25 pages 50 minutes read

Alexander Pushkin

The Queen Of Spades

Fiction | Short Story | Adult | Published in 1834

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.

Literary Devices

Dramatic Irony

Dramatic irony occurs when the audience has more knowledge of a person or an event than the characters in the text. The effect is achieved through structure, in which the audience is given information early in the text that becomes relevant later. The audience can infer meaning from events or actions of characters that may be different from the inferences made by the characters themselves.

Dramatic irony is found throughout “The Queen of Spades.” One of the clearest examples is Tomsky’s comments at the ball. While dancing with Lizaveta, he makes a passing reference to a young officer who seems to have attracted Lizaveta’s attention. The audience knows that Lizaveta has invited Hermann into her bedroom, so the audience can empathize with Lizaveta’s fear that her plan has been exposed.

The dramatic irony is heightened when Tomsky remarks on Hermann’s character. He says that Hermann possesses “the profile of Napoleon and the soul of Mephistopheles” (26), though he frames the comments as a joke. When Tomsky makes these remarks, he is unaware that Hermann has become obsessed with the countess’s trick and has hatched a plan to gain access to the countess’s house.

Related Titles

By Alexander Pushkin

Plot Summary

logo

Boris Godunov

Alexander Pushkin

Boris Godunov

Alexander Pushkin

Study Guide

logo

Eugene Onegin

Alexander Pushkin

Eugene Onegin

Alexander Pushkin

Study Guide

logo

The Bronze Horseman

Alexander Pushkin

The Bronze Horseman

Alexander Pushkin

Plot Summary

logo

The Captain's Daughter

Alexander Pushkin

The Captain's Daughter

Alexander Pushkin