The image and characteristics of Pyotr Grinev in the novel "The Captain's Daughter"

Pyotr Grinev is a young man, a nobleman, the son of a wealthy landowner who owns 300 serfs:

“...father has three hundred souls of peasants, “Isn’t it easy!” she said, “after all, there are rich people in the world!..”:

"...I am a natural noble..."

Full name hero - Pyotr Andreevich Grinev: “Father told me: “Farewell, Pyotr. Serve faithfully...” “...then Pyotr Andreevich married Marya Ivanovna.”

Pyotr Grinev’s age is 16 years: “Meanwhile, I was sixteen years old. Then my fate changed...” (at the age of 16 he goes to serve in Orenburg) “...You see that the child still doesn’t understand...”

The following is known about Pyotr Grinev’s appearance: “...They put a hare sheepskin coat on me, and a fox fur coat on top...” “...We took off our uniforms, remained in only camisoles and drew our swords...” (nothing more about Grinev’s appearance not known. Grinev tells the story on his own behalf and therefore does not describe his appearance himself)

Petr Grinev will receive home education. Unfortunately, his teachers did not fulfill their duties well and Peter studied somehow: “...At that time we were not brought up in the traditional way. From the age of five I was given into the hands of the stirrup Savelich, who for his sober behavior was granted to me as an uncle. Under his In my twelfth year, I learned Russian literacy and could very sensibly judge the properties of a greyhound dog. At this time, my father hired a Frenchman for me, Monsieur Beaupré<...>and although according to the contract he was obliged to teach me French, German and all sciences, he preferred to quickly learn from me how to chat in Russian - and then each of us went about our own business..."

"...a geographical map was written out for me from Moscow. It hung on the wall without any use and had long tempted me with the width and goodness of the paper. I decided to make snakes out of it... And that was the end of my upbringing. I lived as an undergrowth, chasing pigeons and playing leapfrog with the yard boys. Meanwhile, I was sixteen years old..."

Like many nobles of that era, Pyotr Grinev, even before his birth, was enrolled in the prestigious Semenovsky regiment in St. Petersburg "...Mother was still pregnant with me, as I was already enrolled in the Semenovsky regiment as a sergeant, by the grace of the major of the guard, Prince B., our close relative..."

However, the strict father suddenly decides to give his son a school of life. He sends 16-year-old Peter to serve not in St. Petersburg, but in Orenburg: “...Instead of a cheerful life in St. Petersburg, boredom awaited me in a remote and remote side...” “...why did you deign to move from the guard to the garrison?.. "

Having entered the service, Pyotr Grinev receives the rank of ensign: "...I was promoted to officer. The service did not burden me..." "...ensign Grinev was serving in Orenburg..."

Peter Grinev - kind, man of heart: “...you always wished me well and that you are ready to help every person...” (Masha Mironova about Grinev)

"...I was too happy to keep a feeling of hostility in my heart. I began to ask for Shvabrin..."

“...Being not vindictive by nature, I sincerely forgave him both our quarrel and the wound I received from him...”

Grinev is a good officer. The superiors are satisfied with his service: “...Commanders, I hear, are satisfied with him...” (about Grinev)

Pyotr Grinev is a conscientious man: “...With an uneasy conscience and with silent repentance, I left Simbirsk...” “...I was ashamed. I turned away and told him: “Get out, Savelich; I don’t want tea.” ..." "...Finally I told him: “Well, well, Savelich! That’s enough, let’s make peace, I’m guilty; I see for myself that I’m guilty...”

Grinev is a compassionate person: “...I felt sorry for the poor old man; but I wanted to break free and prove that I was no longer a child...” “...I looked at Marya Ivanovna<...>I felt sorry for her, and I hastened to change the conversation..."

Peter Grinev is a man of honor: “...Just don’t demand what is contrary to my honor and Christian conscience...” “...the duty of honor required my presence in the army of the empress...”

Petr Grinev is a grateful person. He tries to thank people for the good they do: “...I was annoyed, however, that I could not thank the person who rescued me, if not from trouble, then at least from a very unpleasant situation...”

Grinev is a proud man: “...Wow! A proud poet and a modest lover!” continued Shvabrin...” “...Here he stopped and began filling his pipe. My pride triumphed...”

Petr Grinev is a stubborn person. He remains committed to his intentions, no matter what: “...The reasoning of the prudent lieutenant did not shake me. I remained with my intention...” “...seeing my stubbornness, she left me alone...” “.. .Don’t be stubborn! What’s it worth to you? Spit and kiss the evil one... (ugh!) kiss his hand..."

Officer Grinev is a strong and brave man: “...Shvabrin was more skillful than me, but I am stronger and braver...” Grinev is an ambitious young man: “... Separations merged with sadness<...>feelings of noble ambition..."

Pyotr Grinev is a proud man. He does not allow himself to be humiliated, even when his life is at stake: “...“Kiss the hand, kiss the hand!” - they said around me. But I would prefer the most brutal execution to such vile humiliation..." (Grinev refuses to kiss Pugachev's hand)

Grinev is a sensitive person. He is capable of crying when he is overwhelmed with feelings: “...I took the poor girl’s hand and kissed it, watering it with tears...” “...We remembered the previous happy time... We both cried..." Pyotr Grinev is a generous man: "... generously excused his unfortunate rival..." "... I did not want to triumph over the destroyed enemy and turned my eyes in the other direction..."

Grinev is a sincere person. He is not afraid to tell the truth: “...decided to declare the real truth before the court, believing this method of justification to be the simplest, and at the same time the most reliable...” “...the accusations that weigh on me, I hope to dispel them with a sincere explanation of the truth ..." "...I sincerely admitted this to Marya Ivanovna and, however, decided to write to my father..."

Petr Grinev is a romantic. So, he imagines himself as a knight saving a girl in trouble: “...I imagined myself as her knight. I longed to prove that I was worthy of her trust, and began to look forward to the decisive moment...” Grinev is a superstitious person: “. ..The reader will excuse me: for he probably knows from experience how human it is to indulge in superstition, despite all possible contempt for prejudices..."

Pyotr Grinev knows French, like all educated nobles: “...Shvabrin had several French books. I began to read...”

Grinev is fond of literature and writes poetry: “...I have already said that I was engaged in literature. My experiments, for that time, were considerable, and Alexander Petrovich Sumarokov, several years later, praised them very much. Once I managed to write a song, which I was pleased<...>I took my notebook out of my pocket and read him the following poems..." "...Shvabrin had several French books. I began to read, and the desire for literature awakened in me. In the mornings I read, practiced translations, and sometimes wrote poetry..."

Pyotr Grinev knows how to fence well: "...and Monsieur Beaupre, who was once a soldier, gave me several lessons in fencing, which I took advantage of. Shvabrin did not expect to find such a dangerous opponent in me..." "... damned Monsieur to everything guilty: he taught you to poke and stomp with iron skewers, as if by poking and stomping you can protect yourself from an evil person!..” (teacher Beaupré taught Grinev to fencing)

Pyotr Grinev has a servant Savelich - his “uncle” (peasant servant), who has been serving with him since childhood: “... to Savelich, who was a steward of money, linen, and my affairs...”

When Pyotr Grinev arrives for duty at the Belogorsk fortress, he serves under Captain Mironov. Here Grinev falls in love with the captain's daughter, Masha Mironova: "...But love strongly advised me to stay with Marya Ivanovna and be her protector and patron..." "...Now I understand: you are apparently in love with Marya Ivanovna. Oh , that’s another matter! Poor fellow!..” “...“Dear Marya Ivanovna!” I finally said. “I consider you my wife. Wonderful circumstances have united us inextricably: nothing in the world can separate us”..."

At the end of the novel, Pyotr Grinev marries Marya Mironova: “...then Pyotr Andreevich married Marya Ivanovna. Their offspring prosper in the Simbirsk province...”

Masha Mironova (Marya Ivanovna Mironova) - daughter of Captain Mironov and his wife Vasilisa Egorovna: “... the daughter of an honored warrior who died for the fatherland...”

Masha Mironova's age is 18 years: "...a girl of about eighteen..."

Masha Mironova is a poor noblewoman. Masha's family owns only 1 peasant serf - Palash (for comparison, the Grinevs own 300 serfs): "...One problem: Masha; a girl of marriageable age, and what is her dowry? A fine comb, a broom, and an altyn of money (God forgive me) !), with what to go to the bathhouse. It’s good if there is a kind person; otherwise you’ll sit among the girls as an eternal bride..."

The following is known about Masha Mironova’s appearance: “...Then a girl of about eighteen came in, chubby, ruddy, with light brown hair, smoothly combed behind her ears, which were on fire..." "...and suddenly her lips touched my cheek..." "...she was still dressed simply and sweetly..."

Masha has a sweet, “angelic” voice: “... I saw Marya Ivanovna in front of me; her angelic voice greeted me...” “... Marya Ivanovna’s sweet voice came from behind the doors...”

Masha Mironova is a kind girl: “...Dear, kind Marya Ivanovna...” “...I imperceptibly became attached to a kind family...” “...Marya Ivanovna is such a kind young lady<...>I’ll see her off, angel of God<...>Such a bride doesn’t even need a dowry..." (Savelich about Masha)

Masha is a prudent and sensitive girl: “...I found in her a prudent and sensitive girl...” Masha is an intelligent and generous girl: “... praise to the mind and heart of Captain Mironov’s daughter...”

Masha is so sweet that you can’t help but love her: “...Soon they sincerely became attached to her, because it was impossible not to recognize her and not love her...” “...mother only wanted her Petrusha to marry her sweetheart captain's daughter..."

Masha Mironova is a gentle girl: “... Marya Ivanovna tenderly reprimanded me for the anxiety caused to everyone by my quarrel with Shvabrin...” “... indulged in the feelings of her tender heart...”

Masha is a simple, natural girl, not affected or pretentious: “...She, without any affectation, admitted to me her heartfelt inclination...” “... Marya Ivanovna listened to me simply, without feigned shyness, without fancy excuses... "

Masha Mironova is a modest and cautious young lady: "...Marya Ivanovna<...>V highest degree was gifted with modesty and caution..."

Masha is a gullible girl: “...with all the gullibility of youth and love...” Masha Mironova is a generous girl: “...If you find yourself a betrothed, if you love another, God be with you, Pyotr Andreich; and I am for both of you ..." Then she cried and left me..." (Masha wishes happiness to Grinev with another girl)

Masha is a faithful, devoted girl: “... Whether we have to see each other or not, God alone knows; but I will never forget you; until the grave you will remain alone in my heart...” (Masha says to Grinev)

Masha is a coward: “...Is Masha brave?” her mother answered. “No, Masha is a coward. She still can’t hear a shot from a gun: it just trembles. And two years ago, Ivan Kuzmich decided to shoot from a gun on my name day.” our gun, so she, my dear, almost went to the next world out of fear..."

During Pugachev's uprising, Masha remains an orphan when Emelyan Pugachev captures the Belogorsk fortress and kills her parents: "...The state of a poor defenseless orphan, left among the evil rebels..." "...She did not have a single relative in the world ..." "...shelter and caress the poor orphan..."

The captain's daughter Masha Mironova and the young officer Pyotr Grinev fall in love with each other: “...Farewell, my angel,” I said, “farewell, my dear, my beloved! Whatever happens to me, believe that my last thought and my last prayer will be for you!” Masha sobbed, clinging to my chest..." "...Dear Marya Ivanovna! - I finally said. - I consider you my wife. Wonderful circumstances have united us inextricably: nothing in the world can separate us...”

Emelyan Pugachev - Don Cossack: "...Don Cossack and schismatic* Emelyan Pugachev..." (*schismatic - a person who does not recognize the official Orthodox Church)

Pugachev's age is about 40 years old: "...he was about forty years old..." (in fact, Pugachev died at the age of about 33)

Emelyan Pugachev is an impostor, a drunkard and a tramp, posing as Emperor Peter III: “... a drunkard, wandering around inns, besieged fortresses and shook the state!..” “... committing unforgivable insolence by taking on the name of the late Emperor Peter III..." "...I was again taken to the impostor..." "...I was not able to recognize the tramp as sovereign..."

The following is known about Emelyan Pugachev’s appearance: “...His appearance seemed remarkable to me: he was about forty, of average height, thin and broad-shouldered. His black beard showed streaks of gray; his lively, large eyes darted around. His face had a rather pleasant expression, but picaresque. His hair was cut into a circle; he was wearing a tattered overcoat and Tatar trousers..." "...Pugachev<...>sat with his elbows on the table and propping up his black beard with his wide fist. His facial features, regular and rather pleasant, did not express anything fierce..." "...Why do you need a master's sheepskin coat? You won’t put it on your damned shoulders..." "...on a white horse rode a man in a red caftan, with a drawn saber in his hand: it was Pugachev himself..." "...He was wearing a red Cossack caftan , trimmed with galloons. A tall sable cap with golden tassels was pulled down over his sparkling eyes..." "...Pugachev extended his sinewy hand to me..." "...Pugachev and about ten Cossack elders were sitting, in hats and colored shirts, hot with wine , with red faces and shining eyes..." Pugachev has large sparkling eyes: "... his big, living eyes were running..." "... Pugachev fixed his fiery eyes on me..." "... his sparkling eyes..." Emelyan Pugachev wears a black beard: "... a man with a black beard, looking at me cheerfully..." "... I looked at the floor and saw a black beard and two sparkling eyes..."

