Tofylis, or The Marriage of Zosė

by Žemaitė, Violeta Kelertas (Translator)

Zose, a beautiful, diligent and innocent peasant girl, works as a maid in the service of a wealthy country estate. Courted by the local young men and resistant to the attentions of her master, who forces himself upon her, she is in fact wholly in love with Tofylis, the huntsman. Tofylis's good looks and practised seduction manoeuvres have blinded her to his brutishness and faux sophistication. This simple tale from 1897 is made deeply complex by Zemaite's acute, compassionate eye and ear for the lives of the lower classes in Lithuania at the time. As a depiction of patriarchal attitudes, coercive control and the limited options facing poor women, it has remarkable contemporary resonance.

Genres: Short Stories

80 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1897

About the author

Žemaitė (literally female Samogitian) – a pen name of Julija Beniuševičiūtė-Žymantienė; 4 June [O.S. 23 May] 1845 in Bukantė near Plungė – 7 December 1921 in Marijampolė) was a Lithuanian/Samogitian writer. Born to impoverished gentry, she became one of the major participants in the Lithuanian National Revival. She wrote about peasant life in the style best described as realism.

Reviews

[Nate D · Rating 3 out of 5]

Published in samizdat for the crime of having been written in a non-cyrillic language (Lithuanian, under Tzarist rule) but of note more as a possibly-early-feminist skewering of the nightmare of 19th-century patriarchal mores. Zose's mother is so terrified of the risk of her becoming a "ruined" woman that she's equally willing to instantly disown her daughter or railroad her into marriage at the merest rumor. Oddly structured, largely set-up in conversations about the characters before the marriage itself gets its brief, inevitable, and abysmally dispiriting due.

[Claire · Rating 2 out of 5]

"She smiled bitterly at the happiness of her marriage. She envisioned its end, in the distance...in a coffin."

The happy marriage of a beautiful, talented woman.
A story, banned at the time of publication.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great little story, almost a fable with a warning, from Julija Beniuševičiūtė-Žymantienė, a late 19th-Century Lithuanian writer concerned with the lives of Lithuanian peasants. Not concerned with traditional narrative structure, this is a tale of woe and happily meanders across various voices.

[Scott Baird (Gunpowder Fiction and Plot) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Translated from the Lithuanian, this is the story of Zose, a woman who is going to marry Tofylis, I think the word swine sums him up well. What does Zose's marriage look like? You'll have to read it yourself.

[Dyan · Rating 4 out of 5]

All I can think is "biting". This woman knows where it's at. No hold barred. Refreshing, despite it's age!

[Alanna Paris · Rating 5 out of 5]

An interesting perspective and look at the escalation of emotional abuse up to domestic violence. A short and tragic read.

[Gigi La · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pati liūdniausia šita istoriją. Vis dar negaliu patikėti kaip mes anksčiau nekentėm moterų.

[Sandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

This enraged me so bad I literally had to take breaks and stare at the window. But also it’s a good story and Žemaitė truly an icon of her time.

[Alexia Jackson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some things never change

[Dominykas Bytautas · Rating 4 out of 5]

My mom told me this book is really important to Lithuanian culture. It’s one of the saddest tales I’ve ever read. Are Lithuanians just inherently so sad?