Elisaveta
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#1: Elisaveta Author: Rachael PostPosted: Mon Dec 20, 2004 2:32 pm


Please discuss the Princess here:

 


#2:  Author: PadoLocation: Connecticut, USA PostPosted: Mon Dec 20, 2004 3:55 pm


I've always liked Elisaveta as a character, even though she's drawn rather simplistically. Her delight at getting to be an ordinary schoolgirl and guide is refreshing, even though everyone else seems to keep reminding her of her "special" status, e.g. untidiness is somehow worse for her because she is a princess. (I think her rebuttal that Jo's messiness is also bad because she is a "head girl" is one of the reasons I like her so much.) Although WHY she (or anyone) would think Joey a good candidate to be a lady-in-waiting is beyond me...

 


#3:  Author: LauraLocation: London (ish) PostPosted: Mon Dec 20, 2004 4:22 pm


I was always really annoyed that Elisaveta, as my favourite character, was only around for two (possibly three, I can't remember and can't be bothered to get up and look!) books. And yes, the lady-in-waiting thing got me too! For someone so impatient and untidy! Although what would being a lady-in-waiting have involved? Confused

 


#4:  Author: MihiriLocation: surrey england PostPosted: Mon Dec 20, 2004 7:28 pm


I think lady-in-waiting would have meant that Jo would be Elisaveta's companion. Though she would not have been a maid as such she would have been expected to help with tasks such as getting dressed and doing her hair...tasks which I'm sure that Jo would not have been particularly successful with. I like Elisaveta's character. She seems to be a fairly typical schoolgirl despite being a princess and her almost fatal 'adventure' is a more realistic situation than some of the others. It's a shame her character was not developed more.

 


#5:  Author: jenniferLocation: Sunny California PostPosted: Mon Dec 20, 2004 7:41 pm


Laura wrote:
I was always really annoyed that Elisaveta, as my favourite character, was only around for two (possibly three, I can't remember and can't be bothered to get up and look!) books
She's in Princess, the fill in Visitors, and shows up again in Camp.
Laura wrote:
And yes, the lady-in-waiting thing got me too! For someone so impatient and untidy! Although what would being a lady-in-waiting have involved? Confused
Some searching on the web produced (from Queen Victoria's era) the following info http://mypage.uniserve.ca/~canyon/Ladies-in-Waiting.htm To summarise: Attend the Queen at meals Accompanying the Queen on walks or rides Assistingin personal (possibly multi-lingual) correspondance Musical Accompaniment Making polite conversation with visitors Playing card/board games and amateur theatricals Outdoor activities (tennis, golf etc) Needlework Sketching and Paining Look after Royal Visitors, and give tehm tours Attend the Queen at official functions Be available at anytime the Queen wants her Be polite, discreet, and well mannered So basically the Lady in Waiting would be a hired personal companion - someone to help the Queen when needed, act as a personal secretary, social assistant and attendant. There would still be a strong rank barrier - the LIW would be referred to by her first name, but would always refer to the Queen as Ma'am, and never take personal liberties or tease their mistress. Joey would have some of the skills requirements - she's multi-lingual, can sing, do amateur theatricals, and outdoor activites, and go on walks. However, she knows little of formal court ettiquette, can't sketch or draw, has horrible handwriting, has no tact, and is not inclined to pay much attention to rank when interacting with people, has a bit of a temper, is often late, and is very untidy. I'd give her a week before being sent home in disgrace.... I do like seeing Elisaveta in later years. The transformation from discontented only child of royalty, to happy schoolgirl is nice, and then we see her as a an exile from her home, and as a mother determined to protect her children, and later as a widow, making a life for herself and her children. It's an interesting comparison between Elisaveta and Joey during the war. They both have to flee for their lives and suffer during their escape, but Elisaveta, the one raised as pampered royalty, is by far the stronger when things go wrong.

