This paper examines character development in two short stories drawn from Kennedy and Gioia's literary anthology: Amy Tan's "A Pair of Tickets" and Anton Chekhov's "The Lady with the Pet Dog." Through close reading, the paper traces the personal transformations of the central characters in each work. In Chekhov's story, Dmitrich Gurov evolves from a cynical womanizer into a man genuinely capable of love, while Anna Sergeyevna moves from pious restraint to emotional abandon. In Tan's story, Jing-Mei Woo undergoes a cultural and personal awakening as she travels to China and reconnects with her heritage and lost sisters. The paper compares the pace and nature of character change across both narratives.
Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama by X. J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia is a wide-ranging literary anthology that includes student essays, brief author biographies, and reflections by authors on their own work, covering a broad range of ideas, topics, and literary forms and styles.
From this collection, this paper focuses on two short stories — A Pair of Tickets by Amy Tan and The Lady with the Pet Dog by Anton Chekhov — for thorough analysis. The following sections concentrate primarily on the character development and changes that occur in the principal characters of both works.
The Lady with the Pet Dog has two main characters around whom the entire plot is built. The character of Dmitrich Gurov highlights the fickle nature of a man deeply dissatisfied with his marriage who ends up pursuing a woman who is herself married. Through the illicit extra-marital affair shared by Gurov and Anna Sergeyevna, the author reveals the shortcomings of human beings and the temptations that life presents. Both characters develop side by side, with the male character introduced before the "lady with the pet dog." As the story unfolds, their personality transformations become unmistakable. The modest friendship that begins between the two gradually takes on a far more serious form. As the story reveals: "Then he looked at her intently, and suddenly embraced her and kissed her on the lips, and the moist fragrance of her flowers enveloped him at once; he looked round him anxiously, wondering if anyone had seen them" (196).
The attention-seeking behavior and frustrations that Anna Sergeyevna felt as a result of her unfulfilling married life led her to maintain contact with a man for whom the desire for female companionship transcended faith, religion, and rational understanding (Eclectic Literary Review). From mediocre and discontented individuals, the two characters are transformed into extraordinary lovers immersed in passionate affection.
"Examines Jing-Mei's cultural awakening and identity growth"
The female protagonist ultimately learns about her Chinese heritage through her mother and gradually comes to understand the culture to which she belongs. The other principal character — the mother, who is Chinese by birth — appears to be almost invisible throughout the course of the story, yet her presence shapes every development. Both characters develop side by side, and the author keeps the pace of their change swift and purposeful.
The characters develop rapidly, though in a backward direction — that is, they move toward origins rather than away from them. The story begins with the female protagonist travelling with her father to China and visiting places that are supposedly her motherland. From this point, the reader can observe a smooth transition and steady character growth. As the narrative unfolds, the main themes become clear. The unfashionable mother gradually earns a special place in her American daughter's heart and successfully conveys the beauty and essence embedded in the foundations of their shared Chinese cultural legacy. As the plot advances, the characters develop too, revealing new dimensions. The mixed emotions of grief and joy — as well as the relief the reader feels when the lost sisters are reunited in China — connect Jing-Mei not only to her cultural roots but also to her rich personal history (Janet).
The comfort the deceased mother must have felt at the reunion of her daughters — raised in two highly distinct cultures — is also deeply understandable. Both the mother and the daughter reflect the human tendency to absorb events as they come and to take life one day at a time. Jing-Mei succeeds in retaining her identity with both her Chinese cultural values and her American principles intact. She possesses simplicity of nature and a pragmatic yet sensitive personality shaped by a mother who believed in simple living and high thinking. The obedient daughter respects her mother's dreams and wishes, and so decides to travel to China. Her character development makes clear to the reader that she is not only generous but also content with her simple lifestyle.
In the former story, character development is not as fast-paced as in the latter. However, the main characters in The Lady with the Pet Dog develop more smoothly and with greater stability than the characters in A Pair of Tickets, in which the themes are conveyed more directly but the character changes are more abrupt. The character of Jing-Mei in A Pair of Tickets changes gradually once she immerses herself in the culture to which her roots belong and begins to see her surroundings in a new perspective (Themes). The character of Dmitrich Gurov changes gradually but clearly and smoothly. From a womanizer and a dissatisfied husband who is an insincere lover, he transforms into a deeply caring, passionate partner who comes to believe in the power of love and struggles to keep his emotions alive — even to the point of sustaining an illicit relationship.
Gurov's development is steady, and he transforms from a dishonest man into a compassionate soul. Similarly, Anna Sergeyevna changes from a pious, God-fearing woman into someone passionately consumed by love, who surrenders to her emotions and ultimately moves toward Gurov in order to satisfy her longing for affection. This is evident when, after being physically intimate with a man other than her husband for the first time, she says: "'God forgive me,' . . . 'It's terrible'" (Kennedy & Gioia, p. 196). At another point, the righteous side of her personality speaks through her words: "We are parting forever — it has to be, for we ought never have met" (Kennedy & Gioia, p. 198). Yet her transformation is confirmed when, at the story's end, she chooses to continue the relationship. As the text reads: "And Anna Sergeyevna began coming to see him in Moscow" (Kennedy & Gioia, p. 202).
Kennedy, X. J., and Dana Gioia. Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. Longman, 2001.
Janet. Planet Papers Review. Retrieved April 5, 2003.
"Anton Chekhov's 'The Lady with the Pet Dog.'" Eclectic Literary Review, Fall/Winter 1998.
Themes. Monkey Notes from Pink Monkey Library. Retrieved April 5, 2003.
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