Alexei Ivanovich Shvabrin is a young aristocrat, an officer who ended up in the Belogorsk fortress for killing his opponent in a duel. In the story "The Captain's Daughter" he is shown as a low, cynical and arrogant person. He treated all the inhabitants of the fortress with contempt, considering himself the best. He really liked Captain Mironov's daughter, but he called Masha a fool and spread gossip about her. As it turned out later, she simply did not agree to marry him, and in this way he took revenge on her. At the end of the story, Shvabrin keeps her under lock and key, puts her on bread and water, in this way wants to achieve reciprocity on her part. His meanness knows no bounds, it costs nothing for him to slander and humiliate a person.
In a duel with Grinev, he took advantage of the moment when Peter was distracted by Savelich, and wounded him, and then he also told Grinev's father about the duel in an anonymous letter. To commit low deeds is a common thing for Shvabrin, because he has neither shame nor conscience.
When Pugachev captures the Belogorsk fortress, Shvabrin goes over to the side of the bandits without hesitation. He becomes a traitor, forgetting that he swore an oath to faithfully serve the empress.
Appearing before the government court, Shvabrin did not calm down and said that Grinev also served with Pugachev. He could not deviate from his principles: to lie and commit meanness to the end.
Oh, this Shvabrin is a great Schelm.
A. Pushkin. Captain's daughter
In his historical story "The Captain's Daughter" A. S. Pushkin creates a whole gallery of images distinguished by honesty, nobility, loyalty to civic and public duty. Aleksey Shvabrin, the main negative character of the story, is a vile and dishonest person, capable of treason and betrayal, we remember with completely different qualities.
For the first time we meet Shvabrin in the Belogorsk fortress, where he was transferred to the service for "death-murder". Before us is "a young officer of short stature, with a swarthy face and remarkably ugly, but extremely lively." Shvabrin is "not very stupid" and his conversation is always "sharp and entertaining." However, his jokes and remarks are cynical, caustic and often groundless, as Pyotr Grinev, the protagonist of the story, soon notices.
Once Shvabrin was in love with Masha Mironova, the daughter of the commandant of the fortress, but his proposal was refused. The benevolence with which Marya Ivanovna now greets the first timid signs of attention from Grinev evokes anger and rage in Shvabrin. He tries in every possible way to denigrate the name of the girl and her family, as a result of which the young Grinev challenges Shvabrin to a duel. And here Shvabrin behaves unworthy of an officer: with a dishonorable blow, he insidiously wounds the enemy, distracted by the call of a servant.
Grinev's wound did not bring relief to Shvabrin, because Masha's feelings for him also grow stronger while caring for the patient.
However, the quiet and measured life of the inhabitants of the fortress was destroyed by the arrival of rebel detachments led by Pugachev. More than anything, Shvabrin is afraid for his own life, so he does not hesitate to recognize the "imposter" as king, dresses in Cossack clothes, and cuts his hair. He does not know a sense of duty and dignity, for the sake of personal gain he is ready for anything, which is why he humiliates himself in front of Pugachev, trying to please him. "Nimble, nothing to say!" - says the priest about him. Pugachev, not having time to recognize this man, leaves the fortress, leaving him in charge. Grinev is also forced to leave, and Shvabrin sees him off “with an expression of sincere malice and feigned mockery,” because after his betrayal he really wanted Grinev to be punished by Pugachev for his loyalty to the empress and the duty of a nobleman.
However, having remained in the fortress, Shvabrin does not stop his heinous atrocities. Masha Mironova, a defenseless girl, remained in his power, and he put her under lock and key on bread and water, trying to force her to marry. Shvabrin's rude harassment by no means speaks of his love for the daughter of the murdered commandant. On the contrary, by his actions, he thus tries to annoy and take revenge on his enemy, Pyotr Grinev, who at that time was looking for ways to free his beloved girl from cruel captivity. When Grinev, under the protection of Pugachev, arrived at the fortress, Shvabrin, out of unbearable fear for his life, falls on his knees before the "king", forgetting about pride and self-esteem. Grinev is disgusted by the sight of "a nobleman wallowing at the feet of a runaway Cossack." When Peter was leaving, taking Marya Ivanovna away from the fortress, Shvabrin's face "depicted gloomy anger." Even now, destroyed by his own meanness and shameless deeds, Shvabrin does not lose hope of taking revenge on Grinev. material from the site
After the suppression of the uprising, Shvabrin falls into the hands of the imperial court. The events that took place during this time greatly changed his appearance: “He was terribly thin and pale. His hair, which had recently been jet black, had turned completely gray; long beard was disheveled. His appearance causes hostility, but Shvabrin's strength is enough to commit the last, most unexpected meanness. He gives false testimony, accusing Grinev of treason and espionage. Shvabrin has nothing to lose, because he has long lost the remnants of conscience and human dignity.
It is terrible to meet in life with a man like Shvabrin - insidious, cruel, unprincipled. However, Grinev's victory turned into a defeat for Shvabrin, who was so afraid of losing his priceless life that he failed to understand that in fact he was originally a dead person.