 


#6:  Author: nikkieLocation: Cumbria PostPosted: Mon Dec 20, 2004 8:19 pm


jennifer wrote:
I do like seeing Elisaveta in later years. The transformation from discontented only child of royalty, to happy schoolgirl is nice, and then we see her as a an exile from her home, and as a mother determined to protect her children, and later as a widow, making a life for herself and her children. It's an interesting comparison between Elisaveta and Joey during the war. They both have to flee for their lives and suffer during their escape, but Elisaveta, the one raised as pampered royalty, is by far the stronger when things go wrong.
When she arrives in Highland twins and it is described how she has escaped it is a definate contrast to Joeys escape .

 


#7:  Author: LauraLocation: London (ish) PostPosted: Mon Dec 20, 2004 8:52 pm


Is that in the pb or only the hb? I don't remember that bit at all! Embarassed

 


#8:  Author: LesleyLocation: Allhallows, Kent PostPosted: Mon Dec 20, 2004 9:42 pm


Laura wrote:
Is that in the pb or only the hb? I don't remember that bit at all! Embarassed
It's only in the HB or GGB version - Highland twins was one of the worst for cuts and omissions when published by Armada.

 


#9:  Author: jenniferLocation: Sunny California PostPosted: Mon Dec 20, 2004 10:43 pm


If I remember correctly, Elisaveta's story is as follows: She is married a year or two before Joey, in a state wedding, but to a man she genuinely cares for. She has to flee Belsornia with her maid and children, as it is about to be invaded. She works her way, with the three children, across Europe, ending up in England, going under her husband's name, Helston. (I like the scene where she surveys her work hardened hands with pride, with a comment about scrubbing floors to care for her children). She ends up at Joey's in Highland Twins, recuperating from the trip. At this point, her husband, and I think her father, are fighting in Europe. (This bit is recounted in Highland Twins and Lavender Laughs). She resurfaces in the early Swiss books. She has five children at this point, but her husband was killed in a flying accident a few years previously, leaving her widowed. Her father is in Australia, ranching, and Belsornia has been Annexed by Russia. Elisaveta is raising her children alone, and living in or about Switzerland, and would be quite content if the Belsornian monarchy were never brought back. Her eldest daughter, Jose, attends the Chalet school in the latter Swiss books, and is quite a nice girl. She doesn't make much of the fact that her mother is a Princess, even if in exile, although her close friends do no the story. Now *that* strikes me as a good role model for the Chalet School "strong woman"!

 


#10:  Author: JustJenLocation: waiting for a bus PostPosted: Tue Dec 21, 2004 8:35 pm


I always like Elisaveta. I think that she was a wonder model for Chalet girls to look up to. Her life was much harder than Joey's was all things considered. It's a pity, like so many other charactors, she fades into the backround. Merry Christmas

 


#11:  Author: Chalet School Fan PostPosted: Tue Dec 21, 2004 8:43 pm


Yeah, she doesn't put on any airs and graces just 'cos she's a princess. She acts like a normal, nice kid. What I don't get is how they suddenly became poor, Jose Helton her daughter said so in one of the later books.

 


#12:  Author: KirstieLocation: Ayrshire PostPosted: Tue Dec 21, 2004 9:55 pm


I always thought they became poor because most of their assets were claimed by the communists.Although it is a relative sort of poorness as the children can go to a private school in Switzerland. Elisaveta is one of my favourite characters although she only appears in a few books (Camp is one of my favourite books) EBD draws her well and she comes across as being a normal nice school girl.This is strange when you think about it as she is Royal. I like how her adult life is recounted in later books although she does have some unhappy times (husband dying etc) which make her character and life appear more realistic to me and she seems to move more with the times than other characters.She does not appear in Reunion Does she?I also read School By the River and like how bits are related to the Helstons.

 


#13:  Author: Chalet School Fan PostPosted: Tue Dec 21, 2004 9:57 pm


I love Chalet Girl on Camp! Its oone of my fave's too!

