The Lady With The Pet Dog By Anton Chekhov

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 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.

As Haddaway once said, “what is love? Baby, don 't hurt me, don 't hurt me - no more.” Everyone has a different perspective of what love really is. People can fall in love or believe they are in love because of physical attraction. Some may believe that lust can become into something more. In the short story, “Lady with Lapdog” by Anton Chekhov translated by David Magarshack, the main protagonist Gurov is married with a twelve-year-old daughter and two sons. He is not extremely happy with his family life so he likes to have small affairs to get away from it. As the plot develops he meets a girl named Anna, who he falls head over heels for, making the womanizer, fall in “love.” Even though what the did is immoral, it can be a good thing for the pair. They may have gotten out a situation that was not making them happy. Love can control the way people dictate their lives. Is it for the good of the people? Is it just some emotion that causes mischief? As seen in “Lady with Lapdog,” love is a powerful emotion that can alter people 's motives as well as can change other’s lives in an instant.

Viktor E. Frankl, an Austrian neurologist and psychiatrist who also had survived the Holocaust, writes “When we are no longer able to change a situation – we are challenged to change ourselves” (BrainyQuote). Frankl survived genocide against his own people and still chose to have a positive outlook on it because he understands that if he did not, he would continually live an unhappy, upset life. Like Frankl, Ivan Denisovich Shukhov, the main character in One Day In The Life of Ivan Denisovich by Alexander Solzhenitsyn, contains a similar outlook to that of Frankl. The novel takes place during Soviet Russia in a gulag in Siberia, or otherwise known as a labor work camp. The whole book is about only one day that Shukhov lives; from 5 in the morning to 10 at night and all that happens in between. In this labor camp, not only are the weather conditions very cold, making it difficult to work in such circumstances, but also the workers are punished and harshly treated if they do not obey the guards. When placed in this environment, it is easy to be discouraged and miserable, but instead of facing the negatives of his situation, Shukhov remains affirmative in his thoughts – which are most important in order to survive not only physically, but also mentally. This stoicism portrayed in the narrative can also be found in Epictetus’s work, The Handbook. In this text, Epictetus discusses how he believes people can live a happy life, despite the hard conditions they are put through

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

consequences, like a wound, are usually self-inflicted. In the short stories “The Bet” by Anton Chekov and “Hey Come on Out” by Shinichi Hoshi, both authors authenticate the theme of consequences. Clear as day the theme appears to be consequences.

Shacovia 3 Name: Greene Shacovia Tutor: Jackman V. Course: Literature Date: 22 Feb 2016 Anton Chekhov’s The Lady with the Dog The short story, "The Lady with the Dog", by the Russian author Anton Chekhov was published in 1899 as an analogy about an affair between a banker on vacation in Yalta and a young lady structured in a four-part series. The literary devices of flashback and foreshadowing as used in the story will be discussed.

“Master and Man” by Leo Tolstoy is a story that explores the dynamics between a peasant, Nakita and his master,Vasillii Andriech. Andriech foolishly risks both of their lives, when they venture to another town in inclement weather to secure a business deal. Unfortunately, Andreich's impatience and greed ultimately leads to his demise. At the end of the story Nikita dies and is denied the same bliss that Vasillii Andreich experiences in death; in order to solidify the dichotomy between these two men, demonstrate how Andriech cheated Nakita, and he uses Nakita's lackluster death to amplify Andriech's extraordinary passing.

Dmitri, before he loved Anna, was a dog, one who looked down on women and only thought of the pleasures and benefits he could receive from them. Stuck in an unhappy marriage with his wife to the point that he, “did not like to be at home” (Chekhov, 62). Dmitri, though enjoys the company of women, he acknowledged that “he could not get on for two days together without ‘the lower race’” (Chekhov, 62), the “lower race” referencing women. Consequently, this disgust of his own wife and desire for women causes Dmitri to cheat, “He had begun being unfaithful to her long ago -- had been unfaithful to her often” (Chekhov, 62). Dmitri liked to keep all his affairs simple and amusing, whenever one would begin to be too much work and/or unbearable, he would drop it and proceed to the next one. Though Dmitri is quite an observant person he would focus on the

