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Dyudya (Filipp Ivanov Katin)
Dyudya
also: Филипп Иванов Катин, Дюдя, Filipp Ivanov Katin
The patriarch of the village household in Raybuzh where Matvei Savvich lodges for the night; a prosperous, harsh innkeeper and landlord who dismisses his daughters-in-law with contempt and approves of Vasya's fatal beating of Mashenka.
Reading notes
- Peasant Women §1 Dyudya
"Дюдя" is a nickname, not the character's real surname (Katin); such peasant nicknames, often opaque in meaning, were commonly used in place of family names within a village.
- Peasant Women §26 A dog's death for a dog
Dyudya's verdict on Mashenka's death -- delivered with no comment on Vasya's beating of her or Matvei Savvich's role in the affair -- exemplifies the story's pattern of the household passing harsh judgment on women's failings while excusing or ignoring men's violence and culpability.