Where was the captain's daughter written? Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin, "The Captain's Daughter": analysis, theme, main characters
The history of the creation of "The Captain's Daughter" may be of interest to anyone who has read this historical novel by Pushkin or in its entirety.
"The Captain's Daughter" writing history
From the middle 1832 A. S. Pushkin begins work on the history of the uprising led by Emelyan Pugachev. The poet was given the opportunity to get acquainted with the king classified materials about the uprising and the actions of the authorities to suppress it. Pushkin refers to unpublished documents from family archives and private collections. His “Archival Notebooks” contain copies of Pugachev’s personal decrees and letters, extracts from reports on military operations with Pugachev’s detachments.
IN 1833 year, Pushkin decides to go to those places in the Volga and Urals regions where the uprising took place. He looks forward to meeting eyewitnesses of these events. Having received permission from Emperor Nicholas I, Pushkin leaves for Kazan. “I’ve been in Kazan since the fifth. Here I tinkered with the old people, my hero’s contemporaries; I traveled around the outskirts of the city, examined the battle sites, asked questions, wrote down notes, and was very pleased that I had not visited this side in vain,” he writes to his wife Natalya Nikolaevna on September 8. Next, the poet goes to Simbirsk and Orenburg, where he also visits the battle sites and meets with contemporaries of the events.
From materials about the riot, “The History of Pugachev” was formed, written in Boldin in the fall of 1833. This work of Pushkin was published in 1834 entitled “The History of the Pugachev Rebellion”, which was given to him by the emperor. But Pushkin had a plan work of art about the Pugachev uprising of 1773–1775. The plan of the novel about a renegade nobleman who found himself in Pugachev’s camp changed several times. This is also explained by the fact that the topic that Pushkin addressed was ideologically and politically acute and complex. The poet could not help but think about the censorship obstacles that had to be overcome. Archival materials, stories of living Pugachevites, which he heard during a trip to the site of the uprising of 1773–1774, could be used with great caution.
According to the original plan, he was supposed to become a nobleman who voluntarily went over to Pugachev’s side. His prototype was second lieutenant of the 2nd Grenadier Regiment Mikhail Shvanovich (in the plans of the novel Shvanvich), who “preferred a vile life to an honest death.” His name was mentioned in the document “On the death penalty for the traitor, rebel and impostor Pugachev and his accomplices.” Later, Pushkin chose the fate of another real participant in Pugachev’s events - Basharin. Basharin was captured by Pugachev, escaped from captivity and entered the service of one of the suppressors of the uprising, General Mikhelson. The name of the main character changed several times until Pushkin settled on the surname Grinev. In the government report on the liquidation of the Pugachev uprising and the punishment of Pugachev and his accomplices dated January 10, 1775, Grinev’s name was listed among those who were initially suspected of “communication with the villains,” but “as a result of the investigation they turned out to be innocent” and were released from arrest. As a result, instead of one hero-nobleman in the novel, there were two: Grinev was contrasted with a nobleman-traitor, the “vile villain” Shvabrin, which could make it easier to carry the novel through censorship barriers.
While working on a historical novel, Pushkin relied on the creative experience of the English novelist Walter Scott (Nicholas I himself was among his many admirers in Russia) and the first Russian historical novelists M.N. Zagoskin, I.I. Lazhechnikov. “In our time, the word novel means historical era developed in a fictional narrative" - this is how Pushkin defined the main genre feature of the novel based on historical topic. The choice of era, heroes, and especially the style of “fictional narrative” made “The Captain’s Daughter” not only the best among the novels of V. Scott’s Russian followers. According to Gogol, Pushkin wrote “a one-of-a-kind novel” - “in its sense of proportion, in its completeness, in its style and in its amazing skill in depicting types and characters in miniature...” Pushkin the artist became not only a rival, but also a “winner” of Pushkin -historian. As the outstanding Russian historian V.O. Klyuchevsky noted, in “The Captain’s Daughter” “ more history than in “The History of the Pugachev Rebellion,” which seems like a long explanatory note to the novel.”
Pushkin continued to work on this work in 1834. In 1836 he reworked it. October 19, 1836 year – the date of completion of work on “The Captain’s Daughter”. “ Captain's daughter” was published in the fourth issue of Pushkin’s Sovremennik at the end of December 1836, a little over a month before the poet’s death.
Now you know the history of the writing and creation of Pushkin’s novel “The Captain’s Daughter” and will be able to understand the entire historicism of the work.
