person
Carmen Sylva
also: Elisabeth of Wied, Queen Elisabeth of Romania, the Romanian queen, румынская королева
Pen name of Elisabeth of Wied (1843-1916), Queen consort of Romania and a published poet and playwright under the pseudonym "Carmen Sylva." Chekhov mocks a play of hers on folk life that she planned to stage at the Bucharest theater, noting drily that as a queen she is "an author whom one may not hiss" -- and that he would gladly hiss anyway. Referenced obliquely by royal title only in the letter's text, not by name.
Reading notes
- To A. S. Suvorin, 20 February 1890. Moscow. §11 румынская королева написала пьесу из народного (?) быта
The unnamed "Romanian queen" is Carmen Sylva, pen name of Elisabeth of Wied, Queen consort of Romania, who published poetry and drama under that pseudonym. Chekhov's mockery works on two levels: the parenthetical "(?)" after "folk" (народного) questions whether a queen can credibly write authentic peasant material at all, and the closing joke -- that as a reigning monarch she is "an author whom one may not hiss," and that he would gladly hiss anyway -- turns royal untouchability itself into the target of the joke, a characteristic Chekhov move of puncturing status rather than judging the play's actual content, which he has not seen.