THE USE OF FOLK ELEMENTS IN MARSHAK'S DRAMAS

FOR CHILDREN: THE KITTEN'S HOUSE

AND THE TWELVE MONTHS

by

RENIA PEREL

B.A.; University of British Columbia, 1970

A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT

OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE

OF MASTER OF ARTS

in

THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES

Department of

SLAVONIC STUDIES

We accept this thesis as conforming

to the required standard

THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA

August, 1978

(o) Renia Perel, 1978 In presenting this thesis in partial fulfilment of

the requirements for an advanced degree at the University of

British Columbia, I agree that the Library shall make it

freely available for reference and study. I further agree

that permission for extensive copying of this thesis for

scholarly purposes may be granted by the Head of my Depart•

ment or by his representatives. It is understood that

copying or publication of this thesis for financial gain

shall not be allowed without my written permission.

Renia Perel

Department of Slavonic Studies

The University of British Columbia 2075 Wesbrook Place Vancouver,.Canada V6T 1W5

31 August 19 78 ABSTRACT

Samuil Iakovlevich Marshak (1887-1964), the virtual founder of children's drama in Soviet Russia, made wide and frequent use of folk elements in the seven plays that he wrote for children. The> two plays studied here, Koshkin dom

(The Kitten's House) and Dvenadtsat' mesiatsev (The Twelve

Months), are close to folktales in form as well as in the world view that they present. The Kitten's House, a verse play, is a dramatization of the typical animal tale of folk- literature. The Twelve Months, a play mainly in prose with some verse in it, is a mixture of animal lore, magic and fantasy, with a more involved plot.

This study attempts to identify the folk elements in these plays and to show how the plays are linked with folk- literature in general and Russian folk-literature in particular. Furthermore, The Twelve Months is seen to be derived from a Czech folktale. An attempt is also made to show how Marshak uses folk elements to project certain social values. Seen against the background of his life, especially his sustained endeavour to improve children's education, Marshak"s plays can be readily understood to be deliberately designed instruments of social instruction. TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE

I. THE MAN AND HIS WORK • 1

II. THE KITTEN'S HOUSE ...... 13

III. THE TWELVE MONTHS 37

IV. CONCLUSION ...... 62

NOTES 66

BIBLIOGRAPHY ...... 71

APPENDIX ...... 75

iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

It is a pleasant duty to acknowledge the help I have - received from my teachers and my friends in writing this dissertation. The chairman of my thesis committee, Dr. M. H.

Futrell, had been most liberal with his help and has encour•

aged me through some very difficult times. Dr; C. J. G.

Turner,-my second reader, has given me much valuable advice, for which I am deeply grateful. I wish to express my indebt• edness to Professor B. Czaykowski, Head of the Department of

Slavonic Studies,.for his encouragement.

Professor Miron Petrovskii, of Kiev, was most sympa• thetic and helped me with valuable comments on folklore and on Marshak's work during my visit to Moscow in 1977. I am also most grateful to Marshak's family, in particular to

Mariia Andreevna MarshakMarshak's daughter-in-law, and her two sons, Iakov and Aleksandr. My visit to their home in the summer of 1977, and my conversations with them, helped me greatly to understand Marshak the man.

I would also like to express my appreciation to my friend Tirthankar Bose for many interesting discussions, and to Ruby Toren for her care in typing this thesis. Finally,

I wish to acknowledge an essential debt of deep appreciation to my family, especially to my husband Morris for his unceasing support.

iv \ CHAPTER I

THE MAN AND HIS WORK

The purpose of this investigation is to evaluate the literary achievement of Samuil Iakovlevich Marshak (1887-1964) in the sphere of children's literature in Russia, of which he is acknowledged to be the father. Marshak was- a prolific author and his stories and plays for children seem well on the way to becoming part of the heritage of Russian litera• ture. His appeal and his power are largely dependent upon his ability to tell his stories vividly and entertainingly, and at the same time to reiterate the simple, basic truths of social living. Since these are precisely the qualities that one finds in folk-literature of the world, it is legit• imate to ask how far Marshak was actually influenced by the folk-literature that he knew —both Russian and foreign.

This thesis will attempt to show, through a close study of two of Marshak's plays for children, Koshkin Pom (The

Kitten's House) and Dvenadtsat' Mesiatsev (The Twelve Months), that elements of the folktale are readily discernible in the plays, that these elements are used by Marshak to achieve certain specific ends, and that such a purpose saves the works from being merely ephemeral entertainment and makes them literary pieces that adults as well as children can enjoy. The two plays chosen here are particularly useful to the critic, for they are representative of the numerous 2 themes, techniques, and motifs that Marshak uses in his various works. Both plays have the form of folktales. The

Kitten's House, a verse play, can be seen as the typical animal tale of folk-literature. On the other hand, The .

Twelve Months, a play mainly in prose with some verse in-it, is a mixture of animal lore, magic and fantasy with a more involved plot. Both plays have strong elements of humour, which is usually light and gay but occasionally verges on the satiric. In both cases Marshak uses the technique of the folktale to simplify the action of the plays, thereby, enabling children to comprehend their content and to enjoy it. This simplicity is achieved by providing a substantial theme, a lively plot, memorable characters and an uncluttered style. At the same time, the directness gained from the folktale form allows the validity and reality of the theme to remain unchanged. It is hoped that when, in later chap• ters of this study, the different components of the plays are examined in detail, Marshak's debt to his understanding of folk-literature will be clearly appreciated.

The vitality and simplicity that we find in Marshak's work is an accurate reflection of his life. A.man who was admired even in early youth by major literary figures of his time and went on to become a social force by himself, Marshak never lost the idealism and love of literature with which he started life. In his autobiography, At,Life's Beginning,

Marshak says: "Seventy years is a long stretch in a man's 3

life, and even in the history of a country. It is hard to

look back over such a long life.""'" Contrary to these .

remarks, Marshak looks at his boyhood with such freshness of

mind, and describes events with such vividness that it seems

that all this could have happened to him only yesterday, and

that he is still the little boy playing in his yard seventy

years ago. These early recollections of his formative years

in Russia provide an insight into the background of his

family and into his character. He was born into a Jewish

family,on the third of November, 1887, in Chizhovka, a

suburb of Voronezh, in a house near a soap factory, where

his self-educated father worked as a master chemist.

Although Marshak senior had spent his childhood and youth

poring over the pages of ancient Jewish.scriptures, he had

decided to cut short his studies, and at the age of eighteen

had exchanged the ancient yellowed folios for a factory

cauldron, working as an apprentice industrial chemist and

eventually becoming a factory foreman. His interest was in

chemical inventions of industrial value. To have his own

laboratory was .his dream, but without a degree and without

money, he was forced to work for other people and had to

suffer as a result. His secret formulas were usually taken

over by the plant owners, and when his services were no

longer required he was forced to look for new employment,

taking his family with him. As a consequence, the young

Marshak had to build and break relationships continually, 4

and was more and more thrown upon books as constant compan- ..

ions. About his mother, Marshak says that although she was

from a strict patriarchal home, she belonged to the young

generation of women who concerned themselves with the issues

of the day, such as politics, religion, ethics; equality for

women, who went to theatres and read Turgenev, Goncharov and

Dickens. Thus, at a very early.age he acquired from his

parents a desire for knowledge and a respect for work and

creativity. Moreover, the affectionate family.life coupled

with the enriched cultural environment worked towards

instilling in the young boy a great love for poetry, so that

by the time he was ten years old he began to compose some of

his own.

Marshak's first school years were spent in the small

town of Ostrogozhsk, near Voronezh. There he attended the

High School, and was an.outstanding student. In his autobi•

ography he records in minute detail life in the school, the

prevalent attitudes towards learning, and the methods of

teaching. He describes his friends, his teachers, and

above all shares his excitement in his attempts at translat•

ing Homer and writing poetry. During the summer holidays in

1902, when his family was living in St. Petersburg, Marshak had the good fortune to meet the famous critic of art and

literature, Vladimir Vasil'evich Stasov, who was impressed by the young lad's talent. Marshak's connection with Stasov proved to be the greatest formative influence on his life. 5

He frequented Stasov's home where he met many famous writers, painters, and musicians of Russia, among them Gor'kii, Repin and Glazunov, who confirmed Stasov's belief in young

Marshak's ability. In this brilliant circle of creative individuals of established fame, this fourteen-year-old was accepted with affection and respect. He received support and instruction by example from his mentors, and eventually had the rare fortune to be invited to live in the household of Maxim Gor'kii himself. In his autobiography Marshak recalls how, soon.after meeting him at Stasov's house,

Gor'kii came up to him and, giving him a friendly pat on the arm, began a conversation, listening to Marshak with deep attention. Learning that Marshak had been unwell and that

St. Petersburg did not suit his health, Gor'kii at once began to make arrangements for Marshak to live with his family at

Yalta. The initial meeting at Stasov's home developed.into a close friendship between,Marshak and Gor'kii, which contin• ued throughout their lives. The admiration they had for 2 each other is found amply.in their correspondence, particu• larly in their exchanges dealing with their mutual interest in creating a body of literature for children. They agreed that new books needed to be writtenbased on real life and drawing upon the arts and.sciences.

From 1906 Marshak devoted himself wholly to writing, embarking on his literary career as an occasional journal- 3 ist. In 1911 he left on.a tour of the Middle East as 6

correspondent for Vseobshchaia gazeta (The Universal News-,

paper). This tour was a most important event in his life.

He not only gathered materials for his writings but also met

and fell in love with Spfiia Mil1vidskaia. She became his

wife in the autumn of 1912 and exerted the deepest.influence

on him throughout his life.. Soon after their marriage, the

Marshaks went to England where they studied English inten•

sively and gained admission to the East London College,

Samuil to the Faculty of Arts and Spfiia-to, the Faculty of

Science. In a cottage nearby where they lived in England

they met the Oilers, who had established a school which

emphasized simple living in a natural environment.^ The

benefit of the system greatly appealed to Marshak and later

inspired him to start a school on similar lines in Krasnodar.

Marshak's literary activity in England consisted of trans•

lating into Russian major English works, such as poems by

Blake, Wordsworth and Burns, as well as nursery rhymes. The

rich English heritage of nursery rhymes fascinated him and

started him thinking of nursery rhymes for Russian children.

Thus, it was through Marshak that an entirely new tradition

of folklore and children's verse was transplanted from

England to Russia.

The Marshaks returned to Russia just before the

outbreak of World War I. Because of his poor health Marshak

was not enlisted in the army.: During the war his work lay with homeless and orphaned children. The interest he had 7

always had in children now became more focused, and his

close contact with them brought out his creative talent for which Russia, at that point in her history, had particular

need. The general literary.scene in the.Soviet Union by the

mid-twenties was full of frantic activity and complexity,

producing many literary factions, some of whom were in

agreement with Lenin's approach to the cultural heritage of

the past, while others were critical of it. Lenin's death

on January 21, 1924 left an uneasy political structure.

In the area of education the new rulers were combat•

ing not only the problems of illiteracy but also what was

perhaps the more important problem, that of creating a

literature suited to the political ideals of the state. The

strong factionalism in the world.of literature in Russia was

reflected in the uncertainty of Soviet policy regarding the nurturing of a new literature, particularly children's

literature. The anti-traditionalists wanted the weeding out

of'all "bourgeois" tendencies, among which they included the elements of folk-literature because they claimed that the

folk tradition interfered with the child's perception of reality. Slogans such as "Down with the fairy tale!" "Those in defence of the fairy tale are against contemporary peda• gogy" were commonly heard at teachers' conferences and at literary debates.^ Few writers already engaged in writing imaginative books for children escaped harsh criticism or an outright ban on their books. V. .Maiakovskii's "Skazka o 8

Pete, tolstom rebenke, i o Sime, kotorii tonkii" (The Story

about Pete, the Chubby Baby, and about Sim Who Is Thin), K.

