The Tale of Tsar Saltan: summary and analysis of Pushkin's tale

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In the work, the author tells the story of one family. Pushkin's expressive poetic language creates vivid images and a fairy-tale world into which the reader plunges headlong. It is this fairy tale that is considered the pinnacle of Pushkin’s fairy-tale creativity.

“This is the most universal art, because it is equally appealing to a six-year-old child and a sixty-year-old most cultured poetry reader. No understanding is required, it is perceived directly, undeniably, directly,” literary critic D.P. Mirsky said about the work.

Pushkin's fairy tale is truly suitable not only for children, it is relevant for all ages and can be viewed at different levels of understanding. Below is a short overview of the work that can be used for a reader's diary.

Scene

The plot of the fairy tale takes place in a magical world. The main events take place in two locations: in a fictional coastal state ruled by Tsar Saltan, and on a once deserted island, unsuitable for life, where a majestic city arises, which has become the patrimony of Prince Guidon.

The text contains a toponym - Buyan Island. This name is found in Russian folklore, where there is mention that an oak tree with four branches grows on this island. The tale also features an oak tree - this is the only thing that was on the island when the heroes arrived there.

There is a version that the prototype of Buyan Island is the real-life island of Rügen, currently owned by Germany.

The sea is also one of the settings in the work. The sea plays an important role in the story. In the text it is designated as Okiyan, consonant with the word “ocean”, but written with a capital letter, as if it were the name of a body of water.

What is the work about? A very short retelling

Tsar Saltan heard a conversation between three sisters, each of whom said what she would do “if she were a queen.” He chooses as his wife the one who wanted to bear him a son. The other two are appointed as weavers and cooks at court.

The sisters plot intrigues for the newly-minted queen. When a child is born, they intercept a messenger with good news and send another letter, as if the queen gave birth to an “unknown little animal” instead of a hero. As a result of another substitution of the letter, the Queen and the child are put in a barrel and sent to the sea to certain death.

The barrel washes up on the shore of an uninhabited island, where Guidon saves a beautiful swan from a kite. The bird promises to thank him and provides help: the next morning a glorious city appears on Buyan Island. Guidon becomes a prince and wants to see his father.

Swan helps him go unnoticed to Saltan's kingdom. Three times, with the help of the Swan, Guidon, following the merchant ships, turns into an insect and flies to his father’s domain.

The merchants tell the king about the miracles that they saw on the island of Buyan during their trading voyages, and each time the weaver with the cook and the old matchmaker Babarikha argue that there is an even more wonderful miracle.

Guidon is present during conversations, being in the guise of either a mosquito, a fly, or a bumblebee. He punishes his aunts for their bad characters by inflicting painful bites on them.

For the first time he learns about the miracle squirrel that gnaws nuts with golden shells and emerald yards. Upon his return, he tells Swans about this, and the next day the squirrel ends up on his island, near the prince’s palace.

The second time the aunts talk about thirty-three handsome heroes. The swan shows Guidon and this is a miracle.

For the third time we are talking about an overseas maiden of unprecedented beauty, “the moon shines under her braid, and a star burns in her forehead.” Guidon wanted to take her as his wife.

It turns out that this is the Swan herself. Before Guidon’s eyes, she turns into a girl. The prince is getting married. Soon Tsar Saltan visits the miracle island and meets with his wife and son. The family is reunited. The weaver, the cook and the matchmaker are exposed. The king, overjoyed, lets them go home.

Plot

Having overheard a conversation between three sisters, King Salatan decided to marry the one who promised to give him a hero. He assigned two other sisters to the palace as a weaver and a cook.

King Satan went on a military campaign, and in the meantime the young queen gave birth to a hero. However, Bobarikha, Weaver and Cook, burning with envy, wrote a letter to the king, reporting that the queen had given birth to an unknown animal. The king was saddened, but ordered to wait for his return. However, the evil women managed to drug the messenger and replace the royal letter. As a result, the young queen and her little son were hammered into a barrel by the boyars and thrown into the sea.

Waking up in the morning, the queen and prince saw a beautiful city, the inhabitants of which recognized Guidon as their king. When the shipmen visited the island and told the prince that they were on their way to Tsar Saltan, he wanted to see him. The swan turned him into a mosquito, and he flew away with the shipmen. Tsar Saltan wanted to visit Guidon, but Babarikha, the Weaver and the Dressmaker dissuaded him by telling him about a miracle - a squirrel with golden nuts. Out of anger, the mosquito bit the Cook.

