The Cook's Wedding
Pelageya, my sweet Pelageya.
Life has not been kind to you.
Forced to
marry some cabman you don't love.
You dream of better things.
But you
will never live out those dreams.
Pelageya, it's not fair.
To this day so many like you toil and suffer in
silence never having an opportunity to choose their own destiny.
And many, like young Grisha, still watch in horror and ask WHY?
Remember that this story is told through the eyes of a 7-year old boy. Grisha doesn't have the life experience to understand what is going on or the complicated rituals of matchmaking. He takes things at face-value.
ReplyDeleteAs strange as it may sound, Pelageya is actually pleased to be pursued by the cabman. But, by her protestations and nervousness, Grisha assumes that she doesn't want him. Also, he, himself, would never accept an ugly, poor cabman so he naturally assumes she wouldn't either.
Of course, Pelageya is nervous and stressed out. Marriage is a big step for everyone, one of life's milestones. But, make no mistake, she wants this to happen just as much as Danilo. Danilo, himself, does a little dance at the beginning and the nurse even wants to get him a little tipsy so he'll get over his reluctance. Marriage is a big step for him, too, and he's probably been working up the nerve for a long time now.
Come the big day, they're both happy as Chekhov writes. Pelagaya is now owned by Danilo. It may seem strange in our day and age to think that women were encouraged to be regarded as chattel, and what's more, to like it. Danilo now loves his wife and asks that the household take good care of her. He asks for her wages because that's a wifely duty. Pelagaya submits and happily so because she's now a married woman.
Again, Grisha can't understand any of this. If the last few lines about poor Pelagaya and how a strange man is taking away her freedom sound so preachy and heavy-handed, it's because Chekhov is describing what is going on from Grisha's viewpoint.