After the brutal suppression of the rebellious uprising of military settlers in Staraya Russa in the early 30s of the 19th century, Pushkin draws attention to the "troubled" times in the history of the fatherland. From here begins the story of the creation of the "Captain's Daughter". The image of the rebel Pugachev fascinates and attracts the attention of the poet. And this theme occurs immediately in two of Pushkin's works: the historical work "The History of Pugachev" and "The Captain's Daughter". Both works are dedicated to the events of 1773-1775 under the leadership of Emelyan Pugachev.

Initial stage: collection of information, creation of the "History of Pugachev"

The history of the creation of the "Captain's Daughter" takes more than 3 years. Pushkin was the first to write the work "The History of Pugachev", for which he carefully collected facts and evidence. He had to travel around several provinces in the Volga region and the Orenburg region, where the uprising took place and witnesses of those events still lived. By decree of the king, the poet was granted access to secret documents relating to the uprising and its suppression by the authorities. Family archives and private collections of documents were a large part of the sources of information. Pushkin's Archival Notebooks contain copies of nominal decrees and letters of Emelyan Pugachev himself. The poet communicated with old people who knew Pugachev and passed on legends about him. The poet asked, wrote down, examined the battlefields. He scrupulously and punctually recorded all the information collected in the historical work “The History of Pugachev”. A small novel reveals to us one of the most exciting pages in Russian history - the period of Pugachevism. This work was called "History of the Pugachev rebellion" and was published in 1834. Only after the creation of a historical work did the poet begin to write an artistic one - “The Captain's Daughter”.

Prototypes of heroes, building a storyline

The narration in the novel is conducted on behalf of a young officer Pyotr Grinev, who is serving in the Belogorsk fortress. Several times the author changed the plan of the work, built the plot in different ways and renamed the characters. At the beginning, the hero of the work was conceived by a young nobleman who went over to the side of Pugachev. The poet studied the history of the nobleman Shvanvich, who voluntarily went over to the side of the rebels, and the officer Basharin, who was captured by Pugachev. Based on their true deeds, two characters were formed, one of which was a nobleman who became a traitor, whose image required passing through the moral and censorship barriers of that time. We can say that officer Shvanovich served as the prototype for Shvabrin. This surname was mentioned in the royal decree "On the death penalty for the traitor rebel and impostor Pugachev and his accomplices." And the main character of The Captain's Daughter, Grinev, was created by the author on the basis of the true story of an officer taken into custody by the authorities. He was suspected of having links with but later this was not confirmed, the officer was found not guilty and released.

Publication and history of the creation of Pushkin's The Captain's Daughter

For Pushkin, covering such an acute political topic was not an easy task, as evidenced by the history of the creation of The Captain's Daughter: numerous changes in the construction of the plan of the work, a change in the names of the characters and the storyline.

The story "The Captain's Daughter" was first mentioned in the middle of 1832. The work itself appeared in print in December 1836 in the Sovremennik magazine without the author's signature. However, the censorship banned the publication of the chapter about the rebellion of the peasants in the village of Grinev, which the poet himself later called "The Missed Chapter". For Pushkin, the creation of The Captain's Daughter took the last years of his life, after the publication of the work, the poet died tragically in a duel.

Alexander Sergeevich had to put a lot of effort into creating the characters. He turned to unpublished documents, family archives, vehemently studied the history of the uprising led by Yemelyan Pugachev. Pushkin visited many cities in the Volga region, including Kazan and Astrakhan, where the "exploits" of the rebel began. He even found the relatives of the participants in order to more reliably study all the information. From the materials received, the historical work "The History of Pugachev" was compiled, which was used by him to create his own Pugachev for the "Captain's Daughter". I had to think at the same time about censorship and a character that contradicted not only the moral and ethical values ​​of that time, but also raised political discussions. At first, his renegade nobleman was supposed to take the side of Pugachev, but even in the course of the plan, the plan changed many times.

As a result, the character had to be divided into two - "light" and "dark", that is, the defender Grinev and the traitor Shvabrin. Shvabrin absorbed all the worst qualities, from betrayal to cowardice.

The world of heroes of "The Captain's Daughter"

The poet managed to describe truly Russian qualities and character traits on the pages of the story. Pushkin very clearly and colorfully manages to convey the opposites of the characters of people from the same class. In the work "Onegin" he vividly described the opposite types of the nobility in the images of Tatiana and Onegin, and in "The Captain's Daughter" he managed to show the opposite character of the types of the Russian peasantry: prudent, devoted to the owners, reasonable and prudent Savelyich and rebellious, frantic, recalcitrant Pugachev. In the story "The Captain's Daughter", the characterization of the characters is given very believably and expressively.

Nobleman Grinev

The main characters deserve special attention in our story. The hero of The Captain's Daughter, a young officer Grinev, on whose behalf the story is being told, was brought up in the old traditions. He was given from an early age to the care of Savelich, whose influence only intensified after the expulsion of the French teacher Beaupre. Not yet born into the world, Peter was recorded as a sergeant, which determined his entire future.

