Emotional growth and concealed love in Chekhov's "The Lady with the Pet Dog"

Lady With the Pet Dog

According to Vladimir Nabokov, "The Lady with the Pet Dog" is referred to be one of the greatest stories ever written. The story was published in 1899, revealing a symbolic suitability according to the era. Chekhov, who was to die within five years, is revealed in the story as reinventing the form for the 20th century. In the context of this short tale, Gurov experiences an unfamiliar and winding course of principled and emotional growth that is not expected by most of the readers.

The author of "The Lady with the Pet Dog" is Anton Chekhov. Realizing the time, the cultures and the two continents transversely, Chekhov narrates tales of concealed love that extends deep into the lives, fears and hopes of men and women who are married. Such pairs struggle to traverse past their marriages that are fruitless and devoid of love in order to find affection, fulfillment of expectations and social acceptance.

In Anton Chekhov's version of the story, the life of Dmitry Gurov is narrated. Gurov was a married man of middle age who met Anna Sergeyevna -- a young girl -- while they both were out and alone on a vacation in their 19th century resort of the Russian town of Yalta. The author's version is forthright and uncomplicated, and starts from the beginning when Dmitry and Anna meet. The story continues as the relationship of the two grows.

Upon discovering that he has married the woman he feel is less "worldly" and educated than he is, Dmitry considers his marriage as an unhappy one. The feeling continues to grow and he reaches a stage where he is unable to relate to his spouse, and grows apart from her. Dmitry was of the viewpoint that his wife had "limited intelligence, was narrow-minded and dowdy." The author, Chekhov describes Dmitry's wife for having read a great deal of matter, but was the kind to use simplified spellings in her letters.

Dmitry's perception of women was soured by his discontented marriage, together with an extensive record of associations that went bad. Due to such experiences, Dmitry started to develop a lowly attitude towards women, terming them the "inferior race." However, despite these unfavorable experiences and the non-affirmative opinion towards women that resulted there from, Dmitry sustained the pursuit of additional extramarital affairs, as he found out that he could communicate with majority of women without restraint unlike his communication with his own wife or any other man he knew. Even upon meeting Anna Sergeyevna, Dmitri remarked to himself that there was something pathetic about her.

About The Plot Of The Story

Plot's Inciting Moment

The author Anton Chekhov has written about people who have lost love as well as hope in their lives. The characters in the plot have been shown struggling in order to overcome their feelings of fear, fault, cynicism, self-loathing and indifference in order to reach out to each other and escape their unhappy marriages. Thus, the plot has been drawn across time, distance and culture to tell story of people who, found alike, but yet alternative ways to find new hope and love in their lives.

In the opening section of the story, Chekhov presented Gurov in a mostly hostile light by highlighting his exploitation, misogyny, and principles. He had low opinion for women, for instance, accompanies a mysterious preference for his company. However, nothing in the story's plot opening suggested the inner transformation that Gurov will experience, which was more or less against his will.

The inciting moment of the plot was when both Anna and Gurov met in Yalta with the feeling of affection for each other. He noticed her since she used to walk in an upper class resort with the pet dog. Their fondness for each other or in other words love eventually leads to conflicts in their lives.

Crisis of the Plot

The crisis began when she received a letter of her husband' sickness while she was in Yalta with Gurov. However, she left him but expressed her deeply affectionate love for Gurov that further on changed into the climax as well as conflict of their love.

Climax Of The Story

When Gurov eventually managed to meet Anna and they both confessed of being in love with each other, their secret meetings made their relationship grew stronger. However, when she left him, he realized that it was not only her who loves him deeply but he himself intensely loves Anna.

This is the critical part of the story as love was the only conflict in the story that in turned made all other parts of the plot conflicted too and connects these elements through the conflict of protagonist and antagonist. Thus, in the story love was the conflict that solved all the conflicts of the story connected with it.

Falling Action Of the Plot

As the story reaches to its end, antagonist begins to take the place in the story as when they both confessed about their love for each other and started seeing on another, they realized their true love that was the only problem in the story, which eventually solved the conflict.

Denouncement Of The Plot

The final part of the story is also called denouncement because even though the main problem as well as the reason for their conflict was solved but they were unable to solve real problem of their lives. They returned to the starting point after going through all the problems and conflicts; that is back to separation.