Post on 14-Oct-2020
Pushkin – “The Queen of
Spades”
Dr. Peter Mathews
Hanyang University
Fall 2014
December 9, 2014
Context: Ethnic Germans in Russia
Symbolism: Cards
Theme: Risk and Reward
Theme: Firsthand v. Secondhand Experience
Theme: Risk and Reward
“Hermann was the son of a German who had
settled in Russia and who left him some small
capital sum. Being firmly convinced that it was
essential for him to make certain of his
independence, Hermann did not touch even the
interest on his income but lived on his pay,
denying himself the slightest extravagance. But
since he was reserved and ambitious his
companions rarely had any opportunity for
making fun of his extreme parsimony. He had
strong passions and an ardent imagination, but
strength of character preserved him from the
customary mistakes of youth. Thus, for
instance, though a gambler at heart he never
touched cards, having decided that his means
did not allow him (as he put it) ‘to risk the
necessary in the hope of acquiring the
superfluous.’ And yet he spent night after night
at the card tables, watching with feverish
anxiety the vicissitudes of the game.”
References: Napoleon and Mephistopheles
Theme: Manipulation