The Queen of Spades (Masterplots II: Short Story Series, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Alexander Pushkin
- First Published: 1834
- Type of Plot: Psychological
- Time of Work: The 1830's
- Setting: St. Petersburg
- Principal Characters: Hermann, The countess, Elizaveta Ivanovna, Prince Pavel Tomsky, Chekalinsky
- Genres: Psychological fiction, Short fiction
- Subjects: Nineteenth century, Poverty or poor people, Obsession, Punishment, Revenge, Greed, Ethics, Fate or fatalism, Russia or Russian people
- Locales: St. Petersburg, Russia
The Story
As the story opens, a group of young military officers are playing cards into the early morning. One officer remarks that Hermann, an officer in the Engineer Corps, likes to watch the others play, but he himself does not play. The prudent and industrious Hermann replies that he is attempting to build a fortune and does not want to risk the essential in order to gain the superfluous. Prince Pavel Tomsky changes the conversation by telling the story of his grandmother, a strong-willed socialite when she was younger. While on a trip to France, the young beauty lost a...
[The entire page is 1495 words long]
Join eNotes
Over 3,500 study guides, question and answer forums, literature criticism, reference content, and much more!
Navigate
See Also
