Språkvetenskapliga fakulteten, LILAe

Kalendarium

Chair: Daniela Assenova Higher Seminar in Slavic Languages & Literatures Long before she became the ‘E. L. James’ of fin-de-siècle Russian popular literature, Anastasiia Verbitskaia had already established herself as a playwright. Nowadays, the writer’s dramatic output is only known to a narrow circle of specialists. The Volgin Family chronicles the disintegration of an impoverished aristocratic family whose wellbeing is in the hollow of its senile matriarch's hand. Her petty tyranny (samodurstvo) sets in motion multiple clashes and highlights one of the topical issues of the time – the woman question and its various aspects. The playwright dramatizes the familial narrative within the broader context of modernizing Russia and the changing perceptions of family structures and social mores, such as the ethos of filial duty and obedience, and patriarchal and marital authority. By exploring the female protagonists' quest for autonomy and personal fulfillment, Verbitskaia's 'tale' of three sisters to some extent foreshadows Chekhov's eponymous play. On the other hand, the play's scrutiny of the parental-filial ties represents women's struggle for gender equality (particularly in regard to their access to higher education), self-support, and the right to dissolve unhappy unions. While focusing on the social and familial aspects of the play’s key conflicts, my paper will also examine how Verbitskaia handles the melodramatic 'victimology' and utilizes its diverse stratagems.