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Publication (abridged), especially for the Russian People's Line (according to the publication: Chernyaev N.I. Pushkin's "Captain's Daughter": Historical-critical study. - M .: Univ. type., 1897. - 207, III p. (print from: Russian Review. - 1897. -NN2-4, 8-12; 1898.- N8) was prepared by Professor A. D. Kaplin.
Shvabrin.- He has nothing in common with melodramatic villains. - His past. - The main features of his mind and character, his views and his relationship to Grinev, to Marya Ivanovna, to Pugachev and to other characters in the "Captain's Daughter".
Shvabrin is usually considered a failed face for Pushkin. Prince Odoevsky refused to understand him; Belinsky called him a melodramatic hero. Meanwhile, Shvabrin, both as a type and as a character, is described in The Captain's Daughter with the same amazing skill as the Grinevs, Mironovs, Pugachev, etc. This is a living person in the full sense of the word, and all the misunderstandings about him are explained solely by the fact that Pushkin, following the laconism of presentation he learned in The Captain's Daughter, does not tell the reader what motives Shvabrin is guided by in some cases of his life. The duty of criticism is to clarify these motives and thereby put an end to the wrong, but, unfortunately, very widespread view of Shvabrin among us.
There is nothing in common between melodramatic heroes and Shvabrin. If Shvabrin is included among them, then he will need to be categorized as the so-called villains. Belinsky, obviously, was of the same opinion. But is Shvabrin really like the traditional villains of the Western European scene, who breathe crimes and in reality and in their dreams they dream of poisoning, strangling, destroying someone, etc. Shvabrin is not this or that walking passion, not this or that walking vice , but a complex character and a living being in the full sense of the word, bearing, moreover, the features of that era, which is reproduced in The Captain's Daughter.
Shvabrin is young, "of a good surname and has a fortune." He speaks French, is familiar with French literature, and, apparently, received, in his time, a good education. He calls Trediakovsky his teacher and, possessing a literary taste and some literary training, laughs at his love couplets. He served in the guards, but he ended up in the Belogorsk fortress five years before Grinev appeared in it. He was transferred here for killing some officer in a duel. Shvabrin does not say anything about his religious, philosophical and political views, but they can be judged by his actions and some hints scattered in the novel. Shvabrin obviously belonged to our freethinkers of the last century, who, under the influence of Voltaire, the French encyclopedists and the general spirit of the times, adopted a negative attitude towards the Church and towards everything Russian, looked at the demand for duty and morality as prejudices, and, in general, adhered to grossly materialistic views. “He doesn’t believe in the Lord God either,” Vasilisa Yegorovna says with horror about Shvabrin (in the fourth chapter), and this alone could not but alienate Marya Ivanovna from him, to whom he proposed a year before Grinev’s arrival in the Belogorsk fortress.
“Shvabrin was very intelligent,” says Grinev, “his conversation was sharp and entertaining.” Having a sociable character and accustomed to moving around in the big world in St. Petersburg, he was extremely weary of being in the wilderness where fate threw him, looked down on the people with whom he was surrounded, and was genuinely delighted at the arrival of Grinev, for he thought to find in him any suitable interlocutor and comrade. From the very first time he charmed the inexperienced young man with his liveliness, his ability to speak and present others in a caricature form. Grinev only later realized that Shvabrin's gaiety concealed an unkind feeling. Shvabrin did not spare even such harmless people as the old Mironovs and Ivan Ignatich. From this, however, it does not follow that he was truly observant and knew the human heart well.
He was funny, that's all. Shvabrin's mind was a shallow, superficial mind, devoid of that subtlety and depth, without which there can be neither foresight, nor a true assessment of one's own and others' actions and intentions. True, Shvabrin was cunning, crafty and interesting as an interlocutor, but if Pechorin met with him, he could safely say about his mind what he says in Princess Mary about Grushnitsky’s mind: Shvabrin, like Grushnitsky, was “ pretty sharp"; his inventions and witticisms were often amusing, but there were never marks and evil, even in those cases when they were generated by the most genuine anger; he could not kill anyone with a single word, for he did not know people and their weak strings, being busy all his life with only himself. Shvabrin could have imagined that Ivan Ignatich was in touch with Vasilisa Yegorovna and that Marya Ivanovna was selling her caresses; but he, despite all his cunning, did not know how to use people as instruments of his goals, did not know how to subordinate them to his influence, despite the fact that he passionately desired this; he did not even know how to skillfully wear the mask put on himself and be in the eyes of others what he wanted to appear.
That is why he constantly fell into the nets he spread for others and did not mislead anyone about his person, except for the inexperienced and gullible Pyotr Andreevich. Not only Marya Ivanovna, but even Vasilisa Yegorovna and Ivan Ignatich had no doubt that Shvabrin was a bad person. Shvabrin felt this and took revenge on them with slander. About his relationship to Pugachev, one can say the same thing that Pushkin says about Shvanvich: "He had the cowardice to stick to the impostor and the stupidity to serve him with all diligence." This also gives a not particularly favorable idea of Shvabrin's far-sightedness and insight.
Shvabrin belonged to the same category of people as Shakespeare's Iago and Walter Scott's Rashley (from the novel "Rob Roy"). He swims smaller than them, but he is just as soulless and immoral as they are. Strongly developed pride, terrible vindictiveness, the habit of going roundabout ways and complete promiscuity in means are the main features of his character. He vividly felt the bitterness of every offense inflicted on him and did not forgive his enemies. Sometimes he put on a mask of generosity and sincerity in order to lull their vigilance, but he could never reconcile with those whom he once planned as his victims.
