person
the narrator's mother
maman
also: maman, Maman
The narrator's mother, described as virtuous and strict; on learning from her young son that his brother Sasha has been secretly involved with the governess Zinochka, she has Zinochka gradually and quietly eased out of the household to avoid an open scandal.
Reading notes
- Zinochka §27 my mother, a virtuous and strict lady
The narrator's mother is characterized in advance as the household's moral authority, which is why Zinochka's dread of her is treated (by the narrator, in hindsight) as well-founded rather than excessive.
- Zinochka §44 she did not get rid of Zinochka all at once, but gradually, systematically
This sentence is the story's real, unsoftened consequence: the mother, once she learns of the relationship between her adult son and the live-in governess, engineers Zinochka's removal from the household -- deliberately staged over time so as to avoid an open scandal for the family, with no comparable measure taken against Sasha. Zinochka, as a young domestic employee with an institute education and no independent income, has no recourse; her only recorded response is a single backward glance at the house as she leaves. Chekhov does not editorialize on the unfairness of it, but the story places the entire cost of the affair's discovery on the economically dependent, socially vulnerable party.