his fatally poisoned wife. Act IV In Act IV, Nina is dead. Zvezdich and a character called The Unknown come to Arbenin, both wanting revenge. They bring him a letter from the baroness proving Nina's innocence. Arbenin, realizing that he has murdered his beloved wife without cause, goes insane. Conclusions The audience is, however, led to the conclusion is that Arbenin is not the only guilty party in Nina's death. The baroness and other players, with motives of their own, did not always tell the truth, allowing Arbenin's delusion to continue or indeed abetting it. Thus the meaning of the play's title, "Masquerade", may be taken in more than one way. The play contains several monologues which serve as standalone speeches. History of the play First version The play was written in 1835. The original version is a three-act play that ends with the death of Nina. Lermontov, hoping to see the play produced, presented it to the office of the literary censor, which at that time was under the chief of Section Three (the secret police), Alexander von Benckendorff. The censor did not approve the play, telling Lermontov that the passions displayed were too severe and that the play implied criticism of the masked balls held by the house of Engelhardt, an aristocratic family. The drama was returned to Lermontov for correction. Second version Wishing to avoid radical changes in the text, Lermontov added a fourth act and introduced a new character, The Unknown. This allowed Lermontov to show Arbenin being punished for his deeds. Third version Still the censor did not approve the play. Lermontov then undertook a major redaction of the play, including a title change from "Masquerade" to "Arbenin". But even in this crippled form, the play did not satisfy the censor, and the play was not produced in Lermontov's lifetime. The only version of the play that has survived is the second four-act one. Masquerade was finally staged in 1852 at the Aleksandrinsky Theater as a benefit for the actress Maria Valberhova, whom Lermontov had envisioned as Nina, although only certain scenes could be staged. Censorship of the play was lifted completely in 1862. Perhaps the real reason that the play was not allowed to be staged is that it is based on a real incident. This is evidenced by the fact that Nina is called by the more formal name Nastasia Pavlovna - only