Emelyan Pugachev is a monster, a villain and a robber: “... parting with this terrible man, a monster, a villain for everyone except me...” “... thanks to the villain” “... gathered a villainous gang, caused outrage in Yaik villages and has already taken and destroyed several fortresses, carrying out robberies and capital murders everywhere..." "... take appropriate measures to repel the aforementioned villain and impostor..." "... You are not afraid of God, robber! - answered him Savelich..." "...disappeared from an escaped convict!.."

Pugachev is a rogue and a swindler: “... Pugachev looked at me intently, occasionally squinting his left eye with an amazing expression of trickery and mockery...” “... The swindler’s question and his audacity seemed so funny to me...” Emelyan Pugachev - a sharp-witted, intelligent man: “...His sharpness and subtlety of instinct amazed me...” “...You are a smart man...” “...I must keep my ears open; at the first failure, they will ransom their neck with my head ..." (About Me)

Pugachev is a cold-blooded man: “...His composure encouraged me...”

Emelyan Pugachev is an illiterate person. He doesn’t know how to write or read: “...a pass signed in Pugachev’s scribbles...” “...Pugachev accepted the paper and looked at it for a long time with a significant look. “Why are you writing so cleverly?” he finally said. “Our bright eyes "They can't make out anything here. Where is my chief secretary?" expresses it in a popular way, he says “enarals” instead of “generals”)

Pugachev is a man with a stern soul: “...It seemed that Pugachev’s stern soul was touched...”

Emelyan Pugachev is a rude man: “...The appeal was written in rude but strong terms and was intended to make a dangerous impression on the minds of ordinary people...”

Pugachev is a cruel, bloodthirsty person: “...I remembered the reckless cruelty, the bloodthirsty habits of the one who volunteered to be the deliverer of my beloved!..”

Pugachev is a brave man: “...Isn’t there good luck for the daring?..” “...I fight anywhere...”

Pugachev is a man of his word. He tries to keep his promises: “... Pugachev, true to his promise, approached Orenburg...”

Emelyan Pugachev behaves importantly and mysteriously: “...There’s nothing to say: all the techniques are so important...” “...Here he assumed an important and mysterious air...” “...Pugachev proclaimed importantly... "

Pugachev is a proud man: “...The face of the impostor depicted contented pride...”

The robber Pugachev is a boastful man: “...The robber’s boastfulness seemed funny to me...”

Pugachev is a freedom-loving person: "...God knows. My street is cramped; I have little will..."

Emelyan Pugachev is a stubborn person: “...Execute like that, execute like that, favor like that,” (words of Pugachev)

The robber Pugachev loves to drink: "...order a glass of wine; tea is not our Cossack drink..." "...Why does he need your hare sheepskin coat? He will drink it, dog, in the first tavern..." "... and it would be good for anyone, otherwise it’s a naked drunkard!..” “...Have you forgotten that drunkard who lured the sheepskin coat from you at the inn?..” Emelyan Pugachev eats a lot. At lunch he is able to eat two piglets: “...at lunch he deigned to eat two roasted piglets...” Pugachev loves to steam in the bathhouse: “... and the steaming is so hot that even Taras Kurochkin could not stand it...”

Pugachev has scars on his body, which he calls “royal signs” (as if he were a real king): “...And in the bathhouse, you can hear, he showed his royal signs on his chest: on one, a double-headed eagle the size of a nickel, and on the other his person..."

Pugachev understands that he is a villain, but he can no longer stop: “... it’s too late for me to repent. There will be no pardon for me. I will continue as I started...”

In the end, Emelyan Pugachev is executed for his bloody rebellion: “... he was present at the execution of Pugachev...”

Shvabrin - a young officer, colleague of Pyotr Grinev. The full name of the hero is Alexey Ivanovich Shvabrin: "...Shvabrin Alexey Ivanovich..." Shvabrin is a nobleman from a good wealthy family: "...Alexey Ivanovich, of course<...>has a good family name and has a fortune..."

Shvabrin once served in the guard (an elite unit of the army). Several years ago, Shvabrin killed an acquaintance while playing swords. For this he was “demoted”, sent to serve in the Belogorsk fortress: “... he was an officer discharged from the guard for a duel...” (the guard was considered a prestigious place of service) “... he was discharged from the guard for murder.. "... this is the fifth year since he was transferred to us for murder. God knows what sin befell him; as you can see, he went out of town with one lieutenant, and took swords with them, and, well, to stab each other ; and Alexey Ivanovich stabbed the lieutenant, and in front of two witnesses!..”

The following is known about Shvabrin’s appearance: “... a young officer of short stature, with a dark and distinctly ugly face, but extremely lively...” “... He was dressed as a Cossack and had grown a beard...” (Shvabrin’s appearance when he takes Pugachev’s side) “...I was amazed at his change. He was terribly thin and pale. His hair, recently pitch black, had turned completely gray; his long beard was disheveled...” (Shvabrin’s appearance when he is arrested for his service at Pugachev)

Shvabrin is an intelligent, witty person: “...We met immediately. Shvabrin was not very stupid. His conversation was witty and entertaining. With great gaiety, he described to me the commandant’s family, his society and the region where fate had brought me...” "...Alexey Ivanovich, of course, is a smart man..."

Shvabrin is a quick-witted, sharp-witted person: “...With his usual quick-wittedness, he, of course, guessed that Pugachev was dissatisfied with him...”

Officer Shvabrin is a slanderer and an inventor: “... In his slander I saw the annoyance of his wounded pride...” “... I understood the persistent slander with which Shvabrin persecuted her...” (slander - that is, slander) “.. .Shvabrin described Masha, the captain’s daughter, to me as a complete fool..." (in fact, Masha Mironova is a smart girl)

Officer Shvabrin behaves importantly: “...Vasilisa Yegorovna is a very brave lady,” Shvabrin noted importantly...” “...I couldn’t help but laugh. Shvabrin retained his importance...”

Shvabrin is a mocking person: “...instead of rude and obscene ridicule, I saw in them deliberate slander...” “...I really didn’t like his constant jokes about the commandant’s family, especially the caustic remarks about Marya Ivanovna. Another society in there was no fortress, but I didn’t want anything else..." "...he turned away with an expression of sincere anger and feigned mockery...”

Officer Shvabrin is a lying bastard, a scoundrel: “...You are lying, you scoundrel!” I cried in rage, “you are lying in the most shameless way...” “...Oh, this great Shvabrin Schelm*...” (* rogue)

Shvabrin is a shameless person: "... Shvabrin's shamelessness almost enraged me..."

Officer Shvabrin is a daring man: “...The desire to punish the daring evil-tonguer has become even stronger in me...”

Shvabrin does not believe in God: “...Good Alexey Ivanovich: he was discharged from the guard for murder and murder, he does not believe in the Lord God; what are you doing?

Officer Shvabrin is a nimble, dexterous man: “...Nimble, there’s nothing to say!..”

Shvabrin is a cruel man: “...He treats me very cruelly...” (Shvabrin treats Marya cruelly when he becomes the commander of the fortress)

Shvabrin is a vile person: “...expressing his joy and zeal in vile expressions...”

Shvabrin is a vile person: “... all the trials to which the vile Shvabrin subjected her...” “... from the hands of the vile Shvabrin...” “... the name of Marya Ivanovna was not uttered by the vile villain...”

Alexey Shvabrin is an evil man: “...I saw Shvabrin standing. His face depicted gloomy malice...” “...He grinned with an evil grin and, lifting his chains, got ahead of me...”

Officer Shvabrin knows how to fence well: “...Shvabrin was more skillful than me, but I am stronger and braver...” (Shvabrin is a skilled fencer)

Shvabrin knows French, like all educated nobles. In his spare time he reads books on French: “...Excuse me,” he told me in French...” “...Shvabrin had several French books...”

When the Pugachev rebellion occurs, Shvabrin betrays the Russian army and goes over to the side of the impostor Pugachev: “...The traitor helped Pugachev get out of the wagon...” “...Then, to my indescribable amazement, I saw among the rebel foremen Shvabrin, with his hair cut circle and in a Cossack caftan. He went up to Pugachev and said a few words in his ear..." "...And what is Shvabrin like, Alexey Ivanovich? After all, he cut his hair into a circle and now he’s feasting with them right there with us! Agile, there’s nothing to say !.."

After this, the robber Pugachev appoints Shvabrin as the head of the Belogorsk fortress: "... I heard these words with horror: Shvabrin became the head of the fortress; Marya Ivanovna remained in his power! God, what will happen to her! "... Alexey Ivanovich, who commands us in the place of the late father..."

Using his power, the scoundrel Shvabrin locks up the captain's daughter Marya Mironova and starves her to death. He hopes that this way the girl will finally agree to become his wife. Fortunately, the girl is saved in time and Shvabrin’s plans collapse: “...It seems to me,” she said, “I think I like you.”<...>Because he wooed me<...>Last year. Two months before your arrival<...>when I think that it will be necessary to kiss him under the aisle in front of everyone... No way! not for any well-being!.." "...Alexey Ivanovich is forcing me to marry him<...>He treats me very cruelly..."

In the end, Shvabrin is arrested for treason: “...The general ordered to call yesterday’s villain<...>the chains rattled, the doors opened, and Shvabrin walked in..."

Old Man Savelich - faithful servant of the main character of the novel - Pyotr Grinev. Savelich is an elderly serf peasant. He has been serving his young master Pyotr Grinev since childhood: “...From the age of five, I was given into the hands of the eager* Savelich, who was granted my uncle** for his sober behavior. Under his supervision, in my twelfth year, I learned Russian literacy... "... Savelich, who was a steward of money, linen, and my affairs..." "...Thank God,” he grumbled to himself, “it seems the child is washed, combed, fed...”

Savelich's full name is Arkhip Saveliev: "...Arkhip Saveliev..." "...You are my friend, Arkhip Savelich! - I told him..."

Savelich is an elderly man, an “old man”: “...You are my light! Listen to me, an old man...” “...God knows, I ran to shield you with my chest from the sword of Alexei Ivanovich! Damn old age got in the way...” "...lived to see gray hair..."

Savelich is a devoted servant: “...you deign to be angry with me, your servant...” “...I, not an old dog, but your faithful servant, obey the master’s orders and have always served you diligently and lived to see my gray hairs.. ." "...this is your boyar will. For this I bow slavishly..." "...Your faithful servant..."

Savelich is a kind old man: “...a letter from a kind old man...” “... Father Peter Andreich! - said the kind man in a trembling voice...”

Savelich is a non-drinking peasant (which was rare). He leads a sober lifestyle: "...for sober behavior, he was granted my uncle..."

Savelich is a business man: “...to Simbirsk, where I had to stay for a day to purchase the necessary things, which Savelich was entrusted with. I stopped at a tavern. Savelich went to the shops in the morning...” “...I went to the apartment allotted to me, where Savelich was already in charge..."

Savelich loves to read instructions to his master Pyotr Grinev: “... It was difficult to calm Savelich down when he started preaching...” “... Savelich met me with his usual admonition. “You, sir, want to talk to drunks.” robbers!.."

Savelich is a stubborn person: “...if at this decisive moment I don’t out-argue the stubborn old man...” “...I knew that there was nothing to argue with Savelich, and I allowed him to get ready for the journey...” “... He became stubborn: “What are you doing, sir? How can I leave you? Who will follow you? What will your parents say?” “...Knowing my uncle’s stubbornness, I set out to convince him with affection and sincerity.. "

Savelich is a grumpy old man: “... still occasionally grumbled to himself, shaking his head...” “... Savelich looked at him askance and grumbled...”

Savelich is an incredulous person: “... Savelich listened with a look of great displeasure. He looked with suspicion first at the owner, then at the counselor...” Savelich loves to argue and bargain: “... with the owner, who charged us such a moderate payment that even Savelich did not argue with him and did not bargain as usual..."

Old man Savelich is a caring servant. He is always worried that his master Pyotr Grinev will be fed: “... I walked away from the window and went to bed without dinner, despite the admonitions of Savelich, who repeated with contrition: “Lord Vladyka! He won’t deign to eat anything! What will the lady say, if the child gets sick?" .." "...Would you like to eat? - asked Savelich, unchanged in his habits. - There is nothing at home; I’ll go rummage around and make something for you..." "...I’ll give you something I have prepared it; eat it, father, and rest until the morning, like in Christ’s bosom..."