Chukovskii's "Krokodil" (Crocodile), and other of his stories

for children, and Marshak's "Skazki" (Tales) were banned under the conviction that fantasy and imagination were incompatible with the socialist struggle.

In reaction to this extremism Marshak defended the validity of imagination- in. children's literature on artistic grounds. He claimed that pedagogues cannot be judges of art unless they are artists as well. Talking about fantasy, he declared:

It.enriches the imagination of the child, it opens up a fairy-tale world to him, at the base of which lies the real world filled with its realistic, authentic and diverse characters.7

In this he was actively supported by the Minister of Educa• tion, A. Lunacharskii", and the writer, M. Gor'kii. Each affirmed the value of the past and of imaginative writing for children. By 1934, when Marshak was giving his address

"About Great Literature for Little Ones" at the First All- o

Union Congress of Soviet Writers, the Soviet educators had already undergone a process of self-examination, and, as their accomplishments during the earlier decade were,found wanting, the folktales were rehabilitated, the process beginning slowly but constantly gathering momentum. Marshak did not consider the serious controversy over the folk elements in children's literature as a personal attack. He 9

said in his letter to Gor'kii on June 30, 1930 .that '

. . .•the dispute in Literaturnaia gazeta [The Literary Newspaper] is not about me. The dispute is between people who try to create conscientious, honest Soviet children's literature, and sponsors of cheap literary material.9

Some considerable time before the beginning of the contro•

versy over approaches to children's literature and the use

of folk techniques in it, Marshak. .came to his own conclusions

about the aesthetic and educative values of these elements.

In his introduction to his dramatic tales (1922) he says:

"In every tale [skazka], in every work of art the child

longs to see the whole of life; he is not merely being

entertained, but learns from it."^ Marshak held to these

views with complete sincerity until his death on June 4,

. 1964.

As the brief historical review given above shows,

during the early nineteen-twenties Marshak became firmly

established as a children's author. However, it would be

difficult to classify him by this genre alone or to divide

his work into chronological periods, because his literary

activities were multifarious, coming to prominence at

different stages in his life. Perhaps he is best described

by Kornei Chukovskii, another famous Russian author of chil•

dren's books. He is reputed to.have said that there are

five Marshaks: the playwright, the writer of children's

books, the translator, the lyrical poet and the satirist.^''"

Marshak's dramatic tales in verse, co-authored with E. 10

Vasil'eva, were first published in book form in Krasnodar., 12

in 1922. Returning to Petrograd in 1923, his activities

became more intensified in the field of children's litera•

ture , and he appealed to other prominent writers to join him

in the creation of a.new literature for children. He worked

in "TIUZ" (Theatre for Young Viewers); wrote a light humorous

story in verse, "Skazka o glupom myshonke" (The Story about

the Silly Mouse), an admonitory poem, "Pozhar" (Fire), a

humorous poem, "Morozhenoe" (Ice cream), an illustrated

animal book with epigrammatic verses, "Detki v kletke"

(Babies of the Zoo), and translated English verses for chil•

dren, among them "The House that Jack Built." But it is not

only in children's literature that his translations are

outstanding: he also translated Shakespeare's Sonnets,

Blake's "Songs of Innocence" and "Songs of Experience," works by Keats, Wordsworth, Shelley, Burns, and Kipling. To

these we must add his translations of children's verses,, ballads and poems from several different languages, dating

from 1913 through to 1962. He translated from Armenian

(1939), Georgian (1959), Kazakh (1955), Latvian (1947),

Lithuanian (1945), Tatar (1946), Belorussian (1950),

Ukrainian (1952), Uzbek (1947) and Yiddish (1936). Going

outside the literatures of the Soviet Union, Marshak-trans•

lated works from Bulgaria (1954), Canada (1958),.Czechoslo•

vakia (1942), England (1913), Finland (1913), France (1950),

Germany (1950), Ghana (1961), Hungary (1952), India (1913), Italy (1952), Poland (1946), Senegal (1960), Serbia (1956),

Sierra-Leone (1962) and the United States (1957). Such a wealth of sources requires a study devoted to Marshak's-

translations alone. Here it is enough for our purpose to note the breadth of his interests as an element of creative

inspiration.

Marshak wrote most of his lyrical poems and lyrical

epigrams very late in his life. Writing of his poetry, A.

Tvardovskii says:

His poetry is filled with clarity of thought, youthful energy and a lively humour. If the poet is sad, he is not weak or without hope, but courageously accepts the inevitable.13

As a satirist, Marshak is mostly remembered for his stimu•

lating and sharp journalistic pieces during the Second World

War, which inspired in his countrymen hatred and contempt

for the enemy.and also imbued them with optimism and faith.

The eight - volumes of Marshak's works published so far bear

testimony not only to his wide and varied interests but also

to his essentially positive, constructive and optimistic

approach to life and literature. The two plays studied in

the present dissertation are particularly good examples of

Marshak's approaches to literature in their rich application of folk elements to the task of making life's experiences

comprehensible to the child. The following four^line epigram sums up his philosophy of life and art:

The first.key to life is art. The second.key is poetry. 12

Without the first:—your.poetry is numb,

And without the second—your verse is mute.x^

Marshak died on June 4,.1964, and was buried at the

Novpdevich'e cemetery in.Moscow. Above his grave there

stands a monument by the sculptor Nikogosian portraying him

as he is remembered by those who knew him: bent over a book with a pen in his hand.

It is said that a man is best remembered for his

deeds, and the deeds of a writer consist of his writings.

Many famous writers today remember with great.pride the fact

that at one time they were Marshak's apprentices. In his book S. I. Marshak, B. Galanov recalls the following anec•

dote. Shortly after Marshak's death several writers were

discussing the possibility of issuing in his memory a special

collection (biblioteehka) of-Marshak*s books for children.

"In that case," one famous prose writer remarked, "they will have to,include my books too." In saying that, explains

Galanov, this writer showed how greatly indebted he felt. 15

towards Marshak. Samuil Iakovlevich Marshak has left a

legacy of literature which assures him of survival for many

future generations. CHAPTER II

THE KITTEN'S HOUSE

For the purpose.of this thesis the term "folk element"

is defined as any thematic or structural material taken from

the folk-literature available to Marshak. These elements

must be clearly identified before we can begin to see what

use Marshak made of them in the plays. Needless to say,

this study does not aim merely at an enumeration of folk

elements. What it does aim at is to identify these elements

in Marshak's plays in oaider to see how they function as

literary components in these plays. In Marshak's Koshkin

dom (The Kitten's House) and in Dvenadtsat' mesiatsev (The

Twelve Months) a wide variety of folk elements is to be

found, such as: magical creatures, objects and happenings.

Parallels can be found not only in Russian but in the folk-

literature of the world. Many of the folk-motifs used by

Marshak are, as we shall seet prominent entries in the Motif- 16

Index of Folk Literature. At the same time the nursery

rhymes, children's songs, proverbs and charms that Marshak uses are forms that he borrowed from folk-literature in which his interest was deep, as we have seen in the previous chapter.

Since the study of folklore is of such -basic impor• tance in this thesis, it is necessary to have a clear idea 13 14

of what we mean by the term "folklore." As a working defi•

nition we may use the following statement by Archer Taylor:

Folklore consists of materials that are handed on traditionally from generation to generation without a reliable ascription to an inventor or author. . . . Verbal folklore includes words considered for their own sake and words occurring as connected discourse. . . . • Typical words that the folklorist studies without regard for their use in connected discourse are ... personal names (both family and Christian names), and nicknames. Folklore in the form of connected discourse includes tales of various kinds, . . . children's songs, charms, and proverbs.17

The relevance of studying folklore in the context of

Marshak has been noted by the Soviet scholar, V. A. Vasi-. 18

lenko. However, no attempt has been made, so far, to

consider his works in the light of folklore. While this

study hopes to take adequate note of the folk elements, the

intention is not to venture into the folklorist's ground of

determining the origin or social relevance of such elements.

The purpose is simply to see how literary values emerge as a

result of Marshak's use of folk elements. * * * * * * *

Of the seven plays that Marshak wrote for children, only two, Koshkin dom (The Kitten's House) and Dvenadtsat' mesiatsev (The Twelve Months), form the subject of this study. Needless to say, reference will be made to the other

five plays whenever necessary. They are: Skazka pro kozla

(The Tale of the Billy Goat) , Petrushka-1 nostranets (Petru- shka the Foreigner), Teremok (The Little Tower), Goria 15 boiat' sia— schast' ia ne vidat' (Fear Woe—-See No Luck) , and

Umnye veshchi (Intelligent Things). More information

regarding all seven plays, including place and date of first

publication and first performance, is given in an appendix

to this study.

Marshak1s.plays have a special importance inasmuch as his original literary work for children began in the theatre.

As we have seen in Chapter I, his interest lay in working

for children. While in charge of refugee children in Russia during World War I, he helped to organize a professional theatre for them. He realized clearly that drama is an essential part of a child's perception of life and self-. expression, as becomes evident upon watching children at 19 play. Together with the poet-playwright E. I. Vasil'eva

(pseudonym, Cherubina de Gabriak), Marshak produced a book, titled: Teatr dlia detei (Theatre for Children). This book contained a collection of plays, some written by Marshak, some by Vasil'eva, and some by the two authors in collabora• tion. Some of the plays written jointly are: Volshebnaia palochka (The Magic Wand) , Letaiushchii sunduk (The Flying

Trunk), Finist iasnyi sokol (Phoenix, the Bright Falcon), Tair i Zore (Tair and Zore), and Opasnaia privychka (A Dan- 20 gerous Habit). The plays'written by Marshak alone are:

Gore-zloschastie (Woe and Misfortune), Petrushka, Skazka pro kozla (The Tale of the Billy Goat), and Koshkin dom (The

Kitten's House).21 16

In these early plays Marshak was not too concerned

about following strict dramatic principles. They are not so 22

much plays as character sketches (skazki v Tits akh). The

Kitten's House was first known under its subtitle as Skazka

v odnom deistvii. P'esa v stikhakh (A One-Act Tale. A Play

in Verse), which "humorously portrayed the spoiled and

selfish Aunt Kitten who is left in the end without a friend 23

and without shelter." Marshak wrote the second version

after a lapse of twenty-five years, calling it now, Skazka v

trekh deistviiakh (A Three-Act Tale, 1945), which was also

issued in a separate edition by "Detgiz" in 1947. In this

version he reinforces the satirical traits (of Aunt Kitten)

by creating an image of a complacent, idle, banal Philistine, 24

surrounded by flattering false friends. The final version was published in 1948, titled: Koshkin dom. P'esa V dvukh

deistviiakh (The Kitten's House. A Two-Act Play), which was written for performance at the S. Obraztsov Central Govern- 25 ment Puppet Theatre in 1947. This is the version that is

printed in volume two of Marshak's collected works.

The plot of The Kitten's House may be summarized as

follows: A rich and vain Kitten, who places money above all

and cares only for the friendship of flatterers, refuses to help her two half-starved nephews. When they come begging

to her door she tells her servant Vasilii, the cat, to drive

them away. But when accidentally her house burns down and

she loses all her possessions, she finds nobody to help her. 17

Every.one of her former friends -refuses to take her in on

some pretext or other. Finally, wandering from house to house, she comes to the poor hut in which her nephew kittens

live. Unlike herself, her nephews understand the plight of

the poor and needy, and they take her in. They all become

friends, and together they build a house for themselves.

As this summary shows, the plot of The Kitten's House

is a simple one. The action progresses without complication

and no secondary episodes are brought in to distract our

attention from the conduct of the principal characters. It

is therefore easy to resolve the action into distinct sequen•

ces. The play begins with some basic information given by the Chorus and the Narrator. Then we see the rejection of

the poor nephew kittens by their Aunt Kitten. This is

followed by the scene of the party, which illustrates what we have heard from the Chorus and the Narrator about the

rich Kitten's way of living. Then comes the crisis of the

action in the form of the.fire in which the Aunt Kitten

loses her all. This represents the turning point in the

course, of the action, for from this point begins the Kitten's~ re-education. She learns the truth about;social living

through her. misfortune, through the falseness of money-loving

friends, and through the kindness of her poor relations.

