Dream and Reality of Russian Young Provincial Ladies (1700-1850)
The Carl Beck Papers No. 1405 (Pittsburgh, 2000), 87 pp. $6.50

Dream and Reality of Russian Young Provincial Ladies (1700-1850) explores the issue of marriage in the lives of young girls of noble origin. The main themes of the essay are: the image of an ideal wife in the eyes of society, men in particular; the corresponding image of an ideal husband in girls' dreams; and the realization of these dreams in reality after marriage. The book chronologically presents, through their own voices where possible, provincial noble young women of several succeeding generations: the two wives of Ivan Nepluev; the wife and daughters of Andrei Bolotov; Anna Labzina; the girls and young women of Bunin-Yelagin-Kireevskii clan; and the female characters of Dmitrii Begichev's novels. In all of these cases, the everyday existence of a particular woman, real or fictional, is analyzed in relation to her contemporaries. Evidence is primarily drawn from archival documents, published and unpublished correspondence, diaries, family chronicles, memoirs, and contemporary fiction.

To order this book mail to:
University of Pittsburgh
The Carl Beck Papers, Box G
Center for Russian and East European Studies
4G-17 W.W. Posvar Hall, , Pittsburgh, PA 15260
Telephone: (412) 648-9881; Fax: (412) 648-2199

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