“Boris Godunov” is a realistic drama written by Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin, the main character of which, as the title suggests, is Boris Godunov - by the way, a completely real historical figure.

Boris Fedorovich Godunov, in fact, was the ruler of the state, since 1598 - the Russian Tsar. An interesting, original personality that stands out among others. Perhaps that is why Russian writers tried to embody his image in their works. How did Alexander Pushkin get this image?

The theme of the tragedy, which runs like a red thread through all the pages, is the king and the people. Boris Godunov is shown in the work both as a simple man and as a tsar, a great ruler. This is how the author shows his versatility, his personal qualities. Initially, the image seems positive: the desire to make the people happy and satisfied, a great mind, a strong will. He is sincere, emotional, but despite this he remains a wise and experienced politician. However, politicians are characterized by coldness and intransigence...

It would seem - an ideal person, a good politician, what else is needed? But the people do not like the king. And the reason for dislike is very simple. Having a powerful mind, a strong will and a lot of positive character traits, Boris Godunov made one fatal mistake that crossed it all out. He decided to adhere to autocracy. Thus, all power was in the hands of the king. He fought against the noble boyars and assigned the peasants to the landowners. Such a policy a priori could not please the common people.

But the worst thing that aroused distrust among everyone was that Boris Godunov became king illegally. Not according to succession to the throne, but through crime.

The murder of the young Tsarevich Dmitry causes Boris great mental suffering. But this is not the root of all his problems. Boris was a king at a crossroads. Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin revealed all the personal qualities, all the emotional experiences of this person. Made the image “living” and “breathing”.

The death of this man was due to the non-acceptance of society; not a single class of people considered him one of their own. He withstood the revolution in his soul, but could not bring the revolution to society. The people saw in him a despot who is trying to kill his people. All the good deeds of the tsar were perceived by the people solely as an attempt to hide their rottenness, to show off.

So Pushkin showed his readers that the reason for the death of this man was the loss of faith.

Essay by Boris Godunov

Godunov’s inner world is shown to us freely and in many ways. He is presented as a ruler and a warm-hearted family man.

The ruler is endowed with numerous positive character traits. He has a high level of knowledge, powerful will, attentiveness, and desire. Godunov is a qualified politician; he sensibly takes into account the disposition of the highest ranks towards him, is aware of the difficult situation within the state and provides reasonable recommendations to his own son in his death will.

Despite all this, the population ceases to show sympathy for the sovereign. Boris is a supporter of autocracy, which takes its roots back to Young Rus' from the time of Ivan III. Godunov chose the political activity of Ivan IV - the concentration of the entire state only in the hands of the sovereign. He also begins to wage a political struggle with the boyars themselves. Its support is the serving nobility, like that of Ivan IV. Godunov does not stop the political activities of the capital’s rulers regarding the people; Boris made efforts to destroy the possibility of peasants to transfer from one owner to another, which tied them to their rulers.

Such a strategy by Boris increases the initially suspicious and then aggressive disposition of the country.

However, Boris stands out among all those who preceded him in that he took the throne by committing murder. In the 17th century, Godunov was considered the murderer of Dmitry the prince, the son of Ivan IV. Karamzin assessed Godunov’s misfortune as the result of what he had done: God taught Boris a lesson because of the murder of the baby prince.

The murder of Dmitry causes the Tsar sincere suffering, increases the antipathy of the people towards him, but this is not the main reason for the dramatic fate. The death of Boris is determined by social factors, the battle of class forces. Not only the boyars, Cossacks, Poles, but also the population went to war with him.

The people abandoned the tsar and then rebelled, since they saw him as a tyrant who does not care about the welfare of the people, only aggravates their situation by enslaving the peasants.

Thus, Pushkin demonstrates the main reason for Godunov’s tragedy; he found himself without honor, sympathy and help from the people.