Savelich is a responsible servant. He carefully ensures that nothing is lost from the master’s property: “...As you wish,” Savelich answered, “and I am a forced person and must be responsible for the master’s property...”

Savelich is a faithful servant. He is always next to his master, Pyotr Grinev: “...with the faithful Savelich, who, forcibly separated from me...” “...If you have already decided to go, then I will at least follow you on foot, but not you I'll leave. So that I can sit behind a stone wall without you! Am I crazy? It's your will, sir, but I won't leave you alone..."

Old man Savelich considers Pyotr Grinev still a “child”, a child: “...“Get married!” he repeated. “The child wants to get married! What will the father say, and what will the mother think?”..”

One day Savelich saves Pyotr Grinev from death. When the robber Emelyan Pugachev executes the officers of the Belogorsk fortress, it is Pyotr Grinev’s turn. Suddenly old Savelich rushes to Pugachev. He begs him to have mercy on the “child” and offers his life in exchange. Fortunately, Pugachev leaves both Grinev and Savelich alive: “... Savelich lies at Pugachev’s feet. “Dear father!” said the poor guy. “What do you care about the death of the master’s child? Let him go; they will give you a ransom for him; and for the sake of example and fear, order them to hang me, even an old man!” Pugachev gave a sign, and they immediately untied me and left me..."

Pyotr Grinev, in turn, treats the servant Savelich well: “...I felt sorry for the poor old man...” “...To console poor Savelich, I gave him my word from now on not to dispose of a single penny without his consent...”

Captain Ivan Kuzmich Mironov - This is the commandant of the Belogorsk fortress. It is here that the main character of the novel, the young nobleman Pyotr Grinev, comes to serve: “...Mr. Commandant of the Belogorsk Fortress, Captain Mironov...” “... to the Belogorsk Fortress, where you will be on Captain Mironov’s team...” “... To the *** regiment and to a remote fortress on the border of the Kyrgyz-Kaisak steppes!..”

The full name of Captain Mironov is Ivan Kuzmich Mironov: “...Why did my Ivan Kuzmich study like that today! - said the commandant...”

Captain Mironov's age is not indicated in the novel. It is known that by age he is an “old man”: “... a cheerful old man...” “... they picked up the old captain...”

Captain Mironov is a poor nobleman. He has a daughter, Marya Mironova, a girl of marriageable age: "...One problem: Masha; a girl of marriageable age, and what is her dowry? A fine comb, a broom, and an altyn of money (God forgive me!), with what to go to the bathhouse go. It’s good if there is a kind person; otherwise you sit among the girls as an eternal bride..." "...Tell the master: guests are waiting..."

The following is known about the appearance of Captain Mironov: “... the commandant, a vigorous old man and tall, in a cap and a Chinese robe...” Captain Mironov has been serving in the army for 40 years: “... Doesn’t he know that we You’ve been in the service for forty years and, thank God, you’ve seen enough?..”

Mironov has been serving in the Belogorsk fortress for about 22 years: “...Why is Belogorskaya unreliable? Thank God, we’ve been living in it for twenty-two years. We’ve seen both Bashkirs and Kyrgyzs...”

Captain Mironov's family is poor. They have only one serf peasant woman: "...And here, my father, we only have one girl, Palashka, but thank God, we live small..."

Captain Mironov is a kind and honest person: “...Captain Mironov, a kind and honest man...” “...I imperceptibly became attached to a good family...” “...a good commandant...” “. ..he came up to us, said a few kind words to me and began to command again..." "...Ivan Kuzmich answered, - I was busy with service: teaching little soldiers...”

Officer Mironov is a simple, uneducated person. His father was an ordinary soldier: "...Ivan Kuzmich, who became an officer from the children of soldiers, was an uneducated and simple man, but the most honest and kind..."

Captain Mironov took part in the battles with Prussia and Turkey: “...neither Prussian bayonets nor Turkish bullets touched you...” Captain Mironov is an experienced officer: “... Poor Mironov!<...>It's a pity for him: he was a good officer..." "...The proximity of danger animated the old warrior with extraordinary vigor..." "...You are my light, Ivan Kuzmich, daring little soldier's head! Neither Prussian bayonets nor Turkish bullets touched you; You didn’t lay down your belly in a fair fight, but died from an escaped convict!..” “...Ivan Kuzmich, although he respected his wife very much, would never have revealed to her the secret entrusted to him in his service.. "

Captain Mironov is a bad leader because he has too soft a character: “...Only glory that you teach soldiers: neither they are given service, nor do you know anything about it. I would sit at home and pray to God; it would be better that way.” ..." Officer Mironov is an indecisive person: "...Ivan Kuzmich! Why are you yawning? Now seat them in different corners on bread and water so that their stupidity goes away<...>Ivan Kuzmich did not know what to decide..."

Mironov is a carefree person. He does not take his position seriously: “... consistent with his carelessness...” “...In the God-saved fortress there were no reviews, no exercises, no guards. The commandant, of his own free will, sometimes taught his soldiers; but he could not yet make sure they all know which side is right and which is left..."

Captain Mironov likes to drink: “...poetsers need a listener, like Ivan Kuzmich needs a decanter of vodka before dinner...”

Officer Mironov is a hospitable person: “...In the commandant’s house I was received like family. The husband and wife were the most respectable people...” “...I almost always dined at the commandant’s, where I usually spent the rest of the day and where I sometimes went in the evening Father Gerasim with his wife Akulina Pamfilovna..."

Officer Mironov is a straightforward, truthful person: "...Ivan Kuzmich was the most straightforward and truthful person..."

Captain Mironov is a simple-minded man. He doesn’t know how to be cunning: “...That’s it, my dad,” she answered, “it’s not for you to be cunning...” (wife about Captain Mironov)

Captain Mironov is a henpecked man. His wife, Vasilisa Egorovna, manages it, as well as the entire fortress as a whole: “... His wife ruled it, which was consistent with his carelessness. Vasilisa Egorovna looked at the affairs of the service as if they were her master’s, and ruled the fortress so precisely, as well as his house..." "...Ivan Kuzmich completely agreed with his wife and said: “And listen, Vasilisa Yegorovna is telling the truth..." "...with the consent of his wife, he decided to free him... "

Captain Mironov respects and loves his wife: "...Ivan Kuzmich, although he respected his wife very much..." "...God give you love and advice. Live as Vasilisa Egorovna and I lived..." In his Vasilisa Egorovna’s turn loves her husband: “...You are my light, Ivan Kuzmich...” (words of Vasilisa Egorovna)

When the Pugachev revolt occurs, Captain Mironov refuses to swear allegiance to Emelyan Pugachev as the tsar: “...The commandant, exhausted from his wound, gathered his last strength and answered in a firm voice: “You are not my sovereign, you are a thief and an impostor, hear you!” Pugachev executes Captain Mironov because he refused to swear allegiance to him: “...Several Cossacks grabbed the old captain and dragged him to the gallows<...>a minute later I saw poor Ivan Kuzmich lifted into the air..."

Vasilisa Egorovna Mironova - wife of captain Mironov. Her husband serves as the commander of the Belogorsk fortress near Orenburg. Vasilisa Egorovna has been living with her husband and daughter in the Belogorsk fortress for more than 20 years: “...It’s been twenty years since we were transferred here from the regiment...” “...Thank God, we’ve been living in it for twenty-two years. We’ve seen both Bashkirs and Kyrgyzs ..."

Vasilisa Egorovna is an old woman, an elderly woman: “...My fathers!” the poor old woman shouted... The following is known about Vasilisa Egorovna’s appearance: “... An old woman in a padded jacket and with a scarf on her head was sitting by the window...” ...One of them has already managed to dress up in her shower jacket..."

Vasilisa Egorovna is a poor noblewoman: “... after all, there are rich people in the world! And here, my father, we only have one girl, Palashka, but thank God, we live small...”

Vasilisa Egorovna and her husband have a daughter of marriageable age - Masha Mironova: "...Masha; a girl of marriageable age, and what is her dowry? A fine comb, a broom, and an altyn of money (God forgive me!), with which to go to the bathhouse ..."

Vasilisa Egorovna is a kind woman: “...And Madame Mironov was a kind lady and what a master at salting mushrooms!..” “...I imperceptibly became attached to a kind family...” “...you see, a young man with he's tired of the road; he has no time for you..." (the words of the captain's wife) "... The commanders, you can hear, are happy with him; and to Vasilisa Yegorovna he is like his own son..." (about Pyotr Grinev)

Vasilisa Egorovna is an intelligent woman: “...She guessed that she had been deceived by her husband, and began interrogating him...” “...Vasilisa Egorovna made several comments to him regarding the household, like a judge starting an investigation with extraneous questions, so that first to lull the defendant's caution..."

Captain Vasilisa Egorovna is a respectable, decent woman: “...The husband and wife were the most respectable people...”

Vasilisa Egorovna is a good housewife: “...what a master at salting mushrooms!..” “...I entered a clean room, decorated in the old-fashioned way...” (her house is clean)

Captain Mironova is a hospitable hostess: “...Vasilisa Egorovna received us easily and cordially and treated me as if she had known her for a century...” “...Dear guests, you are welcome to the table...” “...In at the commandant's house I was received like family..."

Vasilisa Egorovna is a needlewoman: “...She was unwinding threads, which were held, cradled in her arms, by a crooked old man in an officer’s uniform...”

Captain Vasilisa Egorovna controls her husband, as well as the entire Belogorsk fortress: “...His wife ruled him, which was consistent with his carelessness...” “...Ivan Kuzmich completely agreed with his wife and said: “And listen, Vasilisa Egorovna speaks the truth..." "...Vasilisa Egorovna looked at the affairs of the service as if they were her master's, and ruled the fortress as accurately as she ruled her house..." "...Vasilisa Egorovna found out everything from me. She ordered everything without the knowledge of the commandant. However, thank God that it all ended this way..." (about the disclosure of the duel between Grinev and Shvabrin)

Vasilisa Egorovna is a brave woman: “...Vasilisa Egorovna is a very brave lady,” Shvabrin remarked importantly...” “...Yes, hear you,” said Ivan Kuzmich, “the woman is not a timid woman...”

Captain Mironova is a curious woman. It is important for her to know everything that is happening in the fortress, etc.: “...Vasilisa Egorovna returned home without having time to learn anything from the priest...” “... cheerfully answered his curious roommate...” “.. .She called Ivan Ignatich, with the firm intention of finding out from him the secret that was tormenting her ladylike curiosity..." Vasilisa Egorovna does not know how to keep secrets: "...Vasilisa Egorovna kept her promise and did not say a single word to anyone, except for the priest , and only because her cow was still walking in the steppe and could have been captured by villains..."

Vasilisa Egorovna loves her husband, Captain Mironov: “...You are my light, Ivan Kuzmich, daring soldier’s little head! Neither Prussian bayonets nor Turkish bullets touched you; you did not lay down your belly in a fair fight...”

In her spare time, Captain Mironova tells fortunes with cards: “...the commandant, who was telling fortunes with cards in the corner...”

Parents of Peter Grinev are wealthy landowners. They own 300 serfs.

Pyotr Grinev is the only child of his parents: “...There were nine of us children. All my brothers and sisters died in infancy...”

Peter Grinev's father's name is Andrei Petrovich Grinev: "...My father, Andrei Petrovich Grinev..."

Andrei Petrovich is a retired officer: “...in his youth he served under Count Minich and retired as a prime minister in 17.... Since then he lived in his Simbirsk village, where he got married...”

Peter Grinev's father is an honest nobleman: "...It is not execution that is terrible<...>But for a nobleman to betray his oath, to unite with robbers, with murderers, with runaway slaves!..” (words of Andrei Grinev about the honor of a nobleman)

Andrei Petrovich Grinev does not like to drink: “...neither my father nor my grandfather were drunkards...” (about Peter Grinev’s father and grandfather)

Andrei Petrovich is a strict, stern person: “... she complained to the priest. His punishment was short<...>Father lifted him out of bed by the collar, pushed him out of the door and drove him out of the yard that same day..." "...What nonsense! - answered the priest, frowning. “Why on earth would I write to Prince B.?” “...knowing my father’s character and way of thinking, I felt that my love would not touch him too much and that he would look at it as a whim of a young man.. "

Andrei Petrovich Grinev is a man with a strong character: “... He lost his usual firmness, and his grief (usually silent) poured out in bitter complaints...”

Andrei Petrovich Grinev is a decisive and stubborn man: “...Father did not like to change his intentions or postpone their implementation...” “...But there was nothing to argue!..”

Mr. Grinev is a man restrained in his feelings: “...usually my mother wrote letters to me, and at the end he added a few lines...”

Andrei Petrovich can be cruel in his expressions: “... The cruel expressions, which the priest did not skimp on, deeply offended me. The disdain with which he mentioned Marya Ivanovna seemed to me as obscene as it was unfair...”

