# Nadezhda Alexevna — Short Fiction character guide

> Nadezhda Alexevna in Short Fiction by Fyodor Sologub.

**Role:** major

**First appearance:** 0001-short-fiction

## Snapshot

A woman whose outward composure hides a fierce inner life, Nadezhda Alexevna tests the limits of duty, desire, and the stories she tells herself to survive them.

## Who they are

Nadezhda Alexevna occupies the drawing rooms and quiet corridors where respectable women are supposed to be decorative and content. Her restlessness and sharp self-awareness put her at odds with the roles imposed on her, and the men and women around her rarely guess how much she notices. She anchors the collection's middle stretch by showing how private longing can corrode a life that looks, from outside, entirely settled.

## In the story

### [XIX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_20_se/chapters/xix)

Volodya's mother is distressed by his report card and blames his shadow play for his poor performance.

### [XXI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_20_se/chapters/xxi)

Volodya's mother, who is tormented by superstitious dread of shadows and questions the meaning of her life.

### [XXIV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_20_se/chapters/xxiv)

Volodya's mother, who prays and weeps in the dark, then checks on her sleeping son.

### [I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_20_se/chapters/i)

Receives the phone call about her nephew's suicide and asks for leave from work.

### [II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_20_se/chapters/ii)

Protagonist of the chapter; she rides a tramcar while grieving her sister's loss and recalling her own tragic past love and the abortion of her child.

### [III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_20_se/chapters/iii)

Walks alone through the snowy suburb, burdened by guilt and grief over Serezha's death.

### [IV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_20_se/chapters/iv)

Arrives at her sister's home, weeps on the staircase, and is comforted by the spirit of her unborn child.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_20_se/characters/nadezhda_alexevna
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_20_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_20_se/characters