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Image of Boris Godunov

The main theme of the tragedy - the tsar and the people - determined the important place that Pushkin assigned to Boris Godunov in his play.
The image of Boris Godunov is revealed widely and diversified. Boris is shown both as a king and as a family man; His various spiritual qualities are noted.
Boris is endowed with many positive traits. His great mind, powerful will, responsiveness, and desire to “calm his people into contentment and to reassure him in glory” are attractive. Like a tender father, he sincerely mourns the grief of his daughter, shocked by the unexpected death of her fiancé:
What, Ksenia, what, my dear?
The brides are already a sad widow!
You keep crying about your dead fiance...
Guilty one, why are you suffering? "
As a person who deeply understands the benefits of education, he rejoices at his son’s success in science:
Learn, my son, science reduces
We experience fast-paced life...
Learn, my son, both more easily and clearly -
You will comprehend the work of a sovereign.
Boris is an experienced politician, he soberly takes into account the attitude of the boyars towards him, understands the entire difficult situation within the country at that time and gives reasonable advice to his son in his dying will. Having married his daughter to the Swedish prince, he thinks about strengthening the connection between Rus' and Western European states.
Despite all these qualities, the people do not like the king. Boris Godunov is a typical representative of the autocracy that began to take shape in Muscovite Rus' from the time of Ivan III and reached its heyday under Otherwise IV. Boris will continue the policy of Ivan IV - the concentration of all state power in the hands of the tsar. He continues the fight against the noble boyars and... like Ivan IV, he relies in this struggle on the serving nobility. Appointing Basmanov as commander of the troops, Boris tells him: “I’ll send you to command them: I’ll put you not in line, but in mind as a commander.” Boris continues the policy of the Moscow tsars in relation to the people: “Only through strictness can we vigilantly restrain the people. So thought John (III), the calmer of storms, a reasonable autocrat, so did the hundred-fierce grandson (Ivan IV).” He continues the policy of enslaving the peasants, he “Yuryev decided to destroy laziness,” that is, to destroy the right of the peasants to move from one landowner to another and thereby finally assign the peasants to the landowners."
This serfdom policy of Boris strengthens the people’s first distrustful and then hostile attitude towards him.
But Boris differs from his predecessors in that he became king through a crime, and not through legal succession to the throne. In the 17th century, as some writers of that time say, Boris Godunov was considered the murderer of Dmitry Tsarevich, the son of Ivan IV. Karamzin shared the same opinion. Karamzin viewed Boris’s very tragedy as a consequence of his crime: God punished Boris for the murder of the infant prince.
Pushkin, “resurrecting the past century in all its truth,” also
paints Boris as Dimitri's killer. But, in contrast
writers of the 17th century and Karamzin, he did not commit this crime
explains the unhappy reign of Boris and what befell him
failure to found the royal Godunov dynasty.
The murder of Dimitri causes Boris mental anguish and increases the people's hostility towards him, but this is not the main reason for his tragic fate. The death of Boris is due to social reasons, the struggle of class forces. The boyars, the Don Cossacks, the Polish gentry, and, most importantly, the people came out to fight him. Gavrila Pushkin tells Basmanov that the Pretender is strong not because of “Polish help” or the Cossacks, but because of “popular opinion.” The people rebelled against Godunov, and this is the main reason for the death of Boris, since the people are the main, decisive force of history.
The people turned away from Boris and then rebelled against him because they saw in him a despot who not only does not care about the welfare of the people, but, on the contrary, worsens their situation by enslaving the peasantry; saw in him the murderer of the prince; He considered all his “good deeds” and “generosities” as “a means of preventing confusion and rebellion.”
So Pushkin shows that the main reason for Boris’s tragedy is that he lost the respect, love and support of the people.

Image of Boris Godunov (2nd option)

