Mistress

Inside the rich mansion, divorced barmaid Anna Nevskaya enjoyed her independence. Her constant lover was the estate manager, but sometimes she longed for new "toys" for her carnal pleasures. This time her attention was drawn to Stepan, a young and attractive coachman.

Stepan and his wife Marya lived in a poor hut with his parents and his brother Semyon. He hated his situation and realized that it was all wrong. Having learned of the barmaid's intentions, Stepan decided to leave her and go away. But Anna arrived at their hut and assured his father that Stepan would receive an increased salary if he returned to her. Marya cried and begged her husband not to cheat on her. Father and brother, seeing the benefit in this union, forced Stepan to return to the baryna, ignoring his own feelings.

Now Stepan daily drove the barynya on her pleasure trips across the steppe. In his soul grew anger towards the baryna and his greedy relatives. Finally, in a drunken frenzy, Stepan made a terrible mistake, for he killed his wife Marya.

Anna returns to her former lover as if nothing had happened.

This story sheds light on the corruption and impunity of the nobility, which easily destroys the lives of ordinary people, and on the complete disenfranchisement of the peasants. The barynya satisfies her whims, his father and brother decide Stepan's fate for their own selfish interests, and Marya has no say in any of the situations. Stepan, at first with a pure soul, is broken by the circumstances, unable to resist the forces that surround him.

Dettagli