In September 1830, Pushkin came to his father's estate in Boldino. Here he finished the last chapters of Onegin, wrote several scenes and tragedies, about thirty poems and âprose 5 storiesâ, which he reported in a letter to Pletnev. Pushkin wrote The Belkin Story (his first creation in prose) with pleasure and enthusiasm, "experiencing joy from inspiration." The novels created in September and October felt maturity of talent, strength and inner freedom of the writer. This quality of works was immediately noted by his contemporaries. Pushkin wrote that Baratynsky âlaughed and foughtâ while reading them, and Kuchelbecker admitted that he âlaughed with a good heartâ and wished that their author would know that his works âdispelled the melancholy of his unfortunate friendâ.
Five Stories
Not even the most in-depth analysis of Belkinâs Tales will make it possible to note that the author, with a smile and good humor, spoke about post-Decembrist Russia and ordinary people, their hopes, disappointments, suffering, everyday minor tragedies and comic adventures. Pushkin refused authorship and transferred it to Ivan Petrovich Belkin, a retired officer, a meek, kind young man. Interested in leisurely elegant literature, Belkin collected these âsimpleâ stories from various storytellers and processed them at his discretion. Thus, the real author of these stories is hidden behind a double chain of storytellers, which gives him freedom of narration, the opportunity for satire and parody, and allows you to express your attitude to them.
A complete analysis of Belkin's Tales shows that the stories in the cycle are very entertaining. But not all of them are funny. The Belkin cycle includes five works. All of them are heterogeneous, none of these stories is like the other. Among these stories are serious and sad. So, âStation Caretakerâ - a serious and slightly sad story, âSnowstormâ and âYoung Lady-Peasantâ - partly humorous, âUndertakerâ also has an irony that affects typical Russian reality, and âShotâ is a romantic novel with a sharp plot and an unexpected ending. Let's talk about these stories in more detail.
"Shot"
Judging by the date of October 14, 1830, indicated by the author, this story was written by one of the last in the series "Belkin's Tales". Analysis of the âShotâ we begin with the plot-compositional features of the work. Initially, the work consisted of one chapter and contained the life impressions of the author himself, up to autobiographical realities (Pushkinâs duel with officer Zubov). The epigraph of the story âShotâ refers the reader to Marlinsky's work âShot on a bivouacâ, which contains the motive for âdelayed shotâ. Having finished the work on October 12, the author attributed that the ending is lost. Only 2 days later, Pushkin added the second chapter, compositionally repeating the first. Both chapters are built on the principle of "mysterious novels."
In the first of them, the main character Silvio keeps a secret. In the second chapter, the author introduces new heroes - the count and his wife, but the reader is waiting for the mystery to be resolved and he does not leave the feeling that there are some kind of connection between completely different people - the count and Silvio. The mystery is revealed in the count's false story. Thus, a short story is compositionally difficult: two different episodes, and inside each - an additional story. Moreover, the second background continues the first. Such a construction of the work expands the temporal boundaries and creates a plot tension. Further analysis of Belkin's Tales reveals that the virtuoso construction of the Shot story from different angles revealed the face of the protagonist. Despite the fact that there are few actors, the work seems âdensely populatedâ because it displays different social worlds.
Snowstorm
The next work of Belkinâs Tales, the analysis of which begins with plot-compositional features, is the novel Snowstorm. The plot is based on a curious case - the unforeseen marriage of a young military man to a provincial girl. For him, this is a fun adventure, for a girl - the collapse of first love. Two storylines converge at the end of the work. The story begins with a small exposition, which describes the life of one estate. A poor warrant officer appears who cannot count on the hand of the daughter of the landlord. They correspond for a long time and decide to get married secretly. On the way, the ensign got into a snowstorm and reached the church only in the morning. Meanwhile, the hussar passing by, Burmin decided to play a trick and, introducing himself as the bridegroom of a girl who was very ill at that time and noticed the brideâs âsubstitutionâ only after the wedding, married her and left to serve.
For several years, the girl rejects all the suitors and then a handsome colonel appears. He liked Marya Gavrilovna, only he cannot marry her. He has a wife, but he does not know either her name or the name of the estate where she lives. Burmin tells an amazing story about a few years ago joking with a stranger. The cry of Marya Gavrilovna âSo it was you!â talks about the happy denouement of this story. The story can be divided into two parts: âMarya Gavrilovna and Vladimirâ, âMarya Gavrilovna and Burminâ. Each has its own "highlight". The beauty of the construction of this story once again emphasizes the genius of its author, who unmistakably found a formula that could express his intention. The irony permeates the whole story, as well as the next work of Belkin's Tales, The Undertaker, an analysis of which is presented below.
"Undertaker"
The plot of the story resembles romantic works, but it tells far not about romantic things, but about typical Russian reality. Compositionally, the story "Undertaker" is divided into two parts. The first tells the story of the protagonist moving and his acquaintance with neighbors. The second tells of the Undertaker's dreams, where he is visited by the deceased dead. The protagonist is saved only by awakening. The work ends with what it begins - family troubles. In the strangest of the five stories, the author talks about the fear of death.
Maybe because the main character is gloomy because coffins are placed in his house. At the celebration of a silver wedding, a toast for the health of the dead is even offered. Is the undertaker living at their expense? He is so grateful to them that he even calls them to a feast in a dream. When meeting the first deceased, already turned into a skeleton, the undertakerâs legs go numb and give way with horror. After all, even he deceived him, giving out a pine coffin for an oak. As the analysis of Belkin's Tales shows, Pushkin in this work shows what shocks a person needs to survive in order to stop living by deception. As V. Gippius noted, the âcharmâ of this work is not only in âsoberâ truth, âbut also in sober ironyâ.
Station Warden
In the cycle, the work âStation Wardenâ stands somewhat apart. The story is close in its poetry to sentimentalism. This is evidenced by the character of the hero and the unusual ending, both mournful and happy. But the theme of the little man, which the author raises, distinguishes the work from traditional sentimental tales. Here, although there is no direct evil, the grief of the protagonist does not become less from this. On the contrary, it takes on a tragic character. There are no negative heroes, they are all good in their own way - and the ranger, and Dunya, and the hussar. But this did not stop the disaster from happening.
By its nature, the work is not revealing, but epic. In it, a deep philosophical view of the author on the life and wisdom of a great artist is noticeable. Throughout the entire work, a tragedy unfolds before the reader of a person who does not bow to fate and tries to save his daughter. Unable to change or influence the course of events, the old caretaker descends to the grave from the realization of his own powerlessness. And the happy ending of the story (after all, Dunya is doing well) further emphasizes the tragedy that occurred before the reader. The last âforgiveâ daughter is pain, remorse and suffering.
The Young Lady Peasant
The story is based on the romantic relationship of Alexei and Lisa. They are the children of landowners, at war with each other, but then reconciled. There is no trace of romantic poetics in the story. Everything is simple here - both heroes, and love, and the atmosphere of village life. âThe Young Peasant Womanâ is an easy, cheerful story with a happy ending. It is built on a real-life basis. Meanwhile, this playful, convoluted story is quite serious in its meaning. The protagonist of the work is ready to step over the social prejudices imposed by his noble title and marry a peasant woman. Their exposure and denial is the main idea of ââthe work.
Concluding the analysis of Belkinâs Tales, it should be noted that they became a turning point in the history of prose. The main feature of these works is simplicity and conciseness. The author avoids unnecessary jewelry and does not explain the actions of his heroes. But the ingenious Pushkin always guesses what this or that character should do (by virtue of social skills or individual qualities). Therefore, the reader feels the truth and sees real people.