The main characters of the novel (story)
- Troekurov Kirila Petrovich is a wealthy landowner, retired general-in-chief, capricious and cruel.
- Dubrovsky Andrei Gavrilovich is a poor nobleman, a retired lieutenant of the guard, a man of independent character.
- Vladimir Dubrovsky is a 23-year-old retired guards officer, the son of Andrei Gavrilovich.
- Masha (Marya Kirilovna) is Troekurov’s 17-year-old daughter, a dreamer who loved to read novels.
Main characters
Troekurov Kirila Petrovich is a rich and influential gentleman.
Dubrovsky Andrei Gavrilovich is a poor nobleman who owned a modest estate. Troekurov's best friend.
Maria Kirilovna is Troekurov’s seventeen-year-old daughter, a beautiful and dreamy girl.
Vladimir Andreevich - Dubrovsky's son, a young man, was in military service; after the news of his father's illness, he leaves all his affairs and goes to his native estate.
Vereisky is an elderly rich prince.
A very brief summary for a reader's diary
Master Troekurov was rich and capricious. Neighboring landowners and provincial officials were afraid of him. He was friends with his neighbor on the estate, the poor nobleman Dubrovsky.
After a quarrel between Troekurov and Dubrovsky, real enmity began. Troekurov bribed the judges and seized the Kistenevka estate from Dubrovsky. In the courtroom, Dubrovsky went crazy.
His son Vladimir left military service and returned home. The father soon died, and Vladimir, deciding to take revenge on Troekurov, set Kistenevka on fire.
Dubrovsky became a robber and terrified the landowners. But he did not touch Troekurov’s estate, since, under the guise of a French teacher, he became a tutor in the family of this landowner. Troekurov's daughter Masha and Dubrovsky fell in love with each other.
Troekurov gave his 17-year-old daughter against her will to the 50-year-old Prince Vereisky. Dubrovsky wanted to save her, but was too late. He and his people stopped the prince’s carriage and told Masha that she was free. But the girl refused to leave her husband, since she swore an oath to be faithful to him at the wedding.
Dubrovsky and the robbers returned to the forest. There was a battle with soldiers. The robbers were victorious, but the government sent a company of soldiers to catch them. Then Dubrovsky disbanded his gang and went abroad.
Chapter-by-chapter summary (more detailed than summary)
Volume 1
Chapter 1
The rich and noble gentleman Gavrila Petrovich Troekurov lived in one of his estates, the village of Pokrovskoye. He was uneducated and was not used to limiting his ardent temper. Neighbors and provincial officials were afraid of him.
Troekurov usually spent his time in feasts and mischief, the victims of which were usually new acquaintances.
His neighbor, the poor landowner Andrei Gavrilovich Dubrovsky, was once Troekurov’s comrade in the service, but retired and settled in his village of Kistenevka. Kirila Petrovich rose to the rank of general-in-chief, also retired and settled in his Pokrovsky estate.
Troekurov and Dubrovsky partly agreed in character, and their fates were similar: both were widowed early, both had a child. Vladimir, the son of Andrei Gavrilovich, was brought up in St. Petersburg, and the daughter of Kiril Petrovich grew up before her father’s eyes.
One day, an unexpected incident upset Troekurov’s friendship with Dubrovsky. Kirila Petrovich and his guests were getting ready to go hunting and took them to the kennel to show off his hunting dogs, of which he had more than 500. Andrei Gavrilovich was jealous of this, since he was a passionate hunter, but could only keep two hounds and one pack of greyhounds. Kirila Petrovich asked why he was frowning, maybe he didn’t like the kennel. Andrei Gavrilovich replied that the kennel is good, and it is unlikely that Troekurov’s people live better than his dogs.
One of the hounds boldly said that it would not hurt another nobleman to exchange his estate for a dog kennel at Troekurov’s. Andrei Gavrilovich turned pale. He did not go hunting, but returned to his place in Kistenevka.
Troekurov sent a servant to him 2 times with instructions to bring him, since Kiril Petrovich never went hunting without Dubrovsky. But Andrei Gavrilovich did not return, but only handed over a letter for him, in which he wrote that he would not come to Pokrovskoye until Troekurov sent him the hound Paramoshka so that he would ask for forgiveness, and it would be Dubrovsky’s will to punish or forgive him.
Kirila Petrovich became terribly angry and decided to take revenge on his former comrade.
One day Dubrovsky saw Pokrovsky men in his forest cutting down trees. He and his coachman caught two of them and taught them a lesson with rods, but kept the horses for themselves.
