‘What! From outback steppe villages...’

Abstract

The image of Pushkin’s Tatiana has proved magnetic for scholars of Russian literature and spiritual traditions alike. The article offers a look at Tatiana through the eyes of her contemporaries, visualizing her as an active figure in provincial and St. Petersburg aristocratic circles. Tatiana Larina owes her excellent homeschooled education mostly to her own determination and a knack for self-improvement. She is hardly a humble rustic beauty, nor is she oblivious to contemporary intellectual pursuits. The author proves that Tatiana’s transformation into a brilliant socialite is by no means a mere exaggeration by the poet, but naturally follows from her innate talents nurtured in ‘rural solitude’. The study of Tatiana’s evolution is presented in the context of numerous historical facts.