Puškinʼs ‘Mednyj vsadnik’ Revisited: A Reading in Conventional Narrative Irony

Pushkinʼs ‘Mednyi vsadnik’ (‘The Bronze Horseman’) has nearly always been read as the expression of a tragic conflict between the interests of the state and the aspirations of the private individual. Though Evgenijʼs suitability as a tragic hero has been called into question, no-one has ever seriously doubted the reality of his misfortune. By tracing the presence of two opposing narrative voices in the poem, the present article endeavours to show that ‘Mednyi vsadnik’ is not in any sense a tragedy but a masterpiece of conventional narrative irony. As the narratorʼs credibility is undermined and his version of events dismantled, it becomes clear that for the author Evgenii not only falls short of being a tragic hero but also fails to suffer a tragic fate. In the end, we are forced to realize that ‘Mednyi vsadnik’ is not a parable about the ethics of power but a humorous reflection on the Romantic obsession with dreams.