Analysis of "Belkin's Tales" by A.S. Pushkin

In 1831, five stories appeared in print, united by one title - "The stories of the late Ivan Petrovich Belkin, published by A.P." Pushkin published this work anonymously, attributing authorship to a fictitious person - a certain Belkin.

The characters for the most part do not have bright individual features, like other Pushkin's heroes. These people do not rise above their environment, but are its typical representatives. The household side comes to the fore here. The sharpness of the plot, the gradually increasing dramatic tension, secrets that are clarified by the end, unexpected, but deeply justified, motivated denouement - all this continuously maintains the reader's interest and makes the stories fascinating. Thus, the richness of content in Pushkin's stories is combined with elegance and harmony of form.

"Shot"

The main theme of The Shot is the question of the duel, which in the early 1920s was a widespread noble fashion.

The hero of this story, Silvio, at first glance seems to be an exceptional kind. But all his energy goes to the satisfaction of petty pride. He longs for excellence, but not in anything serious, but in what is considered important in an empty hussar company: "violence" is in fashion, and he tries to acquire the glory of "the first bully in the army"; bragging about drunkenness is in vogue, and he "outdrinks" the most famous drunkards; dueling is in vogue, and he becomes an inveterate duelist. This striving for superiority leads him into conflict with the young count, whom he hated out of envy of his virtues and successes.

Silvio devotes all his mature years to preparing for revenge on the count. He waits for the moment when it will not be easy for his opponent to part with his life, and achieves his goal: he sees not only the count's dismay, but also the horror of his young wife, in whose presence he takes aim at him. But something did not allow Silvio to kill the count, whose life was in his hands. Whether because he took pity on his wife, or because it was no longer the former brilliant rival, a careless brave man who treated himself to cherries at gunpoint, but a family man whose murder no longer flattered his pride. Or maybe because natural human feelings awakened in him, and he freed himself from false romantic concepts.

One way or another, but this bloodless denouement is characteristic of the spirit of humanity, which gives so much warmth to Belkin's Tales: it shows faith in victory. good feelings over the evil prejudices of the environment. As if unexpected, but in fact deeply motivated, the revelation of noble inclinations in the soul of the “terrible” Silvio produces a striking effect.

The narrator himself acts as the third character in the story - a certain retired lieutenant colonel, once, in his youth, distinguished by his "romantic imagination", and then a settled down small town inhabitant. In other stories, the story is told directly from the author, and in "The Shot" the personality of the narrator leaves its mark on the narrative. The characters are not portrayed on their own, but from the point of view of the narrator, perceived through the prism of his "romantic imagination". The image of Silvio is therefore given some kind of mystery. He seems to the narrator "the hero of some mysterious story", on whose conscience lies "some unfortunate victim" of his "terrible skill" in shooting from a pistol.

In the second half of the story, the action is transferred to a different setting and at a different time. The narrator appears here in a new form. A young man with a "romantic imagination" turns into a humble provincial.

Thus, the story is told by several narrators. The retired lieutenant colonel, to whom the plot itself is attributed, the ingenuous Belkin, who writes down the curious story he heard, and two heroes, in whose presentation the most dramatic moments of the story are given: in the transmission of Silvio we recognize the plot (delayed shot), in the transmission of the count - the denouement (the last meeting) , and everywhere the right tone is observed, corresponding to the point of view of this or that narrator.

"Blizzard"

Maria Gavrilovna, the heroine of The Snowstorm, is completely dominated by romantic moods borrowed from the French novels on which she was brought up. It was her "romantic imagination" that tempted her to agree to an escape from her parental home and a secret marriage with "poor army ensign" Vladimir, who is rejected by her wealthy parents.

After everything that Marya Gavrilovna had to go through (a wedding with a stranger, the death of her father and the death of Vladimir), she continues to play the role romantic heroine. Grief does not prevent her from frivolously flirting with Burmin, a hussar colonel with Georgy in his buttonhole and "with an interesting pallor" in his face, and seeking a "romantic explanation" from him. And it is not known how serious her love for Vladimir was and whether this was the result of a passion for French novels, which is hinted at in the story: “Maria Gavrilovna was brought up on French novels and, consequently, was in love.”

The same can be said about her lover - Vladimir. He composes various "romantic" plans of obviously bookish origin: "to get married secretly", "to hide", then "to throw himself at the feet of his parents", who will be touched by the "heroic constancy and misfortune of lovers." But when it comes down to it, he gets lost and turns out to be helpless.

The ironic tone of the story emphasizes the frivolity of the superficial romantic fashion, which captivated the noble youth, especially the provincial ones, for a while.

But there is one thing that introduces a serious note into the ironic picture of the provincial landlord life: this is the war of 1812-1814, which wedged into the action of the story.

The war transforms people, washing away everything that is false, feigned and exposing what is hidden in the soul of every Russian person. Romantic dreamer Vladimir dies a heroic death. Burmin once frivolously played a joke on an unknown girl, marrying her instead of a groom. Then it was for him a hussar leprosy, a funny adventure, which he forgot about at the next station. After the war, he looks at the matter differently. He does not know who this girl he married is, his marriage is not recorded in any church books, but nevertheless he feels guilty before an unknown wife, he is looking for her and cannot offer his hand to the one he loved, considering himself bound by the former marriage.

The best, living pages of the story include a description of a snowstorm that played fatal role in the fate of Marya Gavrilovna and the unfortunate Vladimir. A man desperately struggles with a blizzard that blocks his path to happiness, and this gives the description of the blizzard in the story a dramatic character.

"Undertaker"

From the military and landlord world, the action of this story is transferred to the environment of small Moscow artisans and merchants. Instead of hussars with their “pranks” and young ladies with “romantic imagination”, the undertaker Adrian Prokhorov with his two daughters, the sensitive German shoemaker Gottlieb Schulz, his daughter Lotkhen, the fat German baker, Yurko the watchman, act here. This watchman is an important person in his quarter, as a representative of the authorities.