Double-mindedness and pretense did not leave Shvabrin for a minute. After a duel with Grinev, he comes to him, asks him for forgiveness and confesses that he himself was to blame, but at the same time he writes a letter to old Grinev, in which, of course, he did not spare either Pyotr Andreevich or Marya Ivanovna, and if it were not for the Pugachev attack would have achieved its goal - the transfer of young Grinev from the Belogorsk fortress to some other "fortress". Seeking Marya Ivanovna's hand, Shvabrin denigrates the young girl in order to drop her in Grinev's eyes, and thus distract them from each other. In this case, he remained true to himself. His favorite means of intrigue were lies, slander, slander and denunciations. He resorted to them in relations with Pugachev, and with the old man Grinev, and in the Commission of Inquiry.
Nervous, intrusive, nimble, restless and mocking Shvabrin, completely alien to sincerity and kindness, could not help but have clashes with people close to him. No details are given about his first duel in St. Petersburg in The Captain's Daughter, but we are well aware of the circumstances under which the duel took place over Marya Ivanovna. Shvabrin was not a Bretter of the Pechorin type. He did not look for dangers and was afraid of them. True, he was not averse to playing the role of a brave man, but only if this could be achieved without putting his life at stake. This is evident from his collision with Grinev.
Mocking Marya Ivanovna in Grinev's presence, Shvabrin obviously did not think that his young comrade, whom he considered a boy, would take his words so close to his heart and answer him with a sharp insult. Shvabrin challenges Grinev to a duel, carried away by a momentary flash and a feeling of envy and hatred long overdue in him. Having made a challenge to Grinev, they are not looking for seconds. "Why do we need them?" - he says to Grinev, having learned about his conversation with Ivan Ignatich, who flatly refused to "be a witness to the duel."
“We can do without them.” The fact is that Shvabrin was more skillful than Grinev in fencing, looked at him as a non-dangerous opponent, and, challenging him to a duel, was sure that he was playing for sure. Preparing to put an end to Grinev, Shvabrin did not at all intend to fight him like a knight and, of course, prepared in advance not to miss the opportunity to deal him a treacherous blow (after all, he did not disdain to do this at the time when Grinev heard his name pronounced by Savelich and looked back). Here is the clue why Shvabrin did not look for seconds. They would only get in the way.
Shvabrin was a coward. There is no doubt about this. He was afraid of death and was incapable of sacrificing his life in the name of duty and honor.
“How do you think this will all end?” - Grinev asks him, after the first meeting with Ivan Ignatich about Pugachev.
God knows, answered Shvabrin: - we'll see. I don't see anything important yet. If...
Here he fell into thought and in his distraction began to whistle a French aria.
Shvabrin's "if" meant that in no case did he intend to go to the gallows, and that he would go over to Pugachev's side if the impostor was really as strong as he said.
The idea of betrayal came to Shvabrin at the first hint of danger and finally matured by the time the Pugachevites appeared near the Belogorsk fortress. He did not follow Captain Mironov, Ivan Ignatich and Grinev when they rushed to the sortie, but joined the Cossacks who had turned over to Pugachev. All this could be explained by Shvabrin's political unprincipledness and the ease with which he was accustomed to play with the oath, like an unbeliever.
Shvabrin's subsequent behavior shows, however, that in betraying the Empress, he acted mainly under the influence of cowardice. When Pugachev arrives at the Belogorsk fortress, together with Grinev, Shvabrin, noticing that the impostor is dissatisfied with him, trembles, turns pale and positively loses his presence of mind. When Pugachev finds out that Marya Ivanovna is not Shvabrin's wife, he says menacingly to him: “And you dared to deceive me! Do you know, slacker, what you deserve? - Shvabrin falls to his knees and thus begs for forgiveness. In the Commission of Inquiry, when Shvabrin is not threatened with immediate massacre, and when he has already got used to the position of a convicted criminal, he has the courage to testify against Grinev in a "bold voice": he had nothing to fear from Grinev.
How did Shvabrin behave before the judges at first? One must think that he was lying at their feet. It is very possible that he would have humbly asked for forgiveness from Grinev during the duel, if he had seriously feared for his life.
Did Shvabrin love Marya Ivanovna? Yes, as far as selfish and mean people can love. As an intelligent person, he could not fail to understand and appreciate her high moral merits. He knew that Marya Ivanovna would be an exemplary wife, that she would brighten up the life of the one whom she chose as her husband, and he, as a proud man, would be pleased to subject the wonderful girl to his influence. When his proposal was not accepted, and when he noticed that Marya Ivanovna preferred Grinev to him, he considered himself deeply offended. Since that time, a hidden feeling of hatred and revenge has been mixed with his feeling of love, and this is expressed in the slander that he decided to spread about her. Reviling Marya Ivanovna in front of Grinev, Shvabrin not only acted as his tool against the young people's nascent affection, but also took revenge on the girl who rejected him, cooling the enmity with slander.