Once she learns these things she is shown proceeding.towards

a happier life than she has ever had-.

The play is concerned with the re-education of an 18

arrogant creature, Aunt Kitten., She starts out as a smug,

arrogant and greedy creature, but at the end of the play we

see that she alters her malignant disposition through a

series of extremely critical events: the loss of all her possessions in the fire, the falseness of her friendsj and

the kindness of her.poor nephew kittens. This sequence of

events illustrates the theme of the play in as much as it

attacks acquisitiveness and praises co-operation and sharing.

The theme of the play is that acquisitiveness separates people from one another while sharing and co-operation bring people together.

The major .events of the play bring out the theme quite clearly. These events are: a) the appearance of the

two kittens, begging their Aunt Kitten for help, b) her refusal on the ground that people should be able to fend for

themselves, c) the loss of her house and, consequently, her wealth, d) her friends' refusal to assist her, e) her appeal

to her nephews for help, and f) their ready.assistance to her. As we go from the beginning to the end of this sequence we find a sharply drawn contrast between two kinds of behav• iour, one of which dominates over the other at the beginning, only to be replaced at the conclusion of the play by,the other. The plot of the play is therefore characterized by a reversal not only of the fortune of the central character but also of the ethical direction of her actions * The theme of the play is thus expressed by the central event of the play, that is, the fall of Aunt Kitten. At the same time,

it is reinforced by the openly satirical evaluation of her social pretensions and conduct. Since satire is obviously the rhetorical mode used in the play, it is necessary to

look closely at the form it takes here.

Satire.has'been defined in many ways. A good work• able definition of satire is found in Webster's New World

Dictionary of the American Language;

A literary work in which vices, follies, stupidities, abuses, etc. are held up to ridicule and contempt.21

Another definition of satire is given by Northrop Frye, who says that

Two things,, then, are essential to satire; one is wit or humour founded on fantasy or a sense of grotesque or absurd, the other is the object of attack.27

Both these definitions are applicable to The Kitten's House because it has a sharply defined object of attack which is so treated as to be made ridiculous by reason of its folly and absurdity. What makes us laugh at Aunt Kitten and all her fair-weather friends is their assumption of human manners, that is to say, attitudes that are not natural to them and which for that reason make them ludicrous.

Satire can.be given, a special twist by transferring its setting from the human to an animal context. The use of animals in satire provides detachment to the spectator which makes it easier for him to observe their behaviour without any sense of personal involvement; had the characters been 20 human, their behaviour might seem grotesque or absurd. An•

other reason why animals are used in a satiric plot is that

it focuses the spectator's attention upon the absurdity of particular types of conduct by giving such conduct an unex•

pected setting. The spectator ends up by seeing the animals both as animals and as humans like themselves. In this lat•

ter identity of the characters, their conduct appears to be

ridiculous precisely because what we ordinarily assume to be human behaviour appears as animal behaviour. By using the

technique of an animal fable Marshak achieves two levels of perception and so controls our imaginative response to his play.

At a deeper level, this process reveals how satire

functions by increasing the awareness of our mental environ• ment and our readiness to correct false, notions and admit new ones. This is the traditional understanding of the

function of satire and this function is clearly fulfilled by.

The Kitten's House. Because satire, has this function,, writers with strong sociological views have found it a powerful means of re-education, although approaches to satire by such writers have taken different forms. In the works of

Juvenal and Horace we can distinguish two modes of satire.

One can be called presentational and objective, the other admonitory and subjective.- Juvenalian satire gives the sketchiest of advice as to a way of conduct, while the Hora- tian kind of satire is most interested in outlining an ideal code of conduct. These two different types of satirist also differ as to the function of satire-. While Juvenal and his

followers wrote in order to punish, Horace and the Horatians wrote in order to make people better. It is the latter mode•

that Samuil Marshak adopted.

Since Marshak's purpose was essentially constructive

and its expression dramatic, it is useful to bear in mind

the theory of the social impact of drama propounded by

another dramatist with a strong sociological interest,

Bertolt Brecht. His explanation of the purposes of his

"epic theatre" has some bearing on the instructional function of satire. He writes that in the conventional "dramatic" theatre, "the stage embodies a sequence of events, involves the spectator in an action and uses up his energy, his will 2 8 to action." In the epic theatre, "the stage narrates the sequence, makes the [spectator] an observer but awakes his 29 energy." This awakened energy, that is, this perception of a tension between what IS•and what OUGHT to be leads the satirist to believe—at least to hope—that change is possi• ble. In Marshak's play, for example, when the wealthy Aunt

Kitten refuses to aid her orphaned relations when they are hungry and cold, her action shows the world as it IS—its reality. But when the poor relations are confronted with a similar request from their Aunt Kitten, who had on the previous night ignored their plight, they assist her as they

OUGHT to. This illustrates how the dichotomy between what

IS and what OUGHT to be can be brought out and in this way 22

increases the spectator's awareness and changes his ideas.

Satire makes this play an effective instrument of

social instruction. To make this instrument doubly effec• tive, Marshak has given the plot a certain quality of distance by putting in animal characters on.the one hand and

the Chorus and Narrator on the other. It will be readily seen that both these devices are in fact taken from folk-

literature. Although the Chorus is-a classical device,

Marshak's use in The Kitten's House is analogous to the device used in Russian folk-literature to begin and end a tale (skazka) or a Russian epic song (bylina) . Marshak's use of the Chorus in this play is typical of what we find in

Russian folk traditions, and it puts the play into the form of a folktale. A tale of that kind begins with a priskazka

(analogous to the zapev in a bylina), and closes with a 30 kontsovka. These are sections of the tale which frame the central part of the story. The priskazka has an expository function.and gives all the background information needed to put the main body of the narrative into proper perspective, but it is not connected thematically. Its aim is to produce a special mood. Here is an example of the priskazka in the story of "The Princess Who Never Smiled": When you come to think of it, how great is God's world! Rich people and poor people, live in it, and all of them have room to live, and the Lord watches over all of them. The wealthy ones live in.idleness, the wretched ones in toil. To each his lot is given.31 An example of the kontsovka is taken.from the story of "The Wicked Sisters":

I was there ,too, I drank mead and wine and saw everything. Everyone was cheerful. Only the eldest sister came to grief, for she was tarred up in a barrel and thrown into the sea, and God did not protect her: she sank to the bottom and vanished without a trace.3 2

In The Kitten's House, the functions of these devices are performed by the Chorus and Narrator. The Chorus prepares the ground for the audience by talking about the Kitten and her house in a general way and then, to focus the attention. of the spectator on the story, concludes—again in the manner of the folktale—with this direct address to the audience:

npo 6oraTHfi KOUIKHH AOM MH H CKa3Ky noBeneM. ndcHflH ,na noroflH— CKa3Ka SyneT BnepeflHl33

(About the rich kitten's house, We will start the tale right in. Sit a. little, wait a while— The tale will soon begin!)

The purpose of these lines is to arouse the spectator's curiosity. Both the priskazka in the tale and the Chorus in the play aim to engage the spectator's imagination and to produce a mood of wonderment. This mood is created by presenting a picture of the Kitten's prosperous living: her big house, her luxurious furnishings, her elaborate clothes and jewellery. But at the same time the attitude of the

Chorus is mocking, as can be seen from the following lines:

BfciHfleT KouiKa Ha nporyJiKy J\a npoft.neT no nepeyjiny— CMOTPHT JTigflH, He nhUTia: flo qero >Ke xopoiua! fla He iaK OHa caMa, KaK y3opHaH TectMa, KaK y3opHan TectMa, 3oJiOTaH 6axpoMa.

fla He Tan ee TecBMa, KaK yroflBfl H noMa.34

(When the kitten goes out for a stroll, Walking up and down the lane, People breathlessly proclaim: Oh, how lovely.she is!

But not so much herself, As the embroidered braid, As the embroidered braid, And the golden fringe.

But not so much the embroidered braid, As her comforts and her home.)

This ironical colouring, emphasizing the fabulous unreality of the Kitten's house is also a note of caution, which is frequently part of a storyteller's embellishment in folk- literature.

While the function of the priskazka is to engage the attention and interest of the audience, the function of the kontsovka is to release the audience from the spell of the story and to help.them to view it from a distance. In

Marshak's play, the Chorus supplies not only the priskazka but also the kontsovka. At the end of the play the Chorus reappears to give the audience a final report on the events with which the play ends. By•informing.them that the

Kitten's house has burned down-beyond recognition, the Choru implies that the "former" Kitten is gone and that a "changed

Kitten has now taken her place. The Chorus further informs us: a) that "the old Kitten" is a sit-at-home now, b) that she-lives with her nephews, c) that she catches mice in the cellar, d) that her servant, the "old cat," is also much wiser now (implying that this reflects her own reformation), and e) that he now works in the daytime, but hunts at night.

Finally, reviewing the co-operation and unity between the

Kitten, her servant and her nephews, the Chorus predicts a brighter future in these concluding lines:

CKOPO BHpaCTyT CHPOTKH, CTaHyr Soxi&iiie cTapoil TeTKH. TeCHO )KHTB HM BieTBepOM HyjKHo CTaBHTB HOBHB ,n;oM!3 5

(Soon the orphans will grow tall, Not like their old aunt, who is small, Because this foursome needs more room, They will build a new house soon.)

As in the kontsovka of the folktale, the Chorus's information releases the audience from the hold of the events of the play by placing them at a distance, and this distance is achieved because those events are no longer being acted out but reported. This distance also helps, by releasing the audience from the grip of the immediate event, to point the contrast between the Kitten now and as she had been.

Another device used in Russian folktales is the zachin or beginning, that follows the priskazka. . The zachin is a far commoner and more stable component of the structure of the tale. It represents a traditional, formulaic opening, such as, "Once upon a time there lived...," etc., and defines the location and the type of action. Marshak's rasskazchik or Narrator leads in with:

^HJia-6ujia KouiKa Ha CBeTe, 3aMopcKaH, AHropcKan. JKHJia oua He TaK, KaK flpyrne KOIUKH:37

(There lived—there was a Kitten on earth, Foreign, Persian.

She lived unlike other kittens:) and goes on to describe in detail her rich and comfortable life, her home and her servant. The Narrator concludes by signalling the beginning of the action:

BOT npHiiuiH K SoraTOH TeTKe flBa nJieMHHHHKa-CHPOTKH . riocTy-qaJiHCb non; OKHOM, tjTOdH HX BnyCTHJIH B flOM.38 (There they came to their rich aunt Two little nephews that were orphaned. There they knocked on the window outside,—- In order to be allowed inside.)

Marshak also uses the Narrator, again in the manner of folk- literature, to break the sequence of the action in the play.

This device is similar to the intermedii (interludes) of

Russian folk-drama. These interludes were introduced into

Russia through the school drama from Poland. The intermedii were used as comic relief during the staging of medieval 39 ... mystery plays. Instead of providing comic relief, as in the medieval mystery plays, here the Narrator signals the end of one episode and the beginning of another. In The .

Kitten's House the Narrator appears seven times: 1) after the initial introduction by the Chorus, 2) after the Kitten drives her hungry nephews away, 3) before the arrival of the 27

Kitten's guests at her house, 4) after the party is over and before the fire; 5) after the fire and before the Kitten and her servant take to the road to seek shelter with her

friends, 6) after she is refused shelter by her friends, and

7) before Aunt Kitten finds shelter with her poor nephews.

