One of the most famous prose works of Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin is the story “The Captain's Daughter”. The book is included in the school curriculum. It is analyzed in the lessons of Russian literature. One of the scenes on the basis of which students write compositions is the duel of Grinev and Shvabrin. The content of the fourth chapter of the work of the great Russian classic will be discussed in this article.
"Captain's daughter"
The duel of Grinev and Shvabrina is far from the key scene in Pushkin's work. The book was first published in 1836. The idea of the story was born much earlier. Pushkin began working on a historical novel as early as the 1920s. For several years, he collected historical information about the Pugachev riot.
Initially, the writer planned to make the main character of an officer who went over to the side of the impostor. However, in the process, the concept has changed significantly.
Pushkin created an outstanding book in which historical figures coexist with fictional characters, a book in which the murderer and troublemaker Pugachev appears before the readers as a controversial person: cunning, cruel, but not devoid of concepts of honor and gratitude. And he evokes much more sympathy than the aristocrat and officer Shvabrin .
The duel in Russian literature
A duel is a duel in which opponents enter in order to protect the honor of another person. The Russian nobleman, according to the law, did not have the right to participate in a duel. The punishment awaited not only the participants, but also the seconds. But there was another law - the law of honor.
The duel of Grinev and Shvabrina , of course, is not the only duel in Russian literature. But it was Pushkin who first touched on this topic in his work. Suffice it to recall the famous "Eugene Onegin." Later, the heroes of Lermontov, Tolstoy, Turgenev fought in a duel. Such scenes allowed the authors to reveal the character of the heroes.
The duel of Grinev and Shvabrina plays a special role in the plot of the story "The Captain's Daughter." Everyone remembers the epigraph to this work. The main character of the Pushkin story , as his father instructed, managed to preserve the honor. His opponent never strove for this. The duel of Grinev and Shvabrina in “The Captain's Daughter” is a duel in which heroes opposed to each other fought.
Background
For those who do not remember or for some reason do not know the content of Pushkin's story, we will briefly talk about the events that preceded the duel of Grinev and Shvabrin .
Terrible father sends his son to serve in a province remote from the capital. In his opinion, the young man only runs around the girls and climbs the dovecote, and therefore must "smell the gunpowder."
On the way, a young officer meets a man who escorts him to the inn. Later, the main character finds out that this is none other than Emelyan Pugachev. A young officer arrives in the Belgorod fortress. Here falls in love with the commandant's daughter. Another officer is not indifferent to her. The love triangle is in some ways the cause of the duel between Grinev and Shvabrin .
Slander
The duel between Grinev and Shvabrin reveals the characters of these literary characters. The initiator of the match is Schwabrin . The formal reason is the insult that Grinev allegedly inflicted on him. The real reason for the duel is Shvabrin’s desire to remove his opponent from the Belgorod Fortress by any means. He sees the nascent feelings between Peter Andreevich and the captain’s daughter.
Shvabrin is not driven by love at all . Rather, revenge, vanity. He wants to punish a girl who refused to marry him.
Once Grinev visits unexpected inspiration. The young man writes a simple love song. This work cannot be called a masterpiece. However, it mentions the name of the daughter of Captain Mironov. Grinev reads his poetic composition to Shvabrin , and he, understanding who it is dedicated to, tries to slander Masha. But Grinev had already managed to get to know the girl better. He understands that everything Shvabrin said is a vile lie. That's why he calls him a bastard.
Failed duelists
Shvabrin has no reason to be angry at Grinev . This is a hypocritical, deceitful person, which is confirmed by subsequent events. Undoubtedly, he realizes that he lied to the girl in the eyes of Peter. Nevertheless, he does everything possible so that the fight takes place. However, the first attempt was unsuccessful.
According to the rules of the duel, seconds are needed. Grinev turned to Lieutenant Ivan Ignatich . However, he refused. It is worth paying attention to the statement of the old lieutenant. In a dialogue with Grinev, he says: "I myself am a hunter before him." These words mean that Ivan Ignatich would not mind fighting the swords with Shvabrin himself .
The rival statements of Grinev cause antipathy to all inhabitants of the fortress with vulgar statements and mean acts. However, the lieutenant, trying to protect Grinyov from troubles, reports on a possible duel to the captain. Swords are immediately taken away from duelists. Grinev and Shvabrin have no choice but to portray a truce.
Vasilisa Egorovna - the wife of Captain Mironov - is sure that the conflict has been settled. Other witnesses of the incident also think so. However, they are mistaken. Schwabrin does not intend to retreat.
It is worth saying that already on the first day of his stay in the fortress, Grinev learned some facts from the biography of his opponent. Mop excellently fights on swords. It was sent to the Belgorod fortress precisely for this reason. As already mentioned, by law, duels were banned. Shvabrin was punished and sent to the wilderness. During the fight, he killed his opponent.
Duel
Shvabrin was sure that Grinev could not hold a sword. Perhaps that is why he insisted on a duel. But the main character was an experienced fencer. He was taught this art by a French tutor . So, the fight began. Grinev confidently controlled the sword. Moreover, power was on his side. But suddenly Savelich appeared.
The old servant called out to Pyotr Andreevich. Mop at this moment struck . If Savelich had n’t appeared suddenly, Grinev would have won the match.
From the wound received, the protagonist lay in fever for several days. When he woke up, he reconciled with Shvabrin . And only later did he learn that the enemy, while he was unconscious, sent a letter to Grinev the elder. Soon, however, events took place in the fortress that overshadowed both the duel and the angry letter of Grinev the Elder. But at the same time they revealed the vile nature of Shvabrin .