was going to go home to his family and Marya. However, on the day of departure, Zurin received a letter with an order to detain Grinev and send him on guard to Kazan for the commission of inquiry into the Pugachev case. I had to obey.
Chapter 14: COURT
Pyotr Grinev was sure that he would not face serious punishment, and decided to tell everything as it is. However, the young man did not mention Marya Ivanovna’s name, so as not to involve her in this vile matter. The commission did not believe the young man and considered his father to be an unworthy son. During the investigation, it became known that the informer was Shvabrin.
Andrei Petrovich Grinev was horrified by the thought that his son was a traitor. The boy's mother was upset. Peter, only out of respect for his father, was spared execution and sentenced to exile in Siberia. Marya Ivanovna, whom the young man’s parents had fallen in love with, went to St. Petersburg. There, while walking, she met a noble lady, who, having learned that the girl was going to ask for favor from the Empress, listened to the story and said that she could help. Later it turned out that it was Catherine II herself. She pardoned Pyotr Grinev. Soon the young man and Marya Mironova got married, they had children, and Pugachev nodded to the young man before hanging in a noose.
MISSING CHAPTER
This chapter was not included in the final edition. Here Grinev is called Bulanin, and Zurin is called Grinev.
Peter pursued the Pugachevites, being in Zurin’s detachment. The troops found themselves near the banks of the Volga and not far from the Grinev estate. Peter decided to meet with his parents and Marya Ivanovna, so he went to them alone.
It turned out that the village was in a riot, and the young man’s family was in captivity. When Grinev entered the barn, the peasants locked him in with them. Savelich went to report this to Zurin. Meanwhile, Shvabrin arrived in the village and ordered the barn to be set on fire. Peter's father wounded Alexei, and the family was able to get out of the burning barn. At that moment, Zurin arrived and saved them from Shvabrin, the Pugachevites and the rebellious peasants. Alexei was sent to Kazan for trial, the peasants were pardoned, and Grinev Jr. went to suppress the remnants of the rebellion.
Interesting? Save it on your wall!In 1836, Pushkin’s story “The Captain’s Daughter” was first published in the Sovremennik magazine. A story that we all went through in school and which few re-read later. A story that is much more complex and deeper than is commonly believed. What is there in “The Captain’s Daughter” that remains outside the scope of school curriculum? Why is it still relevant today? And why is it called “the most Christian work of Russian literature”? The writer and literary critic answered these and other questions Alexey Varlamov.
According to fairy tale laws
At the very beginning of the twentieth century, one ambitious writer, who came to St. Petersburg from the provinces and dreamed of getting into the St. Petersburg religious and philosophical society, brought his writings to the court of Zinaida Gippius. The decadent witch spoke poorly of his opuses. “Read The Captain's Daughter,” was her instruction. Mikhail Prishvin - and he was a young writer - brushed aside this parting word, because he considered it offensive, but a quarter of a century later, having experienced a lot, he wrote in his diary: “My homeland is not Yelets, where I was born, not St. Petersburg, where I settled down to live, both are now archeology for me... my homeland, unsurpassed in simple beauty, in the kindness and wisdom combined with it - my homeland is Pushkin’s story “The Captain’s Daughter”.
And in fact, here is an amazing work that everyone recognized and never tried to throw off the ship of modernity. Neither in the metropolis, nor in exile, nor under any political regimes or power sentiments. In Soviet schools, this story was taught in the seventh grade. How I remember now an essay on the topic “ Comparative characteristics Shvabrina and Grineva." Shvabrin is the embodiment of individualism, slander, meanness, evil, Grinev is nobility, kindness, honor. Good and evil come into conflict and ultimately good wins. It would seem that everything is very simple in this conflict, linear - but no. “The Captain's Daughter” is a very difficult work.
Firstly, this story was preceded, as we know, by “The History of the Pugachev Rebellion”, in relation to which “The Captain’s Daughter” is formally a kind of artistic application, but in essence, a refraction, transformation historical views the author, including the personality of Pugachev, which Tsvetaeva very accurately noted in the essay “My Pushkin.” And in general, it is no coincidence that Pushkin published the story in Sovremennik not under his own name, but in the genre of family notes, allegedly inherited by the publisher from one of Grinev’s descendants, and only gave his own title and epigraphs to the chapters. And secondly, The Captain's Daughter has another predecessor and companion - the unfinished novel Dubrovsky, and these two works are connected by a very whimsical relationship. Who is Vladimir Dubrovsky closer to - Grinev or Shvabrin? Morally - of course to the first. What about historically? Dubrovsky and Shvabrin are both traitors to the nobility, albeit for different reasons, and both end badly. Perhaps it is precisely in this paradoxical similarity that one can find an explanation for why Pushkin refused further work above “Dubrovsky” and from the not fully outlined, somewhat vague, sad image of the main character, the pair Grinev and Shvabrin arose, where everyone’s external corresponds to their internal and both get their deeds, as in a moral tale.
