Historical story « Captain's daughter"Pushkin first published in 1836. According to researchers, the work is at the intersection of romanticism and realism. The genre is not precisely defined - some consider “The Captain’s Daughter” to be a story, others – a full-fledged novel.

The action of the work takes place during the uprising of Emelyan Pugachev and is based on real events. The story is written in the form of memoirs of the main character Pyotr Andreich Grinev - his diary entries. The work is named after Grinev’s beloved Marya Mironova, the captain’s daughter.

Main characters

Petr Andreich Grinev – main character story, nobleman, officer on whose behalf the story is told.

Marya Ivanovna Mironova- daughter of captain Mironov; “a girl of about eighteen, chubby, ruddy.”

Emelyan Pugachev- the leader of the peasant uprising, “about forty, average height, thin and broad-shouldered,” with a black beard.

Arkhip Savelich- an old man who was Grinev’s teacher from an early age.

Other characters

Andrey Petrovich Grinev- father of Pyotr Andreich, retired prime minister.

Ivan Ivanovich Zurin- an officer whom Grinev met in a tavern in Simbirsk.

Alexey Ivanovich Shvabrin- an officer whom Grinev met in the Belogorsk fortress; joined Pugachev's rebels, testified against Grinev.

Mironov Ivan Kuzmich- captain, Marya’s father, commandant in the Belogorsk fortress.

Chapter 1. Sergeant of the Guard

The father of the main character, Andrei Petrovich Grinev, retired as prime minister, began to live in his Simbirsk village, and married the daughter of a local nobleman. From the age of five, Petya was sent to be raised by the eager Savelich. When the main character turned 16 years old, his father, instead of sending him to St. Petersburg to the Semenovsky regiment (as previously planned), assigned him to serve in Orenburg. Savelich was sent along with the young man.

On the way to Orenburg, in a tavern in Simbirsk, Grinev met the captain of the hussar regiment, Zurin. He taught the young man to play billiards and offered to play for money. After drinking the punch, Grinev got excited and lost a hundred rubles. The distressed Savelich had to repay the debt.

Chapter 2. Counselor

On the way, Grinev dozed off and had a dream in which he saw something prophetic. Peter dreamed that he came to say goodbye to his dying father, but in bed he saw “a man with a black beard.” The mother called the man Grinev’s “planted father” and told him to kiss his hand so that he would bless him. Peter refused. Then the man jumped up, grabbed an ax and started killing everyone. The scary man affectionately called: “Don’t be afraid, come under my blessing.” At that moment Grinev woke up: they arrived at the inn. In gratitude for his help, Grinev gave the counselor his sheepskin coat.

In Orenburg, Grinev was immediately sent to the Belogorsk fortress, to the team of Captain Mironov.

Chapter 3. Fortress

“The Belogorsk fortress was located forty miles from Orenburg.” On the very first day, Grinev met the commandant and his wife. The next day, Pyotr Andreich met officer Alexei Ivanovich Shvabrin. He was sent here “for murder” - he “stabbed a lieutenant” during a duel. Shvabrin constantly made fun of the commandant’s family. Pyotr Andreich really liked Mironov’s daughter Marya, but Shvabrin described her as “a complete fool.”

Chapter 4. Duel

Over time, Grinev found in Marya a “prudent and sensitive girl.” Pyotr Andreich began to write poetry and once read one of his works dedicated to Marya and Shvabrin. He criticized the verse and said that the girl would prefer “a pair of earrings” instead of “tender poems.” Grinev called Shvabrin a scoundrel and he challenged Pyotr Andreich to a duel. The first time they failed to get along - they were noticed and taken to the commandant. In the evening, Grinev learned that Shvabrin had wooed Marya last year and was refused.

The next day, Grinev and Shvabrin fought again. During the duel, Pyotr Andreich was called out by Savelich who ran up. Grinev looked back, and the enemy struck him “in the chest below the right shoulder.”

Chapter 5. Love

All the time while Grinev was recovering, Marya looked after him. Pyotr Andreich invited the girl to become his wife, she agreed.

Grinev wrote to his father that he was going to get married. However, Andrei Petrovich replied that he would not give consent to the marriage and would even arrange for his son to be transferred “somewhere far away.” Having learned about the answer from Grinev’s parents, Marya was very upset, but she did not want to get married without their consent (particularly because the girl was without a dowry). From then on she began to avoid Pyotr Andreich.

Chapter 6. Pugachevism

News arrived that he had escaped from guard duty " Don Cossack and the schismatic Emelyan Pugachev,” gathered a “villainous gang” and “caused outrage in the Yaik villages.” It soon became known that the rebels were going to march on the Belogoro fortress. Preparations have begun.

Chapter 7. Attack

Grinev did not sleep all night. Many armed people gathered at the fortress. Pugachev himself rode between them on a white horse. The rebels broke into the fortress, the commandant was wounded in the head, and Grinev was captured.

The crowd shouted “that the sovereign was waiting for the prisoners in the square and was taking the oath.” Mironov and Lieutenant Ivan Ignatyich refused to take the oath and were hanged. Grinev faced the same fate, but Savelich at the last moment threw himself at Pugachev’s feet and asked to release Pyotr Andreich. Shvabrin joined the rebels. Marya's mother was killed.

Chapter 8. Uninvited Guest

Marya hid the priest, calling her her niece. Savelich told Grinev that Pugachev was the same man to whom Pyotr Andreich gave the sheepskin coat.

Pugachev summoned Grinev to his place. Peter Andreich admitted that he would not be able to serve him, since he was a “natural nobleman” and “sworn allegiance to the empress”: “My head is in your power: if you let me go, thank you; if you execute, God will be your judge; but I told you the truth.” The sincerity of Pyotr Andreich struck Pugachev, and he let him go “on all four sides.”

Chapter 9. Separation

In the morning, Pugachev told Grinev to go to Orenburg and tell the governor and all the generals to expect him in a week. The leader of the uprising appointed Shvabrin as the new commander in the fortress.

Chapter 10. Siege of the city

A few days later news came that Pugachev was moving towards Orenburg. Grinev was given a letter from Marya Ivanovna. The girl wrote that Shvabrin was forcing her to marry him and was treating her very cruelly, so she asked Grinev for help.

Chapter 11. Rebel settlement

Having received no support from the general, Grinev went to the Belogorsk fortress. On the way, they and Savelich were captured by Pugachev’s people. Grinev told the leader of the rebels that he was going to the Belogorsk fortress, because there Shvabrin was offending an orphan girl - Grinev’s fiancée. In the morning, Pugachev, together with Grinev and his people, went to the fortress.

Chapter 12. Orphan

Shvabrin said that Marya is his wife. But upon entering the girl’s room, Grinev and Pugachev saw that she was pale, thin, and the only food in front of her was “a jug of water covered with a slice of bread.” Shvabrin reported that the girl was Mironov’s daughter, but Pugachev still let Grinev go with his lover.

Chapter 13. Arrest

Approaching the town, Grinev and Marya were stopped by guards. Pyotr Andreich went to the major and recognized him as Zurin. Grinev, after talking with Zurin, decided to send Marya to her parents in the village, while he himself remained to serve in the detachment.

