Filatova Svetlana V.,
Сandidate of Historical Sciences, Penza Socio-pedagogical College, Penza, Russia, e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
“Everything was Led by His Wife, While He Spent All the Time in His Office… and Wrote Poems”: Hierarchy of Roles in Provincial Noble and Merchant Families of the Second Half of 18th – Early 20th Centuries
DOI: 10.31518/2618-9100-2019-3-12
The article is devoted to the problem of family relations in the nobility and merchant milieu in the late 18th – early 20th centuries. The Hierarchy of roles in families is examined in the context of revitalization of traditional values caused by socio-economic modernization in this period. The author comes to conclusion that at this time the development of the institution of the Russian family was determined by a combination of patriarchal, conservative and partnership, liberal trends. Society was critical of the extreme forms of manifestation of any of these options, regulating parity through legislation, the activities of public organizations and the system of public evaluation of approval or censure. Also, the role and influence of each spouse directly depended on such a factor as his or her contribution to the economic well-being of the family. Possession of property, first of all, real estate, and entrepreneural capacities provided a woman with the power in a family, allowed to make decisions and to decide the fates of family members, including her husband. In some cases, it could be a forced situation where a woman who does not have the support of a man, took responsibility for the financial security of the family. Of course, the characters of the spouses – will, energy, ambition – had a significant impact on the hierarchy of family roles. As a rule, commercial talents were combined with them, thus strengthening each other. The support of senior family members, influential friends, social activities also contributed to the strengthening of the status of women within the family. The sources of personal origin underlying this study provide concrete examples of the problem.
Publishing: 30/06/2019
How to cite: Filatova S.V. “Everything was Led by His Wife, While He Spent All the Time in His Office… and Wrote Poems”: Hierarchy of Roles in Provincial Noble and Merchant Families of the Second Half of 18th – Early 20th Centuries // Historical Courier, 2019, # 3 (5). Article 12. [Available online:] http://istkurier.ru/data/2019/ISTKURIER-2019-3-12.pdf
Links: Issue 3 2019
Keywords: hierarchy of roles; provincial family; nobility; merchant class; gender