Two centuries of the Russian classics Two centuries of the Russian classics 2686-7494 IWL RAS https://doi.org/10.22455/2686-7494-2025-7-3-350-371 Research Article Articles “Let the Dolls’ House Perish!”: The Image of a Toy “Estate” in “The Tale of Two Bad Mice” by B. Potter and Its Poetic Arrangement “The Dolls’ House” by P. S. Solovieva Veligorsky George A. red@rusklassika.ru 25 09 2025 7 3 350 371 B. Potter P. S. Solov’ova “The Tale of Two Bad Mice ” “Dolls’ House ” estate Labor movement Copyright © 2026, IWL RAS 2026 This article is an attempt to read two literary texts addressed to children, “The Tale of Two Bad Mice” (1904) by B. Potter and its translation (or rather, free verse retelling) “The Dolls’ House” (1916) by P. S. Solovieva, in a new, metaphorical key. We will pay attention to what new meanings are enriched in both works, being seen in the context of the biographies of the two writers, the social changes that shook the society of their time, new literary trends, and, finally, in the biblical key, which was especially close to P. S. Solovieva, the sister of a religious philosopher. Our focus will be on the rise of the Labor movement in Great Britain and the Russian Revolution, and finally, the parable of the grain and the rebirth through destruction — layers that, in our opinion, are hidden in this simple at first glance fairy tale. All of them, as we will see, are connected with the image of a doll’s house — a toy “estate,” the skeleton around which the plot of both works is built. Veligorskii, G. A. “ʽNu a Krolia ne takov’: literaturnye skazki B. Potter v perevodakh P. S. Solov’evoi (ʽPrikliucheniia Kroli’, ʽKuklin dom’). Stat’ia pervaia” [“ʽWell, The Rabbit Is Not Like That’: B. Potter’s Literary Fairy-Tales Translated by P. S. Solovyovoya (ʽRabbit’s Adventures,’ ʽThe Doll-House’). The First Article]. Novyi filologicheskii vestnik, no. 3 (66), 2023, pp. 251–261. (In Russ.) Veligorskii, G. A., and E. V. Kuznetsova. “ʽNu a Krolia ne takov’: literaturnye skazki B. Potter v perevodakh P. S. Solov’evoi (ʽPrikliucheniia Kroli’, ʽKuklin dom’). Stat’ia vtoraia” [“ʽWell, The Rabbit Is Not Like That’: B. Potter’s Literary Fairy-Tales Translated by P. S. Solovyovoya (ʽRabbit’s Adventures,’ ʽThe Doll-House’). The Second Article]. Novyi filologicheskii vestnik, no. 4 (71), 2024, pp. 320–331. (In Russ.) Likhachev, D. S. Poeziia sadov: k semantike sadovo-parkovykh stilei. Sad kak tekst [Poetry of Gardens: Towards the Semantics of Garden and Park Styles. Garden as Text]. Moscow, Soglasie Publ., 1998. 472 p. (In Russ.) Rasskazova, L. V. “Razgrom dvorianskikh usadeb (1917–1919): ofitsial’nye dokumenty i krest’ianskie praktiki” [“The Destruction of Noble Estates (1917–1919): Official Documents and Peasant Practices”]. Obshchestvo. Sreda. Razvitie (Terra Humana), no. 2 (15), 2010, pp. 44–50. (In Russ.) Rusakova, V. Stil’ “vintazh” v zhenskoi odezhde 1900–1920 godov [Vintage Style in Women’s Clothing of the 1900s–1920s]. Available at: https://istylemag.com/stil/stil- vintazh-v-zhenskoy-odezhde-1900-1920-godov-foto (Accessed 28 June 2025). (In Russ.) Armstrong, Frances. “The Dollhouse as Ludic Space, 1690–1920.” Children’s Literature, vol. 24, 1996, pp. 23–54. (In English) Carpenter, Humphrey. Secret Gardens: A Study of the Golden Age of Children’s Literature. Boston, Houghton Mifflin Company Publ., 1985. 276 p. (In English) Carpenter, Humphrey. “Excessively Impertinent Bunnies: The Subversive Element in Beatrix Potter.” Avery, Gillian, and Julia Briggs, editors. Children and Their Books: A Celebration of the Work of Iona and Peter Opie. Oxford, Clarendon Press Publ., 1990, pp. 271–298. (In English) Charlton, James. Croquet: Its History, Strategy, Rules, and Records. Lexington (Mass.), New York, S. Greene Press Publ., Viking Penguin Publ., 1988. 161 p. (In English) Paul, Lissa, Rosemary R. Johnston, and Emma Short, editors. Children’s Literature and Culture of the First World War. London, New York, Routledge Publ., 2016. 366 p. (In English) DeWilde, Mandy L. Victorian Restriction, Restraint, and Escape in the Children’s Tales of Beatrix Potter: Master’s Thesis. Allendale (MI), 2008. 88 p. (In English) Kelly, Matthew. The Women Who Saved the English Countryside. New Haven (CT), Yale University Press Publ., 2022. 320 p. (In English) Lear, Linda J. Beatrix Potter: A Life in Nature. New York, St. Martin’s Press Publ., 2007. 583 p. (In English) Linden, Jennie. Understanding Children’s Play. Oxford, Nelson Thornes Publ., 2001. 194 p. (In English) Rahn, Suzanne. “Tailpiece: The Tale of Two Bad Mice.” Children’s Literature, vol. 12, 1984, pp. 78–91. (In English) Wei-Ning Chen. To the Dolls’ House: Children’s Reading and Playing in Victorian and Edwardian England: PhD Thesis. 335 p. (In English)