At the end of February, Zurin's detachment set out on a campaign. After Pugachev was defeated, he again gathered a gang and went to Moscow, causing chaos. “Gangs of robbers were committing crimes everywhere.” “God forbid we see a Russian rebellion, senseless and merciless!”

Finally Pugachev was caught. Grinev got ready to visit his parents, but a document arrived about his arrest in the Pugachev case.

Chapter 14. Court

Grinev arrived in Kazan by order and was put in prison. During the interrogation, Pyotr Andreich, not wanting to involve Marya, kept silent about why he was leaving Orenburg. Grinev’s accuser, Shvabrin, argued that Pyotr Andreich was Pugachev’s spy.

Marya Ivanovna was received by Grinev’s parents “with sincere cordiality.” The news of the arrest of Pyotr Andreich shocked everyone - he was threatened with lifelong exile to Siberia. To save her lover, Marya went to St. Petersburg and stopped in Tsarskoe Selo. During her morning walk, she got into conversation with an unfamiliar lady, told her her story and that she had come to ask the Empress for Grinev’s pardon.

On the same day, the Empress's carriage was sent for Marya. The Empress turned out to be the same lady with whom the girl had spoken in the morning. The Empress pardoned Grinev and promised to help her with her dowry.

According to no longer Grinev, but the author, at the end of 1774 Pyotr Andreich was released. “He was present at the execution of Pugachev, who recognized him in the crowd and nodded his head to him.” Soon Grinev married Marya. “The manuscript of Pyotr Andreevich Grinev was delivered to us from one of his grandchildren.”

Conclusion

In the historical story “The Captain's Daughter” by Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin, both the main and minor characters. The most controversial figure in the work is Emelyan Pugachev. The cruel, bloodthirsty leader of the rebels is portrayed by the author as a person not devoid of positive, somewhat romanticized qualities. Pugachev appreciates Grinev’s kindness and sincerity and helps his lovers.

The characters that contrast with each other are Grinev and Shvabrin. Pyotr Andreich remains true to his ideas to the last, even when his life depended on it. Shvabrin easily changes his mind, joins the rebels, and becomes a traitor.

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In 1836, Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin wrote the story “The Captain’s Daughter”, which appeared historical description Pugachev uprising. In his work, Pushkin was based on real events of 1773-1775, when, under the leadership of Emelyan Pugachev (Liar Peter Fedorovich), the Yaik Cossacks, who took escaped convicts, thieves and villains as their servants, began a peasant war. Pyotr Grinev and Maria Mironova are fictional characters, but their destinies very truthfully reflect the sad time of the brutal civil war.

Pushkin designed his story in a realistic form in the form of notes from the diary of the main character Pyotr Grinev, made years after the uprising. The lyrics of the work are interesting in their presentation - Grinev writes his diary in adulthood, rethinking everything he has experienced. At the time of the uprising, he was a young nobleman loyal to his Empress. He looked at the rebels as savages who fought with particular cruelty against the Russian people. During the course of the story, one can see how the heartless ataman Pugachev, who executes dozens of honest officers, over time, by the will of fate, wins favor in Grinev’s heart and finds sparks of nobility in his eyes.

Chapter 1. Sergeant of the Guard

At the beginning of the story, the main character Peter Grinev tells the reader about his young life. He is the only survivor of 9 children of a retired major and a poor noblewoman; he lived in a middle-class noble family. The old servant was actually involved in raising the young master. Peter's education was low, since his father, a retired major, hired the French hairdresser Beaupre, who led an immoral lifestyle, as a tutor. For drunkenness and dissolute acts he was expelled from the estate. And his father decided to send 17-year-old Petrusha, through old connections, to serve in Orenburg (instead of St. Petersburg, where he was supposed to go to serve in the guard) and assigned an old servant Savelich to look after him. Petrusha was upset, because instead of partying in the capital, a dull existence in the wilderness awaited him. During a stop along the way, the young master made an acquaintance with the rake-captain Zurin, because of whom, under the pretext of learning, he became involved in playing billiards. Then Zurin suggested playing for money and as a result Petrusha lost as much as 100 rubles - a lot of money at that time. Savelich, being the keeper of the master’s “treasury,” is against Peter paying the debt, but the master insists. The servant is indignant, but gives the money.

Chapter 2. Counselor

In the end, Peter is ashamed of his loss and promises Savelich not to play for money anymore. A long road awaits them ahead, and the servant forgives the master. But due to Petrusha’s indiscretion, they again find themselves in trouble - the approaching snowstorm did not bother the young man and he ordered the coachman not to return. As a result, they lost their way and almost froze to death. As luck would have it, they met a stranger who helped the lost travelers find their way to the inn.

Grinev recalls how, tired from the road, he had a dream in a wagon, which he called prophetic: he sees his house and his mother, who says that his father is dying. Then he sees an unfamiliar man with a beard in his father’s bed, and his mother says that he is her sworn husband. The stranger wants to give his “father’s” blessing, but Peter refuses, and then the man takes up an ax, and corpses appear around. He doesn't touch Peter.

They arrive at an inn that resembles a thieves' den. A stranger, frozen in the cold in only an army coat, asks Petrusha for wine, and he treats him. A strange conversation took place between the man and the owner of the house in thieves' language. Peter does not understand the meaning, but everything he heard seems very strange to him. Leaving the shelter, Peter, to Savelich’s further displeasure, thanked the guide by giving him a sheepskin coat. To which the stranger bowed, saying that the century would not forget such mercy.

When Peter finally gets to Orenburg, his father’s colleague, having read the cover letter with instructions to keep the young man “with a tight rein,” sends him to serve in Belgorod fortress- even more wilderness. This could not but upset Peter, who had long dreamed of a guards uniform.

Chapter 3. Fortress

The owner of the Belgorod garrison was Ivan Kuzmich Mironov, but his wife, Vasilisa Egorovna, was actually in charge of everything. Simple and sincere people Grinev immediately liked it. The middle-aged Mironov couple had a daughter, Masha, but so far their acquaintance has not taken place. In the fortress (which turned out to be a simple village), Peter meets the young lieutenant Alexei Ivanovich Shvabrin, who was exiled here from the guard for a duel that ended in the death of his opponent. Shvabrin, having a habit of speaking unflatteringly about those around him, often spoke sarcastically about Masha, the captain’s daughter, making her look like a complete fool. Then Grinev himself meets the commander’s daughter and questions the lieutenant’s statements.

Chapter 4. Duel

By his nature, kind and good-natured, Grinev began to become closer and closer friends with the commandant and his family, and moved away from Shvabrin. The captain's daughter Masha had no dowry, but turned out to be a charming girl. Shvabrin's caustic remarks did not please Peter. Inspired by thoughts of a young girl quiet evenings he began to write poems for it, the contents of which he shared with a friend. But he ridiculed him, and even more began to humiliate Masha’s dignity, assuring that she would come at night to someone who would give her a pair of earrings.

As a result, the friends quarreled, and it came to a duel. Vasilisa Egorovna, the commandant’s wife, found out about the duel, but the duelists pretended to make peace, deciding to postpone the meeting until the next day. But in the morning, as soon as they had time to draw their swords, Ivan Ignatich and 5 disabled people were escorted out to Vasilisa Yegorovna. Having reprimanded them properly, she released them. In the evening, Masha, alarmed by the news of the duel, told Peter about Shvabrin’s unsuccessful matchmaking with her. Now Grinev understood his motives for his behavior. The duel still took place. The confident swordsman Peter, taught at least something worthwhile by tutor Beaupre, turned out to be a strong opponent for Shvabrin. But Savelich appeared at the duel, Peter hesitated for a second and ended up wounded.

