Author Topic: Re: Alix's dreams  (Read 8757 times)

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bluetoria

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Re: Alix's dreams
« on: January 28, 2005, 04:53:07 AM »
I don't really know if this is off topic...but perhaps it's kind of connected in a way. Her dreams seem rather frightening & I had been thinking about her 'sense of doom' which always seemed to be with her when I came across a description of her by an English nurse who was working in Russia during the war. She describes how Anastasia, Maria & 'pretty & gay' Tatiana (she doesn't mention Olga) used to come & chat with the patients, then says of Alix:
"She had the most tragic face I have ever seen, moving like the heroine of a Greek tragedy towards her inevitable fate. Later on, when I heard the horrifying news of of the murder....in Yekaterinburg, I could not help being glad that she had finished with the sorrows of her life & was at rest at last."
Perhaps - apart from the obvious sorrows of her life - Alix either had a premonition of what was to happen to her, or simply had the kind of outlook that almost drew tragedy to her.  Marie Louise's remark about how even as a child Alix always seemed to be expecting something terrible to happen seems to support this.
I wonder if it was her mother's death & earliest experiences of mourning...or just something in her personality...or, like her mother, some kind of intuition  of impending doom??  

JaneEyre5381

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ize if I diRe: Alix's dreams
« Reply #1 on: January 28, 2005, 10:38:17 PM »
I'm going to take a stab at the topic of Alix's sadness and sense of doom.  I apologize if I digress.  

I read in Greg King's book that as a child Alix heard a lot about death and heaven from her mother, Princess Alice.  Also Alice never let the children forget that their brother Frittie was dead and they visited his grave I believe pretty regularly.  It was even stated that Ernie remarked that he looked forward to seeing his brother in Heaven one day.  Then of course always being exposed to mourning and experiencing the deaths of her mother and younger sister must have had a profound effect on a nature sensitive as that of Alix, and her dreams and "sad" expression may have something to do with her early exposure to death.

I apologize once again if this is off topic and if none of this makes any sense.

Offline koloagirl

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Re: Alix's dreams
« Reply #2 on: January 28, 2005, 11:30:35 PM »
 :)

Let us not forget also that Alexandra was brought up in large part by her grandmama, Queen Victoria.  

Now we all now that Queen Victoria spent 40 years of her life (more or less) bringing the art of mourning (in her case, Prince Albert) to a high art - so Alix would have been exposed to that as well.  

I was reading "Victoria's Daughters" recently and I recall how I believe 2 years after Albert's death, a joke or any kind of gaiety at the dinner or breakfast table was considered in bad taste - as they were still expected to be in deep mourning.

Any wonder that Alix, both with those genes, and that upbringing, would be a morbid personality!
:P
Janet R.
Janet R.

bluetoria

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Re: ize if I diRe: Alix's dreams
« Reply #3 on: January 29, 2005, 03:18:25 AM »
Quote
I apologize once again if this is off topic and if none of this makes any sense.


It makes very clear sense, D :)asha!
I agree with what both you & and Janet R. have written. She (Alexandra) seems to me, to have too that sort of artistic personality which is prone to melancholy - like Princess Alice (and Vicky) - I suppose the whole of the Hessian family seem so blighted with tragedy & yet you don't seem to see that sadness in Victoria or Irene.

lovy

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Re: Alix's dreams
« Reply #4 on: January 26, 2006, 09:58:29 PM »
Oh, yeah, Alix's dreams were frightening! I remember reading of her having this dream after Rasputin's death where they were in the same room and Rasputin said to Alix:

"They're going to kill you! They're going to burn you all in bonfires!"

Then like this fire burst out into the room between Alix and Rasputin. Alix was running up to him and then she got burnt. She then woke up trying to scream.

Offline Grace

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Re: Alix's dreams
« Reply #5 on: January 27, 2006, 04:29:27 AM »
But, even as adults, don't we all still have frightening dreams occasionally?  

I don't find the family talking about meeting Frittie in heaven and visiting his grave abnormal at all, as long as it wasn't done in an excessive manner.

He was part of the family so why would they ignore him just because he passed away?