In his tragic poem “Boris Godunov” A.S. Pushkin considers the relationship between the tsar and the people as his main theme. Therefore, the author reveals the image of Boris Godunov himself from different sides. Let’s focus first on the positive ones. Pushkin endows his hero with intelligence, unbending willpower, and thoughts about the people's well-being. He is like a politician who is trying to strengthen Russia’s international relations with his daughter’s marriage. The tsar perfectly understands the ambiguity of the boyars’ attitude towards him and on his deathbed instructs the heir, gives him valuable advice and exposes the masks of the court entourage. Godunov is responsive and like a good father and has compassion for his daughter when she loses her fiancé. Like a father, he rejoices at his son’s achievements in science.
But the people do not love their king. His autocracy is too classic. He is a conservative who rules according to tradition. Alone. And if in his subjects he can accept intelligence, and not origin, then in relation to the people he is inclined to adhere to severity. He wants to cancel St. George’s Day - and with this measure he only opposes himself to the people.
His authority is also undermined by the fact that he rose to power not by inheriting the throne, but by killing Tsarevich Dimitri, the son of Ivan IV. Godunov is tormented by the deeds of the past - and this also shows him as a person with weaknesses and shortcomings.
But the tragic fate of Pushkin’s hero, nevertheless, is determined by the class struggle, when literally everyone took up arms against Godunov: the people and the boyars, and the Don Cossacks, and the Polish gentry. Ordinary people created a despot in him and overthrew the king by the force of the majority of their opinion.

Image of Boris Godunov (3rd option)

Pushkin portrays Godunov as criminal because the usurpation of the throne was a common phenomenon, and behind an isolated case there was a historical generalization. However, the poet would never have shown Godunov to be criminal if he himself were not deeply convinced of his guilt. Was Godunov really guilty of the death of nine-year-old Tsarevich Dmitry? Historians to this day cannot accurately answer this question, because the traces of the crime were so skillfully hidden, if it was really committed. Of course, it is not because Pushkin portrays Godunov as a criminal that he follows the version of “History of the Russian State” by N.M. Karamzin, who had no doubt that the crime was committed “at the will of Boris Godunov”: “the ruler reached the throne through crime,” “... His conscience tormented him, and hope was eclipsed forever or until a new crime, even terrible for the villain!” Drawing a picture of what was happening, Karamzin accompanies it with his psychological commentary: “The sexton of the Cathedral Church... sounded the alarm, and all the streets were filled with people, alarmed, amazed; ran to the sound of the bell; they looked at the smoke and flames, thinking that the palace was burning; they broke into his gates and saw the prince dead on the ground; his mother and nurse lay unconscious next to him; but the names of the villains had already been pronounced by them.” “Uglich... was empty forever, in memory of Boris’s terrible anger at the brave denouncers of his cause.”

“Atrocity”, “atrocity”, “villain” - words with this root stand in Pushkin’s tragedy next to the words “terrible”, “horror”. This proximity has a special meaning: where there is “crime,” there is “horror.”

When Godunov had just ascended the throne, the boyars were amazed at how skillfully he played the role of someone uninvolved in what happened in Uglich. Boris’s strength of character and self-control surprised Shuisky: “He looked into my eyes as if he were right...” Shuisky is also convinced that Boris’s refusal to abdicate the throne is a pretense. Boris Godunov's performance is even more refined when he first appears in front of those close to him. The king needs to show people that he is sincere with them - his one confession means so much: “The soul is naked.”

It was not only out of ambitious goals that Godunov wanted to take the throne; it was not only selfish intentions that guided him. Godunov outlined plans for extensive government reforms. And he really did a lot. The power of the Russian state and its borders strengthened. But no matter what Godunov did, no matter how hard he tried to do good, the people saw in him the cause of all the troubles and misfortunes that happened to anyone and anywhere:

Whoever dies, I am the secret killer of everyone:

I hastened Theodore's death,

I poisoned my sister the queen -

The humble nun... that's all me!

“I’m all…” - the king reproaches people for injustice. There is bitterness in his words. But the colors are, of course, condensed: a terrible burden lies on Boris’s soul. Those around him see him immersed in heavy thoughts. Gloominess is Godunov’s usual state of mind: no joy on his face, no smile. The sixth year of Godunov’s reign has already begun, and a feeling of horror from what was once accomplished covers the culprit himself. Suffering, the cry of the soul can be heard in his words: “... boys have bloody eyes,” “pity is the one whose conscience is not clear.”

