Short stories
The Daughter-in-Law
Marti
Žemaitė · 1896
Synopsis
Old Vingis, indebted and a drinker, wants to marry off his son Jonas, lazy and coarse, to a girl with a good dowry, despite his wife's reluctance. Katrė, daughter of the Driežai, orderly and hardworking, weeps, but her parents give her to this boy whose family has a lot of land. In the Vingiai household, where everything has been left to ruin, she tries to restore order and to shake her indolent husband, while her mother-in-law mocks her and her father-in-law insults her.
Context
The story, dated 1896, ranks among its author's classics on the family and forced marriages. Like many of her texts, it was revised for publication by Jonas Jablonskis, who was then fixing the written language. Viktorija Daujotytė sees in it less a lesson against peasant laziness than a reflection on an evil that one cannot manage to overcome. It has been staged, notably in 2018 at the Vilnius Small Theatre, and translated into English by Violeta Kelertas and Marytė Racys.
Who it is for
A short narrative, never translated into French. The title refers to the daughter-in-law, the woman who enters her husband's house.
Prizes and reception
One of the best-known stories by its author, and one of the classics of Lithuanian literature on the family.
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