46 pages • 1 hour read
Alexander PushkinThe Captain's Daughter
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1836A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapters 8-11Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 8 Summary: “An Uninvited Guest”
Pyotr goes into Kuzmich’s house. Palasha, the family maid, tells Pyotr that Maria is hiding out at the priest’s house. Pyotr goes to the priest’s house where Pugachov is feasting with his troops. The priest’s wife, Akulina Pamfilovna, tells Pyotr that they had told Pugachov that Maria was their daughter and that she was sick abed.
Pyotr returns to his home. Savelich tells him that they have been robbed by the rebels. He asks Pyotr if he recognized Pugachov. When Pyotr says he did not, Savelich tells him that Pugachov was the man who guided them through the blizzard to the inn and to whom Pyotr had given his coat. Pyotr is stunned.
Pyotr is summoned to an audience with Pugachov who is in the midst of a war council with his Cossacks. Pugachov and his troops resolve to leave Belogorsk to attack Orenburg the next day. After the council leaves, Pyotr talks with Pugachov one-on-one. Pugachov asks Pyotr if he thinks Pugachov is Czar Peter III. Pyotr replies, “[W]hoever you may be, you’re playing a dangerous game” (60). Pugachov offers Pyotr a place in his army. Pyotr declines and states that as a “nobleman,” he has to serve Catherine the Great.