Mr. Grinev is a proud man: “...hard-hearted proud people...” Despite his connections and money, Andrei Petrovich does not spoil his son, as many wealthy parents do.

Andrei Petrovich wants to teach his son about life, so he sends him to serve not in St. Petersburg, but in Orenburg: “...Okay,” the priest interrupted, “it’s time for him to go into service. He’s done running around the maidens and climbing on dovecotes...”. ..Petrusha won’t go to St. Petersburg. What will he learn while serving in St. Petersburg? To hang around and hang out? No, let him serve in the army, let him pull the strap, let him smell gunpowder, let him be a soldier, not a chamaton..."

Andrei Petrovich advises his son to perform his duties well, but at the same time not to lose his dignity and honor: “... Father told me: “Farewell, Peter. Serve faithfully to whom you swear allegiance; obey your superiors; do not chase their affection; ask for it; don’t talk yourself out of serving; and remember the proverb: take care of your dress again, but take care of your honor from a young age..."

Pyotr Grinev's mother's name is Avdotya Vasilievna Grineva: "...married the girl Avdotya Vasilievna Yu..." ( maiden name- YU.)

By origin, Avdotya Vasilyevna is a poor noblewoman: “... the daughter of a poor nobleman there...”

Avdotya Vasilievna Grineva - a household landowner: "...One autumn, my mother was making honey jam in the living room, and I, licking my lips, looked at the seething foam..."

Avdotya Vasilievna is a tender, loving mother: “... I had no doubt about my mother’s tenderness...”

Avdotya Vasilyevna never drinks alcohol: “... there’s nothing to say about mother: from her childhood she never deigned to take anything into her mouth except kvass...”

In her spare time, Peter Grinev’s mother does needlework: “...Mother silently knitted a woolen sweatshirt, and tears occasionally dripped onto her work...”

Among those few female images that appear in the story, the images of Vasilisa Egorovna Mironova, the wife of Captain Mironov and her daughter Masha Mironova, made the greatest impression on me. As for Vasilisa Egorovna, in her image the author showed us a simple Russian woman, the keeper of the family hearth and happiness, not downtrodden, not weak, but selfless and noble, able to make an important decision, and at the same time, inquisitive, insightful and savvy in a feminine way .

We meet Vasilisa Egorovna at the same time as the main character of the story, Pyotr Grinev.

And just like him, we find ourselves embarrassed and surprised by the appearance of the commandant’s wife: “An old woman in a padded jacket and with a scarf on her head was sitting by the window. She was unwinding the threads...” Vasilisa Yegorovna’s appearance, clothes, and occupation did not correspond to her position as the commandant’s wife. By this, the author, in my opinion, emphasized the origin of Vasilisa Egorovna from the people. This was also indicated by her speech, full of proverbs, and her address to Grinev: “I ask you to love and favor me. Sit down, father." Vasilisa Yegorovna respected her husband and called him by name and patronymic both to his face and behind his back. But, like any strong woman, she felt superior to him.

Before Pugachev’s arrival, Vasilisa Egorovna seemed to me like a kind of nimble Russian old woman, tightly holding both her daughter Masha and her weak-willed husband in her hands (this is how Captain Mironov seems to me at the beginning of the story), equally interested in pickling cucumbers and all the affairs that happened in the fortress.

Because of all this, Vasilisa Egorovna looked a little ridiculous in my eyes. The old woman appeared completely different before me when Pugachev arrived at the fortress. Obsessively curious, busy only with household chores and chores, Vasilisa Egorovna turned into a selfless, noble woman, ready in difficult times to share, if necessary, the tragic fate of her husband. Having learned that the fortress could end up in the hands of the rebels, Vasilisa Yegorovna refused her husband’s offer to take refuge with relatives in Orenburg: “Okay,” said the commandant, “so be it, we’ll send Masha. And don’t ask me in your dreams: I won’t go. There is no reason for me to part with you in my old age and look for a lonely grave on a strange side. Live together, die together." Aren’t these words worthy of respect, and isn’t the wife who said them to her husband worthy of respect?! Vasilisa Yegorovna confirmed what was said in practice: when, after hanging the commandant, the Cossacks dragged her out of the house “disheveled and stripped naked,” Vasilisa Yegorovna did not ask for mercy, but shouted loudly: “Release your soul to repentance. Dear fathers, take me to Ivan Kuzmich.” So they died together.

Marya Ivanovna, the daughter of the Mironovs, turned out to be worthy of her parents. She took the best from them: honesty and nobility. Describing Masha Mironova, it is impossible not to compare her with other Pushkin heroines: Masha Troekurova and Tatyana Larina. They have a lot in common: they all grew up in solitude in the lap of nature, they were all nourished by folk wisdom, once in love, each of them remained forever true to her feeling. Only Masha Mironova, in my opinion, turned out to be stronger than her predecessors; she, unlike them, did not accept what fate had in store for her, but began to fight for her happiness. Innate selflessness and nobility forced the girl to overcome timidity and go to seek intercession from the empress herself. Thanks to this, Masha Mironova turned out to be happier than other Pushkin heroines.

Masha Mironova is the daughter of the commandant of the Belogorsk fortress. This is an ordinary Russian girl, “chubby, ruddy, with light brown hair.” By nature she was cowardly: she was afraid even of a gun shot. Masha lived rather secluded and lonely; there were no suitors in their village. Her mother, Vasilisa Egorovna, said about her: “Masha; a girl of marriageable age, what is her dowry? - a fine comb, a broom, and an altyn of money, with which to go to the bathhouse. It’s good if there is a kind person; Otherwise you’ll sit as an eternal bride among the girls.”

Having met Grinev, Masha fell in love with him. After Shvabrin’s quarrel with Grinev, she told the latter about Shvabrin’s proposal to become his wife. Masha, naturally, refused this proposal: “Alexey Ivanovich, of course, is an intelligent man, has a good family name, and has a fortune; but when I think that it will be necessary to kiss him under the aisle in front of everyone. Never! Not for any well-being!” Masha, who did not dream of fabulous wealth, did not want to marry for convenience.

In a duel with Shvabrin, he was seriously wounded and lay unconscious for several days. All these days Masha looked after him. Having come to his senses, Grinev confesses his love to her, after which “she, without any affectation, confessed to Grinev her heartfelt inclination and said that her parents would be glad of her happiness.” But Masha did not want to get married without the blessing of his parents. Grinev did not receive a blessing, and Masha immediately moved away from him, although it was very difficult for her to do this, since her feelings were still very strong.

After the capture of the fortress by Pugachev, Masha’s parents were executed, and she was hidden in her house by the priest. Shvabrin, intimidating the priest and priest, took Masha and put him under lock and key, thereby hoping to get her consent to marry him. Fortunately, she manages to send a letter to Grinev asking for release: “God was pleased to suddenly deprive me of my father and mother: I have neither relatives nor patrons on earth. I come running to you, knowing that you always wished me well and that you are ready to help every person.”

Grinev did not leave her in Hard time and arrived with Pugachev. Masha had a conversation with Pugachev, from which he learned that Shvabrin was not her husband. She said: “He is not my husband. I will never be his wife! I’d rather die if they don’t deliver me.” After these words, Pugachev understood everything: “Come out, red maiden; I give you freedom”: Masha saw in front of her a man who was the killer of her parents, and, at the same time, her savior. And instead of words of gratitude, “she covered her face with both hands and fell unconscious.”

Pugachev released Grinev and Masha, saying: “Take your beauty; take her wherever you want, and God give you love and advice!” They went to Grinev’s parents, but on the way it happened that Grinev was forced to leave his beloved for a while (he fought in another fortress), and Masha and Savelich continued on their way. Grinev’s parents received Masha well: “They saw the grace of God in the fact that they had the opportunity to shelter and caress a poor orphan. Soon they became sincerely attached to her, because it was impossible to recognize her and not love her.” Grinev’s love for Masha no longer seemed like an “empty whim” to his parents; they only wanted their son to marry the captain’s daughter.

Soon Grinev was arrested. Masha was very worried, because she knew the real reason arrest and considered herself guilty of all Grinev’s misfortunes. “She hid her tears and suffering from everyone and meanwhile constantly thought about ways to save him.”

Masha got ready to go to St. Petersburg, telling Grinev’s parents that “her entire future fate depends on this journey, that she is going to seek protection and help from strong people as the daughter of a man who suffered for his fidelity.” In Tsarskoe Selo, walking through the garden, she met and talked with a noble lady. Masha told her about Grinev, and the lady promised to help. Soon Masha was called to the palace. In the palace, she recognized the empress as the same lady with whom she had spoken in the garden. The Empress announced to her the release of Grinev, saying: “I am indebted to the daughter of Captain Mironov.”

In Masha’s meeting with the empress, the character of the captain’s daughter is truly revealed - a simple Russian girl, cowardly by nature, as her own mother said, but who found in herself, when necessary, enough strength, fortitude and unyielding determination to achieve justification for her in no way. guilty groom.

In my opinion, the most striking and significant in the novel are three heroines: Marya Ivanovna Mironova, her mother Vasilisa Egorovna and, of course, Empress Catherine II. Also present in the story are the mother of Pyotr Andreevich Grinev and the priest Akulina Pamfilovna, who sheltered Masha during the capture of the fortress by Pugachev. Not much is known about the hero’s mother, and, admittedly, she does not play a significant role in the development of the plot. As for Akulina Pamfilovna, one should note her mercy, which, however, is quite characteristic of her way of life as a mother.

Marya Ivanovna Mironova, the chosen one of Pyotr Grinev, went through the entire difficult path with him during the Pugachev rebellion. At the first meeting, the hero was not disposed towards her, thanks to the efforts of Shvabrin, who was rejected by her, but soon noted her prudence and sensitivity. The young girl, the daughter of captain Ivan Kuzmich and Vasilisa Egorovna Mironov, lived with her parents in the Belogorsk fortress before the uprising and her life, I believe, differed little from the girls of that time.

However, the war reveals many hidden qualities of human nature, and, just as the meanness and baseness of Alexei Shvabrin, a man entering the Mironovs’ house, were revealed, the selflessness and straightforwardness of the main character were also revealed. Marya Ivanovna is modest and friendly. Having fallen in love with Pyotr Grinev, she remains true to her feeling and, under threat of death, does not accept Shvabrin’s life-saving offer to become his wife.

Subsequently, when all the difficulties associated with survival in the epicenter of the rebellious events are left behind, a new problem, even disaster, will arise: Pyotr Grinev is arrested, he faces, at best, imprisonment with subsequent exile, at worst, the gallows as a state traitor. Not wanting to involve his beloved in legal acquisitiveness related to the rebellion, the hero is silent about the details that would justify his name. Realizing this, Marya Ivanovna goes to St. Petersburg to beg the Empress herself for the salvation of her beloved.

The decisive meeting occurs unexpectedly: in Tsarskoye Selo, where the Court was located at that time, the girl meets an unfamiliar lady who asks with interest about the purpose of her visit. Marya Ivanovna passionately talks about all the events from which the courage and courage of her fiancé is clear, as well as his devotion to the Fatherland and refusal to go over to the side of the impostor. Subsequently, it turns out that the random lady turned out to be Catherine II herself, who completely exonerates the unfairly accused Grinev, thereby giving him and Marya Ivanovna the opportunity for full-fledged family happiness.

The mother of Marya Ivanovna Mironova, Vasilisa Egorovna, is a true example of a faithful and selfless wife and mother.

Shortly before the bloody massacre in the Belogorsk fortress, an episode of Masha’s farewell to her father took place. Vasilisa Egorovna could not help but understand what awaited them ahead, but outwardly she was completely calm, fulfilling her parental duty: “Ivan Kuzmich, God is free in life and death: bless Masha.”

On the eve of the capture of the fortress, Ivan Kuzmich was going to send him and Masha to Orenburg for the sake of their safety, but Vasilisa Yegorovna flatly refused such an offer, deciding to send only Masha:

“Okay,” said the commandant, “so be it, we’ll send Masha away.” And don’t ask me in your dreams: I won’t go. There is no reason for me to part with you in my old age and look for a lonely grave on a strange side. Live together, die together.
Actually, that’s how it happened. The courageous woman did not survive her husband for long. They barely had time to hang the unfortunate Ivan Kuzmich when local residents began to swear allegiance to the impostor. Rioters broke into houses. They pulled out poor Vasilisa Yegorovna, who, looking at the gallows, immediately recognized her husband: “You are my light, Ivan Kuzmich, you daring soldier’s head! ...neither Prussian bayonets nor Turkish bullets touched you; You didn’t lay down your belly in a fair fight, but perished from an escaped convict!” Pugachev could not stand this, and the brave woman was killed.

Catherine II A.S. Pushkin describes it this way: “She seemed to be forty years old. Her face, plump and ruddy, expressed importance and calmness, and her blue eyes and light smile had an inexplicable charm.” Further, the spiritual beauty of the empress is shown: she was touched by Masha’s story, she affectionately asked her about the details of the events in the Belogorsk fortress and outside it - about what was in one way or another connected with the role of Pyotr Grinev in the Pugachev uprising. “Everything about the unknown lady involuntarily attracted the heart and inspired confidence.”