 


#14:  Author: CarolineLocation: Manchester PostPosted: Wed Dec 22, 2004 3:01 pm


jennifer wrote:
It's an interesting comparison between Elisaveta and Joey during the war. They both have to flee for their lives and suffer during their escape, but Elisaveta, the one raised as pampered royalty, is by far the stronger when things go wrong.
I think the thing here is that, whilst Jo with her free life, full of varied experiences, should be more capable in such an emergency, her temperament gets in the way. That is, she can't cope mentally with the trauma - her vivid imagination and highly strung nature count against her and she's always imagining horrors to come rather than dealing with the here and now. Veta has a much more down to earth personality - she just takes things as they come rather than getting worked up all the time. It's also a control thing. Jo can cope with emergencies when she is in control or *doing* something (i.e. all the wacky rescues she takes part in) but when things aren't in her control, or when she has to place a passive role, she is apt to go to pieces. I see Elisaveta as having had a life where things *aren't* usually in her control - she is at the whim of her Grandfather etc. through most of her childhood - and she must have become used to just getting on with things, coping stoically (because it's expected of her - her duty) with whatever is thrown at her. Thus when everything goes wrong and there's nothing she can do about it, I imagine Veta would just role up her sleeves and get on with whatever task was in front of her. And (final Great Thought) although we imagine Veta as having had the more sheltered, pampered existence, perhaps this is wrong. She's been brought up to know what is expected of her and to put the good of the state ahead of her own wishes, and is probably a lot more self-less and wordly wise than the Joey of Exile - the first half of it, anyhow. Caroline.

 


#15:  Author: LesleyLocation: Allhallows, Kent PostPosted: Wed Dec 22, 2004 9:40 pm


That's a very good point - and it's seen after Exile too - in Highland Twins, when Jack was thought to have died, Joey could not function, not even to care for her children, whereas when, in later books, Elisaveta is reintroduced having become widowed, she has coped and continued to raise her children. Of course we don't know how Joey would have managed if Jack's death was confirmed - it's possible that she would have rallied, but she would still not have been there at a time when three little girls needed her.

 


#16:  Author: MiriamLocation: Jerusalem, Israel PostPosted: Wed Dec 22, 2004 9:48 pm


To be fair, we also don't know how the news of her husbands death affected Elisaveta at the time, and how long it took her to be able to adapt her life to functioning as a widow. It could have been that Alette did most of what was needed to be done at that stage, while Veta recovered from that shock. We never hear much about what happened then, either from her or from Jose when she metions it to Jane.

 


#17:  Author: LesleyLocation: Allhallows, Kent PostPosted: Wed Dec 22, 2004 9:56 pm


True, but I get the impression that she would have managed better - after all during the flight to England it was Alette who wept at the Princess's work worn hands.

 


#18:  Author: Guest PostPosted: Sun Jan 02, 2005 10:05 pm


I stole Elisavita as a character. I always loved her, and when I weas about 11 we had to write short stories for school ALL the time. 'Elesvita' showed up in every singe one I ever wrote. I'm not twenty-eight and a published novelist, and she still shows up occasionally, under various guises.

 


#19:  Author: Guest PostPosted: Sun Jan 02, 2005 10:06 pm


I didn't mean I'm NOT twenty-eight and a published novelist. I meant I AM twenty-eight and a published novelist. Or at least I was the last time I checked.

 


#20:  Author: LesleyLocation: Allhallows, Kent PostPosted: Sun Jan 02, 2005 10:27 pm


Who are you? Laughing

 


#21:  Author: NicciLocation: UK PostPosted: Wed Jan 05, 2005 11:21 pm


No answer yet? I'm intrigued...

 


#22:  Author: CatrinLocation: Wirral (holidays), Oxford (term) PostPosted: Fri Jan 21, 2005 6:59 pm


I liked Elisaveta when she grew up, but she seemed annoyingly naieve in the early books. Has anyone heard the tape of the story? What is that accent supposed to be? Confused

 


#23:  Author: Helen CLocation: Sheffield/Luton PostPosted: Sat Jan 22, 2005 1:01 am


It sounds like some sort of french Italian cross to me but then i don't have a very good ear for accents.

 


#24:  Author: RóisínLocation: Galway, Eire PostPosted: Sun Jun 12, 2005 12:08 pm


When she's a child Elisaveta is as if she stepped out of an Enid Blyton book. She's extremely likeable but a little too innocent and two-dimensional for my liking. Of course this changes as she grows up. As an adult she's extremely glamourous and I always imagine her as Queen Rania (sp?) of Jordan, with her four children. (She of Hello magazine!) She remains one of my favourite characters in the whole series and I'm sorry we didn't get more out of her.

 




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