''The Golovlyov Family'' (russian: Господа Головлёвы, translit=Gospoda Golovlyovy; also translated as ''The Golovlevs'' or ''A Family of Noblemen: The Gentlemen Golovliov'') is a
novel
A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itsel ...
by
Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin
Mikhail Yevgrafovich Saltykov-Shchedrin ( rus, Михаи́л Евгра́фович Салтыко́в-Щедри́н, p=mʲɪxɐˈil jɪvˈɡrafəvʲɪtɕ səltɨˈkof ɕːɪˈdrʲin; – ), born Mikhail Yevgrafovich Saltykov and known during ...
, written in the course of five years, first published in
1880
Events
January–March
* January 22 – Toowong State School is founded in Queensland, Australia.
* January – The international White slave trade affair scandal in Brussels is exposed and attracts international infamy.
* February ...
, and generally regarded as the author's ''magnum opus''.
''The Golovlyov Family'' is regarded as a classic of Russian literature. According to
D. S. Mirsky, it is "the gloomiest book in all Russian literature", and "this one book" places the author "in the very front line of Russian realistic novelists and secures him a permanent place among the national classics".
Background
The principal characters of the novel are based on the members of Saltykov's family. Saltykov's mother is closely portrayed in Arina Petrovna, while Porphyry has many features of Saltykov's older brother Dmitry. N. Belogolovy, Saltykov's friend and doctor, described the family as "savage and ill-tempered" and relations by its members as "marked by an animal cruelty, devoid of any warm familial aspects".
Saltykov-Shchedrin's The Golovlyovs: A Critical Companion
'. Edited by I. P. Foote
In 1875 Saltykov started a series of satirical short stories ''The Well-Meant Speeches'' for the magazine ''
Otechestvennye zapiski
''Otechestvennye Zapiski'' ( rus, Отечественные записки, p=ɐˈtʲetɕɪstvʲɪnːɨjɪ zɐˈpʲiskʲɪ, variously translated as "Annals of the Fatherland", "Patriotic Notes", "Notes of the Fatherland", etc.) was a Russian lite ...
'', which initially contained several stories about the Golovlyovs. However, the idea of a large family chronicle novel, designed to show the stagnation of the land-based gentry (''dvoryanstvo''), was formed only in 1876, when Saltykov stopped publishing stories about the family under the title ''The Well-Meant Speeches''. In 1880 Shchedrin wrote the final chapter of the novel and reworked all of them to publish the novel as a separate book.
Characters
* Vladimir Mikhaylovich Golovlyov, head of the family. "From early years known for his good-for-nothing, carefree nature", according to the author. "Spent most of his time in a cabinet, imitating the singing of blackbirds, roosters and such and amused himself with writing what he termed 'liberated verses' and what became the object of hatred for his wife...
ehated his wife with great sincerity which included, though, a strong portion of cowardice."
* Arina Petrovna, "a woman of about sixty but still spry, and used to living according her own will". Quite intimidating, she rules uncontrollably the vast Golovlyov estate, lives alone and almost ascetically, befriends none of the neighbours, is kind to local authorities and demands from children that they be so tame as ask themselves each time: "what would mummy say of this?"
* Stepan Vladimirovich, the eldest son, nicknamed by his mother "Styopka the Nitwit". "From early years he found himself among the unloved ones and got used to either be a pariah or to play a jester... Unfortunately he was a gifted, utterly impressive guy. From his father he inherited a mischievous character, from his mother the ability to quickly guess other people's weaknesses."
* Anna Vladimirovna, the daughter. Caused embarrassment to Arina Petrovna by eloping from the estate with a
cornet
The cornet (, ) is a brass instrument similar to the trumpet but distinguished from it by its conical bore, more compact shape, and mellower tone quality. The most common cornet is a transposing instrument in B, though there is also a sopr ...
and returning two years later without money but with two twin daughters. Three months on, Anna died.
* Porfiry Vladimirovich, known from childhood by three names: "Little Judas" (''Iudushka''), "Bloodsucker" and "Sincere Boy", all given to him by Styopka the Nitwit. "From early childhood he loved to coax affection from his "dearest friend mammenka", to secretly kiss her shoulder and to report on others from time to time... Even then Arina Petrovna treated suspiciously her son's attempts to soften her up. Even then his eyes' hard look seemed to her mysterious and she couldn't guess what exactly was in it, venom or respect."
* Pavel Vladimirovich, Porfiry's brother and his antipode. "That was a total embodiment of a creature unable for any action. Even from childhood he showed no eagerness towards learning or socializing through games but preferred to stay alone, shying people. He would get himself into a corner, puff himself up and start fantasizing. Like, he'd imagine himself having eaten too much oatmeal so that his legs became thin and he'd be freed from school."
