The image and character of Boris Godunov in the tragedy Boris Godunov
The main theme of the tragedy - the tsar and the people - determined the important place that Pushkin assigned to Boris Godunov in his play.
The image of Boris Godunov is revealed widely and diversified: Boris is shown both as a tsar and as a family man; his various spiritual qualities are noted.
Boris is endowed with many positive traits. ( This material will help to correctly write on the topic The image and character of Boris Godunov in the tragedy Boris Godunov. The summary does not make it clear the whole meaning of the work, so this material will be useful for a deep understanding of the work of writers and poets, as well as their novels, short stories, stories, plays, poems.) Attractive are his great mind, powerful will, responsiveness, desire "to calm his people in contentment, in glory." As a tender father, he sincerely mourns the grief of his daughter, shocked by the unexpected death of her fiancé.
What, Xenia, what, my dear?
The brides are already a sad widow!
You keep crying about the dead groom. . .
Innocent, why are you suffering?
As a person who deeply understands the benefits of education, he rejoices at his son's success in science.
Learn, my son, science shortens Us the experiences of a fleeting life...
Learn, my son, and you will comprehend the sovereign work more easily and clearly.
Boris is an experienced politician, he soberly takes into account the attitude of the boyars towards him, understands the whole difficult situation inside the country in his time and gives reasonable advice to his son in his dying will. Having betrothed his daughter to a Swedish prince, he thinks about strengthening the ties of Russia with the Western European states.
Despite all these qualities, the people do not like the king. Boris Godunov is a typical representative of the autocracy that began to take shape in Muscovite Russia from the time of Ivan III and reached its peak under Ivan IV. Boris continues the policy of Ivan IV - the concentration of all state power in the hands of the king. He continues the struggle against the well-born boyars and, like Ivan IV, relies in this struggle on the service nobility. Appointing Basmanov as commander of the troops, Boris tells him: "I will send you to command them: I will put not the clan, but the mind, into governors." Boris continues the policy of the Moscow tsars in relation to the people: “Only by severity can we vigilantly restrain the people. So thought John (III), the calmer of storms, a reasonable autocrat, so did his fierce grandson (Ivan IV). He continues the policy of enslaving the peasants, he "planned to destroy St. George's Day", that is, to destroy the right of the peasants to move from one landowner to another and thereby finally secure the peasants to the landlords
Such a feudal policy of Boris strengthens at first the distrustful, and then the hostile attitude of the people towards him.
But Boris differs from his predecessors in that he became king through crime, and not through legitimate succession to the throne. In the 17th century, as some writers of that time say, Boris Godunov was considered the murderer of Tsarevich Demetrius, son of Ivan IV. Karamzin was of the same opinion. Karamzin considered the very tragedy of Boris as a consequence of his crime: God punished Boris for the murder of the infant prince.
Pushkin, "resurrecting the past century in all its truth," also draws Boris as the murderer of Demetrius. But, in contrast to the writers of the 17th century and Karamzin, he does not explain the unfortunate reign of Boris and his failure to found the royal dynasty of the Godunovs by this crime.
The murder of Demetrius causes Boris mental anguish, increases the hostility of the people towards him, but this is not the main reason for his tragic fate. The death of Boris is due to social causes, the struggle of class forces. The boyars, the Don Cossacks, the Polish gentry came out to fight him, but most importantly, the people were against him. Gavrila Pushkin tells Basmanov that the Pretender is strong not by "Polish help" and not by Cossacks, but by "popular opinion." The people rebelled against Godunov, and this is the main reason for the death of Boris, since the people are the main, decisive force of history.
The people turned away from Boris and then rebelled against him because they saw in him a despot who not only did not care about the welfare of the people, but, on the contrary, worsened their situation by enslaving the peasantry; saw in him the murderer of the prince; considered all his "good deeds" and "bounties" as "a means to restrain confusion and rebellion."
So Pushkin shows that the main reason for the tragedy of Boris is that he lost the respect, love and support of the people.
Noting in the soul of Boris Godunov the main feature - “ambition”, Pushkin, following the romantic playwrights, did not limit himself to this one feature, he gave a comprehensive coverage of his soul, describing him as a person in general and as a ruler.