At first, the empress accused the girl’s lover of being an immoral and harmful scoundrel, but, hearing Marya Ivanovna’s passionate protest, she listened to her carefully. This alone already characterizes the empress as an extremely fair woman and devoid of excessive ambitions. A little later, when Catherine II and Masha met, so to speak, officially (that is, Masha understood with whom she had been frank a few minutes ago), the Empress showed herself to be a man of honor: “I know that you are not rich, but I am indebted to daughter of captain Mironov. Don't worry about the future. I take it upon myself to arrange your condition.”

Thus, we can say that in the novel by A.S. Pushkin's "The Captain's Daughter" there are no negative female characters. Each of the heroines is worthy of the reader's respect and admiration. In their relation, I seem to have three figures, three images: Daughter, Wife and Mother. Mother Empress, capable of showing generosity and mercy to the people of her state, taking care of those unjustly offended with a share of maternal participation; a faithful wife, and at the graveside she has not forgotten the wedding vow to be together both before and after the death of her husband; a daughter who did not disgrace the bright memory of her father and mother with a vile or dishonorable act. All of them are genuine heroines, and Pyotr Andreevich, an honest and noble young man, was incredibly lucky that these three infinitely beautiful women met in his life.

). Specially for the Russian People's Line publication (according to the edition: Chernyaev N.I. “The Captain’s Daughter” of Pushkin: Historical-critical etude. - M.: Univ. typ., 1897.- 207, III pp. (reprint from: Russian review.- 1897. - No. 2-4, 8-12; 1898.- No. 8) prepared by Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor of the V. N. Karazin Kharkov National University Alexander Dmitrievich Kaplin.

CHAPTERSEVEN.

"Old People" - Ivan Kuzmich Mironov.- His service background.- Ivan Kuzmich, as commandant of the Belogorsk fortress.- Last days his life and his death. - Ivan Kuzmich and the heroes of Count L.N. Tolstoy. - Ivan Ignatievich. - His thoughts about the duel. - Comical traits of his character. - His heroism. - Vasilisa Egorovna, as a wife and as the commander of the Belogorsk fortress. - Her kindness and devotion to duty. - Her death. - Marya Ivanovna. - The parallel between her on the one hand and Pushkin’s Tatyana, Turgenev’s Liza and Countess Marya Volkonskaya graph L.N. Tolstoy - on the other. - Worldview of Marya Ivanovna. - Her appearance. - The impression she made on everyone. - Analysis of her character. - Marya Ivanovna is the ideal of a Russian woman. - She belongs to the greatest creations of Pushkin’s genius.

As the second epigraph to the third chapter of “The Captain’s Daughter,” in which the reader first meets the Mironov family, Pushkin set Prostakova’s exclamation from Fonvizin’s “The Minor”: “Old people, my father.” And Ivan Kuzmich Mironov, and his restless wife Vasilisa Yegorovna, and their friend at home, crooked lieutenant Ivan Ignatievich, they are all, indeed, old people, but not of the simpleton type. They are as dear and dear to every literate person in Rus' as Savelich. Husband and wife Mironov belong to the same generation as the old Grinevs. The whole difference is that the Grinevs are representatives of the best part of the well-born and wealthy nobility, and Mironov and his faithful colleague are representatives of poor, landless and non-pedigree service people who have just become nobles by virtue of Peter’s Table of Ranks.

Anyone who slanderes old Rus' and sees nothing in it except impenetrable darkness should only point to the Mironov family and the crooked lieutenant, and he will have to agree that old Rus' has never lacked bright and noble characters, before whom one cannot but bow down - and which cannot but amaze the poet’s imagination.

Ivan Kuzmich Mironov, the commandant of the God-saved Belogorsk fortress, in which there were no inspections, no training, no guards, came from the children of soldiers and probably pulled the soldier's burden for a long time before serving his first rank. Pushkin does not report almost any biographical information about Ivan Kuzmich, but there can hardly be any doubt that Captain Mironov got ahead solely thanks to his courage and selfless devotion to service. Everything we know about him can be a guarantee for this. Before getting into a small fort, abandoned on the far outskirts of the state, he experienced all the hardships and dangers of combat life. “Neither Prussian bayonets nor Turkish bullets touched you!” exclaims Vasilisa Yegorovna at the sight of her husband hung on the gallows. This means that Ivan Kuzmich took part both in the Seven Years' War and in the campaigns of Count Minich. Prussian bayonets and Turkish bullets tempered the calm and innate courage of Captain Mironov, and his career successes did not turn his head. He always retained his old habits, his simple, unpretentious attitude towards inferiors and equals, and was not at all ashamed of his past. We know him as an old man, we know him at the time when he ruled the Belogorsk fortress, and he began to rule it no longer in his youth. But judging by the kind of captain and commandant Mironov was, it is not difficult to imagine what he was like at the beginning of his career, when he had just begun to become acquainted with the Military Article and get used to the anxiety of combat. army life, which left an indelible imprint on him. Old Grinev is not only a service man, but also a landowner. Ivan Kuzmich Mironov is a service man, and nothing more.

There was little order and a lot of chaos in the Belogorsk fortress. The soldiers commanded by Ivan Kuzmich could not understand what it meant left And right, and made a mistake at the first clash with Pugachev. Ivan Kuzmich cannot be blamed for this. We must not forget that his team consisted of old, worthless disabled people and, so to speak, from the army marriage. To repel the Bashkirs, the Belogorsk fortress, which in addition to the soldiers also had Cossacks, was strong enough, and the authorities did not foresee any other enemies for it, so it seemed that Captain Mironov did not need to particularly bother about training his small detachment and changing those orders that he found in the fortress when he was transferred to it from the regiment long before the appearance of Pugachev. It is impossible to judge these orders from our point of view; they can only be judged from the point of view of the era and place of action Pushkin's novel. Reinsdorp considered Mironov a good officer, and he, indeed, in many respects was not only good, but even an exemplary performer of his official duty. He passionately loved service and official duties, from morning to evening he fussed with his disabled people, but what could he do with them, with these veterans, accustomed to the idea that they were sent to the Belogorsk fortress to live out their lives peacefully in silence and inaction? In addition, Ivan Kuzmich, despite all his official zeal, was least able to maintain a spirit of discipline and obedience in his subordinates. Carefree, gentle and somewhat spineless, he could not inspire fear in anyone; his own information in military affairs was very scarce, and he was not a great master at conveying it. “Only glory that you teach a soldier,” Vasilisa Yegorovna says to her husband. The service is not given to them, and you have no idea about it.” Ivan Kuzmich, indeed, knew little about the service, but he lovingly taught the “soldiers”, while he resignedly left the entire administrative part of the fortress under the control of his restless wife. He did not see anything strange in Vasilisa Yegorovna’s interference in his duties, and no one, it seems, except Shvabrin and Grinev, saw anything illegal or funny in the life of the small fort. It seemed very natural to everyone that Vasilisa Yegorovna ruled the fortress as if it were her own house, and that Ivan Kuzmich carried out the teaching of the “soldiers”, dressed in a cap and a Chinese robe. Ivan Kuzmich himself did not realize that there was something contrary to official duty in this. If he sinned against this duty, it was only out of ignorance. His service was always in the foreground in everything. He even reduces the conversation about poetry to a discussion on the topic that it is something contrary to the service, which should not be done.

As long as the Belogorsk fortress relied only on the Bashkirs, it fully satisfied its purpose. But then Pugachev appeared, and Ivan Kuzmich turned out to be powerless to offer him any serious resistance. But in these last minutes In his life, he set an example of true heroism and showed all the beauty of his artless and meek, and at the same time courageous, noble soul. Those pages of The Captain's Daughter, which tell how Ivan Kuzmich prepared for the battle with the Pugachevites, how he was captured and doomed to execution, belong to the best pages of Pushkin's novel.

Ivan Kuzmich did not deceive himself about the outcome of the attack. He could not help but understand that the Belogorsk fortress would be taken, and that he, as commandant, would fall as the first victim of the impostor’s bloody reprisal against his opponents. That Ivan Kuzmich went to certain death defending the fortress, and was aware of this, is beyond doubt. He knew from Reinsdorp's order that Pugachev had already destroyed several fortresses. On the eve of the attack, news came to him that Nizhnyaya Ozernaya had been captured and that its commandant and all the officers had been hanged. At the very first military council, Ivan Kuzmich said: “The villain is clearly strong. We have only one hundred and thirty people, not counting the Cossacks, for whom there is little hope.” The constable’s betrayal and his flight, as well as the obvious sympathy that the Cossacks showed him, fully confirmed Mironov’s assumption. “It’s good if we sit back or wait until the next day,” he said to Vasilisa Yegorovna, “but what if the villains take the fortress?” The tone of this conversation shows that Ivan Kuzmich had no hope of either sitting out or waiting for the outcome. He walked towards certain death, but without hesitation or cowardice. “The proximity of danger inspired the old warrior with extraordinary vigor,” says Grinev. A kind husband and father, Ivan Kuzmich does not give in to that anxiety for the fate of his wife and daughter, which, of course, tormented his heart. He says goodbye to Vasilisa Egorovna, blesses Marya Ivanovna, as the dying are blessed, and then directs all his attention to the enemy. In his last words all the strength of his faith and all the sincerity of his artless, simple, purely Russian morality are reflected in his daughter. “Well, Masha, pray to God, be happy, He will not leave you. If there is a kind person, God give you love and advice. Live the way Vasilisa Egorovna and I lived.” “Goodbye, goodbye mother,” says the commandant, hugging his old woman. He did not shed tears in this farewell scene, “did not expose what was happening in the depths of his soul, only the changed voice and, probably, the expression on his face made it clear that the brave commandant was going through difficult moments, parting forever with his daughter and wife . When the timid garrison refuses to obey him and go on a sortie, Ivan Kuzmich exclaims: “Why are you, kids, standing around, dying, dying like that, it’s a service job.” In these words: to die - to die like that- Ivan Kuzmich’s cherished thought is expressed. He was not afraid of death and was always ready for it. Neither fear for himself, nor fear for the fate of his wife and daughter could force him to change what his “service business” required of him. Exhausted from wounds and gathering his last strength, not afraid of either the menacing gaze or the menacing question of Pugachev: “How dare you resist me, your sovereign?” Ivan Kuzmich publicly answers Pugachev in a firm voice: “You are not my sovereign; you are a thief and an impostor, hear you.” At that moment, Ivan Kuzmich did not think about the consequences of his words for himself, nor about how they could affect people close to him. “Service work” required sacrifice from him, and he made it, looking fearlessly into the eyes of death. Ivan Kuzmich more than once evokes good-natured laughter in the reader in those scenes in which the poet shows the touching comic features of his character and life, but in those scenes in which his majestic, purely Russian courage, alien to any affectation, is revealed, he inspires you have deep respect for yourself, and you bow before him as a true hero, in no way inferior to those heroes of ancient Greece and ancient Rome, whom we are accustomed to marvel at from school. Ivan Kuzmich is a bright representative of the type of Russian heroes who later occupied Count L.N. so much. Tolstoy was already developed in detail by him in his essays on the Sevastopol defense and in “War and Peace”. Count Tolstoy was interested for a long time in the question of what true courage is, and what are the features of Russian courage. These issues have long been resolved in The Captain's Daughter.

Inextricably linked with the idea of ​​Ivan Kuzmich is the good-natured, comical image of his old colleague, faithful assistant and a devoted friend of the Mironov family, the crooked lieutenant Ivan Ignatich. Ivan Ignatich also probably came from the children of soldiers. A gentleman and a bachelor, he became his own man in the family of his boss, became close to her and completely resignedly carried out all the orders of Vasilisa Yegorovna: either he held her, crucified in his arms, the threads that she was unwinding, or he strung mushrooms to dry for the winter. A man without any education and with a purely common people's outlook on life, he seemed funny to Grinev and Shvabrin, and more than once seems very funny to the reader with his reasoning and habits. He had his own concepts of honor and honesty, completely different from Grinev’s concepts, and this prevented the latter from appreciating Ivan Ignatich, his common sense, his kind, courageous heart, his bright, simple-minded soul. Ivan Ignatich, like Ivan Kuzmich, still belongs to the same type of purely Russian brave men, so beloved by Count L.N. Tolstoy - the type of people who combine humility with courage and know how to sacrifice their lives for a just cause without phrases or beautiful poses , without showing off either to yourself or to others. All this, of course, was understood by Grinev the minute he saw Ivan Ignatich face to face with Pugachev; but at the time when Ivan Ignatich was developing his view of the duel in front of him, Pyotr Andreevich probably did not have a particularly flattering opinion of his interlocutor. Through the mouth of Ivan Ignatich, Pushkin expressed a purely popular view of the duel. What Ivan Ignatich says about her, every Russian peasant would say.