* Vladimir and Pyotr, the sons of Porfiry Vladimirovich. Vladimir commits suicide; Pyotr dies on his way to exile for embezzlement.
* Anninka and Liubinka, the twin daughters of Anna Vladimirovna. Following the death of their mother, brought up by Arina Petrovna. Once grown up, they become provincial actresses.
Synopsis
Family Tribunal
Arina Petrova, matriarch of the Golovlyov family, runs a large estate (4,000 serfs) in Russia. She learns that her first born son, Stepan/Styopka/The Dolt has squandered the land and house she gave to him. She was a practical and strict noblewoman, and she banished her drunken husband Vladmir Mihailitch to his room for several decades while she ran the estate. Arina sent Stepan to college, where he was the class clown. He worked in a series of government jobs, but lost them all due to laziness. He returns home after losing his estate. Arina’s second child is Anna, who ran off and married a musician named Ulanov. Anna has twin girls Anninka and Lubinka. Ulanov soon abandons his family, and Anna dies of an illness 3 months later. Arina hoped to be rid of her children by giving them estates. She was very upset when Anna died (“throwing her two brats on to my shoulders”) and when Stepan returned. Her third son is Porphyry/Iudushka/Bloodsucker; he is an obsequious, scheming son. Her fourth son is Pavel; he is normal and unremarkable in any way. She keeps her family on a very tight financial leash, and they live at poverty level despite their wealth.
Stepan, having nowhere to go, sadly travels back home. Arina declares that she hates him, and says "he has been nothing but a worry and a disgrace to me all his life.” She wonders who she is saving her money for. Stepan is let back into the estate, but becomes depressed and runs away one winter evening. He is found alive but never speaks again; he dies shortly thereafter.
Good Relatives
Serfdom is abolished by the Tsar. Vladimir Mihailitch dies and Arina divides her estate between her 2 remaining children. Pavel dies from alcoholism having refused to make a will. This means everything goes to Porphyry. Arina leaves the big house and moves in with her orphaned twin granddaughters to the Pogorelka estate. Porphyry gets married and has 2 sons. He becomes very religious, but it is only for show.
Casting Up
While Arina is very strict with the girls, her energy for managing an estate is waning. The girls demand to leave, and she lets them. Arina becomes depressed living in an empty house in rural Russia. She begins visiting her son for good food and conversation. Porphyry’s wife dies, and he takes a lover, Yevpraxeya. The twins write back that they have both become successful provincial actresses and can support themselves. Porphyry’s first son, Volodya, kills himself. Porphyry’s second son, Pyotr/Petenka, arrives unexpectedly to beg for money. He was an infantry treasurer that has gambled the unit’s money away. Pyotr explains that Volodya killed himself because Porphyry refused to support him and his new wife (Volodya informed, but didn’t ask permission for the marriage). Porphyry refuses to pay the debt, sending Pyotr away to await trial.
The Niece
Arina falls ill. Porphyry calls for the twins as Arina dies. Prophyry’s son Pyotr is banished to Siberia and he dies on the way there. Anninka arrives to settle some paperwork since Arina died. The twins want to continue their acting careers, and have no interest in moving back. Porphyry has become a compulsive talker. Anninka’s visit with Porphyry is awful and she leaves as soon as the papers are signed.
Illicit Family Joys
Yevpraxeya becomes pregnant with Porphyry’s child. He is afraid of a scandal, so he ignores the pregnancy and denies any involvement. She gives birth to a boy; Porphyry feels guilty for having a child out of wedlock, so he sends the baby to the orphanage without Yevpraxeya’s knowledge.
The Derelict
Yevpraxeya, deprived of her child, decides to ruin Porphyry’s life. She begins to complain incessantly and refuses to listen to Porphyry’s constant babbling. She takes several lovers. Porphyry becomes a recluse and begins to lose his mind.
The Reckoning
The twins’ middling acting careers eventually turn them into prostitutes. They both are with 2 municipal treasurers, who embezzle funds to fuel their relationships. When everything is discovered, the twins decide to commit suicide together. Only Lubinka drinks the poison and dies.
A depleted Anninka arrives at Golovlyov in the winter. Anninka and Porphyry begin drinking heavily together each night. While reminiscing, they get into awful screaming fights. Porphyry slowly realizes that he has been awful to everybody his entire life. He wonders who he was saving all of his money for. As Holy Week approaches, Porphyry’s guilt overcomes him. He leaves in the night to ask for forgiveness at his mother’s grave. He is found frozen to death the next day. Anninka is unconscious on her death bed. A messenger goes to inform a distant relative (Nadya Galkin) about being the new heir to the Golovlyov estate and capital.
