Maria (play)
Encyclopedia
The play Maria, a portrait of the sordid underbelly of Soviet society during the Russian Civil War
, was written by Isaac Babel
during the mid 1930s.
during the Russian Civil War
. In the aftermath of the October Revolution
, the once iron clad Russian class system has disintegrated. The plot focuses on the aristocratic
Mukovnin family and their attempts to adapt to the hardships of war communism
and chaos. The elderly General Mukovnin is writing books about Russia's military history
, where he criticizes the harsh treatment of common soldiers under the Imperial Russian Army
. He sympathizes with Lenin's Bolsheviks and regards them as "gatherers of the Russian lands" akin to Ivan Kalita. His daughter, the ditzy and superficial Ludmila, is hoping for an advantageous marriage with Isaac Dimshits, the Jewish mob boss who dominates the city's black market food supply. Her cousin, Katya Felsen, is unhappy and pessimistic about the new regime, despite having an affair with a senior Soviet Army
officer. The General's eldest daughter, Maria, is an idealistic Communist and a political officer
assigned to the Soviet Army. During the entire play, she is away on the front and is quoted, but never seen.
Ultimately, Dimshits makes sexual advances to Ludmila, who repels them by claiming to have toothache, to his great discontent and humiliation. Ludmila's intentions are to achieve Dimshits' respect and finally marry him. Dimshits, however, is already married, and only wants Ludmila as a mistress
. According to Dimshits, "People like her are unworthy of even tying my wife's shoelaces!"
At the time of their next rendezvous, the embittered Dimshits does not show up. In the adjacent apartment, Captain Viskovsky, a White Army officer turned jewel thief who works for Dimshits and whose advances were rejected by Maria. Viskovsky is drinking together with Yasha Kravchenko, a corrupt artillery officer in the Red Army
. Viskovsky invites Ludmila in, gets her drunk and then rapes her in a nearby room. Disgusted, Kravchenko reproaches him for having infected Ludmila with Gonorrhea
. Viskovsky threatens to beat Kravchenko, who pulls his gun and initiates a gun battle in which each kills the other. As a result, the Soviet police, or militsiya
, arrest Ludmila, the lone survivor. At the station, the interrogator assumes that she is a prostitute who smuggles thread for Dimshits' gang. While she protests her innocence and begs for a doctor, the interrogator demands to know how many times she has been arrested, and then shouts in anger that he has not slept in five days.
A crippled war
veteran, who also works for Dimshits, arrives at the Mukovnins' apartment with the news. The General, fearful that she may have been arrested by the CHEKA
, first intends to demand her release, then realizes that that is impossible and instead wants to take advice with Maria. Therefore, he checks to make sure that his other daughter, Maria, has received his earlier telegram, in which he urged her to return from the front to visit him. He learns that the telegram has been delivered and convinces himself that Maria will be coming very soon. He even declares that he is not worried about Ludmila and that this will be a valuable lesson for her, but then has a massive heart attack seconds later. His condition is critical, but it proves impossible to fetch a doctor at night to help him.
Soon afterwards, a soldier from Maria's division arrives. He announces that Maria has been unable to come because of the continuing military operations. The General enters the room, expecting to see Maria, but is shocked to see only a soldier he does not know and possibly assumes that Maria has been killed. He instantly dies of a massive stroke.
Later, two workers prepare the Mukovnins' former apartment for its new tenants. They are "bossed around" by their forewoman, the local street-sweeper, who is in charge of apartments. Katya arrives with Sushkin, a person who describes himself as a "lover of antiquities". She announces that she is selling the Mukovnins' antique furniture on Maria's orders. The forewoman of the workers refuses to allow this, saying that the new tenants were promised a fully furnished apartment. An enraged Sushkin threatens her, hinting that he can bring "people" (presumably militsiya
men or CHEKA agents) to arrest her. However, she refuses to yield unless he can show her a warrant. After Sushkin leaves in a huff, the two workers comment on the forewoman's conduct and observe that she wasn't so daring during the old general's time. Yet, they recall the general as a nice person, loved by the common people. Meanwhile, the new tenants, a worker and his pregnant wife, settle into their new home.
's Menshevik
newspaper, Novaya zhizn (Новая жизнь). Babel published there between March and July of 1918, when Vladimir Lenin
ordered the closing of all newspapers not controlled by the CPSU.
Babel later recalled, however,
After the completion of Maria in the mid-1930s, Babel allowed the unpublished manuscript to be examined by Gorky, who remained his friend and mentor
. Noting the play's implicit rejection of socialist realism
, Gorky accused Babel of having a "Baudelairian
predilection for rotting meat." Gorky further warned his friend that "political inferences" would be made "that will be personally harmful to you."
