Anton Chekhov's and Joyce Oates' The Lady with the Dog Essay

The Russian attitude toward love during Chekhov’s time is very patriarchal and is considered normal to marry for practical reasons, parental pressures or other considerations rather than for love. The feelings that accompany love, such as passion and spirituality, are not a societal consideration and this institutional attitude toward human emotion is the catalyst for Chekhov’s story. When a person is deprived of love, he or she builds up a futility of life which consumes the human soul. In Anton Chekhov’s “The Lady with the Dog”, the readers are placed in a setting where the main character Gurov, and his love interest Anna, are given the emotional freedom to feel love toward one another. This freedom is the driving force in the story

Anton Chekhov in “the Lady with the Dog,” brilliantly displays the quest of one man to find happiness. Anton Chekhov’s short story, The Lady with the Little Dog, is the simple story of a philandering married man who finally falls in love with an unhappily married woman with whom he has an affair.  Though it is a remarkably simple plot, the story is compelling to read because Chekhov’s use of two effective plot devices with diction and symbolism.

In Chekhov's version of the story he organizes it in a linear pattern. Each section is placed in the order that they happen. For example, Chekhov writes “...he saw...a fair-haired young woman of medium height, wearing a beret; a white pomeranian was trotting behind her” (Chekhov 213). This quote is from the very beginning of the story, and shows the first time Dmitrich sees Anna. This is important because it shows how Chekhov wrote his story in the more simple order of events. On the contrary, Oates writes her version of the tale in a more circular pattern. Her story starts with “Strangers parted for him as if to make way for him. There he stood. He was there in the aisle, a few yards away, watching her” (Oates 227). This is the very beginning of her short story but in the order of events it does not happen until the middle. This shows how Oates chooses not to write in the typical

The stories of Anton Chekhov mark a focal moment in European fiction. This is the point where 19th realist caucus of the short stories started their transformation into modern form. As such, his work straddles two traditions. The first is that of the anti-romantic realism which has a sharp observation of external social detail. It has human behavior conveyed within tight plot. The second is the modern psychological realism in which the action in typically internal and expressed in associative narrative that is built on epiphanic moments. In consideration of the two sides, Chekhov developed powerful personal styles that presage modernism without losing traditional frills of the form. This essay will discuss the Chekhov's portrayal of women.

The two stories of “Cathedral” by Raymond Carver and “The Lady with the Dog” by Anton Chekhov focus equally on the grand theme of change. In “Cathedral”, the story concentrates on the main character, referred to only as the narrator. He is portrayed as a close minded and unaccepting man, but as the story goes on we see a drastic change in his thoughts and actions. The story is told in first person point of view, giving readers a first-hand account of how and why the narrator changes as the story progresses. In addition, “The Lady with the Dog” focuses on the change of the main character as well. Dmitri Gurov is described as an unfaithful husband, bored with his life and just looking for change. We see this change take place with a third person (central consciousness) point of view, giving us access to all of the main characters thoughts.

In Anton Chekhov’s short story, “The Lady with the Dog”, there are two present claims: the main character’s Dmitri Dmitritch Gurov, and the author’s. Gurov believes he can have adulterous affairs and go back to his regular life with no consequences. The author, on the other hand, asserts that there are consequences to his actions. This paper will first prove Gurov’s claim.

Chekhov explores this concept of conflict through Anna and Gurov’s relationship in ‘The Lady with the Dog’ as he reveals a need to defy social restraints in order to escape their marriages as this restricts them from fully embracing their desires. The image of the “long grey fence adorned with nails” (Chekhov 1998, p. 371), symbolises the confines of marriage keeping them apart, unable to be free from social restraint. Creating an air of seclusion and limitations, this depiction appears to be fending off Gurov, producing a feeling of entrapment and isolation as it separates their love. The image of an old woman, a beggar and a dog walking in and out of the fence freely further emphasises this lack of freedom they have in their lives; the portrayal of a beggar being the most illuminating aspect of this passage. Even what is considered as the lowest form of humanity, appears to show more freedom then what they can as they cannot pass this

