`Queen of Spades` Discussion

Gambling in Alexander Pushkin 's The Queen of Spades

In Alexander Pushkin 's short story The Queen of Spades , Hermann , the story 's main protagonist gambles everything he has on a card game thinking that he would surely win . Of course that is why it is called gambling , there are risks involved , he looses everything , along with his sanity . In their own unique way , the major characters are gambling with their lives , Hermann , Lizaveta , the Countess , and even Tomsky

Gambling of the Characters

The story starts out appropriately with characters playing cards

br except for Hermann who has never held a card in his hands , never staked a penny on one (Pushkin , 1834 . Hermann is relatively rich thanks to the small fortune left by his father , but he believes that he must be independent [financially] . He claims that he is .very much interested in cards 'but I am not in a position to sacrifice the essential in the hope of acquiring the superfluous (Pushkin 1834 Ironically , his drive for financial independence would lead him to gambling . Somehow they find themselves drinking and a story about an old countess comes up . Tomsky mentions that he has a grandmother that can predict three cards in succession but hasn 't used it again nor pass the knowledge to anyone , not even to her immediate family members Hermann becomes obsessed with this story and schemes a plan that would bring him closer to the countess . He is successful but his methods kills the countess...