Psychological aspect

The most important aspect of myth is the psychological and spiritual aspect. It is interesting in this sense to pay attention to the fact that everything in the story is described as if through Hermann. He is present everywhere, if not directly, then invisibly standing somewhere, hiding around the corner of the house. If he is not in the next scene, then the action unfolds as if for him or in connection with him.

It is no accident that Pushkin, although in one of the epigraphs, introduces the Swedish mystic Swedenborg into the context of the story. The fact is that Swedenborg is one of those mystics who are inclined to interpret the Scriptures exclusively symbolically.

He interprets historical biblical events as changes that occur within a person. Responding to this interpretation, Pushkin constructs his story in exactly the same way. Therefore, everything that happens in the story is revealed only in the context of the fact that this action takes place inside a person. The characters are only personifications of certain realities of man himself, such as the mind, heart, will, wisdom, etc. But Pushkin, already following the patristic tradition, shows that all these realities live in man in isolation. And this disunity is the result of the Fall. St. Basil the Great, explaining this phenomenon, wrote: "Sin has divided human nature into many warring parts." In the same way, Pushkin paints a picture not only of internal disunity in man, in which individual parts live in accordance with their own desires, but also a picture of the enmity of these parts among themselves.

In Hermann, Pushkin constantly singles out two main psychological traits: the inflexibility of his desires (strong passions) and the unbridled imagination (277, 280), and at the same time he calls his imagination also fiery. "Imagination," according to the Holy Fathers, "is an irrational force, acting for the most part mechanically, according to the laws of the combination of images" [101]. Lucifer was the first to descend into such a state of "multi-component imagination", "dreaming and filling his mind with images of equality with God" [102]. Following him, Adam was plunged into "a sensual, multi-component, multi-form, immersed in images and dreams." To be "immersed in images or to live in them and under the influence of them is a property of irrational animals, and not of rational beings" [103]. Strong passions and unbridled imagination lead Hermann to what in the patristic tradition is called prelest. The world that attracts him is an imaginary world, a game world, as it is customary to say now, virtual. And the money itself, which is the purpose and meaning of this game, is also virtual reality. They are that which is adequate to any thing, but in themselves have no value. Hermann was drawn into this fantastic world by his unbridled fantasy – his imagination fills this world with a kind of reality. But this virtual world is the product of his passions, of his unbending will to the unreal world. However, this unreal world is still a reality, but only in one sense – it is the realization of his freedom. That is why Pushkin's Hermann himself is a hero, personifying the will within man, but a vicious will, perverted by passions. The fact that Pushkin understood well the patristic teaching on the imagination is confirmed by his statement about the creative process. "Delight excludes tranquility, a necessary condition for beauty," writes Pushkin, "rapture does not offer the power of the mind, which disposes the parts in their relation to the whole. Rapture is short-lived, inconstant, and, consequently, unable to produce true, great perfection" [105].

Everything in a vicious person is vicious, and so is the mind that draws him into the occult world, into the power of demons. Pushkin's nar-um-mov is the personification of the mind in man. Pushkin hints at this by his surname and by the fact that he depicts him as the most reasonable of all the acting characters. But it must be remembered that Pushkin depicts the mind in a fallen man obsessed with passions, so the mind in him resembles a cavalryman who is able to solve the problems that arise before him only by a gallop (cavalry charge). And Hermann's mind is able to perform such cavalry work only when it is necessary to resolve some issues related to the card game – at other moments it does not appear. Where passion reigns, the mind sleeps – it is not able to restrain a person from destructive actions. Moreover, he himself is so imbued with the destructive poison of passion that he becomes its partner. After all, none other than Narumov is the person who introduces Hermann to the world of players. True, he wanted to keep Hermann from a mad game, but this is only a mental attempt - he does not take any concrete action for this. At this peak of passions, he betrays Hermann – Hermann loses his mind.

