I noticed many parallels between the ways that Boris Godunov and the Pretender Dmitry and Avraamy Palitsyn’s writings about Pseudo-Dmitry portrayed foreigners, and specifically Poles. Palitsyn is not subtle in his account as to how he feels about the Poles. He describes the Catholic Poles as “that eternal enemy of Christians” and their God as the “Anti-Christ,” although the two religions are, at their root, quite similar (Palitsyn 381). Later, he describes Pseudo-Dmitry’s rule in Moscow by saying, “…the Poles were squandering the ancient treasures of Russia” (Palitsyn 383). Here, Palitsyn equates Pseudo-Dmitry’s irresponsibility as Tsar with the Poles; in Palitsyn’s mind, no one that destructive could possibly be a Russian. Palitsyn clearly portrays in this history the desire to blame the chaos and suffering in Russia at the time on the Poles, as they were a simple target; the Russians were victims of persecution and not at all to blame for their circumstances. The opera’s depiction of Marina, a Polish noblewoman, hit on similar themes. As Pseudo-Dmitry’s love interest in the opera, she directly said she was only interested in his ability to potentially become tsar. She is eager to partake in his fraudulent takeover of the Russian tsar-ship; her calling him “serf” indicates her knowledge of his lack of royal blood. After she expresses these sentiments to him, he calls her “cruel”. However, he is so enthralled with her that her surface-level apologies suffice for him to forgive her. Marina’s portrayal as a soulless temptress fits well with Avraamy’s descriptions of the Pole’s: people without religion who want to contribute to Russian’s downfall.