1807 E. A. Protasova Letters Concerning the Marriage Proposal by V. A. Zhukovsky

The article offers the first publication of the letters of E. A. Protasova to V. A. Zhukovsky, related to his first proposal to her daughter in November 1807. The letters are instrumental for determining the date of this event, the previous, erroneous, dating being 1805. They provide insights into the contents of Zhukovsky’s unpreserved letters where he offers his hand in marriage to Masha Protasova, and into his response to her mother’s refusal. The article is based on ca. twenty previously unpublished letters of M. A. Protasova to Zhukovsky, 1802–1807, and analyzes the dynamics of their relations. It touches on the Russian marriage legislation before and after 1917, as well as on the public sentiments that point to the rejection of the type of marital union that the poet aspired to (between an uncle and his niece).

biography and correspondence of V. A. Zhukovsky, family of E. A. Protasova, biography of M. A. Protasova (Moyer), family and friends of V. A. Zhukovsky, marriages between close relatives in the Russian legislation