A.S. Pushkin has repeatedly turned to the genre of fairy tales, an example of which are his works such as “The Tale of the Fisherman and the Fish”, “The Tale of the Dead Princess and the Seven Knights”, “The Golden Cockerel”. In 1831, the poet wrote one of his most famous works in this genre - "The Tale of Tsar Saltan and his son the glorious and powerful hero Prince Gvidona Saltanovich and the beautiful Princess Swans."
The first stage of the plan: the selection of the semantic parts of the tale
In order to draw up a work plan, you need to carefully read the tale, highlight its semantic parts - the elements of the composition: introduction, the plot, development of the action, climax and denouement, as well as characterize the main and secondary characters. In the paragraph devoted to the introduction, the first events should be briefly indicated: acquaintance with the sisters and the marriage of Saltan to the youngest of them.
Next, you need to point out the plot: the departure of the king and the betrayal of the sisters. In terms of the plan, it is important to show the development of actions: this is the court of the boyars and the release of the queen with her son into the sea. Continued should be a paragraph on the adventures of Prince Guidon on a mysterious island: a meeting with a swan, his magical journeys and wonders of the enchanted princess.
When drawing up the plan, one should pay attention to the culmination of the tale: this is the transformation of swans into a beautiful princess. Here you must also indicate the arrival of Saltan on the island and his meeting with his wife. Finally, at the end you need to write about general reconciliation and feast.
The second step in writing a plan: drawing up titles for its parts
The points of the plan should reflect the main storylines of the tale. Titles need to be made not very long, but capacious, so that they convey the main content of the selected semantic parts. It is appropriate to introduce the names of the main and secondary characters in the names, as well as note the key moments of the tale. It is possible to list in one row several events that are interconnected or occurred one after another.
Plan "Tales of Tsar Saltan"
1. Introduction: the king’s wedding and the envy of the sisters.
2. The plot of the work: the departure of Saltan and the deception of the Weaver, Cook, the bride’s mother Babarikha.
3. The development of action: the adventures of Prince Guidon on the island and the wonders of Princess Swans.
4. The climax of the tale: the transformation of Swans into a princess and the arrival of Saltan in the kingdom of Guidon.
5. The denouement of the work: the meeting of the king with his wife and a solemn feast.
Summary of “Tales of Tsar Saltan”
The work begins with the acquaintance of the protagonist with three sisters, each of whom in his own way dreams of making him happy in the event of marriage. The king opts for the youngest, marries her, and soon a couple is born a son. Envious sisters, together with Baba Babarikha by betrayal, are seeking to expel the queen and her son from the kingdom.
However, both manage to find a haven on the island, where Gvidon helps the princess Swan, saved by him from the evil wizard. At the request of the prince, she performs various miracles and in the end reveals to him the main secret: she is an enchanted princess who is ready to become his wife. In parallel, King Saltan, who had heard about the island of Guidon, arrives there, despite all the tricks of the sisters, and reunites with his wife.
Images of sisters
To write an essay on this topic, you must first draw up a plan "Tales of Tsar Saltan." The plan should begin with a description of the three sisters, the description of which is a kind of introduction of the work. The author in short, but very expressive remarks immediately indicates the differences between them, which should explain to the reader the choice of Saltan the younger. The latter is interested in continuing the royal family, which in the eyes of the ruler was much more important than practicality and the ability to farm.
The fairy tale in verses gives a very vivid idea of the characters of the sisters: the elders, the weaver and the cook, are envious, proud, arrogant and cunning, while the youngest is honest, open and simple-minded. Nevertheless, in the difficult moment of trials, she showed firmness of character and courage, which, it seemed, could not be expected from this fragile young woman, abandoned with her small son to the mercy of fate.
Description of the king
The characterization of the main character should also be included in the plan “Tales of Tsar Saltan”. The plan provides an analysis of his personality, since this is what will make it possible to understand the reason that he succumbed so easily to deception, did not dare to go to the island of Prince Guidon for a long time, and finally forgave the insidious sisters and their accomplice.