“The Captain's Daughter”, in fact, was written according to fairy tale laws. The hero behaves generously and nobly towards random and seemingly unnecessary people - an officer who, taking advantage of his inexperience, beats him at billiards, pays a hundred rubles for his loss, a random passer-by who took him out onto the road, treats him to vodka and gives him a hare sheepskin coat, and for this they later repay him with great good. So Ivan Tsarevich unselfishly saves a pike or a turtledove, and for this they help him defeat Kashchei. Grinev’s uncle Savelich (in a fairy tale it would be “ Gray wolf"or "Humpbacked Horse"), with the undoubted warmth and charm of this image, the plot looks like an obstacle to Grinev's fairy-tale correctness: he is against the “child” paying off a gambling debt and rewarding Pugachev, because of him Grinev is wounded in a duel, because He is captured by the impostor's soldiers when he goes to rescue Masha Mironova. But at the same time, Savelich stands up for the master in front of Pugachev and gives him a register of looted things, thanks to which Grinev receives a horse as compensation, on which he travels out of besieged Orenburg.
Under supervision from above
There is no pretentiousness here. In Pushkin's prose there is an invisible connection of circumstances, but it is not artificial, but natural and hierarchical. Pushkin's fabulousness turns into the highest realism, that is, the real and effective presence of God in the world of people. Providence (but not the author, like, for example, Tolstoy in War and Peace, who removes Helen Kuragina from the stage when he needs to make Pierre free) guides Pushkin’s heroes. This in no way cancels the well-known formula “what a trick Tatyana ran away with me, she got married” - it’s just that Tatyana’s fate is a manifestation of a higher will, which she is given the power to recognize. And the same gift of obedience is possessed by the dowry-free Masha Mironova, who wisely is not in a hurry to marry Petrusha Grinev (the option of attempting marriage without parental blessing is half-seriously and half-parodically presented in “Blizzard”, and it is known what it leads to), but relies on Providence, better knowing what is needed for her happiness and when its time will come.
In Pushkin’s world, everything is under supervision from above, but still both Masha Mironova and Liza Muromskaya from “The Young Lady the Peasant” were happier than Tatyana Larina. Why - God knows. This tormented Rozanov, for whom Tatyana’s tired look turned to her husband crosses out her whole life, but the only thing she could console herself with is that she became female symbol fidelity, a trait that Pushkin revered in both men and women, although he put different meanings into them.
One of the most persistent motifs in “The Captain’s Daughter” is the motif of maiden innocence, maiden honor, so the epigraph to the story “Take care of honor from a young age” can be attributed not only to Grinev, but also to Masha Mironova, and her story of preserving honor is no less dramatic than him. The threat of being subjected to violence is the most terrible and real thing that can happen to the captain's daughter throughout almost the entire story. She is threatened by Shvabrin, potentially threatened by Pugachev and his people (it is no coincidence that Shvabrin scares Masha with the fate of Lizaveta Kharlova, the wife of the commandant of the Nizhneozersk fortress, who, after her husband was killed, became Pugachev’s concubine), and finally, she is threatened by Zurin. Let us remember that when Zurin’s soldiers detain Grinev as the “sovereign’s godfather”, the officer’s order follows: “take me to the prison and bring the hostess to you.” And then, when everything is explained, Zurin asks the lady to apologize for his hussars.
And in the chapter that Pushkin excluded from the final edition, the dialogue between Marya Ivanovna and Grinev is significant, when both are captured by Shvabrin:
“- That’s enough, Pyotr Andreich! Don’t ruin yourself and your parents for me. Let me out. Shvabrin will listen to me!
“No way,” I shouted with my heart. - Do you know what awaits you?
“I won’t survive dishonor,” she answered calmly.”
And when the attempt to free himself ends in failure, the wounded traitor Shvabrin issues exactly the same order as the faithful Zurin (who bears the surname Grinev in this chapter):
“- Hang him... and everyone... except her...”
Pushkin's woman is the main spoil of war and the most defenseless creature in war.
How to preserve a man's honor is more or less obvious. But to a girl?
This question probably tormented the author; it is no coincidence that he so persistently returns to the fate of Captain Mironov’s wife Vasilisa Yegorovna, who, after the capture of the fortress, Pugachev’s robbers, “disheveled and stripped naked,” were taken out onto the porch, and then her, again naked, body lay on everyone’s in sight under the porch, and only the next day Grinev looks for it with his eyes and notices that it is moved a little to the side and covered with matting. In essence, Vasilisa Yegorovna takes upon herself what was intended for her daughter and averts dishonor from her.