“Have mercy, Pyotr Andreich! What are you up to! Did you and Alexey Ivanovich have a fight? Great trouble! Hard words break no bones. He scolded you, and you scold him, he hits you in the snout, and you hit him in the ear, in another, in the third - and go your separate ways; and we will make peace between you. Is it a good thing to stab your neighbor, dare I ask? And it would be good if you stabbed him: God be with him, with Alexei Ivanovich, I myself am not a fan of him. Well, what if he drills you? What will it be like? Who will be the fool, dare I ask?”

The meaning of this simple-minded tirade boils down to the fact that a duel is not a Christian matter, “that murder and suicide cannot and should not wash away insults. Ivan Ignatich expresses his thoughts rudely and naively, but what Grinev heard from him about the duel, he heard a few days later from Marya Ivanovna.

“How strange men are! - she says: for one word, which they would surely forget about in a week, they are ready to cut themselves and sacrifice not only their lives, but also the conscience and well-being of those who...”

Ivan Ignatich’s arguments, by the way, strikingly coincide with Schopenhauer’s arguments against duels, although there is very little in common between the worldview of the crooked lieutenant and the German thinker.

Ivan Ignatich failed to sway Grinev, although Grinev later called him “prudent.” The young man should have been unpleasantly struck, first of all, by the ease with which Ivan Ignatich treated insults, and his theory: “abuse does not hang on the collar.” He was probably even inclined to think that Ivan Ignatich was a coward by nature, but it was not cowardice, but completely different motives that guided the lieutenant when he refused the role of a second.

“As you please,” says Ivan Ignatyich: do as you understand. Why should I to be a witness here? Why on earth? People are fighting - what an unprecedented thing, dare I ask? Thank God, I went under the Swede and under the Turk: I’ve seen enough of everything.”

Ivan Ignatich did not want to be a second because he considered the duel an immoral and absurd thing. His reasoning about the duel is, of course, naive, but it reflects the common sense of the people and the proven courage of the old warrior, who has smelled gunpowder and seen different types in his lifetime. If Grinev had been older, he would have understood from Ivan Ignatievich’s tone that he was dealing with a man of no timid nature.

And in the third, and fourth, and fifth, and sixth chapters of “The Captain’s Daughter”, Ivan Ignatich constantly makes the reader smile, for he is truly comical both in the scene of his first meeting with Grinev, and at the time when he leads young duelists to deal with Vasilisa Egorovna, and at the time when Vasilisa Egorovna extracts from him a secret about Pugachev, having caught Ivan Kuzmich at the cannon, from which he was pulling out stones, rags, chips, money and all kinds of rubbish, stuffed kids into it. But this is where Pushkin’s brilliant skill is expressed: in a way that is imperceptible to you, he prepares you for tragic death Ivan Ignatich, so you are not at all surprised when you learn that the crooked lieutenant responds to Pugachev’s order to “swear allegiance to Sovereign Pyotr Fedorovich: “You are not our sovereign. You, uncle, are a thief and an impostor.” Ivan Ignatich remained true to himself to the end. For a long time he lived the same life with his beloved boss; he died the same death as him, denouncing Pugachev in the same words with which Captain Mironov denounced him. Going to certain death, Ivan Ignatyich does not lose either his usual, even mood of spirit, or his usual good nature. He also calls Pugachev “uncle.” How characteristic is this appeal of the victim to the executioner! Poor and dear Ivan Ignatich! He died as simply and honestly as he lived, not considering himself a hero and not seeing anything special in the performance of duty, and yet, despite his unsightly appearance, he was truly a hero, a man of the same type as Kornilov, Nakhimov, Radetsky etc.

Captain Mironov's wife, talkative, restless, straightforward and somewhat rude, but kind and respectable Vasilisa Egorovna, is one of the old people, like her husband and Ivan Ignatich. If we analyze her actions from a modern point of view, or even from the point of view of the Military Article of Peter the Great, she will be guilty of illegal interference in the official affairs of Ivan Kuzmich and other offenses. But Vasilisa Yegorovna had her own morals and her own worldview, and she never betrayed them. She was a loving and devoted, although perhaps somewhat intolerable, wife. “Are not husband and wife one spirit and one flesh?” she reasoned and on this basis considered herself the same commandant of the fortress as her husband was: she listened to the reports of the constable, carried out trials and reprisals between the Belogorsk inhabitants, gave Ivan Ignatich various assignments, put guilty officers under arrest and even sat at a military council. vete. She did not understand at all that there was a difference between her household affairs and the affairs of her husband and, taking advantage of his carelessness and gentleness, she held both in her hands. The regime established by Vasilisa Yegorovna was patriarchal-bucolic in nature, full of irresistible comedy. Grinev became acquainted with this regime on his first visit to the Mironovs’ house. The scene in which Vasilisa Yegorovna makes an order to allocate an apartment to a young officer is one of the most comical scenes in “The Captain’s Daughter.”

“At that moment the constable, a young and stately Cossack, entered.

Maksimych! The captain’s wife told him, “give the officer an apartment, but a cleaner one.”

“I’m listening, Vasilisa Yegorovna,” the police officer answered. Shouldn't his honor be placed with Ivan Polezhaev?

“You’re lying, Maksimych,” said the captain’s wife, “Polezhaev’s place is already crowded; He’s my godfather and remembers that we are his bosses. Take the officer... what is your name and country, my father?

Petr Andreich.

Take Pyotr Andreich to Semyon Kuzov. He, a swindler, let his horse into my garden. Well, Maksimych, is everything all right?

“Thank God,” the Cossack answered quietly, “only Corporal Prokhorov got into a fight in the bathhouse with Ustinya Negulina over a bunch of hot water.”

Ivan Ignatyich! the captain said to the crooked old man. Find out who is right and who is wrong between Prokhorov and Ustinya. Punish both of them."

This last saying reflects the moral philosophy of Vasilisa Yegorovna. The formal view of things is completely alien to her. She is firmly convinced that every quarrel is a sin in half, as they put it in the old days, because the guilty one is to blame (why did he start a quarrel?), and the right one is also to blame (why didn’t he give in and “not cover things smoothly”?) Karaya Semyon Kuzova is at military quarters, Vasilisa Egorovna immediately, with complete frankness and with a perfect consciousness of her rightness, loudly announces why she is doing this. Needless to say, the captain’s rule was not a burden to anyone; Her severity can be judged by the way she punishes Grinev and Shvabrin for the duel. At first she takes away their swords and demands from Ivan Kuzmich that he immediately put them on bread and water, but then little by little she calms down and forces the young people to kiss. The kind old lady was very surprised when she learned that Grinev and Shvabrin, despite the forced, purely external reconciliation, continued to harbor feelings of revenge against each other. This feeling was completely unfamiliar to her.

Vasilisa Egorovna is an old-school type; in her fearlessness, she was a worthy wife of Ivan Kuzmich. Having become akin to his views and habits, she adopted both his consciousness of official duty and his contempt for danger and death.

Yes, hear you, Ivan Kuzmich says about her, “she’s not a timid woman.”

Vasilisa Egorovna makes your readers smile when he sees her taking a place in the military council of the Belogo fortress, but he is imbued with deep respect for her when, after listening to Pugachev’s appeal, she exclaims:

What a scammer! What else does he dare offer us? Come out to meet him and lay the banners at his feet! Oh, he's a dog's son! But doesn’t he know that we’ve been in the service for forty years and, thank God, we’ve seen enough? Could it be that there were such commanders who listened to the robber?

We have been in service for forty years... This We, Vasilisa Egorovna’s view on her relationship to her husband and to his official duties explains us in the best possible way. She considered herself to be in the service, together with him.

Vasilisa Egorovna agrees to send Marya Ivanovna to Orenburg when Ivan Kuzmich makes it clear to her that the Belogorsk fortress can be taken by Pugachev, but she does not want to hear about separation from her husband in moments of danger.

“Don’t even ask me in a dream, I won’t go,” she says, “there’s no reason for me to part with you in my old age and look for a lonely grave on a foreign side.” Live together, die together.

These words express all of Vasilisa Egorovna’s love for her husband. She was not sentimental and did not know how to express her feelings eloquently, but she knew how to feel strongly and deeply and in many ways can be called an ideal wife. “If there is a kind person, God give you love and advice,” says Ivan Kuzmich, blessing Marya Ivanovna and preparing for the hour of death. Live as Vasilisa Yegorovna and I lived.” Ivan Kuzmich was completely satisfied with his family life. His last testament to his daughter, despite its touching tone, can bring a smile to the reader, who, perhaps, will remember how Vasilisa Yegorovna commanded her husband throughout her century; nevertheless, Ivan Kuzmich had every reason to put his daughter family life into the sample. Vasilisa Egorovna did not overshadow her in any way. All her worries were aimed at comforting her husband and helping him. She was a participant in his joys and his sorrows and with a clear conscience could look at the entire path she had traveled with him.

The death of Vasilisa Egorovna finally completes the image of this unique woman of the old school with her brave heart.

Villains, she screams in frenzy, seeing her husband on the gallows: what did you do to him? You are my light, Ivan Kuzmich, you brave little soldier! Neither Prussian bayonets nor Turkish bullets touched you; You didn’t lay down your belly in a fair fight, but perished from an escaped convict.

The martyrdom of Ivan Kuzmich made Vasilisa Yegorovna forget both the fear and the horror of her situation. Her whole being is filled with one passionate desire to mourn her grief and throw a word of reproach to the executioner Ivan Kuzmich. Vasilisa Egorovna, like her husband, was also a “daring soldier’s head,” and knew how to look death in the eyes without trembling. She was uneducated and somewhat rude in appearance, but in her soul lurked an inexhaustible spring of love, love and a peculiar femininity, combined with the courage and endurance of a person hardened in the dangers and labors of combat and marching life. Vasilisa Egorovna is the same bright and attractive type of the old century as Ivan Kuzmich, Ivan Ignatich, Savelich and old man Grinev and his wife. Apparently, this century had a large reserve of moral strength; Apparently, there was a lot of good in him if he gave birth to women like Vasilisa Egorovna, and girls like Marya Ivanovna, to whom we now turn.

Marya Ivanovna represents the central figure of the novel. Because of her, a duel between Grinev and Shvabrin occurs; because of her, Grinev has a temporary break with his father; for the sake of Marya Ivanovna, Grinev goes to Berda; the relationship between Grinev and Shvabrin is determined by their relationship to Marya Ivanovna; fears of harming her force Grinev to hide before the court and almost destroy him; Marya Ivanovna's trip to St. Petersburg and her meeting with the empress lead to Grinev's pardon, that is, a successful outcome of the complicated and, as it seems to the reader until the very end, insoluble complications of the novel.

Belinsky calls Marya Ivanovna, just like Grineva, a colorless face. It is difficult to imagine anything more erroneous and short-sighted than this view. Marya Ivanovna is not a colorless face, but a beautifully and deeply conceived, complex and sublime character and a brilliantly depicted type of a wonderful Russian girl at the end of the last century. Both in everyday life and psychologically, Marya Ivanovna is of enormous interest and should be considered one of the greatest creations of Pushkin’s creativity. In terms of the depth of concept and subtlety of execution, the image of Marya Ivanovna is in no way inferior to the image of Tatyana, and we can safely say that among all the heroines of Pushkin there is not a single person in whom Russian folk ideals found their expression so brightly and so fully. Marya Ivanovna is a girl of the same type as Turgenev’s Liza and Marya Bolkonskaya from “War and Peace” gr. L.N. Tolstoy, who, by the way, are nothing more than pale shadows in comparison with her. Pushkinskaya Tatiana amazes the imagination even more. Her mournfully pensive appearance exudes romanticism and enchanting charm; but Marya Ivanovna’s meek face is surrounded by an aura of purity and poetry and even, one might say, holiness. Marya Ivanovna, with much greater reason than Tatyana, can be called an ideal Russian woman, for in her nature, in her aspirations and in the whole turn of her mind and character there was nothing not Russian, read from foreign books and, in general, inspired by foreign influences. With all her thoughts and desires, Marya Ivanovna is connected with Russian life.

Right away, Marya Ivanovna did not make a charming impression. There was nothing in her appearance that would catch the eye and attract the gaze. One had to get close to her, or at least get to know her somewhat, in order to understand her spiritual beauty. Those to whom this beauty was even partially revealed could not help but succumb to its charm. Shvabrin, young Grinev, Savelich, Palashka, father Gerasim and his wife - they all loved Marya Ivanovna in their own way. The old Grinevs, prejudiced against Marya Ivanovna, became attached to her as if they were their own when she lived with them for some time. The intelligent and observant Empress Catherine II, after one fleeting meeting with Marya Ivanovna, formed the most favorable idea about her mind and heart and, giving full faith to her words, fulfilled everything she asked. Only Pugachev, who looked at women exclusively from the point of view of sensual lusts, indifferently walked past Marya Ivanovna, as if not noticing her. This is understandable: what could there be in common between Pugachev and Marya Ivanovna? But Savelich gave her the highest praise he could give: he called her angel of God. And she, indeed, can be called an angel in the flesh, sent to earth for the consolation and joy of loved ones. Creating a person like Marya Ivanovna, every writer less talented than Pushkin would easily fall into falsehood and rhetoric, as a result of which he would not end up with a girl of one or another era, but a walking virtue and a common morality. But Pushkin coped with his task brilliantly and created a completely alive person who deserves the most careful study, along with the main heroines of all first-class poets.

