"The Lady with the dog" by Anton Chekhov-- What is love?--

Rating: 8.5 out of 10 

<The Lady with the dog> was a story of love between Dmitri Gurov and the lady with the dog, whose name is Anna Sergeyevna. Dmitri and Anna were both married and they each had wife and husband. At first, Dmitri Gurov thought that women were "the lower race" and weren't interested in the lady with the dog. Different from other love stories, they didn't fall in love at first sight. However, as they get together for about one week, they became close to each other. They fell in love and their emotions grew bigger and bigger, but Anna fears that she has lost Dmitri's respect and decided to leave him. However, they meet again later in Moscow, and confirm their mind and confesses their love for each other. After that, Anna decided to visit Moscow to see Dmitri, but she still thinks that it is uncomfortable to lie continuously. However, Dmitri is perfectly happy with doing thing what he wants, with the lady whom he loves. The story has an open ending, and nobody really knows how will their relationship will go on.

Actually, the story is not that complicated or hard to read. With simple sentences and overall structure, the author made the readers read and comprehend the story well. Also, with some dictations and direct quotes from the protagonists in the story, it made the entire story more lively and shows the emotions, sceneries, and the relationships between the characters.

Moreover, similar to other short novels of Anton Chekhov, the author really depicted the emotional changes of the protagonists. If we read "The Student" by Anton Chekhov, the context is a little different because the student is more focused on the religious things and it uses a parallel storyline by using the allusion to the bible, though, the point I think which is most important when we see the Chekhov's novels are that we can find out and observe the thoughts, mindsets or emotional changes that the character had before. By expressing the emotional lines and their changes in the short story, I believe that those kinds of features lead the readers to more get into the story and interpret with the characters.

Of course, if we look at this story with the moral sights, this love and this relationship should not be maintained. They both have family, children and other main things which were already set in their life. However, besides those moral things, Chekhov made me think about what is 'real, true' love. This novel is mostly depicted with the perspective of Dmitri, however, that perspective triggers the readers to think of Anna's perspective. By observing their relationship with several different kinds of points of view, I thought that they are in real love, but that love can be broken whenever they change their mind. Even this is real, hot love, they are already who broke the normal spectrum of love by abandoning the responsibility of their family, so I thought that it will be easier for them to break this relationship when they face new circumstances. Since the story has an open ending, who knows?

Compared to other novels by Chekhov, <The lady with the dog> was easier for me to think in different ways and understand the message and the story which the author wanted readers to think of. Although he used simple structure, sentences, he made many readers get into the storyline and interpret with their own love stories.

"It's a good thing I am going away," she said to Gurov. "It's the finger of destiny!"

She went by coach and he went with her. They were driving the whole day. When she had got into a compartment of the express, and when the second bell had rung, she said:

"Let me look at you once more . . . look at you once again. That's right."

She did not shed tears, but was so sad that she seemed ill, and her face was quivering.

"I shall remember you . . . think of you," she said. "God be with you; be happy. Don't remember evil against me. We are parting forever -- it must be so, for we ought never to have met. Well, God be with you."