When she discovered this man she thought she had found someone who could treat her better than her husband. In the Chekhov story, it was basically the same but looking at it at a man's point of view. Dmitry also was not happy in his marriage and wanted to find a new woman to satisfy his needs. Dmitry stated, "Every affair which at first seems light and charming adventure inevitably grows into a whole problem. "(Chekhov

The period is the early 19th century; those involved and discussed in this essay are for the most part Russian gentry. Increasingly relaxed social mores in the “developed” world, including the greater freedom to choose to whom one gets married to as well as increased women’s sexual rights, were much more uncommon during the time that War and Peace takes place. Tolstoy, an outspoken critic of arranged marriages, uses the characters in his novel as a way of exploring the various types of love, and in general the interactions between men and women of the time. This essay will attempt to focus on these relationships in an effort to get a better idea of Tolstoy’s views on the proper roles that men and women should play as friends, lovers, or

The passage of time is the lens through which characters Anna and Dmitri’s relationship matures in Anton Chekhov’s “The Lady with the Little Dog”. In the story, Anna and Dmitri begin having an affair out of boredom with their own lives, which eventually blossoms into a loving relationship. Anna and Dmitri’s relationship does not seem like it will have a chance of surviving; Anna is much younger than Dmitri, they live in different cities, and they have spouses, and are a part of different social classes, and yet they are able to overcome these differences to be together. It is only as time goes on that Anna and Dmitri realize the importance of their relationship and love for each other. However, the passage of time is seen as a linear change in the story and contradicts to the unconventional manner in which Anna and Dmitri’s relationship evolves.

Author Anton Chekhov's introduction of Sergeyena changes Gurov. She does not immediately answer his demands and can be described as “dejected” and “mournful” in his presence, contrasting how Gurov usually feels comforted around

Moreover, in The Lady with the Dog by Chekhov, the story begins in Yalta, the seaside town on the Black Sea in Russia. The main characters are guests at a resort and it is most likely summer since the people eat outside in the gardens. The garden where they first meet and Anna Sergeyevna's hotel room. Moreover, the setting shifts to Oreanda where Gurov and Anna go after their first night together. As they watch the morning mist in Oreanda, there is a slight sense of foreboding. They have done something they should not have done. The third setting of the story is Moscow, where Dmitri lives with his wife and children. It is cold, busy and gray, as the author says in the story " In the morning it was still dark when the children were having breakfast

The play, “The Red Count,” which features a play within a play where people of Russia in 2013 are preforming a play about Alexei Tolostoy, a 1930’s Russian playwright who was a favorite of Stalin, also features a number of female characters who play a crucial role in the plot. Among these important characters are Putin’s wife, Lyudmila, Anna Chekova, Anna Akhmatova, Alexei’s current wife, Ludo, and Alexei’s ex-wife, Julia. These women are often seen in an unfavorable light and treated poorly by their male counterparts, but the reader can admire their strength and independence. The complexity of this play leads to complex characters, and each of these women are unique and portrayed in a different light than the other women. In the 2013 play, Lyudmila is a strong-willed and sympathetic character and Anna is talented but used, while in the 1930’s play, Akhmatova is seen as disrespected and unreliable, Ludo is superficial and submissive, and Julia is bold and has a strong sense of self.

n “The Lady with the Dog,” Chekhov uses setting to enhance the mood of the story. The story begins on the coastal town of Yalta during the hot summer. The “strange light on the sea,” the “soft warm lilac hue” of the water and the “golden streak from the moon upon it” sets the tone for a budding summer romance. The fact that the two main characters’ first meeting takes place in a garden setting signifies a love about to bloom. Chekhov also uses the season/weather in his story.

In 19th century Russian literature there was often a gender inequality depicted between the male and female characters. Women were expected to get married, start a family, and obey their husbands. Women often made sacrifices and married men they weren’t fond of in order to support their families. Anton Chekhov’s writing questions these gender relationships. The female characters have a strong presence within Chekhov’s works, and they transcend typical gender roles.