Order of St. Stanislaus

Reading notes

• The Cross §5 Stanislav

  The Order of St. Stanislaus, the lowest and most commonly awarded imperial Russian order of chivalry -- the host's first, most plausible guess at what decoration the poet has received.

• The Lion and the Sun §6 an Order of St. Stanislaus, third class

  The Order of St. Stanislaus was the lowest and most routinely awarded of the imperial Russian orders of chivalry, given to minor officials essentially for years of unremarkable service; Kutsyn's third-class Stanislaus (the order's lowest grade) signals that his existing honors are modest and unglamorous, which sharpens the comedy of his hunger for something grander like the Lion and the Sun.

• Small Fry §72 Stanislaus

  The Order of St. Stanislaus, the lowest and most commonly awarded imperial Russian order of chivalry -- a minor decoration Nevyrazimov fantasizes about possessing, one more badge of the respectability denied him.

• New Year's Great Martyrs §4 Order of St. Stanislaus, third class

  The lowest and most commonly awarded of the imperial Russian orders of chivalry, routinely given to civil servants for ordinary years of service rather than any particular distinction. Glimpsed on the collapsed man's coat, it signals at a glance that he is a minor, unremarkable official -- exactly the kind of man the visiting custom is most likely to grind down.

• The Decoration §2 Stanislaus

  The lowest and most common imperial Russian order of chivalry, worn at the neck or in the buttonhole -- a minor decoration, but one that could still impress a status-conscious merchant.

• To Yu. I. Lyadova, 21 September 1880. Moscow. §4 Order of St. Stanislaus, third class

  The lowest and most routinely awarded imperial Russian order of chivalry; the household's exaggerated jubilation over it is itself the joke.

• To I. L. Leontyev, 29 August 1889. Sumy. §9 I am expecting the Order of St. Stanislas and promotion to membership in the State Council

  Mock self-aggrandizement: the Order of St. Stanislaus was in fact the lowest and most routinely granted of the imperial Russian orders, and membership in the State Council was reserved for senior officials -- Chekhov's "expectation" of both, on the strength of a secondhand royal compliment about a farce, is deliberately absurd, self-deprecating irony, not genuine ambition or monarchist sentiment.

• To F. A. Chervinsky, 18 August 1391. Bogimovo. §3 the Order of St. Stanislaus

  The Order of St. Stanislaus, the lowest and most commonly awarded Imperial Russian civil decoration; invoked here as a stock, half-mocking good wish rather than a serious prediction, in keeping with the letter's bantering close.

• Fat and Thin §10 Stanislaus

  The Order of St. Stanislaus, the lowest and most commonly awarded imperial Russian decoration; a minor honour the thin man cites with pride.

• The Exclamation Mark §43 his Order of St. Stanislaus

  The lowest and most commonly awarded of the imperial Russian orders of chivalry, typically given to career officials for routine years of service rather than for any distinction. That Perekladin sees the mocking exclamation mark even in his own decoration underscores how thoroughly the accusation of hollow, mechanical service has penetrated his self-image.

• Live Merchandise §234 Order of St. Stanislaus

  The lowest and most commonly awarded Imperial Russian order of chivalry; Bugrov wears it only before relatives, a small vanity of a newly moneyed former petty official.