Tormented by remorse, the suffering Tsar Boris tries to find solace in turning to otherworldly forces, in fortune telling and divination. He also seeks support in religion. Godunov even talks to his daughter about his guilt, although he does not reveal what exactly it is. After Ksenia's confession, Godunov dies. Godunov admits to the crime only to himself, only when he is left alone with his conscience. In loneliness, suffering is the strength of Godunov’s spirit, but also the tragedy of his human fate.

Over the course of several years, the character of Boris Godunov changed. If, upon ascending the throne, Godunov was impenetrable to those around him, then over the years his will turns out to be broken. Involuntarily, the king begins to blurt out what is tormenting his soul.

Having noted the main feature in the soul of Boris Godunov - “ambition”, Pushkin, following the romantic playwrights, did not limit himself to this one feature, he gave a comprehensive coverage of his soul, describing him as a person in general and as a ruler.

Boris, as a person, is a truly dramatic person, because good and evil are simply and truthfully mixed in his heart: he is not a one-sided pseudo-classical villain, and not a romantic one, with his inherent beautiful pose, he is simply an unfortunate person, whom only passion and chance pushed to crime. He arouses pity in us because there is a lot of good in him: from the day he committed a crime, his conscience has tormented him; this terrible spiritual struggle testifies to the unspoiled nature of his nature, to the fact that he atones for his crime over the course of many years... And this slow, painful lynching disarms anyone who would like to treat Godunov strictly as a criminal. In addition, everyone is captivated by his cordiality in his relations with the people, with his family.

Boris Godunov

Boris as ruler

Morally indifferent, but, in any case, the captivating qualities of Boris Godunov’s soul were energy, courage, and a bright mind. These are all virtues precious to a “ruler.” And, indeed, as a ruler, he stands tall: he reveals knowledge of the human heart, the ability to manage people, an understanding of the true needs of the fatherland: he respects education, stands for rapprochement with Western culture, and resolutely speaks out against “localism.” But all these good qualities of the “ruler” did not help him make Russia happy: neither his bright mind nor his everyday dexterity helped him, he does not have a single ally: both heaven and people, simple and noble, Russians and Poles, everyone and everyone is against him.

Boris as a criminal

All his administrative talents turn out to be as useless to him as to Shakespeare's Macbeth. Richly gifted by nature, with a broad outlook on life, power-hungry and ambitious, but without an admixture of selfish egoism, loving his homeland with all his heart and wishing it good and prosperity, decisive and energetic, Boris reached the throne, guided by the principle: “the end justifies the means.” The immorality of this principle destroys it.

Reasons for the fall of Boris

The people condemned him as the criminal who killed Tsarevich Dmitry. The people did not allow Boris to buy them, and Godunov was unable to suppress his feelings of anger towards this “ungrateful rabble”, he was unable to understand that a petty egoistic feeling of resentment can have no place where fate pronounces its inexorable verdict. Under the influence of this feeling he becomes suspicious, gloomy, even stern. Executions, torture, espionage - this is what Boris resorts to to strengthen his wavering throne. From the previous, broad and bright, understanding of his position as “tsar - servant of the people,” he moves on to selfish aspirations to retain the throne for his son. In his dying speech, he gives his son advice on how to trick his subjects more cunningly.

Boris's children died as an atoning sacrifice for the crimes of their father; it was not the deception of the people and the boyars, nor the impostor that ruined his cause; the deception was successful only as an instrument of that formidable force with which Godunov did not get along. And the imposture of False Dmitry, according to Pushkin, was clear to everyone. Prisoner, to Otrepyev’s question:

“Well, how am I judged in your camp?”

answers:

“And they talk about your mercy,
What are you, they say, (don’t be angry!), and a thief,
Well done..."

The personality of Boris Godunov was attractive to many historians, writers and poets. After all, his achievements were rapid, and his death was tragic. He began his service as an ordinary nobleman, and then became the ruler of a huge power. The image of Godunov is truly tragic. Wishing the people well, the king strives to act farsightedly, but people hate him as an oppressor who has criminally seized the throne.

