Characterism In Anton Chekhov's The Lady With The Dog

Anton Chekhov’s The Lady with the Pet Dog can be said to be one of the most controversial fictions in the way it the extramarital affairs and the mystery of love that plagues the 21st century families. By the use of imaginary characters, Chekhov explores the theme of immorality and irresponsible behaviors among married couples who seek real satisfaction in secrete yet intimate relationships with other married partners. Whereas the likes of Gurov poses as the spoilt seed of the collapsing society, other innocent seekers of real satisfaction such Anna Sergeyevna find themselves confused and dancing to the same tune of marital unfaithfulness.

The setting shows the time and place in which a situation occurs. In story “The Lady with the Pet Dog”, the situations take different places throughout the narrative. The story begins with Gurov sitting in a café in Yalta when he first sees the character Anna Sergeevna with whom he becomes fascinated. Yalta is a vacation spot and Gurov is already well known of his adventures and immoral behavior. While on vacation there, he realizes that this place does not have too much to do other than meet new people. Since he has already known many women vacationing on this resort, he decides to switch his interests on the new arrivals. Once he meets Anna Sergeyevna, the setting takes place again in Yalta near the sea. Chekhov provides a detailed description of the sea and the romance of the location including "the chirrup of the grasshoppers," "the heat," and "the smell of the sea.” Chekhov describes a stroll Anna and Gurov take as "the scenery

The next silence comes after a week of continued daily meetings and foretells the relationship’s passage from casual to physically intimate.  Before the silence is noted, Dmitri and Anna are at a jetty admiring the sea and watching the boats come and go, and Dmitri is watching Anna closely; as she chatters aimlessly, he notices her movements and the shining in her eyes, all of which are the backdrop for the rising tension that peaks during a moment of silence:  ‘“The weather’s improved towards evening,” he said.  “Where shall we go now?  Shall we take a drive somewhere?”  She made no answer.’  Anna’s failure to respond (her silence) marks the height of the tension and is immediately followed by a sudden embrace, a passionate and romantic kiss, laden with the nervousness that comes with public indiscretion, and finally, the suggestion from Dmitri that the two go to a private place to consummate the relationship:  “Let’s go to your place…” he said softly.  And they both walked quickly’.  Once again, after a silence, the relationship escalates.  Chekhov uses the device repeatedly as the two fracture over Anna’s guilt and go their separate ways; the extended

Although love is about sacrifice for the significant other, it can also a very selfish emotion. During the story the when Gurov and Anna are in their affair she starts to complain and he, “could not help feeling bored as he listened to her...she buried her face on his chest and clung close to him,” (Chekhov 269), showing that he is not willing to listen to her when

Anton Chekhov hardly restrained from writing the dreary aspects of life during his writing career. Noted as one of Russia’s most prominent realist writers of the late 19th century, Chekhov’s work ranged from critical issues concerning the mental health system in “Ward No.6” to illustrating the tiresome cycle occurring for ordinary people sensing they are incomplete with their dull, normal life in “The Lady with the Dog.” “The Lady with the Dog,” in particular portrays characters of Chekhov’s facing an unreachable desire; Gurov and Anna. This desire emulates two contrasting forces represented by the double-lives the couple lives, one being that of realism and boredom, and the other of strict passion and romanticism. Gurov and “the lady with

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.

Humans have a natural ability to know what is right and just and what is wrong. However, people are tempted on a regular basis, and often times people choose to go against what is right for what they want at the moment. Nathaniel Hawthorne describes the struggle of one man with his personal temptations in the short story, “Young Goodman Brown”. Through a trip into the woods on a dark, gloomy night, Young Goodman Brown battles between what he knows is right and what sparks his curiosity—what the others and doing in the woods—the same theme portrayed in Anton Chekhov’s “The Lady with the Dog.” In this short story, Young Goodman Brown loses his faith in humanity’s ability to do good when he is convinced the great lie by the “dark one”.

In Joyce Carol Oates’ short story “The Lady with the Pet Dog,” Oates takes Anton Chekhov's characters and transports them to the 1970s, deciding to retell their story through the lens of the modernized female protagonist, Anna. While this story is obviously different from its original source of inspiration, in this paper I’ve chosen to focus on the similarities that have slight twists in Oates’ retelling. I will firstly look at the structure of the two tales.

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

As the story unfolds, Gurov at first changes subtly. First of all he meets Mrs. Anna Sergeyevna. His attitude at first is still the same, he finds her as another victim of his little game that he plays. He sits and watches, searching his mind for a ways to get her attention like he does for every woman. He still looks at women in the same sort of fashion. Anna and Gurov start spending time with each other more and more, he still plays his game. Each time that he meets her and tries to coax her into have an ice or syrup, yet he still looks at her as “pathetic.” After their first kiss he begins to realize that there is something different about this girl. Unlike the usual women he messes around with, she feels guilty about engaging in this affair with him. Anna does not give him the satisfaction of playing the game along with him. As he spends more time with Anna he becomes fond of her presence. He starts learning more about her, when she talks him listens intently instead of getting bored and rolling his eyes. When Anna gets a letter from her husband asking for her to come home, Gurov acts like it isn’t a big deal, he still believes he is playing his game. At first he forces himself to believe he is ok, but after they are apart for a while he realizes that Anna isn’t leaving him. She follows him everywhere, not just in his dreams. He feels something that he has never felt before, he

At one point in time, all beings on this Earth have faced a conceited appetite that derives from envy, greed, hatred or lust. Whether hogging the remote control from irritable siblings or making a crucial decision which benefits one are the verdicts, this gluttonous behaviour is one that can only lead to woe. Similarly, Anton Chekhov’s “A Trifle From Life” and Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour”, display the after-effects of a selfish demeanour. Chekhov’s character Belyaev selfishly coaxes a naive boy for answers, which consequently sparks a monstrous argument between him and his lover, Olga. Moreover, Chopin’s protagonist Louise egotistically finds euphoria in the presumed death of her husband, resulting in her own demise. Therefore, the moral compass of both Louise Mallard and Nikolai Ilitch Belyaev are narcissistic; thus showcasing that avaricious behaviour, ironically, originates both adults' downfall.

However, in Oates’ version, she utilizes the female character, Anna, to develop the story. In Chekhov’s story, the reader is more aware of the masculinity present in the story. Gurov is manipulative of women, and he uses them as a device to remove himself from his marriage. In the story, he speaks of women by saying, “It seemed to him that he had been sufficiently tutored by bitter experience to call them what he pleased…” (Chekhov 2014). He believes that all women are the same and are the inferior race compared to men. Anna’s actions in the Oates’ story contrast greatly compared to Gurov’s. Anna displays the feminine side of the relationship between the couple. Anna is not accustomed to being involved in several affairs, which can be seen through the emotional toll that it takes on her. Following the stereotypical female

The past is constantly mentioned by the characters in this play. Even the cherry orchard as property, is a symbol of the Old Russian regime. The end of the Old Regime therefore, is portrayed by Chekhov when at the end of the play Lohpakin becomes the owner of the estate and cuts the cherry orchard. Chekhov, as a contemporary observer, uses his play to criticize some aspects of the emancipation of 1861. The message he leaves is that although the emancipation was an important step towards freedom, it was not the only one to be made. This message, besides being given throughout the novel, is also stated by Trofimov, an idealist student who realizes how far Russia is from achieving real freedom. At the end of Act 2, Trofivom tells Anya, Madame Ranevskaya’s 17-year-old daughter: “...In order to start living in the present, we first have to redeem our past, make an end of it, and we can only do that through suffering…” .

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.