Queen Of Spades Pushkin

Raskolnikov expresses belief that some people are above the law. In fact, he published an article which established that some “extraordinary” people have the right to “step over certain obstacles”. Raskolnikov believes himself to be one of these extraordinary people. He wonders what it would be like if Napoleon, for example, had played by the rules. Would he have made such an impact on the world? It is this very utilitarian belief that drives Raskolnikov to kill Alyona Ivanovna, and consequently her sister Lizaveta as well. He believes that the pawnbroker Alyona Ivanovna is a louse, “a useless, nasty, pernicious louse.” By ridding the world of Alyona, he thinks he is helping many others.

Keeping this in mind, it comes as no surprise that Raskolnikov would feel utterly abhorred when Svidrigaïlov refers to them as “birds of a feather”(p.340; Part 4, Chapter 1). While Svidrigaïlov is rather keen of their shared similarities, such as their status as murderers, Raskolnikov willingly fails to realize these associations. Raskolnikov’s better side objects to the hedonistic behavior of Svidrigaïlov, decrying him as a man of the most abject nature. The dramatic irony lies in the fact that Raskolnikov desires to be an “extraordinary” man, the very epitome of Svidrigaïlov, a man he holds in no high regard. Despite their superficial variances and dissidences, Raskolnikov had slowly rendered himself into a facsimile of the man he detested, Svidrigaïlov. Although both men, whether knowingly or unknowingly, desire to transcend above the ordinary masses, it is only a matter of time before self-realization indicates the folly of their ways.

“The Queen of Spades” by Alexander Pushkin portrays how human avarice can induce people to lose their morality eventually by using different tricks to achieve their goal. This is because they will become aggressive and greedy that they can possess by the devil and unable to extreme themselves once they fail into the trap of imagination. The Shining by Stanley Kubrick describes how Jack unsatisfied everything surrounding him, which he is being separating from the real world and live in his imaginary world. Both characters allow their imagination to take over their brain and drive them to madness, which they discard their ethics ultimately because they believe imagination can guide them to the right way in order to solve all the problems. However,

My initial observation of Dashkova is her ability to be extraordinary despite her difficult upbringing. Her intelligence was compelling to the Empress Catherine and the men that she had encountered during her traveling. Dashkova portrayed herself as a strong, versatile woman, who’s not only different from most of the women during the time period, but can also outperform her male counterparts in various tasks (e.g. surgery, debate, carpenting, etc.) (pg. 144). She surprised the readers at the first moment when she met Prince Dashkov, a Moscow man. She fell in love with him and got married at the age of 16. The proposal was informal and emotional unlike the traditional arrangement with its strict regulations. Just 5 years after, Prince Dashkov passed away, leaving Dashkova 2 children and his mountainous gambling debt. In the most hopeless scenario, Dashkova managed to raise her 2 children and provided her son a wonderful education while still remaining faithful to the Empress Catherine II. She declared, “My own poverty affected me not at all” (pg. 149).

Although Chekhov emphasized in the beginning of the text that money holds power as shown by Anna and Modest Alexeich’s relationship, Chekhov shifts the power dynamic by introducing Anna’s beauty and sense of empowerment and now Anna has a new sense of awareness and power. Following the ball, His Excellency “[thanks Anna] for her part in the bazaar” and asked her permission to come again (283). After establishing herself and her influence at the ball, His Excellency’s visit to Anna truly places emphasis on her role at the ball. Having one of the highest member of society personally visit and thank Anna gave her the highest sense of empowerment as this moment proves to be significant. Most notably when her husband looks at her with the “cringingly respectful expression that she was accustomed to see on his face in the presence of the illustrious and the powerful,” and she confidently and clearly articulated the following statement, “Get out, you blockhead!” (283). Compared to the confined and powerless young lady Chekhov presented in the beginning of the plot,

In “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin, the author depicts how someone can be trapped in an unproductive and unsatisfying reality because of other’s thoughtlessness, exploitation, and domination. When combined with the contemporary society’s belief, presumably the later half of the 19th century, a further understanding of Chopin’s thoughts and feelings can be realized. Mrs. Louise Mallard, the victim and messenger of this story, is the image of such a person. Her relationship with her husband is so oppressive and limiting that even death is considered a reasonable means of escape. The condition of life for Mrs. Mallard is terrible, yet for some reason she doesn’t seem to come to the full

     Relationships seem to be the favorite subject of Kate Chopin’s stories. As Margaret Bauer suggests that Chopin is concerned with exploring the “dynamic interrelation between women and men, women and patriarchy, even women and women” (Bauer 146). In “The Story of an Hour” Chopin deals with the subject of marriage. She illustrates the influence of family alliance on individual freedom. According to Wohlpart,“The Story of an Hour” describes the journey of Mrs. Mallard against the Cult of True Womanhood as she slowly becomes aware of her own desires and thus of a feminine self that has long been suppressed”(Wohlpart 2). The Cult of True Womanhood in the XIX century included “purity” and “domesticity”. The former suggested that women must maintain their virtue. The latter – denied them their intellectual and professional capabilities (Papke 12). Being the victim of this Cult, Louise Mallard was a good example of a wife without “her own desires and feminine self”.

