It’s hard to critique the memoirs of someone who was never purported to be an author or writer. And certainly not those of a person that probably didn’t expect those memoirs to be read more than three hundred years later.
The Memoirs of Catherine the Great, first of all, is a slight misnomer. She wrote three memoirs total during her life and this book is only the first, written during the time from her arrival at the Russian court in 1744 to 1759, which is prior to the death of Empress Elizabeth. The other two are most likely published under different titles.
Secondly, this is not for the casual reader. Although full of intrigue and subterfuge in the Russian court, the names of all the couriers, envoys and members of the royal family are difficult to keep track of. Catherine writes of them as though everyone is already familiar with who’s who at court. But it’s no wonder that Russian historians would find this fascinating. The nearly seventy page preface is a dissertation on Catherine’s memoirs (all three) by the translator/authors Mark Cruse and Hilde Hoogenboom.
The years in which Catherine was married to Peter Fedorovich and before the Empress’ death, her Imperial Majesty Elizabeth kept her distance from the Grand Duke and Duchess, to the point that their children were taken from Catherine to be raised by the Empress’ courtiers. As a result, there is very little of Russian politics in this first memoir. There are passing mentions of conflicts and wars but little details except for a particularly bloody battle that ended in a massacre for both Russia and Prussia.
Catherine writes of her mother, who turned cold and alienated her after first arriving in Russia to become betrothed to Peter. After the marriage, she describes the growing estrangement between her and the Grand Duke. There is continued animosity from the Empress towards Catherine throughout the first memoir until the very end when Catherine begs the Empress to let her return home and end her miserable stay in Russia. Only then does her Imperial Majesty soften in her tone towards the Grand Duchess.
Catherine claims that she never acted in any way that would cause these three people to behave in such a rude manner toward her. Of course, we only have Catherine’s word on that, which can be considered with a grain of salt. One would have to see all sides of the argument to understand what the real environment was like. She does, however, talk about how she treated certain members of the court, who mistreated or acted poorly toward her, with disdain, spreading gossip about them and snubbing them at every opportunity. She may have scoffed at the games the courtiers played but she wasn’t above playing them herself.
Although this book was a hard read, it still offers a great glimpse into the world of the Russian court. I’d be very interested in reading her memoirs where she stages her famous coup. That should make great reading.
The Memoirs of Catherine the Great, first of all, is a slight misnomer. She wrote three memoirs total during her life and this book is only the first, written during the time from her arrival at the Russian court in 1744 to 1759, which is prior to the death of Empress Elizabeth. The other two are most likely published under different titles.
Secondly, this is not for the casual reader. Although full of intrigue and subterfuge in the Russian court, the names of all the couriers, envoys and members of the royal family are difficult to keep track of. Catherine writes of them as though everyone is already familiar with who’s who at court. But it’s no wonder that Russian historians would find this fascinating. The nearly seventy page preface is a dissertation on Catherine’s memoirs (all three) by the translator/authors Mark Cruse and Hilde Hoogenboom.
The years in which Catherine was married to Peter Fedorovich and before the Empress’ death, her Imperial Majesty Elizabeth kept her distance from the Grand Duke and Duchess, to the point that their children were taken from Catherine to be raised by the Empress’ courtiers. As a result, there is very little of Russian politics in this first memoir. There are passing mentions of conflicts and wars but little details except for a particularly bloody battle that ended in a massacre for both Russia and Prussia.
Catherine writes of her mother, who turned cold and alienated her after first arriving in Russia to become betrothed to Peter. After the marriage, she describes the growing estrangement between her and the Grand Duke. There is continued animosity from the Empress towards Catherine throughout the first memoir until the very end when Catherine begs the Empress to let her return home and end her miserable stay in Russia. Only then does her Imperial Majesty soften in her tone towards the Grand Duchess.
Catherine claims that she never acted in any way that would cause these three people to behave in such a rude manner toward her. Of course, we only have Catherine’s word on that, which can be considered with a grain of salt. One would have to see all sides of the argument to understand what the real environment was like. She does, however, talk about how she treated certain members of the court, who mistreated or acted poorly toward her, with disdain, spreading gossip about them and snubbing them at every opportunity. She may have scoffed at the games the courtiers played but she wasn’t above playing them herself.
Although this book was a hard read, it still offers a great glimpse into the world of the Russian court. I’d be very interested in reading her memoirs where she stages her famous coup. That should make great reading.
No comments:
Post a Comment