Troyekurov wanted to ruin Kistenevka with his servants for this, but decided to take revenge on Dubrovsky in a different way. He instructed assessor Shabashkin to ensure that Dubrovsky’s estate passed to him, Troekurov. This estate once belonged to his ancestors, and the documents proving that it was purchased by Dubrovsky burned down.
Soon Andrei Gavrilovich received an invitation from the city to prove that he rightfully owned the village of Kistenevka. This is how the court case began to drag on.
On February 9, 18... Dubrovsky received an invitation to appear in court to hear the decision on the disputed estate.
Chapter 2
In court, in the presence of Andrei Gavrilovich and Kiril Petrovich, a resolution was read out, in which Kistenevka was recognized as the property of Troekurov.
Dubrovsky suddenly shouted that he would teach the hounds who bring dogs into the church a lesson. It was a sudden fit of madness. Andrei Gavrilovich became violent, the guards barely took him out and put him in a sleigh.
Chapter 3
The attacks of madness did not recur, but the old man became weaker. Nanny Egorovna notified his son that his father was weak and that Kistenevka was being given to Troyekurov. Vladamir took a leave of absence from the service and came to his father.
Chapter 4
Troekurov became the owner of Kistenevka. But he felt sorry for his friend from his youth and came to him. At the time when Andrei Gavrilovich was paralyzed, Vladimir was informed that Troekurov had arrived. Vladimir ordered the servant to tell Troekurov to get out of here. The servant conveyed these words to Troekurov. Vladimir went out to his people and announced that his father had died.
Chapter 5
After the funeral of Andrei Gavrilovich, representatives of the court came to Kistenevka and announced to its residents that from now on they belonged to Troekurov. The villagers were outraged and wanted to tie up the officials, but they locked themselves in the house. Vladimir did not allow the courtyard people to rebel, as he hoped for the intercession of the sovereign.
Chapter 6
Vladimir, leaving the house, saw Arkhip the blacksmith hiding with an ax, who wanted to kill the officials sleeping in the house. Dubrovsky said that they were not guilty and ordered the house to be set on fire. When the flames flared up, Vladimir thought that he had closed the door to the hallway in a hurry, and told Arkhip to unlock it. He ran into the hallway and saw that the doors were open, locked them, and those in the house burned.
Chapter 7
Troekurov himself conducted an investigation at the scene of the fire. It turned out that Vladimir Dubrovsky, nanny Egorovna, her son Grigory, as well as the coachman and blacksmith had gone to an unknown place.
Troekurov wrote to the governor about this incident, and a new court case ensued, as it was suspected that Dubrovsky was to blame for the fire.
Soon robbers appeared in the vicinity. They robbed the landowners' houses and burned them, but did not touch Troekurov's estate. Everyone suspected that the leader of the gang was Dubrovsky.
Chapter 8
Troekurov's daughter Masha grew up without friends. She was fond of reading novels. She had a 9-year-old brother, Sasha, the illegitimate son of Kiril Petrovich. For him, his father sent a Frenchman from Moscow - Deforge's teacher.
One of Troekurov’s entertainments was to push his new acquaintance into the room of a hungry bear, tied with a rope to a ring embedded in the wall. The rope was so long that the bear could not reach only one corner of the room. The door was closed, and the person sometimes remained in this corner for as long as 3 hours.
The master and Deforge subjected him to such a test. He was not taken aback and shot the bear in the ear with a pistol. To find out who warned the teacher about the joke, Kirila Petrovich sent for Masha so that she could translate this question to the Frenchman. He replied that he did not know about the bear, that he always carried a pistol, since he would not tolerate an insult for which he could not challenge him to a duel because of his low rank.
This incident made a great impression on the girl. She began to respect the teacher for her courage and proud pride. Their rapprochement was facilitated by music lessons that Deforge began to give to Masha. The girl fell in love with him, without yet admitting it to herself.
Volume 2
Chapter 9
On the eve of the holiday, guests came to see Troekurov. Anton Pafnutich Spitsyn was late for lunch and explained this by the fact that he was going around the Kistenevsky forest. He said that he was afraid to meet with Dubrovsky, since at the trial he gave false testimony in favor of Troekurov.
The widow Anna Savishna Globova said that Dubrovsky dined with her last Tuesday. It turned out that she sent a clerk to the city so that he would send 2 thousand rubles to her son, a guard officer. The clerk returned and said that he had been robbed by robbers, and Dubrovsky wanted to hang him, but he took pity and let him go.