Pyotr Alekseevich Grinev - the main character of The Captain's Daughter - was created in the image of a real person, information about which Pushkin found in archival documents of the Pugachev era. The prototype of Grinev is officer Basharin, who was captured by the rebels and fled from him. The creation of the story "The Captain's Daughter" was accompanied by a change in the name of the hero. It changed several times (Bulanin, Valuev), until the author settled on Grinev. Mercy, “family thought”, free choice in difficult and harsh circumstances are associated with the image of the main character.

Describing through the mouth of Grinev the terrible consequences of Pugachevism, Pushkin calls the rebellion senseless and merciless. Mountains of dead bodies, a bunch of people chained, beaten with whips and hanged - these are the terrible consequences of the uprising. Seeing the robbed and devastated villages, fires, innocent victims, Grinev exclaims: "God forbid to see a Russian rebellion, senseless and merciless."

Serf Savelich

The creation of the story "The Captain's Daughter" would have been impossible without a vivid image of a native of the people. Serf Savelich firmly believed that he was born only to serve his master. He could not imagine another life. But his service to the masters is not servility, he is full of self-esteem and nobility.

Savelyich is rich in inner warmth, selfless affection and self-sacrifice. He loves his young master like a father, takes care of him and suffers from unfair reproaches against him. This old man suffers from loneliness, because he devoted his whole life to serving the masters.

Rebel Pugachev

The poet managed to convey another vivid image of the Russian character through Emelyan Pugachev. This hero of The Captain's Daughter is viewed by Pushkin from two different angles. One Pugachev is an intelligent, with great ingenuity and insightful man, whom we see as a simple person, described in a personal relationship with Grinev. He remembers the good done to him and is deeply grateful. Another Pugachev is a cruel and merciless executioner, sending people to the gallows and executing the middle-aged widow of commandant Mironov. This side of Pugachev is disgusting, striking in its bloody cruelty.

The story "The Captain's Daughter" makes it clear that Pugachev is an unwilling villain. He was chosen for the role of "leader" by the elders and was later betrayed by them. Pugachev himself believed that Russia was destined to be punished through his reproach. He understood that he was doomed, that he was only a leading player in the rebellious element. But at the same time, Pugachev is not a soulless puppet in the hands of the elders; he exerts all his courage, perseverance and mental strength for the success of the uprising.

The main character's antagonist - Shvabrin

The nobleman Shvabrin, the hero of The Captain's Daughter, is another real person, references to which were found by Pushkin in archival documents. In contrast to the noble and honest Grinev, Shvabrin is a scoundrel with a dishonorable soul. He easily goes over to the side of Pugachev, as soon as he captured the Belgorod fortress. By force, he is trying to achieve Machine location.

But at the same time, Shvabrin is far from stupid, he is a witty and entertaining conversationalist who ended up in the service of the Belgorod fortress for his love of dueling fights. It is because of Shvabrin that Grinev falls under suspicion of treason and almost loses his life.

Captain's daughter Maria Mironova

The story "The Captain's Daughter" also tells about love in the difficult time of the popular uprising. The main character of The Captain's Daughter is Maria Mironova, a dowry brought up on French novels, the daughter of the captain of the Belogorsk fortress. It is because of her that Grinev and Shvabrin duel, although she cannot belong to either of them. Parents forbade Petrusha even to think about marrying a dowry, and the scoundrel Shvabrin, who practically won the duel, has no place in the girl's heart.

She did not succumb to him during the capture of the fortress, when he tried to force her favor. Masha contains all the best character traits of a Russian woman - innocence and purity of character, warmth, patience and readiness for self-sacrifice, fortitude and the ability not to change one's principles. In order to save Masha from the hands of Shvabrin, Grinev goes to Pugachev to ask him to release his beloved.

Description of events in the story

The description of events is based on the memoirs of the fifty-year-old nobleman Petr Alekseevich Grinev. They were written during the reign of Emperor Alexander and are dedicated to the uprising of the peasants led by Emelyan Pugachev. By the will of fate, the young officer had to take an involuntary part in it.

Petrusha's childhood

The story of The Captain's Daughter begins with Pyotr Andreevich's ironic memories of his childhood. His father is a retired prime minister, his mother is the daughter of a poor nobleman. All eight brothers and sisters of Petrusha died in childhood, and the hero himself was recorded as a sergeant while still in his mother's womb. At the age of five, the aspiring Savelych is assigned to the boy, who is favored by Petrusha as uncles. Under his leadership, he learned Russian literacy and "could sensibly judge the properties of a greyhound dog." After the young master was discharged as a teacher, the Frenchman Beaupre, whose teaching ended in shameful exile for drunkenness and spoiling the yard girls.

Young Petrusha lives a carefree life until the age of sixteen, chasing pigeons and playing leapfrog. At the age of seventeen, the father decides to send the undergrowth to the service, but not in the Semenovsky regiment, but in the army, so that he sniffs gunpowder. This was the reason for the disappointment of the young nobleman, who hoped for fun and a carefree life in the capital.