Main features

The image of Boris Godunov in Pushkin’s tragedy is revealed by the great Russian poet widely and diversified. First of all, what attracts people about the main character is his intelligence, his responsiveness, and his ability to sympathize. He sincerely sympathizes with his daughter, who lost her fiancé, and calls her “a widow among brides.” In addition, he is very well versed in politics and clearly understands how the boyars treat him. The image of Boris Godunov in Pushkin's tragedy is, first of all, the image of a wise man and a skillful politician. He gives valuable advice to his son in his will, and having married his daughter to a Swedish prince, he thinks in advance about strengthening ties between Russia and European states.

Godunov's politics

In those difficult times, when Godunov criminally seizes power, the country enters a period of difficult trials. Huge natural disasters undermine its economy for several decades, and a long war ends their work. However, despite all these advantages, the people are not favorable to the king. He is a representative of the typical autocracy that took shape on the territory of Kievan Rus since the time of Ivan III.

Boris Godunov continues the course that was taken by Ivan VI - all state power was concentrated in the hands of the ruler. He also fights the boyars, and in his struggle tries to rely on the serving nobility. In relation to the people, he also follows the path followed by his predecessors, believing that they can be restrained only by applying “vigilant severity.”

Attitude towards peasants

The image of Boris Godunov in Pushkin’s tragedy cannot be called completely positive, because he continues the policy of further enslavement of poor peasants, and even wants to completely abolish St. George’s Day - the opportunity for every serf to pass from the power of one landowner to another on one day. Thus, Godunov wants to finally secure power over the serfs for the landowners. And such a policy first contributes to the growth of distrust, and then hostility towards the king of the people.

Retribution for evil

However, the image of Boris Godunov in Pushkin’s tragedy reveals to the reader not the ruler who ascended the throne according to the rules of legal inheritance. Boris Godunov became king as a result of a crime. Some writers of those times testify that in the 17th century Godunov was considered the murderer of the real Tsarevich, the son of Ivan VI. The historian Karamzin agrees with this opinion.

He views the tragedy of Boris Godunov as a natural punishment that befell him for the sins he committed. In analyzing the image of Boris Godunov in Pushkin’s tragedy, one should mention the fact that the murder of the prince really brings mental suffering to the main character, but it is not the main reason for his tragic fate. After all, his death was caused primarily by social reasons.

The boyars, Cossacks, gentry, but most importantly, the people themselves, took the path of fighting the tsar. He turned away from the tsar precisely for the reason that he saw in him a real despot - this is how the image of Boris Godunov can be briefly described. The main cause of Godunov's death is the people. It is he who is the decisive force in the whole story. He sees in him, first of all, a criminal, a child killer.

Where there is crime, there is evil

In order to describe the image of the impostor in the tragedy "Boris Godunov", Pushkin uses special vocabulary. “Atrocity”, “evil” - it is words with such a root that constantly stand in tragedy next to the words “horror”, “terrible”. The poet seeks to emphasize that where a crime is committed, horror and despair always reign. When Boris Godunov first ascends the throne, the boyars are surprised at how skillfully he plays the role of someone who was not involved in the crime that took place in Uglich. Subsequently, Shuisky will be convinced that even Godunov’s renunciation of the throne is nothing more than a pretense. Godunov’s performance becomes even more refined at the moment when he first appears in front of his entourage. In his words one can hear suffering, a cry from the soul.

It is to those who suffer, tormented by constant remorse, that the image of Boris Godunov appears before us in Pushkin’s tragedy. The summary of the work is as follows. Boris Godunov renounces the throne, since Shuisky accuses him of being the one who killed the prince. However, Godunov is forced to submit to the will of the people, and becomes king. Next, the reader gets acquainted with the conversation between Pimen and Gregory, they talk about the fact that there is now a child killer on the throne. Gregory escapes from the monastery to the capital, hoping to become a ruler.

Godunov's reign lasts for six years, but he understands that the people do not like him. Finally news comes about the impostor. An army appears on the Lithuanian border. At first the impostor wins, but then Godunov. Soon after this, Godunov dies. Basmanov takes over the leadership of the army. He makes a proposal that the legitimate Dmitry become king. The Godunov family turns out to be cursed. One of the boyars, Mosalsky, reports that the entire Godunov family has been poisoned. The boyar also addresses the people so that they welcome the king. But the people remain silent.