Having become the commandant of the Belogorsk fortress, Shvabrin tries to force Marya Ivanovna with threats to marry him. He doesn't succeed. Prince Odoevsky was perplexed why Shvabrin did not take advantage of those moments when Marya Ivanovna was in his power, that is, why he did not satisfy his passion by violence or forced Father Gerasim to marry him to a poor orphan against her will. Yes, because Shvabrin is not Pugachev and not Khlopusha: in his relations with Marya Ivanovna, coarse sensuality did not play a big role. In addition, Shvabrin was not a man whose blood could befool his mind. He knew, finally, that Marya Ivanovna was not one of those girls who could be forced into marriage, and that Father Gerasim would not agree to perform the sacrament of marriage over the daughter of his old friend, contrary to her wishes. Shvabrin wanted Marya Ivanovna to become his wife, and not his concubine, for he nevertheless continued to love her, be jealous, and suffered at the thought that she treated him with disgust. Trying to defeat her stubbornness, he used those means that most corresponded to his character: intimidation with a denunciation, all sorts of harassment and threats, and, in general, a kind of moral and physical torture.
Slandering Grinev before the Investigative Commission, Shvabrin does not say a word about Marya Ivanovna. Why is this? Answering this question, Grinev notes: “Is it because his pride suffered at the thought of the one who rejected him with contempt; Is it because a spark of the same feeling lurked in his heart that made me keep silent - be that as it may, the name of the daughter of the Belogorsk commandant was not uttered in the presence of the commission! Grinev's words perfectly explain what motives guided Shvabrin in this case. He felt all the bitterness of resentment, which consisted in the refusal of Marya Ivanovna to be his wife, he experienced the pangs of jealousy and envy for his rival; but he still continued to love Marya Ivanovna, felt guilty before her and did not want to involve her in political criminality, exposing her to all the consequences of a close acquaintance with the harsh Themis of the time of Shishkovsky. Love for Marya Ivanovna had an ennobling effect even on Shvabrin.
It is possible, however, to admit another clue to Shvabrin's behavior in the Investigative Commission regarding Captain Mironov's daughter, a clue that Pyotr Andreevich Grinev overlooks, always somewhat idealizing his rival and enemy. It was simply unprofitable for Shvabrin to involve Marya Ivanovna in the case, for she could show many things not in his favor and easily expose his lies and slander; Shvabrin, of course, firmly remembered this at the confrontation with Grinev.
So, what is Shvabrin? This is not a melodramatic villain; he is a lively, witty, intelligent, proud, envious, vindictive, cunning, low and cowardly, deeply corrupted egoist, mocking and arrogant with those whom he is not afraid of, obsequiously obsequious with those who inspire fear in him. Like Shvanvich, he was always ready to prefer a shameful life to an honest death. Under the influence of malice and a sense of self-preservation, he is capable of any baseness. Regarding his betrayal of loyal and official duty, one can say what Catherine II says about Grinev: “He stuck to the impostor not out of ignorance and gullibility, but as an immoral and harmful scoundrel.”
For Shvabrin, nothing is sacred, and he stopped at nothing to achieve his goals. In addition to the thirteenth chapter of The Captain's Daughter, it is said that Shvabrin did not allow the Grinevs' house to be plundered, "preserving in his very humiliation an involuntary disgust from dishonest self-interest." It is understandable. Shvabrin received a gentlemanly and, to a certain extent, refined education; therefore, much of what seemed very natural to some semi-savage of runaway convicts inspired him with a feeling of disgust.
This does not mean, however, that he was superior to Pugachev or Khlopushi. Morally, he is immeasurably inferior to them. He did not have those bright sides that they had, and if he abhorred some of their exploits, it was only because he was more civilized and more pampered than they were. They rushed at the enemies, like lions and tigers, and took prey from the battle, he sneaked up on his victims, like a fox, and, like a snake, stung them at a time when they least expected it: He was disgusted with robberies and robbery, but he, without hesitation, struck blows at his enemies of betrayal and with a light heart would let them go around the world with the help of forgeries and all sorts of lies, if he wanted to take possession of their wealth.
Shvabrin was neither Richard III nor Franz Moor, but he would have been a perfectly suitable person for the retinue of Caesar Borgia. He could have neither friends nor selfless affections, for he sincerely loved only himself and was completely incapable of self-sacrifice. He was not a monster by vocation, but he did not know how to love strongly and knew how to hate strongly.
It was not without reason that Pushkin endowed Shvabrin with an ugly face: as a man inclined to rule over others and, probably, far from being indifferent to the impression he made on women, Shvabrin, one must think, cursed his unfortunate appearance, suffered many injections for his pride thanks to it, and already , of course, did not forgive those who guessed his soul from his face.
There is nothing Russian in Shvabrin: everything Russian was etched out in him by his upbringing, but he was still a Russian degenerate, a type that could only arise on Russian soil under the influence of the eighteenth century and its peculiarities. Despising the faith of his grandfathers and fathers, Shvabrin despised, at the same time, the concepts of honor and duty that guide both Grinevs.