In 1836, Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin wrote the story “The Captain’s Daughter”, which appeared historical description Pugachev uprising. In his work, Pushkin was based on real events 1773-1775, when, under the leadership of Emelyan Pugachev (Liar Peter Fedorovich), the Yaik Cossacks, who took escaped convicts, thieves and villains as their servants, began peasant war. Pyotr Grinev and Maria Mironova are fictional characters, but their destinies very truthfully reflect the sad time of the brutal civil war.
Pushkin designed his story in a realistic form in the form of notes from the diary of the main character Pyotr Grinev, made years after the uprising. The lyrics of the work are interesting in their presentation - Grinev writes his diary in mature age, rethinking everything he had experienced. At the time of the uprising, he was a young nobleman loyal to his Empress. He looked at the rebels as savages who fought with particular cruelty against the Russian people. During the course of the story, one can see how the heartless ataman Pugachev, who executes dozens of honest officers, over time, by the will of fate, wins favor in Grinev’s heart and finds sparks of nobility in his eyes.
Chapter 1. Sergeant of the Guard
At the beginning of the story main character Pyotr Grinev tells the reader about his young life. He is the only survivor of 9 children of a retired major and a poor noblewoman; he lived in a middle-class noble family. The old servant was actually involved in raising the young master. Peter's education was low, since his father, a retired major, hired the French hairdresser Beaupre, who led an immoral lifestyle, as a tutor. For drunkenness and dissolute acts he was expelled from the estate. And his father decided to send 17-year-old Petrusha, through old connections, to serve in Orenburg (instead of St. Petersburg, where he was supposed to go to serve in the guard) and assigned an old servant Savelich to look after him. Petrusha was upset, because instead of partying in the capital, a dull existence in the wilderness awaited him. During a stop along the way, the young master made an acquaintance with the rake-captain Zurin, because of whom, under the pretext of learning, he became involved in playing billiards. Then Zurin suggested playing for money and as a result Petrusha lost as much as 100 rubles - a lot of money at that time. Savelich, being the keeper of the master’s “treasury,” is against Peter paying the debt, but the master insists. The servant is indignant, but gives the money.
Chapter 2. Counselor
In the end, Peter is ashamed of his loss and promises Savelich not to play for money anymore. What awaits them ahead long road, and the servant forgives the master. But due to Petrusha’s indiscretion, they again find themselves in trouble - the approaching snowstorm did not bother the young man and he ordered the coachman not to return. As a result, they lost their way and almost froze to death. As luck would have it, they met a stranger who helped the lost travelers find their way to the inn.
Grinev recalls how, tired from the road, he had a dream in a wagon, which he called prophetic: he sees his house and his mother, who says that his father is dying. Then he sees an unfamiliar man with a beard in his father’s bed, and his mother says that he is her sworn husband. The stranger wants to give his “father’s” blessing, but Peter refuses, and then the man takes up an ax, and corpses appear around. He doesn't touch Peter.
They arrive at an inn that resembles a thieves' den. A stranger, frozen in the cold in only an army coat, asks Petrusha for wine, and he treats him. A strange conversation took place between the man and the owner of the house in thieves' language. Peter does not understand the meaning, but everything he heard seems very strange to him. Leaving the shelter, Peter, to Savelich’s further displeasure, thanked the guide by giving him a sheepskin coat. To which the stranger bowed, saying that the century would not forget such mercy.
When Peter finally gets to Orenburg, his father’s colleague, having read the cover letter with instructions to keep the young man “with a tight rein,” sends him to serve in Belgorod fortress- even more wilderness. This could not but upset Peter, who had long dreamed of a guards uniform.
Chapter 3. Fortress
The owner of the Belgorod garrison was Ivan Kuzmich Mironov, but his wife, Vasilisa Egorovna, was actually in charge of everything. Grinev immediately liked simple and sincere people. The middle-aged Mironov couple had a daughter, Masha, but so far their acquaintance has not taken place. In the fortress (which turned out to be a simple village), Peter meets the young lieutenant Alexei Ivanovich Shvabrin, who was exiled here from the guard for a duel that ended in the death of his opponent. Shvabrin, having a habit of speaking unflatteringly about those around him, often spoke sarcastically about Masha, the captain’s daughter, making her look like a complete fool. Then Grinev himself meets the commander’s daughter and questions the lieutenant’s statements.