In a small world, they do not engage in idle fantasies, but are only interested in profits. The undertaker Adrian can't wait for the death of the merchant Tryukhina on Razgulyai and is worried that his competitors, taking advantage of his relocation from Basmanna to Nikitskaya, will intercept his rich funeral. The death of people is their profit. Adrian treats the dead as customers, consumers of his products. He is not interested in what kind of people they were before they became the "subject" of his gloomy craft, and even in a dream, when they come to congratulate him on his housewarming, he distinguishes them only in terms of profit or loss from the funeral. Thus, for example, a foreman in a three-cornered hat, who was buried in the pouring rain, caused him damage, as the mantles narrowed from the rain, the hats warped, which is why "imminent expenses" are foreseen. But this poor man, who "stands humbly in the corner" and does not dare to approach the owner, "ashamed of his rags", was buried on the orders of the quarter for nothing.

In the dead, as in a mirror, the social relations that exist between the living are reflected.

"Station Master"

The hero of this story, Samson Vyrin, a small official, not protected by his rank even from the beatings of noble travelers, is sure that his daughter Dunya, who was taken away by Minsky, a brilliant hussar with a “black mustache”, died. “Not her first, not her last, was lured by a passing rake,” he says, “and there he held it, and left it. There are many of them in St. Petersburg, young fools, today in satin and velvet, and tomorrow, you see, they are sweeping the street along with the barn's barn. When you sometimes think that Dunya, perhaps, immediately disappears, you involuntarily sin and wish her a grave ... "

But instead of such a story, something else happens. When the caretaker goes to St. Petersburg in search of Dunya and comes to Minsky, he is extremely confused. He says to the old man: “I am guilty before you and glad to ask your forgiveness; but do not think that I could leave Dunya: she will be happy, I give you my word of honor. And, oddly enough, he kept his word and married Dunya. She arrives at her father's grave as a wealthy lady, "in a carriage with six horses, with three small barchats, and with a nurse, and with a black pug." Father's predictions did not come true: it was not the "grave" that awaited Dunya, but wealth and nobility.

But the tragedy of Samson Vyrin was that he still lost his daughter. There is a whole abyss between his world, the world of "little people", and the world of Minsky, and it never even occurred to him that it was possible to step over this abyss. And if Dunya nevertheless stepped over her, then this is a pure accident, which she owes solely to her feminine charm But she lacked the courage to overcome the "properties" of the new environment she found herself in. Entering the other world, she was forced to break all ties with her father.

If Minsky had abandoned Dunya, then it would have turned out to be a “pitiful” story, and the whole point of the story would have been reduced to the denunciation of an immoral seducer. Everything in Pushkin's story is subtler, deeper, and, most importantly, more realistic. Despite the "happy" denouement, the work retains a tragic coloring.

"Young lady-peasant"

"The Young Lady-Peasant Woman" is the last, final story in the collection. The reader again finds himself in a situation " noble nest”, shrouded in “romantic” moods. But in this atmosphere there is something new that is not in the "Metel".

The heroine, Liza Muromskaya, is the same "county young lady" as Marya Gavrilovna, but in a completely different way. Her impulses are not borrowed from French books, but flow from her nature and are restrained by a strict English upbringing under the supervision of Miss Jackson. Her romanticism is active, and not passive and dreamy, as with Marya Gavrilovna. Lisa is a perky, lively and playful young girl.

"The Young Lady-Peasant Woman" according to the plot seems to be nothing more than a "dress-up vaudeville". But there is some inexplicable charm in it, consisting in the disclosure of simple Russian characters. It's hard to say when Lisa plays a role - whether when she is in Akulina's clothes, or in her real form of a young lady. It turns out that Lisa is much cuter in a peasant outfit: “Lisa tried on a new dress and admitted in front of a mirror that she had never seemed so nice to herself.” She immediately, without effort, learned the sweet patter of a peasant girl and the coquettish peasant slyness. “I will see you off ... - Alexey Berestov tells her, - will you let me walk beside you?” - “And who is stopping them,” Liza answers him; - free will, and the road is worldly. In the role of a peasant woman, the Russian folk grace inherent in her is manifested. This grace won the heart of Alexei. It was the peasant woman Akulina, and not the young lady Lisa, that Alexei fell in love with - to the point that he even decided to marry her, despite all the noble prejudices. The masquerade served to reveal the Russian essence of the “county young lady”. The masks fell, and in both heroes the ingenuous Russian people were revealed. The “Russian soul” of Lisa is what makes her related to other Pushkin heroines, including Tatyana, and gives a poetic charm to her slightly outlined image.

In the collection "Belkin's Tales" it is presented, as in a section, Russian society; from the highest floors to the lowest. Belkin is only a mask put on by the poet to emphasize the special choice of subjects, none of which goes beyond the horizons of an ingenuous provincial landowner.

The main feature of Pushkin's prose in general and Belkin's Tales in particular is the conciseness and simplicity of presentation, from which you cannot omit a single word, because every word is in place and necessary. Pushkin avoids all sorts of spreads, unnecessary embellishments. His prose is precise, concise, courageous, "naked," as Leo Tolstoy once put it.

Pushkin never goes into a detailed explanation of the actions of his heroes. But he always guesses with his artistic instinct how such and such a person should act due to his social skills and other reasons, and he guesses unmistakably, so that the reader immediately feels the truth without any interpretation, sees living people with all their contradictions.

Leo Tolstoy, who considered them a school for writers, highly appreciated Belkin's Tales. In 1874, while working on Anna Karenina, he wrote to an acquaintance: “You won’t believe that I read Belkin’s stories with delight, which I haven’t experienced for a long time, for the seventh time in my life. The writer needs to study this treasure without ceasing. This new study had a profound effect on me.” This strong action is being produced by Belkin's Tales even now. If you read carefully, delve into every word, you succumb to the charm of their poetic simplicity.