Themes and style
''The Golovlyov Family'' grew up from ''The Well-Meant Speeches'', a series of satirical stories and sketches, intended as critical studies of the "pillars of society". On January 2, 1881, Saltykov explained his work in a letter to
Yevgeny Utin
Yevgeny Isaakovitch Utin () (3 November 1843 – 9 August 1894) was a Russian lawyer and journalist. He was arrested in the student unrest in Saint Petersburg in 1861 and held in the Peter and Paul Fortress for some time. After graduating from t ...
: "I took a look at the family, the state, the property and found out that none of such things exist. And that those very principles for the sake of which freedoms have been granted, were not respected as principles any more, even by those who seemed to hold them."
[Goryachkina, М.S. М.Е.Saltykov-Shchedrin. The Selected Works. Critical and biographical essay. Khudozhestvennaya Literatura Publishers. Moscow. 1954. Pp. 5-24] The novel focuses on the institution of the family as cornerstone of society: unlike the conservatives, who portray the traditional family in positive tones, Saltykov gives an image of a dysfunctional family.
Unlike his other works, in which Saltykov condemns the serfdom for its cruelty caused to the serfs, in ''The Golovlyov Family'' he condemns is for what it did to the masters, whom he shows to have been its moral victims. In contrast to the "gentry nests" depicted by
Ivan Turgenev
Ivan Sergeyevich Turgenev (; rus, links=no, Ива́н Серге́евич Турге́невIn Turgenev's day, his name was written ., p=ɪˈvan sʲɪrˈɡʲe(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ tʊrˈɡʲenʲɪf; 9 November 1818 – 3 September 1883 (Old Style dat ...
(''
Home of the Gentry
''Home of the Gentry'' (russian: Дворянское гнездо ''Dvoryánskoye gnezdó'' ), also translated as ''A Nest of the Gentlefolk'', ''A Nest of the Gentry'' and ''Liza'' , is a novel by Ivan Turgenev published in the January 1859 ...
'') and
Leo Tolstoy
Count Lev Nikolayevich TolstoyTolstoy pronounced his first name as , which corresponds to the romanization ''Lyov''. () (; russian: link=no, Лев Николаевич Толстой,In Tolstoy's day, his name was written as in pre-refor ...
, Golovlyovo becomes a symbolical source of the family's malaise.
[
However, as I. P. Foote notes, social-historical interest of the novel is overshadowed by the psychological portrayal of the two main characters, Porfiry Vladimirovich and Arina Petrovna.
James Wood calls Shchedrin a precursor of ]Knut Hamsun
Knut Hamsun (4 August 1859 – 19 February 1952) was a Norwegian writer who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1920. Hamsun's work spans more than 70 years and shows variation with regard to consciousness, subject, perspective a ...
and the modernists
Modernism is both a philosophy, philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western world, Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new fo ...
:
As Foote notes, the ending of the novel reveals "Saltykov's view that human decency and dignity can be obtained by even the most abject of beings". The role of conscience in "bringing about a transformation of human life" is an important theme in Saltykov's other works, particularly in the novel ''The History of a Town
''The History of a Town'' ( pre-reform Russian: ; post-reform rus, История одного города, Istoriya odnogo goroda) is a 1870 novel by Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin. The plot presents the history of the town of Glupov (can be transl ...
''.[
]
Screen adaptations
* '' House of Greed'' (1933), a film, directed by Aleksandr Ivanovsky
Aleksandr Viktorovich Ivanovsky (; November 29, 1881 – January 12, 1968) was a screenwriter and film director in Soviet Union. He was awarded the USSR State Prize, Stalin Prize in 1941, for his work on the 1940 film ''Musical Story''. His 1944 o ...
.
* ''The Golovlyov Family'' (2006), a TV play, directed by Kirill Serebrennikov
Kirill Semyonovich Serebrennikov (russian: Кирилл Семёнович Серебренников; born 7 September 1969) is a Russian stage and film director and theatre designer. Since 2012, he has been the artistic director of the Gogol ...
.
* ''The Golovlyov Family'' (2010), a TV series, directed by Alexander Yerofeev.
English translations
* Athelstan Ridgway (1910, as ''The Gollovlev Family'', published by Jarrold & Sons), now in the Public Domain
The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work
A creative work is a manifestation of creative effort including fine artwork (sculpture, paintings, drawing, sketching, performance art), dance, writing (literature), filmmaking, ...
.