The fact is that the king, despite the apparent severity, is kind and trusting by nature. It was these features in his character that Pushkin emphasized. "The Tale of Tsar Saltan" is not in vain named after the name of this ruler. The image of the protagonist is perhaps the prettiest: the good-natured, gullible king touches readers.
The image of Prince Guidon
The description of Tsarevich Gvidon should also be included in the plan “Tales of Tsar Saltan”. The plan shows his growth, upbringing and growing up on a mysterious island, as well as the struggle for the return of his father and his happiness. Prince Guidon is smart, decisive, courageous and active. He was not at a loss in difficult times and, forgetting about his own straitened circumstances, saved Princess Lebed. The Tsarevich sincerely loves his mother and takes care, first of all, of her. In addition, the young man constantly thinks about meeting his father, for which he embarks on dangerous adventures.
Prince Gwidon is extremely curious: he is interested in everything wonderful and mysterious. Having heard about some outlandish thing, he immediately wants to see it and get it in his own possession. The young man is very enterprising: it is not without reason that he is ready to embark on a long journey in order to see his father or get what he wants. In the image of Tsarevich, Pushkin once again embodied the favorite type of knight-knight, which can be seen in the poem “Ruslan and Lyudmila”, “The Tale of the Dead Princess and the Seven Knights”.
Miracles of the Swan Princess
Composition on the theme “Pushkin. “The Tale of Tsar Saltan” ”pays great attention to the description of the bride of Prince Gvidon, which is associated with a romantic line in the poet’s work. The princess swan appears under very dramatic circumstances: just at the time of the appearance on the island of Prince Guidon and her mother, an evil kite almost killed her, and only thanks to the protection of the young prince she remains alive.
In gratitude for her salvation, she makes Gwidon the ruler of the island and fulfills his wishes, not only showing him miracles, but also giving him a magic squirrel and sea knights. To draw up this paragraph of the plan, it is necessary to highlight the following key points: the flights of Gwidon to the kingdom of Saltan, where he learns about miracles, and the fulfillment of his desires that they appear on his island.
The image of the young beauty is quite touching and at the same time mysterious: every time something wonderful happens with her appearance on the island. To draw up a plan for a fairy tale, one should highlight the culmination of the work: the transformation of swans into a beautiful princess.
When it came to the possibility of the Tsarevich’s marriage with her, she showed some confusion, but, in the end, defeated by assurances of Guidon’s allegiance, she opened up to him. This moment completes the main love line, which is so movingly portrayed by "The Tale of Tsar Saltan." The swan becomes the wife of Prince Guidon, which precedes the happy meeting of his mother with her husband. Saltan’s arrival on the island of his son is the next important point of the plan, since it shows the culmination of the tale and at the same time serves as the threshold of a happy ending: forgiveness and feast.
Minor Characters
The fairy tale in the verses is also interesting for the supporting characters who appear in a number of episode scenes, but are remembered for their vivid characteristics and images. Here, first of all, we should mention the bridegroom Babarikh, an accomplice of evil sisters, endlessly weaving intrigues. Despite the fact that it was not spelled out by Pushkin as expressively as a weaver with a cook, nevertheless, Babarikha organically fit into the plot.
Other minor characters include famous merchants who traveled around the world: they served as a kind of connecting link between Saltan and Prince Gvidon. It is from them that the king learns about a mysterious island in the ocean, the stories of the wonders of which ultimately prompt him to take a long-planned journey, which ended in a happy meeting with his wife and son.
In addition, we must not forget about the magical squirrel, the sea knights protecting the possessions of Guidon, their leader, Uncle Chernomore. These characters do not move the plot, however, they create a very colorful, fairy-tale background of the story. The description of “Tales of Tsar Saltan” ends with a description of nature, palaces, costumes, which create a festive mood for the reader.