Chapter 5. Love

The wounded Peter was nursed by his servant and Masha. As a result, the duel brought the young people closer together, and they were inflamed with mutual love for each other. Wanting to marry Masha, Grinev sends a letter to his parents.

Grinev made peace with Shvabrin. Peter's father, having learned about the duel and not wanting to hear about the marriage, became furious and sent his son an angry letter, where he threatened to be transferred from the fortress. At a loss as to how his father could have found out about the duel, Peter attacked Savelich with accusations, but he himself received a letter of dissatisfaction from the owner. Grinev finds only one answer - Shvabrin reported the duel. His father’s refusal to give his blessing does not change Peter’s intentions, but Masha does not agree to get married secretly. They move away from each other for a while, and Grinev realizes that unhappy love can deprive him of his reason and lead to debauchery.

Chapter 6. Pugachevism

Trouble begins in the Belgorod fortress. Captain Mironov receives an order from the general to prepare the fortress for an attack by rebels and robbers. Emelyan Pugachev, who called himself Peter III, escaped from custody and terrorized the surrounding area. According to rumors, he had already captured several fortresses and was approaching Belgorod. It was impossible to count on victory with 4 officers and army “disabled” soldiers. Alarmed by rumors about the capture of a neighboring fortress and the execution of officers, Captain Mironov decided to send Masha and Vasilisa Yegorovna to Orenburg, where the fortress was stronger. The captain's wife speaks out against leaving, and decides not to leave her husband in Hard time. Masha says goodbye to Peter, but she fails to leave the fortress.

Chapter 7. Attack

Ataman Pugachev appears at the walls of the fortress and offers to surrender without a fight. Commandant Mironov, having learned about the betrayal of the constable and several Cossacks who joined the rebel clan, does not agree to the proposal. He orders his wife to dress Masha as a commoner and take her to the priest’s hut, while he opens fire on the rebels. The battle ends with the capture of the fortress, which, together with the city, passes into the hands of Pugachev.

Right at the commandant’s house, Pugachev commits reprisals against those who refused to take the oath to him. He orders the execution of Captain Mironov and Lieutenant Ivan Ignatyich. Grinev decides that he will not swear allegiance to the robber and will accept an honest death. However, then Shvabrin comes up to Pugachev and whispers something in his ear. The chieftain decides not to ask for the oath, ordering all three to be hanged. But the old faithful servant Savelich throws himself at the ataman’s feet and he agrees to pardon Grinev. Ordinary soldiers and city residents take the oath of allegiance to Pugachev. As soon as the oath was over, Pugachev decided to have dinner, but the Cossacks dragged the naked Vasilisa Yegorovna by the hair from the commandant’s house, where they were plundering property, who was screaming for her husband and cursing the convict. The chieftain ordered to kill her.

Chapter 8. Uninvited Guest

Grinev's heart is not in the right place. He understands that if the soldiers find out that Masha is here and alive, she cannot avoid reprisals, especially since Shvabrin took the side of the rebels. He knows that his beloved is hiding in the priest's house. In the evening, the Cossacks arrived, sent to take him to Pugachev. Although Peter did not accept the Liar’s offer of all sorts of honors for the oath, the conversation between the rebel and the officer was friendly. Pugachev remembered the good and now granted Peter freedom in return.

Chapter 9. Separation

The next morning, in front of the people, Pugachev called Peter to him and told him to go to Orenburg and report on his attack in a week. Savelich began to bother about the looted property, but the villain said that he would let him go to sheepskin coats for such impudence. Grinev and his servant leave Belogorsk. Pugachev appoints Shvabrin as commandant, and he himself goes off to his next exploits.

Peter and Savelich are walking, but one of Pugachev’s gang caught up with them and said that His Majesty was granting them a horse and a sheepskin coat, and half a rouble, but he supposedly lost it.
Masha fell ill and lay delirious.

Chapter 10. Siege of the city

Arriving in Orenburg, Grinev immediately reported on Pugachev’s actions in the Belgorod fortress. A council met, at which everyone except Peter voted for defense rather than attack.

A long siege begins - hunger and need. On his next foray into the enemy’s camp, Peter receives a letter from Masha in which she begs to be saved. Shvabrin wants to marry her and keeps her captive. Grinev goes to the general with a request to give half a company of soldiers to save the girl, but he is refused. Then Peter decides to help out his beloved alone.

Chapter 11. Rebel settlement

On the way to the fortress, Peter ends up on Pugachev’s guard and is taken for interrogation. Grinev honestly tells everything about his plans to the troublemaker and says that he is free to do whatever he wants with him. Pugachev's thug advisors offer to execute the officer, but he says, “have mercy, so have mercy.”

Together with the robber chieftain, Peter travels to the Belgorod fortress; on the road they have a conversation. The rebel says that he wants to go to Moscow. Peter pities him in his heart, begging him to surrender to the mercy of the empress. But Pugachev knows that it’s too late, and says, come what may.

Chapter 12. Orphan

Shvabrin holds the girl on water and bread. Pugachev pardons the AWOL, but from Shvabrin he learns that Masha is the daughter of an unsworn commandant. At first he is furious, but Peter, with his sincerity, wins favor this time too.

Chapter 13. Arrest

Pugachev gives Peter a pass to all outposts. Happy lovers go to their parents' house. They confused the army convoy with Pugachev's traitors and were arrested. Grinev recognized Zurin as the head of the outpost. He said that he was going home to get married. He dissuades him, assuring him to stay in the service. Peter himself understands that duty calls him. He sends Masha and Savelich to their parents.

The military actions of the detachments that came to the rescue ruined the robber plans. But Pugachev could not be caught. Then rumors spread that he was rampant in Siberia. Zurin's detachment is sent to suppress another outbreak. Grinev recalls the unfortunate villages plundered by savages. The troops had to take away what people were able to save. News arrived that Pugachev had been caught.

Chapter 14. Court

Grinev, following Shvabrin's denunciation, was arrested as a traitor. He could not justify himself with love, fearing that Masha would also be interrogated. The Empress, taking into account his father's merits, pardoned him, but sentenced him to lifelong exile. The father was in shock. Masha decided to go to St. Petersburg and ask the Empress for her beloved.

By the will of fate, Maria meets the Empress in the early autumn morning and tells her everything, not knowing who she is talking to. That same morning, a cab driver was sent to pick her up at the house of a socialite, where Masha had settled down for a while, with the order to deliver Mironov’s daughter to the palace.

There Masha saw Catherine II and recognized her as her interlocutor.

Grinev was released from hard labor. Pugachev was executed. Standing on the scaffold in the crowd, he saw Grinev and nodded.

The reunited loving hearts continued the Grinev family, and in their Simbirsk province, under glass, a letter from Catherine II was kept, pardoning Peter and praising Mary for her intelligence and kind heart.

“The Captain's Daughter” is a historical novel (in some sources a story) written by A.S. Pushkin. The author tells us about the origin and development of a great and strong feeling between a young noble officer and the daughter of the commandant of the fortress. All this happens against the backdrop of the uprising of Emelyan Pugachev and creates additional obstacles and difficulties in life for lovers.