Fatherland, oath, etc. - for Shvabrin all these words are devoid of any meaning. Shvabrin, as an everyday phenomenon, belongs to the same type as Fonvizin's caricature of our young Westerners of the eighteenth century - Ivanushka in The Brigadier. Shvabrin is smarter than Ivanushka; besides, there is not a single comical feature in it. Ivanushka can only arouse laughter and contempt; Shvabrin is not at all suitable for the heroes of a cheerful comedy. Nevertheless, he still has much in common with the foreman's son, as a product of the same spirit of the times.
Negative or positive hero Shvabrin? To answer this question, let's look at Shvabrin's characterization from Pushkin's The Captain's Daughter. In fact, in short, Alexei Ivanovich Shvabrin is the opposite of Pyotr Grinev and combines a set of qualities that are alien to decent people. Nevertheless, this is the key character of the story, and it is extremely important to discuss his characterization if we want to fully understand Pushkin's main idea.
What do we know about Shvabrin's appearance?
Let's start characterizing Shvabrin with his appearance. If the appearance of some literary heroes in certain works is not intentionally described, because the author pursues certain goals, then as for Shvabrin, Pushkin introduces him to us.
Grinev heard about Shvabrin when he dined with the Mironovs. Shvabrin himself has been serving here for several years, and was sent to the fortress after a duel. His stature is short, he is dark and ugly. However, this is a person with a lively face, very witty, far from stupid, and besides, he can present himself in a favorable light when necessary. Shvabrin happily told Grinev about the people who live in the fortress, in particular, about the commandant and his family. Described Shvabrin and features of the local way of life.
Shvabrin - who is he?
For example, in the very first days of their acquaintance, Shvabrin exposes Masha in a conversation with Grinev in such a light that one gets the impression that she is just a fool. And Grinev naively believes the words of his new friend, since he initially aroused his sympathy. However, Grinev eventually figured out and realized that Masha was not like that at all, and his friend was just trying to denigrate the girl. This case says a lot about what kind of characterization of Shvabrin can be safely given. It is interesting that Masha previously refused Shvabrin, feeling the vile essence of this person.
But Shvabrin was gossiping not only about Masha. He managed to tell Petrusha, who still did not really know the Mironovs, a lot of half-truths about their family and people close to them. For example, about the garrison lieutenant Ivan Ignatich, he said that he had an inadmissible relationship with the captain's wife.
These facts indicate that Shvabrin's characterization is very negative. Yes, Grinev was forced to see Shvabrin every day, but soon communication with Alexei Ivanovich became more and more unpleasant for him, and he simply could not stand his indecent jokes.
Quarrel between Grinev and Shvabrin
So, the negative of Peter Grinev on Shvabrin accumulated more and more. It must be understood that Peter was imbued with sympathy for the commandant's family, and, of course, he was very disposed towards Masha. Therefore, it is not surprising that Shvabrin's barbs about Masha caused irritation. Finally, an incident occurred that led to a quarrel between young people. Let's consider it below.
Peter liked to write poetry and often composed in his spare time. Once he wrote lines that someone wanted to read, and Grinev read the poem to Shvabrin. However, he reacted very unexpectedly: taking the sheets with the essay, Shvabrin began to criticize the poet and gloat. This started a quarrel and then led to a duel. In fact, Grinev dedicated the poem to Masha Mironova, which Shvabrin could not bear. Moreover, he made a gross accusation against her. It should be noted that although Shvabrin vilely struck Grinev with a blow, he later recovered and forgave Alexei. But Shvabrin did not appreciate the nobility of Peter, and inside him the desire to avenge everything remained.
Conclusions on the characterization of Shvabrin in the story "The Captain's Daughter"
From the cases cited above, it is clear that Shvabrin is a vile person, envious and spiteful. Remember what an unsightly act he committed while Grinev was recovering from a wound: Shvabrin sent a letter to Peter's father without a signature to do another nasty thing.
In addition, Shvabrin turned out to be a coward and a traitor, which follows from further events, when Pugachev appeared. Thanks to such a character as Shvabrin, the reader can not only see the nobility and courage of Pyotr Grinev in contrast, but also draw certain conclusions about what qualities a person should not have and what, on the contrary, is worth learning.
This article presented a characterization of Shvabrin from Pushkin's The Captain's Daughter. You might also be interested in articles
"Captain's daughter". Chapter 3 "...I fell down and passed out." Artist V. Syskov. 1984.
Below, to the birthday of A.S. Pushkin, we publish a fragment from the first monograph dedicated to "The Captain's Daughter" - in fact, the testament of the great Russian writer - one of the best experts on his life and work, Nikolai Ivanovich Chernyaev (1853-1910) (see about him).
Publication (abridged), especially forRussian Folk Line (according to the edition: Chernyaev N.I. "The Captain's Daughter" of Pushkin: Historical-critical study. - M .: Univ. type., 1897. - 207, III p. (print from: Russian Review. - 1897. - NN2-4, 8-12; 1898.- N8) prepared by Professor A. D. Kaplin.
Shvabrin.- He has nothing in common with melodramatic villains. - His past. - The main features of his mind and character, his views and his relationship to Grinev, to Marya Ivanovna, to Pugachev and to other actors in the "Captain's Daughter".