Fairy tales in the work
In order to divide into parts the "Tale of Tsar Saltan", it is necessary to highlight the cultural and historical strata. Pushkin knew well Old Russian folklore, folk songs, traditions, tales, elements of which he quite often introduced into his compositions. In the work under consideration, he widely used images of Russian folk tales: knights, enchanted princess, magic squirrel, sea ruler, etc. He revived the phenomena of nature: for example, a sea wave, at the request of the Queen Mother, throws ashore a barrel in which she languished with her son.
Transformations play a large role in the tale: for example, Prince Gvidon became either a mosquito or a bumblebee in order to fly over the ocean and see his father. The swan princess turns into a beautiful girl, and the predatory kite turns out to be an evil wizard. All sorts of other miracles take place in the fairy tale: for example, Prince Gvidon grew up in one night, and on a deserted island, where he found himself with his mother, a wonderful kingdom suddenly appears. All these elements create a fabulous narrative atmosphere that makes the work so fascinating.
Fairytale historical background
For a better understanding of the content of the work, it is necessary to show the presence in it of the realities of a particular era, which should reflect the plan of “Tales of Tsar Saltan”. The plan demonstrates the features of the time of Medieval Russia, which served as the backdrop for the fairy tale plot.
First of all, this concerns the socio-political structure. The tale shows the state of Tsar Saltan, the description of which is very similar to the life and rule of the Moscow kings of the XV – XVI centuries. The same can be said about the social stratification of society: among the heroes, the reader sees representatives of various classes of Medieval Russia: boyars, czar’s advisers who made up his closest Duma, palace servants, in whose images the solicitors, stolniks, cup-servants who served the Moscow tsars are easily guessed in the era under consideration.
At the same time, there are some borrowings from the history of Ancient Russia: for example, sea knights - this is a clear reference to ancient Russian legends. Merchants who traveled from one end of the world to the other are a collective image of Russian guests who, from the earliest times, traded with countries in different parts of the world. The above-mentioned realities from the past of Russia give the fairy tale an additional flavor: the plot is tied to historical soil and makes the characters of the characters and their everyday living conditions more reliable.
Comparison of the work with other fairy tales of Pushkin
In his work, the poet very often turned to the themes of ancient Russian folk tales. In order to divide into parts the tale of Tsar Saltan, it is necessary first of all to compare this composition with the rest of the tales of the author.
By the complexity of the development of the plot “The Tale of Tsar Saltan” one can only compare with the “Tale of the Dead Princess and the Seven Knights”. The rest of it, perhaps, differs from other Pushkin's fairy tales in its elaborate composition, colorful characters and dynamism of action. All this, of course, does not detract from the literary significance of other Pushkin's tales, however, it is the work under consideration that is the most popular among the rest of the author's works of this genre.
To draw up a plan for “Tales of Tsar Saltan”, it is necessary to break the work into semantic parts. In accordance with the plot of the story, it is necessary to highlight the main compositional elements: introduction (matchmaking of the king to the younger sister, their wedding, the birth of a son), eyeballs (deceiving the sisters, the adventures of Guidon and the queen in the sea and on the island, miracles of the princess of the swan), climax (turning the swans to the girl, Saltan’s arrival on the island of Guidon), denouement (meeting the king with his wife and a general festival). In the subparagraphs, you can specify additional plot details and characterization of the characters.
The meaning of "Tales of Tsar Saltan" in Russian culture
Pushkin's work had a great influence on the art of our country in the late XIX – early XX centuries. In 1900, the famous composer N. Rimsky-Korsakov wrote a wonderful opera of the same name, which firmly entered the repertoire of leading theaters and is still popular not only among adults, but also among children.
The plot of the tale inspired the artist I.Ya. Bilibina to create beautiful illustrations for this work in 1905. M. Vrubel in 1900 created sketches of scenery for the production of the opera; The painting “The Swan Princess” became the most famous. In 1966, a famous Soviet director made a film based on this work of Pushkin, and in 1984 a cartoon was released. So, “The Tale of Tsar Saltan” had a significant impact on Russian culture, not to mention its literary virtues, thanks to which it remains a favorite reading for children.