The novel is written in the form of memoirs. This interweaving of historical and family chronicles gives it additional charm and charm, and also makes you believe in the reality of everything that is happening.

History of creation

In the mid-1830s, translated novels were gaining popularity in Russia. Society ladies were engrossed in Walter Scott. Domestic writers, and among them Alexander Sergeevich, could not stay away and responded with their own works, among which were “The Captain’s Daughter.”

Researchers of Pushkin’s work claim that at first he worked on a historical chronicle, wanting to tell readers about the course of the Pugachev rebellion. Approaching the matter responsibly and wanting to be truthful, the author met with direct participants in those events, leaving for the Southern Urals specifically for this purpose.

Pushkin doubted for a long time who to make the main character of his work. First, he settled on Mikhail Shvanvich, an officer who went over to Pugachev’s side during the uprising. What made Alexander Sergeevich abandon such a plan is unknown, but as a result he turned to the format of memoirs, and placed a noble officer at the center of the novel. At the same time, the main character had every chance to go over to Pugachev’s side, but his duty to the Fatherland turned out to be higher. Shvanvich turned from a positive character into a negative Shvabrin.

For the first time the novel appeared before the audience in the Sovremennik magazine in latest issue 1836, and Pushkin’s authorship was not mentioned there. It was said that these notes belong to the pen of the late Pyotr Grinev. However, for censorship reasons, this novel did not publish an article about the peasant revolt on Grinev’s own estate. The lack of authorship resulted in the absence of any printed reviews, but many noted the “universal effect” that The Captain’s Daughter had on those who read the novel. A month after publication, the real author of the novel died in a duel.

Analysis

Description of the work

The work is written in the form of memoirs - landowner Pyotr Grinev talks about the times of his youth, when his father ordered him to be sent to serve in the army (although under the supervision of Uncle Savelich). On the way, they have one meeting that radically influenced their future fate and the fate of Russia - Pyotr Grinev meets Emelyan Pugachev.

Having reached his destination (and it turned out to be the Belogorsk fortress), Grinev immediately falls in love with the commandant’s daughter. However, he has a rival - officer Shvabrin. A duel occurs between the young people, as a result of which Grinev is wounded. His father, having learned about this, does not give his consent to marry the girl.

All this happens against the backdrop of the developing Pugachev rebellion. When it comes to the fortress, Pugachev’s accomplices first take the lives of Masha’s parents, after which they invite Shvabrin and Grinev to swear allegiance to Emelyan. Shvabrin agrees, but Grinev, for reasons of honor, does not. His life is saved by Savelich, who reminds Pugachev of their chance meeting.

Grinev fights against Pugachev, but this does not prevent him from calling the latter as an ally to save Masha, who turned out to be Shvabrin’s hostage. Following a denunciation from a rival, Grinev ends up in prison, and now Masha is doing everything to save him. Chance meeting with the empress he helps the girl achieve the release of her lover. To the delight of all the ladies, the matter ends with the wedding of the newlyweds in parental home Grineva.

As already mentioned, the background for love story was prompted by a great historical event - the uprising of Emelyan Pugachev.

Main characters

There are several main characters in the novel. Among them:

Pyotr Grinev, who at the time of the story had just turned 17 years old. According to literary critic Vissarion Grigorievich Belinsky, this character was needed for an impartial assessment of the behavior of another character - Emelyan Pugachev.

Alexey Shvabrin is a young officer serving in the fortress. A freethinker, smart and educated (the story mentions that he knows French and understands literature). Literary critic Dmitry Mirsky called Shvabrin a “purely romantic scoundrel” because of his betrayal of the oath and defection to the side of the rebels. However, since the image is not written deeply, it is difficult to say about the reasons that prompted him to such an act. Obviously, Pushkin’s sympathies were not on Shvabrin’s side.

At the time of the story, Maria had just turned 18 years old. A real Russian beauty, at the same time simple and sweet. Capable of action - in order to save her beloved, she goes to the capital to meet with the empress. According to Vyazemsky, she decorates the novel in the same way as Tatyana Larina decorated “Eugene Onegin.” But Tchaikovsky, who at one time wanted to stage an opera based on this work, complained that it did not have enough character, but only kindness and honesty. Marina Tsvetaeva shared the same opinion.

From the age of five he was assigned to Grinev as an uncle, the Russian equivalent of a tutor. The only one who communicates with a 17-year-old officer like a small child. Pushkin calls him a “faithful serf,” but Savelich allows himself to express uncomfortable thoughts to both the master and his ward.

Emelyan Pugachev

Pugachev is, according to many critics, the most striking main figure in the work due to his coloring. Marina Tsvetaeva once argued that Pugachev overshadows the colorless and faded Grinev. In Pushkin, Pugachev looks like such a charming villain.

Quotes

“I lived as a teenager, chasing pigeons and playing leapfrog with the yard boys. Meanwhile, I was sixteen years old. Then my fate changed.”Grinev.

“How strange men are! For one word, which would surely be forgotten in a week, they are ready to cut themselves and sacrifice not only their lives, but also their conscience.”Masha Mironova.

“You were afraid, admit it, when my fellows threw a rope around your neck? I’m having tea, the sky seems like a sheepskin..." Pugachev.

“God forbid that we see a Russian rebellion, senseless and merciless.” Grinev.

Analysis of the work

Colleagues of Alexander Sergeevich, to whom he personally read the novel, made small comments regarding non-compliance with historical facts, while generally speaking positively about the novel. Prince V.F. Odoevsky, for example, noted that images of Savelich and Pugachev are written carefully and thought out to the smallest detail, but the image of Shvabrin is not finalized, and therefore it will be difficult for readers to understand the motives for his transition.

Literary critic Nikolai Strakhov noted that this combination of family (partially love) and historical chronicles is characteristic of the works of Walter Scott, the response to whose popularity among the Russian nobility, in fact, was Pushkin’s work.

Another Russian literary critic, Dmitry Mirsky, highly praised The Captain's Daughter, emphasizing the manner of narration - concise, precise, economical, yet spacious and leisurely. His opinion was that this work played one of the main roles in the development of the genre of realism in Russian literature.

The Russian writer and publisher Nikolai Grech, several years after the publication of the work, admired how the author managed to express the character and tone of the time about which he narrates. The story turned out to be so realistic that one could really think that the author was an eyewitness to these events. Fyodor Dostoevsky and Nikolai Gogol also periodically left rave reviews about this work.

Conclusion

According to Dmitry Mirsky, “The Captain's Daughter” can be considered the only full-length novel written by Alexander Sergeevich and published during his lifetime. Let us agree with the critic - the novel contains everything to be successful: a romantic line that ends in marriage is a delight for beautiful ladies; a historical line that tells about such a complex and contradictory historical event, like Pugachev’s uprising, will be more interesting to men; clearly defined main characters and set guidelines regarding the place of honor and dignity in the life of an officer. All this explains the popularity of the novel in the past and makes our contemporaries read it today.

Writer Alexey Varlamov about the story by A.S. Pushkin’s “The Captain’s Daughter”: 175 years ago, Pushkin’s story “The Captain’s Daughter” was first published in the Sovremennik magazine. A story that we all went through in school and which few re-read later. A story that is much more complex and deeper than is commonly believed. What is there in “The Captain’s Daughter” that remains outside the scope of school curriculum?