According to Babel's common law wife
, Antonina Pirozhkova,
Although intended to be performed by Moscow
's Vakhtangov Theatre in 1935, the premiere of Maria was cancelled by the NKVD
during rehearsals. Four years later, Isaac Babel was arrested, tortured, and shot as part of Joseph Stalin
's Great Purge
. His surviving manuscripts were confiscated by the NKVD and destroyed. As a result, Maria was never performed in Russia until after the dissolution of the Soviet Union
.
fashion. According to a cast member from the American premiere,
, appeared in 2002 and was edited by Nathalie Babel Brown. Marias American premiere, directed by Carl Weber, took place at Stanford University
two years later.
According to Weber,
Russian Civil War
The Russian Civil War was a multi-party war that occurred within the former Russian Empire after the Russian provisional government collapsed to the Soviets, under the domination of the Bolshevik party. Soviet forces first assumed power in Petrograd The Russian Civil War (1917–1923) was a...
, was written by Isaac Babel
Isaac Babel
Isaak Emmanuilovich Babel was a Russian language journalist, playwright, literary translator, and short story writer. He is best known as the author of Red Cavalry, Story of My Dovecote, and Tales of Odessa, all of which are considered masterpieces of Russian literature...
during the mid 1930s.
Plot
Maria is set in Saint PetersburgSaint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
during the Russian Civil War
Russian Civil War
The Russian Civil War was a multi-party war that occurred within the former Russian Empire after the Russian provisional government collapsed to the Soviets, under the domination of the Bolshevik party. Soviet forces first assumed power in Petrograd The Russian Civil War (1917–1923) was a...
. In the aftermath of the October Revolution
October Revolution
The October Revolution , also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution , Red October, the October Uprising or the Bolshevik Revolution, was a political revolution and a part of the Russian Revolution of 1917...
, the once iron clad Russian class system has disintegrated. The plot focuses on the aristocratic
Russian nobility
The Russian nobility arose in the 14th century and essentially governed Russia until the October Revolution of 1917.The Russian word for nobility, Dvoryanstvo , derives from the Russian word dvor , meaning the Court of a prince or duke and later, of the tsar. A nobleman is called dvoryanin...
Mukovnin family and their attempts to adapt to the hardships of war communism
War communism
War communism or military communism was the economic and political system that existed in Soviet Russia during the Russian Civil War, from 1918 to 1921...
and chaos. The elderly General Mukovnin is writing books about Russia's military history
Military history
Military history is a humanities discipline within the scope of general historical recording of armed conflict in the history of humanity, and its impact on the societies, their cultures, economies and changing intra and international relationships....
, where he criticizes the harsh treatment of common soldiers under the Imperial Russian Army
Imperial Russian Army
The Imperial Russian Army was the land armed force of the Russian Empire, active from around 1721 to the Russian Revolution of 1917. In the early 1850s, the Russian army consisted of around 938,731 regular soldiers and 245,850 irregulars . Until the time of military reform of Dmitry Milyutin in...
. He sympathizes with Lenin's Bolsheviks and regards them as "gatherers of the Russian lands" akin to Ivan Kalita. His daughter, the ditzy and superficial Ludmila, is hoping for an advantageous marriage with Isaac Dimshits, the Jewish mob boss who dominates the city's black market food supply. Her cousin, Katya Felsen, is unhappy and pessimistic about the new regime, despite having an affair with a senior Soviet Army
Soviet Army
The Soviet Army is the name given to the main part of the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union between 1946 and 1992. Previously, it had been known as the Red Army. Informally, Армия referred to all the MOD armed forces, except, in some cases, the Soviet Navy.This article covers the Soviet Ground...
officer. The General's eldest daughter, Maria, is an idealistic Communist and a political officer
Political officer
Political officer may refer to:*Political officer , Occasionally, a synonym for political commissar*Political officer , in the context of the British Empire, for a pseudo-ambassadorial role in areas bordering imperial territories...
assigned to the Soviet Army. During the entire play, she is away on the front and is quoted, but never seen.
Ultimately, Dimshits makes sexual advances to Ludmila, who repels them by claiming to have toothache, to his great discontent and humiliation. Ludmila's intentions are to achieve Dimshits' respect and finally marry him. Dimshits, however, is already married, and only wants Ludmila as a mistress
Mistress
Mistress may refer to:* Mistress , a woman, other than the spouse, with whom a married individual has a continuing sexual relationship* Schoolmistress, or female school teacher...
. According to Dimshits, "People like her are unworthy of even tying my wife's shoelaces!"
At the time of their next rendezvous, the embittered Dimshits does not show up. In the adjacent apartment, Captain Viskovsky, a White Army officer turned jewel thief who works for Dimshits and whose advances were rejected by Maria. Viskovsky is drinking together with Yasha Kravchenko, a corrupt artillery officer in the Red Army
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...
