Matryona Character Analysis

At the beginning of the story, Semyon’s wife Matryona is defined by many of the same worries and beliefs that shape her husband’s character. When she is first introduced, she is absorbed in frugal financial calculations, simultaneously worrying that Semyon will be scammed by the sheepskin seller and trying to decide whether she can make the last piece of bread last for a few more days before baking a new one. When Semyon arrives home with a stranger in tow, Matryona initially reacts with the same selfish fear that her husband felt when he first passed Mikhail on the roadside. Given that she and Semyon have barely enough food for their family as it is, she finds the idea of feeding another hungry person inconceivable and nearly appalling. In fact, although similar thoughts ran through Semyon’s head when he first saw Mikhail, Matryona’s inclination toward selfishness (or self-preservation) seems even more deeply-ingrained than Semyon’s, as indicated by the vitriol with which she at first refuses to feed Mikhail and because when Mikhail himself later describes his first interaction with Matryona, he recalls that her selfishness was even more palpable and frightening than Semyon’s had been. Like Semyon, however, Matryona undergoes a significant character change early in the story. The combination of her husband’s religious entreaties and the pity-arousing sight of the tired stranger at her table together cause her heart to soften. That said, Matryona’s newfound ethos of love and compassion proves slightly less steady than her husband’s. That first night, after she and Semyon have fed Mikhail, Matryona seems to slightly regret their generosity, remarking that it seems they are always giving and never receiving. After chapter 4 of the story, Matryona becomes a significantly less important character in her own right. For the rest of the story, her views largely echo and duplicate Semyon’s: they exhibit identical astonishment at the cruel rich gentleman, for example, and Matryona and Semyon seem to think with one mind when they interrogate Marya about the twins’ origin story.