The function of the Chorus and the Narrator, then, is to present the action and to comment, upon it. It is evident that theirs is an ambivalent status because, although they are not within the play proper, they are very much part of the total work, and without them the play would lose its peculiar flavour of didacticism in the folk manner. In their capacity-as presenters of the play they make no judgments upon, individuals or upon particular actions. Their judgments are statements of universal attitudes and values and these are implied as much in their remarks, particularly the concluding ones, as in the very.fact that they choose to present such a plot and such a cast of characters.

The characters in The Kitten's House are conceived as social stereotypes, embodying certain qualities. At the same time they are individualized by manner and speech.

They remain stereotypes because they are really personifica• tions of certain social attitudes. For example, Aunt Kitten is a selfish, arrogant, grasping creature who typifies the shortcomings of the wealthy, particularly in her aversion to helping others. Her friends, Mrs. Rooster, Mrs. Goat, and

Mrs. Pig are cast in the same mould,.as we find out in the 28 course of the action: when the Kitten is in trouble, these fair-weather friends, true to type, refuse to share lodgings with her. When the Kitten is surprised at being.refused assistance by Mrs. Rooster, she asks:

A 3a^eM ace B 3Ty cpeny TH 3BMa MeHH K o6e,o:y?40

(Then why have you invited me To have lunch with you on Wednesday?)

Mrs. Rooster replies:

H 3BaJia He HaBcerna, H ceroflHH He cpena.41.

(I called you for Wednesday,

But I didn't mean you to be a permanent guest.)

The Kitten leaves Mrs. Rooster's house in the hope that her other friends will welcome her,.but both Mrs. Goat and Mrs.

Pig turn her away. None of these characters is - able to break out of her type. In all they do they conform to a stereotype. On another level, the use of stereotypes is also seen in the conversion of the Kitten and her servant.

The Kitten goes from one extreme on the scale of behaviour to the other. Whereas initially she was very selfish, inconsiderate and pretentious, after her misfortune and her eventual reformation the Kitten devotes herself totally to caring for her nephews and becomes the humble, kindly and loving aunt typical of folk-literature. Once circumstances force her to make the change, she remains as she promises to be: H 6yny BSM- BTopan MaTb. Mbinieft HOBHTB H Syfly, MBITB H3HKOM nocy,n;y. . .4 2

(I will be your second mother.

I will catch mice [for you], Wash dishes with my tongue...)

That these .promises are genuine and actually carried out by the Kitten, is confirmed by the Chorus at the end of the play.

Such broadly conceived stereotypes .of behaviour could, however, easily make the play dull. Marshak saves it from such tediousness by attributing to his animal characters some humorous and at the same time thematically significant character-traits. The Kitten,.in her attempt to establish her social superiority, flaunts her genealogy and her posses^ sions before heir guests. She claims:

Kouma: fl H3 ceMBH 3aMopcKoft: Mofi npasefl—KOT AHropcKHfi! 3a2crn, Bacujinii, BepxHHft CBeT H noKaatH ero nopTpeT.

KypHiia: KaK OH nyuiHCT!

JJeTyx: KaK OH xopoiu!

KouiKa: OH Ha MeHH ^yTB-^yTB noxo*. . .

A 3flecB MOH rocTHHas, KOBPH H 3epKajia. KynHJia nnaHHHo a y oflHoro ocjia.43

(Kitten: I come from a family.of foreigners: My great-grandfather-was a Persian cat! Vasilii, turn on the upper light And show his portrait.

Mrs. Rooster: Oh,.how fluffy he is!

Mr. Rooster: Oh, how good he looks!

Kitten: He looks a bit like me... 30

And here is my guest room, Carpets, mirrors. The piano I bought. From a certain donkey.)

When her house catches fire her main concern is for her possessions. She implores the firemen to save her Persian

rug, her furniture and belongings,.because she views her status in terms of her possessions. Her pretensions make her particularly ridiculous not only because she borrows human manners but also because she tries to impress these manners upon other animals. Her friends affect.superior

airs which are expressed through their human mannerisms, but

they constantly reveal their true identity as animals. Thus,

the goats intersperse their speech with bleatings, the pigs grunt, and the rooster says cock-a-doodle-doo along with

"thank you." These animal characteristics serve at once to

individualize these characters and .to make the whole situa•

tion absurdly comic. Their behaviour seems particularly

silly, not only because it is ridiculous for an animal to

copy human behaviour but because the behaviour they copy is

foolish when seen even in human beings themselves. As has been pointed out above, Marshak abstracts certain patterns

of behaviour from the human world and sets them in the animal world. By being set at a distance, those patterns of behav•

iour thus appear in their true nature.

The essential point to remember in discussing

Marshak's use of characters is that by reducing behaviour to broad stereotypes, Marshak achieves the directness of a

folk-drama which,is simple in form but universal in appeal.

This impression of simplicity is specially reinforced by

Marshak's style which shows, perhaps more,than anything else-, his indebtedness to the folk tradition.

The Kitten's House is written in rhymed verse of the sort commonly found in, Russian folk-literature. In general, the verse lines are short and strung out either in couplets or in quatrains, thus giving pace to the movement of the playi In the beginning the Chorus opens with a rhyming couplet which is also the rhythmic motif in the play:

BKM-6OM! THJTH-6OM! Ha flBOpe BblCOKHH flOM'.'^

(Ding-dong! Ding-daire! There's a big house out there.)

First sung by the Chorus, this motif is soon picked up by the Narrator, who indicates the episodic changes in the play. Toward the end of the play-the rhyme is again picked up by the Chorus, but at.the very end it is sung by all. In• each recurring couplet the second line is' changed to blend with the situation in the-play. For example, while in the first couplet the Chorus informs the audience.of "a large house," in the second couplet the Narrator informs the audience of the ownership and newness of the house. During the fire scene the rhyme is intensified through the,repeti• tion of the first and second lines to signal the outbreak of- the fire: 32

THJIH-THJIH , THJIH-THJIH , THJIH-THJIH, THJIH-6OM! 3aropejicH KOIUKHH BOM!

3aropeJicH KOIUKHH BOM,^5

(Ding-dong, Ding-dong, Ding-dong-bells!

There's a fire where the kitten dwells!

There's a fire where the kitten dwells!)

Marshak gives prominence to these lines in the play, for he was indeed very fond of them. They were lines from a chil•

dren's song that "gave birth to the dramatic tale, The

Kitten's House," he wrote to A. N. Avakova (April 1958).46

When we compare the original folk-rhyme with Marshak's own,

it can be seen that except for one line he preserved the original folk rhyme. Marshak's rhyme:

THJIH-THJIH, THJIH-6OM! 3aropejicH KOIUKHH BOM! EejKHT Kypnua c BejjpoM,^

(Ding-dong-bells! There's a fire where the kitten dwells! The hen runs with a pail of water,)

The oral folk-rhyme:

flOH, JJOH, flOH. 3aropejicH KOIUKHH BOM, EexcHT KypHiia c BeflpoM, 3aJiHBaeT KOIUKHH BOM. 48

(Ding-dong-bells. There's a fire where the kitten dwells. The hen runs with a pail of water, Helping as she ought to.)

Variety is added to this pattern by using a slightly differ• ent sort of verse, made up of alternating long and short 33

lines. The following verses, spoken by the Chorus and the

Narrator respectively, illustrate this. The Chorus says:

EHM-6OM! THJTH-SOM! Ha HBope — BHCOKHB BOM. CT aBeHKH pe3 Hue, OK na pacnHCHbie. A Ha JiecTHHu;e KOBep — UIHTHH 3OJIOTOM y3dp. no y3ppHOMy KOBpy CxoflHT KouiKa noyTpy.

y Hee, y KOUIKH., Ha Horax canoacKH, Ha Horax canoKKH, A B ymax cepeacKti. Ha canoscKax —- JlaK-JiaK. A cepe>KKH — BpHK-6pHK.^9

(Ding-dong! Ding-dare! There's a big house out there. Little shutters fretted, Windows decorated.. A carpeted staircase —- Embroidered in gold. Along this patterned carpet A kitten comes.down.in the morning.

She has, the kitten has-, Little shoes on her feet, Little shoes on her feet, Little earrings, in her ears. On the shoes — Lacquer, lacquer. The earrings go.— Jingle-jingle.)

The Narrator says:

CJiymailTe, neTH: 3KHJia-.6bijra KoraKa HacBeie, 3aMopcKaH, •_. . AHFppCKaH. 5KHJia OHa He TaK, KaK npyrne KOUIKH: CnaJia He Ha poroacKe, A B ywTHOH cnaneHKe, Ha KppBaTKe MaJieHbKOH, yKpHBajiacb aJiUM 34

TeruiHM ojjenjiOM H B nonyniKe nyxoBOH YTonaJia TOJIOBOH. ^°

(Listen, children: There lived, there was a kitten on earth, Foreign :.' Persian. She lived unlike other kittens: She did not sleep.on a bast mat, But in a cosy little bedroom, On a tiny little bed.. She covered herself With a warm red blanket, And her head rested On a soft, down pilloWi)

The language of the play is of the simplest kind, direct and non-metaphorical, there being only two instances of - figurative language: namely, this metaphor:

H JierKHH oroHeK

B3o6pajiCH no O6OHM,' BcKapaSKajicH Ha CTOJT- H pa3JieTejicH poeM 3oJioTOKpfcjj[HX rraeJi.^l

(And the light fire

Clambered up the wallpaper, Scrambled on the table And burst forth in a swarm Of golden-winged bees.) and this personification:

C TpecKOM, inejiKaHbeM H rpoMOM BcTaJi oroHB Han HOBHM JJOMOM, 03HpaeTCH KpyroM, MauieT KpacHHM pyKaBOM.^2

(With,a crash, a crack and a roll of thunder The fire stood up above the new house, And> looking round in all directions, Waved its fiery-red sleeve.)

Such imagery heightens the visual images of the fire. How• ever, words and phrases typical of folk-literature, such as 35

are found in cradle-songs,,folk-songs and tales, are easily,

identifiable in the play. In the opening lines of the

Chorus we find these diminutives: "sapozhki," "serezhki,"

and epithets: "staven'ki reznye," "okna raspisnye." Further• more, keeping in mind his educational purpose, Marshak also uses simple words and constructions of ordinary conversation.

Words such as "detskii sad," "stal'naya myshelovka,"

"pozharnyi kran" help to create an illusion of contemporane• ity. Therefore, the combined allusions to folklore and to. contemporary facts help to create a feeling of dgja vu, that is, a familiar experience for the community or for the indi• vidual child, because the play deals with.easily recognized objects. Moreover, by projecting his own personality into it, the child learns an object lesson.

In The Kitten's House Marshak familiarizes his viewer or reader not only with the folk tradition but also with the finest literary tradition of the fable. Reminiscent of a moral appended to a fable, that is, the conclusive under• standing which is derived from the story, the poor nephew- kittens become the bearers of it in this play. One of them says:

KT.O 3HaeT, KaK MOKpa Bona, KaK cTpauieH xenon; JnoTbiH, TOT He OCTSBHT HHKorna npoxoHOix 6e3 npHK)Ta!^3

(If you know of thirst for water, And of cold you cannot bear, You will always find some quarter For a passer-by to share.) 36

Referring to these lines during an interview with Sovetskoe

iskusstvo (Soviet Art,. 14 September 1945)., Marshak said:

. . .. the moral in this story- [The .Kitten's House] does not differ from morals in other tales.. It - is simple, and I think useful, but I have no desire to explain it in my own words. To do that would be like taking the cream off the milk. The milk be• comes tasteless and the cream a bit too rich. ... I believe that the viewer, young or old, will without any doubt agree with the position taken here [in the play] and will have no desire to play the role of the inhospitable Mrs. Goat or Mrs. Pig.54

This statement clearly conveys Marshak's philosophy, that

is, that one can arrive at the understanding of a moral not by explaining it, but only by experiencing the dramatic

action in the play.

