Why Tatiana?

[grandduchess_42]

Well, she may not have had the hardest time fitting in, but she might have been the most misunderstood. People might have taken her as being a rather boring, emotionless person, and thus might have misunderstood her. That might have made it hard to fit in, although people would have appreciated her practical and dutiful nature as well.

yes.. .misunderstood is a better word for it thank you!

[granduchess_leah]

well isn't it obvious why people like Tatiana its because she was beautiful and friendly and reliable i mean
whats not to like about otma

[grandduchess_42]

thats with out say leah! 

OTMA was very out going, and probably great to be around!
people like tatiana for many of the reasons discused here!
but others find her distant from the other members of the family!

[granduchess_leah]

yes that is very true grandduchess_42 and im wondering why do people feel distant from her she was more reliable then the others(i no anastasia is my favourrite)but tatiana had both looks and personality i mean why dont people like as much?

[grandduchess_42]

i have no idea

maybe we'll never know
maybe she had moments,that we never knew about, that wanted people to steer away from her.

How close was she to her mother?
i know she was the closest out of the four of them, but how close?

[Rodney_G.]

 

  Why Tatiana indeed?  My initial reading of the main Romanov source books (Massie, Gilliard, King, Buxhoeveden, others) left me without much sense at all of Tatiana. There was of course her beauty and practicality . Years later, and with far greater exposure to Tatiana "material', I've come to admire Tatiana tremendously.

  This is subjective, of course, but I'm very struck by those early photos. Tatiana, with her little, somewhat birdlike, but beautiful little face, looking back at the camera. Her formal photo at Alexei's baptism, with her gown and kokoshnik, so innocent. Her early adolescence, growing comfortable with her obvious femininity, still a child but maturing.

  Then the war and nursing. Though still young and playful, she made an easy transition to a role of great responsibility.  As a nurse, Tatiana was a natural. It seems that in spite of her sheltered background she confronted the suffering and pain of her charges very well.But far from least, it is apparent she conveyed to these men a wonderful sense of caring and warmth which was ,and is, so important to the vulnerable wounded.

Her nursing work attracted almost universal praise and more letters and diaries are even now revealimg the extent she touched these soldiers' lives. For what it's worth, (which may be considerable) her beauty and femininity were very important too. Hospitalized men not uncommonly seek affection and reassurance from their nurses and many of these men fell in love with Tatiana as their special 'ministering angel."

Underlying it all of course was her lifelong religious devotion, which apparently deepened in her last years.Her mother's daughter it would seem.

[Rodney_G.]

 Nevertheless, and in spite of the above, I agree that it's hard to get a good sense of her personality. She does seem enigmatic in that way. I'm glad that the more I find out about her , including the photos, the more impressive she seems.

 

[grandduchess_42]

oh me too!
she was a lovely girl and always will be!

i'm very glad this thread was brought to light!
very interesting!

Yes, it is sad that Tatiana's life wasn't it longer. She had the traditional attitude of the Windsors, that duty comes first. With this attitude, she could have served Russia well, or perhaps a foreign country, had she married into foreign royalty. She was very practical, and would have made a great queen consort of a country.

I SECOND THIS STATEMENT 100%
duty does come first in her book!

if she did have children, do you think her attitude would have been
"Children should be seen, and not heard"
but then again she did seem to have this care go free attitude in the begining of her life, but since the revolution
she seemed more distance?

[Georgiy]

I don't think so. She seems very doting of children - she wrote lots of letters to Alexei when he was at Stavka - she was very close to him.

[THEDUCHESS]

WELL IN MY PERSPECTIVE,(IM SURPRISED I KNOW THAT WORD!) SHE WAS THE PRETTIEST AND SHE LOOKED AS IF SHE JUST DID NOT HAVE ONE GUT TO SAY ANY THING RUDE TO ANYONE.  IN HER PICS SHE LOOKS THAT CONVINCING TO ME , EITHER THAT OR IM DUMB.(PROBABLY NOT)  BUT I ALSO ADMIRE HER BECAUSE MY NAME IS TATIANA TOO! IM GLAD I WAS NAMED AFTER SUCH AN INCREDIBLE PERSON!

