Elisabeth, you've posted a far more thoughtful analysis than mine!
My only real dispute would be that we don't know exactly what and how much Olga destroyed. We know about the window on the bridge, yes. (Which I liken, in some respects, to that scene in
It's A Wonderful Life when George and Mary purposely throw rocks at the windows of the abandoned house.) As for the cloakroom . . . according to the translations, something is either broken or in tatters. Since it is a cloakroom, one assumes the main items are items of clothing, though there could be other items. And if indeed items of clothing were left in tatters, what did Olga do . . . take a pair of scissors? Rend them with her own two hands?
In either case I would agree that, yes, her actions were the consequence of a mental/emotion problem; rational people just don't destroy things, especially when those things are the property of others.
Another interpretation might be that Olga went into the cloakroom--where she might temporarily hide from others--and began knocking things down, pulling items off hangers, etc. To the point of leaving the cloakroom askew, but not irreparable.
Interpretations being variable, and the actual document itself perhaps not as descriptive as one would like, it's hard to say what Olga really did and did not do. But of course, just the fact that she did
anything at all indicates a problem!
I remember a college roommate of mine who was extremely egocentric. One day she returned to the suite that she, three others and myself shared. Upon discovering that she'd missed her boyfriend's phone call, she started screaming and, in a frenzy, going from room to room, taking out drawers and dumping their contents on the floor, then pulling down the wall posters and ripping them to shreds. I hadn't especially liked her to begin with; this particular episode was the final straw for me!
However, I admit to a certain destructiveness during my own adolescent/young adult years. I always destroyed my own property, though. For example, I have four posters, each created with India ink--one, in fact, of the Empress Alexandra--which I tore into large pieces one day, then later--filled with regret--carefully taped back together and laminated as protection against any future tirades. What inspired my rage? It's a bit personal, but this much I'll admit . . . my emotions were fueled by family issues combined with hormonal angst!
Getting back to Olga, I agree that she evidenced emotional disturbances, though how severe they were is another matter. You've mentioned quite a few reasons as to why she would suffer meltdowns; I'll suggest a few more by wondering just how frustrating it was to be expected to (1) serve as an example to her younger siblings (2) be on frequent public view (3) know that her immediate sister was not only favored by her mother but by the general public (4) realize, as she grew older, that her beloved father was overwhelmed by both family and political issues and (5) deal with the great love story of her parents (which was legend even then) while simultaneously trying to move toward her own romantic destiny amid the machinations of immediate Romanov relatives plus European cousins to whom she either did not feel attracted or did not know very well,
and being strongly attracted to at least one man whom she could never marry.
Was Olga as spoiled as her brother? No, I don't think she was; many of her recorded statements, from early childhood on through adulthood, indicate that she grappled with moral and ethical issues and at times might have been considered too sensitive for her own good. But it is true that older children sometimes revert to the behaviors of their younger siblings. Usually these reversions occur soon after a new baby brother or sister arrives; I was a toddler when this happened to me, and I remember regressing in certain behaviors because clearly you could receive far more attention if you were a baby rather than a toddler!
Olga went through the "bumping" process four times, and the fourth time in particular must have been quite an adjustment, whatever feelings of goodwill she was encouraged to have. Then no sooner do you join your family in revolving around the long-awaited baby brother than you learn that he is "special" in another way: You can never play with him as you play with your sisters. And . . . you must close ranks and keep this information a secret. Passages from certain memoirs and other records indicate that as Olga grew older she often was something of a primary babysitter for Alexei and was expected to keep him in line while at the same time never denying his special status. So the possibility that Olga might have regressed to Alexei's own level of immaturity during times when she was on the brink of an emotional breakdown is not difficult to imagine.
During their initial captivity at Tsarkoe Selo Olga wrote a beautiful poem for her mother; some of the poem, in fact, is quoted near my name. I have the distinct feeling that when Olga wrote that poem she may have been subconsciously writing as much about herself as she was writing about Alexandra.
