The first and the second paragraph of “Volodya” by Anton Chekov reveal the three issues which faced a seventeen-year schoolboy named Volodya. The most central theme in the short story is the persistence of strange bodily desires developed by Volodya which were entirely new to him. As it appeared, it seemed to him that he was starting to be in love with a married woman whose name was Anna Fyodorovna. In rare cases like Volodya's, individuals develop sexual desires for people who are older than them and are already married. An analysis of love in Chekov’s short story “Volodya” reveals how attraction between individuals of the opposite sex regardless of age could cause craziness. Strange feelings developing for the first time can make people …show more content…
When Volodya was found when Nyuta came from the bathroom in the dark and asked him what he was doing at the arbor at that time, he did not say a word until he was enticed. As Chekov describes in the story that “Volodya got up and looked in a dazed way at Nyuta” (2), it is evident from this quote that the teenager was making progress in trying to tell that he loved her. Love in most cases is irresistible especially when the targeted party is not happy about his or her current relationship as in the case of Fyodorovna with her husband who worked as an architect. The way Nyuta tries to make him talk by saying that he was such a clumsy seal who does not devote himself to ladies gives Volodya courage to say "I love you” (2). The uncontrollable feeling of love made him move a step further and held Nyuta's waist with his two hands meeting at the back. Looking at the age difference and the marital status of Nyuta, it can be said that the analysis of the short story “Volodya” by Chekov triggers the saying that love is madness. Arguably, this is because the society views men as individuals who can love younger women as the vice versa may be …show more content…
It can be deduced from the story that Volodya was not happy when he went back to the station and boarded a train accompanied by his mother. This is because he started attacking his mother by saying to her “why do you powder” (6). According to him, he thinks that she was becoming of age. It is ironical that he was blinded by love not to think of the same about Nyuta whom she desired. Primarily, this feeling of being away from Nyuta made him say to his mother that he did not love her. It is evident from his hatefulness towards her mother that it started from the time when they left the villa since it sounded as if he empathized before with her when others laughed at the state she lived. This hate moved to an extreme level where he ashamed his mother in the presence of the music teacher that he was telling lies. The desperation for Nyuta's love made him take a weapon, and a shot came out of it killing him. This last episode of the short story brings forth the idea that too much love results in the loss of life if it is not
Love is something that is so beautiful it brings people together, but at the same time it can be the most destructive thing and it can tear people apart. Edmond Rostand's play, Cyrano de Bergerac, is a tale of a love triangle between Cyrano, Christian, and Roxane. In the play, Cyrano helps Christian make a false identity about himself for Roxane to fall in love for. Christian had the looks while Cyrano had the personality, together they could make the perfect man. Throughout the play, you see similarities and differences between Christian and Cyrano’s personality, looks, and who they love.
There is a quote that is “All love is my love of love and love is not all loving” by David Bowie, I feel like this could relate to characters in “Harrison Bergeron” and Anthem because love is portrayed differently and the journey of discovering love could have been difficult. In “Harrison Bergeron” it was more taken in the future and the problem was trying to keep everyone equal when it came to everything. In Anthem the dystopia was trying to go back to when there was not a numerous amount of information to also keep everyone equal. “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut Jr. and Anthem by Ayn Rand are both pieces of dystopian literature, their portrayal
Ivan Fyodorovich Sponka The short story, “Ivan Fyodorovich Shponka and His Aunt”, explicates the life of a man named Ivan Fyodorovich Shponka. We see him briefly in his young years, followed by his life in the army, and his return to the farm where his strong characterized aunt resides. We can see immediately that this man lives in constant cleanliness and dutiful paranoia; these are some of his desires that he wishes to exhibit to others. We can also see his fears, which reside in the confiscation of his masculinity and independence.
Our aim is to portrait the character of Dmitry Dmitrich Gurov, in the context of the story, extracting those elements that are characteristic of the period in which Chekhov wrote the story. True love is a reason for everything, even deleting the laws of life. People's mistakes and weaknesses are part of life and, without contradictions, the world would not have evolved.... ... middle of paper ...
We first meet Dmitri Gurov, a married middle aged man with children, who has been unfaithful to his wife many times. He has a great contempt for women and refers to them as “the lower race”. But strangely can’t get enough of them, “ It seemed to him that he had been so schooled by bitter experience that he might call them what he liked, and yet he could not get on for two days together without the lower race”. He is a player, a playboy. He doesn’t feel comfortable around men so he focuses his energies on the ladies, “In the society of men he was bored and not himself, with them he was cold and uncommunicative; but when he was in the company of women he felt free, and knew what to say to them and how to behave; and he was at ease with them even when he was silent”. He tells women what they want to hear so he can get them to bed, “ In his appearance, in his character, in his whole nature, there was something attractive and elusive which allured women and disposed then in his favour; he knew that, and some force seemed to draw him, too, to them.” This keeps life simple for him.
Chekhov reminds the readers that Anna is young compared to Gurov. Chekhov’s novel states, “As he went to bed he reminded himself that only a short time ago she had been a schoolgirl, like his own daughter” (3). The images of Anna being a schoolgirl not too long ago, when Gurov has a daughter of similar age, brings the sense of abnormality between the relationship of Gurov and Anna. It’s hard to imagine such a huge difference in lovers especially in the strict culture of Russia in the late 19th century where these occasions were unthought-of. The uncomforting thought of the difference in age goes back to differ the meanings of love and romance in the novel because against all odds and differences, Anna and Gurov hide away from these obvious facts. The thought of love in this culture is between a man and woman of similar age. According to Chekhov’s novel, “He was sick of his children, sick of the bank, felt not the slightest desire to go anywhere or talk about anything” (9). Chekhov’s description of sickness reveals that Gurov has a huge moment of denial, denial of family and denial of age. This denial of age, helps Gurov cope with the oddities of their relationship, the oddities of the love they had with the characteristics of a romance. Gurov was trying to change the definition of their relationship on his own mental terms. While Gurov was trying to bring out a spontaneous, younger
Pozdnychev has just spent several years in prison for the murder of his unfaithful wife, as we find out early in the story. His tale is a sordid one, as he relates his past life, before his wedding, the meeting of his wife, their marriage, their dreadful relationship up to the murder itself and the tribunal. What is interesting in his story remains the unique perception he has on love, on marriage, and on society in general.
