Boris Godunov (play)

Boris Godunov (Russian: Борис Годунов, Borís Godunóv; variant title: Драматическая повесть, Комедия o настоящей беде Московскому государству, o царе Борисе и о Гришке Отрепьеве, A Dramatic Tale, The Comedy of the Distress of the Muscovite State, of Tsar Boris, and of Grishka Otrepyev) is a closet play by Alexander Pushkin. It was written in 1825, published in 1831, but not approved for performance by the censor until 1866 . Its subject is the Russian ruler Boris Godunov, who reigned as Tsar from 1598 to 1605. It consists of 25 scenes and is written predominantly in blank verse.

Modest Mussorgsky's opera, Boris Godunov (1874), is based on this play.

History[edit]

Composition[edit]

Having finished the play, Pushkin famously wrote to his friend Pyotr Vyazemsky: "What a Pushkin, what a son of a bitch!".^[1]

Pushkin wrote of the play:

boyar, later Tsar

Boris Godunov

his son

Fyodor

his daughter

Kseniya

Kseniya's Nurse

boyar

Prince Shuyskiy

Prince Vorotinskiy, boyar

Shchelkalov, Secretary of the Duma

Pimen, monk and chronicler

monk, later Dmitriy, the Pretender

Grigoriy Otrepyev

Abbot of the Chudov Monastery.

Patriarch

Misail, wandering monk

Varlaam, wandering monk

friend of Prince Shuyskiy

Afanasiy Mikhailovich Pushkin

Gabriel Pushkin, his nephew

Semyon Nikitich Godunov, secret agent of Boris Godunov

Prince , disgraced boyar

Kurbsky

Khrushchov, disgraced boyar

Karela, a Cossack

Prince Vishnevetskiy

Voyevoda of Sambor

Mniszech

his daughter

Marina

Ruzya, her chambermaid

a Russian officer

Basmanov

Marzharet, officer of Boris

Rozen, officer of Boris

Mosalskiy, boyar

Hostess of the Inn

Boyars, People, Peasants, Inspectors, Officers, Attendants, Guests, a Catholic Priest, a Polish Noble, a Poet, an Idiot, a Beggar, Gentlemen, Guards, Soldiers, Ladies, Gentleman, Boys, Servants

Scene 1 – Kremlin Palaces

Scene 2 – Red Square

Scene 3 – Novodevichiy Monastery

Scene 4 – Kremlin Palaces

Scene 5 – Night; A Cell in the Chudov Monastery

Scene 6 – The Fence of the Monastery (Note: Deleted from the published drama)

Scene 7 – Palaces of the Patriarch

Scene 8 – The Tsar's Palaces

Scene 9 – An Inn on the Lithuanian Border

Scene 10 – Moscow; The Home of Shuyskiy

Scene 11 – The Tsar's Palaces

Scene 12 – Kraków; The Home of Vishnevetskiy

Scene 13 – Castle of the Voyevoda Mniszech in Sambor (Note: also deleted from many editions)

Scene 14 – A Suite of Lighted Rooms

Scene 15 – Night; A Garden; A Fountain

Scene 16 – The Lithuanian Frontier

Scene 17 – The Tsar's Duma

Scene 18 – Plain near Novgorod-Seversk

Scene 19 – Square before a Cathedral in Moscow

Scene 20 – Sevsk

Scene 21 – A Forest

Scene 22 – Moscow; The Tsar's Palaces

Scene 23 – A Tent

Scene 24 – (Red Square)

Lobnoye Mesto

Scene 25 – The Kremlin; The House of Boris

1584 – "The Terrible", the first Grand Prince of Muscovy to use the title Tsar (Caesar), dies. Ivan's successor is his retiring and politically feeble son Fyodor, now Fyodor I, who cares mostly for spiritual matters, and leaves the affairs of state to his capable brother-in-law, boyar Boris Godunov, now de facto regent.

Ivan IV

1591 – Ivan's other son dies under mysterious circumstances in Uglich. An investigation, ordered by Godunov and carried out by Prince Vasiliy Shuyskiy, determines that the Tsarevich, while playing with a knife, had an epileptic seizure, fell, and died from a self-inflicted wound to the throat. Dmitriy's mother, Maria Nagaya, exiled with him to Uglich by Godunov, claims he was assassinated. Rumors linking Boris to the crime are circulated by his enemies.

Dmitriy

1598 – Tsar dies. He is virtually the last representative of the Ryurik Dynasty that has ruled Russia for seven centuries. Patriarch Job of Moscow nominates Boris to succeed Fyodor I as Tsar, despite the rumors that Boris ordered the murder of Dmitriy. Boris agrees to ascend the throne only if elected by the Zemskiy Sobor. This the assembly does unanimously, and Boris is crowned the same year.

Fyodor I

1604 – A to the throne appears, claiming to be Tsarevich Dmitriy, but believed to be the False Dmitriy Grigoriy Otrepyev. He gains the support of the Polish aristocracy, and, obtaining a force of soldiers, he marches on Moscow. Crossing into Russia, Dmitriy's invasion force is joined by disaffected Cossacks. However, after a few victories, it loses momentum.

pretender

1605 – Boris dies of unknown causes. He is succeeded by his son Fyodor, now . The death of Boris gives new life to the campaign of the False Dmitriy, who enters Moscow. Boyars who flock to his side murder Fyodor II and his mother.

Fyodor II

1606 – is murdered, and is succeeded by Vasiliy Shuyskiy, now Vasiliy IV.

False Dmitriy I

1610 – is deposed, and dies two years later in a Polish prison. Another pretender claiming to be Dmitriy Ivanovich, False Dmitriy II, is murdered.

Vasiliy IV

1612 – Yet a third pretender, , is captured and executed.

False Dmitriy III

1613 – The Time of Troubles comes to a close with the accession of , son of Fyodor Romanov, who had been persecuted under Boris Godunov's reign.

Mikhail Romanov

A familiarity with the historical events surrounding the Time of Troubles – the interregnum period of relative anarchy following the end of the Rurik Dynasty (1598) and preceding the Romanov Dynasty (1613) – may facilitate an understanding of the play. Key events are as follows:

The culpability of Boris in the matter of Dmitriy's death can neither be proven nor disproved. Karamzin, the historian to whom the drama is dedicated, accepted it as fact and Pushkin himself assumed it was true, at least for the purpose of creating a tragedy in the mold of Shakespeare. Modern historians, however, tend to acquit Boris of the crime.

Scene 3
The Novodevichiy Monastery

Scene 9
An Inn on the
Lithuanian Border

Scene 11
The Tsar's Palace

Scene 13
The Castle of the Governor Mniszech in Sambor

Scene 15
Night. A Garden.
A Fountain.

Scene 17
The Tsar's Duma

Scene 25
The House of Boris

The following gallery depicts the scene designs created by Matvey Shishkov for the first performance of the drama in 1870 at the Mariinsky Theatre, Saint Petersburg, Russia.

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