Was Pushkin's duel with Dantes inevitable? Guess and truth. Fatal events on the eve of the fight. Farewell light of love in the life and poems of F. I. Tyutchev. The last love of I. S. Turgenev. The drama of the restless soul of the great Russian actress Vera Komissarzhevskaya. The legend of Ludwig Beethoven and his immortal lover. This is the book of plays by the famous playwright P. Pavlovsky. The hidden world of the heroes' souls, their personalities are revealed by the author at sharp turning points in life's destinies, in acute dramatic clashes. P. Pavlovsky's plays are staged on the best stages in our country and abroad. The stage images of the characters were created by popular theater artists: A. Popov, L. Kasatkina, B. Freundlich, V. Panina, L. Chursina, I. Ledogorov.