The swan, wanting to console the sad Guidon, gave him a squirrel who danced and gnawed golden nuts. The island was again visited by shipbuilders who marveled at this miracle. The young prince, this time turning into a fly, went with them to Saltan. Envious women told the king about Uncle Chernomor and the heroes. The fly bit the Weaver and flew away. The swan told Guidon that the heroes were her brothers, whom she asked to serve the young king. The shipbuilders told the diva Saltan about this, but Babarikha consoled him with the most important miracle in the world - a beautiful princess with a star burning in her forehead, and the moon shining under the star. Guidon, turned into a bumblebee, stung the envious woman on the nose.

The Swan admitted that she was that same princess, and turned into a girl of rare beauty with whom Guidon married. Upon learning of this, Saltan became angry and, without listening to the women, went to visit Guidon. Having arrived on the island, he recognized his wife and repented to her. To celebrate, he forgave Babarikha, the Weaver and the Cook, sent them home, and arranged a feast himself.

Characteristics of heroes

Tsar Saltan

Tsar Saltan is the ruler of a fairy-tale state. On the one hand, he is a powerful ruler, fair, honest, kind, on the other hand, kindness and ingenuity do not allow him to see treachery and meanness in anyone. The king, having learned the “strange” news about the birth of a child, wisely orders to wait for his return, wants to come and figure it out himself, but the insidious conspirators beat him.

Saltan turns out to be trusting and simple-minded; he did not suspect his sisters-in-law - obvious intriguers and villains. Moreover, he showed weak character, twice giving in to the weaver and the cook with Baba Babarikha in his desire to visit the wonderful island. But his heart was yearning to go there. However, at the end of the tale, Saltan shows his will, asking the question: “Who am I, a king or a child?” And goes to Guidon.

It is believed that in the image of the king there is a reference to the rulers of the eastern states, as evidenced by his name “Tsar Saltan”. The wording found in diplomatic sources in relation to the monarchs of Islamic countries, in particular the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, is “Turkish Tsar Saltan.”

Prince Guidon

Prince Guidon, the son of Tsar Saltan, grows up to be a hero, as the queen promised. Pushkin indicates the characteristics of this character in the full title of the work: “glorious and mighty.” He is outwardly handsome and strong, but in his soul he is kind, noble and fair. Being in a difficult life situation, he stood up for the weak - he saved a swan, for which he was rewarded. Guidon is well brought up, he is a grateful son, respects and appreciates his mother, and becomes a reliable support and support for her. The prince does not know that he and his mother were not thrown into the sea by order of his father, he does not know about the machinations of his aunts, but, nevertheless, he does not hold a grudge against his parent, he yearns for him. From his father, Tsar Saltan, Guidon inherited the best qualities: he becomes a worthy ruler of Buyan Island.

Queen

Wife of Tsar Saltan, mother of Prince Guidon. She is a kind and strong woman who has bravely accepted the blows of fate. It embodies the generalized image of a mother: “...over a child, like an eagle over an eaglet.” The queen loves her son dearly, believes in him, supports him in everything. Unlike her sisters, she did not dream of wealth, and the status of a queen was not her goal. The heroine wanted to love and give this world a good person. She coped with this mission, raising her son well.

The weaver with the cook

The weaver and the cook are negative characters, the queen’s sisters, Prince Guidon’s aunts. These are insidious, selfish people, they are driven by envy and resentment. For the sake of their own interests, these women are capable of dooming others to suffering; they skillfully manipulate men, be it even the king himself.

Baba Babarikha

Baba Babarikha is an elderly woman called a matchmaker. There is a mention in the text that she is Guidon’s grandmother.

The words matchmaker and matchmaker are used both to designate the person who arranges the marriage and acts as an intermediary between the bride and groom, and a family connection - the parent of one of the spouses.

Possibly, Babarikha may be the mother of Tsar Saltan; in some critical reviews she is presented as the mother of three sisters.

Matchmaker Babarikha is a negative character who, together with the weaver and the cook, helps to kill the queen and her son. In Pushkin’s text, three negative heroines are often mentioned in conjunction: “The weaver with the cook and the matchmaker Babarikha.”

Swan Princess

The Swan Princess is a young, incredibly beautiful girl who turned into a bird. She has magical powers. The grateful and selfless heroine works miracles for good to help her savior, Prince Guidon. Having assumed human form, the Swan becomes a beloved and loving wife. The appearance and manners of the princess are described in detail: “the moon shines under the scythe, and the star is burning in her forehead,” “stately, the word peahen appears,” “her speech speaks as if a river is babbling.”