Chapter 4. Duel
By his nature, kind and good-natured, Grinev began to become closer and closer friends with the commandant and his family, and moved away from Shvabrin. The captain's daughter Masha had no dowry, but ended up charming girl. Shvabrin's caustic remarks did not please Peter. Inspired by thoughts of the young girl on quiet evenings, he began to write poems for her, the contents of which he shared with a friend. But he ridiculed him, and even more began to humiliate Masha’s dignity, assuring that she would come at night to someone who would give her a pair of earrings.
As a result, the friends quarreled, and it came to a duel. Vasilisa Egorovna, the commandant’s wife, found out about the duel, but the duelists pretended to make peace, deciding to postpone the meeting until the next day. But in the morning, as soon as they had time to draw their swords, Ivan Ignatich and 5 disabled people were escorted out to Vasilisa Yegorovna. Having reprimanded them properly, she released them. In the evening, Masha, alarmed by the news of the duel, told Peter about Shvabrin’s unsuccessful matchmaking with her. Now Grinev understood his motives for his behavior. The duel still took place. The confident swordsman Peter, taught at least something worthwhile by tutor Beaupre, turned out to be a strong opponent for Shvabrin. But Savelich appeared at the duel, Peter hesitated for a second and ended up wounded.
Chapter 5. Love
The wounded Peter was nursed by his servant and Masha. As a result, the duel brought the young people closer together, and they were inflamed mutual love to each other. Wanting to marry Masha, Grinev sends a letter to his parents.
Grinev made peace with Shvabrin. Peter's father, having learned about the duel and not wanting to hear about the marriage, became furious and sent his son angry letter, where he threatened to be transferred from the fortress. At a loss as to how his father could have found out about the duel, Peter attacked Savelich with accusations, but he himself received a letter of dissatisfaction from the owner. Grinev finds only one answer - Shvabrin reported the duel. His father’s refusal to give his blessing does not change Peter’s intentions, but Masha does not agree to get married secretly. They move away from each other for a while, and Grinev realizes that unhappy love can deprive him of his reason and lead to debauchery.
Chapter 6. Pugachevism
Trouble begins in the Belgorod fortress. Captain Mironov receives an order from the general to prepare the fortress for an attack by rebels and robbers. Emelyan Pugachev, who called himself Peter III, escaped from custody and terrified the surrounding area. According to rumors, he had already captured several fortresses and was approaching Belgorod. It was impossible to count on victory with 4 officers and army “disabled” soldiers. Alarmed by rumors about the capture of a neighboring fortress and the execution of officers, Captain Mironov decided to send Masha and Vasilisa Yegorovna to Orenburg, where the fortress was stronger. The captain's wife speaks out against leaving, and decides not to leave her husband in Hard time. Masha says goodbye to Peter, but she fails to leave the fortress.
Chapter 7. Attack
Ataman Pugachev appears at the walls of the fortress and offers to surrender without a fight. Commandant Mironov, having learned about the betrayal of the constable and several Cossacks who joined the rebel clan, does not agree to the proposal. He orders his wife to dress Masha as a commoner and take her to the priest’s hut, while he opens fire on the rebels. The battle ends with the capture of the fortress, which, together with the city, passes into the hands of Pugachev.
Right at the commandant’s house, Pugachev commits reprisals against those who refused to take the oath to him. He orders the execution of Captain Mironov and Lieutenant Ivan Ignatyich. Grinev decides that he will not swear allegiance to the robber and will accept an honest death. However, then Shvabrin comes up to Pugachev and whispers something in his ear. The chieftain decides not to ask for the oath, ordering all three to be hanged. But the old faithful servant Savelich throws himself at the ataman’s feet and he agrees to pardon Grinev. Ordinary soldiers and city residents take the oath of allegiance to Pugachev. As soon as the oath was over, Pugachev decided to have dinner, but the Cossacks dragged the naked Vasilisa Yegorovna by the hair from the commandant’s house, where they were plundering property, who was screaming for her husband and cursing the convict. The chieftain ordered to kill her.
Chapter 8. Uninvited Guest
Grinev's heart is not in the right place. He understands that if the soldiers find out that Masha is here and alive, she cannot avoid reprisals, especially since Shvabrin took the side of the rebels. He knows that his beloved is hiding in the priest's house. In the evening, the Cossacks arrived, sent to take him to Pugachev. Although Peter did not accept the Liar’s offer of all sorts of honors for the oath, the conversation between the rebel and the officer was friendly. Pugachev remembered the good and now granted Peter freedom in return.
