Themes

Crime and Punishment

• Supernatural is the punishment

  • Countess winks

  • Hermann sees the countess’s ghost

  • Hermann looses his mind

Hermann attempts to become rich at the expense of others.

• Countess is cruel to Liza

• Hermann deceives Liza

• Hermann kills the countess

• Countess winks at him

• Hermann uses the secret and attempts to cheat others out of a large sum of money

• Loses his money and goes mad

Hermann:

• Soul of Mesophiles” - душа Мефистофеля

• “You are a monster” - Вы чудовище!

• “Has at least three crimes on his conscience”

• “At that moment it seemed to him that the deceased gave him a mocking glance and winked an eye." - В эту минуту показалось ему, что мёртвая насмешливо взглянула на него, прищуривая одним глазом

• “The three, seven, and ace haunted him” - Тройка, семёрка и туз не выходили из его головы

• “One thing only grieved him: the irreparable loss of the secret from which he had expected to obtain great wealth.” - Одно его ужасало: невозвратная потеря тайни, от которой ожидал обогащения

• Hermann uses Liza - Германн использует Лизу

• He loses his mind - Германн сошёл с ума

Countess:

• “Was not malicious by nature” - link to societal changes - не имела злой души

Greed and Hypocrisy

• Greed drives the plot

  • If Hermann hadn’t been greedy, none of the rest of the story would have happened

• Greed is shown through the character’s obsession with wealth and their willingness to do anything for monetary gain

  • Hermann becomes obsessed with learning the secret of the three cards to quickly become rich

• He has never played cards before due to his morals, but greed overpowers his morality

• “He writes a letter to Lizaveta confessing his love, which is taken word for word from a German novel”.

  • This is faked to try to get close to Liza and learn the secret

• Consequences of Greed

  • “He loses his mind” as a result of greed

• Hypocrisy is closely linked to greed

  • Shown through characters like Hermann who play one role while hiding his true intentions

  • Countess earnt her fortune through gambling, but later scorns gambling

    • “Spoiled by life in high society”

Жадность всегда имеет последствия

"Он сошёл с ума."

- Герман теряет все из-за жадности - его жадность делает его беспечным, и он рискует всеми своими деньгами в надежде стать богатым - он сходит с ума и постоянно шепчет "три, семь, три", показывая, что он не может думать ни о чем, кроме того, что он потерял

-Сверхъестественное кажется преследовать его, показывая, что он не имеет выхода от своих действий даже когда он один или ночью

Fate, Destiny, and Mystery

• Fate is a key theme

  • Pushkin clearly shows the tragic fate of Hermann - due to his obsession

  • Fate is shown as cruel

  • Hermann falls victim to fate as a result of his actions

• Liza

• Countess

• Irony - no one gets what they want

Dependence

• Dependence can lead to fatal consequences

  • Hermann’s desire to win causes him to become a tragic figure

  • He becomes a prisoner/ victim to his own passion/ dependence on gambling

  • Ultimately becomes mad because of his loss which occurs after he loses the last game of cards

• Independence

  • Independence is also important through his contrast with Liza

  • She is indifferent towards Hermann but understands that marriage with him would make change for her possible

  • She could gain independence form the countess

• Dependence in society

  • Countess and Liza depend on each other

  • So societal classes depend on each other

• Dependence on money

  • Hermann aims to get rich quickly through dishonour and deceit

  • He loses everything as a result