Pushkin arrived in Boldino in the autumn of 1830 to resolve the issue of money for the wedding. He planned to stay there for no more than a month, but a terrible disease raged in the province - cholera, and no one was released due to quarantine. Therefore, he stayed there almost all autumn. During this time, he wrote more than forty works, among them Belkin's Tales.

The cycle of stories has such a name, since Pushkin attributed authorship to the provincial landowner Ivan Petrovich Belkin. Belkin's stories are told as entertaining stories about ordinary people simple rank. And the author-collector is the same simple person from the same social environment. Through the heroes, Russia is visible, with its real concerns, everyday life. When the narrator is from the same social background as his characters, this gives credibility to the work. Remember: you have already met with such works. For example, “Evenings on a farm near Dikanka”, authored by N.V. Gogol attributed to the beekeeper Rudy Pank.

The story of Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin "The Snowstorm" is preceded by an epigraph from the ballad of Vasily Andreevich Zhukovsky "Svetlana". Let's remember what an epigraph is.

The epigraph is small text, preceding the work, it can formulate a theme, succinctly express the main idea, or formulate a problem.
Below is an epigraph from the story "Snowstorm".

Horses rush along the mounds,
Trampling deep snow...
Here, aside the temple of God
Seen alone.

Suddenly a blizzard is all around;
Snow falls in tufts;
Black Raven, whistling its wing,
Hovering over the sleigh;
A prophetic groan says sadness!
The horses are hurried
Sensitively look into the dark distance,
Lifting manes...

The main words that carry the main load are blizzard, crow, distance. All of them are symbols of tragic events that are somehow connected with the blizzard. The word "suddenly" great importance Because a lot of things in life happen by accident. Why is the story called "Snowstorm"? Three heroes fall into a snowstorm. A blizzard is the element that suddenly breaks into their lives and changes the fate of everyone.

The heroes of the story: Marya Gavrilovna is a rich bride, Vladimir is a poor army ensign, and Burmin is a hussar colonel. The author treats Maria Gavrilovna and Vladimir with irony:

“Maria Gavrilovna was brought up on French novels and, therefore, was in love. Her chosen one was a poor army ensign who was on vacation in his village. It goes without saying that the young man burned with equal passion and that his amiable parents, noticing their mutual inclination, forbade their daughter to even think about him, and he was received worse than a retired assessor.

Our lovers were in correspondence, and every day they saw each other alone in a pine grove or at an old chapel.(Fig. 2). There they swore eternal love to each other, complained about fate and made various assumptions. Corresponding and talking in this way, they (which is quite natural) came to the following reasoning: if we cannot breathe without each other, and the will of cruel parents hinders our well-being, then can we not do without it? Of course, that this happy thought first came to mind young man and that the romantic imagination of Marya Gavrilovna liked her very much..

Winter came and stopped their visits; but the correspondence became all the more lively. Vladimir Nikolaevich in every letter begged her to surrender to him, marry secretly, hide for some time, then throw herself at the feet of her parents, who, of course, would finally be touched by the heroic constancy and misfortune of their lovers and would certainly say to them: “Children! come into our arms”».

Rice. 2. Shmarinov D.A. (1907-1999). Illustrations for the story "Snowstorm" ()

Marya Gavrilovna really wanted her relationship with Vladimir to develop, as in a French novel, where one is poor and the other is rich, and this hinders their love. Vladimir was very suitable for this role. All this was like a game, but when does the game end and it becomes scary for the heroes? Of course, when Marya Gavrilovna has a prophetic dream, because the death of Vladimir will become a reality.

“Having sealed both letters with a Tula signet, on which were depicted two flaming hearts with a decent inscription, she threw herself on the bed just before dawn and dozed off; but here, too, terrible dreams continually awakened her. It seemed to her that at the very moment she was getting into the sleigh to go to the wedding, her father stopped her, dragged her with excruciating speed over the snow and threw her into a dark, bottomless dungeon ... and she flew headlong with an inexplicable sinking heart; then she saw Vladimir lying on the grass, pale, bloodied. He, dying, begged her in a piercing voice to hasten to marry him ... other ugly, meaningless visions rushed before her one after another.

It becomes scary for the heroes when Masha realizes that last time sees his parents. She doesn't want to leave her father's house. Despite prophetic dreams, pity for her parents and a sense of guilt before them, Masha still goes to church. The description of the blizzard is a sad omen for a fugitive.

“They went into the garden. The blizzard did not subside; the wind blew against her, as if trying to stop the young criminal. They made their way to the end of the garden. On the road, the sleigh was waiting for them. The horses, vegetating, did not stand still; Vladimir's coachman paced in front of the shafts, holding back the zealous. He helped the young lady and her girlfriend to sit down and put the bundles and the box, took the reins, and the horses flew.

Pushkin called Marya Gavrilovna a young criminal. Why? The fact is that Marya Gavrilovna transgressed the moral Christian law, which commands to honor the will of the parents. Vladimir's condition is similar to the feelings of the lyrical hero of Pushkin's poem "Demons" (Fig. 3).

Demons

Clouds are rushing, clouds are winding;

Invisible moon

Illuminates the flying snow;

The sky is cloudy, the night is cloudy.

I'm going, I'm going in an open field;

Ding ding ding bell...

Terrible, terribly scary

Amid the unknown plains!

"Hey, go, coachman!..." - "No urine

Horses, master, it's hard;

The blizzard sticks my eyes;

All roads skidded;

For the life of me, no trace is visible;

We got lost. What should we do!

In the field the demon leads us, apparently

Yes, it circles around.

Look: out, out playing,

Blows, spits on me;

Out - now pushes into the ravine

wild horse;

There's an unprecedented milestone

He stuck out in front of me;

There he flashed a small spark

And disappeared into the empty darkness.

