The love story of Masha Mironova and Peter Grinev

Masha Mironova, the main character of the story “The Captain’s Daughter” by Alexander Pushkin, was a girl that seemed quite ordinary at first glance. However, for many readers, she became a model of purity, morality and inner nobility. Why is Masha so loved by Pushkin’s fans? Let’s try to figure it out!

The appearance of the heroine

Masha did not possess striking beauty: “… A girl of about eighteen years old, chubby, ruddy, with light-blond hair, smoothly combed over her ears…” came in. The appearance is quite typical, but Pushkin emphasizes that the girl’s eyes were burning, her voice was truly angelic, and she dressed cute, thanks to which she created a pleasant impression of herself.

Character

Masha Mironova received a simple upbringing: she does not flirt with Grinev, does nothing to please him. This favorably distinguishes her from young noblewomen, and such naturalness and spontaneity resonate in the heart of the hero.

Masha was distinguished by her sensitivity and kindness, while she was distinguished by courage and dedication. She herself looks after Grinev, but moves away from him as the hero recovers. And this is due solely to the fact that Masha’s behavior can be misinterpreted. Even in spite of her love, the girl does not go beyond the brink of decency.

Masha’s nobility is evidenced by her refusal to marry her beloved against the will of his father. It is important for the heroine that Grinev does not have problems because of his feelings for her, and she is not ready to destroy his relationship with his family. This suggests that the heroine is used to thinking first of all not about herself and her well-being, but about other people. Masha says: “God knows better than ours what we need.” This speaks of the inner maturity of the girl, of her humility to fate and humility in front of what she is unable to change.

The best qualities of the heroine are revealed in suffering. To ask the queen to have mercy on her beloved, she embarks on a journey, realizing that she is at great risk. For Masha, this act is a battle not only for Grinev’s life, but also for justice. This transformation is amazing: from a girl who at the beginning of the story was afraid of shots and fainted from fright, Masha turns into a brave woman, ready for a true feat for the sake of her ideals.

Criticism

Many say that Masha’s image turned out to be too colorless. Marina Tsvetaeva wrote that the heroine’s trouble was that Grinev loved her and Pushkin himself did not love her at all. Therefore, the author did not make any efforts to make Masha brighter: she is just a positive character, a little stereotyped and “cardboard”.

Nevertheless, there is another opinion: by subjecting the heroine to tests, the author shows her best sides. And Masha Mironova is a character who is the embodiment of the female ideal. She is kind and strong, capable of making difficult decisions and does not betray her inner ideals.

The image of Masha Mironova is the embodiment of real femininity. Delicate, soft, but capable of showing courage, loyal to her lover and possessing high moral ideals, she is an example of a truly strong-willed character and rightfully decorates the gallery of the best female images of world literature.