A kind of comic antithesis to the narrator’s ideas about the preciousness of a girl’s honor are the words of Grinev’s commander, General Andrei Karlovich R., who, fearing the same thing that became moral torture for Grinev (“You can’t rely on the discipline of robbers. What will happen to the poor girl?”), He argues in a completely German, practical, everyday manner and in the spirit of Belkin’s “Undertaker”:
“(...) it’s better for her to be Shvabrin’s wife for now: he can now provide her with protection; and when we shoot him, then, God willing, suitors will be found for her. Nice little widows don't sit as girls; that is, I wanted to say that a widow is more likely to find a husband than a maiden.”
And Grinev’s hot answer is typical:
“I would rather agree to die,” I said in rage, “than to give it up to Shvabrin!”
Dialogue with Gogol
“The Captain’s Daughter” was written almost simultaneously with Gogol, and between these works there is also a very intense, dramatic dialogue, hardly conscious, but all the more significant.
In both stories, the beginning of the action is connected with the manifestation of the father's will, which contradicts the mother's love and overcomes her.
From Pushkin: “The thought of a quick separation from me struck my mother so much that she dropped the spoon into the saucepan, and tears streamed down her face.”
From Gogol: “The poor old woman (...) did not dare to say anything; but, hearing about such a terrible decision for her, she could not help but cry; she looked at her children, with whom such a quick separation threatened her, - and no one could describe all the silent grief that seemed to tremble in her eyes and in her convulsively compressed lips.”
The fathers are decisive in both cases.
“Father did not like to change his intentions or postpone their execution,” Grinev reports in his notes.
Gogol’s wife Taras hopes that “perhaps Bulba, waking up, will delay his departure for a day or two,” but “he (Bulba. - A.V.) remembered very well everything that he ordered yesterday.”
Both Pushkin and Gogol’s fathers do not look for an easy life for their children; they send them to places where it is either dangerous or at least not social entertainment and extravagance, and give them instructions.
“Now, mother, bless your children! - said Bulba. “Pray to God that they fight bravely, that they always defend the honor of a knight, that they always stand for the faith of Christ, otherwise it would be better if they disappeared, so that their spirit would not be in the world!”
“Father told me: “Goodbye, Peter. Serve faithfully to whom you pledge allegiance; obey your superiors; Don’t chase their affection; don’t ask for service; do not dissuade yourself from serving; and remember the proverb: take care of your dress again, but take care of your honor from a young age.”
The conflict of both works is built around these moral precepts.
Ostap and Andriy, Grinev and Shvabrin - loyalty and betrayal, honor and betrayal - these are the leitmotifs of the two stories.
Shvabrin is written in such a way that nothing excuses or justifies him. He is the embodiment of meanness and insignificance, and for him the usually reserved Pushkin does not spare black colors. This is no longer a complex Byronic type, like Onegin, and not a cute parody of a disappointed romantic hero, like Alexey Berestov from “The Young Peasant Lady,” who wore a black ring with image of a dead woman heads. A man who is capable of slandering a girl who refused him (“If you want Masha Mironova to come to you at dusk, then instead of tender poems, give her a pair of earrings,” he tells Grinev) and thereby violate noble honor, will easily betray his oath. Pushkin consciously goes to simplify and reduce the image of a romantic hero and duelist, and the last mark on him is the words of the martyr Vasilisa Egorovna: “He was discharged from the guard for murder and was discharged from the guard, he does not believe in the Lord God.”
That’s right - he doesn’t believe in the Lord, this is the most terrible baseness of the human fall, and this assessment of what is precious is in the mouth of one who once himself took “lessons of pure atheism,” but by the end of his life he artistically merged with Christianity.
Betrayal in Gogol is a different matter. It is, so to speak, more romantic, more seductive. Andria was destroyed by love, sincere, deep, selfless. The author writes bitterly about the last minute of his life: “Andriy was as pale as a sheet; you could see how quietly his lips moved and how he pronounced someone’s name; but it was not the name of the fatherland, or mother, or brothers - it was the name of a beautiful Pole.”
Actually, Gogol’s Andriy dies much earlier than Taras utters the famous “I gave birth to you, I will kill you.” He dies (“And the Cossack died! He disappeared for all the Cossack knighthood”) at the moment when he kisses the “fragrant lips” of the beautiful Pole and feels what “a person is given to feel only once in his life.”
But in Pushkin, the scene of Grinev’s farewell to Masha Mironova on the eve of Pugachev’s attack was written as if to spite Gogol:
“Farewell, my angel,” I said, “farewell, my dear, my desired one!” Whatever happens to me, believe that my last (emphasis added - A.V.) thought will be about you.”