Service officer Grinev

On the way to Orenburg, the master and his servant fall into a strong snowstorm, and they were already completely lost when they came across a black-bearded gypsy who led them to the litter. On the way to housing, Peter Andreevich has a prophetic and terrible dream. Grateful Grinev gives his savior a rabbit coat and treats him with a glass of wine. After mutual gratitude, the gypsies and Grinev part.

Arriving at the place, Peter was surprised to find that the Belgorod fortress does not at all look like an impregnable bastion - it's just a nice small village behind a wooden fence. Instead of remote soldiers - military invalids, and instead of formidable artillery - an old cannon, in the mouth of which old garbage is clogged.

The head of the fortress - an honest and kind officer Mironov - is not strong in education and is completely under the influence of his wife. The wife runs the fortress as her household. The Mironovs accept young Petrusha as their own, and he himself becomes attached to them and falls in love with their daughter Maria. The easy service disposes to reading books and writing poetry.

At the beginning of the service, Pyotr Grinev feels friendly sympathy for Lieutenant Shvabrin, who is close to him in terms of education and occupation. But Shvabrin's causticity, with which he criticized Grinev's poems, served as a pretext for a quarrel between them, and dirty hints towards Masha - an occasion for a duel, during which Grinev was meanly wounded by Shvabrin.

Maria takes care of the wounded Peter, and they confess their mutual feelings to each other. Peter writes a letter to his parents, asking their blessings for his marriage. However, having learned that Mary does not have a dowry, the father forbids his son to think about the girl.

Pugachev's uprising

The creation of the "Captain's Daughter" is associated with a popular uprising. In the story, events unfolded as follows. In a fortress village, a dumb Bashkir is caught with outrageous messages. Residents fearfully await the attack of the rebellious peasants led by Pugachev. And the attack of the rebels happened unexpectedly, at the first military attack, the fortress surrendered its positions. Residents came out to meet Pugachev with bread and salt, and they are led to the city square to take the oath to the new "sovereign". The commandant and his wife die, refusing to swear allegiance to the impostor Pugachev. Grinev is waiting for the gallows, but later Emelyan himself pardons him, recognizing in him that fellow traveler whom he saved in a snowstorm and received a hare coat as a gift from him.

Pugachev releases the officer, and he sets off for help in the direction of Orenburg. He wants to save the sick Masha from captivity, whom the priest passes off as his niece. He is very worried about her safety, because Shvabrin, who has gone over to the side of the rebels, has been appointed commandant. Orenburg did not take seriously his reports and refused to help. And soon the city itself was under a long siege. By chance, Grinev receives a letter from Masha asking for help, and he again heads to the fortress. There, with the help of Pugachev, he frees Masha, and he himself falls under suspicion of espionage at the suggestion of the same Shvabrin.

Final Analysis

The main text of the story is compiled from the notes of Pyotr Andreevich Grinev. Critics gave the story "The Captain's Daughter" the following characteristic: this is a historically important story. The era of Pugachevism is seen through the eyes of a nobleman who took an oath of allegiance to the Empress and faithfully followed his duty as an officer. And even in a difficult situation, among the mountains of dead bodies and the sea of ​​people's blood, he did not break this word and saved the honor of his uniform.

The popular uprising led by Pugachev is considered in The Captain's Daughter as a national tragedy. Pushkin contrasts people and power.

Critics call the story "The Captain's Daughter" the pinnacle of Pushkin's artistic prose. Truly Russian characters and types began to live in the work. All of Pushkin's poetry is permeated with a rebellious spirit, he transcends the boundaries of everyday life. And in the story, in the story of Pugachev's rebellion, the poet sings of liberty and rebellion. Russian classics gave the story "The Captain's Daughter" a positive review. Another masterpiece was added to Russian literature.

"The Captain's Daughter": genre affiliation

Is it possible to consider that the story "The Captain's Daughter" has the genre of a historical novel? After all, the poet himself believed that having illuminated an entire historical era in his work, he could consider it a novel. However, according to the volume accepted in literary criticism, the work is classified as a story. Few critics admit that The Captain's Daughter is a novel, more often it is called a story or short story.

"The Captain's Daughter" in the theater and productions

To date, many theatrical and film performances of the story "The Captain's Daughter" have been staged. The most popular was the feature film by Pavel Reznikov with the same name. The picture was released in 1978 and is essentially a film performance. The roles of the main characters were given to well-known and familiar actors for viewers. The peculiarity of the acting is that no one gets used to the character, no one is put on special make-up, and in general there is nothing that would connect the actors and the book, except for the text. It is the text that creates the mood, makes the viewer feel it, and the actors simply read it with their own voice. Despite all the originality of the production of the story "The Captain's Daughter", the picture received amazing reviews. Many theaters still follow the principle of just reading Pushkin's text.

This is, in general terms, the history of the creation of the story "The Captain's Daughter" by A. S. Pushkin.