Writer Alexey Varlamov about the story by A.S. Pushkin "The Captain's Daughter"

175 years ago, Pushkin’s story was first published in the Sovremennik magazine. A story that we all went through in school and which few re-read later. A story that is much more complex and deeper than is commonly believed. What is there in “The Captain’s Daughter” that remains outside the school curriculum? Why is it still relevant today? Why is it called “the most Christian work of Russian literature”? Writer and literary critic Alexey Varlamov reflects on this.

According to fairy tale laws

At the very beginning of the twentieth century, one ambitious writer, who came to St. Petersburg from the provinces and dreamed of getting into the St. Petersburg religious and philosophical society, brought his writings to the court of Zinaida Gippius. The decadent witch spoke poorly of his opuses. “Read The Captain's Daughter,” was her instruction. Mikhail Prishvin - and he was a young writer - brushed aside this parting word, because he considered it offensive, but a quarter of a century later, having experienced a lot, he wrote in his diary: “My homeland is not Yelets, where I was born, not St. Petersburg, where I settled down to live, both are now archeology for me... my homeland, unsurpassed in simple beauty, in the kindness and wisdom combined with it - my homeland is Pushkin’s story “The Captain’s Daughter”.

And in fact, here is an amazing work that everyone recognized and never tried to throw off the ship of modernity. Neither in the metropolis, nor in exile, nor under any political regimes or power sentiments. In Soviet schools, this story was taught in the seventh grade. How I remember now an essay on the topic “ Comparative characteristics Shvabrina and Grineva." Shvabrin is the embodiment of individualism, slander, meanness, evil, Grinev is nobility, kindness, honor. Good and evil come into conflict and ultimately good wins. It would seem that everything is very simple in this conflict, linear - but no. “The Captain's Daughter” is a very difficult work.

Firstly, this story was preceded, as we know, by “The History of the Pugachev Rebellion”, in relation to which “The Captain’s Daughter” is formally a kind of artistic application, but in essence, a refraction, transformation historical views the author, including the personality of Pugachev, which Tsvetaeva very accurately noted in the essay “My Pushkin.” And in general, it is no coincidence that Pushkin published the story in Sovremennik not under his own name, but in the genre of family notes, allegedly inherited by the publisher from one of Grinev’s descendants, and only gave his own title and epigraphs to the chapters. And secondly, The Captain's Daughter has another predecessor and companion - the unfinished novel Dubrovsky, and these two works are connected by a very whimsical relationship. Who is Vladimir Dubrovsky closer to - Grinev or Shvabrin? Morally - of course to the first. What about historically? Dubrovsky and Shvabrin are both traitors to the nobility, albeit various reasons, and both end badly. Perhaps it is precisely in this paradoxical similarity that one can find an explanation for why Pushkin abandoned further work on “Dubrovsky” and from the incompletely outlined, somewhat vague, sad image of the main character, the pair Grinev and Shvabrin arose, where for each the external corresponds to the internal and both receive according to their deeds, as in a moral tale.

“The Captain's Daughter”, in fact, was written according to fairy tale laws. The hero behaves generously and nobly towards random and seemingly unnecessary people - an officer who, taking advantage of his inexperience, beats him at billiards, pays a hundred rubles for his loss, a random passer-by who took him out onto the road, treats him to vodka and gives him a hare sheepskin coat, and for this they later repay him with great good. So Ivan Tsarevich unselfishly saves a pike or a turtledove, and for this they help him defeat Kashchei. Grinev’s uncle Savelich (in a fairy tale it would be “ Gray wolf"or "Humpbacked Horse"), with the undoubted warmth and charm of this image, the plot looks like an obstacle to Grinev's fairy-tale correctness: he is against the “child” paying off a gambling debt and rewarding Pugachev, because of him Grinev is wounded in a duel, because He is captured by the impostor's soldiers when he goes to rescue Masha Mironova. But at the same time, Savelich stands up for the master in front of Pugachev and gives him a register of looted things, thanks to which Grinev receives a horse as compensation, on which he travels out of besieged Orenburg.

Under supervision from above

There is no pretentiousness here. In Pushkin's prose there is an invisible connection of circumstances, but it is not artificial, but natural and hierarchical. Pushkin's fabulousness turns into the highest realism, that is, the real and effective presence of God in the world of people. Providence (but not the author, like, for example, Tolstoy in War and Peace, who removes Helen Kuragina from the stage when he needs to make Pierre free) guides Pushkin’s heroes. This in no way cancels the well-known formula “what a trick Tatyana ran away with me, she got married” - it’s just that Tatyana’s fate is a manifestation of a higher will, which she is given the power to recognize. And the dowry Masha Mironova has the same gift of obedience, who wisely is not in a hurry to marry Petrusha Grinev (the option of trying to marry without parental blessing is presented half-seriously and half-parodically in “The Snowstorm”, and it is known what it leads to), but relies on Providence, better knowing what is needed for her happiness and when its time will come.

In Pushkin’s world, everything is under supervision from above, but still both Masha Mironova and Liza Muromskaya from “The Young Lady the Peasant” were happier than Tatyana Larina. Why - God knows. This tormented Rozanov, for whom Tatyana’s tired look turned to her husband crosses out her whole life, but the only thing she could console herself with is that she became female symbol fidelity, a trait that Pushkin revered in both men and women, although he put different meanings into them.

One of the most consistent motifs in “The Captain’s Daughter” is the motif of maiden innocence, maiden honor, so the epigraph to the story “Take care of honor from a young age” can be attributed not only to Grinev, but also to Masha Mironova, and her story of preserving honor is no less dramatic than him. The threat of being subjected to violence is the most terrible and real thing that can happen to the captain's daughter throughout almost the entire story. She is threatened by Shvabrin, potentially threatened by Pugachev and his people (it is no coincidence that Shvabrin scares Masha with the fate of Lizaveta Kharlova, the wife of the commandant of the Nizhneozersk fortress, who, after her husband was killed, became Pugachev’s concubine), and finally, she is threatened by Zurin. Let us remember that when Zurin’s soldiers detained Grinev as the “sovereign’s godfather,” the officer ordered: “take me to the prison and bring the hostess to him.” And then, when everything is explained, Zurin asks the lady to apologize for his hussars.

And in the chapter that Pushkin excluded from the final edition, the dialogue between Marya Ivanovna and Grinev is significant, when both are captured by Shvabrin:
“- That’s enough, Pyotr Andreich! Don’t ruin yourself and your parents for me. Let me out. Shvabrin will listen to me!
“No way,” I shouted with my heart. - Do you know what awaits you?
“I won’t survive dishonor,” she answered calmly.”
And when the attempt to free himself ends in failure, the wounded traitor Shvabrin issues exactly the same order as the faithful Zurin (who bears the surname Grinev in this chapter):
“- Hang him... and everyone... except her...”
Pushkin's woman is the main spoil of war and the most defenseless creature in war.
How to preserve a man's honor is more or less obvious. But to a girl?
This question probably tormented the author; it is no coincidence that he so persistently returns to the fate of Captain Mironov’s wife Vasilisa Yegorovna, who, after the capture of the fortress, Pugachev’s robbers, “disheveled and stripped naked,” were taken out onto the porch, and then her, again naked, body lay on everyone’s in sight under the porch, and only the next day Grinev looks for it with his eyes and notices that it is moved a little to the side and covered with matting. In essence, Vasilisa Yegorovna takes upon herself what was intended for her daughter and averts dishonor from her.