Chapter 9. Separation
The next morning, in front of the people, Pugachev called Peter to him and told him to go to Orenburg and report his attack in a week. Savelich began to bother about the looted property, but the villain said that he would let him go to sheepskin coats for such impudence. Grinev and his servant leave Belogorsk. Pugachev appoints Shvabrin as commandant, and he himself goes off to his next exploits.
Peter and Savelich are walking, but one of Pugachev’s gang caught up with them and said that His Majesty was granting them a horse and a sheepskin coat, and half a rouble, but he supposedly lost it.
Masha fell ill and lay delirious.
Chapter 10. Siege of the city
Arriving in Orenburg, Grinev immediately reported on Pugachev’s actions in the Belgorod fortress. A council met, at which everyone except Peter voted for defense rather than attack.
A long siege begins - hunger and need. On his next foray into the enemy’s camp, Peter receives a letter from Masha in which she begs to be saved. Shvabrin wants to marry her and keeps her captive. Grinev goes to the general with a request to give half a company of soldiers to save the girl, but he is refused. Then Peter decides to help out his beloved alone.
Chapter 11. Rebel settlement
On the way to the fortress, Peter ends up on Pugachev’s guard and is taken for interrogation. Grinev honestly tells everything about his plans to the troublemaker and says that he is free to do whatever he wants with him. Pugachev's thug advisors offer to execute the officer, but he says, “have mercy, so have mercy.”
Together with the robber chieftain, Peter travels to the Belgorod fortress; on the road they have a conversation. The rebel says that he wants to go to Moscow. Peter pities him in his heart, begging him to surrender to the mercy of the empress. But Pugachev knows that it’s too late, and says, come what may.
Chapter 12. Orphan
Shvabrin holds the girl on water and bread. Pugachev pardons the AWOL, but from Shvabrin he learns that Masha is the daughter of an unsworn commandant. At first he is furious, but Peter, with his sincerity, wins favor this time too.
Chapter 13. Arrest
Pugachev gives Peter a pass to all outposts. Happy lovers travel to parents' house. They confused the army convoy with Pugachev's traitors and were arrested. Grinev recognized Zurin as the head of the outpost. He said that he was going home to get married. He dissuades him, assuring him to stay in the service. Peter himself understands that duty calls him. He sends Masha and Savelich to their parents.
The military actions of the detachments that came to the rescue ruined the robber plans. But Pugachev could not be caught. Then rumors spread that he was rampant in Siberia. Zurin's detachment is sent to suppress another outbreak. Grinev recalls the unfortunate villages plundered by savages. The troops had to take away what people were able to save. News arrived that Pugachev had been caught.
Chapter 14. Court
Grinev, following Shvabrin's denunciation, was arrested as a traitor. He could not justify himself with love, fearing that Masha would also be interrogated. The Empress, taking into account his father's merits, pardoned him, but sentenced him to lifelong exile. The father was in shock. Masha decided to go to St. Petersburg and ask the Empress for her beloved.
By the will of fate, Maria meets the Empress in the early autumn morning and tells her everything, not knowing who she is talking to. That same morning, a cab driver was sent to pick her up at the house of a socialite, where Masha had settled down for a while, with the order to deliver Mironov’s daughter to the palace.
There Masha saw Catherine II and recognized her as her interlocutor.
Grinev was released from hard labor. Pugachev was executed. Standing on the scaffold in the crowd, he saw Grinev and nodded.
Reunited loving hearts continued the Grinev family, and in their Simbirsk province a letter from Catherine II was kept under glass, pardoning Peter and praising Mary for her intelligence and kind heart.
Russian poet, playwright and prose writer, who laid the foundations of Russian realistic direction, critic and literary theorist, historian, publicist; one of the most authoritative literary figures first thirds of the XIX century.
Pushkin in his work, which is art encyclopedia 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, tragic loneliness advanced noble intelligentsia 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.
"The Captain's Daughter" belongs to the circus 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 terrible events 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, smoothly combed behind the 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.” " Empty place 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 chose to die next to her husband rather than go to safety. 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 “bright hopes” of young Grinev for have a fun life in St. Petersburg collapsed, ahead awaited “boredom in the deaf and distant side.”
