Primary sourceBook1834
The Queen of Spades
Alexander Pushkin · 1834
Pushkin's 1834 novella about a gambler obsessed with a secret of winning cards, inspired by a real Russian noblewoman.
Pushkin wrote this novella, regarded as his most influential prose story.
About this source
What it is
The Queen of Spades is a novella with supernatural elements written by Alexander Pushkin in 1833 and published in 1834. It tells of Hermann, an officer who becomes obsessed with learning the secret of three winning cards from an old countess.
Why it matters
The story is seen as one of Pushkin's most influential prose works, admired by later writers including Fyodor Dostoevsky, who praised its mixture of realism and fantasy. The countess character was inspired by a real noblewoman, Princess Natalya Golitsyna, showing how Pushkin wove real figures and rumours into fiction. The story later inspired operas, including a famous one by Tchaikovsky.
Look closer
- Why might Pushkin leave it unclear whether the ghost is real or imagined?
- What does the story suggest about greed and obsession?
- How does basing a character on a real living person change how we read the fiction?
This book is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Alexander Pushkin on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.
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