Clouds are rushing, clouds are winding;

Invisible moon

Illuminates the flying snow;

The sky is cloudy, the night is cloudy.

We do not have the strength to spin around;

The bell suddenly stopped;

The horses became ... "What is there in the field?" -

“Who knows them? stump or wolf?

The blizzard is angry, the blizzard is crying;

Sensitive horses snore;

Here he is galloping far away;

Only eyes in the darkness burn;

The horses raced again;

Ding ding ding bell...

I see: the spirits have gathered

Among the whitening plains.

Endless, ugly

In the muddy moon game

Various demons swirled

Like leaves in November...

How many of them! where are they driven?

What is it they sing so plaintively?

Do they bury the brownie

Are witches getting married?

Clouds are rushing, clouds are winding;

Invisible moon

Illuminates the flying snow;

The sky is cloudy, the night is cloudy.

Demons rush swarm after swarm

In the boundless height

Screeching plaintively and howling

Breaking my heart...

Rice. 3. Illustration for the poem "Demons". Artist: N. Karazin. 1898 ()

Where did the demons "lead" Vladimir when the blizzard subsided? (on a beautiful plain, “covered with a white wavy carpet” - this is like a harbinger of the fate of a “poor army ensign”, who will be mortally wounded near Borodino and calm down forever).

How will the kidnapping of Marya Gavrilovna end? In the morning she gets up and comes to breakfast, and in the evening she goes to bed with a fever. The parents decide to give the young people the opportunity to get married, but Vladimir will send a half-crazy letter in which he will ask him to forget about him forever. (Here the author breaks the narrative sequence: we do not know what happened in the church. For what? The author creates intrigue to arouse even more interest in the narrative.)

What kind historical events obscure the history of Marya Gavrilovna and Vladimir? the War of 1812, the Battle of Borodino, where Vladimir would be wounded and then die already in Moscow on the eve of the entry of the French; the end of the war, the return from the campaign of our regiments, military officers, "hung with crosses."

Further, the author tells about the relationship between Marya Gavrilovna and the hussar colonel Burmin.
“We have already said that, despite her coldness, Marya Gavrilovna was still surrounded by seekers. But everyone had to retreat when the wounded hussar colonel Burmin appeared in her castle, with George in his buttonhole and with an interesting pallor, as the young ladies there said. He was about twenty-six years old. He came on vacation to his estates, located in the neighborhood of the village of Marya Gavrilovna. Marya Gavrilovna distinguished him very much. With him, her usual thoughtfulness was revived.

Burmin was indeed a very nice young man. He had just the kind of mind that women like: a mind of propriety and observation, without any pretensions and nonchalantly mocking. His behavior with Marya Gavrilovna was simple and free; but no matter what she said or did, his soul and eyes followed her like that. He seemed of a quiet and modest disposition, but rumor assured that he had once been a terrible rake, and this did not harm him in the opinion of Marya Gavrilovna, who (like all young ladies in general) gladly excused pranks that revealed courage and ardor of character.

The heroes were drawn to each other, she saw that he was not indifferent to him, but did not understand what kept him from explaining. Burmin himself soon revealed the secret, and we will find out what happened four years ago. Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin retained the intrigue until the end of the work. Burmin was also swept by a snowstorm, and he ended up in the very church where Marya Gavrilovna was waiting for Vladimir. Here is what he says:

“The storm did not subside; I saw a light and ordered to go there. We arrived at the village; there was a fire in the wooden church. The church was open, a few sledges stood behind the fence; people were walking along the porch. "Here! here!" shouted several voices. I told the driver to drive up. “Have mercy, where did you hesitate? - someone told me, - the bride is in a swoon; pop doesn't know what to do; we were ready to go back. Come out soon." I silently jumped out of the sleigh and entered the church, dimly lit by two or three candles. The girl was sitting on a bench in a dark corner of the church; the other was rubbing her temples. “Thank God,” said this one, “you came by force. You almost killed the young lady. An old priest came up to me with a question: “Would you like me to start?” “Begin, begin, father,” I answered absently. The girl was raised. She seemed to me not bad... An incomprehensible, unforgivable frivolity... I stood beside her in front of the platter; the priest was in a hurry; three men and a maid supported the bride and were busy only with her. We got married. "Kiss," they told us. My wife turned her pale face towards me. I wanted to kiss her ... She cried out: “Ay, not him! not him!” - and fell unconscious. The witnesses fixed their frightened eyes on me. I turned around, walked out of the church without any obstacle, threw myself into the wagon and shouted: "Let's go!"».

Burmin could not hide this story from Marya Gavrilovna, since he sincerely loved her and wanted to be honest with her.

How does fate punish each of the heroes? Vladimir dies, Masha is punished by a series of trials that befell her (marriage with a stranger, Vladimir's death, father's death, inability to get married), Burmin, like Masha, is punished by fate for what he acted thoughtlessly - he joked cruelly. The heroes stumbled, but they repent, and for this they receive forgiveness from fate.

What role did the element (blizzard) play in the fate of all three heroes? She divorced Marya Gavrilovna from Vladimir, but united her with Burmin; helped to reveal the character of each of them; disposed of the lives of the heroes: she punished them for their frivolity, forced them to go through suffering and rewarded them for everything they experienced. That is, the blizzard is also the main, if not the main, hero of the story.

Bibliography

1. Varneke B.V. The construction of Belkin's Tales (Russian) // Varneke B.V. Pushkin and his contemporaries: Materials and research / Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin. - L .: Publishing house of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, 1930. - Issue. 38/39. - S. 162-168.
2. V.E. Vatsuro "Tales of the late Ivan Petrovich Belkin" // V. E. Vatsuro. Commentator's Notes. - SPb., 1994.
3. V.P. Polukhina, V.Ya. Korovina, V.P. Zhuravlev, V.I. Korovin and others. Literature. 6th grade. Tutorial in 2 parts. - M.: 2012. Part 1 - 304 p.; Part 2 - 288 p.