Chekalinsky is the personification of a new quality of Hermann himself. As if a "new man", a kind of "ideal" of a man in the world of the game, which Hermann dreams of finding. This is the "ideal" of a person who has "conquered" his passions by some "ascetic" activity. This is a perverted Christian ideal, so Hermann is a kind of opposite to the Christian ideal. He is a strong individual, but not a personality. His action is not responsible, personal, but spontaneous. With Christ we die to the elements of the world (cf. Col. 2:20), and if spontaneous life is so aroused in a person, then this indicates that he is not with Christ. Hermann does not know his element, lives a life that is incomplete, hypocritical. "Being a gambler at heart, he never took cards in his hands" (277), Pushkin writes about him. He is a titan in whom the boiling of passions raises a whirlwind in the soul, stimulating the rapid development of elemental life. As a result, a person is subject to an uncontrollable spontaneous process – that which is hidden in the soul and suppressed suddenly takes possession of it with unprecedented force. This naturalistic process reaches a critical point at which there is a spontaneous upheaval of man's whole being—for man it is a spiritual catastrophe which changes his nature, making him a collection of disconnected elements. Hermann is on the verge of such a shock – he enters into a battle with his own fantasized "ideal", with his element. Any magician enters into a battle with his element, he tries to master it, but he is also affected by it. For Hermann, this fight becomes a fatal defeat - he is amazed by his element, his fantasy. But fantasy also keeps him from spontaneous disintegration. Deprivation of the mind is the only way to stop this decay.

Playing cards are associated with the minor arcana, and the minor arcana, as the occultists themselves say, with the elements, so the card game immerses a person in elemental life, and the excited elements shock a person and bring him into confusion. Attempts to control the elements with the help of cards and spells end with the fact that the elements begin to rule the person himself – chaos settles in the soul, the hurricane of the elements takes out everything human from the soul, and the Christian must die to the elements (Col. 2:20).

Lizaveta Ivanovna is the only character whom Pushkin himself calls by name, and not only by name, but also by patronymic, although in age (she is the youngest) and in her social position she is less worthy of it. What is the key to such a selection of this character? The fact is that in addition to the fictitious ideal, there is also a genuine ideal in every person – this is the image of God. In Pushkin's psychological context, Lizaveta Ivanovna symbolizes this image.

Her very name, translated from Hebrew, means one who worships God, and her patronymic in the same language means the grace of God. Therefore, it becomes clear why Pushkin does not separate her name from her patronymic – for him, the name in this combination indicates the innermost meaning that he wants to give to this character. Indirectly, this is confirmed by her astrological identification. The ancients called the moon Soteira, which means savior in Greek. Pushkin introduces one very important, but not accentuated detail into the context of the story: at the time of Hermann's crime, she is sitting "with her bare hands folded in a cross" (286). Hermann finds her in this position. At this moment she is on the cross – Hermann crucifies her with his sin, crucifies the image of God, "for the flesh desires that which is contrary to the spirit, and the spirit that which is contrary to the flesh" (Gal. 5:17). The image of God in man is the ideal that leads him to salvation – it is the seed that man must grow in himself and turn it into the likeness of God. But in Hermann this image is humiliated, Lizaveta Ivanovna occupies the last place among all the characters in terms of social status – she is a freeloader.

She is forced to endure the stupid antics of the old countess, to fulfill her whims and to be in her service. In this we can see the mythological collision of Aphrodite Pandemos ("all-people") and Aphrodite Urania (Heavenly), considered by Plato in the "Banquet". In fact, these characters should represent something unified: their enmity and division are only the result of sinful disintegration. If this collision is translated into Christian language, then Aphrodite Urania will be the Heavenly Wisdom in man, as a reflection of the Wisdom of God, and Aphrodite Pandemos will be the earthly wisdom addressed to the world. In Hermann the Heavenly Wisdom is subordinate to the earthly. He shows interest in Heaven, and even makes a date with her. To do this, he needs to climb up the spiral staircase to her chambers. The spiral staircase is an image of a person's slow ascent (change) to the Heavenly. But Hermann, having already opened the door leading to the spiral staircase, "returned and entered the dark study" (282). The "dark cabinet" is the cabinet of earthly wisdom. The epithet dark also characterizes Pushkin's attitude to this monastery.

All Hermann's interests converge on the countess, he is even ready to become her lover. There is a necrophilous element in this "love" – it is love for a half-corpse, love for the dead. This is not just a heart-rending picture, with disgusting details, but an image of the decrepitude of earthly wisdom. Here is Pushkin's allusion to the antiquity of Masonic wisdom, to their love for secret wisdom. This love for the dead, for what has outlived its time, ends tragically for Hermann. Heavenly Wisdom remains unrevealed and barren in him. He goes mad, cheating on her – she is given to someone else – the one who owns her teacher's money. Through Hermann's insane desire for money, she is enslaved by his passion. This passion makes her fruitless - now she is only able to repeat the path of her teacher. She takes into the house the same pupil as she once was.