In Alexander Solzhenitysn’s story “Matryona’s Home”, Solzhenitsyn creates a relationship between an out of town visitor, Ignatch and an elderly woman, Matryona. Matryona reluctantly opens up her home to Ignatch, over the course of their housing together they begin to form some sort of a friendship. Ignatch begins to understand Matryona’s way of life that “she illustrates a spirituality that eschews greed and self-interest” (Paloni). Her willingness to help others without expecting anything in return is her main flaw and ends up becoming the death of her. Foreshadowing and irony are used throughout the story to show how society misuses Matryona.

In their lives a distant and cold character exists. When the war began in Sarajevo the men on the hills cut off the city’s water. Kenan’s elderly neighbor Mrs. Ristovski thrusted her plastic bottles towards him when he opened the door and all she said was “A promise is a promise.” and left him standing at the doorway. Even before the war Mrs. Ristovski had always acted abrasively; knocking on their door early in the morning and complaining about their first born’s crying. Not once has she shown

The stories of Anton Chekhov mark a focal moment in European fiction. This is the point where 19th realist caucus of the short stories started their transformation into modern form. As such, his work straddles two traditions. The first is that of the anti-romantic realism which has a sharp observation of external social detail. It has human behavior conveyed within tight plot. The second is the modern psychological realism in which the action in typically internal and expressed in associative narrative that is built on epiphanic moments. In consideration of the two sides, Chekhov developed powerful personal styles that presage modernism without losing traditional frills of the form. This essay will discuss the Chekhov's portrayal of women.

“Days of a Russian Noblewoman” is a translated memoir originally written by a Russian noblewoman named Anna Labzina. Anna’s memoir gives a unique perspective of the private life and gender roles of noble families in Russia. Anna sees the male and female gender as similar in nature, but not in morality and religiosity. She sees men as fundamentally different in morality and religiosity because of their capability to be freely dogmatic, outspoken, and libertine. Anna implies throughout her memoir that woman in this society have the capacity to shape and control their lives through exuding a modest, submissive, and virtuous behavior in times of torment. Through her marriage, Labzina discovers that her society is highly male centered.

Popular descriptions of Alexei Karenin label him as a cold and passionless government official who doesn’t care about his wife or family. Indeed, he is viewed as the awful husband who is holding Anna hostage in a loveless marriage. However, this is a highly exaggerated description, if not completely false, analysis of Karenin. Upon careful analysis of Karenin’s character and his actions, it is clear that he is not the person Anna makes him out to be. In fact, with thorough examination of the passage on pages 384 and 385 of Anna Karenina, it is clear that Alexei Karenin can be considered the hidden tragic hero of the novel.

Alexander Pushkin “The Queen of Spades,” begins with a gathering of some men having dinner, playing cards, and talking. Hermann a German just listens and watches the men play cards, not once participating, Tomsky “…pointing at [Hermann, says] ‘He’s never held a card in his hand, never doubled a single stake in his life...’” (276). Then, Tomsky begins with the story of how he does not understand how his grandmother Anna Fedotovna (the countess) never plays cards when she knows a secret of how to win with only using three cards. All the men that had gathered during that night were in awe. Since Hermann had heard how Tomsky’s grandmother had lost all her wealth and then recovered it all in just one night by playing with three secret cards, he could not stop thinking about that story and begins to lose control of his mind and greed takes over his emotions. Hermann’s only thoughts were to find a way to become close to the countess so he could discover the three secret cards that were used. Knowing that those three secret cards could liberate him from the small inheritance he had received from his father and accumulate wealth.

In 19th century Russian literature there was often a gender inequality depicted between the male and female characters. Women were expected to get married, start a family, and obey their husbands. Women often made sacrifices and married men they weren’t fond of in order to support their families. Anton Chekhov’s writing questions these gender relationships. The female characters have a strong presence within Chekhov’s works, and they transcend typical gender roles.

One of the main themes of War and Peace is the irrational nature of human behaviour. A clear example of this is the scandalous affair between Natasha Rostov and Anatole Kuragin. Natasha Rostov was happily engaged to Prince Andrey Bolkonsky, but suddenly ended the engagement because she fell in love with Anatole within a 3-day span and wished to elope and run away with him. Her cousin Sonya, upon learning of the affair directly from Natasha, commented “Natasha, I can’t believe you, you’re joking. In three days to forget everything, and like this…” (659). To this, Natasha responds “It seems to me as though I have loved him for a hundred years… You can’t understand that” (659). This relates to how irrational impulses are logical to an individual, but seldom to anyone else. To Natasha, following her heart means finding happiness, but her desires also blind her from reality and concrete truth.