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