Death of the Vazir-Mukhtar

The PlotDeath of the Vazir-Mukhtar tells the story of the last year in the life of Alexander Griboyedov, a diplomat and playwright in the Russia of Tsar Nicholas I. The novel takes him from being feted in St Petersburg in March 1828, as the successful negotiator of a peace treaty with Persia, through his return to Persia as the “Vazir-Mukhtar” (Minister Plenipotentiary) and his death at the hands of a Tehran mob in January 1829.On this simple arc Yuri Tynianov hangs a rich, multilayered exploration of Griboyedov’s interior life and Russian society. Allusions, metaphors and meditations mix with dreams, dinner parties, affairs and negotiations to create a whirling, immersive experience. Tynianov uses the techniques he developed as a leader of the Formalist school of criticism to make his story vivid, unexpected and forward driving.First a poetic prologue recalls the short-lived officers’ revolt of December 1825 and the disillusionment which followed. The contradiction between Griboyedov’s commitments - to serving the Tsar’s imperialist ambitions on one hand and to his Decembrist friends and his writing on the other – is an underlying note throughout.In St Petersburg Griboyedov is presented to the Tsar, negotiates with senior ministers, takes up with former mistresses and generally enjoys his celebrity. Travelling to Persia he stops for months in Tiflis and consummates an obsession by marrying a very young Georgian princess. In Tehran he faces down the Shah and his cabinet of eu...