As can be seen from the above, the simplicity of the

style has the advantage of focusing attention upon its simple message. Since there is no linguistic device to distract us, we may follow the fortunes of the Kitten by continually evaluating her attitudes and her conduct. At the same time, the folk-literature form helps to give the play the air of natural uncontrived wisdom that such literature always has-, reflecting as it does the unchanging core.of social experience. Marshak*s achievement lies in putting that experience in its simplest form, which is nevertheless effective as a vehicle of communication. CHAPTER III

THE .TWELVE MONTHS

Marshak's play, The Twelve Months, is considerably

different in scope and tone from The Kitten's House, but

similarly rooted in folk-imagination. The Twelve Months

(1943) is based on a Czech folktale "0 dvandcti mesickach"

(About the Twelve Months), collected and published by Bozena 55

Nemcova' (1820-1862) . Marshak wrote two versions of the tale, both of which appeared in 1943. One was a prose tale entitled "The Twelve Months —- A Slavic Tale"; the other the play with which we are concerned here, which Marshak called

The Twelve Months — A Dramatic Tale. Marshak acknowledged the fact that he had heard a verbal account of a Czech or

Bohemian legend,"About the Twelve Months," long before his writing of the prose version of "The Twelve Months." But he denied having any knowledge of Bozena Nemcova-'s version.

This denial gave rise to-a lively discussion between himself and the Soviet critic V. V. Smirnova. The charge of exces• sive indebtedness to the Czech tale seems to have troubled

Marshak constantly. Even twenty years after the. publication of the prose tale and the dramatic version of The Twelve

Months. (and a year before'his death) he wrote to the.drama critic S. B. Rassadin (27 June 1963) and categorically denied having known anything of the Czech author's story.^ He 38

added that he could not even remember the spelling of her

name (Nemcova" or Nimcova) . In another statement to Rassadin

concerning the source of the tale he emphasized the fact

that he enriched the original story by expanding its plot, 57

adding new characters, and so on. It is difficult to

accept these disclaimers at.face value. It is a fact that

Marshak not only knew the Czech language but also knew

several Czech authors and translated many of their works

into Russian. There is, above all the incontrovertible fact

that Nemcova's-tale "About the Twelve Months" appeared long

before Marshak's two versions of the tale. The resemblances

that Marshak's works bear to the earlier Czech tale are so

great as to militate against treating the parallels as mere

accidents. Marshak's version of the prose tale "The Twelve

Months —"A Slavic Tale" is almost identical with Nemcova's

in plot and structure, with minor changes in the opening and

closing of the story.

The parallels and differences between Marshak's prose

story "The Twelve Months —A Slavic Tale" and Nemcov^'s

"About the Twelve Months" will be clear from the following

comparison:

Nemcova'1 s - tale: Marshak's prose tale: #

There was a mother. * H2£f~: T^e symbols, used here indicate the following: " - " the same " + " partly similar "• * " modified 39

She had two daughters.

One was her own.

One was a stepdaughter.

The daughter's name was Holena. tf + (No name)

The stepdaughter's name was Maruska. + (No name)

The daughter was ugly.

The stepdaughter was beautiful.-

The stepdaughter did all the work.

The stepdaughter was happy in her work.

The stepdaughter was patient.

The stepdaughter was kind.

Each day the mother and Holena grew meaner toward The mother's harshness is Maruska (beating her, stressed. The emphasis is making impossible demands), on the Stepdaughter's but in spite of it; she beauty. The focus is on grew more beautiful each her life of hard work. day.

One day in the middle of + winter Holena decided that The Stepmother decided that she wanted to smell she'wanted snowdrops for violets. her Daughter's name day. (The subplot in the play The Twelve Months supplies a Queen who wanted snow• drops and offered a reward to anyone who would bring them to her.)

She ordered Maruska to fetch her some.

Maruska protested against the impossible request. 40

After being scolded and threatened with death by There is no direct.threat of Holena, and being thrown death by the Stepmother. outside, Maruska had no choice but to go find violets.

Crying bitterly and trying + to see through heaps of There is no appeal to God. snow to find a way out, she prayed to God to take her from this world.

Suddenly she saw a light'in the distance.

She journeyed uphill to reach it.

There was a fire on top of + the hill. There was a fire in the clearing.

Around the fire there were + twelve stones. No stones.

On the twelve stones there sat twelve men. No stones, as noted above. The men are identified by the names of the,months..

Three were white-moustached.

Three younger ones.

Three still younger.

And three more,, the youngest of all who were the hand• somest.

These twelve men were the twelve months.

At first they looked at her without saying anything.

She asked politely to be allowed to warm herself by the fire. 41

When asked by January what she was doing in the cold of winter, she explained her quest, giving details as to how this came about.

Then March waved his magic + wand and made the snow The magic is performed first melt and the violets bloom. by January, then February, then March, after which snowdrops appeared.

"Quickly gather the flowers," said March.

She returned home safely with the flowers.

The stepmother and Hqlena were amazed and asked Maruska how she got the flowers.

She told them the story. + They called her stupid for not bringing berries, mushrooms, cucumbers, pears, apples, etc.

The next day Holena felt like having berries and The Daughter left immediately ordered Maruska to get to get all she could from her some. the twelve Months in the hope of selling some of the loot and making money.

After some namecalling, threats, etc., Maruska was Not the Stepdaughter, but driven out to go and fetch the Daughter herself went. berries-at the height of a snowstorm.

Once more she came upon the twelve months and asked The Daughter met them and them to help her. demanded that they fulfill her wish.

June waved his wand and summer appeared. January refused to obey her. He told her, "There is no such thing as summer before spring, and spring before- winter." 42

The forest was filled with berries. She picked them January created a huge storm. and returned home, guided The Daughter could neither by the moon (the same as see through the heavy snow, when she

The stepmother and Holena saw her come with the berries. The Daughter never returned. They ate them up and gave only one to Maruska.

On the third day Holena wanted red apples. Maruska As the Daughter did not was forced to go out in return, her mother went search of them. As before, out the next day to look she met the twelve months for her. and got the apples, but only two this time.. The stepmother and Holena were angry, and after eating the two apples they wanted more.

So Holena decided to go and get some herself, against The same incident, but her mother1s wishes. occurs earlier as noted,

She encountered the twelve months sitting on twelve (No stones, as noted.) stones.

She gave rude answers to January1s. questions.

January waved his wand and it began to snow heavily, and the angry cold wind began to blow.

Holena could not see.

She began to wander around, to stumble, etc.

She began to swear at Maruska and God. No swearing or reference to God.

The stepmother waited in vain for her daughter's return 43

She went out in search of-, her daughter.

The stepmother walked and walked, searched and searched, but the snow kept falling and the cold wind kept blowing.

The mother and daughter froze in the snow.

Meanwhile Maruska prepared * lunch, but neither of them The Stepdaughter's concern came home. Again she pre• is not mentioned. pared dinner, but still they did not return. She wondered, "0 God, what could have happened to them"?," She kept on praying for her sister and mother. The next day she waited with breakfast, she waited with lunch, but they never came.

Thus the good Maruska was + left with a cottage, a cow The Stepdaughter grew up, and a piece of land. got married, raised.chil• Eventually a suitor came. dren and lived a long and They married and lived happy life. The story goes happily.in peace.. that she had such a beau• tiful house that no other like it was to be seen in the whole world. There the flowers bloomed and the fruits ripened earlier than anywhere else. They say that all the twelve Months used to visit her at once. Who knows — maybe it was so.

This comparison shows that Marshak was, heavily indebted to Nemcovd, no matter how many disclaimers he made.

At the same time, it is only fair to note that Marshak had no lack of imagination, as his modification of Nemcova''s plot shows. In particular, his dramatic version of The Twelve Months .has a great variety of events and its plot

development takes many strange turns not found in Nemcovd's

story.

When we compare with.Marshak's prose tale the dramati

version of The Twelve Months, we find that it did not change

in its broad lines, although he made considerable additions

to.the plot. The action of the play begins on the day before the New Year. We meet the simple, poorly-dressed, hard-working Stepdaughter gathering brushwood deep in the

forest. All the birds, animals and magic beings of the

forest know her and she knows them. She is a familiar figure. She understands the language of the. animals and they do not fear her. The twelve Months, who are brothers, know her very well too. They have seen her often enough working in the forest in all kinds of weather in all seasons

For her kindness and hard work she receives the gifts of nature from the Months. They have the power to bring forth any.season at will in a single hour.

As early as the second scene of Act I, Marshak gives us one of his major additions to the plot by bringing in the young Queen, who is central to the development of the plot.

By introducing her, Marshak provides both an extension of the plot and a contrast to the main character, the Step-, daughter. The Queen is. also the catalyst of the plot. She proclaims a "snowdrop law," according to which she demands that a basket of snowdrops be found and delivered to her 45

palace on New Year's Eve. The person.who fulfills her wish

will be rewarded with,a basket of gold equal to the amount

of snowdrops brought in.

On the day the play begins, that is, the day before

New Year's day, the Stepmother and her Daughter,.greedy for wealth, send out the Stepdaughter into the cold forest at

twilight to search for snowdrops. Having reached a clearing

deep in the forest, she sees a fire around which are seated

twelve brothers called the Months. She greets them politely

and asks to be, allowed to warm herself,by the fire. After

she tells them why she is there, they help her with her

problem. They bring spring instantly and everywhere appear

snowdrops, which she puts in her basket. But as an added

gesture of friendship between her and the brothers, Month

April gives her a magic ring and teaches her how to invoke

its power in case of danger, with the stipulation that she must never reveal its secret to anyone. Otherwise the Month- brothers can never assist her. Upon her return from the

forest she presents the basket of snowdrops•to the Stepmother

and the .wicked Daughter, who take it to the palace to claim

the reward.

Having returned home exhausted by her ordeal in the

forest, the Stepdaughter falls asleep and when she awakes

the following morning she discovers that the magic ring is • missing from her finger, the Daughter having stolen it while she was asleep. Meanwhile, at the palace, as the Stepmother and.the Daughter are about to leave with the reward, the

Queen questions them and discovers that they are impostors, and that it was the Stepdaughter who had found the snowdrops.

This discovery further complicates the plot, as the Queen now decides to have the Stepdaughter show her and her party the place where she found the snowdrops; this the Stepdaughter refuses to do. She also refuses a basket of gold, twelve velvet dresses, silver slippers, bracelets for each hand and • rings for each finger. She will be content only if she can have her ring returned. But when the Daughter is forced to give the ring back, the Queen wants to know where the Step• daughter obtained it. Again she refuses to reveal her secret. The Queen commands that the Stepdaughter be punished for her stubbornness and throws the ring into the water.

But at that moment the Stepdaughter utters the magic words and she -is saved by the twelve Months> while the Queen and her party are enveloped in a snowstorm. Suddenly it all quietens down and the cycle of.the seasons begins. Spring appears first, followed immediately by summer, then by autumn, and lastly by winter. No sooner do snowdrops appear than they are replaced by summer flowers and fruits. Moments later it becomes" cold and rainy and soon snow begins to fall.

The Queen and her party experience all the seasons at once.

The Queen is overcome by wonder and begins to appreciate the power and beauty of nature and to understand the narrowness of man's greedy attempts, to exploit nature. She learns to 47 admire the heroine for her goodness that lets her be at one with nature and receive nature's bounty.

The power of nature is further demonstrated by the action of brother January, who. metes out justice. He gives the angry Stepmother and Daughter coats of dog fur and turns them into a pair of dogs to pull the Queen's sled back to the palace. Meanwhile the Stepdaughter enjoys a song and game with the twelve Months in.the forest. She confesses to

Month April her loss (the ring), but he returns it to her, saying that because she did not reveal the secret she can have it back and it will always protect her from evil. Month

January assures her that she should have no fear and that she will return home to be the sole owner of her house, and that from now on they will be guests at her house, ensuring her safety and prosperity.

