Odoevsky’s work of the 1830s contains much with a society-tale setting, including the frame-tale elements of both his completed cycles,
Pestrye skazki[
Variegated Tales, 1833] and his much better known magnum opus,
Russkie nochi[
Russian Nights, 1844]. Such a setting can embrace either the familiar high-society social world (the
bol’shoi svet: of which, coming from his own princely lineage, he had abundant experience), or a more restricted depiction of the idealistic intelligentsia. In addition, many of his more Gothic or fantastic stories are set in the contemporary, or near-contemporary
haut monde. For that matter, even
Kniazhna Mimi[
Princess Mimi] was originally to have begun with a (subsequently discarded) prologue, in which Mimi is afflicted by devils residing in her cellar.
1107 words
Citation: Cornwell, Neil. "Kniazhna Mimi". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 17 November 2009 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=16239, accessed 21 November 2024.]