“Beauty werewolf” is a common type of character in Russian fairy tales. In literature and folklore, many similar heroines were created in different eras, from the Frog Princess to the pigeon maiden Marusya from the fairy tale “About Fedot the Archer” by L. A. Filatov, a Soviet actor and poet. Pushkin's Swan Princess is one of the most famous characters in this series.

Shipmen

Merchants or shipbuilders are collective actors, travelers and traders. They play an important role in the plot, they are the connecting link between Saltan and Guidon. They are sources of news and rumors. Buyan Island lies on the route of their route “to the kingdom of the glorious Saltan”; they visit Guidon “on the way”.

Thirty-three heroes and Chernomor

Thirty-three heroes - the brothers of the Swan Princess, sea knights living in Okiyan, guard the island of Prince Guidon.

Chernomor is the uncle and leader of the heroes, a kind and sweet old man, the personification of military brotherhood and security.

In Pushkin’s works, a character with this name appears twice; the sorcerer in the poem Ruslan and Lyudmila is also called Chernomor. These characters are not just different, they are opposite to each other. In “Ruslan and Lyudmila” Chernomor is a negative character, the main villain. Why did Pushkin call two completely different heroes by the same name? There is no clear answer to this question. Researchers believe that these heroes are not related, and even their names have different origins. The name of the “leader of the heroes” from “The Tale of Tsar Saltan” is associated with the most obvious association - the Black Sea - a warm body of water in the south of Russia.

Kite

Kite is an evil wizard. Turning into a bird, he tried to kill a swan - a beautiful princess. Dies at the hands of Guidon. “You didn’t kill a kite, you killed a sorcerer,” the swan tells him.

Tuesday, February 13, 2018

Pushkin A. “The Tale of Tsar Saltan”

Pushkin. A.S. "The Tale of Tsar Saltan"

Genre: magical fairy tale.

The main characters of “The Tale of Tsar Saltan” and their characteristics

What does “The Tale of Tsar Saltan” teach?

The fairy tale teaches us not to give up in the face of difficulties, teaches us to remain faithful to our family and not to serve undeserved slander. The fairy tale teaches us to be noble and help those who are unfairly wronged. The fairy tale teaches us honesty and openness. She teaches us to be grateful to those who help us.

Signs of a fairy tale in “The Tale of Tsar Saltan”

Proverbs for “The Tale of Tsar Saltan”

No matter how long the rope twists, it will end. Don't dig a hole for someone else, you will fall into it yourself. All's well that ends well.

Summary, brief retelling of “The Tale of Tsar Saltan”

Tsar Saltan overhears the conversation of three girls and decides to marry the one who promises to bring a hero, and assigns the remaining two to be weavers and cooks. Saltan goes on a campaign, and the queen gives birth to a hero, but Babarikha, the weaver and the cook replace the letter and write to the king that the queen gave birth to an unknown animal. Saltan orders them to wait for him, but the women solder the messenger and change the letter again. The queen and son are thrown into the sea in a barrel. The barrel is thrown ashore and the queen's son kicks out the bottom. Then he makes a bow and arrows and goes hunting. At sea, he sees a kite hitting a swan and shoots at the kite. The kite screams in a human voice and drowns. The swan thanks the prince and promises to help him. In the morning, the prince and queen see the city, and the people recognize the prince as Prince Guidon. The shipmen arrive and Givdon gets bored when he learns that they are sailing to the kingdom of Saltan. The swan turns him into a mosquito and Guidon flies after the shipmen. The shipbuilders tell Saltan about the city on the island and Saltan is going to visit Guidon. Babarikha, the weaver and the dressmaker dissuade him and tell him about the squirrel and nuts. A mosquito bites the cook. The swan gives Guidon a squirrel. The shipmen sail again, and again Guidon flies after them in the form of a fly. This time the women talk about the heroes and uncle Chernomor. A fly bites a weaver in the eye. The swan admits that the heroes are her brothers and they come out of the sea. The shipmen sail for the third time and Guidon turns into a bumblebee. This time Babarikha talks about a beautiful princess who has a moon under her braid and a star on her forehead, and Guidon stings his grandmother on the nose. The Swan admits that she is that princess and Guidon marries her. For the fourth time, the shipmen sail to Saltan and the king, stamping his foot, gathers the fleet. He sails to Buyan Island, recognizes his wife and hugs his son. To rejoice, Babrikha, the weaver and the cook are forgiven and sent home.

