Boris Godunov (play) opera, "Boris Godunov" (1874), is based on this play. Having finished the play, Pushkin famously wrote to his friend Pyotr Vyazemsky: "What a Pushkin, what a son of a bitch!" . Pushkin wrote of the play: "The study of Shakespeare, Karamzin, and our old chronicles gave me the idea of clothing in dramatic forms one of the most dramatic epochs of our history. Not disturbed by any other influence, I imitated Shakespeare in his broad and free depictions of characters, in the simple and careless combination of plots; I followed Karamzin in the clear development of events; I tried to
Boris Godunov Skuratova-Belskaya, the daughter of Malyuta Skuratov-Belskiy, head of the oprichniks. In 1580, the Tsar chose Boris Godunov's sister Irina Godunova (1557 – 26 October/23 November 1603) to be the wife of his second son and eventual heir, the fourteen-year-old Feodor Ivanovich (1557–1598). On this occasion, Godunov was promoted to the rank of "Boyar". On 15 November 1581, Godunov was present when the Tsar murdered his own eldest son, the crown prince Ivan. Godunov tried to intervene but received blows from the Tsar's sceptre. The elder Ivan immediately repented, and Godunov rushed to get help for the Tsarevich, who died four