Marya Ivanovna was born and raised in the Belogorsk fortress and had hardly been anywhere further than it before moving to Grinev’s parents. Father, mother, Ivan Ignatich, the family of father Gerasim - this is the close circle in which she spent her childhood and adolescence. Her entire education was limited to Russian literacy, and she hardly read anything, with the exception, perhaps, of a prayer book and Holy Scripture. She spent her time doing needlework and doing housework - in a word, she was what the daughter of such ancient people as the Mironov husband and wife should have been. They could not give her social polish and a brilliant upbringing, and they did not grieve about it; but they surrounded her with an atmosphere of honest poverty and simple, but sublime and firm views on life and people, which had the most beneficial influence on Marya Ivanovna. She was unconsciously imbued with the ideals that Ivan Kuzmich and Vasilisa Egorovna lived by, and inherited best sides their mind and character. Every good word sank deeply into her soul, falling on good soil. What she heard in the poor, old, wooden Belogorsk church had an irresistible and decisive influence on her. Those eternal verbs of life, which she listened to there from the lips of a simple-minded priest, apparently struck her at the very early years and forever determined her worldview and actions. The church made her a Christian in the true sense of the word; her father's house supported and strengthened in her the mood that she had taken from there, and firmly instilled in her the simple but good habits and beliefs on which ancient Rus' rested.

Marya Ivanovna has nothing in common with those girls they say about: this girl has rules. Marya Ivanovna was not led rules, that is, not by training and once and for all acquired habits, but by an unshakable and enthusiastic faith in the unchanging, eternal truth. Marya Ivanovna has neither the dryness nor the narrow-mindedness of girls “with rules.” Marya Ivanovna is, in the full sense of the word, an exceptional and richly gifted person, representing a combination of the most opposite elements and a very complex, not easily understood character.

Sensitivity of heart, impressionability and femininity are, above all, the striking characteristics of Marya Ivanovna. She is very proud and keenly feels the bitterness of resentment. Vasilisa Yegorovna’s rude and simple-minded chatter about her daughter’s poverty and the fact that she, for goodness’ sake, will end up as an eternal bride among the girls, brings Marya Ivanovna to tears. Marya Ivanovna often blushes and turns pale, perfectly understanding every slightest nuance of how she is treated. There is not a shadow of vulgarity or womanly courage in her. Rifle and cannon shots make her faint. The tragic death of father and mother and, in general, all the horrors of Pugachev’s massacre are resolved in Marya Ivanovna’s case with nervous fever. At the sight of Pugachev, the killer of her father, she faints. When Marya Ivanovna was excited, she could not help but cry. Her voice trembled and broke, and at these moments she seemed to her lover a weak and defenseless creature, charming in her helplessness.

But Marya Ivanovna had nothing in common with frail and flabby natures. She was decisive and courageous in her actions when she needed to define her relationship with people. She did not like to resort to other people's advice; She knew how to act independently, carefully thought through her every step, and, once she made a decision, she never deviated from it. She immediately breaks off her relationship with her loved one when she finds out that his father does not allow him to marry her. Despite all Shvabrin's threats, she refuses to marry him.

“I will never be his wife,” she tells Pugachev. I decided to die better and will die if they don’t deliver me.

And it was not a phrase. If the constable had failed to deliver Marya Ivanovna’s letter to its intended destination, and Grinev had failed to snatch her from the hands of the scoundrel, Marya Ivanovna would have kept her word: she would have starved herself to death or committed suicide, but would never have married a man , for whom she had an instinctive disgust, and whom she could not think of without horror, as a traitor and accomplice of her father’s murderers. Marya Ivanovna shows the same usual determination during her trip to St. Petersburg. Young and inexperienced, she plans to achieve a meeting with the Empress and save her fiancé from exile in Siberia and shame, and without any hesitation she carries out her idea, without fully devoting either old Grinev or his wife to her secret.

Marya Ivanovna, as young Grinev puts it about her, “was extremely gifted with modesty and caution.” She spoke little, but thought a lot; there was no secrecy in her that stems from a distrustful attitude towards people; but she got used to living early inner life, stay alone with yourself and your thoughts. Focused, thoughtful and somewhat withdrawn, she amazes with her powers of observation and ability to guess people and their motivations. Carefully and vigilantly following the movements of her heart and the voice of her conscience, she without much difficulty comprehended the most hidden motives and properties of the persons around her. Remember, for example, how she aptly defines what Shvabrin is in a conversation with Grinev after Pyotr Andreevich’s first attempt to duel with him. She not only immediately understood Shvabrin, but also guessed that he was the culprit of the collision with Grinev:

“I’m sure that you are not the instigator of the quarrel,” she says to Grinev: Alexey Ivanovich is surely to blame.

Why do you think so, Marya Ivanovna?

Yes, so... he's such a mocker! I don't like Alexey Ivanovich. He disgusts me very much; But it’s strange: I wouldn’t want him to like me either. This would make me afraid!

Explaining to Grinev why she refused Shvabrin when he proposed to her, Marya Ivanovna says:

Alexey Ivanovich, of course, is an intelligent man with a good family name and has a fortune; but when I think that it will be necessary to kiss under the aisle in front of everyone... no way! Not for any well-being!

These simple-minded words reveal Shvabrin’s true and deep understanding. He made on Marya Ivanovna the same impression that Mephistopheles made on Goethe’s Margarita from the very first time. Marya Ivanovna had an instinctive disgust for him, mixed with fear. He both repelled and frightened her. If she were more educated and could express her thoughts clearly, she would say: “Shvabrin is a bad, evil person. You need to be careful with him. He is vengeful, vindictive and unscrupulous in his means. Woe to him whom he hates. Sooner or later, one way or another, he will find an opportunity to settle scores with his enemy.” Marya Ivanovna seems to predict that Shvabrin will cause much more grief to Grinev. Seeing right through Shvabrin, she also sees right through Grinev. This explains the insight that she discovers when the news reaches her that Grinev has been found guilty of treason and sentenced to eternal settlement in Siberia. She immediately guessed that her fiance was not justified in the eyes of the judges only because he did not want to involve her name in the trial of the Pugachevites. Possessing the key to her soul, she easily unlocked the souls of others with this key.

There was not the slightest affectation in Marya Ivanovna; she didn't know how to draw herself. Marya Ivanovna is all sincerity and simplicity. She not only did not show off her feelings, but was ashamed to express them openly. Going to say goodbye to the graves of her parents, she asks her loved one to leave her alone, and he saw her already when she was returning from the cemetery, shedding quiet tears. - At the time when Grinev was tried, she “suffered more than anyone else,” but “hid her tears and suffering from everyone,” and meanwhile she constantly thought about how to save him. Marya Ivanovna's instinctive aversion to calculatedly beautiful poses stemmed from her natural truthfulness, which could not tolerate any lies or falsehood. In this same truthfulness lies the answer to the simplicity of address with which she attracted everyone to her. There was and could not be any affectation or coquetry in her. Despite her shyness, she calmly listens to the recovering Grinev’s explanation of love and herself confesses to him her inclination. Intricate excuses, like any pretense, were completely alien to her.

Imbued with an enthusiastic, exalted faith and a deep sense of duty, Marya Ivanovna did not get lost in the most difficult moments of her life, for she always had a guiding star, with which she did not take her eyes off and which did not allow her to stray from the straight path. When she finds out that Grinev’s father does not agree to have her as his daughter-in-law, she responds to all the arguments of her sweetheart, who offers her to immediately get married:

No, Pyotr Andreich, I will not marry you without the blessing of your parents. Without their blessing you will not be happy. Let us submit to the will of God. If you find yourself a betrothed wife, if you fall in love with another, God is with you, Pyotr Andreich; and I'm for both of you...

Then she began to cry and left without fully expressing her thoughts; but it is clear even without what she wanted to say. Marya Ivanovna's soul was woven from love and selflessness. Submitting to the will of God in everything and seeing it in all the events of her life, she refuses the happiness of being the wife of a loved one, but at the same time she thinks not about herself, not about her future loneliness, but about Grinev, exclusively about him alone. She returns his word to him and immediately, not without a difficult internal struggle, of course, says that she will pray for him and for the one he loves. She values ​​the blessing of the old Grinevs above all, as a guarantee of their son’s happiness: “without their blessing there will be no you happiness". She doesn't think about herself at all. Marya Ivanovna’s sublime way of thinking, arising from her religious mood and purely popular worldview, is manifested in her always and in everything: in her relations with her parents, and in her relations with Grinev, and in all her views and judgments. Just like Ivan Ignatyich, she certainly condemns duels, but not in the name of considerations practical properties, - not because abuse does not hang on the collar, and that the wounded or killed in a duel remains a fool. She condemns duels exclusively from a Christian point of view, - from the point of view of a noble and loving nature, hungry and thirsty for truth.

How strange men are! she says to Grinev. For one word, which in a week, they probably would have forgotten, they are ready to cut themselves and sacrifice not only with life, but also with the conscience and well-being of those who...(Marya Ivanovna doesn’t finish: they are loved.)

Marya Ivanovna, timid and... The feminine Marya Ivanovna is struck in people fighting a duel not only by the fact that they put their lives on the line - she understands that there are circumstances when it is impossible not to sacrifice life in the name of honor and the demands of duty - she is horrified by the contempt for the voice of conscience, crying out against murder and suicide, and that indifferent attitude towards the grief of loved ones, without which not a single duel can take place. In this case, as in all the judgments of Marya Ivanovna, this simple and uneducated girl, devoid of conceit and often unable to find words to express her thoughts, a sensitive heart and a bright, sublime mind are evident.

Marya Ivanovna perfectly grasped the meaning of the Gospel words: be gentle as doves and wise as serpents. She was completely imbued with majestic folk wisdom, which took shape under the influence of the Church and its teachings, and never betrayed her ideals, and this was far from easy for her, for Marya Ivanovna had hot blood (it was not for nothing that Grinev was struck at the first glance that she had “ears and burned") and a tender, affectionate heart that knew how to love greatly and suffer greatly. Marya Ivanovna did not end up like Turgenev’s Liza: she did not go to a monastery, but became a happy wife and mother, and, of course, not the kind of mother that Grinev’s simple-minded mother was, but one of those mothers whom children remember not only with love, but also with reverence and pride. There can hardly be any doubt that Grinev blessed the hour all his life when his father sent him to Reinsdorp, and Reinsdorp to the Belogorsk fortress, for there, in the wilderness of the remote outskirts of the state, he met Marya Ivanovna and became close to her.

If Marya Ivanovna’s life had turned out like Lisa’s life, or if she had lived not in the Orenburg province, where there was not a single monastery in the 18th century, but near some monastery, she, too, would probably have become a nun.

We end the description of Marya Ivanovna with where we started: her poetic image is one of the deepest creations of Pushkin’s genius, and how skillfully the poet outlined it! When you read “The Captain's Daughter”, it will seem to you that you once saw this fair-haired and ruddy girl, her smart and kind eyes, her soft and graceful movements, that you heard her sweet and quiet voice, that you witnessed and her tender care for the wounded Grinev, and her touching farewell to her father on the ramparts of the Belogorsk fortress.

We consider it worthwhile to note the anachronism that has crept into “The Captain's Daughter.” In the third chapter, Vasilisa Yegorovna says to Grinev: “It’s been twenty years since we were transferred from the regiment here” (that is, to the Belogorsk fortress). Apraksin's invasion of Prussia took place in 1757, and since Captain Mironov, as already said, participated in the Seven Years' War, it follows that in 1773 no more than fifteen to sixteen years of his stay in the Orenburg province were completed.

“The Captain's Daughter” - a story by A.S. Pushkin, published in 1836, representing the memoirs of landowner Pyotr Andreevich Grinev about his youth. This is a story about eternal values- duty, loyalty, love and gratitude against the backdrop of historical events unfolding in the country - the uprising of Emelyan Pugachev.

Interesting fact. The first edition of the story was published in one of the issues of the Sovremennik magazine without indicating the author of the work.

Characteristics of heroes with quotes

IN school curriculum An obligatory item is an essay on this work, where it is necessary to indicate quotes that characterize one or another hero of the story. We offer examples, using which you can supplement your text with the necessary details.