Analysis of a fairy tale

History of creation

Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin was very fond of Russian fairy tales, which his nanny Arina Rodionovna told him as a child, he was inspired by them.

When composing his works, he relied on folklore. One of the main primary sources of “The Tale of Tsar Saltan” is considered to be the Russian folk tale “Knee-deep in gold, elbow-deep in silver.” However, Pushkin’s fairy tale is not the author’s direct interpretation of this folklore work; the writer added a lot “of his own” and used plots and images from other fairy tales. In addition, a number of literary scholars point out that the fairy tale could have had other primary sources, including foreign ones.

There are several known versions of recording the plot of a future fairy tale, the earliest is dated 1822. It is considered the starting point in working on a work. This was the period of Southern exile, Pushkin was in Chisinau. The recording is very sketchy.

A more detailed description of the plot, made in Mikhailovsky in 1824, goes back to the stories of Arina Rodionovna. In the period from 1824 to 1826, the fairy tale acquires new details, the author adds magical elements to it.

Pushkin returned to work again in 1828. He completed writing the tale in 1831; the exact date is known—August 9.

The fairy tale first appeared in print in the collection “Poems” of 1832.

One of Pushkin’s friends was the famous poet V. A. Zhukovsky, whose creative heritage also includes many fairy-tale works based on folklore stories and primary sources by Western authors. It is believed that a kind of rivalry in writing fairy tales arose between colleagues and friends, which spurred and inspired Pushkin.

Genre

The works of fairy tale writers belong to the genre of literary fairy tales. They can be magical and instructive. By and large, this division is arbitrary; the presence of magic is one of the characteristic features of the fairy tale genre, and in almost all fairy tales, including Russian folk tales, there is an edification - “a lesson for good fellows.”

The text, plot, manner of presentation, compositional structure contain genre and stylistic features inherent in fairy tales:

adventure element in the plot: a journey in a barrel and a miraculous rescue;
miracles and transformations: the heroes of the work take the form of animals, birds, insects;
the struggle between good and evil, in which good wins; a clear division of characters into negative and positive;
fairy tale plots are often built around the number three: similar events or phenomena are repeated exactly three times;
the text of the fairy tale contains refrains: repetition of the same fragments of text, which is also characteristic of many Russian folk tales;
the presence of a “helper hero” with magical powers: the Swan Princess. In fairy tales, the female assistant character is also usually the bride or wife of the main character.

"I was there; honey, drank beer, ran down his mustache, but didn’t get into his mouth,” is a typical ending to a fairy tale, which Pushkin used in a slightly modified form.

Pushkin's fairy tale was written in the 19th century on a folklore basis. This determines such a feature of the work as a combination of Christian and pagan. The text contains an appeal to God, mentions of churches, monasteries, and a miraculous icon. At the same time, toponyms and names are borrowed from pagan spells; personification and “animation” of inanimate nature is also a pagan trait.

Language and style

The size of the fairy tale verse is trochaic tetrameter with paired rhyme; this size was more consistent with folk poetry. Stylizing the text according to the folklore tradition, the author uses outdated word forms and set expressions found in folklore texts: guests-gentlemen, king-father. To enhance expressiveness in fairy tales, “double expressions” are often used, combining words with similar meanings, for example, “sadness-melancholy.”

Means of expression in a fairy tale:

Epithet is a colorful definition. Most often, epithets are expressed by adjectives; Pushkin’s fairy tale is an example of the use of nouns as epithets: dear sisters, tsar-father, etc.
Metaphor is the use of a word in a figurative meaning.

Examples of metaphors: “into the abyss of waters” (that is, to the depths, into the deep sea), “tops of churches” (domes), “dreams of the night” (dreams, visions, dreams), “the arrow sang” (that is, whistled in flight).

Hyperbole is an artistic exaggeration: “And the child grows there by leaps and bounds.”
Personification is a description of inanimate objects through properties and expressions characteristic of animate ones and used figuratively.

Example of personification: “the wave listened.”

What topics does it raise?

Family and human relationships

Family and human relationships are the central theme and form the basis of the plot. In a relaxed fairy-tale form, Pushkin unfolds a family drama. All the central characters of the work are relatives to each other, but there is no mutual understanding between them, which is due to the king’s weak character, envy and sabotage of the sisters.