The Heart of a Dog by Mikhail Bulgakov was written in 1925 at the peak of the New Economy Policy period, when communism appeared to be weakening in the Soviet Union. The novel has been interpreted as humorous tale and as an allegory of the communist revolution. The reader could view it as an absurd comical novel; or it could be read as a political parable of the failings of the soviet union and the Russian Revolution. Throughout the novel it can be seen through the historical hint in the novel, the characters, and the metaphors that the novel uses to indicate the failing of the creation of the ¨new Soviet man.¨

Soon after Vanya's death, Volodya moves in and the two begin a close relationship. Yet, one must remember Vanya's warning to Olga about Volodya's womanizing habits. Their relationship does not last long as Vanya suggests, Volodya leaves with his regiment and Vanya warns Olga before he passes away, but she does not listen. Gurov in "The Lady with the Little Dog" also treats women poorly, even when he feels he is in love. As Anna cries in her hotel room to Gurov about their love and their sins, Gurov simply unhurriedly slices a watermelon sitting on a table, paying little attention to Anna's concerns, showing his true self. If Anna knows as much as the reader does about Gurov, she may have expected him to react the way he does.

Marriage has many different meanings and the most traditional is religious. Theologically, it is a sacred union and equal partnership of a man and a woman that is given to us by God. For non-believers, it 's just a legal or formal recognized union between partners that are in a relationship. Lady with the Pet Dog, written by Anton Chekhov is a short story that focuses on two people that find themselves in love. They are not in love to the person that they are married to, but with each other. Dmitri is a professional banker who is nearly forty, has three kids, dislikes his wife, dislikes women in general, and carries on a number of affairs with neither regret nor much emotion. He has a low standard of women, and does not seem them as equals. Anna a young woman who is vacationing in Yalta without her husband is not satisfied with him, and the relationship she is in. Both partners seem to be unhappy with their life as a married spouse and decide to part take in an affair. Their motivation is driven by feeling discontent with the life they are currently living in with both their spouses. They both see the affair as a one night stand that happened, but little do they know that they will fall in love with each other. Many might argue that this is not real love, but an immoral adulterous relationship. My thoughts are a bit different, because I believe that love is found on what their heart desires. It is hard to predict when one will fall in love or with whom. A person can fall in

A short story’s purpose is to introduce an idea or moral to the reader. In many cases the reader can understand the thesis, but there will be times where the reader is uncertain. The reason for this is because the short story’s moral is profound ironically. Ultimately the reader is able to relate to him or herself in the short story various ways. Likewise the use of irony in, “The Bet” by Anton Chekhov, illustrates the characters and their opposing speculations that demonstrate the importance of human life and confinement. Relating to the thesis of the short story, there are three main points that irony plays a key role on. To begin with, there are the two main character’s roles that guide the reader though both perspectives of their conflicts. There are also main points in their dialect and involvement that Chekhov used to help the reader understand the character’s ironic speculations.

In high school I read a short story called The Bet by Anton Chekhov. The story was about a young lawyer who made a bet with a banker that imprisonment for fifteen years was better than the death penalty. Like Socrates in Plato’s Crito the lawyer was trying to challenge society’s beliefs. While in confinement the lawyer read many books, whose subjects ranged from languages to philosophy. After fifteen years of solitary confinement the lawyer rejects his prize money and defaults on the bet, hours before winning. I wonder if the man had read the Crito. We can reason that Socrates’ could have inspired the man to decide to pick the more brash choice to try and teach his accusers a lesson. The man may have decided to default on the bet when he was so close to winning because he wished to make the lesson the banker learned more memorable and infinite. In the Crito even though Socrates thinks himself to be innocent of the charges brought against him he still refuses to escape prison when presented with the opportunity. This helps him teach his final lesson about the principles he believes are worth dying for. His principles are that the opinion of the many is unimportant, his life is not worth living with a corrupt soul, life is not as important as living justly, the only consideration to take into account is justice, and acting unjustly is always bad and shameful. Even though Socrates and the polis or laws arrive at the same conclusion that Socrates should not escape prison, the