The story "The Queen of Spades" is often referred to as a secular novella with mystical elements. In this work, Pushkin developed the theme of fate and unpredictable destiny, which was popular among the Romantics. Fifty-six years after the highly successful publication of the story, the opera of the same name by P. I. Tchaikovsky premiered with great success at the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg in 1890.