Princess Zasyekin

Princess Zasyekin is an impoverished widow and the mother of Zinaïda Alexandrovna Zasyekin, whose arrival as a neighbor draws Vladimir Petrovitch into the family’s orbit. Her first appearance establishes the contrast that defines her place in the story: she possesses a title and seeks the influence of a well-connected household, yet she lives amid visibly poor surroundings and depends on others for assistance with her affairs.

Identity and Circumstances

The Zasyekins settle for the summer in the lodge on the right of the manor-house where Vladimir Petrovitch’s family is staying. Their arrival comes three weeks after May 9. The lodge had stood empty; when its blinds are raised and women appear at the windows, the new household becomes an immediate subject of curiosity. Vladimir’s mother recognizes the name as belonging to a princess, then wonders whether she is poor. The butler confirms the family’s straitened circumstances: they arrive in hired vehicles, keep no carriage of their own, and have very poor furniture.

This first report makes Princess Zasyekin’s social position double-edged. Her title commands notice, but it does not provide visible comfort or independence. Her family has moved into a modest rented lodge beside a small factory where underpaid boys produce cheap wallpaper. The juxtaposition places the princess’s household within an unvarnished domestic landscape rather than an aristocratic display. Vladimir’s mother responds that the neighbors’ poverty is, in some respect, welcome, but the princess’s later appeal shows that the family’s need is more than an impression formed from their furnishings.

The Appeal to Vladimir’s Mother

While Vladimir is away, his mother receives a letter from Princess Zasyekin on grey paper sealed with brown wax. The letter is written in an uneducated style and a careless hand. It asks Vladimir’s mother to use her powerful influence with people of high standing, on whom, the princess says, the fortunes of both herself and her children depend. She refers to important business and presents the appeal as one gentlewoman addressing another; she also asks permission to call.

The request creates an awkward obligation for Vladimir’s mother. She considers it impossible simply to ignore a fellow gentlewoman who is also a princess, but she is uncomfortable about answering in French and does not trust her own Russian spelling. When Vladimir appears, she asks him to deliver her reply in person: she will be glad to help within her power and invites the princess to visit at one o’clock. For Vladimir, this practical errand unexpectedly advances a private wish to know the neighbor’s daughter. He is delighted and disconcerted, and prepares for the visit by changing into a new necktie and tailcoat rather than his usual short jacket and turn-down collar.

Household and Social Reputation

The princess’s own call on Vladimir’s mother produces a less accommodating impression than her letter’s deferential language might suggest. Vladimir is not present at their interview; he learns about it from his mother at dinner. She describes the princess as vulgar and says that she has worn her out by asking her to interest Prince Sergei in the family’s behalf. The princess appears to have numerous lawsuits and money matters, and Vladimir’s mother expects she will be troublesome and litigious. Despite these reservations, she has invited the princess and her daughter to dinner the following day, citing their status as neighbors and the princess’s title.

Vladimir’s father supplies a family history that helps explain the household’s decline. He remembers the deceased Prince Zasyekin as a well-bred but frivolous and absurd man, known in society as “le Parisien” because he had lived for a long time in Paris. The prince had once been rich but gambled away his property. For reasons his former acquaintance cannot establish, he married the daughter of an agent; afterward, he entered into speculations and ruined himself completely. This is the father’s recollection, not an account given by the princess, and it places the family’s present dependence against a history of lost wealth and compromised standing. Vladimir’s mother consequently worries that the princess may ask to borrow money.

Encounters with Vladimir

When Vladimir visits the Zasyekins’ apartment, he finds poor furniture that seems to have been set down wherever it could fit, and a small, unclean room. The princess is sitting by the window in an easy chair with a broken arm. She is about fifty, bareheaded, and dressed in an old green dress with a striped woolen wrap around her neck; her small black eyes fix on the visitor. This specific portrait gives physical form to the poverty first reported by the butler and to the disorder of the family’s rented lodgings.

Later, Vladimir finds only the old princess in the drawing-room. She scratches her head beneath her cap with a knitting needle and abruptly asks whether he can copy a petition for her. He agrees and sits on the edge of a chair. Handing him a dirty sheet of paper, she instructs him to make the letters larger and asks whether he can do it that day. The request turns the appeal for high-level social influence into a smaller, immediate transaction: rather than merely hearing about the family’s legal and financial business, Vladimir is asked to perform a practical task connected to it.

Narrative Role and Significance

Princess Zasyekin is presented through a series of encounters and reports rather than through access to her private thoughts. The account distinguishes what Vladimir sees—the disordered apartment, worn clothing, and petition—from what his mother judges after meeting her and what his father remembers about her late husband. These perspectives converge on a household whose noble title has not protected it from poverty, while leaving the princess’s own understanding of her circumstances unstated.

Her appeal also serves as the immediate social bridge between the neighboring households. It prompts Vladimir’s first errand to her home, gives him a reason to anticipate meeting Zinaïda Alexandrovna Zasyekin, and leads his mother to invite the princess and her daughter to dinner. The princess’s importance to the narrative therefore lies both in her own practical dependence and in the access her requests create. Her title opens a door; her letter, her legal affairs, and finally the dirty petition reveal how much assistance the family needs once that door is open.