No doubt, the deaths of her mother and little sister May had a profound effect on Alix though.  It would be strange if they hadn't.
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 06:00:00 PM by Grace »

Phillida

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Re: Alix's dreams
« Reply #6 on: January 27, 2006, 09:47:25 AM »
Quote
:)

Let us not forget also that Alexandra was brought up in large part by her grandmama, Queen Victoria.  

Now we all now that Queen Victoria spent 40 years of her life (more or less) bringing the art of mourning (in her case, Prince Albert) to a high art - so Alix would have been exposed to that as well.  

I was reading "Victoria's Daughters" recently and I recall how I believe 2 years after Albert's death, a joke or any kind of gaiety at the dinner or breakfast table was considered in bad taste - as they were still expected to be in deep mourning.

Any wonder that Alix, both with those genes, and that upbringing, would be a morbid personality!
 :P
Janet R.


Too much doom and gloom for a young lady. I wonder if Nicholas was attracted to that sense of drama such an outlook has on its bearer ? Tragedy has its own essence and magnetism. Though Alix had her lighter moments they seem to be largely tinged in a fleeting sense of gaiety , no true mirth.

Of course in that period young ladies were supposed to have a large measure of decorum and take Life very seriously...so many of them were named Prudence, Patience, Hope and Chairty. All very worthy and none too frivolous.

Yet the main factor that seems to have contributed to Alix's sorrows and apprehension was the health of her baby and only son. Never a waking moment relieved of the fear he might become ill with a life threatening disease or bump his head or scratch his knee. It was too much for her and she gave into it, gradually but completely. After all, she was only human. For all her Faith, she trusted little. Fear consumed her. Guilt ate at her when she was away from him. She could not find peace.

Offline Azarias

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Re: Alix's dreams
« Reply #7 on: January 27, 2006, 10:38:42 AM »
Quote

Too much doom and gloom for a young lady. I wonder if Nicholas was attracted to that sense of drama such an outlook has on its bearer ?  



Interesting thought.

For a young and single Nicholas as Tsarevich I wonder how young ladies responded to him? I could imagine many fawning and flaunting themselves at his position rather than his person.

He may have found her irresistable when he saw that he possesed the ability to make such a difference in an otherwise somber Alix. And she responded with complete devotion.  It can make sense.

Offline Romanov_fan

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Re: Alix's dreams
« Reply #8 on: January 27, 2006, 11:55:22 AM »
Certainly her family background influenced the way she was, without doubt. Her family was rather in the melancholy line, and being around this she was used to it, and it was normal. I think her family tragedies so early in life no doubt darkened her view of it, and this could well explain why she became the way she was later on. After all, she was known as ''Sunny'' in early youth. It is completely understandable why she was melancholy after her family's deaths at such early age, and it seems this was the main reason for it. Besides that, her son's illness was very hard on her, and it darkened her view of life, as well, and her nature. It was a constant stress and strain, and never went away, but contiuned. So she became the way she was. In personality, no doubt she had a tendency towards melancholy, so it had more of an effect upon her, these events, than it might have on another person. But given everything, her nature is understandable.

Tania

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Re: Alix's dreams
« Reply #9 on: January 27, 2006, 03:32:06 PM »
When one reads about her IH, i wonder how many can address some of her difficulties on a personal level. For instance, we are talking about 'family', not people she did not know.

My mum, lost her father early in her teens, later in life her mother; [both parents from the same disasterous type of accidents], her sister [not too much older than she] in her teens, her brothers [both to very serious illnesses] later in life.

To lose so young in life a loved one for many does not make them bounce back into life so easily. For many, losing a parent is enough, but when other members die it may be something they don't really get over with. In those days, they did not have all the counseling services we have today, nor the completeness of understanding the loss of so many things, hitting one person. Also, remember the type of illnesses, and deaths each of her loved ones went through. Can any of us equate that kind of understanding, and with that kind of backdrop ?

Each of us reacts to reality differently, and our dreams as well can be at time quite telling.

In all of it, one may teeter on what 'if' because of so much saddness. It's another vast step in growing. Some of us cope quite well, some of us not at all. Depending upon the quality of our lives, our interactions, our jobs, and of course the immense responsibilty such as her IH A had, it was a balancing act she had to perform daily.
Not something any of us can or could possibly take lightly.

Tatiana

Offline Romanov_fan

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Re: Alix's dreams
« Reply #10 on: January 29, 2006, 07:37:55 PM »
The last post has got great insight!