A kind of comic antithesis to the narrator’s ideas about the preciousness of a girl’s honor are the words of Grinev’s commander, General Andrei Karlovich R., who, fearing the same thing that became moral torture for Grinev (“You can’t rely on the discipline of robbers. What will happen to the poor girl?”), He argues in a completely German, practical, everyday manner and in the spirit of Belkin’s “The Undertaker”:
“(...) it’s better for her to be Shvabrin’s wife for now: he can now provide her with protection; and when we shoot him, then, God willing, suitors will be found for her. Nice little widows don't sit as girls; that is, I wanted to say that a widow is more likely to find a husband than a maiden.”
And Grinev’s hot answer is typical:
“I would rather agree to die,” I said in rage, “than to give it up to Shvabrin!”

Dialogue with Gogol

The Captain's Daughter was written almost simultaneously with Gogol's Taras Bulba, and between these works there is also a very intense, dramatic dialogue, hardly conscious, but all the more significant.
In both stories, the beginning of the action is connected with the manifestation of the father’s will, which contradicts mother's love and she is overcome.
From Pushkin: “The thought of a quick separation from me struck my mother so much that she dropped the spoon into the saucepan, and tears streamed down her face.”
From Gogol: “The poor old woman (...) did not dare to say anything; but, hearing about such a terrible decision for her, she could not help but cry; she looked at her children, with whom such a quick separation threatened her, - and no one could describe all the silent grief that seemed to tremble in her eyes and in her convulsively compressed lips.”

The fathers are decisive in both cases.
“Father did not like to change his intentions or postpone their execution,” Grinev reports in his notes.
Gogol’s wife Taras hopes that “perhaps Bulba, waking up, will delay his departure for a day or two,” but “he (Bulba. - A.V.) remembered very well everything that he ordered yesterday.”
Both Pushkin and Gogol’s fathers do not look for an easy life for their children, they send them to places where it is either dangerous, or at least there will be no social entertainment and extravagance, and give them instructions.
“Now, mother, bless your children! - said Bulba. “Pray to God that they fight bravely, that they always defend the honor of a knight, that they always stand for the faith of Christ, otherwise it would be better if they disappeared, so that their spirit would not be in the world!”
“Father told me: “Goodbye, Peter. Serve faithfully to whom you pledge allegiance; obey your superiors; Don’t chase their affection; don’t ask for service; do not dissuade yourself from serving; and remember the proverb: take care of your dress again, but take care of your honor from a young age.”

The conflict of both works is built around these moral precepts.

Ostap and Andriy, Grinev and Shvabrin - loyalty and betrayal, honor and betrayal - these are the leitmotifs of the two stories.

Shvabrin is written in such a way that nothing excuses or justifies him. He is the embodiment of meanness and insignificance, and for him the usually reserved Pushkin does not spare black colors. This is no longer a complex Byronic type, like Onegin, and not a cute parody of a disappointed romantic hero, like Alexey Berestov from “The Young Peasant Lady,” who wore a black ring with image of a dead woman heads. A man who is capable of slandering a girl who refused him (“If you want Masha Mironova to come to you at dusk, then instead of tender poems, give her a pair of earrings,” he tells Grinev) and thereby violate noble honor, will easily betray his oath. Pushkin consciously goes to simplify and reduce the image of a romantic hero and duelist, and the last mark on him is the words of the martyr Vasilisa Egorovna: “He was discharged from the guard for murder and was discharged from the guard, he does not believe in the Lord God.”

That’s right - he doesn’t believe in the Lord, this is the most terrible baseness of the human fall, and this is an assessment of what is precious in the mouth of one who once himself took “lessons of pure atheism,” but by the end of his life he artistically merged with Christianity.

Betrayal in Gogol is a different matter. It is, so to speak, more romantic, more seductive. Andria was destroyed by love, sincere, deep, selfless. The author writes bitterly about the last minute of his life: “Andriy was as pale as a sheet; you could see how quietly his lips moved and how he pronounced someone’s name; but it was not the name of the fatherland, or mother, or brothers - it was the name of a beautiful Pole.”

Actually, Gogol’s Andriy dies much earlier than Taras utters the famous “I gave birth to you, I will kill you.” He dies (“And the Cossack died! He disappeared for all the Cossack knighthood”) at the moment when he kisses the “fragrant lips” of the beautiful Pole and feels what “a person is given to feel only once in his life.”
But in Pushkin, the scene of Grinev’s farewell to Masha Mironova on the eve of Pugachev’s attack was written as if to spite Gogol:
“Farewell, my angel,” I said, “farewell, my dear, my desired one!” Whatever happens to me, believe that my last (emphasis added - A.V.) thought will be about you.”
And further: “I kissed her passionately and hastily left the room.”

Pushkin’s love for a woman is not an obstacle to noble loyalty and honor, but its guarantee and the sphere where this honor is found. to the greatest extent manifests itself. IN Zaporozhye Sich, in this revelry and “continuous feast”, which had something bewitching about it, there is everything except one thing. “Only women admirers could not find anything here.” Pushkin has a beautiful woman everywhere, even in the garrison outback. And there is love everywhere.

And the Cossacks themselves, with their spirit of male camaraderie, are romanticized and heroized by Gogol and depicted in a completely different way by Pushkin. First, the Cossacks treacherously go over to Pugachev’s side, then hand over their leader to the tsar. And both sides know in advance that they are wrong.

“- Take appropriate measures! - said the commandant, taking off his glasses and folding the paper. - Listen, it’s easy to say. The villain is apparently strong; and we have only one hundred and thirty people, not counting the Cossacks, for whom there is little hope, no matter how much it’s said to you, Maksimych. (The officer grinned.).”
“The impostor thought a little and said in a low voice:
- God knows. My street is cramped; I have little will. My guys are smart. They are thieves. I have to keep my ears open; at the first failure, they will ransom their neck with my head.”
But from Gogol: “As long as I have lived, I have never heard, gentlemen brothers, of a Cossack leaving somewhere or somehow selling his comrade.”

But the very word “comrades”, in whose glory Bulba makes his famous speech, is found in “The Captain’s Daughter” in the scene when Pugachev and his associates sing the song “Don’t make noise, mother, green oak tree” about the Cossack’s comrades - the dark night, the damask knife , a good horse and a strong bow.

And Grinev, who had just witnessed the terrible outrage committed by the Cossacks in the Belogorsk fortress, is shocked by this singing.
“It is impossible to tell what effect this simple folk song about the gallows, sung by people doomed to the gallows, had on me. Their menacing faces, slender voices, the sad expression they gave to words that were already expressive - everything shocked me with some kind of pyitic horror.”

Movement of history

Gogol writes about the cruelty of the Cossacks - “beaten babies, cut off breasts of women, skin torn off from the legs up to the knees of those released (...) the Cossacks did not respect black-browed panyankas, white-breasted, fair-faced girls; they could not save themselves at the very altars,” and he does not condemn this cruelty, considering it an inevitable feature of that heroic time that gave birth to people like Taras or Ostap.