1. 5litra.ru ().
2. Drevnijmir.ru ().
3. Allsoch.ru ().

Homework

• Write an essay on the topic “The role of fate in the story “The Snowstorm” by A.S. Pushkin.
• Answer the questions:

1. Who is the main character of the story "Snowstorm"?
2. What is the author's irony towards these young people?
3. When the game ends and it becomes scary for the heroes?
4. Why does the author start a story about one hero, leave him, go to another?
5. How will the abduction of Marya Gavrilovna end?
6. What was in the church, what happened?

• Write comparative characteristic heroes - Burmin and Vladimir (character, appearance, relation to Marya Gavrilovna).

The 30s of the XIX century - the heyday of Pushkin's prose. “Summers tend to harsh prose, summers drive minx-rhyme,” the poet himself wrote. At this time, masterpieces appear one after another: "Tales of Belkin" (1830), "Dubrovsky" (1833), "The Queen of Spades", " Captain's daughter» (1836).

Features of Pushkin's prose

Pushkin created artistic prose of a fundamentally new, realistic nature. This is especially evident when compared with previous and contemporary to the poet works. Russian literature XVIII - early XIX centuries was predominantly poetic. Prose was perceived as a low genre. In the center of literature was an ode - a solemn poetic form. Karamzin was the first to introduce prose as a genre comparable in importance to the poetic form. But all the same, his prose style was artificial, too artistic, complicated by metaphors and other phrases.

Already in 1822, Pushkin noted Karamzin's great contribution to the formation of Russian prose, but noted that, unlike poetic forms, the language of prose is poor and not developed properly. Pushkin wants to achieve simplicity and naturalness in the narrative. The Tales of Belkin were called upon to fill this gap, where the writer brilliantly copes with the tasks set.

Tales of Belkin

Belkin's Tales played a fundamental role in the formation of realistic prose both in the work of Pushkin himself and in all Russian literature. The book consists of 5 stories: "Shot", "Snowstorm", "The Undertaker", "The Stationmaster", "The Young Lady Peasant Woman". Leo Tolstoy considered Belkin's Tales to be a model of genuine prose; he advised them to re-read them constantly. Pushkin wrote a work that was distinguished by a broad outlook on life and on a person. He was able to show life as a whole, with its conflicts and contradictions, happiness and tragedy.

The basic principles of Pushkin's style are drama and eventfulness. Moreover, the latter is devoid of exceptional events, secrets, adventures. If Pushkin introduces fantastic plots into the narrative, they are fragmentary, but not plot-forming in any way. Pushkin also uses the mysterious in a special way - it is always reliably explained in the course of the presentation of events.

Another feature of Belkin's Tales and all of Pushkin's prose is the writer's refusal to divide heroes into sharply positive and negative ones. Pushkin shows the character of the hero from all sides, notes his ambiguity and versatility.

Pushkin attributed the authorship of "Tales" to a conditional author - Ivan Petrovich Belkin. The writer characterizes him as a good-natured person who described the events "heard from different people." But these simple stories are already endowed by Pushkin with deep meaning, observation and truth of life.

The story, which the second placed in Pushkin's Tale of Belkin, is "Snowstorm". It begins with a description of the family of local nobles living in the Nenaradov estate: the “kind” Gavrila Gavrilovich R *, his wife and daughter Masha, 17 years old. Masha is an enviable bride for many neighbors. Brought up on romance novels, she is in love with a visiting army ensign, Vladimir. Of course, Maria Gavrilovna's parents are against this relationship.

Beloved meet, conduct love correspondence. Soon Masha and Vladimir decide to secretly get married. Their calculation is simple: parents will have no choice but to acknowledge the fact of marriage. The young people set a date, Vladimir agreed with a priest from a neighboring village to marry them on one of the winter nights.

At the appointed hour, Masha, citing a headache, goes to bed earlier. She worries that she is deceiving her parents, but nevertheless, having agreed with the maid and the coachman, she runs away from home on a dark winter night. The blizzard starts.

At this time, Vladimir, having agreed with the witnesses, hurries to the village of Zhadrino, where the wedding is to take place. The blizzard is played out in earnest, Vladimir wanders in the snowstorm all night, and only in the morning he finds himself in the church, but, alas, the doors are already closed.

After that, Pushkin takes the reader back to Masha's family, and there the morning begins as usual: the parents' breakfast, Masha comes down to them. By evening, she falls ill with a fever: she lies delirious for several days. Parents already agree to her wedding with Vladimir. They send him a letter with an invitation, to which they receive an answer that he does not want to know anything about Masha. After that, Vladimir goes to Patriotic War. Meanwhile, Masha is on the mend and learns about the death of her lover.

A few months later, Gavrila Gavrilovich dies, Masha becomes a rich heiress. She and her mother are leaving from heavy memories to another village. There, Mary is surrounded by suitors, but she does not want to deal with anyone. The only one she feels sympathy for is Colonel Burmin.

He decides to explain himself to Masha and tells her the story that he is married to a girl whom he has not even seen. The confusion happened on a winter night, when a raging snowstorm led him to a small church in the village of Zhadrino. It turns out that Maria became his bride that night. Burmin rushes to Masha's feet.

Maria Gavrilovna: characterization of the heroine

Maria Gavrilovna is the main female image, which describes Pushkin's story "The Snowstorm". The girl is sentimental, she was brought up on French novels. Her love for Vladimir is a consequence of this passion. The relationship between Maria and Vladimir is also built on the traditions of love novels: secret meetings, correspondence, disapproval of parents and the decision to get married secretly.