And further: “I kissed her passionately and hastily left the room.”
In Pushkin, love for a woman is not an obstacle to noble loyalty and honor, but its guarantee and the sphere where this honor manifests itself to the greatest extent. In the Zaporozhye Sich, in this revelry and “continuous feast”, which had something bewitching about it, there is everything except one. “Only women admirers could not find anything here.” At Pushkin's a beautiful woman is everywhere, even in the garrison outback. And there is love everywhere.
And the Cossacks themselves, with their spirit of male camaraderie, are romanticized and heroized by Gogol and depicted in a completely different way by Pushkin. First, the Cossacks treacherously go over to Pugachev’s side, then hand over their leader to the tsar. And both sides know in advance that they are wrong.
“- Take appropriate measures! - said the commandant, taking off his glasses and folding the paper. - Listen, it’s easy to say. The villain is apparently strong; and we have only one hundred and thirty people, not counting the Cossacks, for whom there is little hope, no matter how much it’s said to you, Maksimych. (The officer grinned.).”
“The impostor thought a little and said in a low voice:
- God knows. My street is cramped; I have little will. My guys are smart. They are thieves. I have to keep my ears open; at the first failure, they will ransom their neck with my head.”
But from Gogol: “As long as I have lived, I have never heard, gentlemen brothers, of a Cossack leaving somewhere or somehow selling his comrade.”
But the very word “comrades”, in whose glory Bulba makes his famous speech, is found in “The Captain’s Daughter” in the scene when Pugachev and his associates sing the song “Don’t make noise, mother, green oak tree” about the Cossack’s comrades - the dark night, the damask knife , a good horse and a strong bow.
And Grinev, who had just witnessed the terrible outrage committed by the Cossacks in the Belogorsk fortress, is shocked by this singing.
“It is impossible to tell what effect this simple folk song about the gallows, sung by people doomed to the gallows, had on me. Their menacing faces, slender voices, the sad expression they gave to words that were already expressive - everything shocked me with some kind of pyitic horror.”
Movement of history
Gogol writes about the cruelty of the Cossacks - “beaten babies, cut off breasts of women, skin torn off from the legs up to the knees of those released (...) the Cossacks did not respect black-browed panyankas, white-breasted, fair-faced girls; they could not save themselves at the very altars,” and he does not condemn this cruelty, considering it an inevitable feature of that heroic time that gave birth to people like Taras or Ostap.
The only time he steps on the throat of this song is in the scene of Ostap's torture and execution.
“Let us not confuse our readers with a picture of hellish torments that would make their hair stand on end. They were the product of that rough, ferocious age, when man still led a bloody life of military exploits and hardened his soul in it, not feeling humanity.”
Pushkin’s description of an old Bashkir man, disfigured by torture, a participant in the unrest of 1741, who cannot say anything to his torturers because a short stump moves in his mouth instead of a tongue, is accompanied by a seemingly similar sentiment from Grinev: “When I remember that this happened on my age and that I have now lived to see the meek reign of Emperor Alexander, I cannot help but marvel at the rapid successes of enlightenment and the spread of the rules of philanthropy.”
But in general, Pushkin’s attitude to history was different from Gogol’s - he saw the meaning in its movement, saw the goal in it and knew that there is God’s Providence in history. Hence his famous letter to Chaadaev, hence the movement of the people’s voice in “Boris Godunov” from the thoughtless and frivolous recognition of Boris as the tsar at the beginning of the drama and to the remark “the people are silent” at its end.
In Gogol, “Taras Bulba” as a story about the past is contrasted with “ Dead Souls"of the present, and the vulgarity of the new time is worse for him than the cruelty of the old days.
It is noteworthy that in both stories there is a scene of the execution of heroes in front of a large crowd of people, and in both cases the person condemned to execution finds a familiar face or voice in a strange crowd.
“But when they brought him to his last mortal throes, it seemed as if his strength began to give out. And he looked around him: God, God, all the unknown, all the strange faces! If only someone close to him had been present at his death! He would not want to hear the sobs and contrition of a weak mother or the insane cries of his wife, tearing out her hair and beating her white breasts; Now he would like to see a firm husband who would refresh and console him with a reasonable word at his death. And he fell with strength and exclaimed in spiritual weakness:
- Father! Where are you? Can you hear?
- I hear! - rang out amid the general silence, and the whole million people shuddered at the same time.”
Pushkin is stingier here too.
“He was present at the execution of Pugachev, who recognized him in the crowd and nodded his head to him, which a minute later, dead and bloody, was shown to the people.”