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Varvara Vasilyevna
also: Варвара Васильевна
The children's governess in the Zhilin household, singled out by Zhilin over her taste in soup and her fondness for Fedya, and reduced to silent, anxious embarrassment during his outburst at dinner.
Reading notes
- A Father of a Family §16 Varvara Vasilyevna
A live-in governess (гувернантка), a standard fixture of upper-middle-class Russian households responsible for children's early education and manners; her dependent, semi-servant status leaves her unable to answer back to her employer even when directly provoked.