[Cambria_Coheed]

I don't dislike Tatiana...i just thought her personality seemed cold...and she was so much like her mother Alix.  my favourite has always been Marie because i can relate to her in many ways.

[Anastaise]

if she did have children, do you think her attitude would have been
"Children should be seen, and not heard"

I really honestly doubt that. Remember, Tatiana was a very selfless person who cared for all of her siblings as well as the people around her. I think she would -with no doubt- treat her children with that same attitude that she portrayed to everyone else she cared deeply for. I also think she would love her children unconditionally and spend as much time as she could with them, not shun them with a saying such as that. However, this is based off of opinion and well . . . we can't honestly say seeing as she's dead but still, this is my opinion. (:

[Olishka~ Pincess]

selfless? do you mean caring. Tatiana was a caring person she was her mother's favorite. She was know as the Governess to her siblings. It seems like she should be the eldest daughter instead of Olga. She fits perfect for that. She would have been very helpful and sweet. Tatiana was very religious also often read the bible occasionally. I think Tatiana was a wonderful sister to have for the girls. 

[Lanie]

TN was much more complicated than the generic bossy/responsible stereotype she has  grown into.  She was also sweet and quite eager to please, as evidenced by all of her letters to Alix which always plead for Alix to not be angry with her, or whatever, if TN did something remotely 'bad'.  TN seemed to be a little insecure like that, wanting to make sure she was ALWAYS in her mother's good graces and sort of reassuring herself that Alix loved her.  Look at this letter from 1911:

My sweet, darling, own Mama dear,
I beg your pardon that I don't listen to you and that I contradict you, that I am disobedient. At once I never feel anything but afterwards I feel so sad and miserable that I made you tired of telling me always to do that and so on.
Please forgive me my own precious Mama darling. Really now I'll try and be as good and as kind as I can be, else I know how disagreeable it is to you when one of your daughters don't [sic]  listen to you and behaves bad [sic].
I know it is very bad of me to be so horrid with you my dear Mama, but really, really my sweet one I will try and be as good as I can and never tire you and always listen to every word you will tell me.
Forgive me deary. Write to me please a word only that you forgive me and then I can go and sleep with a clear conscience. God bless you always and wherever you go - show this letter to nobody.
Kisses from your own loving, devoted, thankful and true daughter, Tatiana


That's the vibe I get.  Sure, she was responsible, she was a bit demanding, she did seem a bit aloof but not in the way Olga was--but beyond that she definitely wanted people to think well of her, like we all do, and made sure that if there was any sort of faux pas done by her in any way, shape, or form that it was cleared  up and everything was A-okay!  And of course she was like all of them intensely religious  but I think a lot of it was, as Gibbes said (paraphrasing here), about her trying to please and do what was 'right' rather than being of a spiritual bent herself; no doubt she was a devout Christian, but I believe Gibbes said something like religion was more a duty imposed upon her than something she felt strongly her heart which is, say, more like Olga.  She copied Rasputin's words into a notebook--probably not for her own, uh, 'edification' as Alix would probably have called it! but to please her mother.

[Sarushka]

selfless? do you mean caring. Tatiana was a caring person she was her mother's favorite. She was know as the Governess to her siblings. It seems like she should be the eldest daughter instead of Olga. She fits perfect for that. She would have been very helpful and sweet. Tatiana was very religious also often read the bible occasionally. I think Tatiana was a wonderful sister to have for the girls. 

Anastaise said selfless, not selfish.

And of course she was like all of them intensely religious  but I think a lot of it was, as Gibbes said (paraphrasing here), about her trying to please and do what was 'right' rather than being of a spiritual bent herself; no doubt she was a devout Christian, but I believe Gibbes said something like religion was more a duty imposed upon her than something she felt strongly her heart which is, say, more like Olga.  She copied Rasputin's words into a notebook--probably not for her own, uh, 'edification' as Alix would probably have called it! but to please her mother.

I agree. I think Tatiana was very religious in a dutiful sense, while Olga was more spiritual, perhaps more devoted to God on a personal level. I don't mean to imply that Tatiana was just going through the motions, but I do suspect that the ritual and order of her religion appealed to her nature. It appears that religion was something Tatiana performed and studied with pleasure, while Olga had a more emotional connection to her faith.

For the record, I don't think either option is better or more "correct" -- they're just different.