Pursuing his interests, a person in life often neglects the feelings and desires of his closest and dearest people, which leads to sad consequences.

On a completely different side, the theme of family values, mutual respect and support is illustrated by the relationship between mother and son - the queen and Guidon, showing the reader a positive, inspiring example.

Pushkin’s work is a fairy tale, and a fairy tale, as you know, is “a lie, but there is a hint in it.” If we apply its plot to reality, it turns out to be relevant for modern times: human envy has not been eliminated.

Moral themes

Through the images and actions of the characters, the author raises moral themes. It shows baseness and deceit in an unsightly light. Kindness, honesty and nobility, on the contrary, look attractive. Envy, self-interest and malice do not lead to good; sooner or later a person will pay for his unseemly actions and thoughts. And kindness, selflessness and nobility open a person’s path to happiness.

Every person can make a mistake, find themselves in the grip of a lie, the main thing is to find the strength to correct the situation and ask for forgiveness. The story of Tsar Saltan leads to this conclusion.

State and civilization

This is a serious and complex topic, presented in a simple, accessible form in Pushkin’s text. Through the poetic text, a generalized model of civilization is recreated, economic and political life is illustrated.

Merchants conduct international trade, are carriers of important information, and tell the king about “miracles.”
The Tsar goes to war - this is a severe necessity of the policy of any state, especially in the time of Pushkin.
Miracles symbolize important government components.
Belka is the treasury, a source of wealth and stability, 33 heroes and Chernomor is an army that ensures security and well-being.
The Swan Princess is the sovereign's wife, his faithful assistant.

State and human

The state and the human are combined in the figure of the ruler. The monarch is presented as an ordinary person with his own weaknesses, shortcomings, everyday and family problems. Saltan is generally a nice ruler, but he lacks toughness.

That is why in his home environment women dare to contradict him. They, knowing the good-heartedness of the king, were not afraid to commit a terrible forgery and crime. The tsar's excessive softness became the cause of his family tragedy and could have led to state collapse.

Guidon is a strong-willed ruler, although he is kind, like a father. He is a hero, just as his mother intended. Bogatyrs have a heroic character. Everything is fine in the family of Prince Guidon and in his principality.

Idea and morality

“You can’t build happiness on someone else’s misfortune,” says a Russian proverb, which well reflects the meaning of Pushkin’s work. “The Tale of Tsar Saltan” instills the concept of justice, teaches to be grateful, not to envy, to help others, to persevere in overcoming difficulties, to be able to hear and listen to others, but not to succumb to the influence of others. Here are the main conclusions to which the fairy tale leads.

History of creation

Researchers have proven that when working on the plot of the fairy tale, Pushkin used the plot lines of the legend called “Knee-deep in gold, elbow-deep in silver.” While studying folk art, the poet wrote it down in several interpretations. The researchers received the drafts used in the work. In a notebook dated 1828, there were descriptions of the image of the Swan Princess, similar to Vasilisa the Wise. The author first turned to the plot while in 1822 in Chisinau. Although literary scholars argue on this point, considering the notes made as an insertion into drafts dating back to 1824-828.

Alexander Pushkin

The poet compiled notes, which could be a brief description of foreign legends. These conclusions are made on the basis of terms introduced by Pushkin. The characters in the draft are presented chaotically. According to some sources, the records date back to a later period - to the time of the writer’s imprisonment in Mikhailovskoye. Some nuances of the fairy tale appeared thanks to the stories of Arina Rodionovna, the poet’s nanny.

Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin's first idea for the tale of Saltan was to alternate between poetic and prose forms, but it turned out to be not as successful as it seemed. 1828 is officially considered the date of appearance of the first edition of the work, consisting of 14 lines in verse and a prose continuation. It is easy to assume that the prose form was a blueprint for subsequent poetic presentation.

Books “The Tale of Tsar Saltan”

In 1831, while living in Tsarskoe Selo at Kitaeva’s dacha, Pushkin competed with Zhukovsky in the success of his work with folklore material. The writers chose the same plot, and the result of the competition to rework it was “The Tale of Tsar Saltan” and “The Balda” by Pushkin, as well as “The Sleeping Princess” and “Tsar Berendey” by Zhukovsky. The reliability of the events can be questioned, but in December 1831, after editing by Pletnev, Pushkin’s fairy tale was read in the presence of Nicholas I. In 1832, it was published in a collection of poems. During the poet's lifetime, the work was not published as an independent work.