Literary Devices in A Russian Beauty
Symbolism, Imagery, Allegory
Setting
The setting is what makes the plot in "A Russian Beauty." Without it, Nabokov's short story is just the tale of a pretty girl down on her luck. Even though historical background is super important...
Narrator Point of View
This guy (or gal...we really don't know) is a little weird and a little pervy. Okay, maybe not a little. A lot. How else do you explain that we know so much about Olga's looks and hardly anything e...
Genre
Want to know "A Russian Beauty's" genre? Then look at the second paragraph. It's all there. The narrator says: Her childhood passed festively, securely, and gaily, as was the custom in our country...
Tone
This story is all over the place. One moment it's funny, and in the next someone's dying. Some moments are heartwarming, and in others our hearts get crushed. It's really an emotional roller coaste...
Writing Style
Has Nabokov ever published something that isn't artistic and poetically written? It's kind of his thing. Just like Paula Deen's thing is an excessive amount of butter, or Nicki Minaj's thing is wig...
What's Up With the Title?
First, a note. The English title of this story is "A Russian Beauty," but the Russian title is a little different. It's just "A Beauty" ("Krasavitsa" in Russian). Since this is what Nabokov origina...
What's Up With the Ending?
Early in the morning, she came out again and sat down on the porch step that was already hot. Forstmann, wearing a dark blue bathrobe, sat next to her and, clearing his throat, asked if she would c...
Tough-o-Meter
At first glance, "A Russian Beauty" is a piece of cake. It's a simple story about a pretty girl who never finds true love. Some things are weird about it, like the ending, but it's pretty easy to u...
Plot Analysis
A Darling ChildAll is well in Olga's childhood home of St. Petersburg. She's rich and pretty, what else could she ask for? Sounds like the setup for pretty happy story.We Miss the TsarOlga says bye...
Trivia
Nabokov considered himself a, "perfectly normal trilingual child in a family with a large library." Yep, it's totally normal for a Russian kid growing up in Russia to learn English and French befor...
Steaminess Rating
Nothing to see here. The closest thing that we get to steaminess in "A Russian Beauty" are some dates that Olga goes on but doesn't like. At the end we find out she died during childbirth, which me...
Allusions
Tantalus (11) The whole shebang is a reference to the Russian Revolution.Bibliothèque Rose (2)Foxtrot (8)