Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin (1799 - 1837) began working on the play Boris Godunov at the end of 1824. The idea for the drama came to him after reading N.M. Karamzin's History of the Russian State (1766 - 1826). He noted that the history of the national movement and the struggle for power bore many similarities to his own time. The play is not based on the personal life of the hero, but rather on the fate of the people, who are always present on stage. Boris Godunov is a philosophical work about the tragedy of seizing power and the suffering of the people. The characters in Boris Godunov are so consumed by their greed for power that they are willing to sacrifice everything for it - conscience, honor, morality. Pushkin endowed the people and their representatives with a strong sense of morality and spiritual strength.