On the eve of the wedding, Masha is in turmoil: all the circumstances that happen to her tell the reader that she is doing wrong. And the heroine herself partly understands this: there is no decisiveness in her actions and deeds, rather the opposite. The girl with tears says goodbye to her parents, cries in her room - she does not behave like a happy bride. Particular attention is paid to Masha's sleep on the eve of the escape: she sees her parents stopping her and Vladimir lying in a pool of blood. However, the girl runs away. Only at the end of the story does the reader find out what poor Masha had to endure. But she never betrayed herself to her parents.

For her misdeed, Masha is punished by fate: she almost died from an illness, lost her fiancé, her father died, and she can’t even get married, because she was married to a complete stranger.

Maria keeps the memory of her dead fiancé, and only Burmin could melt her heart. Pushkin immediately shows the reader that it is he who is the one with whom Maria will be happy. Interestingly, four years later, Masha did not change her love stories - she became like their heroine - this is exactly what Burmin notes. Having hidden a secret marriage from her parents, the heroine is honest with her lover: with bitterness in her heart, she is going to tell him about what happened to her that winter night in a snowstorm.

Maria's honesty, openness, and romanticism make her a successor to Pushkin's traditions in describing Russian noblewomen, for example, Tatyana Larina. Only the latter was captured in verse, and the genius of the writer portrayed Maria Gavrilovna in prose. Further, these traditions will be adopted by Masha Mironova in The Captain's Daughter.

Vladimir: unrepentant egoist

Two male character: Vladimir and Burmin, Masha's suitors, are described by Pushkin. The blizzard played a crucial role in their lives.

The first is Vladimir, the ensign with whom Masha is in love. Pushkin hints to the reader in every possible way that it is unlikely that Vladimir is driven by love for Masha: “of course, the young man had equal feelings”, “of course ... a happy thought (about the wedding - approx.) occurred to the young man”, “begged in every letter ... get married in secret. Vladimir is an egoist who thinks only about his own benefit. Unlike Masha, he does not feel regret that his parents will be deceived, he does not feel guilty that he takes their daughter from them. The young man postpones all preparations for the wedding until the last day, which tells the reader that the wedding is not a sacred moment for him - it is needed as a fact.

Unlike Masha, the "accomplice" of the crime, Vladimir does not experience any feelings of remorse and regret. The only thing is despair from the fact that the wedding did not take place. The appearance of Vladimir in Masha's dream is interesting: wounded, bloodied, he asks her to get married as soon as possible. Again, the writer focuses on his egoism: to get married despite the feelings of the girl - by all means, you need to complete the task.

Fate punishes Vladimir - he dies from the wounds received near Borodino. Pushkin emphasizes the inevitability of punishment.

Burmin: rethinking actions

A completely different Colonel Burmin. Masha is "simple and free" with him. In the past, a rake, he sincerely falls in love with Maria Gavrilovna and opens up to her in his misdeed. Burmin does not want to deceive his beloved: with sorrow, he tells her about his misdeed in the past, which sealed his life. Burmin also bears a punishment: the inability to marry his beloved. His difference from Vladimir is remorse. This can be seen from the comments with which he accompanies Masha's story about that night: "Incomprehensible, unforgivable frivolity", "criminal leprosy", "cruelly joked."

conflict in the story

The conflict that Pushkin depicts in the story: a blizzard - a person. All the main actions of the heroes take place against the backdrop of a raging element. It is she who helps Pushkin to convey to the reader main idea: the inevitability of punishment.

Important moral issues raises in the story Alexander Pushkin. "Snowstorm" is a work that denounces selfishness, frivolity, disrespect for the older generation, parents. Each of the characters in the story is guilty of some of these offenses.

What is wrong with the heroes? Vladimir - by the fact that he tried to steal his only daughter from his parents' house. Playing on her love affair, he suggests that she run away from home. Masha was guilty because she was going to get married without the blessing of her parents. At that time it was considered a great sin. Burmin was also guilty of fate: he cruelly played a joke on an unknown girl.

As a result, all heroes are punished by fate. Moreover, Vladimir, as unrepentant of the "crime", bears the most severe punishment - he dies. Masha and Burmin have been suffering for four years. Having confessed to a misconduct, they gain hope for happiness - these ends the story.

Thus, the conflict between the elements and heroes reveals moral theme. Blizzard Pushkin makes the basis of the whole plot.

The place of the natural element in the plot

Pushkin pays special attention to the description of the natural elements, which played a decisive role in the narrative. The blizzard is the same actor story, like Masha, Vladimir and Burmin.

Indeed, she tries to stop Masha from taking a wrong step, prevents Vladimir from getting to the church, leads Burmin to Masha, who is in a semi-conscious state in front of the altar.

It is interesting that the relationship with the elements and its perception of the characters is different. As for Maria Gavrilovna, the blizzard is simply trying not to let her out, the snowstorm seems to be a bad sign. Vladimir, on the other hand, is led astray by a blizzard. It is his perception of a snow storm, wandering through a snow-covered forest, that occupy a significant part of the story. Vladimir is most interested in marriage with Masha, he acts in the heat of his selfishness, so the blizzard needs more time to take him aside, to prevent plans from being realized. It is noteworthy that Pushkin, describing Vladimir's perception of a blizzard, uses words denoting time: "In one minute the road skidded", "every minute was waist-deep in snow", "not even a minute passed". This shows us how the hero is in a hurry. He does not think about Masha, how is she, is she worried - it is important for him to have time to marry.

If a blizzard takes Vladimir away from the church, then Burmina, on the contrary, leads him there. He says to Masha: “it seemed that someone was pushing me like that.” Burmin admits that he was driven by some unknown force.

And although the perception of a snowstorm is different for all three heroes, they have one thing in common: everyone notes the unceasing nature of the elements. A fateful event - that's what a blizzard is. Pushkin, whose characters in the story felt the effects of the elements, always believed that chance plays a fundamental role in a person's life. That is why the writer puts the blizzard in the title of the story - this once again emphasizes its decisive role in the events described and the fate of the characters.