From the beginning of fiction, authors have constantly exploited the one topic that is sure to secure an audience: love. From the tragic romance of Tristan and Isolde to the satirical misadventures in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, literature seems obsessed with deciphering the mysteries of affection. The concept most debated is the question of where the line falls between lust and love and what occurs when the two are combined, and few portray it more clearly than Edmund Rostand in his French drama Cyrano de Bergerac. The influence of fickle physical attraction and deep romantic love on each other are explored by the interactions of the four main characters: De Guiche, Christian, Roxane, and Cyrano.
Fulford, Robert.“Surprised by love: Chekhov and ‘The Lady with the Dog’.” Queen’s Quarterly. n.d. Web. 17 November 2013.
A disconnect between genders was exhibited in early Russian culture. The objectification of women was a common problem in the Soviet society. In Mikhail Sholokhov’s And Quiet Flows The Don, there is an abundant amount of examples detailing men’s attitudes toward women. Early on in the novel there is a disturbing depiction of rape between Aksinia Astakhov and her father. It is difficult to comprehend the motives behind an act of rape, especially when coupled with incest, but that is not occurrence of rape within the novel. Further on there is a particularly vivid account of a gang rape scene between multiple Cossack soldiers and a young woman. Although particularly difficult to read, this moment further illustrates the female objectification present in this time-period by clarifying the commonality of the abhorrent treatment of women. Furthermore, it is revealed that the men are more than willing to resort to violence if it is necessary to keep the rape a secret, “Breath a word… and, by Christ, we’ll kill you!” (186). In a different aspect of everyday life, at times it seems that women are not...
Vladimir Nabokov suffered a neurological disorder called Synthesia. In this disorder, some senses appear the form of other senses. For his specific case, it allowed him to see letters in color. The literary form of this disorder is writing when one sense describes another. Nabokov’s synthesia allowed for him to compose its’ literary form in a superior manner. Additionally, in its literary implication, synthesia generates juxtapositions of the senses. With and in juxtaposition, he uses the comparison of senses to describe one sense through another sense. Nabokov uses his Synthesia to enhance juxtapositions in order to capture essence of life through words. In his short story First Love, he illustrates importance of using the senses in descriptions
This story mostly takes place in a vacation spot called Yalta. Throughout the whole story Yalta is explained as peaceful, romantic and with magical surroundings. The weather is warm and the scenery consists of white clouds over the mountaintops. The flowers smell of sweat fragrance and there is a gold streak from the moon on the sea. The two main character’s Gurov and Anna visit this vacation spot to get away from the lives that they are unhappy with. Both are unhappily married. The author explains Gurov as a women’s man, women are always attracted to him. However he thinks of women as the lower race. Knowing that women liked him, he always just played the game. He was always unfaithful to his wife. When he sees’s Anna walking around in Yalta with her dog he thought of it as just another fling. The character Anna is a good honest woman. When she is unfaithful to her husband for the first time she starts to cry to Gurov. She explains how she despises herself for being a low woman. This was the first time a person was not happy with Gurov. The soon realizes that she is unlike other women and describes her as strange and inappropriate. The story then takes a twist and Anna is to return home to her husband who is ill. This was their excuse that they need to part ways forever and stop this affair. Yet when Gurov returned home to Moscow he found himself lost without her. The
With his 1955 novel Lolita, Vladimir Nabokov invents a narrator by the name of Humbert Humbert who is both an exquisite wordsmith and an obsessive pedophile. The novel serves as the canvas upon which Humbert Humbert will paint a story of love, lust, and death for the reader. His confession is beautiful and worthy of artistic appreciation, so the fact that it centers on the subject of pedophilia leaves the reader conflicted by the close of the novel. Humbert Humbert frequently identifies himself as an artist and with his confession he hopes “to fix once for all the perilous magic of nymphets” (Nabokov, Lolita 134). Immortalizing the fleeting beauty and enchanting qualities of these preteen girls is Humbert Humbert’s artistic mission
"The Bear," which is a classic one-act play written 1900, is one of the great works of Anton Chekhov, which is very much about a widowed woman. The Bear can be regarded as a comedy since it is to give the audience entertainment and amusement. This comedy reveals the fine line between anger and passion. The theme is about a strange beginning of love between Mrs. Popov and Smirnov. It demonstrated that love changes all things it touches. Dialogue of the characters, the action of the characters, and the characters themselves shape the theme. Unbelievable actions and change in mood on the part of the characters show that love can sometimes come from an odd turn of events.
In Conclusion, this story portrays a woman who is insecure, lonely, and looking to love and to be loved. This love is something which Olenka searches for in males, both adults, and boys, she thinks she finds this love, in her husbands and, lover. She what she thinks to be love, in her first husband, and then her second, but the third male in her life, her lover, known as Voldichka is there only for his satisfaction. Olenka does get the fulfillment of love needed y Voldichka. Olenka than tries through a boy named Sasha, Voldichka’s son. It is true to this reader that even though Olenka experienced these relationships with these men and the boy, Sasha, she still never found a complete fulfillment in life. Olenka did not experience respect as a woman, but someone who would be there as needed. Olenka never earned respect as most women do, she to this reader only was a filler for others, others of the gender known as male.