The Belkin Tales

The stories of the late Ivan Petrovich Belkin (Russian Повести покойного Ивана Петровича Белкина ) is the title of a collection of stories by the Russian writer Alexander Pushkin ( 1799-1837 ). The stories emerged in the fall of 1830 and were the first completed prose work of the poet.

Genesis

In May 1830 became engaged to Alexander Pushkin with Natalia Goncharova ( 1812-1863 ). To celebrate the upcoming wedding, his father transferred a part of the goods Boldino in the government of Nizhny Novgorod. There he went to the end of August in order to regulate the division and transfer of ownership. His planned return to Moscow was prevented by the outbreak of cholera and the subsequently necessary quarantine measures. He was forced to stay on Boldino, and this time in the rural seclusion was his most creative period of creativity. In the nearly three months of his arrival on 22 Augustjul. / September 3 1830greg. to departure end of November, he wrote the stories of the late Ivan Petrovich Belkin, the dramatic scenes The Miserly Knight, Mozart and Salieri, The Feast in Time of Plague and The Stone Guest " ( original title Don Juan ). He wrote about thirty poems in different verse and stanza forms and the narrative poem The house in Kolomna. He began the history of the village Gorjuchino and finished the first version of the verse romance Eugene Onegin.

Content

  • Preface: Pushkin pretends to be merely the editor of the narratives. The true author, he writes that the deceased landowner Ivan Petrovich Belkin, which is one of these stories from other people and have then recorded. The preface contains a brief description of Belkin's ironic life.
  • The Shot: The duel between two officers is interrupted and resumed a few years later in an unusual way.
  • The snowstorm: A young girl decides to marry secretly and against the will of the parents of a young lieutenant; the wedding is put to tragicomedy.
  • The coffin maker: A drunken coffin maker charges the deceased ( " those who are well known for their work") to the inauguration of his house; the dead appear to him in a dream.
  • The postmaster: The only daughter of a postmaster leaves her home with a visiting officer of hussars and her father remains desperate.
  • Miss Farmer: The son of a wealthy landowner, falls in love with the daughter of a hostile neighbors against him but pretends to be a simple peasant girl.

Style

  • " [ ... ] There is no unnecessary description and little dialogue. Everything is action. " ( Rolf -Dietrich wedge)
  • " Pushkin [ ... ] uses his stylistic means, so to speak pianissimo. "
  • " [ ... ] Any case, you have to write stories so simple, concise and clear. " (Pushkin himself on his work )

Trivia

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