The Queen of Spades

Historical Context and Significance

«The Queen of Spades» is a novella by Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin, written in 1833 and published in 1834 in the magazine «Library for Reading». The plot tells the story of a young engineer officer, Hermann, who seeks to unravel the mystery of three winning cards based on the advice of an old countess. This novella had a significant impact on Russian literature, being one of the most vivid examples of Romanticism in the Russian literary tradition and later inspiring numerous works of art, including an opera by Pyotr Tchaikovsky.