About Renburg
Approaching Orenburg, Grinev and Savelich fell into a snowstorm. Random person, met on the road, leads the wagon, lost in the blizzard, to the sweep. While the wagon was “quietly moving” towards housing, Pyotr Andreevich dreamed horrible dream, in which fifty-year-old Grinev sees something prophetic, connecting it with the “strange circumstances” of his later 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; alive big eyes so they ran. 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 “family” for the Mironovs, and he himself “ in an unnoticed way‹…› 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, as for an eagle from Kalmyk fairy tale, which he tells Grinev with “wild inspiration”, “than eating carrion for three hundred years, better times drink living blood; 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.
A long time ago, a very long time ago (this is how my grandmother began her story), at a time when I was no more than sixteen years old, we lived - me and my late father - in the Nizhne-Ozernaya fortress, on the Orenburg line. I must tell you that this fortress did not at all resemble either the local city of Simbirsk, or that provincial town to which you, my child, went last year: it was so small that even a five-year-old child would not have gotten tired of running around it; the houses in it were all small, low, mostly made of twigs, coated with clay, covered with straw and fenced with wattles. But Nizhne-ozernaya also did not resemble your father’s village, because this fortress had, in addition to huts on chicken legs, an old wooden church, quite large and equally an old house a serf warden, a guardhouse and long log grain stores. In addition, our fortress was surrounded on three sides by a log fence, with two gates and pointed turrets in the corners, and the fourth side was tightly adjacent to the Ural bank, steep as a wall and high as the local cathedral. Not only was Nizhneozernaya so well fenced: there were two or three old cast-iron cannons in it, and about fifty of the same old and grimy soldiers, who, although they were a little decrepit, still stood on their own feet, had long guns and cutlasses, and after every evening dawn cheerfully shouted: with God the night begins. Although our disabled people rarely managed to show their courage, it was impossible to do without them; because in the old days the side there was very restless: the Bashkirs were either rebelling, or the Kirghiz were robbing - all infidel Busurmans, fierce as wolves and terrible as unclean spirits. They not only captured their filthy captivity Christian people and drove away the Christian herds; but sometimes they even approached the very back of our fortress, threatening to chop and burn us all. In such cases, our little soldiers had enough work: for whole days they shot back at the adversaries from small towers and through the cracks of the old tine. My late father (who received the rank of captain during the time of Empress Elisaveta Petrovna of blessed memory) commanded both these honored old men and other residents of Nizhneozernaya - retired soldiers, Cossacks and commoners; in short, he was a commandant in the present day, but in the old commander fortresses My father (God remember his soul in the kingdom of heaven) was a man of the old century: fair, cheerful, talkative, he called the service mother, and the sword sister - and in every matter he loved to insist on his own. I no longer had a mother. God took her to Him before I could pronounce her name. So, in the large commander’s house that I told you about, only the priest lived, and I, and several old orderlies and maids. You might think that we were quite bored in such a remote place. Nothing happened! Time rolled by for us as quickly as for all Orthodox Christians. Habit, my child, adorns every life, unless the constant thought comes into one’s head that it's good where we are not, as the proverb says. Moreover, boredom is mostly attached to idle people; and my father and I rarely sat with our hands crossed. He or learned his dear soldiers (it is clear that the soldier’s science needs to be studied for a whole century!), or read sacred books, although, to tell the truth, this happened quite rarely, because the deceased light (God grant him the kingdom of heaven) was learned in ancient, and he himself used to say jokingly that he was not given a diploma, like infantry service was given to a Turk. But he was a great master - and he looked after everything in the field with his own eye, so that in the summer he spent whole days in the meadows and arable fields. I must tell you, my child, that both we and the other inhabitants of the fortress sowed grain and cut hay - not much, not like your father’s peasants, but as much as we needed for household use. You can judge the danger in which we lived then by the fact that our farmers worked in the field only under the cover of a significant convoy, which was supposed to protect them from attacks by the Kyrgyz, who were constantly prowling around the line like hungry wolves. That is why my father’s presence during field work was necessary not only for its success, but also for the safety of the workers. You see, my child, that my father had plenty to do. As for me, I didn’t kill time in vain. Without boasting, I will say that, despite my youth, I was a real mistress of the house, I was in charge in the kitchen and in the cellar, and sometimes, in the absence of the priest, in the yard itself. I sewed the dress for myself (we’ve never even heard of fashion stores here); and besides that, she found time to mend her father’s caftans, because the company tailor Trofimov was beginning to see poorly in his old age, so one day (it was funny, really) he put a patch, past the hole, in the whole place. Having managed to attend to my household affairs in this way, I never missed an opportunity to visit God’s temple, unless our father Blasius (God forgive him) was too lazy to celebrate the Divine Liturgy. However, my child, you are mistaken if you think that my father and I lived alone within four walls, not knowing anyone and not accepting good people. True, we were rarely able to visit; but the priest was a great hospitable man, and does a hospitable man ever have no guests? Every almost evening they gathered in our reception room: the old lieutenant, the Cossack foreman, Father Vlasiy and some other inhabitants of the fortress - I don’t remember them all. They all loved to sip cherries and home-made beer, and loved to talk and argue. Their conversations, of course, were not arranged according to book writing, but at random: it happened that whoever came into his head would talk about it, because the people were all so simple... But one must say only good things about the dead, and ours old interlocutors have been resting in the cemetery for a long, long time.
