Madame Stahl

Family: Russian high society · Role: invalid lady · First appears: PART TWO · Chapter 30

Madame Stahl, an invalid lady in Russian high society, was cared for by Varenka, who also looked after the seriously ill at the springs and was friendly with them. Varenka was not her relative or paid attendant, but had been raised by her: “No, she’s not my aunt. I call her mamma, but I am not related to her; I was brought up by her.” The family had substituted Varenka, born the same night in Petersburg, for Madame Stahl’s deceased infant and she continued to raise her.

In chapter 67, Madame Stahl became known to Kitty through Varenka, and their acquaintance comforted Kitty during her mental distress. She spoke to Kitty with affectionate indulgence and offered her the idea that love and faith were the only comfort in human sorrow; Kitty also connected her with the charitable example of Madame Stahl’s niece, Aline. In the following chapter, however, Kitty lost her idealized image of Madame Stahl, feeling that “the heavenly image of Madame Stahl, which she had carried for a whole month in her heart, had vanished, never to return.”

Prince Alexander Shtcherbatsky had known Madame Stahl and her husband before she joined the Pietists, and later thanked her for her kindness to Kitty. Varvara Andreevna had held a position with Madame Stahl before becoming Koznishev’s wife. Later, Madame Stahl was named as assisting Ivan Ivanovitch Ragozov and Countess Lidia Ivanovna in declaring war on the Turks.

Relationship record

Life events

• Varenka reveals she is not related to Madame Stahl but was raised by her.(PART TWO · Chapter 31)
  • With: Varenka
  • “No, she’s not my aunt. I call her mamma, but I am not related to her; I was brought up by her,”
• Madame Stahl’s family substituted Varenka for her deceased infant, and Madame Stahl later continued raising her.(PART TWO · Chapter 32 · 📍 Petersburg)
  • With: Varenka
  • “the family of Madame Stahl, knowing her sensibility, and fearing the news would kill her, had substituted another child, a baby born the same night and in the same house in Petersburg, the daughter of the chief cook of the Imperial Household. This was Varenka.”
• Kitty becomes acquainted with Madame Stahl and finds comfort through a newly revealed spiritual world.(PART TWO · Chapter 33)
  • With: Kitty
  • “Kitty made the acquaintance of Madame Stahl too, and this acquaintance, together with her friendship with Varenka, did not merely exercise a great influence on her, it also comforted her in her mental distress.”
• Kitty loses her idealized view of Madame Stahl after discovering her apparent vanity and hypocrisy.(PART TWO · Chapter 34)
  • With: Kitty Prince Alexander Shtcherbatsky
  • “she felt that the heavenly image of Madame Stahl, which she had carried for a whole month in her heart, had vanished, never to return”