In his story, “The Lady With The Dog,” Anton Chekhov uses the relationship between the main characters, Dmitri Gurov and Anna Sergeyevna, to express the power of love and the need for understanding between a couple. Dmitri is a married man who has three children and Anna is a young married woman. The secret relationship between Anna and Gurov starts in Yalta where Anna has come to escape from her husband; Dmitri is taking a break from his marriage. The story also describes the tension that a life of secrecy can bring to a couple. Thus, the theme of the story is that dissatisfaction in marriage often leads to fulfilling but uncomfortable infidelity. In this story, each of the main characters is discontented in their marriages. The first character,
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Anna expressed her guilt and unease by saying, “‘I am a bad, low woman; I despise myself and don’t attempt to justify myself’”(73). The uncomfortableness is the feeling of the violation of principles and barriers set for them by the society because they are married to other people. In the same way, “Gurov thought ‘one would run away from a fence like that,’.”(79) However, this barrier did not stop him from going to the Geisha to see Anna. Because their relationship is wrong, Anna tells him with nervousness “‘How [he has] frightened [her]!’”(81) when they spoke at the Geisha. Although she wanted to see him, she did not want to be seen along him in the presence of others. The story conveys the message that being unfaithful to a partner brings about anxiousness. In summary, discontent in marriage often leads to a satisfying but uneasy disloyalty. Both Anna and Dmitri are dissatisfied in their marriages. This caused them to be disloyal to their spouses in search for what they did not have in their marriages. They found what they lacked in their marriages, in the love affair they had; however, it was an uncomfortable pleasure as they were breaking the norms of the society. The relationship Anna and Dmitri had, was unconventional; causing elevated tension in people finding out about
Anna expressed her guilt and unease by saying, “‘I am a bad, low woman; I despise myself and don’t attempt to justify myself’”(73). The uncomfortableness is the feeling of the violation of principles and barriers set for them by the society because they are married to other people. In the same way, “Gurov thought ‘one would run away from a fence like that,’.”(79) However, this barrier did not stop him from going to the Geisha to see Anna. Because their relationship is wrong, Anna tells him with nervousness “‘How [he has] frightened [her]!’”(81) when they spoke at the Geisha. Although she wanted to see him, she did not want to be seen along him in the presence of others. The story conveys the message that being unfaithful to a partner brings about anxiousness. In summary, discontent in marriage often leads to a satisfying but uneasy disloyalty. Both Anna and Dmitri are dissatisfied in their marriages. This caused them to be disloyal to their spouses in search for what they did not have in their marriages. They found what they lacked in their marriages, in the love affair they had; however, it was an uncomfortable pleasure as they were breaking the norms of the society. The relationship Anna and Dmitri had, was unconventional; causing elevated tension in people finding out about