. Viskovsky invites Ludmila in, gets her drunk and then rapes her in a nearby room. Disgusted, Kravchenko reproaches him for having infected Ludmila with Gonorrhea
Gonorrhea
Gonorrhea is a common sexually transmitted infection caused by the bacterium Neisseria gonorrhoeae. The usual symptoms in men are burning with urination and penile discharge. Women, on the other hand, are asymptomatic half the time or have vaginal discharge and pelvic pain...
. Viskovsky threatens to beat Kravchenko, who pulls his gun and initiates a gun battle in which each kills the other. As a result, the Soviet police, or militsiya
Militsiya
Militsiya or militia is used as an official name of the civilian police in several former communist states, despite its original military connotation...
, arrest Ludmila, the lone survivor. At the station, the interrogator assumes that she is a prostitute who smuggles thread for Dimshits' gang. While she protests her innocence and begs for a doctor, the interrogator demands to know how many times she has been arrested, and then shouts in anger that he has not slept in five days.
A crippled war
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
veteran, who also works for Dimshits, arrives at the Mukovnins' apartment with the news. The General, fearful that she may have been arrested by the CHEKA
Cheka
Cheka was the first of a succession of Soviet state security organizations. It was created by a decree issued on December 20, 1917, by Vladimir Lenin and subsequently led by aristocrat-turned-communist Felix Dzerzhinsky...
, first intends to demand her release, then realizes that that is impossible and instead wants to take advice with Maria. Therefore, he checks to make sure that his other daughter, Maria, has received his earlier telegram, in which he urged her to return from the front to visit him. He learns that the telegram has been delivered and convinces himself that Maria will be coming very soon. He even declares that he is not worried about Ludmila and that this will be a valuable lesson for her, but then has a massive heart attack seconds later. His condition is critical, but it proves impossible to fetch a doctor at night to help him.
Soon afterwards, a soldier from Maria's division arrives. He announces that Maria has been unable to come because of the continuing military operations. The General enters the room, expecting to see Maria, but is shocked to see only a soldier he does not know and possibly assumes that Maria has been killed. He instantly dies of a massive stroke.
Later, two workers prepare the Mukovnins' former apartment for its new tenants. They are "bossed around" by their forewoman, the local street-sweeper, who is in charge of apartments. Katya arrives with Sushkin, a person who describes himself as a "lover of antiquities". She announces that she is selling the Mukovnins' antique furniture on Maria's orders. The forewoman of the workers refuses to allow this, saying that the new tenants were promised a fully furnished apartment. An enraged Sushkin threatens her, hinting that he can bring "people" (presumably militsiya
Militsiya
Militsiya or militia is used as an official name of the civilian police in several former communist states, despite its original military connotation...
men or CHEKA agents) to arrest her. However, she refuses to yield unless he can show her a warrant. After Sushkin leaves in a huff, the two workers comment on the forewoman's conduct and observe that she wasn't so daring during the old general's time. Yet, they recall the general as a nice person, loved by the common people. Meanwhile, the new tenants, a worker and his pregnant wife, settle into their new home.
Reception
Maria is rooted in Babel's work as an investigative reporter for Maxim GorkyMaxim Gorky
Alexei Maximovich Peshkov , primarily known as Maxim Gorky , was a Russian and Soviet author, a founder of the Socialist Realism literary method and a political activist.-Early years:...
's Menshevik
Menshevik
The Mensheviks were a faction of the Russian revolutionary movement that emerged in 1904 after a dispute between Vladimir Lenin and Julius Martov, both members of the Russian Social-Democratic Labour Party. The dispute originated at the Second Congress of that party, ostensibly over minor issues...
newspaper, Novaya zhizn (Новая жизнь). Babel published there between March and July of 1918, when Vladimir Lenin
Vladimir Lenin
Vladimir Ilyich Lenin was a Russian Marxist revolutionary and communist politician who led the October Revolution of 1917. As leader of the Bolsheviks, he headed the Soviet state during its initial years , as it fought to establish control of Russia in the Russian Civil War and worked to create a...
ordered the closing of all newspapers not controlled by the CPSU.
Babel later recalled, however,
"My journalistic work gave me a lot, especially in the sense of material. I managed to amass an incredible number of facts, which proved to be an invaluable creatice tool. I struck up friendships with morgue attendants, criminal investigators, and government clerks. Later, when I began writing fiction, I found myself always returning to these 'subjects', which were so close to me, in order to put character types, situations, and everyday life into perspective. Journalistic work is full of adventure."
After the completion of Maria in the mid-1930s, Babel allowed the unpublished manuscript to be examined by Gorky, who remained his friend and mentor
Mentor
In Greek mythology, Mentor was the son of Alcimus or Anchialus. In his old age Mentor was a friend of Odysseus who placed Mentor and Odysseus' foster-brother Eumaeus in charge of his son Telemachus, and of Odysseus' palace, when Odysseus left for the Trojan War.When Athena visited Telemachus she...