Boris, as a person, is a truly dramatic person, because good and evil simply and truthfully mixed up in his heart: he is not a one-sided pseudo-classical villain, and not romantic, with a beautiful pose inherent in him, he is just an unhappy person, whom only passion and chance pushed to the crime. He arouses pity in us because there is much good in him: from the day he committed the crime, his conscience torments him; this terrible mental struggle testifies to the incorruptibility of his nature, that he atones for his crime over the course of many years ... And this slow, painful lynching disarms anyone who would like to treat Godunov strictly as a criminal. In addition, everyone is captivated by his cordiality in relations with the people, with his family.
Boris Godunov
Boris as ruler
Indifferent, morally, but, in any case, captivating qualities of the soul of Boris Godunov were energy, courage, a bright mind. These are all virtues precious to a "ruler". And, indeed, as a ruler, he stands high: he reveals the knowledge of the human heart, the ability to manage people, an understanding of the true needs of the fatherland: he respects education, stands for rapprochement with Western culture, and strongly speaks out against “parochialism”. But all these good qualities of the “ruler” did not help him make Russia happy: neither his bright mind nor his worldly dexterity helped him, he does not have a single ally: both heaven and people, simple and noble, Russians and Poles, all and everyone is against him.
Boris as a criminal
All his administrative talents turn out to be as useless to him as to Shakespeare's Macbeth. Richly gifted by nature, with a broad outlook on life, power-hungry and ambitious, but without an admixture of mercenary egoism, loving his homeland from the bottom of his heart and wishing her well-being and prosperity, resolute and energetic, Boris reached the throne, guided by the principle: "the end justifies the means." The immorality of this principle destroys him.
Reasons for the fall of Boris
The people condemned in his person the criminal who killed Tsarevich Dmitry. The people did not let Boris buy themselves, and Godunov was unable to suppress his feelings of anger towards this “ungrateful mob”, he was unable to understand that there can be no place for a petty selfish feeling of resentment where fate pronounces its inexorable sentence. Under the influence of this feeling, he becomes suspicious, gloomy, even severe. Executions, torture, espionage - this is what Boris resorts to to strengthen his vacillating throne. From the former, broad and bright, understanding of his position as "the king - the servant of the people", he moves on to selfish aspirations to keep the throne for his son. In his dying speech, he gives his son advice on how to trick his subjects more cunningly.
Boris's children died as a redemptive sacrifice for their father's crimes, it was not the deception of the people and the boyars, not the impostor that ruined his work, the deception was successful only as an instrument of that formidable force with which Godunov did not get along. And the imposture of False Dmitry, according to Pushkin, was clear to everyone. Prisoner, to Otrepiev's question:
“Well, how do they judge me in your camp?”
answers:
“And they talk about your mercy,
What are you, they say, (be not angry!), And a thief,
And well done ... ".
"Boris Godunov" A.S. Pushkin is a magnificent example of Russian realistic tragedy, which describes a difficult turning point in the history of the Russian state - the Time of Troubles.
The author achieved an extraordinary historical authenticity, he managed to recreate "the past century in all its truth." Initially, Pushkin designated the genre of "Boris Godunov" as a historical and political tragedy, addressed to the burning issues at that time - the historical role of the masses and their interaction with despotic power.
History of creation
The release of the X and XI volumes of N.M. Karamzin's most ambitious work "History of the Russian State", containing a detailed narrative of the Time of Troubles, inspires Pushkin to create a true masterpiece of Russian historical realistic drama. He begins work on the work with a thorough study of the features of the historical era and the characters of that time, up to taking notes on fragments of the great historical work of Karamzin. The beginning of work dates back to the end of 1824, the exact date of completion of work on the work is also known - November 7, 1825, but after that, for some time, the author continues to make his own corrections.
Analysis of the work
The action begins in 1598. Princes Shuisky and Vorotynsky are discussing the murder of Tsarevich Dimitri, Vasily Shuisky accuses the tsar's brother-in-law, Boris Godunov, of this terrible crime. Shocked by the death of Tsar Fyodor Ioannovich, the Russian people implores Boris, who has shut up in the monastery, to take control of the state into his own hands. After some thought, he gives his consent.
1603. Cell of the Chudov Monastery. Having found out from Elder Pimen the circumstances of the martyrdom of Tsarevich Dimitri, his cell-attendant Grishka Otrepiev plots to use this knowledge for selfish purposes and escapes from the monastery. Monk Gregory is plotting blasphemy - he is going to impersonate the late prince, so that later he will ascend to the royal throne. Barely hiding from the guards looking for him, Grishka runs away to Poland. There he charms the daughter of the governor Mnishek Marina, and confesses to her his imposture.
