A DOCTOR'S VISIT

A Doctor's Visit

A doctor is called to attend to a factory owner's daughter. The daughter has been spoiled by her mother but she is not feeling well. The doctor examines her and finds nothing wrong with her physically. The problem is in her mind, in her soul.

The doctor believes what is making Liza sick is her surroundings. All those factory buildings. All those workers toiling day and night in an unhealthy environment. All for what? So the profit can be gained by the factory owner and spent on French wine and expensive food that only the governess enjoys? It is a credit to Liza that she can't sleep and is unwell. There is a problem in the factory system and she is responding to it with all her being. The only way the doctor thinks she will be whole is to leave, to escape.

When he departs in the morning Liza sends him off, she will not likely be able to go away from the devilish factory world -- she is trapped -- and the doctor is glad to be going home -- the sun is out and he is in a carriage with three horses.

The story is dated from 1898. Chekhov dies in 1904. The Russian Revolution takes place in 1917.

THE LADY WITH THE DOG

The Lady with the Dog

The story begins in Yalta. A young woman walks her dog every where. She is noticed by an older man. They meet. He makes his moves and she goes along. She seems to have a very negative image of herself and thinks he will now lose all respect for her. She also confesses to him that she doesn't love her husband and she is trapped living a life that affords no true happiness. All this confession stuff bores him and almost destroys his feelings for Anna Sergeyevna. Her mystique starts to fade and she is in danger of becoming like many of the other women he's been with before which he categorizes as the "lower race".

Somehow that doesn't happen and the scenery and the moment and Anna Sergeyevna combine to make him see life in a new way or an old way -- but in a way that makes him appreciate nature and beauty in a serene and comforting way. They spend a number of pleasant days together. Then she is called home by her husband. And that should be the end of the story. Gurov, after all, has had a number of affairs; that's what he does and this should mean very little to him.

He goes home to Moscow and in no time the whole Yalta adventure should naturally fade. But it doesn't. Seems like the old fellow really fell in love with Anna Sergeyevna. No matter how hard he tries to forget her he can't. Not only that, but his whole life in Moscow now seems utterly trivial, meaningless. He can't stand it any longer and goes to the town where Anna Sergeyevna lives to find her. And when he does -- she feels the same way about him. They are in love.

This love remains their secret joy. Gurov has a public life where he plays a certain role -- but that life truly doesn't represent him. The best of him is hidden in the secret life he has with Anna Sergeyevna. And he wonders what Anna Sergeyevna sees in him. He notices he is graying and not the man he once was -- yet Anna Sergeyevna still loves him. In her -- he sees everything beautiful and lovely that he pretends not to see in his public life. And Anna Sergeyevna also sees him the way she wants to see him -- her frustrations -- her unhappiness in her own life disappear when she is with him -- to her he represents a new future -- a future where she can be herself and live life fully.

The question now is whether the love the lady has with her "dawg" will still hold its mystery, its truth, once the secret life becomes public.

THE CHEMIST'S WIFE

The Chemist's Wife

An unhappy woman living in the boonies. Wasted potential. She is beautiful, lively, desiring to be surrounded by people -- yet she lives with a dull chemist (pharmacist). Love the way Chekhov captures him in a few strokes:  "A few paces behind her Tchernomordik lay curled up close to the wall snoring sweetly. A greedy flea was stabbing the bridge of his nose, but he did not feel it, and was positively smiling, for he was dreaming that every one in the town had a cough, and was buying from him the King of Denmark's cough-drops."

With a husband like that -- no wonder she can't sleep and is incredibly bored. Trapped. A victim of circumstances. Why did she marry the dull chemist? Most likely she was induced by her family or her economic condition. Yet she wants to live -- to feel joy -- to be fully human -- and she never will. Like many -- she is a prisoner and all she can do is admire the sun rising beyond the cage.

THE PRINCESS

The Princess

This story confirms why I will always come back to Chekhov. Princess Vera Gavrilovna returns to N____ Monastery. She loves it there. She is unhappy with her life outside the monastery. By chance she encounters a doctor she knows. She forces him tell her what he really thinks of her. She begins to cry. The doctor leaves. The princess goes to sleep. The next day the princess wakes up and leaves the monastery very happy.

The story is simple like many of the best Chekhov stories. But the more you think about the story the more you realize how insightful it is about human nature. The princess as first introduced by Chekhov seems like a caring and sensitive person who comes to the monastery for a spiritual retreat. After we listen to the doctor we come to realize that the princess is completely selfish and treats others crudely and doesn't contribute to society in any positive way.

One would think that after hearing the truth the princess would try to reform herself -- really look in the mirror and see the truth -- in fact, that doesn't happen at all. The princess lives in her own world -- she is never going to look outside of that world -- and in her world everything that happens somehow pertains to her and her happiness. She will go on doing what she does and never realize how it impacts others.

When I think of the princess I think of many of those of higher ranks in our society -- Politicians -- CEO's -- Celebrities -- who like the princess live in a world of deception believing they are helping others -- while the rest of us suffer.

EXPENSIVE LESSONS

Expensive Lessons
A fat man hires a pretty young tutor to teach him French and he soon realizes she is a lousy teacher. But he doesn't have the heart to fire her. Soon he falls in love with her. She, however, is disgusted by him. When he makes his move she stops him cold. He figures that's the end. He'll never see her again. But she shows up at her regular time. And he is stuck with her and she is stuck with him. C'est la vie.

AT HOME

At Home
Great story. A beautiful, clever, young woman goes back home to the steppe. At first she is full of nostalgia and everything looks perfect. But with time she begins to hate it. She finds it monotonous and uninspiring. She comes to the realization that this is her life and her dreams and hopes and ambitions will never be fulfilled out in the steppe. Her only choice is to marry and conform herself to life in the steppe. Dreams, hopes, ambitions, and happiness at some point meet reality. And reality usually wins. We have two choices: to forcefully fight reality and somehow overcome the odds stacked against us and attempt to live a truthful and meaningful life or accept reality and blend with it and try to make do. The beautiful young woman who seemed so full of life at the start of the story decides to accept reality and make the best of it. As sadly, most of us eventually do.

NEIGHBOURS

Neighbours
"And thinking about his life, he came to the conclusion he had never said or acted upon what he really thought, and other people had repaid him in the same way."  Who hasn't felt that way at one time or another?  Reading Chekhov I have noticed that he seems preoccupied with this idea. Living a lie. Doing things that are expected of you but inside not being happy about it. In fact, inside harboring a deep feeling of unhappiness.

In Neighbours, Chekhov presents us with a family story that may or may not be a tragedy. A beautiful vivacious young woman has gone to live with the neighbor, an older married man. Society would say that is a tragedy. The neighbour has nothing going on for him and nobody can guess what would possess this young woman to go off and live with him. The brother decides to visit the house where the sister now lives to talk with her. When he gets there instead of being forceful and pressing his case for the sister to return, he acts weak and returns home alone without telling the sister how he really feels.

If you want to add some psychology to the story -- the brother seems too taken with the sister -- you get  the sense that he might even be in love with her and possibly what attracted the sister to the neighbor is that he reminds her of her brother. I might be reading too much into this.

So is this a tragedy? Chekhov is ambivalent. We can castigate the young woman for acting irrationally or we can admire the young woman for having the courage to live life on her own terms.