About 2 weeks later, a general came to see her, introducing himself as a colleague of her late husband. Anna Savishna told him about her grief. The general said that he had heard that Dubrovsky attacks only the rich and does not rob or kill. He asked to call the clerk. He, seeing the general, trembled. The general forced the clerk to tell how he was robbed. He had to admit that Dubrovsky demanded a letter and money from him, and then returned them, saying that he himself was a guard officer and would not offend his comrade. Anna Savishna guessed that the general was Dubrovsky. The money was found from the clerk, and the general took him with him. The next day the clerk was found in the forest, tied to a tree and beaten.
The widow's story made a great impression on Masha, who saw Dubrovsky as a romantic hero.
Chapter 10
Troekurov left all the guests to spend the night. He ordered the gates to be locked so that no one could leave. Anton Pafnutich was afraid to spend the night with Troekurov, because he was afraid that he would be given a secluded room for the night, where thieves could get into. He feared for the money he carried under his shirt in a leather bag. Anton Pafnutich asked Deforge to spend the night in his room, as he hoped for the courage of the teacher, which he showed when meeting with the bear.
At night, Anton Pafnutich woke up to the fact that the Frenchman, holding a pistol in one hand, was unfastening his bag with the other. The teacher warned him in pure Russian to remain silent, otherwise he would disappear. “I am Dubrovsky,” he added.
Chapter 11
This chapter explains how Dubrovsky entered Troekurov's house under the guise of a teacher. At one of the post stations he met a Frenchman who was going to see Troekurov, who hired him as a teacher. Having learned that no one knew this Frenchman in Troekurov’s house, Dubrovsky offered him 10 thousand to give him his passport and letter of recommendation and immediately go back to France. The stunned Frenchman agreed. Dubrovsky took his word of honor that he would not tell anyone about their deal.
So Dubrovsky settled in Troekurov’s house. Spending the night in the same room with Anton Pafnutich, whom he considered one of the culprits of his misfortune, Dubrovsky decided to take possession of the bag of money that he knew about.
In the morning, Anton Pafnutich was the last to show up for tea. He was pale, looked at the teacher with horror, quickly bowed and left.
Chapter 12
Marya Kirilovna was getting more and more used to Deforge. One day he gave her a note in which he asked to be at the gazebo at 7 o’clock. When Masha arrived, the teacher admitted to her that he was not Deforge, but Dubrovsky, whom her father kicked out of his father’s house. Dubrovsky said that he forgave him, and this was due to Masha. It turned out that when Dubrovsky left Kistenevka, he walked around Troekurov’s house, looking for where he would need to set it on fire. But then he saw Masha and fell in love with her.
When the opportunity presented itself to live in Troekurov’s house, the young man took advantage of it and these 3 weeks were days of happiness for him.
He told Masha that he had received news after which he could not stay here, and asked her to contact him if she ever needed help. The girl cried and promised to do it.
Arriving home, she found the police officer there, who assured Troekurov that Deforge was Dubrovsky. It turned out that Anton Pafnutich complained that he had been robbed by Deforge, who turned out to be Dubrovsky.
The teacher could not be found because someone warned him.
Chapter 13
At the beginning of the next summer, Troekurov’s wealthy neighbor, Prince Vereisky, an old red tape worker, returned from abroad to his Arbatovo estate. After visiting a neighbor, the prince fell in love with his daughter and invited them to come visit him. When they arrived, Vereisky tried to amaze them with his art gallery, a wonderful dinner, brass music and fireworks.
Chapter 14
When Marya Kirilovna was embroidering one day, her hand reached out through the window and placed a letter in front of the girl. At this time, Marya Kirilovna was called to her father, and she hid the letter.
Prince Vereisky was in his father’s office, and Troekurov announced to his daughter that the prince was wooing her. Vereisky asked if she agreed. Masha began to cry, and her father told her to go away to dry her tears and return to them cheerfully.
Masha ran to her room and read the letter in which Dubrovsky asked her to come to her previous place at 10 o’clock.
Chapter 15
In the evening, they had a date near the gazebo. Vladimir said that he knew everything and offered to save her from the prince. She forbade him to do this and said that she hoped to persuade her father not to give her to the prince.
Dubrovsky put a ring on Masha’s finger and asked her to lower it into the hollow of the oak tree that grew near the gazebo if she needed help.
Chapter 16
Masha wrote a letter to the prince in which she begged him to abandon his intention to marry her. He showed the letter to Troekurov. Kirila Petrovich told his daughter that the wedding would take place the day after tomorrow. In vain Masha tried to persuade her father not to force her to marry the prince, but he was inexorable.
Then Masha said that Vladimir Dubrovsky would protect her. Her father locked her in the room, saying that she would not come out before the wedding.
Chapter 17
In the morning, her little brother Sasha came to the window of Masha’s room and asked if she needed anything. Marya Kirilovna asked him to put the ring in the hollow of the oak tree.