. Noting the play's implicit rejection of socialist realism
Socialist realism
Socialist realism is a style of realistic art which was developed in the Soviet Union and became a dominant style in other communist countries. Socialist realism is a teleologically-oriented style having its purpose the furtherance of the goals of socialism and communism...
, Gorky accused Babel of having a "Baudelairian
Charles Baudelaire
Charles Baudelaire was a French poet who produced notable work as an essayist, art critic, and pioneering translator of Edgar Allan Poe. His most famous work, Les Fleurs du mal expresses the changing nature of beauty in modern, industrializing Paris during the nineteenth century...
predilection for rotting meat." Gorky further warned his friend that "political inferences" would be made "that will be personally harmful to you."
According to Babel's common law wife
Common Law Wife
"Common Law Wife" is a song by the funk band Parliament. Recorded in 1972, it was released as a bonus track on the 2003 reissue of the album Chocolate City...
, Antonina Pirozhkova,
"Once Babel went to the Moscow Art Theater when his play Mariya was being given its first reading, and when he returned home he told me that all the actresses had been impatient to find out what the leading female role was like and who would be cast in it. It turned out that there was no leading female character present on the stage in this play. Babel thought that the play had not come off well, but he was always critical of his own work."
Although intended to be performed by Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
's Vakhtangov Theatre in 1935, the premiere of Maria was cancelled by the NKVD
NKVD
The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs was the public and secret police organization of the Soviet Union that directly executed the rule of power of the Soviets, including political repression, during the era of Joseph Stalin....
during rehearsals. Four years later, Isaac Babel was arrested, tortured, and shot as part of Joseph Stalin
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee...
's Great Purge
Great Purge
The Great Purge was a series of campaigns of political repression and persecution in the Soviet Union orchestrated by Joseph Stalin from 1936 to 1938...
. His surviving manuscripts were confiscated by the NKVD and destroyed. As a result, Maria was never performed in Russia until after the dissolution of the Soviet Union
Dissolution of the Soviet Union
The dissolution of the Soviet Union was the disintegration of the federal political structures and central government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , resulting in the independence of all fifteen republics of the Soviet Union between March 11, 1990 and December 25, 1991...
.
Structure
The storyline of “Maria” is structured in an unconventional, nonlinearNonlinear (arts)
Nonlinear narrative, disjointed narrative or disrupted narrative is a narrative technique, sometimes used in literature, film, hypertext websites and other narratives, wherein events are portrayed out of chronological order...
fashion. According to a cast member from the American premiere,
"The play runs like a film — there are so many different locationFilming locationA filming location is a place where some or all of a film or television series is produced, in addition to or instead of using sets constructed on a movie studio backlot or soundstage...
s and characterCharacter (arts)A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
s that you have to be very attentive. They even had to build a revolving stageRevolving stageA revolving stage is a mechanically controlled platform within a theatre that can be rotated in order to speed up the changing of a scene within a show...
in order to accommodate all of the changing locations in the story.... The play flows in a very subtle manner."
Legacy
Although it was very popular at Western European colleges during the 1960s, it was not performed in Babel's homeland until 1994. The first English translation, conducted by Peter ConstantinePeter Constantine
Peter Constantine is a British and American award-winning literary translator who has translated literary works from German, Russian, French, Modern Greek, Ancient Greek, Italian, Albanian, Dutch, and Slovene.-Biography:...
, appeared in 2002 and was edited by Nathalie Babel Brown. Marias American premiere, directed by Carl Weber, took place at Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
two years later.
According to Weber,
"The play is very controversial. [It] shows the stories of both sides clashing with each other during the Russian Civil WarRussian Civil WarThe Russian Civil War was a multi-party war that occurred within the former Russian Empire after the Russian provisional government collapsed to the Soviets, under the domination of the Bolshevik party. Soviet forces first assumed power in Petrograd The Russian Civil War (1917–1923) was a...
— the BolshevikBolshevikThe Bolsheviks, originally also Bolshevists , derived from bol'shinstvo, "majority") were a faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party which split apart from the Menshevik faction at the Second Party Congress in 1903....
s and the old society membersRussian nobilityThe Russian nobility arose in the 14th century and essentially governed Russia until the October Revolution of 1917.The Russian word for nobility, Dvoryanstvo , derives from the Russian word dvor , meaning the Court of a prince or duke and later, of the tsar. A nobleman is called dvoryanin...
— without making a judgment one way or another. Babel’s opinion on either side is very ambiguous, but he does make the statement that what happened after the Bolshevik Revolution may not have been the best thing for RussiaRussiaRussia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
."