"Little Tragedies" and "Boris Godunov" are the pinnacles of Russian drama in the first half of the 19th century. In 1825, while in exile in Mikhailovsky, Pushkin wrote the tragedy Boris Godunov. "The study of Shakespeare, Karamzin and our old chronicles gave me the idea to put into dramatic form one of the most dramatic epochs of modern history," Pushkin wrote about the origin of the idea of the plot, referring to the era of Troubles. After completing work on the play, in which the main theme was the struggle for power and the Russian throne, the poet confessed in a letter to his friend P. A. Vyazemsky: "My tragedy is over; I read it aloud, alone, and clapped my hands and shouted, oh yes Pushkin! You son of a bitch!" The cycle "Little Tragedies" was written in 1830 in Boldin, it is dedicated to human passions — subjugating all thoughts and feelings. Every main character is obsessed with such a passion — whether it's the acquisition of treasures, love, creativity, or the thirst for immortality. And each of them is a willing slave to his passion, for whom it is not enough to subordinate his personal being to it, he wants to subordinate the whole world to it. The publication also includes Pushkin's unfinished dramatic works, "The Mermaid" and "Scenes from the Time of Chivalry," as well as selected poems.