Turgenev's Fathers and Sons - Chapter 15
100 Days of Charming Rotten Scoundrels tutorial - Goethe, Pushkin, Lermontov, Turgenev
100 Days of Charming Rotten Scoundrels tutorial - Goethe, Pushkin, Lermontov, Turgenev
February 20 - May 31, 2024
Turgenev's Fathers and Sons
Sunday, May 19, Chapter 15 - posted on May 21
Next reading assignments:
Monday, May 20, Chapter 16 - to be posted on May 21
Tuesday, May 21, Chapter 17 - to be posted on May 21
Wednesday, May 22, Chapter 18
Bazarov cynical?! Yes!!! Bazarov embarrassed?!?!?! NEVER!!! Till he meets Odintsova!!!
In the initial conversation with Arkady, Bazarov is being his typically sarcastic self, reducing Odintsova to merely a member of the mammal kingdom - and yet he is intrigued by her - and is eager to find out what is behind the impeccable facade… Her marriage to an older and wealthy man who obliged her with dying six years after the wedding?! Bazarov finds this totally sensible - and not at all reprehensible!!!
The hotel room filled with flowers, liveried servant, elegant hostess in proper morning dress (please recall that Kukshina was wearing a crumpled silk dress in the morning - totally inappropriate), AND a flustered Bazarov!!!
“Arkady introduced Bazarov to her and was secretly astonished to notice that he seemed embarrassed, while Odintsova remained completely serene, just as she had yesterday. Bazarov was aware of his embarrassment and became annoyed. "Well, I'll be! Afraid of a woman!" he thought. Sprawling in an armchair just as Sitnikov had, he began talking in an exaggeratedly casual manner, while Odintsova never took her clear eyes off him.”
And Anna’s extensive back story…
Father - gambler and speculator and the greatest charming scoundrel we’ve encountered so far!!!
“Sergei Nikolaevich Loktev, known as a handsome man, a speculator and gambler, who, after hanging on for fifteen years or so and becoming famous in both Petersburg and Moscow, ended up by losing everything. He was forced to settle in the country, where he soon died, leaving a tiny inheritance to his two daughters, Anna, who was twenty, and Katerina, twelve.”
He does have so much Onegin in him!!!
“Her father had managed to avoid all contact with his neighbors; he despised them and they, him, each in his own way.”
Daughter of a princess, Anna was left to live by her own wits at the father’s death - with a splendid education which did not prepare her for a life of dignified poverty at an abandoned provincial estate… AND provide for her sister Katya…
“After her father's death, Anna's situation became very difficult. The splendid education she'd received in Petersburg hadn't prepared her to assume responsibility for the household and estate or for life in the remote countryside. She knew absolutely no one in the entire neighborhood, and there was no one to turn to.”
But Anna had her father’s survival skills and imported her mothers sister, a princess, to life with her in order to provide the two young ladies with an aura of aristocratic respectability!!! Bravo, Anna!!!
“She didn't lose her head, however, and promptly summoned her mother's sister, the Princess Avdotya Stepanovna Kh., a nasty, arrogant old woman, who, after taking up residence in her niece's house, appropriated all the best rooms for herself, growled and grumbled from morning to night, and wouldn't even go out for walks in the garden unless accompanied by her one servant, a gloomy footman in worn, pea-green livery with light blue braid, and a three-cornered hat. Anna patiently endured all her aunt's whims, gradually assumed responsibility for her sister's education, and, it seemed, had already reconciled herself to the idea of wasting away in the remote countryside.”
And the set up worked perfectly - a wealthy suitor manifested himself!!! No, not a charming prince - but the older and fabulously wealthy Odintsov…
“But fate had decreed otherwise for her. A certain Odintsov happened to notice her; he was a very wealthy man, about forty-six years old, eccentric, hypochondriac, portly, ponderous, and sour, but neither stupid nor mean; he fell in love with her and proposed marriage. She agreed to become his wife; he lived with her almost six years and, when he died, left her all his property.”
