The Lady With The Pet Dog
What conflicts does Gurov face in "The Lady with the Pet Dog" and how does Chekhov present or portray these conflicts? Also, talk about how these conflicts change throughout the story.
Dmitri Dmitrich Gurov and Anna Sergeyevna, both parted from their significant others, find each other in their times of loneliness and eventually fall in love with one another. In "The Lady with the Pet Dog," Anton Chekhov portrays a strong theme of love, but he also presents a conflict within the characters themselves. The main character, Gurov, is faced with a number of conflicts within himself and Chekhov does a great job in making it obvious for the reader to isolate.
Anton Chekhov begins the story with a description of Dmitri Gurov's home life. Chekhov writes, "and though he secretly considered her shallow, narrow-minded, and dowdy, he stood in awe of her, and disliked being at home. He had begun deceiving her long ago and he was now constantly unfaithful to her." This passage portrays Gurov's unhappiness with his life. He had been pressured into marrying his wife in only his third year of college and now was suffering the consequences of making a life-long commitment too early. This dissatisfaction, therefore, leads him to cheat on his wife. …show more content…
While caressing Anna, Gurov catches sight of himself in the mirror. He sees that his hair had already begun to turn gray and begins to feel sorry for himself. Chekhov writes, "he had met one woman after another, become intimate with each, parted with each, but had never loved. And only now, when he was gray-haired, had he fallen in love for the first time." Gurov reflects upon his life and begins to realize how he has deceived the woman he loved. Living his life under a mask had brought no kind of deep satisfaction. And only now he knew that to appear different from his real self had no sense of meaning or fulfillment for
Dmitri Dmitrich Gurov and Anna Sergeyevna, both parted from their significant others, find each other in their times of loneliness and eventually fall in love with one another. In "The Lady with the Pet Dog," Anton Chekhov portrays a strong theme of love, but he also presents a conflict within the characters themselves. The main character, Gurov, is faced with a number of conflicts within himself and Chekhov does a great job in making it obvious for the reader to isolate.
Anton Chekhov begins the story with a description of Dmitri Gurov's home life. Chekhov writes, "and though he secretly considered her shallow, narrow-minded, and dowdy, he stood in awe of her, and disliked being at home. He had begun deceiving her long ago and he was now constantly unfaithful to her." This passage portrays Gurov's unhappiness with his life. He had been pressured into marrying his wife in only his third year of college and now was suffering the consequences of making a life-long commitment too early. This dissatisfaction, therefore, leads him to cheat on his wife. …show more content…
While caressing Anna, Gurov catches sight of himself in the mirror. He sees that his hair had already begun to turn gray and begins to feel sorry for himself. Chekhov writes, "he had met one woman after another, become intimate with each, parted with each, but had never loved. And only now, when he was gray-haired, had he fallen in love for the first time." Gurov reflects upon his life and begins to realize how he has deceived the woman he loved. Living his life under a mask had brought no kind of deep satisfaction. And only now he knew that to appear different from his real self had no sense of meaning or fulfillment for