Alexandra's Personality Traits - Good & Bad

[Nathalie]

Hi all!

Once in a film club we all watched the famous movie with Vanessa Redgrave about the dancer Isadora Duncan; then at the end they asked, would we take Isadora as our confidant and friend-it is kinda catchy because though I adored the picture they drew about her in the movie, I also found her caracter hard. Somehow I feel the same with AF, and its an interesting question, if she'd be alive (or u'd live then:) )would you befriend her?
Honestly, I think I would be more afraid from her maybe and perhaps like her from far

[Eddie_uk]

Hi Nathalie, interesting question! I think I would find AF as a friend rather draining and possibly quite depressing. I think she would be very loyal though!!  

[imperial angel]

Not really. I think she was a very loyal person to people, and also a person who had many great qualities, but she also had much to deal with. In every day life, she was dealing with so many things, that you would rather end up like Anna Vyrubova, not that that's bad at all.  I don't think we would really would have much in common either, and I think the people of history should be left there. Whatever our world is, it's far away from hers, which would make it hard to relate. Alexandra was also hard to get to know, although she was defintely a woman who cared for those around her.

[Ortino]

Other than fierce loyalty and valuing sensibility, I don't really have much in common with her. I love glamorous things and am not nearly as shy or reserved as Alix. I admire her love of family and intimate relationships, but I'd probably rather be a socialite. I relate much more to Marie of Romania than Alix.

[nene]

I'm sorry if this has been bought up before, but I haven't read anything about it around here. I'm trying to understand just what Alexandra was supposed to have done as Empress of Russia. Was she supposed to just be a socialite, like wear fancy clothes and give great balls, and generally be behind her husband? If only she loved these things, maybe the Russian people wouldn't have hated her so much. Could you guys help me out here?

As always, thanks again.

[Ortino]

In my opinion, the best way to understand Imperial Russia, its culture, and the aristocracy is to look at Alix's mother in law, Marie Feodorovna. Marie was in my opinion exactly what Alix should have been--glamorous, decadent, incredibly social, and outgoing. Marie loved clothes, jewelry, and gave balls/parties frequently when Alexander III reigned. Marie still did her part though --consorts could be involved in charitable work and/or patronizing and establishing institutions. She was also a huge support to her husband. As grandoise displays of wealth were a prominent part of the arisocratic lifestyle, an Empress of Russia would indeed have been expected to go along with them, if not encourage them. Alix, as Marie identified early on, simply could not do this. I don't think that Alix wearing lovely clothing or giveing more balls it would have completely smoothed things over--her personality and opinions were entirely unfit to meet the expectations of high society and unlike Marie, she made no real attempt to please those around her. Alix was rather hateful towards their flamboyant lifestyles from the very beginning.

[nene]

Wow!! Marie Feodorovna must have been an awesome historical person! No wonder alot of the Russian people loved her. Thanks so much for the information. I think right from the start, Marie saw the kind of person Alix was, and didn't really want Nicholas to marry her. Maybe she knew (Marie) what was going to happen if the two of them got married.

[Ortino]

Wow!! Marie Feodorovna must have been an awesome historical person! No wonder alot of the Russian people loved her. Thanks so much for the information. I think right from the start, Marie saw the kind of person Alix was, and didn't really want Nicholas to marry her. Maybe she knew (Marie) what was going to happen if the two of them got married.

Indeed. This was one of her main reservations about Nicholas' choice of bride--Alix was too stand offish and shy to meet the demands of being an Empress of Russia. Just based on their fate, I would say she was right.

[Grace]

AF a socialite!  I'm sorry -- but it does bring a smile to the face.

Ortino - you describe MF as decadent.  Decadent?  How so, please?

[Ortino]

AF a socialite!  I'm sorry -- but it does bring a smile to the face.

Ortino - you describe MF as decadent.  Decadent?  How so, please?

Wouldn't you describe her as rather self-indulgent?

[Grace]

She probably was, to a certain extent, yes, but not overly so for her position, in my opinion.  

I simply queried the word "decadence" because it seems to imply to me decay or moral corruption or similar.  I believe I understand what you mean.  Thank you.  

[imperial angel]

No, Alexandra wasn't just supposed to be a socilalite, but this was an important role as Consort that she didn't play. It isn't the mere fact of being in public attending and throwing the kinds of events that defined Imperial Russia all the while wearing a ball gown from Worth, and fabulous jewels. That was the outside. Had she done more of this, without connecting with the aristrocracy, and showing that she understood their way of life, and Russian Society, that she understood the people of the court, she would most likely have been called extravagant. Marie Antoinette was called this, and look at what happened to her. But had she played the role of traditional consort as social hostess, and connected with Russian society, lived by their mores, and shown that she could play her role well, and more of what kind of person she was, and done all this, she would have been far more effective as a consort than she was, and woudn't have bred hostilty.

[lilavanderhorn]

Being an active socialite would have certainly improved her likeability among the aristocrats, members of the court, nobility, etc, but I think Alix thought that the regular poor peasants of Russia were the ones who really counted.  If she felt that the people loved her as their "Little Mother", she was content with just that, and not the frivolities of the upper classes.  Sadly she was mistaken.

[Ra-Ra-Rasputin]

It's interesting, isn't it? The double standards of a culture.

Alexandra didn't waste money on lots of fine clothes, jewels and throwing massive parties.  Instead, she focussed on building hospitals and such, trying to improve the conditions of the masses, and for that, she was hated by the aristocracy, and she was also hated by the people.

To be fair, I think whatever Alexandra did, she wouldn't have been liked.  She was damned if she did go to all the court functions (she would have been labelled as extravagant, uncaring, etc, as she was when she went to the ball after the Kodynka (sp?) field disaster after the coronation), and she was damned when she didn't and focussed on improving the lot of the average people (she was cold, she was proud, she was haughty, etc).  I think the court had it out for Alexandra from the beginning.  She was the 'funeral' bride, she pushed out Marie, who everyone loved, and she didn't like the way of life in St Petersburg.  To the people she was the haughty German, even though she was trying to help them. Nothing she ever did was right.  

Yes, Alexandra should have been more of a socialite, but it wasn't in her make up to do so.  She was shy and she found it hard.  She should have tried harder to get over this, seeing as it was her job to go to functions, but she didn't.  However, like I say, I find it hard to believe that she would have been accepted and liked if she had done so anyway.  The court seemed to be determined to dislike Alexandra, no matter what she did.  And so did the people.  What I find particularly interesting is that no one was ever bothered about Marie's foreign nationality, but it was a HUGE deal when it came to Alexandra.  Russia had had German Tsarinas for generations; why was all the blame put on Alexandra's head? Because she was an easy scapegoat, that's why, and it seems to me that she was used as one from the very beginning.

I don't admire Alexandra that much, but I do think she was treated abominably when there was no real reason to do so.

Rachel
xx

[Ortino]

Russia had had German Tsarinas for generations; why was all the blame put on Alexandra's head? Because she was an easy scapegoat, that's why, and it seems to me that she was used as one from the very beginning.
 

 Perhaps, but I believe that a lot of the animosity towards Germans came about because of the Kaiser. He was stubborn, irrational, and overall foolish man, and I doubt that this could have done much to improve the image of Germany as a whole.