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Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk (Hesperus Classics)

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Thinking of the Russian literature produced in the XIX Century, Nikolai Leskov is one of the least known writers -- however he produced great works, like this "Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk". Starting with the Shakespearean allusion, the author created his own version of one of the most famous female characters from the theater.

This lady Macbeth is Katerina Lvovna, married to a man twice her age, unhappy and idle. Until the day she meets her servant Sergei Filipych, a lady's man who seduces her and leads the woman to do the most unthinkable things for love and money.

Idleness has produce great marital betrayals in literature -- "Anna Karieninna", "Madame Bovary", "Cousin Basilio" -- and the same happens here. What defers Leskov's literature from most dealing with the theme is that he doesn't judge or psychologizes his characters. Actually, he was a journalist and this gave him the background of being a very matter-of-fact writer. His story focus on action rather than on thoughts, and he is able to make everything believable and never shallow.

Katerina is a fascinating character, although we don't learn much about what is going in her mind. What we see is she being led by her desires albeit we can't understand much of it. She seems to be tired of her shallow existence and her boring husband, but these are just suppositions -- yet, very strong ones.

Hesperus edition brings two very informative introductions. The first written by Gilbert Adair gives the background of the novel, and a little about Leskov. The second one is written by Robert Chandler, who translated the book. The text gives information about the process of translating this specific novel and has some spoilers, therefore it is recommended to read it only after finishing the story.

Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk is the masterpiece of the now mostly forgotten Nikolai Leskov. This novella is a powerful story of obsession and violence, which shocked readers in it's day, and still has the power to shock today. Shostakovich chose the story for an opera because of it's dynamic storyline. The young and beautiful Katerina Lvovna has married a merchant twice her age, in order to rescue herself from poverty. Bored and stifled in the marriage she becomes enmeshed in a steamy affair with Sergei,a steward of her husband. Obsessed with the feckless steward, Katerina will stop at nothing to keep him. Her obsession leads to murder, and prison in Siberia where once again her obsession with Sergei leads to a desperate act. Frank in it's depiction of unbridled sexuality and violence, the novella is as fresh today as when it was written. This short book is definitely worth the time of any serious reader of literary fiction.