Character Clues

Character Analysis

Physical Appearances

Yeah, we know. It's totally obvious, but we had to say it. We mean the title of this story is " A Russian Beauty," so of course physical appearance is going to be a large part of the story. The main way we get to know the characters is though their looks. It tells us just enough to pin a stereotype on each character.

For example, this is how Olga's father is described: "[...] a broad-shouldered, beetle-browed old man with a yellowish mustache, and with tight, narrow trousers on his spindly legs" (6). Just so you know, beetle-browed means that a person has thick, dark, unruly eyebrows. So imagine her dad with these big thick eyebrows, huge shoulders, dirty brown hair with a big mustache, and tiny spindly legs. He probably looks like your stereotypical patriarch who works in an office. And that's exactly what he is.

While much of the meaning in "A Russian Beauty" lies beneath the obvious, that's not the case with the characters' physical appearances. What you see is what you get.

Speech and Dialogue

Our narrator has two obsessions: looks and language. It's kind of weird, but a decent amount of these five short pages are taken up by descriptions of how people talk. But they're not just there to look pretty; these scenes help us to understand the personalities of the characters as quickly as possible.

If you wanted to know what kind of people Olga's friends in Berlin are, just consider how they speak. The narrator says:

"Let's go to the cinemonkey," or "That was a heely deely German Diele, dance hall." All sorts of popular sayings, cant phrases, imitations of imitations were much in demand. (7)

In other words, these guys are hipsters. They make up phrases and ironically reference bits of culture, all the while probably thinking that they are the most innovative and original people ever. Sure, they might be fun, but they are also probably pretty darn annoying.

Then there's Forstmann. The narrator says: "Forstmann, wearing a dark blue bathrobe, sat next to her and, clearing his throat, asked if she would consent to become his spouse—that was the very word he used: "spouse." (16) Who does that? Just by pointing out that one word (spouse instead of wife or something more romantic) Nabokov lets us know that Forstmann is a total square. He's the complete opposite of Olga, and we know it, but she marries him anyway.

Isn't that a cool trick for hyper speed character development? In just one word we get to know all we need to know about Forstmann. And with just a few phrases we know as much about Olga's friends as if we had already met them.

Direct Characterization

Speedy character description method number three: Just tell us already! Sometimes using physical description or speech as shorthand just isn't quick enough. So enough with the artistic attempts to describe the characters, Nabokov just tells us straight up.

Here's how Forstmann is described:

A Russified German named Forstmann, a well-off athletic widower, author of books on hunting, came to spend a week. He had long been asking Vera to find him a bride, "a real Russian beauty." He had a massive, strong nose with a fine pink vein on its high bridge. He was polite, silent, at times even morose, but knew how to form, instantly and while no one noticed, an eternal friendship with a dog or with a child. (14)

There's nothing that we have to guess or interpret. It's simple. He's rich, a widow, into hunting, and wants a Russian bride. Simple. Done.

But notice that even in this light speed character description, Nabokov still tries to have a little bit of artistry. The last sentence brings what could otherwise be an information dump about Forstmann's character into another level of literary craft. It makes you think, what kind of guy can instantly form a friendship with dogs and children? He can't be all bad, can he?