(Constance
Garnett translation)
Other
Titles:
The
Daughter of Albion
Doch
Albiona
Дочь Албиона
Characters:
Fyodor
Andreitch Otsov – the district Marshal of Nobility (Предводитель дворянства)
Ivan Kuzmitch Gryabov – a landowner
Wilka
Charlesovna Fyce – an English maiden lady in the house
There
are stories that transcend time and space and speak to the modern-day reader
with clarity and universality. And then, there are stories that stand distant
from the reader. “A Daughter of Albion” is a challenge, at least for me. The
time when it was written, the cultural background, the events described make the
differences between the ages stand out, and the substance of the story is confounding,
if not lost. I’ve been thinking about the characters and the conversations, and
the bottom line is that I cannot quite comprehend the depth of the story. Or if
I do, I need a reassuring confirmation that my interpretation catches the true
elements and meaning of the story.
Otsov
pays a visit to Gryabov. The rest of the family is out, but Gryabov is fishing
in a near-by area with the English governess. She had been living in Russia for
10 years but speaks no Russian, which is difficult to believe. She is described
as a young lady, which means that she must have been a teenager when she moved
to Russia. It is very peculiar that she did not learn to speak the language at
least a little at that young age when people adapt much easier to foreign
environment. Furthermore, her second name is just as puzzling. Charlesovna, a daughter of
Charles, signifying an English heritage, conjugated in a Russian custom “-ovna”.
The name is deliberately modified to manifest the Russian influence.
During
the entire story Gryabov insults the Englishwoman on her physical and mental
features and faculties. However, he seems to be preferring her company and fishing
rather than doing anything else, even though he cannot stop expressing his
discontent with both.
“I
can’t tell you how fearfully boring it is. It was the devil drove me to take to
this fishing! I know that it is rotten idiocy for me to sit here. I sit here
like some scoundrel, like a convict, and I stare at the water like a fool.”
He
refuses to go have a drink with Otsov who came to visit, and there is an
earlier mention that Gryabov missed some sort of holiday service to enjoy his
hobby. There is certainly something strange about this cognitive dissonance.
My
suspicion is that Gryabov is embarrassed in his feelings of loneliness. He
tries to suppress it by acting in a manner that would make anyone present
uncomfortable in his company. In his efforts to detract attention from what he
really enjoys and what bothers him, he overcompensates by diverting the
attention, with his ridiculous remarks, to the governess and her ugliness and
stupidity. She is probably just as lonely in this land where she does not
understand a word. Or, it is very likely that she understands Russian, but by
pretending that she doesn’t, she refuses to become part of the mundane and
insignificant way of living that is typical for the Gryabovs house.
Chekhov
is extremely sparing in his hints of what the Englishwoman is thinking. This is
what makes the story difficult to understand. She exhibits some form of disdain
mixed with indifference for this loud and childish behavior, but this scale
of emotions is too limiting for someone who has lived in such an environment for
years. In addition, the story is named after her character. However, the reader
only gets to know her through the questionable remarks of Gryabov.
Hi! I just discovered this post because I was looking for some commentary on this story. Thanks so much for your insights- I certainly struggled with this one, but as you say, the loss of context and the enigmatic nature of the story add difficulty.
ReplyDeleteCheers!!
I think the story is not actually about the Englishwoman but rather about the Russian ruling class of the time. Wilka is perhaps only used by Chekhov as a contrasting item to light up the background and to amplify the comicality of the situation. Otherwise the story of a Marshal of Nobility trying to distract his landowner friend from his daily hobby by persuading him to go and drink some vodka would seem rather boring. Hence, Wilka adds a distracting comical element to an otherwise mundane situation.
ReplyDeleteWhat I think Chekhov meant with this story is that the nobility living in the Russian periphery was largely preoccupied with various sorts of vice and trifle, indulging in sloth and heavy drinking (hence the constant call of Otsov to 'chuck it and have some vodka'). Chekhov is well-known for portraying the nobility and power figures in an exaggerated way with a fair deal of mockery which indicates the traditional disdain for the power class in the Russian culture (the same also applies to Gogol).
Another point of the story is to highlight the cultural differences between the English and the Russians. Chekhov does not share what Wilka is thinking indeed, but he doesn’t have to do it either because he is not an expert on the nuances of the English mentality. However, he is quite good at understanding the inner workings of the Russians. "This isn't England, you see!" is the key phrase, indicating that Russia is much more loose when it comes to public conduct, compared with more reserved and thus more ‘cultural’ England.
As for Wilka and her akward name, Chekhov is again well-known for giving his characters sarcastic and imaginative names (Otsov, for instance referrs to the Russian ‘otets’ (father), thus indicating the patronizing nature of the character, who is the marshal of nobility after all. Gryabov’s name though hints at something spineless and flabby and is even reflected in the description of his body ‘a large stout man…’).
Using a patronymic when addressing someone is quite common in Russia, and is an indication of politeness and formal distance. It was not uncommon for foreigners who moved there back in the day to be addressed by their first name and the patronymic. For instance, Emmanuel Nobel (the nephew to Alfred Nobel who invented the dynamite and set up the Nobel prize fund) was known in Russia as Immanuil Ludwigovich Nobel.
From my point of view this story is about cultural clash. Gryabov's openness is perceived as vulgarity by Englishwoman. Englishwoman's "propriety" is perceived as arrogance and hypocrisy by Gryabov. "She doesn't reckon us as human beings" he says. "But who does she think she is?" - he thinks. "This isn't England, you see!"
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