The Lady With The Dog

With "The Lady with the Dog", Anton Chekhov weaves an intricate tale of a man trapped in a loveless marriage, who seeks freedom in the arms of the very thing that oppresses him: women. Through the use of an omniscient voice, formal but subtle language, and setting changes, Chekhov masterfully reveals the inner-turmoil and confusion of a man falling prey to his own game of seduction. That is, until he meets Anna Sergeyeva, and his entire world changes.

This tale is laced with irony and duality, the most important of which puts the protagonist in the reversed position of the seduced, a role that continues out throughout the entire story. Dmitri Dmitritch Gurov, the center and main focus of this story, is described as being a man in his thirties, attractive and elusive, and well aware of his appeal to women. He is oppressed by his wife who, through her shallow self-righteousness, creates a hostile home environment; as a result, he is afraid of her. His affairs afford him a freedom and power he does not have at home. And because these affairs often end bitterly, he views love as "a regular problem of extreme intimacy," an inconvenience. He holds women in very low esteem even though he can't seem to live without them. He calls them the "lower race" and he feels justified in his views because of the dreadful experiences of his past.

In all his affairs he is the seducer, the one in control, the decision maker. This all changes when Anna Sergeyeva arrives in his life. Suddenly, he unknowingly becomes the manipulated, the seduced. It is she who makes the first move...

One evening he was dining in the gardens, and the lady in the beret came up slowly to take the next table.

Some would assume that it was simply crowded in the garden on that day and that she was taking the only available table. Consequently, by Gurov being the one to speak first, he is indeed the first to make a move. However, the language suggests a certain coyness in her slow approach. Gurov, unaware that he is being manipulated, merely seizes the opportunity Anna wittingly provides.

It was also Anna who decided when to take their relationship to a more intimate level. Her control of the relationship continues as, through circumstances, she is the one to bring their romance to an end. And ultimately, she is the one to allow their relationship to begin again ("I swear I will come to you in Moscow. But now let us part"). Though Gurov came to her hometown out of a desire to see and meet with her, he never asked her to come to Moscow. She made that decision. Perhaps it was out of desperation and immediate fear of being caught, but she did not have to follow through and go to Moscow. However, she did.

Another point of irony lies in how Gurov perceives himself and Anna. He views himself as a manipulator with "secret motives" and Anna as naпve - somewhat of a wide-eyed innocent. Yet he was "genuinely warm and affectionate toward her," and by her own admission she "wanted to live," and was "fired by curiosity." She also lied to her husband and came to Yalta, a place with a reputation of immorality, hardly the actions of an innocent.

Chekhov uses setting to convey the emotional state of the characters. Moscow is a reality check for Gurov. It bathes him in familiarity and wipes his mind clear of his indiscretions. Yalta represents their liberation. It is painted as a romantic getaway where the ocean is a "soft lilac hue" with a "golden streak from the moon" upon it. Every place they go together seems magical. In contrast, everything in Anna's hometown, the place that keeps them apart, is gray. Both the hotel carpet and covers are dingy and the gray gate outside her home is spiked as if to keep her from escaping. It was a symbol of the