Viewed in terms of the main conflict, the play consists1of the struggle between the forces of good and evil.

The conflict reaches its highest point when the Stepdaughter refuses to disclose the secret of where she obtained the snowdrops and the magic ring. Here, more than anywhere else, she makes a final choice against betrayal and falsehood.

She is willing and ready to sacrifice her life for the prin-. ciples she believes in, and because of this she eventually triumphs by being loved and respected by all. Commenting on her struggle, April says to her:

BepH-GBGe KOJieiKO. . . . HOCH ero;f H Bcerjja Te6e 48

Teruio H CBeTJio 6yfleT; H B CTyacy, H B MeTeJib, H.B oceHHHH TyMaH. XOTB H roBopHT, "qTO AnpejiB-MecHu; obMaHMHBhia, a HHKorna Te6n anpeJiBCKoe cojiHii.e He o6MaHeT]59

(Take your ring. Wear it and you'll always have warmth and light, whether there is a winter frost, or a storm, or an autumn mist. Although they say April is a fickle month, the April sun, take it from me, will never deceive you.)

Even the Queen says, turning to the Professor,

CMOTpHTe, BeflB 3TO Ta caMan neByniKa, VLTO noHCHeK- HHKH Hauuia... TOJIBKO KaKaH oHa napflflHaa!^

(Look, this is the same girl that found the snow-., drops. But how gorgeously dressed she is now!)

The Soldier, struck by the Stepdaughter's beauty, replies,

TaK TOMHO, Bauie BejmqecTBO, OHH caMbie.^-

(No mistake about it, Your Majesty, that's her all right.)

Now, addressing the Stepdaughter herself, the Soldier contin• ues, .

^HCTO KoponeBa!^1

(.. . . you look, like a Queen.).

This- last speech is-most significant, for it clearly- acknowledges the reversal of roles in the play. The poor,, downtrodden girl becumes'rich and powerful, while the mighty

Queen becomes a humble subject of chastisement by the power of nature. From the friendless:, sad and persecuted orphan of the beginning, she turns into the most admired and successful of all characters at the end. The transformation of her status within the play is signalled when, in the forest, the Queen, the Professor and the Soldier notice her 49

dressed in the fine garments given to her by the twelve

Months.

It is clear that Marshak's dramatic version of the

tale is much more complex in theme and structure than the

Czech tale. These complexities justify his claim to origi•

nality. Even though he might have taken the outline of the

story from an existing folktale, as seems likely, he made it his own by his additions which allowed him to intensify the moral conflict of the tale. At the same time he retains the basic form of folk-literature of - this sort, that is, of the kind of folk-literature that presents a contrast between virtue and wickedness, promises the eventual victory of virtue, and proclaims its rewards. , Marshak's heroine, the persecuted Stepdaughter, is endowed with every virtue while those who persecute her are flatly wicked. The Stepmother and the Daughter are cruel, greedy and envious, while the

Queen, is arrogant and cruel in her selfishness. .Yet, because of her greater intelligence and imagination, she undergoes a change of heart and learns to appreciate the Stepdaughter.

This transformation shows a degree of sophistication, a pattern which is not common in folk-literature. For in addition to the folk characters, Marshak introduces in The

Twelve Months more sophisticated types such as the.Queen and the Professor. His less sophisticated additions are the

Chancellory the Lady in Waiting, and an assortment of offi• cials and servants. Their function mainly is to illuminate the abuse of the Queen's power and to reflect their own powerlessness- in the light of her chaotic government. How• ever, the Soldier is one exception to this rule. Although a servant of the Queen, he is shown to have deep roots in 6 2

Russian folklore. His main function in the play is to link the two sides of the story together and at the same time to retain the structure and form of a folk-story. Mar• shak establishes this link in the beginning of the play, when he arranges a chance meeting in the forest between the

Soldier and the Stepdaughter. But it is what they say to each other, and the way that they say it, that helps to retain the structure and form of a folk-story, as will be clearly seen from the following conversation between them: COJIflAT. 3jjpaBHH Hcenaw, KpacaBHiia! Tbi *ieMy yue 3TO pajjyeiiibCH —- KJiajj HaniJia HJIH xopomyio HOBOCTB ycJibixaJia? naduepuua Mauiem pyKou u CMeemcsi euie 3eoHue.

fla TH CK35KH, c Mero Te6n civiex pa36HpaeT. MoaceT, H H nocMeiocB c TO6OH BMecTe.

nAflyEPHUA. fla BH He noBepHTe!

COJIflAT. OT^ero ace? MBI, coJiflaTH, Ha cBoeM B'eKy Bcero HacJiHuiajiHCb, Bcero HarjTHJjejracB. BepHTB — BepHM, a B o6MaH He jjaeMCH.

nAOTEPHILA. TyT 3 ana c SejiKaMH B ropejiKH nrpaji, Ha 3TOM- CaMOM MecTel

C0J1JJAT. Hy?

nAfl^EPHIIA. ^teCTaa npaBfla! BOT Kax HauiH pe6n- THIIIKH Ha yjiHiie nrpaioT. „ropH, ropH HCHO, MTO6BI He noracjio..." OH sa HHMH, OHH OT Hero, no CHery jja Ha flepeBo. Heme jjpa3HHT: ,,noflCKO^H, noHeko^H, noflnpHrHH, noflnpurHH!" COJiJJAT. TaK no-HaiueMy H roBopai?

nAJJ^EPHIIA. no-HaiueMy.

COJIflAT. Cna^cHTe Ha MHJIOCTB!

nAfl^EPHHA. BOT Bbi-MHe H He BepHTe!

COJIflAT. KaK He BepHTB! . HuH^e fleHB-TO. Kanofi? CTapoMy rony KOHeu, HOBOMy — HaMano. A JI eine OT flefla cBoero cjibixaji, 6yflTO ero Rep. eMy paccKa3BiBaJi, ^TO B 3TOT fleHB BCHKoe Ha CBeTe 6biBaeT —; yMea TOJIBKO noflCTepe^B na noflrjiHjjeTB. 3TO JIH AHBO, *ITO 6ejiKH c 3 anutaMH B ropejiKH HrpaiqT! lion HOBBIH TOR H . He TaKoe ony^iaeTCH.

nAfl^EPHIlA. A MTO ace?

COJIflAT. fla TaK JIH, HeT JIH, a roBopHJi MOH nen, MTO B caMbiH KaHyH HoBoro rofla flOBexiocB ero fleny co

BCeMH flBeHaflUaTbH) MeCHI^aMH BCTpeTHTBCH.

nAiuTJEPHHA. fla Hy? COJIflAT. HncTan npaBfla. KpyrnbiH ron ciapnK pa30M yBHflaJi: H 3HMy, H jieTo, H-BecHy, H oceHB. Ha BCIO XCH3.H& 3anoMHHJi, cbiHy paccKa3aJi H BHyKaM paccKa3aTB Bejien. TaK :flo weHH OHO H AOUIJIO . 63

(SOLDIER. Hello, my pretty one! What's making you so happy? Have you found a treasure trove or -heard some good news? Come on, tell us what's so funny! Maybe I can have a laugh with you too.

STEPDAUGHTER* You-won't believe me.

SOLDIER. I don't know about that. We soldiers have heard and seen lots of things in our lives.. We believe all right .but we don't -let anybody fool us.

STEPDAUGHTER. Here, on this very spot, a hare and two squirrels were playing catch a minute ago.

SOLDIER. Is that so?

STEPDAUGHTER. Cross my heart! Just like our kids playing in the streets. "Fire, burn high — Flame, never die!" The hare was-tearing after the squirrels, when oops! — up a tree they went —- and not only that —- they kept teasing him from the tree: "Come on, jump up here."

SOLDIER* And they-spoke like that in our own language?

STEPDAUGHTER. They did.

SOLDIER. What do you know!

STEPDAUGHTER. You see, you. don't believe me.

SOLDIERi Not believe you on a day like today? Oh, no. Today, you know yourself, is the end of the old year and the beginning of the new. And I heard my grandfather say that his grandfather used to tell him that on a day like today anything can happen in the world — all you have to do is to look sharp not to miss it. That's no great wonder, to see squirrels and hares play catch. Even more marvelous things happen on New Year's Eve.

STEPDAUGHTER. What things?

SOLDIER. Well, my grandfather told me that once on New Year's Eve his grandfather met all the twelve months together.

STEPDAUGHTER. Did he really?

SOLDIER. Cross, my heart! The old man saw the whole year, winter and summer, spring and fall, all at the same time. It was such a sight he could never forget it. He told his son about it and ordered him to tell the grandchildren. That's how I come to know the story.)

In general, however, Marshak's presentation of character follows the typical method of folk-literature of presenting absolute qualities rather than blends, of qualities *

This allows him to create a simple, but effective opposition of good and evil. The sympathy of the audience for the virtuous Stepdaughter can be readily.engaged because her goodness.is as unambiguous as is the wickerness of her persecutors. Moreover, this clear recognition on the part 53

of the audience is possible because, as in folktales, in The

Twelve Months Marshak presents his characters as broadly

conceived types classified by their propensity for either

good or evil. For example, the hard-working Stepdaughter,

the greedy Stepmother- and her lazy Daughter form two opposing

forces in a way typical of both Russian and non-Russian folk traditions. A parallel that readily comes to mind is the story of Cinderella. In like manner, Marshak depicts in his. play the Stepdaughter as a personification of goodness and virtue. These qualities manifest themselves in whatever she says or does. They stand out especially when compared with the characteristics of other characters in the play -, such as the Stepmother, the Daughter.and the Queen. For example, having just returned from gathering brushwood in the forest, the Stepdaughter is asked by her Stepmother and the Daughter to go out again into the desolate, wintry wasteland in search of snowdrops. Even though she knows that

HbiKrae H nponacTB He MyflpeHo — TaK H KPVJKHT, TaK H BaJiHT c Hbr.64

(There's nothing easier then losing your life today — it just whirls you around and blows you over.) she obeys their command because she is dutiful. Against her sweetness of character is pitted the cruel greed.of the

Stepmother and Daughter, who show no concern for the girl's safety; they are more concerned with the basketful of gold promised by the Queen in her proclamation as a reward for the snowdrops. The acknowledgement of the Stepdaughter's kindness is driven home by an encounter she has in the forest

with the Soldier. Although she is shivering with cold and

fatigue, she can still sympathize with the Soldier's problem

of finding a perfect unflawed fir tree as commanded by his

capricious Queen. The Stepdaughter puts aside her own

troubles to comfort the Soldier and help him. She says:.

JJ,afiTe-Ka H BaM ejio*iKy OJJHV noKaacy.. . He nonpHjjeT JIH oHa BaM? YacTaKan KpacHBan ejioHKa —' Beio^Ka B BeTO^Ky.65

(Come, let me show you a fir tree I know here'—-it may be just what you want. It's a beautiful tree; every twig on it matches every other twig.)

Gazing upon the marvellous tree, the,Soldier senses her great intimacy with nature and expresses his admiration for her in the following lines:

TH, BHJJHO, 3Jjecb B Jiecy CBOH. HenapoM SejiKH c 3aHiiaMH npn Te6e B ropejiKH HrpaioT!^

(You seem to be at home in the forest. No wonder squirrels and hares play catch as you look.on.)

This incident also defines the girl's character in.a particularly sensitive way. The Soldier's wondering remark is a spontaneous recognition of her oneness with all that is- good in nature. In her Stepmother's house we never see her gaiety nor ever hear her laugh, as we do in the forest. Her memories of childhood and youth are reawakened by the live• liness and spirit of the animals. When the squirrels laugh at the hare's short tail she laughs with them. Because,she retains her deep love.for nature, nature has no reluctance to reveal itself to her. She is therefore the right person to be granted a meeting with the twelve Months. Thus ,it

becomes apparent that this close relationship with nature,

typical of foik-literature, is the secret of her survival in

a hostile human world. The play becomes a parable not only

of the triumph of virtue.over wickedness, but also of the

union between man and nature.

