Pushkin and the Genres of Madness The Masterpieces of 1833 [Paperback]

    In 1833 Alexander Pushkin began to explore the topic of madness, a subject little explored in Russian literature before his time. The works he produced on the theme are three of his greatest masterpieces: the prose novellaThe Queen of Spades, the narrative poemThe Bronze Horseman, and the lyric God Grant That I Not Lose My Mind. Gary Rosenshield presents a new interpretation of Pushkin’s genius through an examination of his various representations of madness.
    Pushkin brilliantly explored both the destructive and creative sides of madness, a strange fusion of violence and insight. In this study, Rosenshield illustrates the surprising valorization of madness inThe Queen of Spadesand God Grant That I Not Lose My Mind and analyzesThe Bronze Horseman’s confrontation with the legacy of Peter the Great, a cornerstone figure of Russian history. Drawing on themes of madness in western literature, Rosenshield situates Pushkin in a greater framework with such luminaries as Shakespeare, Sophocles, Cervantes, and Dostoevsky providing an insightful and absorbing study of Russia’s greatest writer.