# Marya Konstantinovna — The Duel character guide

> Marya Konstantinovna in The Duel by Anton Chekhov.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Marya Konstantinovna Bityugov, Bityugov

**First appearance:** 0001-ii

## Snapshot

A former governess turned enthusiastic wife and mother, she dispenses genteel opinions and almond-oily sympathy at the seaside.

## Who they are

Marya Konstantinovna presides over the ladies' bathing-house with drawling warmth, screening her daughter Katya from the waves and from Nadyezhda Fyodorovna's reputation. Once a governess in aristocratic households, she now measures respectability in dress allowances and dinner customs, and her anxious invitation for Nadyezhda to visit betrays a hope of rescuing her—or at least of being seen to try. She is the town's social conscience in miniature: kind, conventional, and quietly complicit in the judgments that hem the lovers in.

## Relationships

### [Nadyezhda Fyodorovna](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_duel_se/characters/nadyezhda_fyodorovna)

_social_

Marya Konstantinovna is a judgmental, gossipy acquaintance who disapproves of Nadyezhda's behavior and lifestyle.

### [Ivan Andreitch Laevsky](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_duel_se/characters/ivan_andreitch_laevsky)

_social_

Laevsky and Marya Konstantinovna are strained acquaintances, with her disapproving of his relationship with Nadyezhda.

### [Nadyezhda Fyodorovna](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_duel_se/characters/nadyezhda_fyodorovna)

_social_

Marya Konstantinovna is a judgmental, gossipy acquaintance who disapproves of Nadyezhda's behavior and lifestyle.

### [Ivan Andreitch Laevsky](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_duel_se/characters/ivan_andreitch_laevsky)

_social_

Laevsky and Marya Konstantinovna are strained acquaintances, with her disapproving of his relationship with Nadyezhda.

### [Nadyezhda Fyodorovna](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_duel_se/characters/nadyezhda_fyodorovna)

_social_

Marya Konstantinovna is a judgmental, gossipy acquaintance who disapproves of Nadyezhda's behavior and lifestyle.

### [Ivan Andreitch Laevsky](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_duel_se/characters/ivan_andreitch_laevsky)

_social_

Laevsky and Marya Konstantinovna are strained acquaintances, with her disapproving of his relationship with Nadyezhda.

## In the story

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

Greeted by Samoylenko on the boulevard as he walks past.

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

Meets Nadyezhda at the bathing-house, invites her home for coffee, and inadvertently reveals the picnic plans.

### [Chapter X](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_duel_se/chapters/x)

Visits Nadyezhda to confirm the news of her husband's death; urges marriage to Laevsky; delivers a harsh moral lecture on Nadyezhda's sins and neglect, then breaks off relations but ends with a tearful embrace.

### [XII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_duel_se/chapters/xii)

Hosts the birthday party, shows Katya's school report, and sends a note to Nadyezhda requesting a talk.

### [XIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_duel_se/chapters/xiii)

Tries to comfort Nadyezhda Fyodorovna and insists she stay for supper.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_duel_se/characters/marya_konstantinovna
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_duel_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_duel_se/characters