Faith

Ulitskaya’s “Women’s Lies” follows the protagonist Zhenya and her interactions with other women in two short narratives. First, we see her relationship develop with a new friend, Irene, and then her relationship with a second cousin, Lyalya. The peculiarity of these relationships is that Zhenya gets to know both women purely through the dramatic lies about their lives. Throughout the story, all of the female characters use their unique feminine ability of gauging and manipulating emotions to convince Zhenya, as well as themselves, that their lives are more interesting than they are. The only reason these women tell these fantastical stories is to allow themselves to live in a dramatic temporary reality.

Irene’s carefully executed body language allows her to make her stories both engaging and believable. When story time begins, she acts as if she is telling Zhenya a sacred secret by “the raising of an ochre eyebrow” or later when she “[looks] at Zhenya with intent, narrowed eyes as if assessing whether it [is] worthwhile to continue” (252). These actions are all part of Irene’s strategic storytelling process. She gauges how her words are perceived by Zhenya to ensure Zhenya is both interested, as well as persuaded. We see Irene manipulate her body language again when she “[cups] her chin in her hand” and when “her eyes [have] a slight animal sheen, like a cat’s suggestive of cosiness, tenderness, and a veiled anxiety” (250). The cupping of her chin poses a thoughtful demeanor while her eyes, both inviting but anxious, create intimacy and vulnerability between her and Zhenya. Irene’s actions portray a woman who has suffered greatly, a star in her own tragedy.

Parallel to her body language, the intimate language Irene uses is meant to pull at Zhenya’s heart strings. Before Irene begins telling the most heart-breaking false truths of her experience as a mother, she states “If I were to tell you…” with a dramatic pause (248). These words and the following pause are intentional. The words emphasize the privilege of the secret being shared with Zhenya, and the pause makes it seem as if Zhenya is debating whether she should even share it. These carefully selected words enable Irene to elicit strong emotional reactions from Zhenya, such as when Zhenya hears the story of Irene’s dead daughter, Diana. Irene provides so much vivid detail of her baby’s death that “Zhenya could picture the scene as if she were watching a film” when Irene was looking down at her daughter, and when she “took in that [her] lovely Diana was stone dead” (256). Providing this intimate and evocative story, Irene causes Zhenya to “burst into tears." This reaction makes it clear Zhenya did not doubt Irene’s striking story in the slightest. Even though she has suffered immensely, Zhenya still feels envious of the immense life Irene has led, for “this woman has some biography" (253).

       Zhenya’s younger second cousin likewise uses strategic lies to convince Zhenya of Lyalya’s affair with her much older uncle. She validates her claims by sharing pieces of information that only someone who was intimate with the uncle would know, such as when she explains why no one can know about her affair. If the uncle’s wife were to find out, “She’ll take him to the cleaners… she is so-o greedy” (274). She inserts private information into their conversations to add authenticity to her words. Moreover, she appeals to Zhenya but reveals gossip about Lyalya’s direct family when she states, “They’d better just keep very quiet. My Ma is screwing Uncle Vasya” (275). Lyalya knows she needs to provide these pieces of exclusive knowledge to be more convincing in her personal life. While appalled and flabbergasted, Zhenya never questions the truth of Lyalya’s romance.  

What is intriguing about each woman’s lies, besides their ability to engage so thoroughly with Zhenya’s emotions, is that each story is more dramatic than what one typically thinks to tell when they are lying. The more drama, the more shock in a lie, the more risk it is of being found out or found suspicious. So why do they tell it? It is because each woman wants more drama in their lives, to be the star of the story, to feel important. Thus, they used their feminine abilities in reading and gauging emotions to convince Zhenya of their remarkable lies. Irene was so successful in this that Zhenya even became jealous of her interesting life (253). Lyalya was able to keep the center of attention since she knew Zhenya felt that she “bore the responsibility” to care for her (275).

Even Zhenya expressed dissatisfaction with her life and thus, lived a lie for a while. She leaves her husband for a steamy affair with a director in Georgia, but she knows it won’t last. She knew he was unattainable, but she was able to escape into this fantasy, to escape the "brooding forest gloom," and "half her span on earth" grew lighter (280). Similar to the other women in this story, she wanted more from her life, so much so she would convince herself of a lie, even if just for a bit. Irene’s friend Vera tells Zhenya the truth, that Irene lived an uneventful life. She slept around, had a “dozen or so abortions but there were absolutely no children” (267). Irene had nothing to show for why she was older with just one child, she didn’t have a grand story; she just slept with different men until she eventually decided to keep a baby. She likely knew her true life story was nothing spectacular, but couldn’t resist the attention Zhenya gave her with each lie she told. Zhenya was jealous of Irene’s life, and Irene “was well aware of the fact” (245). As for Lyalya, she is a 13 year old girl, just barely exiting her awkward phases of life, as Zhenya notes she is starting to get prettier as she goes through puberty (274). However, Lyalya is still vying for attention. She wanted to be the cat’s meow, for “if a family man was taking the risk of receiving an under-age lover in his home every week, he really was head-over-heels in love” (276). All three of these women wanted to be the star of their own show, because in reality, they weren’t living anything of importance.

Their lies allowed each woman to add flavor and intrigue to their lives. These lies are indicative that these women were dissatisfied with their own life story. If they weren’t, they would have told the truth. However, it wasn’t just drama they wanted, they wanted to be the star of the show. Through their storytelling and imagination they convinced others, and even themselves, they are living fantastical lives, even if it wasn’t the happiest life, like the death of a child, an affair with a much older family member or pretending to leave your husband for a life with a director, knowing you will eventually return to him. They each manipulated emotion to make their story a temporary reality, both for themselves and their listeners. 

Bibliography
Ulitskaya, Lyudmila “Women's Lies.” Nine of Russia's Foremost Women Writers, GLAS Publishers , 2003, 237–281.