And so Anna inherited a fortune, traveled to Europe, but returned after visiting only Germany, and dedicated her life to settled comfort in her well appointed house in the country and the education of her sister…
And OF COURSE the independent, wealthy, and attractive woman became the topic of endless gossip…
“She wasn't loved in the province; there was a great deal of fuss over her marriage to Odintsov, and all sorts of unbelievable stories circulated about her: it was claimed she'd helped her father with his cardsharping, had good reasons for going abroad, and had to conceal some unfortunate consequences…”
She assisted her father in his financial machinations, married money, and went abroad to conceal an unwanted pregnancy… Did Anna pay attention to any of these rumors?!
“All these rumors reached her, but she didn't pay any attention to them: she had an independent and rather resolute character.”
Please indulge me yet again - this long description of the first exchange between Anna and Bazarov is a masterpiece of physiological analysis:
“Odintsova was seated, leaning against the back of an armchair, and, with one hand resting on the other, was listening to Bazarov.
Contrary to his normal behavior, he spoke a great deal and made an obvious effort to interest his interlocutor, which also surprised Arkady. He couldn't tell whether Bazarov had achieved his goal. It was hard to guess from Anna Sergeevna's face what sort of impression he was making: her face retained one and the same expression— cordial and elegant; her lovely eyes shone with attention, but that attention was completely composed. Bazarov's affectation in the first moments of their meeting had an unpleasant effect on her, like a foul odor or a shrill sound; but she understood at once that he was embarrassed, and even found that flattering. Vulgar mediocrity was the only thing that repulsed her, and no one could accuse Bazarov of that.
Arkady continued to be surprised all that day. He expected Bazarov would talk to an intelligent woman like Odintsova about his convictions and views: she'd declared her desire to meet a man "bold enough not to believe in anything." But instead, Bazarov talked about medicine, homeopathy, and botany. It turned out Odintsova hadn't been wasting her time in solitude: she'd read several good books and expressed herself in excellent Russian. She directed the conversation to music, but when she learned that Bazarov didn't acknowledge art, she quietly returned to the subject of botany, although Arkady was just about to launch into a disquisition on the significance of folk melodies. Odintsova continued to treat him as if he were her younger brother: she seemed to value his youthful generosity and good nature-but nothing more. Their conversation lasted a little over three hours—it was unhurried, free-ranging, and animated.”
Astonishing!!! Bazarov is flustered by this elegant, sophisticated, independent, well read, and infinitely fascinating woman… AND she expresses herself freely in Russian as well!!! Which is a rarity for a high society Russian woman in the 19th century - whose primary language of communication, especially on abstract and specialized topics, would have been French!!! Please recall Tatyana's letter in Eugene Onegin - Pushkin makes a huge point of the fact that it was written in French and he merely provided the Russian translation!!! This too makes Anna an event in Russian literature!!!
Bazarov is smitten!!! Yes, he compares her to ice - but ice cream is tasty!!! AND to a duchess!!! All she needs is a dress train and a crown!!! But he needs to conceal his agitation behind his usual cynicism:
"What a delectable body!" continued Bazarov. "Perfect for the dissecting table."
Yet somehow Bazarov senses a closeness to Anna:
“She's been through many changes, my dear boy; she's tasted the common bread."
Yes, her knowledge of life is not theoretical - at her 29 years she reached understanding and wisdom from lived experience - and Bazarov senses it…
And the friends are off to the Odintsov estate - on Bazarov’s name day too - the day of Saint Evgeny!!! Yes, dear readers, another Russian novelistic name day reference - just as in the Tatyana Day celebration in Eugene Onegin - and Natalia Day festivities in War and Peace!!! A name day he will not be celebrating with his parents, to their certain disappointment…
Karl Bryullov (1799-1852), Всадницa, The Rider or Horsewoman (Depicting the adopted daughters of Countess Yuliya Samoylova - 1803-1875), 1832, one of the greatest masterpieces of the Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow, Russia.
I’ve been waiting to post this painting since the start of Fathers and Sons!!! It should be on the cover of ALL editions of the novel - by the personal decree of Anna Barker!!! Anna Odintsova and her younger sister Katya were raised in opulence by their gambler and financial manipulator father - THIS would have been an accurate depiction of their childhood!!!