The image and character of Boris Godunov in the tragedy Boris Godunov

The main theme of the tragedy - the tsar and the people - determined the important place that Pushkin assigned to Boris Godunov in his play.

The image of Boris Godunov is revealed widely and diversified: Boris is shown both as a king and as a family man; His various spiritual qualities are noted.

Boris is endowed with many positive traits. ( This material will help you write competently on the topic The image and character of Boris Godunov in the tragedy Boris Godunov. A summary does not make it possible to understand the full meaning of the work, so this material will be useful for a deep understanding of the work of writers and poets, as well as their novels, novellas, short stories, plays, and poems.) Attractive are his great mind, powerful will, responsiveness, desire to “calm his people in contentment, in glory.” Like a tender father, he sincerely mourns the grief of his daughter, shocked by the unexpected death of her fiancé.

What, Ksenia, what, my dear?

The brides are already a sad widow!

You keep crying about your dead fiance. . .

Guilty one, why are you suffering?

As a person who deeply understands the benefits of education, he rejoices at his son’s success in science.

Learn, my son, science reduces the experiences of fast-flowing life for us...

Study, my son, and you will comprehend the work of the Sovereign more easily and clearly.

Boris is an experienced politician, he soberly takes into account the attitude of the boyars towards him, understands the entire difficult situation within the country in his time and gives reasonable advice to his son in his dying will. Having married his daughter to the Swedish prince, he thinks about strengthening the connection between Rus' and Western European states.

Despite all these qualities, the people do not like the king. Boris Godunov is a typical representative of the autocracy that began to take shape in Muscovite Rus' from the time of Ivan III and reached its heyday under Ivan IV. Boris continues the policy of Ivan IV - the concentration of all state power in the hands of the tsar. He continues the fight against the noble boyars and, like Ivan IV, relies on the service nobility in this fight. Appointing Basmanov as commander of the troops, Boris tells him: “I’ll send you to command them: I’ll put you not in line, but in mind as a commander.” Boris continues the policy of the Moscow tsars in relation to the people: “Only through strictness can we vigilantly restrain the people. So thought John (III), the calmer of storms, a reasonable autocrat, so did his ferocious grandson (Ivan IV).” He continues the policy of enslaving the peasants, he “planned to destroy St. George’s Day,” that is, to destroy the right of the peasants to move from one landowner to another and thereby finally assign the peasants to the landowners

This serfdom policy of Boris strengthens the people’s first distrustful and then hostile attitude towards him.

But Boris differs from his predecessors in that he became king through a crime, and not through legal succession to the throne. In the 17th century, as some writers of that time say, Boris Godunov was considered the murderer of Dmitry Tsarevich, the son of Ivan IV. Karamzin shared the same opinion. Karamzin viewed Boris’s very tragedy as a consequence of his crime: God punished Boris for the murder of the infant prince.

Pushkin, “resurrecting the past century in all its truth,” also depicts Boris as the murderer of Demetrius. But, in contrast to the writers of the 17th century and Karamzin, he does not explain the unhappy reign of Boris and his failure to found the royal Godunov dynasty with this crime.

The murder of Dimitri causes Boris mental anguish and increases the people's hostility towards him, but this is not the main reason for his tragic fate. The death of Boris is due to social reasons, the struggle of class forces. The boyars, the Don Cossacks, the Polish gentry came out to fight him, but most importantly, the people were against him. Gavrila Pushkin tells Basmanov that the Pretender’s strength is not “I help the Polish” and not the Cossacks, but “the opinion of the people.” The people rebelled against Godunov, and this is the main reason for the death of Boris, since the people are the main, decisive force of history.

The people turned away from Boris and then rebelled against him because they saw in him a despot who not only does not care about the welfare of the people, but, on the contrary, worsens their situation by enslaving the peasantry; saw in him the murderer of the prince; considered all his “good deeds” and “generosity” as “a means of keeping confusion and rebellion.”

So Pushkin shows that the main reason for Boris’s tragedy is that he lost the respect, love and support of the people.