The Captain's Daughter

“The thought of an imminent separation so over-whelmed Mother that tears began to flow down her cheeks and she dropped her spoon into the saucepan. My own elation, on the other hand, was almost beyond words. Army life was inseparable in my mind from the concept of freedom and the joys of life in Petersburg. I would be an officer in the Guards; this meant that I would be enjoying the ultimate in human happiness.”

The scene is representative of the fairy-tale and Romantic aspects of The Captain’s Daughter. Upon learning her only child is soon going to leave, Pyotr’s mother reacts with over-the-top sentimentality: “[T]ears began to flow down her cheeks” in a caricature of emotion typical in Romantic literature. Meanwhile, Pyotr expresses a naïve hope about what adventures await him as he leaves home. This is suggestive of the fairy-tale aspect where a young boy leaves home to find fame and fortune. Of course, what Pyotr actually encounters is not “the joys of life in Petersburg” but the tedium of the Kirghiz steppe; the irony is lightly humorous.

“Telling myself that this was a critical moment and that if I did not get the better of the obstinate old man now I would find it harder than ever to escape his supervision in future, I looked haughtily at Savelich and said, ‘I am your master, and you are my servant. The money is mine. I lost it because I chose to lose it. I advise you not to try to be clever but to do as you’re told.’”

This is a critical moment Pyotr’s development. It is the first time he articulates The Clash of Social Classes and insists on his authority over Savelich as his “master.” Before this moment, Pyotr respected and intermingled with the serfs, including Savelich. It is also the first time Pyotr assumes responsibility for choosing personal desire over duty in stating “I lost it because I chose to lose it.”