# Yelena — Short Fiction character guide

> Yelena in Short Fiction by Vladimir Korolenko.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Yelena Petrovna, stupid Yelena

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

## Snapshot

A wife who walks into saloons to drag her drunken husband home, absorbing the street's mockery without shame, whispering only that people are watching him.

## Who they are

Yelena trails after Gavrilo through the taverns and streets, enduring rough jokes and public humiliation with a patience that looks almost like numbness. When he kicks at Budnikov's door in a drunken rage, she watches helplessly, as if witnessing a nightmare she has long expected. Her silent endurance anchors the story's portrait of a marriage corroded by drink and the quiet dignity of someone who has stopped defending herself.

## Relationships

### [Budnikov](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_54_se/characters/budnikov)

_romantic_

Budnikov and Yelena have a high number of interactions indicating a romantic or deeply affectionate relationship.

### [Gavrilo](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_54_se/characters/gavrilo)

_family_

Gavrilo and Yelena are likely siblings or close relatives given their frequent and presumably familial interactions.

## In the story

### [VI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_54_se/chapters/vi)

Anna Michàilovna, Peter's mother, expresses dread of light and leans over him with rapture.

### [VII: Intuition](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_54_se/chapters/vii-intuition)

Peter's mother, whose gentle voice and blue eyes appear in his vision.

### [II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_54_se/chapters/ii)

Peter's mother, whose 'tender blue eyes' and gentle voice appear in his visionary experience.

### [IV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_54_se/chapters/iv)

Yelena Petrovna, a poor woman taken in by M. Budnikov, wins a lottery ticket and later confesses her love to Gavrilo, accepting his marriage proposal.

### [V](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_54_se/chapters/v)

Yelena is mentioned as the one who regularly planted flowers under Budnikov's windows, a tradition now neglected.

### [VII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_54_se/chapters/vii)

Gavrilo's wife, who humbly and persistently tries to bring her drunken husband home, enduring public ridicule and suffering.

### [VIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_54_se/chapters/viii)

Described as stupid and obedient, she is found crying in the garden after rejecting Budnikov's impersonal marriage proposal, preferring to stay with Gavrilo.

### [IX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_54_se/chapters/ix)

Taken away with Gavrilo after the murder.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_54_se/characters/yelena
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_54_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_54_se/characters