The only time he steps on the throat of this song is in the scene of Ostap's torture and execution.
“Let us not confuse our readers with a picture of hellish torments that would make their hair stand on end. They were the product of that rough, ferocious age, when man still led a bloody life alone military exploits and tempered his soul in it, not sensing humanity.”

Pushkin’s description of an old Bashkir man, disfigured by torture, a participant in the unrest of 1741, who cannot say anything to his torturers because a short stump moves in his mouth instead of a tongue, is accompanied by a seemingly similar sentiment from Grinev: “When I remember that this happened on my age and that I have now lived to see the meek reign of Emperor Alexander, I cannot help but marvel at the rapid successes of enlightenment and the spread of the rules of philanthropy.”

But in general, Pushkin’s attitude to history was different from Gogol’s - he saw the meaning in its movement, saw the goal in it and knew that there is God’s Providence in history. Hence his famous letter to Chaadaev, hence the movement of the people’s voice in “Boris Godunov” from the thoughtless and frivolous recognition of Boris as the tsar at the beginning of the drama and to the remark “the people are silent” at its end.
In Gogol, “Taras Bulba” as a story about the past is contrasted with “ Dead Souls"of the present, and the vulgarity of the new time is worse for him than the cruelty of the old days.

It is noteworthy that in both stories there is a scene of the execution of heroes in front of a large crowd of people, and in both cases the person condemned to execution finds a familiar face or voice in a strange crowd.
“But when they brought him to his last mortal throes, it seemed as if his strength began to give out. And he looked around him: God, God, all the unknown, all the strange faces! If only someone close to him had been present at his death! He would not want to hear the sobs and contrition of a weak mother or the insane cries of his wife, tearing out her hair and beating her white breasts; Now he would like to see a firm husband who would refresh and console him with a reasonable word at his death. And he fell with strength and exclaimed in spiritual weakness:
- Father! Where are you? Can you hear?
- I hear! - rang out amid the general silence, and the whole million people shuddered at the same time.”
Pushkin is stingier here too.

“He was present at the execution of Pugachev, who recognized him in the crowd and nodded his head to him, which a minute later, dead and bloody, was shown to the people.”

But both there and there are the same motive.

Gogol's biological father sees his son off and quietly whispers: “Good, son, good.” In Pushkin, Pugachev is Grinev’s imprisoned father. This is how he appeared to him in a prophetic dream; as a father he took care of his future; and in last minute life in a huge crowd of people, there was no one closer to the robber and impostor Emelya than the honor-preserving noble ignoramus.
Taras and Ostap. Pugachev and Grinev. Fathers and sons of bygone times.

There are times when you need to quickly get acquainted with a book, but there is no time to read. For such cases there is brief retelling(briefly). “The Captain's Daughter” is a story from the school curriculum, which certainly deserves attention, at least in a brief retelling.

In contact with

The main characters of "The Captain's Daughter"

Before you read the abridged story “The Captain's Daughter,” you need to get to know the main characters.

“The Captain's Daughter” tells the story of several months in the life of Pyotr Andreevich Grinev, a hereditary nobleman. He's passing military service in the Belogorodskaya fortress during the times of peasant unrest led by Emelyan Pugachev. This story is told by Pyotr Grinev himself through entries in his diary.

Main characters

Minor characters

Chapter I

Peter Grinev's father, even before his birth, enrolled in the ranks of the sergeants of the Semenovsky regiment, since he himself was a retired officer.

At the age of five, he assigned his son a personal servant named Arkhip Savelich. His task was to raise him to be a real master. Arkhip Savelich taught little Peter a lot, for example, to understand the breeds of hunting dogs, Russian literacy and much more.

Four years later, his father sends sixteen-year-old Peter to serve with his good friend in Orenburg. Servant Savelich is traveling with Peter. In Simbirsk, Grinev meets a man named Zurin. He teaches Peter how to play billiards. After getting drunk, Grinev loses a hundred rubles to a military man.

Chapter II

Grinev and Savelich got lost on the way to their place of service, but a random passer-by showed them the way to the inn. There Peter examines the guide- he looks about forty years old, he has a black beard, a strong build, and in general he looks like a robber. Having entered into a conversation with the owner of the inn, they discussed something in a foreign language.

The guide is practically naked, and therefore Grinev decides to give him a hare sheepskin coat. The sheepskin coat was so small for him that it was literally bursting at the seams, but despite this, he was glad for the gift and promised never to forget this kind deed. A day later, young Peter, having arrived in Orenburg, introduces himself to the general, who sends him to the Belgorod fortress to serve under Captain Mironov. Not without the help of Father Peter, of course.

Chapter III

Grinev arrives at the Belgorod fortress, which is a village surrounded by a high wall and one cannon. Captain Mironov, under whose leadership Peter came to serve, was a gray-haired old man, and two officers and approximately a hundred soldiers served under his command. One of the officers is the one-eyed old lieutenant Ivan Ignatich, the second is called Alexey Shvabrin - he was exiled to this place as punishment for a duel.

Newly arrived Peter met Alexei Shvabrin that same evening. Shvabrin told about each of the captain’s family: his wife Vasilisa Egorovna and their daughter Masha. Vasilisa commands both her husband and the entire garrison. And my daughter Masha is a very cowardly girl. Later, Grinev himself meets Vasilisa and Masha, and also the constable Maksimych . He's very scared that the upcoming service will be boring and therefore very long.

Chapter IV

Grinev liked it in the fortress, despite Maksimych’s experiences. The soldiers here are treated without much severity, despite the fact that the captain at least occasionally organizes exercises, but they still cannot distinguish between “left” and “right”. In the house of Captain Mironov, Pyotr Grinev becomes almost a member of the family, and also falls in love with his daughter Masha.

In one of the outbursts of feelings, Grinev dedicates poems to Masha and reads them to the only one in the castle who understands poetry - Shvabrin. Shvabrin makes fun of his feelings in a very rude manner and says that the earrings are this is a more useful gift. Grinev is offended by this too harsh criticism in his direction, and he calls him a liar in response, and Alexey emotionally challenges him to a duel.

Excited Peter wants to call Ivan Ignatich as a second, but the old man believes that such a showdown is too much. After dinner, Peter tells Shvabrin that Ivan Ignatich did not agree to be a second. Shvabrin proposes to conduct a duel without seconds.

Having met early morning, they did not have time to clarify their relationship in the duel, because they were immediately tied up and taken into custody by soldiers under the command of a lieutenant. Vasilisa Egorovna forces them to pretend that they have made peace, and after that they are released from custody. From Masha, Peter learns that the whole point is that Alexey had already received a refusal from her, which is why he behaved so aggressively.

This did not dampen their ardor, and they meet the next day by the river to complete the matter. Peter had almost defeated the officer in a fair fight, but was distracted by the call. It was Savelich. Turning towards a familiar voice, Grinev is wounded in the chest area.

Chapter V

The wound turned out to be so serious that Peter woke up only on the fourth day. Shvabrin decides to make peace with Peter, they apologize to each other. Taking advantage of the moment that Masha is caring for the sick Peter, he confesses his love to her and receives reciprocity in return.