The virtuous heroine is, as we have seen, contrasted

with the selfish and greedy Stepmother, her Daughter and the

young Queen. Of these, the Queen is the most interesting as

an individual. Marshak\s addition of this figure to the

plot shows how skilfully-he expands the thematic structure

of the play. The Queen's selfish-actions not only make the

plot more varied than it is in the tale, but also illustrate

the destructive force of greed in man's world. The Queen is

central to the plot structure because ,the denouement comes

through her action in persecuting the heroine for her own narrow and selfish purpose. But her function is not limited

to plot mechanics, for her actions illustrate how extensively mankind has been corrupted by greed and selfishness. If the

Stepmother and her Daughter are vicious, the Queen is the more so, because she has more power over other human beings , than they have. By bringing her in, Marshak therefore escalates the operations of greed and selfishness. As a result, the heroine's goodness shines out the more brightly.

The Queen is interesting because she is shown as a more intelligent.individual than the Stepmother and Daughter. The Queen has one striking similarity to the heroine. They

are both orphans. But whereas this misfortune has taught

the heroine humility, it has turned the Queen.into a wilful

and self-centered person. At times the Queen appears to be

more sensible and more imaginative than her fawning suite

and the tutors who surround her. Although she knows quite

well what is expected of her, she deliberately mocks their

attempts to educate her.. At times the clash between herself

and her instructors evokes genuine amusement on the part of

the audience.. For example, during one of her arithmetic

lessons, the Professor asks her what seven times eight makes.

She replies nonchalantly:

He.noMHio ITO-TO. . . • 3TO MeHH HHKorjja He HHTepeco- Bajib. . .67

(I cannot recall. It never interested me very much.)

However, as she becomes bored with the lesson, she bullies

the professor openly by saying:

A BU 3HaeTe, ^ITO H Mory Bac Ka3HHTt>? H jjaace cero- .. JJHH,. ecjiH. 3axo^yl^

(Do you know that I can have you executed? Even today, if I feel like it.)

This threat brings the Professor into total submission. He • is now anxious to say yes to her every whim. The following dialogue illustrates this clearly:

IIPOOECCOP. CKOJTBKO 6yjjeT uiecTBio uiecTB,' Banie

BeJlH^eCTBO?

KOPOJIEBA. OflHHHanHaTB.

nPOOECCOP. CoBepmeHHo BepHo, Bauie BejiH^ecTBO. ^ " (PROFESSOR. What does six times six make, Your Majesty?

QUEEN. Eleven.

PROFESSOR. That's perfectly correct, Your Majesty.)

Amusing as this incident is, it does not conceal the abuse,

of power by the Queen. She will.have her way, no matter by what means. This incident is thus of a piece with.her

command that required snowdrops to be brought to her on New

Year's Eve. It also shows that she deliberately rejects

self-improvement in favour of wilfulness.

Her relationship with others also reveals a lack of

discipline in moral values. For example, she is approached by the Chancellor during one of her lessons with the Profes•

sor, and asked to indicate her royal will by writing "hang" or "pardoned" on a document which no-one dares ask her to read. She hesitates briefly, not over the seriousness of the request, but rather over the length of the words which denote the verdict. She says:

'_ Jlymuie HanHiuy" .„Ka3HHTB." STO Kopo^e;^

(I'11.write "hang." It's shorter.)

Her rationale for writing "hang" is the same as for "six times six make eleven." Her lack of motivation for self- improvement and her lack of discipline in moral values reiterates her indifference towards any exertion not directly connected with her whims. Although the Professor subse• quently chides her for making a choice for the wrong reason 58

and tells her to think first before signing anything, her

reply to him is as follows:

ECJIH. 6H H cjiyuiajiacb Bac, H 6H TOJIBKO H flejiajia, ITO jjyMajia, flyMajia, nyMajia H nop, KOHeii, HaBepHo, comna 6BI c yMa HJIH npHflyMaJia 6or 3HaeT MTO.*..

(If.1 listened to you, I would be thinking and thinking, and in the end I would most likely go, insane, and then God knows what I might think up.)

Yet the Queen's very wilfulness makes her a somewhat sympa•

thetic figure for the audience because it emphasizes her

youth and directionless upbringing as an orphan. Even her

much-abused servants have some affection.for her. For

example, one of her loyal servants, the Soldier, has an

interesting insight into her nature.,; which he reveals to the

heroine during, their forest encounter:

72 KaK He.HcajiKo! HeKOMy noy^HTt ee yMy-pa3yMy. (I'm-sorry for her... There is nobody around to put good sense into her head.)

In Act IV, Scene 1, Marshak shows that as soon as the

Queen leaves behind her isolated existence, she also leaves

behind her boredom and frustrations.. While in the forest in

search of snowdrops she unexpectedly encounters both the

realities (cold, frost, snow, trees, animals) and the mysteries (changes of all seasons within a single hour) of

life. In this environment she'is overcome by a childlike

curiosity. Instead of tyrannizing over her teachers, she

derives,pleasure from learning. She pleads with them to

show her the wild animals that she had never seen before but only heard of from the Professor, and she adds:

H H He nyMana, MTO Ha CBeTe 6biBaioT Taoe BbicoKHe. cyrpo6bi H Taxne cTpaHHbie, KpHBue jjepeBBH. MHe STO aayme HPSBHTCH ! 7 3

(I never thought that such huge snowdrifts existed, and such strange crooked trees. I even like all this!)

Not only does she like what she sees in the forest, but she

also realizes that she is the beneficiary of this wonderful

experience, as she tells the Professor:

... 3a cerojjHHuiHHH .jjeHb, H MHoroMy Hay^HJiacB! EoJiBine y3HaJia, *ieM y Bac 3a Tpn rofla!^

(I've.learned a great deal today, more in a single day than I learned from you. in three years.)

It is quite clear that her statement communicates a sense of pride:in her achievement. Possibly Marshak is advancing here the social thesis that the Queen's selfishness and arrogance were consequences of her alienation from the life of nature and that her harshness reflected the arid life of the court which was empty of human feelings.

Against this harsh and unjust society, a society corrupted by selfish greed, Marshak holds up the idyllic world of the forest, where virtue is rewarded and vice punished by some all-powerful agency. Elements of folk- literature help to project this vision of perfect justice.

We have here the basic folk-pattern of the young heroine subjected to persecution, her character —her courage, compassion and fortitude — put to the test of suffering, and of her being rewarded for passing the test by. being 60

raised above her persecutors. In spite of the elaborate

arrangement of the plots, it is easy to find in it the ener•

getic thrust of a simplistic moral thesis. We must remember

that Marshak wrote The Twelve Months, as he wrote The

Kitten's House, for children and that he wrote with an

75

educational purpose in mind. We have seen that The .

Kitten's House argues against selfishness and advances the

value of sharing and cooperation. The -Twelve Months, too,

argues against selfishness and greed by illustrating their

dehumanizing influence, as we see it in the transformation

of the Stepmother and Daughter into dogs. But this play is

far more ambitious than The Kitten's House, both in its

structural and in its moral scope. The action of the play

is constructed as a test to which the heroine is put. This test — of her hardihood, integrity, and courage takes

the form of her quest for snowdrops, and initiates the chain of events in the play. Marshak's skill lies in the fact that he makes this test central not only to the progress of the action but to the development of the moral thesis; the test to which the Stepdaughter is.put not only sends her on her quest but also defines her identity as.the representative of all that is "good" in the world of the play. It is thus obvious that The Twelve Months has- not only a larger range of action than The Kitten's House, but has a far greater complexity of structure. However, it is also clear that here, as in The Kitten's House, Marshak is exploring the problems of social conduct in showing how a higher clarity-

can and does emerge from, all this fantasy.

The ethical message of both plays is simple, though

by no means trivial, as Marshak's express purpose of moulding young minds required it to be. That purpose'also demanded

that the message, in addition to being simple, should also be unambiguous. This is the effect.that Marshak achieves by

choosing to clothe a moral in a fairy-tale. This strategy-

clearly parallels what he does in the smaller framework of

The Kitten's House. The folktale, whether it is a short

fable or a long fairy-tale, grants an immediacy of compre• hension to its ethical message because its uncluttered progression places in clear order the experience of life as it is lived and as it should be. This is the understanding that underlies Marshak's.use of folk elements both in The

Kitten's House and in The Twelve Months. CHAPTER IV

CONCLUSION

In the plays studied here, Marshak tries to formulate

certain basic social experiences by using a literary form

that is at once attractive and close to the common man. As- we have seen in the first chapter of this study, Marshak's

express aim was to educate people, particularly children, in whom he saw the future of nations. His choice of folk-motifs

as structural units was not. a casual one but one integrally

linked with his purpose, because he thereby enables his

audience or reader to recognize certain broad patterns of

conduct. The folk-motifs used by Marshak reveal social

concepts by tracing out certain..- patterns of character and

connecting them with patterns of action.

A survey of characters in The Kitten's House tells us

immediately that we are in a world of satire, for this play is filled with.creatures who pride themselves on their human pretensions, as the Kitten and her friends do. Thus the world of these characters strikes us immediately as false and shallowThe extraordinary egotism of Aunt Kitten is juxtaposed to the kindness of her nephew-kittens, who embody the ideal social and moral views. In this respect they are the antithesis of Aunt Kitten and her false friends. But in order to focus sharply on this single dimension of reality located in the satiric world, Marshak adds certain qualities

which are clearly-associated with the traditional folk-

motifs, the kind that are found in the Motif-Index of Folk

Literature. For example, the play opens in a state of

tension because of the "refusal of the great to associate

with the lowly," and because of the "inhospitality to the

orphans." The "fire" motif appears clearly as "punishment"

for the Kitten's inhospitality, and also shows "helpful

animals [beavers] extinguishing the fire." Aunt Kitten's

"reversal of fortune" and her "discovery" that she has no

friends are some of the traditional folk-motifs Marshak uses

in this play to reveal the character patterns and the,nature

of the situation found there.

In The Twelve Months Marshak uses similar techniques,

although the composition of the play is,more complex. The

cast of characters alone shows us that Marshak has focused

on more'than a single dimension of reality. At one extreme we have the dutiful and kind Stepdaughter and the world of

the twelve Month brothers whose extraordinary gift is to help

others through their unlimited magical power., At the other

extreme is the wicked and greedy Stepmother and her Daughter.

In between we have the whimsical Queen and her fawning court

attendants. Thus the world of The .Twelve Months encompasses

a wider range of possibilities moving from reality to fantasy

and to the mildly satiric. But there is no greater problem

in understanding each of these levels than there is in the single dimension of reality that is.found in The Kitten's

House, for the folk-motifs, being the smallest units of

reality (actor, item or incident), enable us to see in each

of these the character patterns and the conflicting ideas

they represent. For example, as the play opens we see a

sharp - contrast between the kind and obedient "heroine"

(Stepdaughter) and the "cruel Stepmother and Stepsister"

(Daughter). They immediately assign.a "difficult task" to

her which leads her into the encounter with the "supernatural

helpers". who give her a "magic ring" to "protect her from an

attack," but when "the magic ring is stolen" the "magic wisdom" (the charm) restores the loss. Subsequently, as in

The Kitten's House, there is a "reversal of fortune" in which

the heroine is "rewarded" and the antagonists are "punished."