* Avrahm Yarmolinsky
Avrahm Yarmolinsky (January 13, 1890 – September 28, 1975) was an author, translator, and the husband of Babette Deutsch.
Biography in Context.
Yarmolinsky was head of the Slavonic Division of the New York Public Library from 1918 to 19 ...
(1917, as ''A Family of Noblemen: The Gentlemen Golovliov'', published by Boni & Liveright
Boni & Liveright (pronounced "BONE-eye" and "LIV-right") is an American trade book publisher established in 1917 in New York City by Albert Boni and Horace Liveright. Over the next sixteen years the firm, which changed its name to Horace Live ...
), now in the Public Domain
The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work
A creative work is a manifestation of creative effort including fine artwork (sculpture, paintings, drawing, sketching, performance art), dance, writing (literature), filmmaking, ...
.
* Natalie Duddington
Natalie Duddington (née Ertel; 14 November 188630 May 1972) was a philosopher and a translator of Russian literature into English. Her first name sometimes appears as Nathalie (with an ''h'').
Biography
Nataliya Aleksandrovna Ertel was born i ...
(1931, as ''The Golovlyov Family'', published by The Macmillan Company
Macmillan Inc. is a defunct American book publishing company. Originally established as the American division of the British Macmillan Publishers, the two were later separated and acquired by other companies, with the remnants of the original Am ...
, reissued in 1934 and in 1955 by Everyman's Library
Everyman's Library is a series of reprints of classic literature, primarily from the Western canon. It is currently published in hardback by Random House. It was originally an imprint of J. M. Dent (itself later a division of Weidenfeld & Ni ...
and 2001 by NYRB Classics
New York Review Books (NYRB) is the publishing division of ''The New York Review of Books''. Its imprints are New York Review Books Classics, New York Review Books Collections, The New York Review Children's Collection, New York Review Comics, ...
).
* Andrew R. MacAndrew (1961, as ''The Golovlovs'', published by Signet Classics, The New American Library
The New American Library (also known as NAL) is an American publisher based in New York, founded in 1948. Its initial focus was affordable paperback reprint
A reprint is a re- publication of material that has already been previously published. ...
).
* Olga Shartse (1975, as ''The Golovlyovs'', Progress Publishers
Progress Publishers was a Moscow-based Soviet publisher founded in 1931.
Publishing program
Progress Publishers published books in a variety of languages: Russian, English, and many other European and Asian languages. They issued many scientific b ...
, Moscow).
* Samuel D. Ciorgan (1979, as ''The Golovlyov Family'', published by Ardis Publishers
Ardis Publishing (the name of the original company is Ardis Publishers, which is the correct name for the company up until 2002), began in 1971, as the only publishing house outside of Russia dedicated to Russian literature in both English and Rus ...
, reissued in 2013 by The Overlook Press
The Overlook Press is an American publishing house based in New York, New York, that considers itself "a home for distinguished books that had been 'overlooked' by larger houses".
History and operations
It was formed in 1971 by Peter Mayer, wh ...
).
* I. P. Foote (1986, as ''The Golovlevs'', published by Oxford University Press
Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...
, reissued in 2019 by Head of Zeus).
* Ronald Wilks (1988, as ''The Golovlyov Family'', published by Penguin Classics
Penguin Classics is an imprint of Penguin Books under which classic works of literature are published in English, Spanish, Portuguese, and Korean among other languages. Literary critics see books in this series as important members of the Western ...
).
References
External links
*
*
''The Gollovlev Family''
at the Internet Archive
The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...
(translation by Athelstan Ridgway)
''A Family of Noblemen''
at the Internet Archive
The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...
(translation by Avrahm Yarmolinsky
Avrahm Yarmolinsky (January 13, 1890 – September 28, 1975) was an author, translator, and the husband of Babette Deutsch.
Biography in Context.
Yarmolinsky was head of the Slavonic Division of the New York Public Library from 1918 to 19 ...
)
''The Golovlyov Family''
at the Internet Archive
The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...
(translation by Natalie Duddington
Natalie Duddington (née Ertel; 14 November 188630 May 1972) was a philosopher and a translator of Russian literature into English. Her first name sometimes appears as Nathalie (with an ''h'').
Biography
Nataliya Aleksandrovna Ertel was born i ...
)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Golovlyov Family
1880 Russian novels
Novels by Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin
Family saga novels
Fictional families
Novels first published in serial form
Novels set in 19th-century Russia
Russian satirical novels
Works originally published in Otechestvennye Zapiski
Russian novels adapted into films
Russian novels adapted into plays
Russian novels adapted into television shows
Novels about dysfunctional families
Fiction about suicide
Novels set in Russia
Psychological novels