Ya

The short story "The Lady with the Dog" by Anton Chekhov had an impact on me because the events that occurred are things that happen in everyday life today. Chekhov wrote this story in 1899 and today people are still cheating on their spouses and it amazes me that over two decades ago people in relationships still act the same. I'm interested in the ending of the story and why it was left up to the reader to imagine what they wanted to happen. The Lady with the Dog" is a short story that gives an overview of an adulterous affair. The main character, Dmitri Gurov, is dissatisfied with his wife and has been consistently unfaithful to her. While vacationing in Yalta, he becomes enamored by a young woman that has a Pomeranian in tow, and successfully seduces her. Instead of enjoying a short-term fling, Gurov finds himself falling in love, even though he heartily attempts to dismiss this fact. He begins to grow found of the woman's naivety and youth, and pains to meet her again after she is called home by her husband. The couple's romance builds in Yalta during the summer, which is demonstrated by the line: "It was sultry indoorsÐ'..." When Gurov is separated from Anna and begins longing for his new flame, it is during the bitter winter months in Moscow. The story ends with the couples reuniting and arriving to the cusp of making future plans to be together. For me, this ending is satisfactory. It allows the reader to use their imagination to see the future for Gurov and Anna. Even so, I might add a fifth chapter to the story. This chapter would be one where the lovers set about making plots to rid themselves of their current spouses. Markov would surely hire some Communist Party thugs to off his wife in a grizzly murder plot, while Anna would use the traditional black widow's tool of husband removal: poison (likely arsenic). The couple would then be hunted down by the relentless Czarist authorities,...