The Representation of Marriage in The Old World Landowners and A Gentle Creature

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 English Renaissance was a cultural movement in England. It dated all the way back to the 15th to 17th century. The English Renaissance had different ways of living back then. For example, their foods, arts, festivals, weddings and even their daily lives were completely different from Americans today. To think of life any different than it is today would be hard. Well, image being married at the age of 14, being beat by your husband because you were disobedient or marrying someone your parents picked out for you, hard to think of, right? Being married is a beautiful experience and is supposed to be based on love and respect for each other.

As a teenager in the Elizabethan era, you would generally leave home to live with another family. The only exceptions to this were poor labourers, who needed all the help they could get. Sending teenagers away to live with another family was pretty much an universal custom for the middle and upper class families. Some people would of found it odd if someone kept their teen in their house. Though, parents will be parents, with parents worrying sick about their child. They would regularly send long letters, normally asking about their grades, how their family is and if they were well fed.

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

In the Victorian era, marriage was not as romanticized or fairytale-like as depicted in many novels of the time. On the contrary, love actually played a very minor role in the majority of matrimonies that took place. An engagement was entered into as one would approach a business deal, and there were some generally accepted rules and guidelines to follow.

Marriage has been portrayed as many things throughout the years. In the short stories, The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin and A Jury of Her Peers by Susan Glaspell both portray marriage, and how it does not always bring happiness. Each story was written by a married woman in the 1800s, this could reveal and interrupt how the lives of a married woman were in their time period. In each story, the main character is woman being overpowered by her husband, then when they find out they could be ‘free’ a sudden sigh of relief comes to mind. Only to be either be mislead or to feel trapped again. The authors Kate Chopin and Susan

In Alexander Pushkin’s Belkin Tales, there are two short stories, “The Postmaster” and “Mistress into Maid”, that help show the effects of the decisions concerning love. In the short story “The Postmaster” the daughter of the Postmaster, Dunya, is abducted or possibly runs away with a traveler. She never returns to her father despite his attempt to contact her, until it is too late, since her father had passed away. “Mistress into Maid” tells of a story where a young woman, Lizaveta, dresses as a peasant girl to meet the young man, Alexey, from the family that her father hates. Eventually they both fall in love with each other. Despite all of Lizaveta’s attempts to keep her identity a secret, Alexey finds out who she really is, and the two lovers live happily ever after. In his short stories, Puskin illustrates the complicity of love and the effects of scandalous lustful sinful love found in the “The Postmaster” while in the “Mistress into Maid” he illustrates the effects of sweet, innocent love to serve as a lesson to choose wisely before “falling in love”.

Many people believe that marriage is important in this day and age, but it holds little significance compared to the importance of marriage in the Victorian era. In the Victorian era women were to get married to a man of the same or a better social status, be good wives, and be a mother to her husband's children. Very few marriages started with love, but a woman's life is not complete without being married. Over time, the role of married women has evolved a great deal and they now have rights and privileges. John Stuart Mill was one of the great thinkers of the Victorian era, and his essay The Subjection of Women tells how few privileges women had and that they were slaves to their husbands. He also says that women are their own people and

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.

During the early 1800s, marriage was seen as a fortification of wealth and power through the unification of two families instead of a declaration of endearment, as reflected through the materialistic marriage customs in the Antebellum South. Generally, a man’s parents designated a future spouse for their son, based off of a woman’s familial ties and financial stature, due to the economic ramifications that the marriage had upon each party involved (O’Neil). Although financial characteristics of the bride’s family were primarily the deciding factor, men typically prefered to marry a compliant woman with “piety, purity, submissiveness and domesticity” (Fontin), considering that the gender roles at the time denounced women with ambitious or assertive

In reading the short stories, “Clever Manka”, by an Anonymous Writer and “The Story of an Hour”, by Kate Chopin, readers learn about both Manka and Mrs. Mallard. The stories show how each of the women interact in their relationships with their family, friends and most importantly their husbands. While each of these women have a few similarities like age, and marital status. They couldn’t be more different from one another.

Kate Chopin’s short stories testify to display to the readers her viewpoints about love, sex and marriage that one is not usually aware of. These three topics all tied together. Typically, it’s easy to think that when you love someone you get married to them. You only commit yourself to them and no one else. Of course not all marriages work out but that’s life. In two particular short stories though, it establishes the struggle for woman around the 1800’s. Kate Chopin’s “The story of an Hour” and “The Storm” demonstrates the dark side of love, sex, and marriage.

Ivan and the grandmother both lived artificial lives that were based on appearances, shallow-relationships, and egocentrism. Through their obsession with appearances,

Living an unhappy life will change a person causing them to have unexpected feelings and things to change around them. These stories show that one may marry someone who they are not truly in love with. The following authors Oaths and Chekhov wrote similar stories that showed different point of views. The Lady with The Pet Dog shows that people tend to respond to their emotions to decided, when it comes down to their relationship. In these two stories, there are similarities that could be explained in three ways.

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.