Russian Romance

The former's devotees often claim that Pushkin is to the Russian language what Shakespeare is to English: not only a master of diverse styles and modes, but also a brilliant innovator, a manipulator of the language with skill unmatched by predecessor, successor, or contemporary. Pushkin's most famous poem is the verse novel Eugene Onegin; also widely read is The Bronze Horseman, a symbolic depiction of the individual struggling with the state. Among his prose work is The Queen of Spades, a short story widely cited for its influence on the great Russian writers of the later 19th century. Following prolonged jealousy, Pushkin challenged his wife's lover to a duel and was fatally injured.