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"The Lady with a Pet Dog" was written by Anton Chekhov during the time period of 1860 - 1904. Anton Chekhov was a born in a small town in Russia and is greatly appreciated for his works. He gave up his career in medicine in order to completely devote himself to writing. It is said that, in the history of short story writing, no other short story writer except Anton Chekhov has better expressed its often invisible complexities.
His realistic style of writing has acted as an important influence on fiction writing. In the story "The Lady with a Pet Dog", Gurov and Anna fall in love and want to be with each other for their remaining lives. According to me it was no point for them to carry on a relationship. Gurov should have treated Anna as another woman in his life and should have just let her go. When Gurov gets back to Moscow he gets on with his life and has a family to be with, but Anna has no one to be with and she really hates her husband. Gurov used to refer to women as the inferior race and should have let her go too as he let all the other woman in his life.
Their love, rather than giving them happiness, makes both of them more miserable. It does not make Gurov all that miserable since he's got his children to be with but Anna's life becomes miserable since she has no one to be with. Dimitry Dimitrich Gurov a native of Moscow meets the young charming lady, Anna Sergeyenva in Yalta, a famous tourist attraction in Russia. Gurov is trapped in a married life and always seems to run away from it. He is unfaithful to his wife and hates being at home with his family and considers his wife to be of limited intelligence. Anna is also trapped in married life and runs away from it as much as she can.
She calls her husband a 'funky' and does not even know what he does. She tells Gurov that she was twenty when she married him and after marriage she realizes that she wants something better. She tells him that she wanted to live, and to runaway from him she makes up an excuse of being ill and comes to Yalta. Anna Sergeyenva is a lady with high conscience and has a lot of respect for herself. She is a loyal person and loyal to her husband all the time although she does not love him.
When Gurov kisses her for the first time, she feels very guilty and treats it as her fall. She considers the matter very seriously and feels as if she has become evil. She tells Gurov that he does not respect her. She really repents what she does and feels that by letting Gurov kiss her. She feels that any man can kiss her and she is no longer pure, but has committed an evil act. Before Anna leaves for S, she is already in love with Gurov.
Just when the express is about to move she looks at Gurov again and again and tells him that she will be thinking about him all the time. At this moment we realize that she really loves him and blames their parting all on fate. Gurov is not in love with her, although he is sad after the express leaves the station. He feels that he is going to forget her just like the other women he had in his life before her.
At this point Gurov should have completely forgotten Anna and let her go and carry on her normal life and just treat it as a passing phase. When Gurov goes back to Moscow and starts working in the bank and carries on his daily routine, he realizes that he is in love with Anna. Earlier he thinks that he will forget her as time passes but he ends up falling in love with her even more deeply. When he hears an organ or music playing in the restaurant, or the storm howling in the chimney, all the beautiful moments he had spend with Anna would rise up in his memory and make him restless. 'He did not dream of her but she followed with him everywhere and watched him'. (Chekhov 191) He could not sleep at night and had a head ache the next day.
His desire to be with Anna was not only sexual because he just does not miss kissing her but misses all the beautiful moments he had spent with her. When he closes his eyes, he sees her and imagines himself to be a finer man than he is. He used to look for women who used to resemble her. Gurov now must talk about his personal life and the way he feels to someone else but cannot do that. In the 18 th century after being married talking about another woman was considered to be a sin. Since Gurov was already married would have labeled him as an evil man and the society would have condemned him.
In his holidays when Gurov takes a trip to S, he puts a lot of things at risk. A small mistake by him could have ruined both their lives. He is taking a very big step because in the 18 th century marriage was considered to be sacred and a married man or a married woman being with some other man or woman was considered to be evil. At that moment the culture was more conservative regarding marriage.
Gurov is madly in love with Anna and takes walks outside her house everyday thinking that one day he will see her. When Anna sees Gurov in the theatre I feel that she is really surprised and really did not want to see him and be away from him as much as possible. She is completely shocked and does not know how to react. "She glanced at him and turned pale, then looked at him again in horror; unable to believe her eyes, and gripped the fan and the lorgnette tightly together in her hands, evidently trying to keep herself from fainting. " (Chekhov 195) Gurov should have let Anna go they moment they parted in Yalta. Anna who after leaving Yalta thought that she would never see Gurov was completely shocked on seeing him. She must want to never see him and never remember the beautiful moments she had spent with Gurov. Their love makes Gurov a better and finer man but it makes Anna's life more miserable and painful.
It was too late for them to start this relationship and after starting it carrying it on was even tougher since they both were already married. Although they met every two to three months it created more tension rather than gave happiness. Once when Anna comes down to Moscow and Gurov is late in coming to see her, she gets really upset and starts crying. Although Gurov is twice her age he still loves her and for the first time in his life, he finds true love. Their was no point for them to hide like thieves and carry on the relationship. They feel that they can find a way but there is no other option except running away or telling their respective husbands and wife the truth.
In moments of depression Gurov consoled himself with any argument that came into his head but he himself could not find a way of being with her. He was stuck in a situation where he could not leave his wife and could not be with his love too. Anna found herself in the same situation. It was better for both of them to end there relationship before they were getting more and more attached to each other. "Give it up now my darling, " he said. "You " ve had your cry; that s enough. Let us have a talk now, we " ll think up something. " (Chekhov 198) They loved each other and did not think about their pasts but at the same time could not find a way to be together in the future. Their relationship was a no win situation and it was better to end it as soon as possible rather than carrying it out and making it a joke.
Chekhov has left the ending of the story open as it is for the characters to decide what they would like to do. He has left it for us to come to a conclusion about the story. If I was Gurov I would have ended the situation long back and tried to stay happy like I was before I met with Anna.
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Research essay sample on 18 Th Century Anton Chekhov