Shvabrin is usually considered a failed face for Pushkin. Prince Odoevsky refused to understand him; Belinsky called him a melodramatic hero. Meanwhile, Shvabrin, both as a type and as a character, is described in The Captain's Daughter with the same amazing skill as the Grinevs, Mironovs, Pugachev, etc. This is a living person in the full sense of the word, and that's all misunderstandings about him are explained solely by the fact that Pushkin, following the laconism of presentation he learned in The Captain's Daughter, does not tell the reader what motives Shvabrin is guided by in some cases of his life. The duty of criticism is to clarify these motives and thereby put an end to the wrong, but, unfortunately, very widespread view of Shvabrin among us.
There is nothing in common between melodramatic heroes and Shvabrin. If Shvabrin is included among them, then he will need to be categorized as the so-called villains. Such an opinion, obviously, was Belinsky. But is Shvabrin really like the traditional villains of the Western European scene, who breathe crime and dream about poisoning, strangling, killing someone, etc. Shvabrin is not this or that walking passion, not this or that a walking vice, but a complex character and a living being in the full sense of the word, bearing, moreover, the features of that era, which is reproduced in The Captain's Daughter.
Shvabrin is young, "of a good surname and has a fortune." He speaks French, is familiar with French literature and, apparently, received, in his time, a good education. He calls Trediakovsky his teacher and, possessing a literary taste and some literary training, laughs at his love couplets. He served in the guards, but he ended up in the Belogorsk fortress five years before Grinev appeared in it. He was transferred here for killing some officer in a duel. Shvabrin does not say anything about his religious, philosophical and political views, but they can be judged by his actions and some hints scattered in the novel. Shvabrin obviously belonged to our freethinkers of the last century, who, under the influence of Voltaire, the French encyclopedists and the general spirit of the times, adopted a negative attitude towards the Church and towards everything Russian, looked at the demand for duty and morality as prejudices, and, in general , adhered to crudely materialistic views. “He doesn’t believe in the Lord God either,” Vasilisa Yegorovna says with horror about Shvabrin (in the fourth chapter), and this alone could not but alienate Marya Ivanovna from him, to whom he proposed a year before Grinev’s arrival in the Belogorsk fortress.
“Shvabrin was very intelligent,” says Grinev, “his conversation was sharp and entertaining.” Having a sociable character and accustomed to moving around in the big world in St. Petersburg, he was extremely weary of being in that wilderness where fate threw him, looked down on the people with whom he was surrounded, and was genuinely delighted at the arrival of Grinev, for he thought to find in him something suitable interlocutor and comrade. From the very first time he charmed the inexperienced young man with his liveliness, his ability to speak and present others in a caricature form. Grinev only later realized that Shvabrin's gaiety concealed an unkind feeling. Shvabrin did not spare even such harmless people as the old Mironovs and Ivan Ignatich. From this, however, it does not follow that he was truly observant and knew the human heart well.
"Captain's daughter". Chapter 3. Grinev and Shvabrin at the Mironovs. Artist P. Sokolov. 1891.
He was funny, that's all. Shvabrin's mind was a shallow, superficial mind, devoid of that subtlety and depth, without which there can be neither foresight, nor a true assessment of one's own and others' actions and intentions. True, Shvabrin was cunning, crafty and interesting as an interlocutor, but if Pechorin met with him, he could boldly say about his mind what he says in Princess Mary about Grushnitsky's mind: Shvabrin, like Grushnitsky, was "quite sharp"; his inventions and witticisms were often amusing, but there were never marks and evil, even in those cases when they were generated by the most genuine anger; he could not kill anyone with a single word, for he did not know people and their weak strings, being busy all his life with only himself. Shvabrin could have imagined that Ivan Ignatich was in touch with Vasilisa Yegorovna and that Marya Ivanovna was selling her caresses; but he, despite all his cunning, did not know how to use people as instruments of his goals, did not know how to subordinate them to his influence, despite the fact that he passionately desired this; he did not even know how to skillfully wear the mask put on himself and be in the eyes of others what he wanted to appear.
That is why he constantly fell into the nets he spread for others and did not mislead anyone about his person, except for the inexperienced and gullible Pyotr Andreevich. Not only Marya Ivanovna, but even Vasilisa Yegorovna and Ivan Ignatich had no doubt that Shvabrin was a bad person. Shvabrin felt this and took revenge on them with slander. About his relationship to Pugachev, one can say the same thing that Pushkin says about Shvanvich: "He had the cowardice to stick to the impostor and the stupidity to serve him with all diligence." This also gives a not particularly favorable idea of Shvabrin's far-sightedness and insight.
Shvabrin belonged to the same category of people as Shakespeare's Iago and Walter Scott's Rashley (from the novel "Rob Roy"). He swims smaller than them, but he is just as soulless and immoral as they are. Highly developed self-esteem, terrible vindictiveness, the habit of going roundabout ways and complete promiscuity in means are the main features of his character. He vividly felt the bitterness of every offense inflicted on him and did not forgive his enemies. Sometimes he put on a mask of generosity and sincerity in order to lull their vigilance, but he could never reconcile with those whom he once planned as his victims.