Sergeant of the Guard
The main character of the novel, Pyotr Andreevich Grinev, remembers. He was born into the family of a small landowner. Grinev's father is a retired officer. Even before the birth of his son, he assigned him as a sergeant to the Semenovsky Guards Regiment.
When Peter was five years old, his father assigned a servant, Arkhip Savelich, to him to raise the little master. The servant taught the boy Russian literacy and understanding of hunting dogs. At the age of twelve, a French teacher, Beaupre, was assigned to Petit. But he became addicted to vodka and did not miss a single skirt, completely forgetting about his duties.
One day, the maids complained about the teacher, and Grinev’s father came straight to class. The drunken Frenchman was sleeping, and Petya was making geographical map kite. The angry father kicked the Frenchman out. That was the end of Petya's studies.
Grinev turns sixteen, and his father sends him to serve. But not to St. Petersburg, but to his good friend in Orenburg. Savelich is also traveling with Petya. In Simbirsk, at an inn, Grinev meets the hussar captain Zurin, who teaches him to play billiards. Peter gets drunk and loses a hundred rubles to the military man. In the morning he moves on.
Chapter II
Counselor
On the way to their duty station, Grinev and Savelich lose their way. A lone wanderer leads them to an inn. There, Peter manages to get a good look at his guide. This is a black-bearded man of about forty, strong, lively and of the most robber appearance. He enters into a strange conversation with the owner of the inn, full of allegories.
Grinev gives the guide his sheepskin coat, since the black-bearded man is practically naked. The guide pulls on his sheepskin coat, although it is bursting at the seams, and promises to remember the kindness of the young master forever.
The next day, Grinev arrives in Orenburg and introduces himself to the general, who, on the advice of Petya’s father, sends the young man to the Belogorsk fortress under the command of Captain Mironov.
Chapter III
Fortress
Grinev arrives at the Belogorsk fortress. It is a village surrounded by a palisade with a single cannon. Captain Ivan Kuzmich Mironov is a gray-haired old man, under whose command about a hundred old soldiers and two officers serve. One of them is the elderly one-eyed lieutenant Ivan Ignatich, the second is Alexey Shvabrin, exiled to this outback for a duel.
Peter is settled in peasant hut. That same evening he meets Shvabrin, who describes the captain’s family in person: his wife Vasilisa Egorovna and daughter Masha. Vasilisa Egorovna commands both her husband and the entire garrison, and Masha, according to Shvabrin, is a terrible coward. Grinev himself meets Mironov and his family, as well as the constable Maksimych. He is horrified by the upcoming service, which seems endless and boring to him.
Chapter IV
Duel
The idea of the service turned out to be wrong. Grinev quickly liked the Belogorsk fortress. There are no guards or exercises here. The captain sometimes drills the soldiers, but so far he cannot get them to distinguish between “left” and “right”.
Grinev almost becomes part of Mironov’s house and falls in love with Masha. And he likes Shvabrin less and less. Alexey makes fun of everyone and speaks badly about people.
Grinev dedicates poems to Masha and reads them to Shvabrin, since he is the only person in the fortress who understands poetry. But Alexey cruelly ridicules the young author and his feelings. He advises giving Masha earrings instead of poetry and assures that he himself has experienced the correctness of this approach.
Grinev is offended and calls Shvabrin a liar. Alexey challenges the young man to a duel. Peter asks Ivan Ignatich to become a second. However, the old lieutenant does not understand such a cruel showdown.
After lunch, Grinev informs Shvabrin about his failure. Then Alexey suggests doing without seconds. The opponents agree to meet in the morning, but as soon as they meet with swords in their hands, they are arrested by soldiers led by a lieutenant.
Vasilisa Egorovna forces the duelists to reconcile. Shvabrin and Grinev pretend to make peace and are released. Masha says that Alexey has already wooed her and was refused. Now Peter understands the anger with which Shvabrin slanders the girl.