Meanwhile, a letter appears in Shuisky's house about the allegedly miraculous rescue of the prince, after which the prince goes with this message to the king. Boris is overcome by terrible pangs of conscience, he tries to find out from Shuisky the truth about the death of the boy.
In 1604, inspired by the impostor False Dmitry, Polish troops crossed the Russian border. Meanwhile, in Uglich, the uncovering of the relics of the innocently murdered prince took place, which finally proved the imposture of Otrepiev.
In December of the same year, near Novgorod-Seversky, there was a battle between Boris's troops and the Poles. Godunov is losing the battle. On Cathedral Square, the scene of Boris with the holy fool takes place, where the latter accuses the king of infanticide, comparing him with Herod.
Arriving in Moscow, Tsar Boris suddenly dies. Being in his death throes, he blesses his son, the young boy Fedor, for the kingdom. The disgraced nobleman Gavrila Pushkin pushes one of the governors to treason and proclaims False Dmitry tsar at the Execution Ground. Then a terrible tragedy unfolds - the boyars break into the imprisoned children and Godunov's wife and kill them. Boyar Mosalsky lies to the people that the whole family of Boris took poison and died, and proclaims the power of False Dmitry. The people are silent.
main characters
The author multifacetedly reveals his image - as an imperious and wise ruler, a loving husband and father, Boris is endowed with many virtues. An experienced politician, gifted with a mighty will, a brilliant mind and sincere concern for his people, the tsar, however, could not win the people's love. The people could not forgive him for the murder of the prince, in addition, the policy of total enslavement of the peasants was also not to the liking of the common people. All royal generosity and good deeds were perceived by the people as hypocritical means to appease and keep the masses from rebellion. According to Pushkin, it was the lack of popular support, love and respect that was the main reason for the tragedy of Tsar Boris.
The meek and humble old man, the monk-chronicler of the Chudov Monastery, is one of the central characters in Pushkin's tragedy, he is the only witness to the tragic murder. Pimen inadvertently provokes his cell-attendant Grigory to imposture with the mere careless mention of the equal age of Otrepiev and the murdered prince. At the same time, he declares the power of the king as given from God, and subsequently calls on the people to repent for the sins of the child-killing king.
The image of one of the main characters begins to unfold in the cell of the elder Pimen. The passionate nature of the young monk takes precedence over his desire for solitude within the monastery walls. Further, Grishka is revealed both as an ardent lover and as a young man obsessed with a thirst for power. In the form of the Pretender, he enlists the support of both the boyars and the Polish gentry, but he will not be able to win the love of the people. Instead of cheers, the newly appointed tsar expects people's silence.
The ambitious daughter of a Polish governor, the wife of False Dmitry, she was ready to achieve royal power by any means, being equally indifferent to both the passionate love of the Pretender and the political interests of her people.
A bright representative of the boyar opposition, a participant in almost all political conspiracies. His role is of great weight and importance in the plot of the tragedy. He is the first to investigate the murder of the prince and far-sightedly assesses the consequences of the news of the Pretender. Resourcefulness, sober and cold calculation are the characteristic features of the behavior of this character both in relation to the king and in relation to his entourage.
Holy fool. The significance of the role of this character is that he allowed himself on the square in front of St. Basil's Cathedral to publicly accuse the tsar of killing the little prince. The second appearance in the scene of the battle near Kromy will be marked by the cry of the Holy Fool about the fate of the Russian people in the coming Time of Troubles.
The structure of the work
The plot-compositional construction of the poem has its own innovative features - due to the break with the rules of classicism, instead of the usual five actions, we observe 23 scenes that constantly change the scene, which is also an innovative feature of the author's intention. A new interpretation and violation of the three unities typical of the tragedy of classicism (time of action, place of action and unity of action), violation of the purity of the genre (mixture of tragic, comic and everyday scenes) allow us to call Pushkin's tragedy a successful attempt at a revolution in Russian and world drama.
The main innovative component is to show the image of the people as the main character. The tragedy perfectly shows the dynamism of its development. The passive and unconscious masses of the people are gaining unprecedented power, and as a result, the power of influencing the course of historical events. The people are invisibly present in all episodes of the play, including the monologues and dialogues of its characters, and come to the fore in key scenes, like the chorus in the tragedies of the ancient era.