Composition features

Pushkin's story "The Snowstorm" has a linear composition. However, it differs in a number of features:

1. The discrepancy between the plot and the plot of the story (the plot is a temporary chain of events; the plot is the direct narration of the work). This is how the writer achieves the intrigue of the story.
2. No prologue or epilogue. This feature made the story easy, simple and accurate - what Pushkin wanted. "Snowstorm", the content of which is concise and concise, fully consistent with the author's idea.
3. As an epigraph, Pushkin chose the lines of Zhukovsky's poem. They prepare the reader for the events of the story: a blizzard that will play leading role in the fate of the heroes, the prophetic dreams of Masha, the secret wedding in the church.

Compositionally, Pushkin's work "The Snowstorm" compares two aspects of human life: romantic and real. The writer treats the first one ironically, even ridicules it. Romantic is the "love" of Masha and Vladimir, which is fueled by the girl's craving for romance novels. The second, real, is life, the circumstances that surround the heroes.

Artistic originality of "Snowstorm"

Pushkin set himself the goal of creating such prose, which, in his words, would "not sing, but speak." Hence the marginal savings artistic means in the story. The reader's acquaintance with the characters occurs from the very first lines, there are no portrait characteristics. For example, about Maria Gavrilovna it is only said that she was "a slender, pale and seventeen-year-old girl."

Also, the writer does not conduct a psychological analysis of the state of his characters. Pushkin proposes to judge a character by his actions and speeches.

Nevertheless, epithets can be found in the story, especially when describing a blizzard: "muddy haze" and metaphors: "a plain covered with a white wavy carpet." But these paths are used by the writer very sparingly. More often even in the description of the elements there are verbs: this is how events are given dynamics. It is not important for Pushkin to describe the element, the main thing is what role it will play in the fate of the heroes.

"Snowstorm" in music

The story formed the basis of the film, the composer of which was invited by the famous Russian composer Georgy Sviridov. He wrote such musical accompaniment for Pushkin's story "The Snowstorm", which most accurately reveals the psychological state of the characters: despair, anxiety, hope for happiness. Sviridov introduces forms that Pushkin did not use. For example, "Romance", which gives color to the work, shows the romantic moods of Masha and Vladimir.

Let's compare, as Sviridov and Pushkin's blizzard show. An excerpt when Vladimir wanders in the forest. The writer has everything built succinctly, attention is focused on the behavior of the hero. The composer shows the same thing with music: confusion, despair, collapsing plans and grief.

One of the most poetic stories included in the collection "Tales of the late Ivan Petrovich Belkin", "Blizzard" was written by Pushkin in 1830. She was the last in the cycle. The place of writing was the Boldin estate of the poet. It was during this period of creativity, called the Boldin autumn, that the most creatively active time in Pushkin's life falls. At this time, he is away from home, settling financial issues before the wedding with Natalya Goncharova, but the cholera epidemic that hit the village extended the poet's stay on the estate.

The story was published in 1831. The Belkin Tale cycle was not published under Pushkin's name. Most likely, the reason was the poet's assumption that what was written would be coldly received by the public. Then they didn’t write like that - simply and clearly, without “romantic fog”. However, in his letter addressed to Pletnev, Alexander Sergeevich asks "Smirdin to whisper my name so that he whispers to the buyers." In the text of the preface, the artist left identification marks by which one could guess the true author of the stories.

The criticism was varied. Chernyshevsky spoke out about the fact that the cycle is inferior to his other prose works, and Druzhinin writes: "Belkin's Tale", in our opinion, should not pass in silence not a single person interested in Russian prose ... The influence they produced was partly expressed almost in all our novels and short stories. Tolstoy would later say of Pushkin's work: “Have you been re-reading Pushkin for a long time? Make me a friend - read all Belkin's Tales first. They should be studied and studied by every writer.”

Storyline, characters

The title of the story immediately sets the reader on the atmosphere of the work. In the title, the reader can see the anticipation of a sharp, dynamic, disturbing action, dramatic development, unpredictability storyline. The epigraph, which is a fragment from Zhukovsky's poem "Svetlana", confirms the dramatic hopes of the reader. It continues to develop the disturbing, dynamic theme stated in the title, setting it in a romantic mood. Intense movement, the pulse of poetic lines has a confused, whirlwind character.

The beginning of the story contrasts sharply with the epigraph, where epic calm and emphasized routine reign. The reader is immediately introduced to the main character. In the description of Marya Gavrilovna, there is a slight irony on behalf of the narrator, concluded in the union "and": "a slender, pale and seventeen-year-old girl." A young girl living in a district story was brought up on French novels. She is a gentle, loving, romantic nature, in love with the poor ensign Vladimir Nikolaevich, who was visiting them in the village next door. He is sincerely and passionately in love with Mary. The girl understands that her parents will not allow her to marry an insolvent person, so she decides to take a risky step - a secret wedding.

A sudden snowstorm that covered the village roads played one of the main roles in the story. It was the raging elements that caused Marya to be married to another man, and her lover got lost along the way and found the church only in the morning. He is overcome with despair when he realizes that he cannot find his way to the church. This combination of circumstances is nothing but inevitable fate, which the reader understands at the end of the work. Upon learning that the chosen one is married to another, Vladimir returns to the regiment. Soon the news arrives that the ensign died in the Battle of Borodino.

Meanwhile, Marya is left with a rich inheritance from her deceased father. She refuses all the suitors who often woo her, seemingly remaining faithful former lover. No one knows that she was mistakenly married to a man unknown to her.

When the war ends, a colonel named Burmin comes to the village to visit. She and Marya like each other, but there is some kind of awkwardness between the characters. The colonel tells the girl about the situation in which, during a severe bad weather, he was married to an unknown girl. He doesn't know anything about his "random" wife. It turns out that Marya and Burmin were married. The characters have a happy ending.

