AP Chekhov, "The Lady with the Dog": analysis. "Lady with a dog" - a story about love

Love is an eternal theme in literature. Working on the story "Lady with a Dog", Chekhov did not strive to be original. But the work of the classic, created in the last year of the nineteenth century, acquired an extremely profound meaning. An artistic analysis will help to open it. "Lady with a dog" - a story about an ordinary resort novel, told by an outstanding author.

Far from Moscow

Chekhov proceeds to the narrative without unnecessary introductions. Already in the first paragraph appears a young woman, strolling along the Yalta embankment with a white spitz. Behind her - the main character, which the lady is very worried about. His image looms throughout the story and only at the end becomes clear. And everything begins with the image of Gurov's wife (this is the surname of the character, that is, the person who was interested in the lady with the dog).

The analysis of the heroes of the story is better to begin with the description of the unloved wife. The way she appears in the eyes of her husband is the key in revealing the main images in the work. And he sees her narrow, close and harsh. The wife of Gurov, of course, about his own person of a different opinion. Suffering feminist ideas that have become fashionable among bored but active ladies at the turn of the century, she calls herself "thinking." This is extremely annoying Gurov, as well as her manner of calling him Dimitri. So he changes it quite often. And because he is so well away from her, from home, from Moscow.

Main character: analysis

The lady with the dog had that look and manner to behave, which the experienced person immediately made it clear that she was married, alone for the first time, and she was incredibly bored. Gurov was a man of knowledge. Although he spoke of women often unflatteringly in secular men's conversations, he could not live without them. So he had one glance to give the young woman the right characteristic, with which you can begin the analysis.

The lady with the dog is extremely young, has a thin weak neck and beautiful gray eyes, her behavior is angular. The further course of events in the story suggests that a young woman is married to a person who is uninteresting and unpleasant to her. She expects that a significant event will take place in her life. And she believes that this will happen. On the thoughts of a young woman Gurov does not know yet, but he feels that his acquaintance should take place. Therefore, as soon as the lady approaches, she gently calls to herself a white spitz. Thus acquainted with the mistress of the dog.

Around - a beautiful resort landscape. Chekhov's skill consists in the ability to depict the situation in the smallest and, at first sight, insignificant details. It is worthy to devote a few words to the writer's characteristic features and even to make a brief analysis.

Lady with a dog in the Yalta evening

On the day of the heroes' acquaintance, the sea water had a lilac shade, was soft and warm, and along it was a moonlit golden road. A similar picture is typical for a summer evening in Yalta. Her, perhaps, the author recreated under the impression of visiting the resort city, which took place shortly before writing the story.

Minor details are also present in the description of the image of the main character. Her movements are insecure, angular, and in the crowd she loses a lorgnette. All this seems to confirm Gurov's thoughts, which came to his mind on the day of his acquaintance: "And yet there is something pathetic about it."

Moral fall

They become lovers. For him in this event there is nothing unexpected. For her - happiness. But after that she sits with her hair loose in the pose of a sinner and tells him about her moral fall, to which there is no justification. Gurov, meanwhile, thinks about how all these words are ridiculous, and slowly eat watermelon. Of course, this analysis should be supplemented with this realistic detail.

"Lady with a dog" - a story that begins with an ordinary love affair. He is burdened by her naivety and embarrassment. She does not understand all this and continues to reveal his soul to him. This is the main problem of the collision of two worlds - female and male. Representatives of the weaker sex see in their beloved only what they want to see. The problems of the story "Lady with a Dog", the analysis of which is the topic of this article, is much more complicated and deeper.

Yalta and the fog of the early morning

The next days pass in bliss and bliss. They sit on a bench, look at the sea and are silent. Chekhov depicts a landscape with its inherent manner of supplementing the description of nature with the philosophical reflections of the hero. Gurov began to think more and more about the lofty goals of being and about human dignity. He no longer eats a watermelon and is not burdened by the emotional outpourings of a young woman. Now they are tuned to one wave.

