Marriage (play)
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Marriage (Russian: Женитьба, Zhenitba or Zhenit'ba) is a play by the Russian writer, Nikolai Gogol, which was first published in 1842.
As there are no articles in the Russian language, it is difficult to judge whether Gogol meant the title to refer to the concept of marriage in general, as would be implied by the translation Marriage, or to the specific marriage that is portrayed in the play, which the addition of the definite article "the" would imply.
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[edit] Plot summary
In the opening scene, a civil servant named Ivan Kuzmich Podkolyossin sits alone in his room smoking a pipe and contemplating marriage. He has hired a matchmaker (Fyolka Ivanovna), as was the custom in Russia at the time, to help find him a bride. As the two converse, the audience discovers that Podkolyossin has been in search of a bride for quite some time. The reason for his not being yet married, however, owes to his own indecisiveness rather than the lack of a suitable partner. In fact, Fyokla has found him a nice young woman named Agafya Tikhonovna.
When Podkolyossin's friend Kochkarev unexpectedly pays a visit and finds Fyolka at Podkolyossin's home, he learns for the first time of his friend's search for a bride. The fact that Podkolyossin has not mentioned it to his friend provides further proof of his indecision. Kochkarev becomes outraged at Fyolka because she also married him and his wife and he is unhappy with the marriage. Kochkarev, after cleverly getting Fyokla to reveal the location of Agafya's home, informs Fyokla that her services are no longer needed and that he will proceed with the matter on his own.
In the next scene, Agafya and her aunt, Arina, discuss the issue of marriage and the matchmaker walks in on them. She informs the two women that several suitors will soon be making appearances at the home. Presumably, Fyokla has just made desperate rounds of the town in hopes of beating out Kochkarev and Podkolyossin as she will not receive any money if the marriage should occur without her help.
Besides Kochkarev and Podkolyossin, three suitors arrive. The first, with a humorous name which translates as Omelet. Omelet is overly concerned with the dowry and appears skeptical as to whether Fyokla has told him the truth about it. The second suitor, Anuchkin, at first thinks that Omelet is Agafya's father. The third, Zhevakin, a Navy Lieutenant has a detailed story about the time his regiment spent in Sicily where amazingly enough, no one speaks Russian. At this point, Podkolyossin and Kochkarev arrive and everyone sits down to chat. Omelet almost immediately demands of Agafya that she make a decision which makes her uncomfortable to the point where she leaves the room.
All of the suitors wonder what happened. Once they are alone Kochkarev tries to scare off the other suitors by calling Agafya ugly. Kochkarev later pays Agafya a visit in her room and convinces her to choose Podkolyossin over the others (she herself was indecisive about who she liked best). The other suitors all come back and Agafya and Kochkarev together tell them off until only Podkolyossin remains. After a great deal of pushing on the part of Kochkarev, the two become engaged. Actually, Kochkarev had to propose because Podkolyossin was still indecisive and wanted to wait another month before proposing.
Kochkarev insists that the wedding must take place immediately as he has already ordered all of the food and the guests are waiting at the church. The bride and groom begin to get dressed and Podkolyossin muses to himself about the splendor of marriage. However, he soon changes his mind again and jumps out the window. After only a short while, Agafya wonders where he has gone. Everyone searches for him and eventually they discover that he has escaped through the window and called a cab to take him home. The play ends with Fyokla scolding Kochkarev for his sub-par matchmaking skills.
[edit] Editions and translations
- Nikolai Gogol: Three Plays
- Includes: The Government Inspector; Marriage; The Gamblers
- Translated by Stephen Mulrine
- Publication Date: August 1999
- ISBN 0-413-73340-8
- Pages: 240
- Binding: Paperback
- Format/Size: 178x111mm
- Methuen Publishing Ltd
- 11-12 Buckingham Gate, London, SW1E 6LB
[edit] References to Marriage in other works
In the novel Twelve Chairs by Ilf and Petrov, a theatre group performs an avant-garde production of The Marriage.
[edit] See also
Zhenitba (opera) by Modest Mussorgsky
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