Final conclusion
"Boris Godunov" is a realistic tragedy, which for Pushkin was the result of deep reflections and a brilliant innovative embodiment of a large-scale literary and artistic understanding of the history of the Russian state. The moral result of the work can be denoted by the intransigence of a weak and defenseless people with the injustice of lawless power.
October 17, 2017The personality of Boris Godunov was attractive to many historians, writers and poets. After all, his achievements were swift, and his death was tragic. He began his service as an ordinary nobleman, and then became the ruler of a huge power. The image of Godunov is truly tragic. Wishing good to the people, the tsar seeks to act far-sighted, but he is hated by people as an oppressor who criminally seized the throne.
Main features
The image of Boris Godunov in Pushkin's tragedy is revealed by the great Russian poet in a wide and versatile way. First of all, the main character attracts the mind, his responsiveness, the ability to sympathize. He sincerely sympathizes with his daughter, who lost her fiancé, calls her "a widow in brides." In addition, he is very well versed in politics, clearly understands how the boyars treat him. The image of Boris Godunov in Pushkin's tragedy is, first of all, the image of a wise man and a skillful politician. He gives valuable advice in his will to his son, and having betrothed his daughter to a Swedish prince, he thinks in advance about how to strengthen ties between Russia and European states.
Politics Godunov
In those difficult times, when Godunov seizes power in a criminal way, the country enters a period of severe trials. Huge natural disasters undermine its economy for several decades, and a long war ends their work. However, despite all these virtues, the people are not favorable to the king. He is a representative of a typical autocracy that took shape on the territory of Kievan Rus since the time of Ivan III.
Boris Godunov continues the course taken by Ivan VI - all state power was concentrated in the hands of the ruler. He also fights against the boyars, and in his struggle he tries to rely on the service nobility. In relation to the people, he also follows the path followed by his predecessors, believing that it can be restrained only by applying "vigilant severity."
Attitude towards peasants
The image of Boris Godunov in Pushkin's tragedy cannot be called completely positive, because he continues the policy of further enslavement of poor peasants, and even wants to completely abolish St. George's Day - the ability of each serf to one day pass from the power of one landowner to another. Thus, Godunov wants to finally secure power over the serfs for the landowners. And such a policy first contributes to the growth of distrust, and then hostility towards the king of the people.
Retribution for evil
However, the image of Boris Godunov in Pushkin's tragedy reveals to the reader not at all the ruler who ascended the throne according to the rules of legal inheritance. Boris Godunov became tsar as a result of a crime. Some writers of those times testify that in the 17th century Godunov was considered the murderer of the real prince, the son of Ivan VI. The historian Karamzin agrees with the same opinion.
He considers the tragedy of Boris Godunov as a natural punishment that befell him for his sins. In the analysis of the image of Boris Godunov in Pushkin's tragedy, one should mention the fact that the murder of the prince really brings mental suffering to the protagonist, but it is not the main reason for his tragic fate. After all, his death was caused primarily by social causes.
The boyars, the Cossacks, the gentry, but most importantly, the people themselves took the path of fighting the tsar. He turned away from the tsar precisely for the reason that he saw in him the real despot himself - this is how the image of Boris Godunov can be briefly described. The main cause of Godunov's death is the people. It is he who is the decisive force of the whole history. In him, he sees, first of all, a criminal, a child killer.
Where there is crime, there is evil
In order to describe the image of the impostor in the tragedy "Boris Godunov", Pushkin uses a special vocabulary. “Crime”, “evil” - it is precisely the words with such a root that constantly stand in tragedy next to the words “horror”, “terrible”. The poet seeks to emphasize that where a crime is committed, horror and despair always reign. When Boris Godunov is just assuming the throne, the boyars are surprised at how skillfully he plays the role of someone not involved in the crime that took place in Uglich. Subsequently, Shuisky will be convinced that even Godunov's refusal of the throne is nothing more than a pretense. Godunov's play becomes even more refined at the moment when he first finds himself in front of his entourage. In his words one can hear suffering, the cry of the soul.
It is precisely the suffering, tormented by constant remorse that the image of Boris Godunov in Pushkin's tragedy appears before us. The summary of the work is as follows. Boris Godunov renounces the throne, as Shuisky accuses him of being the one who killed the prince. However, Godunov is forced to submit to the will of the people, and becomes king. Further, the reader gets acquainted with the conversation between Pimen and Gregory, they say that a child-killer is now on the throne. Gregory escapes from the monastery to the capital, hoping to become the ruler.