Time to go north

Anton Chekhov finished one of these words with these words. The lady with the dog, whose analysis of the image was presented above, and whose name (Gurov had time to learn it) was Diderits, went to a distant Volga city. And upon his return to Moscow, Gurov gradually begins to feel the contrast between solar Yalta and the cold capital, between carefree pastime and boring work in the bank. And, finally, between the pure, exalted feeling and the life of the townsfolk, who are not interested in anything except maps, wine and food.

And the sturgeon is a bit stifling!

Sensations of a man who, after being in a state of euphoria, is compelled to return to the gray reality, Chekhov portrayed artistically. "The lady with the dog", the analysis of which has already given an idea of some realistic strokes, complementing the picture of a clash of romance and harsh reality, has another interesting fragment in this respect.

Gurov begins to yearn more and more. And he understands more and more clearly that the reason for his sadness is not in the pleasant Yalta walks under the moon, which are a thing of the past. It's all about the companion, whose image is obsessively present in the present. But he can not talk about this at home. Outside the house - no one. One day, after another dinner party, he leaves the restaurant on the street accompanied by one of his official friends, and the desire to share his romantic mood wins. Gurov uncertainly begins his story about a nice woman with whom he happened to meet in Yalta. But the official does not listen. He sits in a sleigh and, passing a few meters, cries out to the romantic hero about the sturgeon, which was served just now during the meal, and whose freshness is questioned.

The image of the encounter between the romantic and the layman in this place is masterfully completed. The story "The Lady with the Dog", a brief analysis of which allows us to state that it is the mention of "sturgeon with smell" that is the culmination, then reveals completely the image of Gurov.

High Fence

Under the guise of a business trip to St. Petersburg, Gurov goes in search of Yalta's lady. In this part Chekhov manifests himself as a true artist. "Lady with a dog", the analysis of which primarily refers to the artistic means used by the writer, does not have a direct description of the state of oppression. In the story there is no image of Gurov's mental torment. And nothing is said about his longing. The inner world of the hero is conveyed by the author through the mention of all details. Gurov arrives in an unfamiliar city and takes a hotel room. There he sees a gray cloth carpet, a dusty inkpot, a statuette of a one-armed rider. And when the house of Diederitsa is found, a high fence opens up, nestled with nails. All these elements draw a picture of grayness, monotony, despondency.

A meeting

A special place is occupied by the image of the provincial theater in the work "The Lady with the Dog". The analysis of the story is not intended to reveal the writer's negative attitude to the shortcomings of the social society. In the old days of the critics, the author's inattention to the problems of bourgeois marriage revolted. One Chekhov was primarily an artist. So he was interested in the human soul. And the invariable means for him was a hidden, subtle subtext.

The analysis of the work "The Lady with the Dog" is a study of such small details as the similarity of Diederitsa with the lackey, the image of the local governor, the mention of the vulgar lorgnette, which was in the hands of the young lady.

Meetings in Moscow

An analysis of Chekhov's story "The Lady with the Dog" should also touch upon the theme of the true and false aspects of life.

Gurov begins to meet with his lover in one of the Moscow hotels. She regularly comes and immediately sends to him with a message of a man in a red hat. The details of how Gurov escorts his daughter to the gymnasium, talks with her about natural phenomena, and yet thinks about his secret life, which is true. And the paradox lies in the fact that lies are open to others and are approved by them.

The work is interrupted in a half-word. This is a characteristic feature of Chekhov's small prose. Heroes in the evenings discuss how to get rid of the need to lie and hide. But they both understand that everything is just beginning ...

This is the analysis of the story "Lady with a Dog". Chekhov was able in this work, using a variety of inconspicuous details, to depict the clash of the world of a romantic and philistine, poetry and prose, high and earthly. This is the unique gift of the writer, who perceived and loved the world in any capacity - both in the beautiful and sublime, and in the gray and wretched.