The next day, the opponents again converge at the river. Shvabrin is surprised that Grinev can give such a worthy rebuff. Peter manages to push the officer back, but at this time Savelich calls out to the young man. Grinev turns around sharply and is wounded in the chest.
Chapter V
Love
The wound is serious, Peter comes to his senses only on the fourth day. Shvabrin asks for forgiveness and receives it from his opponent. Masha takes care of Grinev. Peter, taking advantage of the moment, declares his love for her and finds out that the girl also feels for him tender feelings. Grinev writes a letter home in which he asks for his parents' blessing for the marriage. But the father refuses and threatens to transfer his son to another place so that he does not fool around. The letter also says that Mother Grineva fell ill.
Peter is depressed. He did not write anything to his father about the duel. How did her mother know about her? Grinev decides that Savelich reported this. But the old servant is offended by such suspicion. As proof, Savelich brings a letter from Grinev’s father, in which he scolds the old man for not reporting the injury. Peter learns that Mironov also did not write to his parents and did not report to the general. Now the young man is sure that Shvabrin did this to upset his marriage with Masha.
Having learned that there will be no parental blessing, Masha refuses the wedding.
Chapter VI
Pugachevshchina
At the beginning of October 1773, a message about the Pugachev rebellion arrived. Despite all the precautions and Mironov’s attempts to keep this a secret, the rumor spreads instantly.
The captain sends constable Maksimych on reconnaissance. Two days later he returns with the news that he is moving enormous strength. There is unrest among the Cossacks. The baptized Kalmyk Yulay reports that Maksimych met with Pugachev and went over to his side, and is now inciting the Cossacks to revolt. Mironov arrests Maksimych and puts Yulay in his place.
Events are developing rapidly: the constable runs away from the guard, the Cossacks are dissatisfied, a Bashkir is captured with Pugachev’s appeal. It is not possible to interrogate him because the prisoner does not have a tongue. Vasilisa Yegorovna bursts into a meeting of officers with bad news: the neighboring fortress was taken, the officers were executed. It becomes clear that soon the rebels will be under the walls of the Belogorsk fortress.
It was decided to send Masha and Vasilisa Egorovna to Orenburg.
Chapter VII
Attack
In the morning, Grinev learns that the Cossacks left the fortress and forcibly took Yulay with them. Masha did not have time to leave for Orenburg - the road was blocked. Already at dawn, Cossack and Bashkir patrols appeared near the fortress. By order of the captain, they are driven away by cannon shots, but soon the main force of the Pugachevites appears. In front is Emelyan himself in a red caftan on a white horse.
Four traitor Cossacks approach the walls of the fortress. They offer to surrender and recognize Pugachev as sovereign. The Cossacks throw Yulay's head over the palisade straight to Mironov's feet. The captain orders to shoot. One of the negotiators is killed, the rest rush away.
The assault on the fortress begins. Mironov says goodbye to his wife and blesses the frightened Masha. Vasilisa Egorovna takes the girl away. The commandant manages to fire the cannon again, then he orders the gates to be opened and rushes into a sortie. But the soldiers do not follow the commander. The attackers break into the fortress.
Grinev is tied up and brought to the square where the Pugachevites are building a gallows. People gather, many greet the rebels with bread and salt. The impostor sits in a chair on the porch of the commandant's house and takes the oath from the prisoners. Ivan Ignatich and Mironov refuse to take the oath. They are immediately hanged.
It’s Grinev’s turn. With surprise, he recognizes Shvabrin among the rebels. Peter is led to the gallows, but then Savelich falls at Pugachev’s feet. The servant manages to beg for mercy, and Grinev is released.
Vasilisa Yegorovna is taken out of the house. Seeing her husband on the gallows, she calls Pugachev an escaped convict. The old woman is killed.
Chapter VIII
Uninvited guest
Grinev is trying to find out about Masha’s fate. It turns out that she is lying unconscious with the priest, who passes the girl off as his seriously ill niece.
Grinev returns to his looted apartment. Savelich explains why Pugachev suddenly spared the young man. This is the same guide to whom the young officer gave the hare sheepskin coat.
Pugachev sends for Grinev. The young man comes to the commandant's house, where he has lunch with the rebels. During the meal, a military council takes place, at which the rebels decide to march on Orenburg. Afterwards everyone disperses, but Pugachev leaves Grinev alone to talk. He again demands to swear allegiance, but Peter refuses. Grinev cannot promise that he will not fight against Pugachev. He is an officer, therefore he is obliged to carry out the orders of his commanders.
