Historical Criticism of Anton Chekhov’s “The Lady with the Dog”

Russian sententious story writer and playwright Anton Chekhovs The Lady with the cad (1899) is a brilliant exposition of how fraternitys laws and institutions hinder an individuals quest for freedom and happiness (RadEssays, n. pag.). gibe to the poet and critic Dana Gioia, the style in which the short story was written was coherent with the emerging trends in nineteenth-century short story writing (Gioia, n. pag.).On one hand, it was found on the anti-Romantic tangibleism of Maupassant with its sharp observation of external social peak and human behavior conveyed within a tightly drawn plan (Gioia, n. pag.). On the other, it in any case mirrored the modern psychological realism of primeval Joyce in which the action is mostly internal and expressed in an associable narrative built on epiphanic moments (Gioia, n. pag.). Hence, Gioia considered The Lady with the Dog, along with his later take forms, as a turning point in European literature (Gioia, n. pag.).The short stor ys main character, Dmitri Dmitrich Gurov, was a man whose flavour was trapped early by society and the institution of man and wife (RadEssays, n. pag.). During the 1900s, Russian society, skilful like in all other societies, believed that marriage is a sacred institution (BookStove, n. n. pag.). To go against this norm (by committing criminal conversation) meant facing social condemnation and ostracism (BookStove, n. pag.). However, Russias upper classes only salaried lip service to this rule marriage for them was to a greater extent of a convennient way of life to establish and secure fortunes and bloodlines (BookStove, n. pag.). Therefore, while they paraded themselves in public as dear and happily-married people, they secretly engaged in extramarital personal business to temporarily outflow the harsh reality of being trapped in a unloving marriage.Gurov was no exception. Although his real interest lay in the arts (he have with a degree in this field), he was forced to take up a dignified job in a bank (Chekhov, n. pag.). To go matters worse, his parents had set an arranged marriage for him with a woman he describe as unintelligent, narrow (and) inelegant (Chekhov, n. pag.) simply put, a woman he did non love. As a result, Gurov was miserable, bored and and not himselfcold and unutterable (in the society of men) (Chekhov, n. pag.).But feminist critcs argued that the real reason for the scorn he matt-up towards his wife was that she was an outspoken woman who considers herself an intellectual (Answers, n. pag.) Gurov was intimadated with assertive women and preferred a woman whom he could control (Answers, n. pag.).Just like many other Russian upper-class men of his snip, Gurov found solace in extramarital participations (BookStove, n. pag.). For him, these liasons were more than just outlets for lust they were manifestations of his protest against the society which condemned him to a distressing existence (BookStove, n. pag.). Although Gurov openly labelled women as the lower race (Chekhov, n. pag.), he could not get on for 2 days together without them (Chekhov, n. pag.). His intervention of and philosophy towards women reflected the hypocrisy of Russian society with regard to the issues of love, marriage and unfaithfulness (BookStove, n. pag.).Gurov came across an ally in his latest mistress, Anna Sergeyevna. Just like him, Sergeyevna was also a prisoner of her marriage she got married young (20 years old), only soon regretted having done so (ECheat, n. pag.). She no longer loved her husband, regarding him as a flunkey (ECheat, n. pag.). In sharp contrast to Gurovs wife, Sergeyevna was soft and childlike, weepy and vulnerable, even a bit pathetic (Answers, n. pag.) the ideal Russian woman of the 1900s (Answers, n. pag.). Eager to live a single and uncommitted life once again, she feigned illness and went to Yalta, a well-known health haunt in Russia (Answers, n. pag.).Free from the unhappy situation of the ir individual families, Gurov and Sergeyevna carried out an illicit interest in Yalta (Answers, n. pag.). Although Sergeyevna initially felt guilty after Gurov kissed her for the first time, she was already in love with him by the time she returned to S (ECheat, n. pag.). Chekhov used symbolisms to decribe the loudness of their passion for one another. The moon, a timeless symbol of fertility, symbolized the birth of Gurov and Sergeyevnas affair (Openpapers, n. pag.). Sergeyevnas pet Pomeranian, meanwhile, represented the dependency, loyalty and amusement that they were looking for in their single spouses, but found in one another (Paperstarter, n. pag.).When Gurov and Sergeyevna resumed their normal lives, it was hence that they realized how much they missed and loved each other (ECheat, n. pag.). later on meeting again in a theater, they decided to continue their cloak-and-dagger affair. They secretly met in Moscow (Gurovs hometown) once in two or three months (Chekhov, n. pag.).But Gurov and Sergeyevna in the end got tired of hiding like theives just to maintain their relationship. When they had their usual rendezvous at Sergeyevnas room at the Slaviansky Bazaar hotel, they discussed how to avoid the necessity for secrecy, for deception, for living in different towns and not seeing each other for long at a time (Chekhov, n. pag.). But they were unable to come up with a clear ascendant (ECheat, n. pag.).Indeed, Gurov and Sergeyevnas illicit liaison was a no-win situation. True, they had found real love in each other. But in a society that abhors relationships such as theirs, they were left with three options run away(predicate), tell their respective spouses the truth or end the affair then and there (ECheat, n. pag.). disarticulate was out of the question in 1900s Russia, it was a social taboo, along with adultery (Answers, n. pag.). Divorced people were met with the same social denunciation and isolation bestowed on adulterers and adultresses ( Answers, n. pag.). The open-ended conclusion added more credibility to the short storys theme the choice between being true to ones self or adhering to what society believes to be correct.Chekhovs other belles-lettres also echoed the animosity between an individual and society. In the short story Betrothed (1903), the protagonist, Nadya, was engaged to Andrey Andreyich, a man whom she didnt love (Chekhov, n. pag.). She had no other choice Russian women during the 1900s were not allowed to study or to effect outside the home. Hence, marriage appeared to be Nadyas only ticket to scotch advancement (Eshbaugh, 3).But her perspective changed when Aleksander Timofeyich (fondly called Sasha) arrived from Moscow to visit her family. Upon learning of Nadyas skirmish to Andreyich, Sasha warned her about the lifeless existence that is the result of an arranged marriage (Eshbaugh, 3). lone(prenominal) enlightened and holy people are interesting, its only they who are wanted. The more of s uch people there are, the sooner the Kingdom of God entrust come on earth Dear Nadya, darling girl, go away Show them all that you are sick of this stagnant, grey, sinful life. Prove it to yourself at least (Chekhov, n. pag.)Despite Nadyas initial misgivings, she heeded Sashas words. With his help, she fled to St. Petersburg, where she attended university (Eshbaugh, 3). Nadya eventually realized that she made the right decision in relying on herself sort of of on marriage to achieve happiness (Eshbaugh, 3). Even her family ultimately back up her choice their letters to her were resigned and kindly, (as if) everything seemed to have been forgiven and forgotten (Chekhov, n. pag.).Betrothed was the last published work of Chekhov and thus his dying words to his literary audience (Eshbaugh, 3). In a way, this explains its optimistic ending. If in The Lady with the Dog, Chekhov exposed the futility of societys norms of marriage for monetary gains (and) living an idle life without purp ose and without love (Eshbaugh, 3), in Betrothed, he imparted that if man can create society and the status quo, he can also change them.Works CitedChekhov, Anton. The Betrothed. 2008. Ibiblio.org. 11 run into 2008 . Chekhov, Anton. The Lady with the Dog. 2008. Online-Literature. 11 March 2008 . Eshbaugh, Ruth. Literary Analysis of The Lady with the Dog by Anton Chekhov. 21 June 2007. AssociatedContent. 11 March 2008 . Gioia, Dana. Anton Chekhovs The Lady with the Pet Dog. 1998. Dana Gioia Online. 11 March 2008 . Anton Chekhov, The Lady with the Dog. 2008. RadEssays.com. 11 March 2008 . A surveil of Lady with a Pet Dog by Anton Chekhov. 4 July 2005. ECheat. 11 March 2008 . The Lady with the Dog. 11 July 2007. BookStove. 11 March 2008 .The Lady with the Dog (Anton Chekhov). 2007. PaperStarter. 11 March 2008 . The Lady with the Dog by Chekhov. 2008. Openpapers. 11 March 2008 . The Lady with the Pet Dog (Criticism). 2008. Answers.com. 11 March 2008 .