“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

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The research was carried out at IWL RAS at the expense of a grant from the Russian Science Foundation no. 22-18-00051-P (https://rscf. ru/project/22-18-00051/).
For citation:
Veligorsky, G. A. “ʽLet the Dolls’ House Perish!’: The Image of a Toy ʽEstate’ in ‘The Tale of Two Bad Mice’ by B. Potter and Its Poetic Arrangement ʽThe Dolls’ House’ by P. S. Solovieva.” Dva veka russkoi klassiki, vol. 7, no. 3, 2025, pp. 350–371. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.22455/2686-7494-2025-7-3-350-371
Abstract:
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.
Keywords: B. Potter, P. S. Solov’ova, “The Tale of Two Bad Mice,” “Dolls’ House,” estate, Labor movement.
Author: George A. Veligorsky
Information about the author:
George A. Veligorsky, PhD in Philology, Senior Researcher, A. M. Gorky Institute of World Literature of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Povarskaya St., 25A, bld. 1, 121069 Moscow, Russia.

ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4316-4630

E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Received: July 06, 2025
Approved after reviewing: August 12, 2025
Published: September 25, 2025
Issue: 2025 Volume 7 No. 3
Department: Exterior View of Russian Estate in the Literature of the 18th – Early 20th Century
Pages: 350-371
DOI: Visit Website
EDN:
https://elibrary.ru/KTRFZI
UDK: 821.161.1.09"19/20"
Publication Type: Research Article

References

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