Furthermore, the magical powers revealed to the heroine by

the.twelve Months parallel the strength of her own character,,

for they are manifestations of the durability and mutability

in nature as she is in reality. Another extension of the

heroine is the Queen. She too is affected by the magical

folk-motifs and it is only when she encounters "nature

phenomena" concerning "the behaviour of trees and plants"

and "weather phenomena" that she-is - capable of change at the

end of the play. Thus it can be seen, that the extensive use

of folk-motifs in both of these plays helps to clarify the

relationships between characters and to determine the themes

and social attitudes. 65

Both thematically and in social attitudes The Kitten1s

House and The Twelve' Months show affinities with folk- literature in general and Russian folk-literature in particular. The theme of attacking greed and selfishness and praising kindness and sharing is found in a variety of

Russian folktales, which influenced many Russian and foreign writers to compose "literary" tales and fables. Such, for example, are the profound and highly artistic tales of

Pushkin and the fables of Krylov, in which.each deals, as

Marshak does, with the struggle of good and evil, kindness and selfishness,.and so on. The implication here is that the themes Marshak deals with are universal in origin and appeal, and therefore must concern mankind in general in forming social attitudes in which goodness and kindness can prevail. i

NOTES

"'"S. Marshak, At Life's Beginning, trans. Katherine Hunter Blair (New York: 1964), p. 19. 2 S. Marshak, Sobranie sochinenii v vos'mi tomakh (Moscow: 1968-72), Vol. 87" Where not otherwise indicated, future references to Marshak's works will be given according to this edition by volume and page. 3 An account of Marshak's professional career appears in: B. Galanov, S. Ta. Marshak (Moscow: 1965); and I. S. Marshak, "Materialy k biografii," in Zhizn' 1 tvorchestvo Marshaka, eds. B. Galanov, I. Marshak and M. Petrovskii (Moscow: 1975). 4 I. S. Marshak, "Materialy k biografii," in Zhizn' i tvorchestvo Marshaka, pp. 431-435. 5 M. Petrovskii, Kornei ChukoVskii (Moscow: 1962), pp. 36-38.

6Ibid. 7 Marshak, Sobran1e sochinenii, Vol. 6, 210. g S. Ia. Marshak, "Sodoklado detskoi literature," in Pervyi Vsesoiuznyi s"ezd sovetskikh pisatelei, 193 4, steno- graficheskii otchet (Moscow: 1934), pp. 20-38;. E. 0. Putilova, Istoriia,kritiki sovetskoi detskoi literatury 1929-193 6 (Leningrad: 1975) , pp.. 79-99. 9 Marshak, Sobranie sochinenii, Vol. 8, 115. "^Ibid. , vol. 6, 186.

"^Galanov, S. Ia. Marshak, p. 7. 12 Only four of these early plays are included in Marshak, Sobranie sochinenii, Vol. 2, 491-530. All other early plays by Marshak or in collaboration with E. I. Vasil'- eva, and editions of plays other than the present edition, are not available at the University of British Columbia. However, references to most of these early plays appear in: Marshak, Sobranie sochinenii, Vol. 8, 477-478; and I. S. Marshak, "Teatr dlia detei: 1920-1923," in Zhizn' 1 tvor• chestvo Marshaka, pp. 4 51-4 8 6. 13 A. Tvardovskn, "0 poezn Marshaka," in Marshak, Sobranie sochinenii, Vol. 5, 622. 66 14 S. Marshak, Liricheskie epigramy (Moscow: 1970), p. 70. 15 Galanov, S. Ta. Marshak, p. 4. 16 Stith Thompson,. Motif-Index of Folk-Literature (Copenhagen: 1958), Vol. 6. 17 Archer Taylor, in Standard Dictionary of Folklore, Mythology and Legend, ed. Maria Leach (New York; 1949), Vol. A--1, 402-403. 18 V. A. Vasilenko, "Detskii fol'klor," Russkoe narod• noe poeticheskoe tvorchestvo, eds. A. M. Novikova and A. V. Kokorev (Moscow: 1969) , p. 365. 19 Marshak, Sobranie sochinenii, Vol. 6, 184. 2^See note 12. 21 For more details see Appendix. 22 Galanov, S. la. Marshak, p. 214. 23 Ibid., p. 211.

24T, • , Ibid. 25 See Appendix. 2 6 Webster's New World Dictionary of the American Language, College Edition (Cleveland, 1953) . 27 Northrop Frye, "The Mythos of Winter: Irony and Satire," in Satire: Modern Essays in Criticism, ed. Ronald Paulson (Inglewood Cliffs> New Jersey: .1971), p. 234. 2 8 See Bertolt Brecht, Brecht on Theatre, ed. and trans. John Willett (New York: 19 64), p. 37.

29T, . , Ibid. 30 E. V. Pomerantseya, "Skazki," in Russkoe narodnoe tvorchestvo, eds. P. G. Bogatyrev et.al. (Moscow: 1966), pp. 154-156; la. N. Sidorova, "Byliny," ibid;, pp. 202-203; and A. A. Kaiev, "Skazki," in Russkoe narodnoe poeticheskoe tvorchestvo, pp. 186-189. 31 Aleksandr Afanas'ev, Russian Fairy Tales, trans. Norbert Guterman (New York: 1973), p. 360. 32 J Ibid. 68

33Marshak, Sobranie sochinenii, Vol. 2, 275.

Ibid.

35Ibid., 303.

36See note 30.

37Marshak, Sobranie sochinenii, Vol. 2, 275.

38Ibid., 276.

39Y. M. Sokolov, "Folk Drama," in Russian Folklore, trans. Catherine Ruth Smith, intro. Felix J. Oinas (Detroit: 1971), p. 500.

4(^Marshak, Sobranie sochinenii, Vol. 2, 292.

Ibid.

42Ibid., 301.

43Ibid., 280-281.

44Ibid., 274.

45Ibid., 288.

46Ibid., Vol. 8, 324.

47Ibid., Vol. 2, 288.

48P. V. Shein • (L.C. spelling: Schein) , Velikorus' v svoikh pesniakh, obriadakh, obychaiakh, verovaniiakh, skaz- kakh, legendakh i t.p. (St. Petersburg: 1898-1900) , Second edition, Tom. I, item no,. 270.

49Marshak, Sobranie sochinenii, Vol. 2, 274.

50ibid.,.275.

51Ibid. , .287.

Ibid.

5 3 lb id.!, 300.

54"P,esa-skazka," Sovetskoe iskusstvo, 14 September 1945,.p. 3. 55 Bozena Nemcova", "O dvandcti mesickakh," in Vybrane" spisy, Statni nakladatelstvi kra"sne literatury, hudby i umeni (Prague: 1957), Vol. 3, 449-456.

^Marshak, Sobranie sochinenii, Vol. 8, 478.

57Ibid., 478-479. 5 8 The summaries which follow are based on: Marshak, Sobranie sochinenii, Vol. 6, 492-498; and Nemcova, Vol. 3, 449-456. 59 Marshak, Sobranie sochinenii, Vol. 2, 368.; S. Mar• shak, "Twelve Months," in Soviet Scene: Six Plays of Russian Life, trans. Alexander Bakshy in collaboration with Paul S. Nathan (New Haven: 1946),-pp. 291-348. Most translated quotations will be given according to this unspecified earlier edition. 6 0 Marshak, Sobranie sochinenii, Vol. 2, 371. 61Ibid. 6 2 N. I. Kravtsov,. "Fol'klor feodal'nogo obshchestva," in Russkoe narodnoe poeticheskoe tvorchestvo, ed. N. I. Kravtsov (Moscow: 1971), pp. 291-294. 6 3 Marshak, Sobranie sochinenii, Vol. 2, 309-310.

Ibid., 324.

65T, . . Ibid., 312.

Ibid.

67Ibid., 316.

68Ibid., 317.

Ibid., 317-

70T, Ibid., 316.

Ibid. 72 /zIbid., 3ir. 73 /JIbid., 354.

Ibid., 374. 70

See Chapter I, p. 8. 7 6 The phrases that follow in inverted commas here and in the next paragraph refer to folk-motifs indicated in Thompson/ Motif-Index of Folk-Literature. BIBLIOGRAPHY

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Bettelheim, Bruno. The Uses of Enchantment. The Meaning and Importance of Fairy Tales. NewYork: Vintage Books, 1977.

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Brecht, Bertolt. Brecht on Theatre. The Development of an Aesthetic. Ed. and trans. John Willett. New York: Hill and Wang, 196 4.

Costello, D. P. and I. P. Foote, eds. Russian Folk Litera• ture . One of a series: Konovalpv, S., gen. ed. Oxford Russian Readers. Oxford: At the Clarendon Press, 1967.

"Dramaturgiia dlia detei." In: Ocherki istorii russkoi sovetskoi dramaturgii, .1934-1967. Vol. 3. Leningrad: Izdatel'stvo Iskusstvo, 1963-1968.

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Marshak, Samuel. At Life's Beginning: Some Pages of Remi- niscence. Trans. Katherine Hunter Blair. New York: E. P. Dutton and Co. Inc., 1964.

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PUBLICATIONS,. PERFORMANCES. AND TITLES OF. MARSHAK'S SEVEN. PLAYS AS NOTED

IN THE APPENDIX OF HIS COLLECTED WORKS, IN VOL. 2, 1968

Date of Date and/or Original Title Subsequent Title(s) - Present Title Changes in First Place of First the Text Publica• Performance tion

1922 Krasnodar . Skazka pro kozla.: Pro kozla.. Skazka pro kozla To be noted P'esa v dvuch kartinakh (About the Billy Goat) (The Tale of the in all re- (The Tale of the Billy Billy Goat) . publications Goat: A Play in Two Scenes)

1927 1950, Moscow P e trushka-inos t ranet s — Petrushka- — S. Obraztsov (Petrushka the iriostranets" Puppet Foreigner) (Petrushka the Theatre Foreigner)

1940 1941, Moscow... Teremok: Terem-teremok Teremok — S. Obraztsov.. P'esa v stikhakh (Tower-Little Tower) (The Little Puppet (The Little Tower: Tower) Theatre A Play in Verse)

1922 Krasnodar -Koshkin dom: Skazka v Koshkin dom: Skazka v Koshkin dom. To be noted odnom deistvii. trekh deistviiakh (The Kitten's. in all re• P'esa.v stikhakh. (The Kitten's House: A House) publications (The Kitten's House:.A, Play in Three Acts) One-Act Tale. A.Play. . and in Verse) Koshkin.dom: P'esa v dvukh deistviiakh (The Kitten's House: A.Play in Two Acts) Date of Date and/or Original Title Subsequent Title(s) Present Title Changes in First Place of First the Text Publica• Performance tion

1943 1947, Moscow, Dvenadtsat' mesiatsev: Dvenadtsat' mesiatsev: '.' Dvenadtsat' To be noted Theatre for Slavianskaia skazka. . Slavianskaia skazka. mesiatsev: in all re• the Young P1esa v 3-kh P'esa v 4-kh Dramaticheskaia publications Viewer deistviiakh i deistviiakh skazka 6-ti kartinakh s . (The Twelve Months: (The Twelve Months: pr.ologom i epilogom.. . A Slavic Tale. : A Dramatic Tale) .- (The Twelve Months: A Four-Act Play) A. Slavic Tale. A Three-Act Play with Six Scenes, Prologue and Epilogue)

!922 Krasnodar Gore-zloschast'e . . ^'Gore-zioscnas t' e: Goria boiat'sia— To be noted (Woe and Bad Luck) -•^Skdzka-ko'medi-ia v schast'ia ne vidat': in all re• 3-kh deistviiakh i Skazka-komediia publications * 5-ti kartinakh (Fear Woe—See No (Woe and Bad Luck: A Luck: a^ Comic'.Tale) Comic Tale in Three Acts with Five Scenes) also subtitled Skazka- komediia. v 3-kh deist• viiakh (A Comic Tale in Three Acts)

1945 1965, Moscow Umnye veshchi: Skazka Umnye veshchi: To be noted Little v 6-ti kartinakh Skazka-komediia v in all re• Theatre of (Intelligent Things: trekh deistviiakh, publications the USSR A Tale in Six Scenes) v shesti kartinakh . (Intelligent Things: A Comic Tale in Three Acts, in Six Scenes)