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Varvara
also: Варвара
Alyoshka's young wife, married off from a poor family for his household's wealth; she carries on nighttime trysts with the priest's son and, after hearing Matvei Savvich's tale, proposes to Sofya that they poison Dyudya and Alyoshka.
Reading notes
- Peasant Women §2 a bit of a coquette
"Щеголиха" -- a woman fond of fine dress and attention; the detail that travelers always ask for Varvara specifically to serve them foreshadows both her vanity and the story's later revelation of her nighttime liaisons.