Although Vasile Alecsandri and Matei Millo drew their inspiration from the life and mores of the 19th century, creating a character emblematic of the arriviste petty bourgeoisie, Chirița - Chiritza, in its 21st century updated spelling - would easily fit into today's society. Always displaying an air of superiority, overindulging her girls - whom she perceives as tenfold more beautiful than they really are, perpetually on the hunt for wealth and position, ironhanded, but melting at every compliment or small gift, artful in relation to men and fainting over displays of attention from the powerful and the well-connected, Chiritza is, nevertheless, not unlovable. She is a Romanian female version of Monsieur Jourdain that Ada Milea and Anca Hanu breathe new life into, and an explosive comic energy, debunking snobbery and pretension, exposing the lack of culture and kitsch sensibility.