Sasha fulfilled the order, but saw that the red-haired boy rushed to the oak tree and pulled out the ring from the hollow. The boys began to fight, Sasha shouted that there were thieves here, the gardener caught the thief and brought him to the master. The father managed to extract from Sasha what happened. Troekurov, having learned that the red-haired boy considered himself a servant of the Dubrovsky gentlemen, realized that Masha was calling Dubrovsky for help.
He decided to take this opportunity to help the authorities catch Dubrovsky. Just then the police officer came to him, with whose help he could capture Dubrovsky. After a conversation with Troekurov, the police officer released the boy, who did not admit that his master had sent him to the oak tree.
Chapter 18
The wedding of Marya Kirilovna and Prince Vereisky took place. Until the very last moment the girl waited for Dubrovsky. When in the church the priest asked if she agreed to be the prince’s wife, Masha froze, and the priest, without waiting for an answer, married her to the prince.
The young people went to Arbatovo. Suddenly the carriage was surrounded by armed people, and a man in a half mask told Marya Kirilovna that she was free, the prince shouted: “Who are you?..” “This is Dubrovsky,” said the princess. The prince shot and wounded Dubrovsky in the shoulder. The robbers wanted to kill the prince, but their leader shouted not to touch him.
The princess said that she was waiting for Dubrovsky until the last minute, but now it is too late, since she is married to Prince Vereisky.
Chapter 19
In a robber's den, which was in a dense forest, a wounded Dubrovsky lay in a hut. Suddenly there was alarm in the fortification - a sign was received that they were looking for them. The watchmen reported that there were soldiers in the forest. In the battle with them, the robbers won.
Then the government sent a company of soldiers to capture Dubrovsky. Having caught several people from his gang, they learned that Dubrovsky had left them forever and advised them to get somewhere far away from here and work honestly there.
Since then, the robberies and fires have stopped. Information was received that Dubrovsky had gone abroad.
Summary of the novel “Dubrovsky”
Read online a summary of A.S. Pushkin’s novel “Dubrovsky”.
Volume I
Chapter 1
The rich nobleman and landowner Troekurov had a powerful and despotic character. All the other landowners and officials were afraid of him, except for the only poor but proud man - Andrei Dubrovsky. However, Kirill respected the principles of his friend and even wanted to marry his daughter Maria to his son Andrei.
One day, while inspecting Troekurov’s kennel, his peasant insulted Andrei. He was very indignant and asked permission to punish the servant himself. Troekurov refused and the friends quarreled. A rich landowner decided to take revenge on his friend, thereby taking away his estate.
Chapter 2
Andrey received a summons to court. The matter was decided in advance in favor of Kirill Petrovich. After the court's verdict, Dubrovsky fell into violent insanity.
Chapter 3
The old maid Egorovna called her master’s son, Vladimir, sending him a letter. At this time, Vladimir served in St. Petersburg in the guard. The younger Dubrovsky immediately came to the village of Kistenevka and learned about the quarrel between his former friends.
Chapter 4
Vladimir unsuccessfully tried to understand the essence of the whole problem and did not notice how he missed the deadline for appealing the court verdict. Therefore, according to the law, the estate began to belong to Troekurov. He, in turn, decided to show kindness and make peace with the enemy. To do this, he went to the village. Seeing his enemy, Andrei Gavrilovich was greatly shocked, after which he died suddenly.
Chapter 5
After his father's funeral, Vladimir meets officials on the threshold of his house. They came to introduce Andrei to the estate. They behaved too brazenly, thereby causing great indignation among the peasants. Only Dubrovsky's intervention saved the bailiffs from reprisals.
Chapter 6
The officials got drunk on the owner's rum and fell asleep in the estate. At night, Vladimir and his devotees set fire to the estate. Against the will of the owner, the blacksmith Arkhip locked the doors so that all the guests would die in a fire.
Chapter 7
The former landowner and several peasants disappeared without a trace. The circumstances of the death of the officials have not been fully clarified. Suspicion fell on Arkhip and Vladimir.
Then robbers appeared in the village. Rumor called Dubrovsky Jr. their leader. Troekurov feared revenge, but attacks by robbers bypassed his possessions.
Chapter 8
A new man, Deforge, appeared in Kirill Petrovich’s house - a French teacher. The master hired him for his son Sasha. The owner of the house immediately decided to subject the teacher to his favorite joke: lock him in a room with a hungry bear, which was tied to the wall in such a way that you could only dodge it in one corner. However, fortunately, Desforges had a pistol with him, with which he killed the beast.
With this act, he was able to earn great respect from the landowner and force his daughter, Maria, to pay attention to himself. Gradually the young people fell in love with each other.