The young man's honesty wins over the rebel leader. Pugachev releases Peter.
Chapter IX
Parting
In the morning, the impostor emerges from the fortress. Before leaving, Savelich approaches him with a list of goods that the rebels took from Grinev. At the end of the list a hare sheepskin coat is mentioned. Pugachev gets angry and throws the paper away. He leaves, leaving Shvabrin as commandant.
Grinev rushes to the priest to find out about Masha’s condition. He is informed that the girl is in a fever and delirious. Peter has to leave his beloved. He can neither take her out nor stay in the fortress.
With heavy hearts, Grinev and Savelich wander on foot to Orenburg. Suddenly they are overtaken by the former Cossack constable Maksimych, who is leading an excellent Bashkir horse. It was Pugachev who ordered to give the young officer a horse and a sheepskin coat. Grinev gratefully accepts the gift.
Chapter X
Siege of the city
Peter arrives in Orenburg and reports to the general about what happened in the fortress. The council decides not to oppose the impostor, but to defend the city. Peter is very worried that he cannot help Masha in any way.
Soon Pugachev’s army appears and the siege of Orenburg begins. Grinev often goes on forays. Thanks to a fast horse and luck, he manages to remain unharmed.
In one of his forays, Peter runs into Maksimych, who gives him a letter from Masha. The girl writes that Shvabrin took her from the priest’s house and is forcing her to become his wife. Grinev asks the general for a company of soldiers to liberate the Belogorsk fortress, but is refused.
Chapter XI
Rebel settlement
Grinev is planning to flee Orenburg. Together with Savelich, he safely leaves in the direction of the Berdskaya Settlement, occupied by the Pugachevites. Peter hopes to drive around the settlement in the dark, but stumbles upon a detachment of patrolmen. However, he manages to escape. Unfortunately, Savelich is detained.
Peter returns to rescue the old man and is also captured. Pugachev immediately recognizes Grinev and asks why the young officer left Orenburg. Peter says that he wants to free the orphan who is being offended by Shvabrin.
Pugachev is angry with Shvabrin and threatens to hang him. The impostor's adviser, fugitive corporal Beloborodov, does not believe Grinev's story. He believes that the young officer is a spy. Unexpectedly, another adviser to Pugachev, the convict Khlopusha, stands up for Peter. Things almost come to a fight, but the impostor pacifies the advisers. Pugachev undertakes to arrange the wedding of Peter and Masha.
Chapter XII
Orphan
Arriving at the Belogorodskaya fortress, Pugachev demands to show him the girl whom Shvabrin is keeping under arrest. Alexey makes excuses, but the impostor insists. Shvabrin leads Pugachev and Grinev into a room where an exhausted Masha is sitting on the floor.
Pugachev asks the girl why her husband punished her. Masha indignantly replies that she would rather die than become Shvabrin’s wife. Pugachev is dissatisfied with Alexey's deception. He tells Shvabrin to write out a pass and lets the young couple go on all fours.
Chapter XIII
Arrest
Grinev and Masha hit the road. In fortresses and villages captured by the rebels, no obstacles are put in their way. There is a rumor that it is Pugachev's godfather who is traveling. The couple enters a town in which a large detachment of Pugachevites should be stationed. But it turns out that this place has already been vacated. They want to arrest Grinev, he bursts into the room where the officers are sitting. Fortunately, the garrison is headed by an old acquaintance, Zurin.
Peter sends Masha and Savelich to his parents, while he himself remains in Zurin’s detachment. Soon government troops lift the siege of Orenburg. The news of the final victory arrives. The impostor is captured, the war is over. Grinev is going home, but Zurin receives an order to arrest him.
Chapter XIV
Court
Grinev is accused of treason and espionage for Pugachev. The main witness is Shvabrin. Grinev does not want to make excuses so as not to drag Masha into the trial, who will be called as a witness or even an accomplice.
They want to hang Peter, but Empress Catherine, taking pity on his elderly father, exchanges the execution for eternal settlement in Siberia. Masha decides to throw herself at the empress’s feet and ask for mercy. She is going to St. Petersburg.
Stopping at an inn, the girl learns that the hostess is the niece of the court stoker. This woman helps the girl get into the garden of Tsarskoye Selo, where Masha meets an important lady. The girl tells her story, and she promises to help.
