Boris Godunov

What it is

Boris Godunov is a play in blank verse written by Alexander Pushkin in 1825, while he was exiled on his family's estate at Mikhaylovskoye. It was not published until 1831 and the censor did not approve it for performance until 1866, with its first staging in 1870.

Why it matters

The play dramatizes the reign and death of Tsar Boris Godunov, mixing real history with the legend of a pretender claiming to be a murdered tsarevich. Pushkin said he drew on Shakespeare, the historian Nikolai Karamzin, and old Russian chronicles. The play's ending, where the crowd falls silent instead of cheering a new ruler, is often read as a comment on power and the voicelessness of ordinary people under autocracy.

Look closer

• Why do you think the authorities delayed performance of this play for decades?
• What might the crowd's silence at the end be telling the audience about Russian politics?
• How does mixing real history with invented scenes change what a play can say?