Double-mindedness and pretense did not leave Shvabrin for a minute. After a duel with Grinev, he comes to him, asks him for forgiveness and confesses that he himself was to blame, but at the same time he writes a letter to old Grinev, in which, of course, he did not spare either Pyotr Andreevich or Marya Ivanovna, and if if not for the Pugachev attack, he would have achieved his goal - the transfer of young Grinev from the Belogorsk fortress to some other "fortification". Seeking Marya Ivanovna's hand, Shvabrin denigrates the young girl in order to drop her in Grinev's eyes, and thus distract them from each other. In this case, he remained true to himself. His favorite means of intrigue were lies, slander, slander and denunciations. He resorted to them in relations with Pugachev, and with the old man Grinev, and in the Commission of Inquiry.
Nervous, intrusive, nimble, restless and mocking Shvabrin, completely alien to sincerity and kindness, could not help but have clashes with people close to him. No details are given about his first duel in St. Petersburg in The Captain's Daughter, but we are well aware of the circumstances under which the duel took place over Marya Ivanovna. Shvabrin was not a Bretter of the Pechorin type. He did not look for dangers and was afraid of them. True, he was not averse to playing the role of a brave man, but only if this could be achieved without putting his life at stake. This is evident from his collision with Grinev.
Mocking Marya Ivanovna in Grinev's presence, Shvabrin apparently did not think that his young comrade, whom he considered a boy, would take his words so close to his heart and answer him with a sharp insult. Shvabrin challenges Grinev to a duel, carried away by a momentary outburst and a feeling of envy and hatred long overdue in him. Having made a challenge to Grinev, they are not looking for seconds. "Why do we need them?" - he says to Grinev, having learned about his conversation with Ivan Ignatich, who flatly refused to "be a witness to the duel."
“We can do without them.” The fact is that Shvabrin was more skillful than Grinev in fencing, looked at him as a non-dangerous opponent, and, challenging him to a duel, was sure that he was playing for sure. Preparing to put an end to Grinev, Shvabrin did not at all intend to fight him like a knight and, of course, prepared in advance not to miss the opportunity to deal him a treacherous blow (after all, he did not disdain to do this at the time when Grinev heard his name, uttered by Savelich, and looked back). Here is the clue why Shvabrin did not look for seconds. They would only get in the way.
Shvabrin was a coward. There is no doubt about this. He was afraid of death and was incapable of sacrificing his life in the name of duty and honor.
- “How do you think it all ends?” - Grinev asks him, after the first meeting with Ivan Ignatich about Pugachev.
God knows, answered Shvabrin: - we'll see. I don't see anything important yet. If...
Here he fell into thought and in his distraction began to whistle a French aria.
Shvabrin's "if" meant that he had no intention of going to the gallows under any circumstances, and that he would go over to Pugachev's side if the impostor was really as strong as he said.
The idea of betrayal came to Shvabrin at the first hint of danger and finally matured by the time the Pugachevites appeared near the Belogorsk fortress. He did not follow Captain Mironov, Ivan Ignatich and Grinev when they rushed out on a sortie, but joined the Cossacks who had turned over to Pugachev. All this could be explained by Shvabrin's political unprincipledness and the ease with which he was accustomed to play with the oath, like an unbeliever.
Shvabrin's subsequent behavior shows, however, that in betraying the Empress, he acted mainly under the influence of cowardice. When Pugachev arrives at the Belogorsk fortress, together with Grinev, Shvabrin, noticing that the impostor is dissatisfied with him, trembles, turns pale and positively loses his presence of mind. When Pugachev finds out that Marya Ivanovna is not Shvabrin's wife, he says menacingly to him: “And you dared to deceive me! Do you know, slacker, what you deserve? - Shvabrin falls to his knees and thus begs for forgiveness. In the Commission of Inquiry, when Shvabrin is not threatened with immediate massacre, and when he has already got used to the position of a convicted criminal, he has the courage to testify against Grinev in a "bold voice": he had nothing to fear from Grinev.
How did Shvabrin behave before the judges at first? One must think that he was lying at their feet. It is very possible that he would have humbly asked for forgiveness from Grinev during the duel, if he had seriously feared for his life.
Did Shvabrin love Marya Ivanovna? Yes, as far as selfish and mean people can love. As an intelligent person, he could not fail to understand and appreciate her high moral merits. He knew that Marya Ivanovna would be an exemplary wife, that she would brighten up the life of the one whom she chose as her husband, and he, as a proud man, would be pleased to subject the wonderful girl to his influence. When his proposal was not accepted, and when he noticed that Marya Ivanovna preferred Grinev to him, he considered himself deeply offended. Since that time, a hidden feeling of hatred and revenge has been mixed with the feeling of love, and this is expressed in the slander that he decided to spread about her. Reviling Marya Ivanovna in front of Grinev, Shvabrin not only acted as his tool against the young people's nascent affection, but also took revenge on the girl who rejected him, cooling the enmity with slander.
