Lydia Koidula (1843–1886)

“What a Mulk or One Hundred Bushels of Grouts" is the third play by Lydia Koidula (1843-1886) and is her first original, and the first ever, play in the Estonian language as her first 2 plays were adaptations/translations. The play first appeared in print in 1872 and, although on the surface it is the prototypical Estonian farm comedy, it also reflected the social issues of its time: the contrasts between farmer-landowners and farmer-tenants, the stigmatization of education, the actions taken to avoid conscription into the tsarist army, and the paternal coercion of daughters into marriage. The title is sometimes given in english as “What a Bumpkin”, which does convey the disparaging tone used by the title character’s rivals in the play. A Mulk would be a rich landowner from the fertile southern end of Viljandi province in Estonia which is colloquially called Mulgimaa (Land of the Mulks) and the stereotype would sometimes be mocked as someone with more wealth than sense.… (mere)