Petr Andreevich Grinev

Petrusha Grinev appears before us as a very young man.

...Meanwhile, I was sixteen years old...

He is of noble origin.

...I am a natural nobleman...

The only son of a rather rich, by the standards of that time, landowner.

...There were nine of us children. All my brothers and sisters died in infancy...

...father has three hundred souls of peasants...

The hero is not very educated, but not so much through his own fault, but because of the very principle of education at that time.

...in my twelfth year I learned to read and write in Russian and could very sensibly judge the properties of a greyhound dog. At this time, the priest hired a Frenchman for me, Monsieur Beaupré...<…>and although according to the contract he was obliged to teach me French, German and all sciences, he preferred to quickly learn from me how to chat in Russian - and then each of us went about our own business...

Yes, this is especially unnecessary for him, because his future has already been predetermined by his father.

...Mother was still pregnant with me, when I was already enrolled in the Semenovsky regiment as a sergeant...

However, he suddenly changes his decision and sends his son to serve in Orenburg.

...to the side, deaf and distant...

...No, let him serve in the army, let him pull the strap, let him smell gunpowder, let him be a soldier, not a chamaton...

There, Grinev quickly advances in his career without making significant efforts.

...I was promoted to officer. The service did not burden me...

Personal qualities:
Peter is a man of word and honor.

...Just don’t demand what is contrary to my honor and Christian conscience...
...the duty of honor required my presence in the army of the empress...

At the same time, the young man is quite ambitious and stubborn.

...My pride triumphed...
...Shvabrin was more skillful than me, but I am stronger and braver...
...The reasoning of the prudent lieutenant did not sway me. I stuck to my intention...
...I would prefer the most brutal execution to such vile humiliation... (kissing Pugachev's hands)...

Generosity is not alien to him either.

...I did not want to triumph over the destroyed enemy and turned my eyes in the other direction...

One of strengths The character of the hero is his truthfulness.

...decided to declare the real truth before the court, believing this method of justification to be the simplest, and at the same time the most reliable...

At the same time, he has the strength to admit his guilt if he was wrong.

...Finally I told him: “Well, well, Savelich! that's enough, let's make peace, it's my fault; I see for myself that I am to blame...

In personal relationships, Peter's romantic but very serious attitude is manifested.

...I imagined myself as her knight. I longed to prove that I was worthy of her trust, and began to eagerly await the decisive moment...

...But love strongly advised me to stay with Marya Ivanovna and be her protector and patron...

In relation to the girl he loves, he is sensitive and sincere.

...I took the poor girl’s hand and kissed it, watering it with tears...
..Farewell, my angel, - I said, - goodbye, my sweetheart, my desired one! Whatever happens to me, believe that my last thought and last prayer will be about you!

Maria Ivanovna Mironova

A young girl, two years older than Pyotr Grinev, has an ordinary appearance.

...Then a girl of about eighteen came in, round-faced, ruddy, with light brown hair combed smoothly behind her ears, which were on fire...

Masha is the only daughter of Ivan Kuzmich and Vasilisa Egorovna Mironov, poor nobles.

...a girl of marriageable age, what is her dowry? a fine comb, a broom, and an altyn of money (God forgive me!), with which to go to the bathhouse...

The girl, although gullible and naive, behaves modestly and judiciously.

...with all the credulity of youth and love...
...I found in her a prudent and sensitive girl...
...was extremely gifted with modesty and caution...

The heroine differs from the cutesy girls of the noble circle of that era in her naturalness and sincerity.

...She, without any affectation, admitted to me her heartfelt inclination...
...Marya Ivanovna listened to me simply, without feigned shyness, without fancy excuses...

One of the most beautiful features of Masha’s character is her ability to truly love herself and wish her beloved only happiness, even if not with her.

...Whether we will have to see each other or not, God alone knows; but I will never forget you; Until your grave you will remain alone in my heart...

...If you find yourself a betrothed, if you fall in love with another, God be with you, Pyotr Andreich; and I am for both of you...

For all her timidity and gentleness, the girl is devoted to her fiancé and can decide to take extreme measures if necessary.

…My husband! – she repeated. - He is not my husband. I will never be his wife! I better decided to die, and I will die if they don’t deliver me... (About Shvabrina)

Emelyan Pugachev

A middle-aged man whose most notable feature was his eyes.

...His appearance seemed remarkable to me: he was about forty, average height, thin and broad-shouldered. His black beard showed streaks of gray; the lively big eyes kept darting around. His face had a rather pleasant, but roguish expression. The hair was cut into a circle; he was wearing a tattered overcoat and Tatar trousers...
...living big eyes just ran around...
...Pugachev fixed his fiery eyes on me...
...his sparkling eyes...
...I looked at the lady and saw a black beard and two sparkling eyes...
...A tall sable hat with golden tassels was pulled down over his sparkling eyes...

The hero has special signs.

...And in the bathhouse, you can hear, he showed his royal signs on his chest: on one, a double-headed eagle the size of a nickel, and on the other, his person...

The fact that Pugachev is from the Don is also evidenced by his manner of dressing.

...Don Cossack and schismatic...
...He was wearing a red Cossack caftan trimmed with braid...

Given his background, it is not surprising that he is illiterate, but he himself does not want to openly admit it.

...Pugachev accepted the paper and looked at it for a long time with a significant air. “Why are you writing so cleverly? - he said finally. “Our bright eyes can’t make out anything here.” Where is my chief secretary?

...Gentlemen enarals! - Pugachev proclaimed importantly...

A rebel is a freedom-loving, ambitious and arrogant person, but with clearly expressed leadership qualities and the ability to influence people.

...God knows. My street is cramped; I have little will...
... committing unforgivable insolence by taking on the name of the late Emperor Peter III...
...a drunkard wandering around inns, besieging fortresses and shaking the state!...
...I fight anywhere...
...The impostor's face depicted satisfied pride...
...The appeal was written in rude but strong terms and was intended to make a dangerous impression on the minds of ordinary people...

Pugachev is smart, cunning, far-sighted and cold-blooded.

...His sharpness and subtlety of instinct amazed me...
…I have to keep my ears open; at the first failure, they will ransom their neck with my head...
...His composure encouraged me...
aware of his actions and accepting responsibility for his actions
…it’s too late for me to repent. There will be no mercy for me. I will continue as I started...

A nobleman from a noble wealthy family.

...has a good surname, and has a fortune...

She has a rather ugly appearance, and over time she undergoes strong changes for the worse.

...short stature, with a dark and distinctly ugly face, but extremely lively...

...I was amazed at his change. He was terribly thin and pale. His hair, recently jet black, was completely grey; the long beard was disheveled...

Shvabrin was transferred to the Belogorsk fortress from the guard as punishment.

...this is the fifth year since he was transferred to us for murder. God knows what sin befell him; As you can see, he went out of town with one lieutenant, and they took swords with them, and, well, they stabbed each other; and Alexey Ivanovich stabbed the lieutenant, and in front of two witnesses!...

Proud and smart, the hero uses these qualities for bad purposes.

...In his slander I saw the annoyance of offended pride...
...I understood the persistent slander with which Shvabrin pursued her...
...instead of rude and obscene ridicule, I saw in them deliberate slander...”
...I really didn’t like his constant jokes about the commandant’s family, especially his caustic remarks about Marya Ivanovna...

Sometimes the character shows outright cruelty and is quite capable of vile acts.

...I saw Shvabrin standing. His face depicted gloomy anger...
...expressing his joy and zeal in vile terms...
...He grinned with an evil grin and, lifting his chains, got ahead of me...
...He treats me very cruelly...
...Alexey Ivanovich is forcing me to marry him...

His character is characterized by vindictiveness and even treachery.

...all the tests that the vile Shvabrin subjected her to...
...What is Shvabrin like, Alexey Ivanovich? After all, he cut his hair into a circle and now he’s feasting with them right there! Agile, nothing to say!..
...Alexei Ivanovich, who commands us in place of the late priest...

Ivan Kuzmich Mironov

Simple, uneducated, from the poor nobles.

...Ivan Kuzmich, who became an officer from the children of soldiers, was an uneducated and simple man, but the most honest and kind...
...And we, my father, only have one shower, the girl Palashka...

A man of respectable age, who gave 40 years of service, 22 of them in the Belogorsk fortress, participating in numerous battles.

...cheerful old man...
..the commandant, a cheerful and tall old man, wearing a cap and a Chinese robe...
...Why is Belogorskaya unreliable? Thank God, we have been living in it for twenty-two years. We saw both Bashkirs and Kyrgyzs...
...neither Prussian bayonets nor Turkish bullets touched you...

A true officer, true to his word.

...The proximity of danger animated the old warrior with extraordinary vigor...
...Ivan Kuzmich, although he respected his wife very much, would never have told her the secret entrusted to him in his service...

At the same time, the commandant is not a very good leader due to his soft character.

...Only glory that you teach the soldiers: neither they are given the service, nor do you know much about it. I would sit at home and pray to God; it would be better...
...Ivan Kuzmich! Why are you yawning? Now seat them in different corners on bread and water so that their stupidity goes away...
...In the God-saved fortress there were no inspections, no exercises, no guards. The commandant, of his own accord, sometimes taught his soldiers; but I still couldn’t get them all to know which side was right and which was left...

He is an honest and loyal man, fearless in his devotion to duty.

...The commandant, exhausted from the wound, gathered his last strength and answered in a firm voice: “You are not my sovereign, you are a thief and an impostor, hear you!”...

An elderly woman, the wife of the commandant of the Belogorsk fortress.

...An old woman in a padded jacket and with a scarf on her head was sitting by the window...
...It’s been twenty years since we were transferred here from the regiment...

She is a good and hospitable hostess.

...what a master at salting mushrooms!......Vasilisa Egorovna received us easily and cordially and treated me as if she had known her for a century...
...In the commandant's house I was received like family...

She perceives the fortress as her home, and herself as the mistress of it.

...Vasilisa Egorovna looked at the affairs of the service as if they were her master’s, and ruled the fortress as accurately as she ruled her house...
...His wife managed him, which was consistent with his carelessness...

This is a brave and determined woman.

...Yes, hear you,” said Ivan Kuzmich, “the woman is not a timid woman...

Curiosity is no stranger to her.

...She called Ivan Ignatyich, with the firm intention of finding out from him the secret that tormented her ladylike curiosity...

Devoted to her husband until her last breath.

...You are my light, Ivan Kuzmich, you brave little soldier! Neither Prussian bayonets nor Turkish bullets touched you; You didn’t put your belly in a fair fight...
...Live together, die together...

Arkhip Savelich

The Grinev serf family, who was entrusted with the upbringing and management of the affairs of Barchuk Petrusha.

...From the age of five I was given into the arms of the eager Savelich, who was granted my uncle for his sober behavior...
...To Savelich, who was a steward of money, linen, and my affairs...

At the time when the events unfold, he is already an old man.

...God knows, I ran to shield you with my chest from Alexei Ivanovich’s sword! Damn old age got in the way...

...you deign to be angry with me, your servant...
...I, not an old dog, but your faithful servant, obey the master’s orders and have always served you diligently and lived to see my gray hair...
...that’s your boyar’s will. For this I bow slavishly...
...Your faithful servant...
...If you have already decided to go, then I will follow you even on foot, but I will not leave you. So that I could sit behind a stone wall without you! Am I crazy? Your will, sir, and I won’t leave you alone...
...Savelich lies at Pugachev’s feet. “Dear father! - said the poor guy. “What do you care about the death of the master’s child?” Let him go; They will give you a ransom for it; and for the sake of example and fear, order them to hang even me as an old man!”...

He considers his ward more an impractical and unintelligent child than an adult.

...I walked away from the window and went to bed without dinner, despite the admonitions of Savelich, who repeated with contrition: “Lord, Master! he won’t eat anything! What will the lady say if the child falls ill?
...Would you like to eat? - asked Savelich, unchanged in his habits. - There is nothing at home; I’ll go and dig around and make something for you...
…"Marry! - he repeated. - The child wants to get married! What will father say, and mother? What will he think?”...

Devotion, however, does not at all prevent Savelich from reading endless lectures to his ward “for his own benefit and admonition.”

...It was difficult to calm Savelich down when he started preaching...
... Savelich met me with his usual admonition. “You, sir, want to talk with drunken robbers!...

Stubbornness, grumpiness and distrust are also features of his character.

...I knew that there was no point in arguing with Savelich, and I allowed him to get ready for the journey...
...Knowing my uncle’s stubbornness, I set out to convince him with affection and sincerity...
...Savelich listened with a look of great displeasure. He looked with suspicion first at the owner, then at the counselor...

Uncle Petrusha is a very economical and tight-fisted person.

...with the owner, who charged us such a reasonable fee that even Savelich did not argue with him and did not bargain as usual...

Simple people, simple feelings and simple, but such important values ​​- these are the components of this work. It is through such examples that honesty, devotion, and fidelity to one’s word are cultivated.