Godunov's reign lasts for six years, but he understands that the people do not like him. Finally, news of the impostor arrives. An army appears on the Lithuanian border. At first, the impostor wins, but then Godunov. Shortly thereafter, Godunov dies. Basmanov takes over the leadership of the army. He makes a proposal that the rightful Dmitry become king. The Godunov family is cursed. One of the boyars, Mosalsky, reports that the entire Godunov family was poisoned. The boyar also addresses the people to greet the tsar. But the people remain silent.
The image of Boris Godunov is characterized by the fact that he is a smart person and far from being evil. His mind is expressed in a clear understanding of state needs: in the ability to manage such a huge and then already heterogeneous state, like Russia. One of the smartest close associates of Boris, Basmanov, calls this "the spirit of the sovereign." His instruction to his son before his death breathes deep wisdom and experience: he advises him to choose a reliable adviser for himself, to conduct business as before, without introducing new orders, to try to ingratiate himself with the favors of the people at the beginning of his reign, and then gradually restore the former severity; advises to use the services of foreigners needed then by Russia, to observe church charters, to be silent and blameless.
In addition, he is aware of the great harm brought to the state by parochialism, tries, with particular exceptions in favor of one person, to accustom him to the thought of his complete destruction, advises his son to firmly endure the boyar grumbling about the appointment of the unborn Basmanov as the head of the troops. He is aware of the benefits of education and, being uneducated himself, looks with pleasure at his son, who is engaged in science.
Boris understands the fickleness of the people, and the futility of everything earthly. This is especially clearly expressed in his famous monologue; he does not deceive himself with the assurance of the gratitude of the people for all their good deeds, and realizes that
Living power is hateful for the mob.
But the image of Boris Godunov is marked not only by intelligence, but also by cunning. His speech to the boyars and the patriarch after his election breathes such thoughtfulness and cunning: pretending to be completely sincere and frank, he skillfully flatters the boyars with a reminder that he worked with them, but at the same time points out the enormous difference between his former and present position.
Morally, Boris is also an attractive person. He passionately loves his family, cares about the future fate of his son, mourns the grief of his daughter who lost her fiancé. He is a good family man and wants his son to be the same. He loves the people, takes care of them in troubled years, wants to see Russia educated and powerful.
From this characteristic, we can conclude that the image of Boris Godunov is as follows: he is a good, simple, smart person. But one passion creeps into his soul, making him cruel, changing his whole moral world; this passion is lust for power. Boris himself is aware of it, he is aware of the mistake he made in seeking and having achieved the royal throne; in a farewell conversation with Theodore before his death, he says:
I am a subject born and die
I should be subjects in darkness...
At the same time, he reveals a rare moral strength and love for his son, deciding to sacrifice the last minutes of his life to instruct him instead of repentance, which could calm him down and purify his soul. Some kind of horror emanates from his words:
I, I alone will answer to God ...
Involuntarily, compassion arises in the soul for a kind, intelligent person, worthy of a better fate, but carried away by a fatal passion.
In addition to fear for his son in the last minutes of his life, Boris all the time, starting from the moment he learned about the death of Dimitri, was tormented by remorse - which means that his soul was not spoiled. He decided on a crime under the influence of lust for power, but he paid for it with severe moral torments. How hard these torments were can be seen from the words of Boris:
And I'm glad to run away, but there's nowhere ... terrible!
In addition to remorse, he was tormented by a constant fear of retribution, loss of the kingdom and life itself, and fear not only for himself, but also for his family. This fear that his family will have to pay for what he - her loving father - did, is a truly tragic trait in Boris's character. Under her influence, he loses his temper, doubts the death of Tsarevich Dimitri, does not know what to do. The same pangs of conscience and fear change his character, force him to commit acts that are not characteristic of him: loving the people, caring for them, he, tormented by suspicions, resumes torture and executions; realizing the usefulness and power of science, guesses, becomes superstitious. This mental turmoil is God's punishment for the crime committed, in addition to the premature death of Boris and the death of his family. This mental anguish is so heavy that it makes one recognize the crime committed by Boris as redeemed. The same applies to him and Pushkin, who does not pronounce a harsh sentence on Boris, but, on the contrary, instills in the soul of the reader compassion for him in the scene before his death.
Such, in short, is the image of Boris Godunov. Pushkin was not in vain proud of his work. He succeeded in the character of Boris, as well as in the drama as a whole.