All The Year Round - "Among Russian Peasantry"

The text immediately following The Moonstone in All The Year Round is an essay entitled “Among Russian Peasantry”. This text seems to associate “peasantry”—that is, being of a lower status—with qualities such as drunkenness, simpleness, and a lack of interest in a higher standard of living. In the chapter prior, Miss Clack often bemoans her lack of wealth, saying, “Me, to whom five pounds is an object” (215). She exists as an unlikeable character among likeable characters who possess far more wealth. It’s possible that this demeaning piece on peasants would have amplified the reader’s dislike of Clack simply on the basis of her lower status.

There is also a note on the physical attributes of this servant class. It’s as if we, the reader, are meant to be surprised by the fact that these Russians are “extremely handsome” with “a long, golden-coloured beard, a straight nose, and clear blue eyes, well opened.” Western European qualities are praised, with the implication that an Asiatic physicality would be lesser. Adjacent to a story about the theft of an Indian diamond, this may have enhanced racial views of the Indian characters present in The Moonstone, whether this was Collins’ intent or not.