While it is tempting to believe that Anton Chekov’s The Lady with the Little Dog is a classic love story, the tale of two unhappy souls who meet, fall in love, and escape their miserable lives to find everlasting happiness in each other’s arms, it is in fact the opposite. Instead, it’s the singular story of a cruel man, one who can no longer bear his practical life. A man, who in his regret, uses others in his self-serving need to create his alternate reality, one in which love is easy and uncluttered with the responsibilities of normal life. A man whose search for escape has taken on new meaning as he recognizes that his end may be near.
When analyzing literature, it is often a difficult task to determine who the main character is. Great…show more content… After their first physical encounter, Anna becomes distraught and regretful, referring to herself as: “a trite, trashy woman” (6). She continues berating herself for some time, her behavior prompting what one might expect from Gurov, annoyance and impatience with this woman, who in her human reaction has destroyed the fantasy he has created around her (6). And while Anna dominates the story for several pages, this is perhaps the most significant point in the story for Gurov. He sees Anna as less than perfect, yet he stays and seeks to comfort her. When they later venture out as if to distract Anna from her distress, it is not Anna but Gurov that needs distracting. The change of scenery allows him to cast aside reality and begin the illusion of new love again. They venture to Oreanda where they sit together in silence, observing the world around them, their senses heightened, and he notes: “The leaves of the trees did not stir, cicadas called and the monotonous dull noise of the sea, coming from below spoke of the peace, of the eternal sleep that awaits us”(4). It is in these words that we begin to see that Gurov is a man aware of his mortality, and perhaps one who welcomes a final
