Boris Godunov, Pushkin's major contribution to Russian theatre , was subsequently turned into a famous opera by Mussorgsky. Set in the 'Time of Troubles' at the beginning of the seventeenth century, Pushkin's Shakespearean historical drama follows Karmzin's history of the Russian State, in assuming Boris Godunov to be guilty of murder in ascending the throne of Russia. With the plot thus already determined by history, Pushkin allows the tragic tension of the play to develop from Boris's conscience, while the structure, mood and language (blank verse, alternating with prose scenes) of Boris Gudanov are radically different to any earlier Russian play.

This edition of Pushkin's tragedy Boris Godunov is part of the Russian Texts series, designed to meet the needs of the A Level and undergraduate Russian language students. The text is complete with English notes and vocabulary, and an introduction.