Grinev, in love and inspired writes a letter home asking for blessings for the wedding. In response, a stern letter comes with a refusal and the sad news of the death of the mother. Peter thinks that his mother died when she found out about the duel, and suspects Savelich of the denunciation.

The offended servant shows proof to Peter: a letter from his father, where he scolds and scolds him because he did not tell about the injury. After a while, suspicions lead Peter to the idea that Shvabrin did this in order to prevent his and Masha’s happiness and disrupt the wedding. Having learned that her parents do not give their blessing, Maria refuses the wedding.

Chapter VI

In October 1773 very quickly rumor spreads about the Pugachev rebellion, despite the fact that Mironov tried to keep it a secret. The captain decides to send Maksimych on reconnaissance. Maksimych returns two days later and reports that a huge disturbance is rising among the Cossacks.

At the same time, they report to Maksimych that he went over to Pugachev’s side and incited the Cossacks to start a riot. Maksimych is arrested, and in his place they put the man who reported on him - the baptized Kalmyk Yulay.

Further events pass very quickly: constable Maksimych escapes from custody, one of Pugachev’s men is captured, but he cannot be asked anything because he does not have a language. The neighboring fortress has been captured, and very soon the rebels will be under the walls of this fortress. Vasilisa and her daughter go to Orenburg.

Chapter VII

The next morning, an armful of fresh news reaches Grinev: the Cossacks left the fortress, taking Yulay prisoner; Masha did not have time to get to Orenburg and the road was blocked. By order of the captain, the rebel patrolmen are shot from a cannon.

Soon Pugachev’s main army appears, led by Emelyan himself, smartly dressed in a red caftan and riding a white horse. Four traitorous Cossacks offer to surrender, recognizing Pugachev as ruler. They throw Yulay's head over the fence, which falls at Mironov's feet. Mironov gives the order to shoot, and one of the negotiators is killed, the rest manage to escape.

They begin to storm the fortress, and Mironov says goodbye to his family and gives Masha’s blessing. Vasilisa takes away her terribly frightened daughter. The commandant fires the cannon once, gives the order to open the gate, and then rushes into battle.

The soldiers are in no hurry to run after the commander, and the attackers manage to break into the fortress. Grinev is taken prisoner. A large gallows is being built in the square. A crowd gathers around, many greet the rioters with joy. The impostor, sitting on a chair in the commandant's house, takes oaths from prisoners. Ignatyich and Mironov are hanged for refusing to take an oath.

The turn reaches Grinev, and he notices Shvabrin among the rebels. When Peter is escorted to the gallows to be executed, Savelich suddenly falls at Pugachev’s feet. Somehow he manages to beg for mercy for Grinev. When Vasilisa was taken out of the house, seeing her dead husband, she emotionally called Pugachev “an escaped convict.” She is immediately killed for this.

Chapter VIII

Peter began to look for Masha. The news was disappointing - she was lying unconscious with the priest’s wife, who told everyone that it was her seriously ill relative. Peter returns to the old looted apartment and learns from Savelich how he managed to persuade Pugachev to let Peter go.

Pugachev is the same random passer-by whom they met when they got lost and gave them a hare sheepskin coat. Pugachev invites Peter to the commandant’s house, and he eats there with the rebels at the same table.

During lunch, he manages to overhear how the military council is making plans to march on Orenburg. After lunch, Grinev and Pugachev have a conversation, where Pugachev again demands to take an oath. Peter again refuses him, arguing that he is an officer and the orders of his commanders are law for him. Pugachev likes such honesty, and he lets Peter go again.

Chapter IX

On the morning before Pugachev’s departure, Savelich approaches him and brings things that were taken from Grinev during his capture. At the very end of the list is a hare sheepskin coat. Pugachev gets angry and throws out the sheet of paper with this list. Leaving, he leaves Shvabrin as commandant.

Grinev rushes to the priest's wife to find out how Masha is, but very disappointing news awaits him - she is delirious and in a fever. He can't take her away, but he also can't stay. Therefore, he has to leave her temporarily.

Worried, Grinev and Savelich walk at a slow pace to Orenburg. Suddenly, unexpectedly, the former constable Maksimych, who is riding a Bashkir horse, catches up with them. It turned out that it was Pugachev who said to give the officer a horse and a sheepskin coat. Peter gratefully accepts this gift.

Chapter X

Arriving in Orenburg, Peter reports to the general about everything that happened in the fortress. At the council they decide not to attack, but only to defend. After some time, the siege of Orenburg by Pugachev’s army begins. Thanks to a fast horse and luck, Grinev remains safe and sound.

In one of these forays he meets Maksimych. Maksimych gives him a letter from Masha, which says that Shvabrin kidnapped her and forcibly forces her to marry him. Grinev runs to the general and asks for a company of soldiers to liberate the Belgorod fortress, but the general refuses him.

Chapter XI

Grinev and Savelich decide to escape from Orenburg and without any problems go towards the Bermuda settlement, which was occupied by Pugachev’s people. Having waited until nightfall, they decide to drive around the settlement in the dark, but they are caught by a detachment of patrolmen. He miraculously manages to escape, but Savelich, unfortunately, does not.

Therefore, Peter returns for him and is then captured. Pugachev finds out why he fled Orenburg. Peter informs him about Shvabrin’s tricks. Pugachev begins to get angry and threatens to hang him.

Pugachev's adviser does not believe Grinev's stories, claiming that Peter is a spy. Suddenly, a second adviser named Khlopusha begins to stand up for Peter. They almost start a fight, but the impostor calms them down. Pugachev decides to take the wedding of Peter and Masha into his own hands.

Chapter XII

When Pugachev arrived to the Belgorod fortress, he began to demand to see the girl who was kidnapped by Shvabrin. He leads Pugachev and Grinev into the room where Masha is sitting on the floor.

Pugachev, deciding to understand the situation, asks Masha why her husband beats her. Masha exclaims indignantly that she will never become his wife. Pugachev is very disappointed in Shvabrin and orders him to immediately let the young couple go.

Chapter XIII

Masha with Peter set off on the road. When they enter the town, where there should be a large detachment of Pugachevites, they see that the city has already been liberated. They want to arrest Grinev, he goes into the officer’s room and sees his old acquaintance Zurin at the head.

He remains in Zurin’s detachment, and sends Masha and Savelich to their parents. Soon the siege was lifted from Orenburg, and news of victory and the end of the war arrived, since the impostor was captured. While Peter was getting ready to go home, Zurin received an order for his arrest.

Chapter XIV

In court, Pyotr Grinev is accused of treason and espionage. Witness - Shvabrin. In order not to drag Masha into this matter, Peter does not justify himself in any way, and they want to hang him. Empress Catherine, taking pity on his elderly father, changes the execution to serving a life sentence in the Siberian settlement. Masha decides that she will lie at the feet of the empress, begging for mercy on him.

Having gone to St. Petersburg, she stops at an inn and finds out that the owner is the niece of the stove burner in the palace. She helps Masha enter the garden of Tsarskoye Selo, where she meets a lady who promises to help her. After some time, a carriage arrives from the palace for Masha. Entering Catherine's chambers, she is surprised to see the woman with whom she spoke in the garden. She announces to her that Grinev is acquitted. read our article.

Afterword

This was a short retelling. “The Captain's Daughter” is a rather interesting story from the school curriculum. Summary according to the chapters you need for.