Problems, literary direction

The literary direction of the story is sentimentalism. The central theme is the relationship between the human personality and Destiny, its whim, significance in the life of everyone, its unpredictable will. The thoughtless consent to the marriage of one, the delay in the wedding of the other, decided the fate of Marya Gavrilovna. The theme of fate, fate, is fully revealed at the very end of the story, because fate itself brought together two accidentally married young people.

• "Snowstorm", a summary of Pushkin's story
• "The Captain's Daughter", a summary of the chapters of Pushkin's story

The story "The Snowstorm" came out from the pen of Alexander Pushkin in the first half of the 19th century and turned out to be the most poetic of those included in the collection. The conflict situation depicted in the work arises between a natural phenomenon (blizzard) and a person. With the help of nature, the writer brings to his reader the idea that the punishment for bad deeds is inevitable.

The writer managed to raise the problems of the moral component in society. The story exposes selfishness, frivolity, disrespect for the older generation. Each of the characters bears some kind of personal guilt. Vladimir, pursuing purely personal interests, is trying to kidnap someone else's daughter, who was the only one of her parents. And Masha, being reckless, is going to get married against the will of her parents.

In the end, fate gives everyone what they deserve. Vladimir even loses his life for impenitence in committing an offense.

The blizzard, as it were, is sent from above to remind them of conscience and, playing an important role, tries to protect the heroes from rash actions. Makes attempts to stop Masha and limits Vladimir's way to the church.

The attitude of the blizzard to all the heroes is different. She simply does not let Masha out of the house, and punishes Vladimir, as the most selfish one, and makes him wander through the snowy forest.

The composition of the story is a consistent presentation of facts.

The intrigue of the narrative appears due to some discrepancy between the plot and the plot.

As an epigraph, Pushkin chooses an excerpt from the work of Zhukovsky. These lines lead the reader to the idea of ​​a natural phenomenon that is destined to play a role in the fate of the heroes, to the veracity of the Machine's dreams, to a hidden church wedding.

The compositional structure of the story contrasts two sides: romanticism and reality. Romanticism can be attributed to the love of Masha and Vladimir, which was born by Masha's interest in love novels. And realism is full of everyday life and is present in every day of the life of the characters. The story is written in the direction of sentimentalism. The key theme is the quintessence of personality and destiny.

Pushkin set out to write such prose, which, according to his expression, should speak, and not sing. Based on this, there are practically no means of artistic expression in the narrative.

Option 2

In a work written in the style of sentimentalism, in the form of a presentation of a romantic story, the author addresses the theme of fate and unforeseen circumstances.

The main character, a young girl named Maria Gavrilovna from a noble family, falls in love with a young officer, Vladimir Nikolayevich. At first, the action of the story develops quite in the spirit of the novels popular at that time. Maria's parents, wealthy people, do not give their daughter permission to marry a poor ensign, and a seventeen-year-old girl, brought up on French romance novels, decides to get married in secret. The image of Maria Gavrilovna, created by the author, is quite typical. Pushkin described the young romantically minded person as many of her real peers. The author, as it were, shows that his heroine acts like an ordinary young lady, without emphasizing her individuality.

A natural phenomenon gets in the way of the lovers - a blizzard and an absurd combination of circumstances. The groom goes astray and his role is played for fun by another officer - Burmin, who happened to be in the church.

His frivolous act, however, has very serious consequences. Divorce in the time of Pushkin was a very difficult matter, in some cases, impossible in practice.

It would seem that an absurd set of circumstances and Burmin's joke turn the story into a tragedy with a sad ending. In addition, ensign Vladimir dies in the war with Napoleon, and Maria does not want to get married, although, having received an inheritance, she is not deprived of marriage proposals.

However, the author, not wanting to create a story with a tragic end, makes the denouement unexpected. Maria and Burmin met and liked each other. At first, they did not remember that they were already married, since they had seen each other for a long time and could not capture the details of the meeting in their memory. However, the hussar colonel acts like an honest man and tells the girl about the incident that happened in the church during a heavy snowstorm. Thanks to this, lovers understand that they are already married.

The denouement, with the chance meeting described by Pushkin, could hardly have taken place in reality. Fate, according to the author, is stronger than human will. However, unlike Greek tragedies, where the heroes are doomed to survive the fate destined for them, it does not break their fate, but helps the victory of love.

Analysis 3

The work is one of the components of the cycle published by the writer in the form of a collection called Belkin's Tales.

The story is written in the form of a sentimental literary direction, the key theme of which is the disclosure human destiny, subject to the power of fatal circumstances, presented in the form of a natural element.

A peculiar feature of the story is its linear composition, which has characteristic features in the form of a discrepancy between the plot and the storyline, the absence of literary parts, such as a prologue and epilogue, as well as the use of an excerpt from Zhukovsky's poem as an epigraph.

In addition, the structural composition of the work consists of two parts, which the author presents in a romantic ( love line heroes) and real (description of life and circumstances surrounding the characters) aspects of human life. At the same time, the story demonstrates strict completeness and proportion, consisting in clear mathematical calculations of laconic compositional elements.

The means of artistic expression are presented in the story very sparingly and rarely, which is manifested in the absence portrait characteristics heroes of the work, as well as the author's refusal to psychoanalyze the state of mind of the character, suggesting that readers independently draw a conclusion about the heroes in accordance with their actions and speeches. However, a few epithets and metaphors are used in the story, but with marginal economy, and the dynamism of the development of the narrative is often given by the use of verb forms.

The basis of the storyline is an accidental meeting of the main characters, Maria Gavrilovna and Vladimir, which ended in a curious marriage, illustrated by the key symbol of the story in the form of a snow blizzard, reflecting youthful serenity, a passion devoid of reason.

The author's intention of the work is to reveal the conflict that arises between man and the natural elements in the form of a snowstorm, which is described by the writer as the irreversibility of punishment, while an illustration of this is the description of the events taking place against the backdrop of a raging snowstorm.

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