Alexander Pushkin, "The Bronze Horseman": genre of work, plot, date of writing

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

The work "The Bronze Horseman" is one of the most famous in the poetic work of A. S. Pushkin. In it, the poet reflects on the reign of Peter the Great, on the state, the tsarist autocracy, on the role of the common man in history. The main idea of the work is the conflict between the authorities and the "little man" from the common people. The genre of The Bronze Horseman is not unambiguously defined, since Pushkin very skillfully combined various styles of presentation in it.

History of Creation

The date of writing "The Bronze Horseman" is the autumn of 1833. This is the period of the so-called Boldino autumn of Pushkin, when his work reaches its highest peak. Having written a poem, the poet could not publish it - Nicholas I imposed a ban on printing this work.

Only in 1837, after the death of the poet, was it published in"Contemporary". However, censorship in the person of V. A. Zhukovsky made a number of changes to the text, which distorted the idea of the work. For the first time in its original version, without censorship amendments, it was printed only many years later, in 1904.

Contents

In the plot of the poem "The Bronze Horseman", the author describes the real events of 1824, when the most devastating flood occurred in St. Petersburg, which brought great damage to the city and claimed a huge number of lives.

The work begins with the glorification of Peter the Great and the city of St. Petersburg, his "creation". Then the reader gets acquainted with the main character - a petty official Eugene. This is an ordinary person from the people, with simple dreams of a modest happy family life with his beloved Parasha. He lives with these thoughts, goes to bed and wakes up with them.

One day a terrible bad weather hits St. Petersburg. The city is suddenly under water. Only the monument to Peter majestically rises above the devastation. The house, located near the river, in which Parasha lived, is flooded and collapses. The girl dies along with her mother. Upon learning of this tragedy, Eugene goes crazy.

One night, Eugene passes by the monument to Peter I. Looking at him, he saw in him the culprit of his troubles. Deprived of reason, Eugene whispered malicious words to the monument, and a sick imagination drew the poor fellow, how in response an angry rider began to pursue him on a bronze horse. After a short time, Eugene died.

Soin the work of A. S. Pushkin, two very different characters collide: one is a mighty ruler who, even after death, continues to live in the form of a monument, the other is a modest tradesman, a “little man”. Their destinies clash, creating conflict. The culmination of the work is the threat of a madman and reciprocal royal wrath.

The image of Eugene

Describing the main character, Pushkin pays more attention to the inner world of the hero, creating his psychological portrait. This young, at first glance, unremarkable person has very good spiritual qualities. It belongs to a bankrupt noble family. His dreams are limited to dreams of a simple family life with his girlfriend. Eugene is ready to work all his life, thereby providing for his family.

The death of his beloved deprives him of the meaning in life. His mind cannot handle such a tragedy. He turns into a sick, compassionate beggar.

The fate of the hero is the fate of the "little man" in history. The author showed his helpless attempt to oppose the state system in the form of a monument. As a result, the hero is defeated. Pushkin emphasizes the hopelessness of the position of the common man before the authorities.

Image of Peter

The second main character is Peter the Great as the Bronze Horseman. The attitude of the author to him is ambiguous. He admires the will of the creator of the history of the state. But at the same time, Pushkin is tormented by doubts: who was Peter I - a tyrant or a savior of Russia. Having studied indetails the history of the reign of this monarch, the author recognizes his strength, patriotism, as well as the progressiveness of Peter's reforms. Without belittling the merits of Peter at the beginning of his reign, Pushkin also speaks of the shortcomings of his later reign - cruelty and despotism. It is no coincidence that the author associates the image of Peter in the poem "The Bronze Horseman" with a monument - proud, cold and soulless. And here the monarch acts as a negative hero. This is especially clearly defined in the climax of the work, when Eugene protests to the ruler, but does not receive compassion in response. On the contrary, the Bronze Horseman pursues him, instilling fear and demanding obedience.

Pushkin admires Peter the Great, but at the same time he loves the Russian people too. In his work, he talks about the shortcomings of government, which led to destructive events. The great city of Petersburg created by Peter destroyed all the hopes of ordinary people with streams of water. The author deeply sympathizes with the common people, at the same time emphasizing the indisputable authority of the monarch.

The main character Eugene dies sick and miserable. Peter, in the form of the Bronze Horseman, stands unshakable for centuries. The rearing horse personifies the state, and the rider holding it by the bridle symbolizes the power of power.

Genre of the work "The Bronze Horseman"

In literary criticism, it is customary to call this work a poem. The poet himself called it "Petersburg story". However, the definition of the genre of the work "The Bronze Horseman" gives rise to many disputes among critics.

The writing style of this work combines a grandiloquent, epic style when describing Peter and a philistine, prosaic, with conversational episodes when mentioning Eugene. Thus, defining the genre of The Bronze Horseman, literary critics agree that it is a whole genre combination in which completely different styles combine surprisingly harmoniously.

Reference to the poem

The theme of the work "The Bronze Horseman" by Alexander Pushkin inspired the Russian Soviet composer R. M. Glier to create the ballet of the same name. It is no coincidence that a fragment from it "Hymn to the Great City" became the anthem of St. Petersburg. After all, all the events that take place in this story are connected with the history of the city, therefore they are very close and understandable to every Russian person.