An Analysis Of Anton Chekhov's The Princess

Royalty in the Eyes of the People
Throughout the self-absorbed actions of royalty, as fame towers over those deemed less, Anton Chekhov’s The Princess compares the attitudes of an entitled, narcissistic, and egotistical princess with the suppressed, less important average citizens showing how the basis of one’s self can be perceived through multiple points of view. The scenery and atmosphere of the short story takes place at one of the princess’s favorite place, a monastery. Within the first few lines, a hint of pompous behavior is exposed as the princess in the story exclaims, "Well, have you missed your princess?" to the unwavering monks at the monastery. Already, some of the monks are forced to abide by her majesty’s command and listen to

Why do you come here? What do you want with the monks here, allow me to ask you?...You come with a God of your own into a monastery you have nothing to do with, and you imagine that the monks look upon it as a very great honour.” By asking her questions she has her own answer to, the doctor reveals the true reason for explaining all her faults. In fact, it wasn’t ever to burden or cause her grief, but to resemble all the people too afraid to stand up and speak their mind. The actions shown by the princess resembled something far greater than uncaring behavior, but revealed the disconnection between royalty and the common people. Much like the neglect the common people received from its leaders, those working for the princess in her castle didn’t receive an ounce of thought. The doctor, fired without forewarning, was left in shambles with the crippling pain of watching his dying wife fade away. Before ending his talk with the princess, the doctor states,” You come with a God of your own “pointing out the fact that the princess sees only what she chooses to see and that nothing, God nor man, has been able to pull her attention away from herself. The princess cares only for her own life, thinking of how her “Dubovki, Sofyino, and Kiryakovo have all been sold for [her] unhappy husband's debts” emboldening the fact that trivial matters to her are far different from somebody

Instead, she imagined “her husband living in Petersburg, her stewards, doctors, neighbours, the officials of her acquaintance” and thought “if only these people could see into her heart and understand her, they would all be at her feet.” acting as if the problem wasn’t with her or how she is as a leader, but because others don’t “see into her heart”. Not only does this show how narcissistic the princess is, but how even after being faced with the issues of those she wronged, she still chooses to ignore them and believe that she is in the right and they are in the wrong. The doctor’s rampant rage of honesty and truthful statements fizzled, turning into fluttering butterflies and dainty rainbows inside the princess’s mind. She was, yet again, reborn into a self-entitled, detached leader without a care in the world about how others feel. With the thought of her being right and everyone now loving her,