Having become the commandant of the Belogorsk fortress, Shvabrin tries to force Marya Ivanovna with threats to marry him. He doesn't succeed. Prince Odoevsky was perplexed why Shvabrin did not take advantage of those minutes when Marya Ivanovna was in his power, that is, why he did not satisfy his passion by violence or did not force Father Gerasim to remarry him with a poor orphan against her will . Yes, because Shvabrin is not Pugachev and not Khlopusha: in his relations with Marya Ivanovna, coarse sensuality did not play a big role. In addition, Shvabrin was not a man whose blood could befool his mind. He knew, finally, that Marya Ivanovna was not one of those girls who could be forced into marriage, and that Father Gerasim would not agree to perform the sacrament of marriage over the daughter of his old friend, contrary to her desire. Shvabrin wanted Marya Ivanovna to become his wife, and not his concubine, for he nevertheless continued to love her, be jealous, and suffered at the thought that she treated him with disgust. Trying to defeat her stubbornness, he used those means that most corresponded to his character: intimidation with a denunciation, all sorts of harassment and threats, and, in general, a kind of moral and physical torture.
"Captain's daughter". Chapter 12 Liberation of Masha. Artist P. Sokolov. 1891.
Slandering Grinev before the Investigative Commission, Shvabrin does not say a word about Marya Ivanovna. Why is this? Answering this question, Grinev notes: “Is it because his pride suffered at the thought of the one who rejected him with contempt; Is it because there was a spark of the same feeling in his heart that made me keep silent - be that as it may, the name of the daughter of the Belogorsky commandant was not uttered in the presence of the commission! Grinev's words perfectly explain what motives guided Shvabrin in this case. He felt all the bitterness of resentment, which consisted in the refusal of Marya Ivanovna to be his wife, he experienced the pangs of jealousy and envy for his rival; but he still continued to love Marya Ivanovna, felt guilty before her and did not want to entangle her in political criminality, exposing her to all the consequences of close acquaintance with the harsh Themis of the time of Shishkovsky. Love for Marya Ivanovna had an ennobling effect even on Shvabrin.
It is possible, however, to admit another clue to Shvabrin's behavior in the Investigative Commission regarding Captain Mironov's daughter, a clue that Pyotr Andreevich Grinev overlooks, always somewhat idealizing his rival and enemy. It was simply unprofitable for Shvabrin to involve Marya Ivanovna in the case, for she could show many things not in his favor and easily expose his lies and slander; Shvabrin, of course, firmly remembered this at the confrontation with Grinev.
So, what is Shvabrin? This is not a melodramatic villain; he is a lively, witty, not stupid, proud, envious, vindictive, cunning, low and cowardly, deeply corrupted egoist, mocking and arrogant with those whom he is not afraid of, obsequiously obsequious with those who inspire fear in him. Like Shvanvich, he was always ready to prefer a shameful life to an honest death. Under the influence of malice and a sense of self-preservation, he is capable of any baseness. Regarding his betrayal of loyal and official duty, one can say what Catherine II says about Grinev: “He stuck to the impostor not out of ignorance and gullibility, but as an immoral and harmful scoundrel.”
For Shvabrin, nothing is sacred, and he stopped at nothing to achieve his goals. In addition to the thirteenth chapter of The Captain's Daughter, it is said that Shvabrin did not allow the Grinevs' house to be plundered, "preserving in his very humiliation an involuntary disgust from dishonest self-interest." It is understandable. Shvabrin received a gentlemanly and, to a certain extent, refined education; therefore, much of what seemed very natural to some semi-savage of runaway convicts inspired him with a feeling of disgust.
This does not mean, however, that he was superior to Pugachev or Khlopushi. Morally, he is immeasurably inferior to them. He did not have those bright sides that they had, and if he abhorred some of their exploits, it was only because he was more civilized and more pampered than they were. They rushed at the enemies, like lions and tigers, and took prey from the battle, he sneaked up on his victims, like a fox, and, like a snake, stung them at a time when they least expected it: He was disgusted with robberies and robbery, but he, without hesitation, struck blows at his enemies of betrayal and with a light heart would let them go around the world with the help of forgeries and all sorts of lies, if he wanted to take possession of their wealth.
Shvabrin was neither Richard III nor Franz Moor, but he would have been a perfectly suitable person for the retinue of Caesar Borgia. He could have neither friends nor selfless affections, for he sincerely loved only himself and was completely incapable of self-sacrifice. He was not a monster by vocation, but he did not know how to love strongly and knew how to hate strongly.
It was not without reason that Pushkin endowed Shvabrin with an ugly face: as a man inclined to rule over others and, probably, far from being indifferent to the impression he made on women, Shvabrin, one must think, cursed his unfortunate appearance, thanks to her he suffered many injections for his self-love and, of course, did not forgive those who guessed his soul from his face.
There is nothing Russian in Shvabrin: everything Russian was etched out in him by his upbringing, but he was still a Russian degenerate, a type that could only arise on Russian soil under the influence of the eighteenth century and its peculiarities. Despising the faith of his grandfathers and fathers, Shvabrin despised, at the same time, the concepts of honor and duty that guide both Grinevs.
Fatherland, oath, etc. - all these are words for Shvabrin, devoid of any meaning. Shvabrin, as an everyday phenomenon, belongs to the same type as Fonvizin's caricature of our young Westerners of the eighteenth century - Ivanushka in The Brigadier. Shvabrin is smarter than Ivanushka; besides, there is not a single comical feature in it. Ivanushka can only arouse laughter and contempt; Shvabrin is not at all suitable for the heroes of a cheerful comedy. Nevertheless, he still has much in common with the foreman's son, as a product of the same spirit of the times.
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