Examples Of Nonconformity In Boris Godunov
Nonconformity in Alexander Pushkin’s Boris Godunov
Rita Papadogiannis
MLAL 3402-L01
Nonconformity in Alexander Pushkin’s Boris Godunov
In Scene 6 of Alexander Pushkin’s Boris Godunov, Pushkin emphasizes a severe shift in the play’s plot with the use of imagery, repetition, and contrasts. Using Grigory’s age and the perceived monotony of a life devoted to God, the evil monk succeeds in strategically manipulating Grigory into impersonating the Tsarevich. This dialogue between the monk and Grigory not only reflects Grigory’s desire for change in his own life, but also signifies nonconformism in Russian society at the time.
In Grigory’s first words of the passage, he is miserably complaining about “how wearisome” and “how boring” his “wretched life” is as a monk (Pushkin, Scene VI, 287). …show more content…
The use of very plain words lacking embellishment mixed with sentence structure that contains many commas and dashes display Grigory’s frustration. Grigory describes that although much time has been spent at the monastery, he is limited to very few experiences. He goes on to point out his core feeling of discontent that keeps him awake at night. The account of Grigory’s restless mind that causes him to “toss and turn,” while he is being tormented by “black dreams” earns Grigory the reader’s sympathy (287). Although Grigory is portrayed as a deceitful and villainous character who plans on slyly using a dead man’s status in order to advance his own position, he is a strongly relatable character. These dreams of his not only give us a very strong perception of Grigory’s inner turmoil and insecurities, but they allow the reader to relate to him through our own personal anxieties. Furthermore, Pushkin’s deliberate repetition of
Rita Papadogiannis
MLAL 3402-L01
Nonconformity in Alexander Pushkin’s Boris Godunov
In Scene 6 of Alexander Pushkin’s Boris Godunov, Pushkin emphasizes a severe shift in the play’s plot with the use of imagery, repetition, and contrasts. Using Grigory’s age and the perceived monotony of a life devoted to God, the evil monk succeeds in strategically manipulating Grigory into impersonating the Tsarevich. This dialogue between the monk and Grigory not only reflects Grigory’s desire for change in his own life, but also signifies nonconformism in Russian society at the time.
In Grigory’s first words of the passage, he is miserably complaining about “how wearisome” and “how boring” his “wretched life” is as a monk (Pushkin, Scene VI, 287). …show more content…
The use of very plain words lacking embellishment mixed with sentence structure that contains many commas and dashes display Grigory’s frustration. Grigory describes that although much time has been spent at the monastery, he is limited to very few experiences. He goes on to point out his core feeling of discontent that keeps him awake at night. The account of Grigory’s restless mind that causes him to “toss and turn,” while he is being tormented by “black dreams” earns Grigory the reader’s sympathy (287). Although Grigory is portrayed as a deceitful and villainous character who plans on slyly using a dead man’s status in order to advance his own position, he is a strongly relatable character. These dreams of his not only give us a very strong perception of Grigory’s inner turmoil and insecurities, but they allow the reader to relate to him through our own personal anxieties. Furthermore, Pushkin’s deliberate repetition of