The Amazon

"The Warrior-Woman,” the second in the writer’s conceived series of female portraits, is interesting primarily as the first experience of Leskov’s “tale style.” At first glance, we seem to be faced with a typical moral and character sketch, similar to the so-called “physiological sketch,” with its characteristic posing of the problem of the individual and the environment: “Petersburg circumstances” leave an indelible mark on the heroine. The narrator expresses his point of view openly in comments on Domna Platonovna’s stories and indirectly—in the ironic remarks of a dialogue with her. However, in the process of their communication the explanatory pathos that dominates the narrator gives way to reflection, and his evaluations ultimately are neither final nor unconditional.